We don't often post songs that aren't directly related to Christian worship (though if understood broadly, any song can be a "worship song"), but this time we're going to share a song and ask for your help. A friend tipped me off to a songwriting contest that Martin Guitars is having this month, and though I managed to write a song and submit it the same day I found out about it, there's not much time left for voting. The idea of the contest was to write a 2-3m song with the word "lifespan" in it and post a recording (with guitar) to YouTube. I decided to write a blues song based on Psalm 90 and some themes in Ecclesiastes in order to share bits of the gospel to whomever happens upon this song whether through Martin's website or just through YouTube. While it's certainly not as overt about the gospel as the songs you might find here that are geared towards public worship, I'm still trying to bear witness to Jesus in the world of singer-songwriters.
Augustus Toplady, theological champion of the so-called Particular Baptists of the 18th century, wrote many hymns so full of theology they seem to be exploding with truth. The hymn "From Whence This Fear and Unbelief" is no different, and it is strange that this hymn is not as well known or celebrated as his "Rock of Ages" or "A Debtor to Mercy Alone." In this hymn, Toplady sets out to not only defend the doctrine of particular redemption, but to show that it is a holy occasion for praise. In perhaps the most powerful verse, he declares (lyrics have been modernized), "If pardon You have now secured and freely in my place endured the whole of wrath divine, God cannot payment twice demand, first at my bleeding Surety’s hand, and then again at mine." If Jesus' death paid for the sins of every person irrespective of whether they come to put their faith in Him as their Savior, it would be unjust of God to punish unbelievers for their sins since they would have already been punished at the cross. Either God must save everyone, or Jesus' died for a particular people, as Jesus says in John 10:14-1: "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." And again, in Matthew 28:20: "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Though this song is named "My Sin," it could really be named "My Savior" since the song is really about all the ways that Jesus saves us from our sin. Sin is man's most deadly enemy - a sickness far beyond any bacteria or virus we've ever encountered. Sin has run its course through every part of man - body, mind, heart, and soul. And sin is not like a normal sickness - just something we catch from others or the environment. We were both born natures already infected with sin, and are complicit and morally responsible for what our sin natures cause us to do. Sin is such an important biblical concept that the Lord gives us many metaphors to help us understand it and its effects. This song explores three of those metaphors, and how the Father and Son relate to us in those metaphors. As you read, listen, or sing this song, think not simply about how powerful your sin is, but more importantly, all that your Savior Jesus is to you and that he is able to save you from every aspect of sin's terrible force in your life.
A friend of mine sent me this text, saying her church had just sung this hymn and though the music was not very engaging, the words were extremely powerful and would I write a new melody? I read through the text and saw what she was talking about. What a faith-filled hymn! Written by Samuel Rodigast in 1676 to comfort a sick friend, he lays out what it means to deal with the problem of pain from the perspective of faith. Our God is sovereign and full of love, and though he takes us through adversity, his plans are right and true. His promise is that he will not leave us in the circumstance through which he is taking us. Samuel's response is to trust that God will hold him and to be content through the pain. May we all be blessed with such a response that can only come as a result of the Spirit working in us. I pray this song would help our people through whatever trial God is taking them, knowing that some sweet day, we will all be free from the pain of this world.
Christmas is upon us yet again, and though most of our service planning is probably finished, I'd like to point out a few of our songs that relate to the incarnation of Jesus.
The song When Adam By Transgression Fell was written to accompany a Scripture reading from Genesis 3 about the fall of man into sin. The Anglican liturgy of Lessons and Carols includes this reading at Christmas
Last Christmas Eric Schumacher, Jeff Bourque, and I collaborated to write a new tune (and some new lyrics) to Eric's already existing Christmas hymn How Beautiful the Mystery. Here's the new tune, and here's the original hymn text.
I wrote the song My Precious Savior Gave His All a few years ago to describe what Jesus gave in order to redeem His people from their sins. The first verse refers to the incarnation when it says "He left His majesty behind- The King became a slave!"
This is a much older song, in fact, one of my first hymn re-writes: The Everlasting Lord. The text is by Charles Wesley and features the verse "Equal He with God most high, mild, He laid His glory by; He,...
This is a versification of Psalm 1 that fits the tune SOLID ROCK (written for the hymn "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less"). Setting the Psalms to hymn meters (therefore tunes) is one way to make them accessible for congregational singing.
[ We've been working on rewriting our mission and also creating a series of "values" about worship that will communicate our vision for what worship should be all about. While those aren't completely finalized, I think it will be helpful to share some thoughts about each value in a series of short posts. ]
What kind of worship do we want to cultivate? Seventh: All-of-Life
Most of us use the word worship far too narrowly. We normally attend a "worship" service on Sunday mornings, and may even refer to the music and singing part of the service as "the worship." While worship certainly takes place during the Sunday morning gathering and during our songs, surprisingly, the New Testament does not use the word in connection with public services. Rather, worship is defined as what is happening on the inside which works itself outwards. Consider Romans 12:1-2, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern...
The music video for There Is No Sin That I Have Done has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I'd like to share the story behind it. If you had asked me whether I'd ever make a music video as part of Reformed Praise a couple of years ago, I would have laughed, and laughed hard. I'm not naturally a great performing singer and could never have envisioned myself on screen in a production anything like you'd see on music television. Besides, I write worship songs – songs intended for congregations to sing – a genre whose songs are normally accompanied by music videos, unless they are of a live performance in a worship setting (like Hillsongs videos).
A friend and fellow member of my local church runs a music and video production studio, but I wasn't able to work with him on our last album, Merciful to Me. After the album was finished, I was approached by another member of our church, who asked me if I had any work I could give to the studio. Since I didn't have any music recording projects lined up,...
We're thrilled to share the official music video for our song There Is No Sin That I Have Done on the album Merciful to Me. Special thanks goes to Terrell Ferguson at 121 Studios for directing the film. We'll share more about how this video came to be later, but for now the video alone will have to suffice. May God be glorified as people experience this song in a new way through the amazing medium of video.
On Sunday, October 9th, 2011, we'll be traveling out to Tonkawa, OK to support our good friend Nathan Copeland (who played bass and drum kit on a couple of our albums) as he is installed as the pastor of First Baptist Church. David will be leading First Baptist in congregational singing, teaching a Sunday school class, and preaching at the evening service. If you live in the Tonkawa area, feel free to drop by and show your support for Nathan and the Lord's church there, or pray for safe travel and that God's people would be edified in the gospel through sermon and song.
Reformed Praise is a music ministry dedicated to providing songs for corporate worship which are rich in theology, diverse in musical style, and centered on the gospel of grace, that our praise might be informed by Biblical truth.
"The uniting of unchanging truth with contemporary expression is an idea as old as the Word of God itself. What a joy it is to see more songwriters bringing new life to hymns rich in theology and biblical doctrine."
"One of the most difficult challenges for pastors today is locating music that is not only lyrically orthodox and spiritually edifying, but also that speaks to the heart of the contemporary worshipper. Reformed Praise accomplishes this beautifully. I know of nothing like it, and commend it enthusiastically to anyone willing to listen."
Reformed Praise is a music ministry dedicated to providing songs for corporate worship which are rich in theology, diverse in musical style, and centered on the gospel of grace, that our praise might be informed by Biblical truth.
