Wednesday Worship

As I wrote last week, there comes a point where I feel myself being drained by all the Christmas stuff that is going on. Certain Christmas things can be reenergizing though. Near the top of the list is the music. But not all Christmas music. I find a few specific selections tend to refuel my tank. 

Today's sample is a classic Christmas hymn that can send chills down your spine if a great vocalist is singing it (David Phelps and CeCe Winans are to recent examples). And yet the heart of this song is worship. Even more specifically, it's a call for people to worship together - corporate worship.

The best version to capture all of that is one I know I've featured here before. Chris Tomlin, from his Christmas album of ten years ago - "Glory in the Highest":

Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy

Several years ago, as an pastoral intern at my home church, I was witness to a brief encounter after a worship service that really made me cringe.

Our church music was a "blended" style mixing contemporary songs with traditional hymns. As part of the worship set, we sang "Create in Me A Clean Heart" which is based word for word on Psalm 51. 

I was near the stage at the end of the service when I noticed an older lady in our church approach the worship leader and associate pastor. She told him she objected to that song because it mentioned "taking the Holy Spirit" from the author/singing audience. That was just incorrect theology and we should not have sung it. 

Now the leader graciously received her input and agreed with her theologically. As I remember it, he also mentioned that we'd sung that a few months prior and had made comments of qualification before singing it then (I do remember this instance and it was clear and well-done). He apologized for not repeating that step this time and promised to do so in the future. 

Crisis averted. 

On the one hand, it's good that this person was thinking critically about her worship. 

But at the same time, I'm cringing watching that go on precisely because of the context. Our church was staunchly theologically conservative with clear statements about their beliefs about Holy Spirit written in it's constitution. And this pastor had previously made a recent extra effort to clearly explain the nuances of our NT position in Christ vs. the OT differences - that affect seven words of a beautiful song about confession and repentance. Side note, how many other worship songs are there about confession and repentance?

Again, I'm all for discernment and thinking through what we're singing in worship. I don't want to dismiss the idea that our worship should be theologically sound. I'm very much for that. 
Maybe it's the effect of modernity on our society or maybe it's a ripple effect of the Church's own "Worship Wars" over the past 30 years but I've observed a lot of manufactured controversy over various modern and traditional church music. 

This case wasn't "manufactured" exactly, but over the next month or so I'll be featuring cases where some within Christendom have stirred up controversy needlessly. 

They will run the spectrum of very recent to very old. But all will be cases where - in my opinion - some people are "straining gnats while swallowing camels".

And if you have some examples you can think of, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Music Mondays

Going with an older traditional hymn this week in memory of Gordon Rhodes, a 96 year old WWII veteran who recently passed away. I officiated his funeral over the weekend and it was truly an honor to pay tribute to a man who wasn't just a war hero but also a great man of faith. 

There were many songs included in the service, but this week's selection wasn't actually one of them. It's a personal choice of a song that always reminds me of our victory over death because of Christ. 

This version is the classic version. I'll also always remember this song for the sped up A Capella version my Greek prof led us in occasionally at the beginning of class.

Music Mondays - extended family edition

Most of my Music Monday selections fall under the contemporary music category. But I've noticed that my recent choices, including today's, fall under the more 'old-school' or traditional classification. 

Also I'd like to note that I've got all kinds of family with musical gifts - grandparents, parents, siblings, and in this case - uncle and cousin's husband - but poor little ol' me is left to just blog about it. 

Music Monday

It's been awhile, but we are done with vacations and holidays for the time being, so on to Music Monday!

I'm a sucker for songs that incorporate classic hymns and put a new spin on them. This song does that, actually alluding to two traditional songs: 

Big Daddy Weave - "My Story"

Can you name the two songs it references?

Music Mondays

I attended a funeral this morning of a college friend's father who had actually been a co-worker of mine at my previous church. 

Reflecting on the life of such a Christ-like servant and devoted family man was, I teared up as I listened to the eulogy my college friend gave in honor of his dad. His testimony was a powerful one. Stories were offered of how Dave never thought he was better than anyone and how he saw people who others often overlooked. 

Funerals of saints can easily turn into celebrations. Celebrations of the faithful. Celebrations of their life. Celebrations of the Savior. 

One of the hymns sung during this particular service is my pick for this Music Monday: Blessed Assurance. 

"Filled with His goodness, lost in His love"...this was his story, this is my story, this can be your story.

Music Mondays

This song became popular thanks to a Michael W. Smith cover in the early 2000's, but I will always remember hearing it first at the summer camp I've mentioned in previous posts. 

This is a unique song among its contemporary peers as it involves singing parts, albeit simple ones compared to the harmonizations of older hymns (or in some cases what you could do with older hymns).

Every time I've sung it in a church worship setting, it's always been arranged in a straightforward way with men singing their lines and women singing theirs. There's certainly a beauty to it, yet it always falls just a bit short by my high standards. Why, because when I was originally introduced to it, the men sang their lines the first time through as did the women - and then they switched parts the second time through.

Personally I always found the women's part - the rapid fire singing of the various names of Jesus-  to be superior. So in my ideal world, both genders get to share the full force of this song. But alas, I continue to be let down (just a bit). Oh well, I'll get over it. After all, it's the message of the song, not how it is sung that is most important.