What can be better than a Hallelujah?

Transfiguration Sunday is the last Sunday in the church year before Lent. During Lent, many church’s in my denomination give up singing or saying either “Hallelujah” or “Alleluia”. Many of us also use a song called “Farewell to Alleluia” at the close of the Transfiguration service. Lent is not a time for Hallelujah or Alleluia [...]

Lincoln Brewster

Lincoln Brewster As a Christian, a music lover, and as a guitarist; I’ve always enjoyed Lincoln Brewster’s music, especially his guitaring capabilities and his mix. I recently came across some facts about his past on BOSS’s website which I am excerpting here: He’s one of Christian Music’s most inspiring new-generation talents, but Lincoln Brewster’s rise [...]

Awesome God!

Rich Mullins Awesome is a word that should be reserved for God only.   I researched the use of this word in the bible and it appears an even 50 times in the OT but not once in the NT. I’ve always liked the chorus to Richie Mullins song “Awesome God.”  I’ve sung the verses as [...]

Praise!

Praise Bands, Praise Teams, Praise Charts, Praise Ensembles, etc. – What’s the big deal with praise? It’s mentioned a whopping 351 times in scripture (292 times in the OT and 59 in the NT).  In essence, it’s this: praise is one of those activities that we can do right now, here on earth, and it [...]

Give Us Clean Hands

On September 13th, our 3 piece band will be singing a song called “Give Us Clean Hands” during the Offertory.   The song has been chosen because it goes with the Gospel lesson (Mark 1-8 and selected verses).  You can listen to the song and read through the lyrics here (the song is actually sung by Chris Tomlin [...]

“Lord I Lift Your Name On High” – A song for many occasions

The song, “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” has been around for 20 years now, perhaps long enough to knock it out of the “contemporary” genre but its popularity is still high.  I think that one reason for this is its broad application for the Christmas through Ascension church year that’s summarized in its short [...]

Music for Holy Trinity Sunday & How to Transpose

On Trinity Sunday, I have chosen the song ”Father I Adore You” as a song choice.  Many congregations use this on Trinity Sunday.  There are other good contemporary song choices, such as “Glorify Thy Name”, but I chose ”Father I Adore You” because there is a portion of our congregation that normally does not sing, [...]

Song Opportunity – “Nothing Without You”…try it on May 10th at your church!

Once again,  http://www.greatworshipsongs.com/ has another free song offering if you are a registered member at their site.  If you are, check out the latest freebie “Nothing Without You” by Bebo Norman and Mitch Dane.  If you’re not registered; consider joining today.   From the site, you can download a free MP3, leadsheet, chord sheet, and [...]

You Are

One of my favorite songs to strum & sing is ”You Are” by Mark Roach.  It does a beautiful job of emphasizing the names and attributes of Jesus.  I will often use it as a pre-service piece to draw our attention towards Jesus, or I’ll play it during the Offering to draw attention to the [...]

Ash Wed – Song Choice

The Psalm that we usually use on Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51.  This is a great penetential Psalm.  Everytime I read it, I am amazed by how familiar I am with certain parts of it, because we use it in our liturgies all the time.  There’s a nice contemporary song based on this Psalm; it’s [...]