Category: Church Life

The Music that Moves Me

I find that there are different types of music that engage my mind and move my heart toward worship and spiritual encouragement in our Lord’s Day gatherings.  Here are some categories, how they impact me, and examples from a recent service at Calvary.

  • A grand worshipful anthem – A “big” song presented by a full choir and orchestra or sung by the congregation exalts my thinking toward the great and profound truths of the character and works of our infinite God. Music like this lifts my thoughts and my soul heavenward, and causes me to praise God with my whole being.  Last Sunday we were led to sing the simple chorus, He Is Lord, then segued into Holy is He and great is His glory; Holy is He and worthy of our praise.  I stand in His presence amazed and crown Him with worship and praise!  Holy is He, Holy is He, Holy is He.  Then we worshiped with the traditional, majestic  hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy, with the choir singing a descant of Holy is He on the final stanza.
  • A personal testimony – Whether an individual or group shares this type of song, or we sing it as a congregation, I find that when songs about great truths are followed by thoughtfully articulating our personal response to those truths, I am deeply moved. An example of this is after worshiping God’s holiness, the choir encouraged us to Look Up in faith to God, then the congregation sang as our testimony, You are my strength when I am weak, you are the treasure that I seek, you are my all in all.  Seeking you as a precious jewel, Lord to give up I’d be a fool.  You are my all in all.  Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name.  Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name.  I am also touched in heart when a soloist or small group presents a tribute to the Lord in song that is unmistakably personal to them.  A married couple sang last Sunday, God will make a way, when there seems to be no way.  He works in ways we cannot see.  He will make a way for me.  He will be my guide, Hold me closely to His side. With love and strength for each new day He will make a way, He will make a way.  This was clearly their own testimony, and was powerful to hear.

  • Personalization of a profound truth – I love it when a song guides me in praising God for a profound theological truth that intersects and transforms my life. In our evening service last Sunday we sang, His robes for mine, O wonderful exchange! Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage. Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.  In Christ I live, for in my place He died.  I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost: Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God. Bought by such love, my life is not my own:  My praise- my all- shall be for Christ alone.

  • Edification and exhortation – There are some songs that tell us how to think or what to do. When we sing them, we are encouraging one another in our Christian lives.  I love to hear our church family mutually edify one another with this kind of song.  Two young ladies encouraged us last Sunday to Bow the knee; Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see. Bow the knee; Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity. And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan, In the presence of the King, bow the knee.

  • Responding to the sermon – I suppose I am moved by this kind of song because I spend the week studying the Word and then sharing the truths I have learned and encouraging our people to believe them and live by them, and I choose songs to end the service that convey our personal response to those truths. I end the sermon, pray, then invite people to respond with the thoughts contained in the closing songs. Last Sunday’s message was about Help for Our Half-Hearted Attempts to Know God, from Hosea 6.  We ended with the thought that if we will contemplate God’s love, we will love Him in return and will want to pursue knowing Him.  We responded first with a song that presents the greatness of God’s love, Here is love, wide as an ocean, loving kindness as a flood: When the Prince of Life, our ransom, shed for us His precious blood.  The chorus exults, Oh, how marvelous, oh, how glorious is my Savior’s love for me.  We then ended with our response to God’s unfathomable love:  More love to thee, O Christ, More love to Thee!

Every Sunday as we lift the final stanzas of the morning’s musical worship, I walk to the back of the auditorium and into the Atrium to be ready to greet people as they exit.  But I always stop and stand in the back before going out the door.  I listen to God’s people sing.  And I am moved.

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He Is Lord  
Marvin V. Frey. Traditional. Arranged by Shelly Hamilton. © 2010. Majesty Music, Inc. 

Holy Is He 
Claire Cloninger, David T. Clydesdale. © 1985. Word Music. 

Holy, Holy, Holy
Reginald Heber. John B. Dykes. 

Look Up 
Lauri Lou Jones. Ron Hamilton. Shelly Hamilton. © 2014. Majesty Music, Inc. 

You Are My All in All
Dennis L. Jernigan. © 1990. Shepherd’s Heart Music.

God Will Make a Way
Don Moen. © 2006. Integrity’s Hosanna Music. 

His Robes for Mine
Chris Anderson. Greg Habegger. © 2008. churchworksmedia.com. 

Bow the Knee 
Chris Machen. Mike Harland. Arranged by Tom Fettke. Mac Lynch. © 1997. Centergetic Music. 

Here Is Love
Steve Cook. Vikki Cook. © 2003. Sovereign Grace Worship. 

More Love to Thee  
Elizabeth P. Prentiss. William H. Doane. 

Questions about Patriotism in Church

Around the time of national days of remembrance such as Memorial Day and Independence Day, I hear two questions about patriotism in church. Here are the questions in their basic form:

  • Why don’t we do more to show our patriotism in church?
  • Why do we celebrate patriotism in church?

These questions represent two mentalities about recognizing national holidays and what they represent. Some people wish we would devote more attention to it while others wonder why we devote any attention at all.

I have considered speaking to this issue, and a recent article prompted me to go ahead. You can read the article, titled Why Younger Evangelicals May Feel Uneasy in a Patriotic Church Service, here.

Here’s a less recent article, this one by Kevin DeYoung, making some of the same observations and expressing his opinion on the issue.

My thoughts are similar to some, not all, of these guys’. If any of what I say sounds the same, it is not copied. I thought these things before I read what anyone else said about them. Here goes, not in any clearly logical order.

  • We should express gratitude to God for all of our blessings, including the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans. There is plenty of Scripture that directs us to be thankful, and it is certainly appropriate to publicly thank God for our freedom, just as we thank Him for other material and circumstantial blessings in our lives. We should be grateful for the people who founded the USA and for those who have defended it and do so today. We can express thanks in prayer for them in the local church setting.
  • Christianity is not national. America does not equal Israel. America is not a manifestation of the kingdom of God. Christianity is personal. It is experienced individually, and it is embodied and expressed in the setting of the local church, not in the culture and political leadership of a nation. I am uncomfortable with preaching and praying for “America to turn back to God.” I do not think it is helpful to urge people to “Return to the faith of our founding fathers.” What Scripture guides us to pray for “God’s blessing on America?” We need to preach and pray for people to turn in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ. God does not have to give a particular nation prosperity, freedom, and security in order to show that He is alive and well and at work in the world.
  • Our fellowship in Christ does not eliminate national identity, but it does supersede any and all distinctions, including nationality (Acts 2:5ff; Galatians 3:26-29; Revelation 5:8-14). My local church is not an American institution. The church was founded by Jesus Christ, and He is its head. Having too much patriotic and nationalistic expression in church gatherings sends the wrong message. I did not say any expression, just too much. Finding that balance is each church’s prerogative. In many local churches, including ours, there are members, attenders, and guests present from countries other than the USA. I do not want to convey to them that our church is American. The worship, focus, message, and attitude of our gatherings should transcend nationality. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ . . . “ (Philippians 3:20).
  • Church gatherings should include times of specific prayer for national leaders, especially for those who are not friendly to Christianity (1 Timothy 2:1-7). This should not be limited to national holidays and election season.
  • Christians’ lives should be characterized by submission to, cooperation with, and respect for government leaders (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1-7). Read that sentence again. Read the Bible verses. Christians who get upset about not having a patriotic service in church and then disrespect, mock, and defy national, state, and local governmental authorities are hypocritical.
  • In summary, I see Scriptural basis for giving thanks for blessings we enjoy as Americans, praying for governmental leaders, and learning and practicing what the Word of God says about living as Christians in whatever national setting we have been providentially placed.

Here’s what we did last Sunday, July 6, at our church. During our Sunday morning gathering, we made comments acknowledging the significance of the weekend, expressing gratitude for freedom, and a reminder that true freedom is found in Jesus Christ (John 8:36). Our prayer included thanks for national freedom as well as prayer for our brothers and sisters in the world who are oppressed and persecuted for being Christians. After that there was really no further mention of anything that would be considered patriotic. The musical worship and the message were focused on God and our relationship to Him. Then those who wanted to stay enjoyed a fellowship lunch in our wooded picnic area. At 1:30 a few children and families shared songs, and we sang a few fun Americana type songs and one or two that you’d find in the Patriotism section of the hymnbook. One of our pastors shared a message from 1 Timothy 2:1-7.

Our observation of Independence Day at Calvary may have been too little for some, too much for others. I think it was appropriate in that the main gathering of worshiping, learning, and growing was not focused on our nation, but on God and His Word, and that we spent time as a church family later in the day expressing our thanks to God, being reminded of what it means to live as Christians in our nation, and just enjoying being together.

Let the fireworks begin. =)

Authentic Worship

A few weeks ago, Thom Rainer published an article called What Worship Style Attracts the Millennials.  Some of my younger family members and friends emailed me or posted about it on Facebook, all of them saying, in essence:  “He nailed it.”

Rainer stated his view that Millennials are not seeking a particular “style” of worship (e.g. Contemporary vs. Traditional), but desire to participate in worship that includes three major elements:

  • Music that is rich in biblical and theological content
  • Authenticity
  • Quality produced by adequate preparation.

My heart definitely resonates with these elements when they are present in a worship service.  I’d like to dig into the element of authenticity for a bit.  I suppose that means different things to different people, but here are some of my observations about it.

Ranier says, “The Millennials desire authenticity in a worship service.  They can sense when congregants and worship leaders are going through the motions.  And they will reject such perfunctory attitudes altogether.”  So in Rainer’s explanation, the opposite of authenticity is “going through the motions” and “perfunctory attitudes.”  Perfunctory, in case you’re struggling with that one, is used to describe something that is done without energy or enthusiasm because of habit or because it is expected according to Merriam-Webster Online.  Some synonyms include mechanical, routine, and superficial.  So authentic worship is a true reflection of what is in the hearts of the worshipers and leaders.  It represents their genuine thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.  It is real.  It is not a performance, nor a program presented to an audience. The people who plan and lead the worship are not just filling slots with song selections.  They are leading the people to thoughtfully and purposefully engage with truth about God and reflect it back to Him in musical praise and to one another for mutual edification.  And the people in the congregation are not merely singing what the leader announces, but expressing what they really believe about God, uniting their hearts and raising their voices to praise Him.

I desire for the worship in our Lord’s Day Gatherings at Calvary to be authentic, not just because it’s what a demographic category of people want, but because God is worthy of it.  Here are some ways to make or keep worship authentic.  Some of them we are endeavoring to do now and others we can grow in and develop.

  • Spend significant time praying together as pastors and leaders in preparation for upcoming services.
  • Allow plenty of time for planning and discussion of elements of worship services.
  • Be intentional and purposeful in planning what goes into a service.  Select music and Scripture reading and prepare comments and prayer so that all aspects of the service guide the congregation to reflect on and respond to specific truths.
  • Avoid showy music, whether vocal or instrumental.
  • Don’t do what’s expected just because it’s expected.  For example, avoid singing the same three songs every Father’s Day, or only Christmas songs in December.  Sure, it may be appropriate to include some selections that are traditionally used in certain seasons, but thoughtfully include some that relate to familiar truths in fresh ways.
  • Try to be thoughtful and original with the “patter” that we use as pastors during the worship service.  We tend to say the exact same things when welcoming the congregation, recognizing visitors, announcing the offering, etc.  It’s hard to be original when you’re going over the same subject week after week, but it’s good to make an effort to engage people’s minds rather than numb them with repetition.
  • Don’t overformalize.  Be personal, transparent when appropriate, and expressive in verbal comments.  Use music that is accessible, not so complicated that some can’t sing it or understand it.
  • Do a Scripture study of the elements of corporate gatherings.  Teach and talk through why we do what we do in worship.  Here are some references to get started:  Ecclesiastes 5:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:15; 2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Corinthians 14; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.

Worship should be authentic regardless of whether it is attractive or not.  But if engaging the hearts of the next generation is a result too, that’s a good thing.

What do you think?  What makes worship authentic? What produces authentic worship?