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We've been pretty busy over the last few months (which is one reason we haven't not been posting much) with the summer album project. For those who haven't received updates on our supporter list, here's a brief overview of how the project is coming along.
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Friends,
Earlier today I wrote an update about a new album that we're going to be working on this summer. If you read that post you'll get a glimpse of the scope of what we're hoping to accomplish musically and it's pretty ambitious. The Lord has allowed us to work with a producer and recording engineer who runs one of the top studios in town, and has given us a huge collection of musicians who are willing to help, some who aren't in a position to participate w/o compensation. We're estimating the cost of the album to be $12k. That number might shock some of you, but for the scope of the project, the facilities and equipment involved, and the musicians and arrangers, it's not astronomical.
I'm writing this follow-up to the project description to ask for your help in a very concrete way. If you believe in what we're doing or have enjoyed our first CD, would you prayerfully consider donating to our project before the CD is released? (target is this fall) We are a very small group of independent songwriters and all of the funds for Reformed Praise come either from...
I had the privilege of preaching this sermon to my local church family on Sunday, January 10th, 2010
Pardon the silence here for the past month or so. I've been putting most of my non-worship-leading-non-father-of-five focus on a top secret software project (well, I like to think it's top secret). Eric and I have met a couple of times this fall to work on our Hymns on God's Attributes project, and we have drafts of all 15 hymns completed (though several of them might not deserve the term "draft"!). We need to revise them and are still looking and praying about whether we can publish them as a small book with a "real" publisher. Here's one of my favorite verses from our recent trip, verse 2 of "The Lord is Merciful" which explains how God's mercy is demonstrated in the gospel:
The Lord has saved us from sin's pow'r according to His mercy;
When we were helpless and oppressed He looked on us with pity.
The merciful High Priest approached the mercy seat
And through His sacrifice paid our redemption's price
To demonstrate His kindness.
Through my blog, I'm giving away a couple copies of Russ Moore's book, Adopted for Life, to those who link to our song "Though I Was Born an Orphan" or pass it along to their pastor.
For entry details, go here. The contest is open through November 15.
The audio from my hymn-series sermon on "How Firm a Foundation" is now up:
How Firm a Foundation: Standing on the Word of God
Last week I wrote a pamphlet for prospective members of our "Song" team (otherwise known as the "Worship" team) and thought it might be worth sharing here. Hopefully you'll find a few ideas that will help you structure your music ministry or what you communicate to prospective team members.
Welcome
This little brochure has been created to answer common questions about who participates in leading our worship services and what’s involved in serving in this way.
We would first like to express how delighted we are that you have the interest and desire to be involved with the public worship of God. Worshipping God is one of our highest privileges and joys, and making music for His glory and the edification of His people is a great honor and can be very satisfying. Second, we’d like to point out that even if you aren’t up front, in a very real way you are still participating in our music. We believe that music in worship is designed chiefly as an aid to congregational singing and do all that we can to encourage, invite, and make participation by all possible. Before you make music “on stage,” you should see yourself...
An Internet acquaintance asked me to do an email interview about Reformed Praise and music ministry at Redeemer Bible Church. In the interview I shared about some of the spiritual struggles I face as an artist, songwriter, and regular "performer" (though not in the typical sense). I'm grateful for the chance to put God's grace on display - it's amazing that He uses sinners like me to spread the gospel and impact lives for eternity.
Just a quick note to let you know that Eric and I are working together all day tomorrow and hope to finish all 15 three stanza hymns on God's attributes, as outlined in our original project post. We would appreciate your prayers for a productive and enjoyable time and that we be filled with the Spirit as we "speak to one another" in hymns. Please also pray for wisdom in what to do with the hymns; whether to seek publication with a major publisher; self-publish a physical book, or simply post them like our other works directly on Reformed Praise.
UPDATE: We finished our work day with four more hymns under our belt (not the 10 we were hoping for!) and were again blessed to spend so many hours pondering the mysteries of God's character and how they were so clearly demonstrated at the cross. This is perhaps my favorite stanza from our time, the second (gospel) stanza from The Lord Is Righteous:
The Lord has shown Himself as both the Just and Justifier...
When Jesus died to satisfy what Justice did require.
The spotless Lamb was slain for guilty sinners' gain;
Through faith the Judge declares His righteousness is theirs
And
The audio recording of my seminar from the 2009 Sovereign Grace worship conference is now available. I'm also making my notes available directly in this post (formatting may be hard to read) and as a PDF attachment (see the right-hand column).
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Reformed Praise presents Martin Luther's setting of Psalm 130 in a fresh, reflective, piano-driven setting suitable for a wide range of worship music styles.