Singing to Jesus or My Prom Date: David

Kevin said “So, brotherhood, what do you think is the impact (good or bad) of groups like MercyMe?” First off let me say that I don’t know any Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) “stars” personally. I don’t know their character, their commitments, or even if they are genuine believers. But I do have an opinion about the public face I see of these stars. Interviews I’ve heard on the radio or read in magazines often grieve me. The Lord has given these men and women a platform to share about the character of God, His mercy to them, and most importantly the gospel to a lost and dying world. Instead, what I normally hear is what their favorite foods are, what the last movie they watched was, why they shaved their head, why they choose the clothes they do, etc. And the article on MercyMe shows the increased trend to make references to Jesus more veiled to draw people in who might not know right away that they are listening to music whose supposed aim is to glorify the Lord. What I see of how CCM musicians compose themselves on the stage also grieves me. Again, I don’t know their character...

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Stuck in a Rut: David

I wanted to add a couple things to this idea of clinging to traditions. Ferguson refers to tradition both in terms of our words and our activities. I find it amusing that churches who often consider themselves non-liturgical (not following a liturgy or specific service order rooted in tradition) and free from stuffy traditions of the past quickly manufacture their own new liturgy. Many worship leaders essentially pray the same thing using the same 10 words between songs or at certain points in the service. Over time Christians can develop their own mannerisms, way of speaking, way of using words, and ways of doing mundane things like driving. I’m not kidding. I have witnessed the affects of a church that developed their own complete sub-culture that was totally disconnected from the culture around them. And you know what? People were repelled from Christ because they felt they wouldn’t be accepted unless they started wearing a tie and using certain words in their speech.

His exhortation to make sure we aren’t clinging to meaningless tradition in our words hits home to me most in our practice of public (and private) prayer. I have...

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“God is my girlfriend” or Reflection of the Psalms?: David

Sorry that it has taken so long to post a response to this! Hopefully the previous article from Sam Storms won’t be too far out of the minds of Doxologue readers. Chuck Colson’s original article can be found here, and the response by Sam Storms can be found here.

First, it seems apparent to me that Colson’s demeanor both in his writing and in his own description of how he responded to a worship leader is not Christ-like. The very first sentence in his article is a sweeping generalization that he can’t stand any contemporary worship music or worship leaders. He also declares that “Draw Me Close” has zero theologically content – a statement that can’t be true and is inflammatory. Colson’s defiant shout against the worship leader because he didn’t like the kind of singing that was going on does not display the humility and love of Christ. If the song or leader was leading people into unbiblical ideas about God or leading them into sinful behavior I could see justifying this kind of public retaliation.

Colson says “I'm convinced that much of the music being written for the church today reflects an unfortunate trend—slipping across the line from...

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Family Worship Book Details

Eric,

We're not yet in the position where we could make them available outside of the church, but at some point I hope to put together a website that will have the contents available. Anyone interested can contact me and I can send them a PDF that they can print out double sided to make their own booklet.

Here is where the contents from from:
Family Readings: The Revised Common Lectionary
Catechism Questions: A Catechism for Boys and Girls by Carey Publications (though I'm doing some editing on this, so you can use another catechism like the Baptist Catechism)
Memory Verse: I'm choosing it to go along with the catechism questions
Daily Readings: From Back to the Bible
Hymn: I choose one to go along with the catechism questions and memory verse if possible. I suggest that people learn the tunes from CyberHymnal.org. Here are the 52 hymns that I identified as those I felt families would do well to learn together (we'll probably cycle the same ones again next year unless I make some changes). Keep in mind that the list was prepared with a view towards children being able to participate in singing. The numbers are...

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More Thoughts on Family Worship

Thanks for pointing out Jim Hamilton’s comments on family worship, Eric. I especially liked the way he explained doing various God-focused tasks with the kids at various times throughout the day.

When I reflect on my own experiences with family worship, I am reminded how often I fall into the thinking that once I’ve done certain “spiritual” tasks with the family (and my wife), I have effectively led them in family worship (or put another way, I have checked off my spiritual headship box for the day). We do the same thing with our private worship (a.k.a quiet times or devotions) and corporate worship when we assume that a great time with the Lord in the morning is like a can of spinach to Popeye – it gives us the spiritual power we need to make it to the next meeting. In one sense this is true, that these times of worship are refreshing and reinvigorating, but in another it is not. God tells us that worship is bigger than just special times where we focus our attention on the Lord. Romans 12 begins:

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and

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Unbelievers at Easter Worship

Easter is normally the most highly attended service of the year with many nominal believers (sometimes called Christmas/Easter Christians or CREasters for short) present. Are there any ways that we should take this into account as we plan our worship services for Easter? Those on the doxologue would all agree that worship is for believers, not unbelievers, but in what ways can we explicitly reach out to and acknowledge unbelievers that would not violate this biblical principle and take us into the realm of “seeker sensitive?”

Easter/Good Friday Songs: David

Part of the reason it has taken a week to answer this is that I haven't started planning these services yet! (I normally plan services 5-10 days ahead)

We just introduced See, What a Morning by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty this past Sunday so that we can sing it as a congregation on Easter Sunday. Another song that I almost always use for Sunday is Christ the Lord is Risen Today by Charles Wesley. A song that we are singing this coming Sunday is Up From the Grave He Arose by Robert Lowry. This is a particularly good one for including kids - it's one of our children's favorite Easter songs. We will probably use The Power of the Cross and/or In Christ Alone by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty as well.

For Good Friday I will definitely use O Sacred Head, Now Wounded by Bernard of Clairvaux (1153) which I consider the quintessential Good Friday hymn. After noticing that Bernard is referred to by his town a smart songteam member suggested that I start signing my songs "David of Minnetonka." We may use The Power of the Cross by Stuart Townend and Keith...

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Top New Songs

I keep a detailed list of all of the new songs I have either introduced or plan to introduce. Since I have been at Redeemer (almost 7 months now), I have taught the congregation the following songs:

• Baptism Hymn, an unpublished song from Reformed Praise
• In My Heart by Sovereign Grace Music (Eric Grover), see the album King of Grace
• A Debtor to Mercy by Sovereign Grace Music (Bob Kauflin), see the album Upward
• It's All of Grace by Reformed Praise, see the album Cross-Centered Worship
• Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting from Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN (David Hampton), see the album Re:Awakening
• The Gospel Song (Drew Jones and Bob Kauflin) and The Glories of Calvary (Steve and Vikki Cook) from Sovereign Grace Ministries, see the album Songs for the Cross-Centered Life
• Surrender All and Always Forgiven from Sovereign Grace Ministries, see the album Worship God Live
• Beautiful Savior by Stuart Townend, see the album Beautiful Saviour
• What Wondrous Cause and There Is No Greater Portrait from Reformed Praise

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Prayer is Worship Too

Thanks for reminding us that worship is broader than music. Far too many believers associate worship with music and how music moves them. You can see this unhealthy connection in phrases like "we had a great time of worship before the message," or "that song was really worshipful." (That last one really gets me - I've even seen that adjective used at the top of sheet music to describe to "feel" of the song).

When I teach on worship I normally divide it into 4 areas: gathered or public, family (if you are not living alone), private, and all-of-life. The all-of-life category is normally the most eye-openeing for people. Many often assume that worship must be a conscious routine of stopping the day, praying, singing, meditating, etc. But according to the Lord we should worship Him all day long.

"pray without ceasing"- 1 Thess 5:17
"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." - Col 3:17

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Neglected Song Themes – Two Suggestions

Here are two themes that I believe need more modern songs addressing:

• The Word of God (particularly addressing the centrality of its place in worship and pleas for the Lord to transform us by it)
• The role of the Holy Spirit (asking Him to fill and empower us and to quicken our hearts to love God more passionately in worship)