I have a new favorite worship song. You know it; it's called "The Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman. I'm going to tell you about my experience with this song thus far and why I have rather suddenly decided that it is basically pure gold.
This song is nearly as old as I am, and I can remember singing it growing up in church for as long as I can remember. So, naturally, for very much of my life it has been a song that I've known very well, yet I never pay any attention to the words. This trend is tragic, but it happens all the time, even to people like me who really play a ton of worship music. Something psychologically within us allows us to sing songs without listening to the words. I often say that I hope one symptom of my worship ministry will be to encourage people to really listen and really sing the words. Unfortunately this is a rather difficult task, one that there's no clear-cut way of achieving. One possibility, I hope, is to write a blog post on the subject.
It was just tonight that the song took on new life for me. As I was singing whatever songs came to me, this one came to my mind. I realized, after singing the chorus once or twice, that I had actually misunderstood what exactly the chorus was saying the whole time. I'll briefly talk about that here: basically, the "it" in "it's all about You" does not refer to the "heart" of worship, but "worship." So, despite its place of honor in the title of the song, the song isn't so much about this ethereal "heart" of worship as it is about worship itself.
I guess I had always been annoyed by that first phrase, I'm coming back to the heart of worship. It sounds like Christian-ese with little actual meaning. And that would be the case, except that (given the distinction I made above) the next line defines this odd term: It's all about You all about You Jesus. What is coming back to the heart of worship? Coming back to having worship be all about Jesus. Tragically, this is not always the case. It may not even be the case a majority of the time. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it is something I have confessed to God on many occasions. Turning "worship" into a performance or popularity grab is so easy and so common. This pitfall is difficult to avoid, but I'll suggest one solution: sing this song and mean it! I found myself this evening unable to stop confessing and realigning, getting more and more excited I get to say that It's all about You all about You Jesus.
Of courses, the verses and prechorus to the song are great too, but I'm not going to go through them line by line. To reexamine the song cuts deep as I realize how often I've only brought "a song in itself," and not myself in worship.
I would love to urge you, in any way I can, to develop a practice of really listening to the songs you sing in worship. It is so easy to just sing words! I do it all the time, I'm trying to develop this discipline right along with you. I want every word I sing in worship songs to be something I am actually personally praying and meaning. I have no problem confessing that this is not the case at all times, but I foresee a future where it happens more frequently.
I don't see it or act like it all the time, but it's all about Jesus.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
The Armor of God (God's Armor)
The following are the most interesting nuggets of information I gleaned from an inductive study of Ephesians 6:10-18. Getting into the meaning of many of the Greek words (via bible dictionaries and Logos software) really illuminates a lot of the meaning of the passage, much of which may have been lost or muddied in translation. Enjoy! I think there's some pretty great stuff here. I suggest reading the passage in question at least once before continuing.
Verse 10, "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," serves as a heading under which the rest of the passage falls. The verses that follow are an explanation, more specifically, of how believers are to fulfill this exhortation.
The phrase "full armor" is the technical term (panoplia) for the complete armor set of a heavily armed infantryman. Paul (the author here), through his frequent imprisonment, had frequent run-ins with Roman soldiers. Some scholars suggest that he was chained to one or otherwise in rather close quarters while writing this passage (I don't think this is the case, but my faith would not be in shambles if it is). This means he is not necessarily referring to an ambiguous set of objects, but a specific set of things that his audience would have been familiar with.
The difference of a seemingly unimportant connective really illuminates the purpose of the armor. The phrase translated "stand against the devil's schemes" is most literally translated "stand toward the devil's schemes." This word is the same one used in 4:12, "equip... for works of service." This phrase does not denote a passive defense to the devil's schemes, but willful and overt opposition.
"Day of evil" does not refer the end times, any specific act of the devil's, or even any specific event at all. Notice in 5:16 that Paul says all "the days are evil;" the same word for "evil" is used in both cases. It more specifically has to do with work or toil, as the sort of "evil that causes toil." Paul is not talking about preparation for a future event but action to be taken right now in the evil days that the world has continually experienced since the first evil day, when man fell away from Him.
My previous understanding of "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" was, I confess, incorrect. "Spirit" here does definitely refer to the Holy Spirit, the Person, and the connective "of" denotes origin; so we are not talking about just any spiritual sword here, but a specific sword that has come from the Holy Spirit Himself. The second half of the phrase makes it clear what exactly the sword is- "word of God" here refers to that which God has literally spoken. It is, importantly, not the same word used in John 1 to refer to Jesus. Paul names the sword "the word of God," referring to the Scriptures, which were God-Breathed, indeed given to us by the Spirit Himself.
What follows is the most interesting thing that I personally learned. Paul didn't even make up the armor of God! He took them from Isaiah (11:5, 52:7, 59:17), which he would have known very thoroughly. In Isaiah, it is God Himself who is wearing this armor, which illuminates the phrase that titles this blog post. "The armor of God" refers to the armor that god wears, "God's armor." This makes more sense when you consider that many of the pieces of armor, like truth and righteousness, are God's attributes, with which he is eternally clothed. It seems that the whole armor passage is an extension of Paul's call in 5:1 to "follow God's example." When we "put on" the qualities and attributes of God that He has revealed, we become truly strong.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this study has as its ultimate aim an application to be applied to daily life. This is a very specific action to be taken by the perpetrator of the study- I suppose what I should be doing is using "big ideas" and "pedagogical ideas" to "teach" this passage to you, but I haven't gotten that far in the class :). Therefore, I'll just share what I got out of it for myself. Perhaps in your own study the Spirit will illuminate something that you can do in your own life in response to what He has taught you with this passage.
What stuck out to me was the passage's clear focus upon preparation, and prayer's essential role in such preparation. Even "putting on" any given piece of armor is not automatic, but something that happens only through prayer. This passage has illuminated the fact that I am often unprepared for the constant assaults of the devil and his forces as I live my earthly life. More specifically, I do not pray regularly, and when I do, I don't often pray for the kind of preparation this passage discusses as so essential.
If I were to live out the preparedness through prayer that Paul is urging upon the Ephesians, I would daily seek strength from the Lord to resist lethargy, temptation, and any other "flaming arrows." Over this month, I will pray every day, setting aside a specific time to do so. Each time I pray, I will read this passage and be sure to pray in the manner Paul urges. After each time I will write a small (one sentence) journal entry signifying that I have done so, providing a way to keep a record of preparedness.
Like I said above, this is specific to me. Perhaps you don't even need this, and you walk in prayer and preparation. If you are like me and want to choose to have the same response to the passage, tell me if you want to be kept additionally accountable. Consider making the decision I discussed in my previous post to actually, tangibly respond.
In any case, thank you very much for reading, and I pray the Spirit will use the word of God to bless you.
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this n mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
Ephesians 6:18
Verse 10, "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," serves as a heading under which the rest of the passage falls. The verses that follow are an explanation, more specifically, of how believers are to fulfill this exhortation.
The phrase "full armor" is the technical term (panoplia) for the complete armor set of a heavily armed infantryman. Paul (the author here), through his frequent imprisonment, had frequent run-ins with Roman soldiers. Some scholars suggest that he was chained to one or otherwise in rather close quarters while writing this passage (I don't think this is the case, but my faith would not be in shambles if it is). This means he is not necessarily referring to an ambiguous set of objects, but a specific set of things that his audience would have been familiar with.
The difference of a seemingly unimportant connective really illuminates the purpose of the armor. The phrase translated "stand against the devil's schemes" is most literally translated "stand toward the devil's schemes." This word is the same one used in 4:12, "equip... for works of service." This phrase does not denote a passive defense to the devil's schemes, but willful and overt opposition.
"Day of evil" does not refer the end times, any specific act of the devil's, or even any specific event at all. Notice in 5:16 that Paul says all "the days are evil;" the same word for "evil" is used in both cases. It more specifically has to do with work or toil, as the sort of "evil that causes toil." Paul is not talking about preparation for a future event but action to be taken right now in the evil days that the world has continually experienced since the first evil day, when man fell away from Him.
My previous understanding of "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" was, I confess, incorrect. "Spirit" here does definitely refer to the Holy Spirit, the Person, and the connective "of" denotes origin; so we are not talking about just any spiritual sword here, but a specific sword that has come from the Holy Spirit Himself. The second half of the phrase makes it clear what exactly the sword is- "word of God" here refers to that which God has literally spoken. It is, importantly, not the same word used in John 1 to refer to Jesus. Paul names the sword "the word of God," referring to the Scriptures, which were God-Breathed, indeed given to us by the Spirit Himself.
What follows is the most interesting thing that I personally learned. Paul didn't even make up the armor of God! He took them from Isaiah (11:5, 52:7, 59:17), which he would have known very thoroughly. In Isaiah, it is God Himself who is wearing this armor, which illuminates the phrase that titles this blog post. "The armor of God" refers to the armor that god wears, "God's armor." This makes more sense when you consider that many of the pieces of armor, like truth and righteousness, are God's attributes, with which he is eternally clothed. It seems that the whole armor passage is an extension of Paul's call in 5:1 to "follow God's example." When we "put on" the qualities and attributes of God that He has revealed, we become truly strong.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this study has as its ultimate aim an application to be applied to daily life. This is a very specific action to be taken by the perpetrator of the study- I suppose what I should be doing is using "big ideas" and "pedagogical ideas" to "teach" this passage to you, but I haven't gotten that far in the class :). Therefore, I'll just share what I got out of it for myself. Perhaps in your own study the Spirit will illuminate something that you can do in your own life in response to what He has taught you with this passage.
What stuck out to me was the passage's clear focus upon preparation, and prayer's essential role in such preparation. Even "putting on" any given piece of armor is not automatic, but something that happens only through prayer. This passage has illuminated the fact that I am often unprepared for the constant assaults of the devil and his forces as I live my earthly life. More specifically, I do not pray regularly, and when I do, I don't often pray for the kind of preparation this passage discusses as so essential.
If I were to live out the preparedness through prayer that Paul is urging upon the Ephesians, I would daily seek strength from the Lord to resist lethargy, temptation, and any other "flaming arrows." Over this month, I will pray every day, setting aside a specific time to do so. Each time I pray, I will read this passage and be sure to pray in the manner Paul urges. After each time I will write a small (one sentence) journal entry signifying that I have done so, providing a way to keep a record of preparedness.
Like I said above, this is specific to me. Perhaps you don't even need this, and you walk in prayer and preparation. If you are like me and want to choose to have the same response to the passage, tell me if you want to be kept additionally accountable. Consider making the decision I discussed in my previous post to actually, tangibly respond.
In any case, thank you very much for reading, and I pray the Spirit will use the word of God to bless you.
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this n mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
Ephesians 6:18
The Blog Returns!
So, I have material for another blog post. I may have material for some more after that. Before jumping right into it, I thought I'd post about the fact that I'm beginning to post again.
It is amusingly ironic that this blog, created originally to chronicle my college experience, basically disappeared as soon as I actually experienced college. There's a lot to say about college; it's incredibly fun, and incredibly busy. Perhaps my experience will be further explored in further posts. The reasons for its disappearance are many and are rather subtle; in the end it just became something that wasn't very important to me.
God has really been speaking to me recently, over the past two days specifically, and it's because of this that I'm posting again. I had spent a long time without reading the bible or praying very regularly, with a definite feeling of something lost but not quite enough motivation to seek that lost closeness. This began changing because of numerous small motions on the part of God, but it most specifically began yesterday in Zondervan Library.
As I was in the midst of an inductive study on Ephesians 6:10-18 (for Intro to Christian Educational Ministries class), it became clear to me that I had uncovered enough interesting information to form a blog post. That was the beginning of the train of thought that will culminate with my next blog post. The ultimate goal of these inductive studies is an Application to be directly applied to our own life, and (in theory) actually carried out. I am no foreigner to the idea of such applications, having heard a plethora of lessons and sermons that ended with one or more such things. My pattern in the past has been, usually, thinking about it, maybe even doing it a little bit, but not really implementing these sorts of things. As I wrote my application for this passage, I resolved to be sure that that would not be the case.
Part of my application involved praying every day, at specific times. As I finished writing the application at 8:45, I wrote "the weekly time for Saturdays would be 9," printed my assignment, and headed to the prayer chapel to practice what I preached. Once there I prayed, out loud, for the first time I had with such sincerity in a long while. I prayed through the passage I had studied and then began laying before the Lord all the thoughts and insecurities and hopes I had kept subconscious previously.
It is hard to describe that experience, or describe the change in general attitude that followed. I re-found the closeness with God that had only ever been one intentional step away. I resolved to, yes, actually pray through this passage every day. It has become clear to me that, as long as I approach life in this recently re-found fullness, I will indeed have experiences to blog about. So here we are.
Church today was fantastic, as the presence of God was experienced and a lot of relevant truth was spoken into my life. I have resolved to live with a different response to these sort of experiences, to actually live differently because of them. This blog is a way of chronicling those efforts. I think I'm back to posting about what this blog was originally about, finding how to worship everywhere and in every way. My experience worshiping through study and prayer has lead me to worship by, well, blogging.
Thank you for reading this, I hope the relating of my experiences will inform you regarding the posts to follow and, hopefully, be used by the Spirit to bless you in some way beyond that.
It is amusingly ironic that this blog, created originally to chronicle my college experience, basically disappeared as soon as I actually experienced college. There's a lot to say about college; it's incredibly fun, and incredibly busy. Perhaps my experience will be further explored in further posts. The reasons for its disappearance are many and are rather subtle; in the end it just became something that wasn't very important to me.
God has really been speaking to me recently, over the past two days specifically, and it's because of this that I'm posting again. I had spent a long time without reading the bible or praying very regularly, with a definite feeling of something lost but not quite enough motivation to seek that lost closeness. This began changing because of numerous small motions on the part of God, but it most specifically began yesterday in Zondervan Library.
As I was in the midst of an inductive study on Ephesians 6:10-18 (for Intro to Christian Educational Ministries class), it became clear to me that I had uncovered enough interesting information to form a blog post. That was the beginning of the train of thought that will culminate with my next blog post. The ultimate goal of these inductive studies is an Application to be directly applied to our own life, and (in theory) actually carried out. I am no foreigner to the idea of such applications, having heard a plethora of lessons and sermons that ended with one or more such things. My pattern in the past has been, usually, thinking about it, maybe even doing it a little bit, but not really implementing these sorts of things. As I wrote my application for this passage, I resolved to be sure that that would not be the case.
Part of my application involved praying every day, at specific times. As I finished writing the application at 8:45, I wrote "the weekly time for Saturdays would be 9," printed my assignment, and headed to the prayer chapel to practice what I preached. Once there I prayed, out loud, for the first time I had with such sincerity in a long while. I prayed through the passage I had studied and then began laying before the Lord all the thoughts and insecurities and hopes I had kept subconscious previously.
It is hard to describe that experience, or describe the change in general attitude that followed. I re-found the closeness with God that had only ever been one intentional step away. I resolved to, yes, actually pray through this passage every day. It has become clear to me that, as long as I approach life in this recently re-found fullness, I will indeed have experiences to blog about. So here we are.
Church today was fantastic, as the presence of God was experienced and a lot of relevant truth was spoken into my life. I have resolved to live with a different response to these sort of experiences, to actually live differently because of them. This blog is a way of chronicling those efforts. I think I'm back to posting about what this blog was originally about, finding how to worship everywhere and in every way. My experience worshiping through study and prayer has lead me to worship by, well, blogging.
Thank you for reading this, I hope the relating of my experiences will inform you regarding the posts to follow and, hopefully, be used by the Spirit to bless you in some way beyond that.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
It's Raining (Right Now)
After completing my grueling 2-class first day of college, I'm taking advantage of the fact that I'm stranded in the Student Union by tons of rain to blog a bit.
Welcome Weekend here finally ended with classes beginning last night. I'm sure all of my fellow freshmen also enjoyed the seminars, schedules, and sweat. (I've sweated a LOT these past few days. It's been hot. Hopefully this rain will be cooling us all down.)
In between fun with O Groups and various other officially scheduled Welcome events, I've been spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, 2nd Berg (aka "Sigma Beta"). We've chilled in the DC, played large amounts of games, gone out for Thai, and generally enjoyed each other's company quite a bit. This is a pretty great floor to live on.
In between fun with O Groups and various other schedule Welcome events, and in between spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, I have already been able to get quite a few jam sessions in (as of now... 4). A student body including a lot of musicians who were as big a fan of worship music and I am is one of the huge benefits of going to Taylor. I've made fast friends with many, and there are still plenty of guys and gals I have yet to jam with.
Over the past few weeks/months, I hope to continue having as many jam sessions as possible and hopefully get one or two band lineups actually solidified to start actually practicing and performing music. We'll see how the plan goes, for now it's going great.
If you're at Taylor and you want to jam- make sure you let me know. I believe my e-mail is somewhere on this blog, but it's probably best to find me with a FB message. See you soon!
Peace.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a LOUD noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psalm 98:4 (KJV)
Welcome Weekend here finally ended with classes beginning last night. I'm sure all of my fellow freshmen also enjoyed the seminars, schedules, and sweat. (I've sweated a LOT these past few days. It's been hot. Hopefully this rain will be cooling us all down.)
In between fun with O Groups and various other officially scheduled Welcome events, I've been spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, 2nd Berg (aka "Sigma Beta"). We've chilled in the DC, played large amounts of games, gone out for Thai, and generally enjoyed each other's company quite a bit. This is a pretty great floor to live on.
In between fun with O Groups and various other schedule Welcome events, and in between spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, I have already been able to get quite a few jam sessions in (as of now... 4). A student body including a lot of musicians who were as big a fan of worship music and I am is one of the huge benefits of going to Taylor. I've made fast friends with many, and there are still plenty of guys and gals I have yet to jam with.
Over the past few weeks/months, I hope to continue having as many jam sessions as possible and hopefully get one or two band lineups actually solidified to start actually practicing and performing music. We'll see how the plan goes, for now it's going great.
If you're at Taylor and you want to jam- make sure you let me know. I believe my e-mail is somewhere on this blog, but it's probably best to find me with a FB message. See you soon!
Peace.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a LOUD noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psalm 98:4 (KJV)
Friday, August 22, 2014
Arrival at My New Home
As I have mentioned on numerous previous occasions, I originally had the idea of creating a blog in order to journal my college experience. I created quite early. Now, I am glad to announce, the time is here! I arrived on campus here at Taylor University today, and this is what I did.
The first order of business was carrying all my stuff, in large and heavy bags, up a flight of stairs to my room. This was accomplished with ample help from my father. After unpacking a little bit and "Facetiming" my mom, dad headed back home and I was on my own.
I didn't have anything going on till dinner at 5 Indiana time, so I set about setting up my dorm room. I have a really fantastic setup (TU peeps: come say hi!). My room is very large and there are only 2 people in it (my dorm, Bergwall, usually has 3), so all in all it is quite spacious. I have plenty of space in which to store/display my various instruments, currently including 2 guitars (Thor and Little Thor, christened by my dad), a banjo, a "Jingling Johnny" (see previous blog posts), and a harmonica.
I am currently sitting and typing at my desk, situated strategically at an outlet so I can dial in all sorts of gadgets into my surge protector. Add sheets to the bed, dry-erase calendar to the wall, and clothes to the closet, and my room is pretty much set.
Anyway, around 5 P.M. I headed down to dinner with my roommate Jacob Bernard and his parents for dinner, where we were joined by our floor PAs (Personel Assistants) and our floor DA (Discipleship Assistant). From there, we wandered around our floor a little bit, I whipped out some card tricks, and Jacob, myself, and my boy Trayvon headed to our "Dedication Service" at 7.
I am going to continue in my general trend of shooting very straight here and say that this Service was boooring. It was rather exciting to be gathering as a body and committing to the Life Together Covenant, but after the 6th or 7th person detailing how excited yet frightened I was supposed to be, I was ready to check out.
Eventually all the freshman from my dorm gathered and met our Hall Director, later splitting off by floors and meeting with our PAs/RAs. Then we waited in the Berg lobby, making friends and generally socializing, waiting for the members of our sister floor to swing by in order to participate in an activity that was, at that time, a secret.
This secret event was the "Awk Walk." You probably have a good idea of how this went down. Each guy had to walk beside a randomly selected girl, occasionally switching partners, being given odd walking instructions, or discussing prompted questions. It was all very good fun (really).
After the Awk Walk we headed back to Berg, watched a little Top Gear, and here I am blogging before I go to bed. Looking forward for many great days to come!
Cheers!
The first order of business was carrying all my stuff, in large and heavy bags, up a flight of stairs to my room. This was accomplished with ample help from my father. After unpacking a little bit and "Facetiming" my mom, dad headed back home and I was on my own.
I didn't have anything going on till dinner at 5 Indiana time, so I set about setting up my dorm room. I have a really fantastic setup (TU peeps: come say hi!). My room is very large and there are only 2 people in it (my dorm, Bergwall, usually has 3), so all in all it is quite spacious. I have plenty of space in which to store/display my various instruments, currently including 2 guitars (Thor and Little Thor, christened by my dad), a banjo, a "Jingling Johnny" (see previous blog posts), and a harmonica.
I am currently sitting and typing at my desk, situated strategically at an outlet so I can dial in all sorts of gadgets into my surge protector. Add sheets to the bed, dry-erase calendar to the wall, and clothes to the closet, and my room is pretty much set.
Anyway, around 5 P.M. I headed down to dinner with my roommate Jacob Bernard and his parents for dinner, where we were joined by our floor PAs (Personel Assistants) and our floor DA (Discipleship Assistant). From there, we wandered around our floor a little bit, I whipped out some card tricks, and Jacob, myself, and my boy Trayvon headed to our "Dedication Service" at 7.
I am going to continue in my general trend of shooting very straight here and say that this Service was boooring. It was rather exciting to be gathering as a body and committing to the Life Together Covenant, but after the 6th or 7th person detailing how excited yet frightened I was supposed to be, I was ready to check out.
Eventually all the freshman from my dorm gathered and met our Hall Director, later splitting off by floors and meeting with our PAs/RAs. Then we waited in the Berg lobby, making friends and generally socializing, waiting for the members of our sister floor to swing by in order to participate in an activity that was, at that time, a secret.
This secret event was the "Awk Walk." You probably have a good idea of how this went down. Each guy had to walk beside a randomly selected girl, occasionally switching partners, being given odd walking instructions, or discussing prompted questions. It was all very good fun (really).
After the Awk Walk we headed back to Berg, watched a little Top Gear, and here I am blogging before I go to bed. Looking forward for many great days to come!
Cheers!
Friday, August 15, 2014
"How He Loves"
"How He Loves" is a very well-known and well-loved worship song, and has been particularly meaningful to me recently. Unfortunately, not too many people know about the circumstances surrounding this song's creation, and I think the story adds significant depth to the song. Here it is!
First off, you should know that it was written by John Mark McMillan, NOT the David Crowder*Band. A woefully low number of worship music listeners are aware of this, as the song was made popular with the circulation of DC*B's cover. In fact, to this day I have never heard any of John Mark McMillan's recorded versions on the radio. (BTW, I have many problems with the radio, and discrepancies like this are only one of them. My general dislike for the radio will serve as the subject matter for at least one, probably many, future post(s).)
So, John Mark McMillan wrote this song shortly after one of his best friends died in a car crash. He was frustrated and angry, and in his words "needed to have a conversation with God." As he tried to process his agony through music he created this beautiful celebration of God's love that we sing in churches across the nation today.
There's actually a third verse to the song that is far too personal for any worship leader or cover band to sing. On the first recording of the song (I think the only one in which he includes the third verse), McMillan actually breaks down and cries. I'm sure he could have recorded it once without crying, releasing it this way was definitely a conscious choice, don't lose sight of that. Regardless, my favorite line from this verse says "people try to tell me You're cruel // But if Stephen could sing he'd say it's not true." I think you'll agree that such sentiment is quite powerful, especially coming after such tragedy.
Lines like "all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory" and "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us" certainly take on more meaning with context. Moreso, the entire great song with its great poetry saying "God loves us so so so soooo much," having been written on the worst day of his life, showcases a very pervasive and inspiring faith. Resilient joy that endures despite negative circumstances, as John Piper said in his last sermon from his pulpit, is THE thing the world needs from the church.
The song would be awesome and worth singing if it was written and sung from a mountaintop. Unfortunately, the fact is that many people who walk into worship are not going through a mountain, but rather a valley. These are truly beautiful lyrics to sing in such times, celebrating a love that is at once beautiful and unfathomable.
The act of looking beyond tragedy and seeing God's steadfast love through it all that this song represents has always been powerful to me, and now with a recent loss of my own to keep in mind, it has become that much more personal and poignant.
Anyway, it's a great song. Here's a link to the original recording I referenced above. Give it a listen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
-"How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan
First off, you should know that it was written by John Mark McMillan, NOT the David Crowder*Band. A woefully low number of worship music listeners are aware of this, as the song was made popular with the circulation of DC*B's cover. In fact, to this day I have never heard any of John Mark McMillan's recorded versions on the radio. (BTW, I have many problems with the radio, and discrepancies like this are only one of them. My general dislike for the radio will serve as the subject matter for at least one, probably many, future post(s).)
So, John Mark McMillan wrote this song shortly after one of his best friends died in a car crash. He was frustrated and angry, and in his words "needed to have a conversation with God." As he tried to process his agony through music he created this beautiful celebration of God's love that we sing in churches across the nation today.
There's actually a third verse to the song that is far too personal for any worship leader or cover band to sing. On the first recording of the song (I think the only one in which he includes the third verse), McMillan actually breaks down and cries. I'm sure he could have recorded it once without crying, releasing it this way was definitely a conscious choice, don't lose sight of that. Regardless, my favorite line from this verse says "people try to tell me You're cruel // But if Stephen could sing he'd say it's not true." I think you'll agree that such sentiment is quite powerful, especially coming after such tragedy.
Lines like "all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory" and "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us" certainly take on more meaning with context. Moreso, the entire great song with its great poetry saying "God loves us so so so soooo much," having been written on the worst day of his life, showcases a very pervasive and inspiring faith. Resilient joy that endures despite negative circumstances, as John Piper said in his last sermon from his pulpit, is THE thing the world needs from the church.
The song would be awesome and worth singing if it was written and sung from a mountaintop. Unfortunately, the fact is that many people who walk into worship are not going through a mountain, but rather a valley. These are truly beautiful lyrics to sing in such times, celebrating a love that is at once beautiful and unfathomable.
The act of looking beyond tragedy and seeing God's steadfast love through it all that this song represents has always been powerful to me, and now with a recent loss of my own to keep in mind, it has become that much more personal and poignant.
Anyway, it's a great song. Here's a link to the original recording I referenced above. Give it a listen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
-"How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Simplicity and Neon Steeple
[I just noticed that over a month ago, on June 13, I suggested that I would write a post on Neon Steeple. Rather than make myself out to be a liar, I'm going to use some time in the backseat of my parents' car here to write this post. I set out to discuss the album and ended up bringing an interesting discussion about worship music I frequently ponder. Enjoy!]
For a very long while the David Crowder*Band was my absolute favorite worship band. I love them very much, and their music will always hold a special place in my heart. (They've only been beat out by Rend Collective!) My favorite thing about the DC*B was that, on top of writing true and worshipful songs, they were musically interesting. In other words, their incredibly variable rock-to-techno-to-bluegrass sound would be worth listening to if it was NOT worship music. Unfortunately, that's not the case for most worship bands out there. Pretty often, the fact that a song is a worship song is used as an excuse for its instrumental (and even vocal) parts to be quite boring.
Blogger's note: It's hard to say whether the "problem" described in my previous two sentences is a bad thing. On the one hand, songs intended for congregational singing need to be easy to learn and sing. Simplicity itself is often a virtue, giving congregations a chance to affirm simple yet amazing truths. On the other hand, the worship music industry is inundated with songs that are boring or uninteresting musically.
What are worship artists to do? Write songs that are easy for bands to learn and congregations to sing, but be criticized by not being worth listening to? Or write songs with musical excellence that can't be brought into a congregational setting easily? Obviously, each artist will approach their craft differently, and many probably don't think of their music in these terms. In the best case scenario, bands prove that these two ideals are not exclusive, producing songs that are interesting to listen to AND to use with congregations.
I think the David Crowder*Band produced songs that were very interesting to listen to but often difficult to bring into a service. Artists like Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman tend to produce songs that are (in varying degrees) instrumentally bland,* but very effective and easy for use in services. I guess that as a worship artist, one has to sit down and decide what role exactly your songs will play. I don't think Chris Tomlin's band is unskilled, I think they consciously play simpler instrumental parts to make the song easier to learn and sing.**
Another blogger's note: All of the above is a discussion that applies to "worship artists," by which I mean the people that write and record worship songs, NOT the ground-level worship band playing at a given church. Each band (with the proper licensing) has the ability to choose exactly which songs to play, giving the worship leader great control over the lyrical and musical complexity of the music. Recreating recordings is boring, people! Simpler songs can easily be made more musically interesting, and vice versa. Every band and every congregation are different. I think enough worship artists produce enough music all along the simple-complex spectrum for each band to find exactly what it needs.
NOW, to what I originally wrote this post for: Neon Steeple! (I know, quite a diversion there. Good talk!) On my first listen through the album, I was unhappy that no songs on the album were going to make their way into my worship sets. Some may, with some work, but for now most of the songs are farther down the complexity spectrum than I usually attempt. This initial disappointment was completely forgotten after I had listened through a couple more times. The truth is, the album is very enjoyable to listen to. I like it for many of the same reasons I liked his work with the DC*B. It may not be easy to sing along to or play, but MAN it is fun to listen to. As I may have mentioned before, the album is a combination of bluegrass and techno- if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does! If you'd like to get a feel for the album, here's my favorite song to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQk7RQg5p3k&feature=youtu.be
Let me know what you think! About the song, album, and complexity in worship music. Until next time, cheers!
*I actually regularly listen to Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, despite the frequent blandness of the instrumental parts and the simplicity of vocal melodies. This is mostly because I am a huge fan of worship music and usually think with congregational singing in mind; true, enjoyable, and worshipful lyrics ARE enough for me (and many others) to buy and listen to music. Writing songs with congregations in mind is not necessarily a terrible business model, and does not necessarily mean the death of the industry.
**Unfortunately, NO Chris Tomlin song is easy to sing (for guys). He has the vocal chords of some sort of Siren. David Crowder, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, and really most male worship artists are also culprits. [To any worship bands reading this: it IS ok to lower songs from their original key! Please do. Even if you can sing it, your congregation probably can't! I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, but when I lead worship I rarely sing any higher than D.]
Final blogger's note: Being the huge Rend Collective fan that I am, I thought it worth mentioning where they seem to fit in this continuum. They are definitely very far to the simple, congregation-minded end. Their songs have very simple chord progressions, simple lyrics, and simple melodies. Besides wanting to write songs for congregations, simple worship is their "thing" (they wrote a song about it). However, their very simple songs are backed up by very energetic and interesting instrumental parts (very Mumford-y folksy sound) making them VERY enjoyable to listen to (for me, at least)!
For a very long while the David Crowder*Band was my absolute favorite worship band. I love them very much, and their music will always hold a special place in my heart. (They've only been beat out by Rend Collective!) My favorite thing about the DC*B was that, on top of writing true and worshipful songs, they were musically interesting. In other words, their incredibly variable rock-to-techno-to-bluegrass sound would be worth listening to if it was NOT worship music. Unfortunately, that's not the case for most worship bands out there. Pretty often, the fact that a song is a worship song is used as an excuse for its instrumental (and even vocal) parts to be quite boring.
Blogger's note: It's hard to say whether the "problem" described in my previous two sentences is a bad thing. On the one hand, songs intended for congregational singing need to be easy to learn and sing. Simplicity itself is often a virtue, giving congregations a chance to affirm simple yet amazing truths. On the other hand, the worship music industry is inundated with songs that are boring or uninteresting musically.
What are worship artists to do? Write songs that are easy for bands to learn and congregations to sing, but be criticized by not being worth listening to? Or write songs with musical excellence that can't be brought into a congregational setting easily? Obviously, each artist will approach their craft differently, and many probably don't think of their music in these terms. In the best case scenario, bands prove that these two ideals are not exclusive, producing songs that are interesting to listen to AND to use with congregations.
I think the David Crowder*Band produced songs that were very interesting to listen to but often difficult to bring into a service. Artists like Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman tend to produce songs that are (in varying degrees) instrumentally bland,* but very effective and easy for use in services. I guess that as a worship artist, one has to sit down and decide what role exactly your songs will play. I don't think Chris Tomlin's band is unskilled, I think they consciously play simpler instrumental parts to make the song easier to learn and sing.**
Another blogger's note: All of the above is a discussion that applies to "worship artists," by which I mean the people that write and record worship songs, NOT the ground-level worship band playing at a given church. Each band (with the proper licensing) has the ability to choose exactly which songs to play, giving the worship leader great control over the lyrical and musical complexity of the music. Recreating recordings is boring, people! Simpler songs can easily be made more musically interesting, and vice versa. Every band and every congregation are different. I think enough worship artists produce enough music all along the simple-complex spectrum for each band to find exactly what it needs.
NOW, to what I originally wrote this post for: Neon Steeple! (I know, quite a diversion there. Good talk!) On my first listen through the album, I was unhappy that no songs on the album were going to make their way into my worship sets. Some may, with some work, but for now most of the songs are farther down the complexity spectrum than I usually attempt. This initial disappointment was completely forgotten after I had listened through a couple more times. The truth is, the album is very enjoyable to listen to. I like it for many of the same reasons I liked his work with the DC*B. It may not be easy to sing along to or play, but MAN it is fun to listen to. As I may have mentioned before, the album is a combination of bluegrass and techno- if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does! If you'd like to get a feel for the album, here's my favorite song to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQk7RQg5p3k&feature=youtu.be
Let me know what you think! About the song, album, and complexity in worship music. Until next time, cheers!
*I actually regularly listen to Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, despite the frequent blandness of the instrumental parts and the simplicity of vocal melodies. This is mostly because I am a huge fan of worship music and usually think with congregational singing in mind; true, enjoyable, and worshipful lyrics ARE enough for me (and many others) to buy and listen to music. Writing songs with congregations in mind is not necessarily a terrible business model, and does not necessarily mean the death of the industry.
**Unfortunately, NO Chris Tomlin song is easy to sing (for guys). He has the vocal chords of some sort of Siren. David Crowder, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, and really most male worship artists are also culprits. [To any worship bands reading this: it IS ok to lower songs from their original key! Please do. Even if you can sing it, your congregation probably can't! I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, but when I lead worship I rarely sing any higher than D.]
Final blogger's note: Being the huge Rend Collective fan that I am, I thought it worth mentioning where they seem to fit in this continuum. They are definitely very far to the simple, congregation-minded end. Their songs have very simple chord progressions, simple lyrics, and simple melodies. Besides wanting to write songs for congregations, simple worship is their "thing" (they wrote a song about it). However, their very simple songs are backed up by very energetic and interesting instrumental parts (very Mumford-y folksy sound) making them VERY enjoyable to listen to (for me, at least)!
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