Forgive me if you’ve already seen this. Just had to share.
Another tip: Always include the word “broken”!
How To Write A Worship Song
On February - 8 - 2013
What Miracle Is It?
On November - 8 - 2012
If there’s one band out there I greatly enjoy, it’s Third Day. And for full disclosure’s sake, we do several of their songs as congregationals at Grace Life Church, including “Your Love Oh Lord” and “Children Of God”. However, I was a bit disappointed the other day when I heard this particular song on the radio. It seems to be another in a long line of songs that just don’t say enough. Much of that has to do with trying to be marketable to wider audiences. But I wonder how much of it has to do with being ashamed of the gospel?
Here are the lyrics (you can listen to the song on YouTube here).
Well, late one night, she started to cry and thought he ain’t coming home
She was tired of the lies, tired of the fight, but she didn’t want to see him go
She fell on her knees and said, “I haven’t prayed since I was young
But Lord above I need a miracle”
(Chorus)
Well no matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done
There will come a time when you can’t make it on your own
And in your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one, praying
Lord above, I need a miracle
I need a miracle
He lost his job and all he had in the fall of ’09
Now he feared the worst, that he would lose his children and his wife
So he drove down deep into the woods and thought he’d end it all
And prayed, “Lord above, I need a miracle”
He turned on the radio to hear a song for the last time
He didn’t know what he was looking for even what he’d find
The song he heard gave him hope and strength to carry on
And on that night, they found a miracle
They found a miracle
In your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one, praying
Lord above, I need a miracle
I need a miracle
Several questions I have about this song:
*Are they endorsing the fact that having this life’s problems is the main problem?
*How are they defining this miracle? Is it God drawing a soul into seeing the depth of their sin?
*Where is the preaching of the gospel in this equation?
*Does the songwriter understand the difference between God-wrought conviction and felt needs?
*Are they trying to say that the girl in the first verse is a born-again believer (even though she hadn’t “prayed since she was young”)?
*Could the song not have better clarity with the characters as to their lostness?
*I totally agree with the song in that God uses trials and hardships to get our attention but what is the miracle that the characters in the song found?
*How many of these problems listed in the song were self-inflicted? The bible deals much more with change of behavior to see situations improve than it does supernatural intervention (especially if these characters are believers).
*Does this song just cater to a victim’s mentality?
I totally understand that people going through great trials calls for empathy from the Church. However, overlooking an individual’s contribution to those trials is not being true to the Bible. Believers should be holding one hand out to be held by the suffering individual while in the other hand presenting God’s solutions to them from His Word. Having heart-felt emotions for those in dire circumstances and even doing service ministry to those in need is only a part of the healing. Being reconciled to God through the gospel is the foundation for all healing.
All I ask is that Christian bands and songwriters be very specific even though the demands for artistic aesthetics are at play. When writing songs that are expressly Christian, including a ministry element, then art is created for God’s sake and not art’s sake. Fidelity to the revealed will of God as found in the holy scriptures is paramount paling in comparison to iTunes sales.
Brother Music Minister, I believe that this song is way too ambiguous to use in a church service. I will keep listening to Third Day but will have to skip over this song.
Can I Sing Songs Written By Folks Of Questionable Spiritual Condition?
On August - 2 - 2012
I touched on this issue in passing in this past Tuesday’s radio interview with Monk Boone and I thought it worth the time to unpack a bit more. As pastors and music ministers, we are constantly looking for new songs to integrate into corporate worship. Right now, I’m teaching three new songs to the Praise Team and when our Choir returns in a few days, I’ll begin teaching three or four new ones to them. Currently, our Approved Song List has approximately 200 songs on it and have carefully been (and are still continuously being) tested against the veracity of scripture as to their acceptance on that list.
It’s hard enough to know enough of the bible to discern a song’s lyrical condition. It’s one thing to write a song that is artistic. It’s another thing to write a song that is artistic and biblical. But another question that I see come up quite frequently is the spiritual condition of the song-writer. With Ray Boltz’s admission of being a homosexual a few years ago this subject moved even more to the forefront.
Here’s the thing to keep in mind—lyrics are objective. We can clearly evaluate how accurate or inaccurate they are. A songwriter’s spiritual condition is not objective. “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Cor. 2:11) There’s no way to absolutely know if someone else is truly regenerate. We certainly have tests of saving faith given in God’s Word (especially in James, 1 John, and Jude) but nowhere are we to declare someone born-again. Even when dismissing someone from church membership, Jesus did not say “declare them a publican and tax-collector” (which, in historical context, was pagan) but “treat them AS a publican and tax-collector” (Matt 18:15-18). Scripture writer’s designation of folks being born-again (or terms in that vein) were almost always on a corporate level, not usually on an individual one.
What am I then saying? I’m advising any pastor or music minister who is responsible for selecting a church’s repertoire to evaluate a song primarily on the biblical accuracy of the lyrics. Then evaluate the song on the cultural appropriateness (if it’s stylistically distracting for a congregation, it probably shouldn’t be used). If I had to worry about whether or not every hymn-writer of history or every current songwriter is truly regenerate, we wouldn’t be singing any songs—including the ones I’ve written!
Is there ever a time when we should avoid using a song—even though it’s lyrics are biblical—because of the songwriter’s spiritual condition? Yes. If, as in the aforementioned Boltz case, the news of the songwriter’s bold rejection of the bible is so well-known among your congregation as to cause congregants to stumble (Romans 14) then I abstain. It makes no sense to force a congregation to sing a song while distracted by the open godless testimony of the songwriter and his association with that song.
However, those occasions are few and far between. You can, I would say 99% of the time, be rest assured that this will not be the case in selecting songs for congregational singing. To give an example, how many folks in your church even know that Robert Robinson actually turned from the faith for many years, even bordering on being a Universalist, before finally repenting and returning to orthodoxy late in life? Every time you sing “Come Thou Fount” you are singing his work. I’m not about to stop singing that song simply because Robinson had his major spiritual struggles. What about William Cowper? He attempted suicide three times! Should I stop singing “There Is A Fountain” because of that?! God forbid!
With all of that being said, I wish more folks would just care that their song lyrics are biblically accurate….(sigh)
A Helpful Link For Songwriters
On February - 9 - 2012
Bobby and Kristin Gilles
I don’t consider myself a songwriter. I do write songs but a “songwriter” is someone who is known for it. I’m certainly not known for the songs I’ve written! A cyber-friend (did I just make up a new term???) of mine, Bobby Gilles, has posted an extremely beneficial post concerning lyric devices that any and all who write songs should feast upon. Bobby and his wife Kristin are a part of the Sojourn Community Church music ministry in the Louisville, KY area. He has been kind to direct others to my blog in the past but that’s not why I’m featuring him in this post. It would be well-worth your time to subscribe to his blog, “My Song In The Night” whether he had promoted this site or not!
I will give you the first few examples here and you can click here for the entire list:
Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word, like the “H” sound in “Hark the herald angels sing” or the “L” in Stephen Foster’s “Open thy lattice, love, listen to me.” Count all the alliteration in this brief part of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes Of Freedom” (look for B, F, D,S and M words):
Far between sundown’s finish and midnight’s broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashin’
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sun
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Anadiplosis: Repeating the last word or phrase of one line at the beginning of the next one:
suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope,
and hope does not put us to shame,
– Romans 5:3-5Poor man wanna be rich
Rich man wanna be king
And a king ain’t satisfied
Till he rules everything
– “Badlands,” Bruce Springsteen
Anaphora: Repetition of the same words at the beginning of successive lines. Martin Luther King, Jr. used anaphora repeatedly in his “I Have A Dream” speech. Fanny Crosby begins “Redeemed, How I Love To Proclaim It” with three successive lines starting with the word “Redeemed.” And Charles Wesley uses anaphora well in “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus“: “Born Thy people to deliver/ Born a child and yet a King/ Born to reign in us forever.” Look at the way Bill and Gloria Gaither repeat the title song phrase of “Because He lives” in their chorus:
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I Know He holds the future
This life is worth the living, just because He lives
Antimetabole: A figure of speech in which the same phrase or idea is repeated in transposed order, giving the second phrase a different or deeper meaning:
- You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl
- “He lived to die; let us die to live”
Antistrophe: Similar to antimetabole, but more limited in scope. Antistrophe occurs when words are repeated in reverse order, meaning essentially the same thing each time:
- One in Three, and Three in One
- All for one, and one for all
Antithesis: The use of opposites in successive phrases, to highlight the distinction or difference:
- “Ah, but I was so much older then / I’m younger than that now” — Bob Dylan, “My Back Pages”
- “Vile and full of sin I am/ Thou art full of truth and grace” — Charles Wesley, “Jesus, Lover of my Soul”
Click here to read the entire post
Plural Vs. Singular
On January - 10 - 2012
In my last entry, I shared with you a question that has recently crossed my mind.
Is it best to use singular nouns or plural nouns in our congregational singing?
Notice that I did not ask “Is it wrong to use individual language?” or “Is it sinful to use plural words?”
This is simply a case of better vs. best. So let’s look at a couple of songs that we actually sing at Grace Life Church and analyze their effectiveness. I will select these songs with no agenda to speak against the one and in favor of the other. In other words, I will select an example of each that I believe are both 5-star congregationals in their own right. I will only deal with portions of each for brevity’s sake. (Personal nouns and pronouns will be highlighted.)
SINGULAR: Before the throne of God above/I have a strong and perfect plea/A great High Priest Whose Name is Love/Who ever lives and pleads for me/My name is graven on His hands/My name is written on His heart/I know that while in heav’n He stands/No tongue can bid me thence depart
PLURAL: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God/A bulwark never failing/Our helper He amid the flood/Of mortal ills prevailing/Though still our ancient foe/doth seek to work us woe/His craft and pow’r are great/And armed with cruel hate/On earth is not his equal
MIXED: How deep the Father’s Love for us/How vast beyond all measure/That He should give His only son/To make a wretch His treasure/How great the pain of searing loss/The Father turns His face away/As wounds which mar the chosen One/Bring many sons to glory
With the points that I raised in my last post, I wonder if the first song would be more effective sung this way:
Before the throne of God above/We have a strong and perfect plea/A great High Priest Whose Name is Love/Who ever lives and pleads for us/Our names are graven on His hands/Our name is written on His heart/We know that while in heav’n He stands/No tongue can bid us thence depart
Without repeating what I said earlier, I wonder if doing this would aid those who are prone to think of themselves as ONLY individuals in a church service (at the expense of forsaking seeing themselves as part of a body)? I wonder if this subtlety would send small, incremental messages to those who are prone to think that it’s all about just them (which Americans are constantly battling) when it’s all about the Bride (humanly speaking, of course)?
I realize that one of the changes in my example thwarts the rhyme scheme (I could go all Dr. Seuss and say “Who ever lives and pleads for we”). However, I do like the way that it makes this particular song a declaration of a congregation rather than by a bunch of individuals. I haven’t asked my pastor yet, but I may even try some of this at our church (but only with his permission—which is an entirely different subject!)
I do notice that when I change another example from plural to singular it seems to gives a selfish slant:
A Mighty Fortress Is my God/A bulwark never failing/My helper He amid the flood/Of mortal ills prevailing/Though still my ancient foe/doth seek to work me woe/His craft and pow’r are great/And armed with cruel hate/On earth is not his equal
That’s not to say that there’s anything theologically wrong with singing it this way. I just prefer it to have plural language because it reminds me that the gospel is not only for me but for us.
I may have yet another entry on this subject soon.
The Law It Cannot Save
On August - 23 - 2011
Here’s the latest Grace Life Music video. It is a setting of a William Cowper hymn and I took the AZMON melody and set them to it (also known as the melody to “O For A Thousand Tongues”). I also added an original little refrain. Here are the lyrics:
No strength of nature can suffice to serve the Lord aright
And what she has she misapplies for want of clearer light
Now long beneath the Law I lay in bondage and distress!
I toiled the precept to obey but toiled without success
The law it cannot save
Its works will not atone
It only teaches me
I’m saved by Christ alone
Then, to abstain from outward sin was more than I could do
Now if I feel its power within I feel I hate it too
Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise
Now freely chosen in the Son I freely choose His ways
“What shall I do?” was then the word “That I may deeper grow
What shall I render to the Lord?” is my inquiry now
To see the Law by Christ fulfilled and hear His pardoning Voice
A slave to change into a child and duty into choice
(C) 2011 GraceAnne Music
Here is the video:
It Had To Be You (Audio)
On July - 25 - 2011
Painful to see isn't it?
Here’s a rough (emphasis on “rough”) mix of a song I wrote a while back. My friend Nathan Clark George allowed me to step into his home studio and recorded me playing and singing the song “It Had To Be You” (no–not the jazz song). You can see an old video of it here (man, am I skinny in it!) You can find FREE sheet music to it here.
Here are the lyrics:
The power of my will
Commitment in my zeal
Trusting in my strength and concentration
With no success to find
Still a pris’ner in my mind
Behind iron bars of my own condemnation
Failed on ev’ry count
And hope in no amount
It had to be You
Who captured my heart
‘Cause there was nothing in my soul that ever loved You
You showed me Yourself
And my need for Your blood
And how there was never any good in me
And Your complete ability
To make me anew
It had to be You
The war’s still there today
My Father to obey
But now it’s by His sacrifice I’m measured
His Spirit lives in me
His law a treasury
And fellowship with Christ my greatest pleasure
My slate not only clean
But broken on the tree
HERE’S THE AUDIO OF THE SONG:
Watts’ Psalms Paraphrasing Part 2
On November - 22 - 2010
London's only statue of Watts
In my last entry I wanted to focus on Watts’ application of the aforementioned principles in hymns that are more commonly known. Today, I wish to share two more that are lesser known but more clearly show his methods. The first one comes from a hymn based upon the first two verses of the 32nd Psalm. The scripture text is as follows:
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
Now here is Watts’ lyrics based upon this text:
Blessed is the man, forever blessed
Whose guilt is pardoned by his God
Whose sins with sorrow are confessed
And covered with his Savior’s blood
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
Imputes not his inquities
He pleads no merit of reward
And not on works, but grace relies
From guile his heart and lips are free
His humble joy, his holy fear
With deep repentance well agree
And join to prove his faith sincere
How glorious is that righteousness
That hides and cancels all his sins
While a bright evidence of grace
Through his whole life appears and shines!
Notice the expansion Watts makes on what the Psalmist means by saying “whose sin is covered”—covered by Jesus’ blood. Also, Watts expounds as well on imputation. You can see that Watts does what any faithful expositor would do with this Psalms text. He is merely preaching in prose!
Another hymn that I think makes a great study is Watts’ work with the 26th Psalm. Here is the text:
Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity,
And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Examine me, O LORD, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men,
Nor will I go with pretenders.
I hate the assembly of evildoers,
And I will not sit with the wicked.
I shall wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O LORD,
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving
And declare all Your wonders.
O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house
And the place where Your glory dwells.
Do not take my soul away along with sinners,
Nor my life with men of bloodshed,
In whose hands is a wicked scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
Redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on a level place;
In the congregations I shall bless the LORD.
From the Old Covenant perspective in reading this text, it would seem casually that the Psalmist sees himself justified within himself. Of course, we know that not to be the case for two reasons: (1) the gospel had not yet been fulfilled and the Psalmist is forward-looking, and (2) there is a prophetic element in that this is Christ Himself speaking and would not apply to us.
However, Watts takes this text and gives us the following prose. Notice the self-examination and a looking to the finished meritorious work of Jesus in its lines!:
Judge me, O LORD, and prove my ways
And try my reins, and try my heart
My faith upon Thy promise stays
Nor from Thy law my feet depart
I hate to walk, I hate to sit,
With men of vanity and lies
The scoffer and the hypocrite
Are the abhorrence of mine eyes
Amongst Thy saints will I appear
With hands well washed in innocence
But when I stand before Thy bar
The blood of Christ is my defence
I love Thy habitation, Lord
The temple where Thine honors dwell
There shall I hear Thine holy word
And there Thy works of wonder tell
Let not my soul be joined at last
With men of treachery and blood
Since I my days on earth have passed
Among the saints and near my God
Watts’ Psalms Paraphrasing
On November - 18 - 2010
As promised, today I wish to look at a couple of Isaac Watts’ hymns and the original Psalms texts in which they were based. If you have not read Watts’ explanation of his methods in so doing, please read here.
The first hymn at which I wish to look is the one based upon Psalms 117. The short Psalm is as follows:
Praise the LORD, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the LORD is everlasting
Praise the LORD!
From that text, Watts wrote the following:
From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator’s praise arise
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung
Through ev’ry land , by ev’ry tongue
Eternal are thy mercies, Lord
Eternal truth attends thy word
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore
Till suns shill rise and set no more
While this example may not be the best one, I chose it because it is succinct. Notice Watts’ inclusion of the word “redeemer” as well as his expansion on the concept of God’s truth and the marriage of it with the Lord’s mercies.
A better example of Watts’ work is his hymn based upon Psalm 23. The original text is as follows:
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
NASU
From this Psalm, Watts’ wrote:
My Shepherd will supply my need
Jehovah is His name
In pastures fresh He makes me feed
Beside the living stream
He brings my wand’ring spirit back
When I forsake His ways
And leads me, for His mercy’s sake
In paths of truth and grace
When I walk through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay
One word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread
My cup with blessings overflows
Thine oil anoints my head
The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days
O may thy house be my abode
And all my work be praise
There would I find a settled rest
While others go and come
No more a stranger, nor a guest
But like a child at home
The primary things to notice in this paraphrase is Watts’ expansion of the idea of the wandering saint (in sin) and God’s persevering him/her. The other is the quaint, heart-warming scene of a child resting in the presence of its father.
But one of the best example of Watts’ implementation of the principles shared previously is his hymn based on Psalm 122. The biblical text is:
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
Our feet are standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, that is built
As a city that is compact together;
To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD–
An ordinance for Israel–
To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For there thrones were set for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
“May peace be within your walls,
And prosperity within your palaces.”
For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.
NASU
Watts’ hymn is:
How pleased and blessed was I to hear the people cry
“Come, let us seek our God today!”
We haste to Zion’s hill and there our vows and honors pay
Zion, thrice happy place, adorned with wondrous grace
And walls of strength embrace thee round, in Thee our tribes appear
To pray, and praise, and hear, the sacred gospel’s joyful sound
There David’s greater Son has fixed His royal throne
He sits for grace and judgment there He bids the saint be glad
He makes the sinner sad, and humble souls rejoice with fear
May peace attend thy gate, and joy within thee wait
To bless the soul of ev’ry guest! The man that seeks thy peace
And wishes thine increase, a thousand blessings on him rest!
My tongue repeats her vows, “Peace to this sacred house!”
For there my friends and kindred dwell; and since my glorious God
Makes thee his blessed abode, my soul shall ever love thee well
The most noticeable addition to Watts’ text is the mention of the gospel as well as replacing “Israel” with “saints”.
What It Means
On November - 15 - 2010
I have such joy in Grace Life Music original songs! I’ve shared those that I’ve had the grace to write at the blog as well as songs by Delane Angel, Julie Thompson, and Blake Ball. This is the first one featuring the music of Wes Voorhees which is ironic since he has the longest track-record of writing. He is a wonderful brother who serves faithfully at Grace Life Church and I am honored to get to serve with him. His son, Lance, is the lead vocalist on our student band at the church, called The W-2′s.
Here are the lyrics to the song:
I ran like the devil but You hunted me down
There was nothing I could do I had no choice but follow You
You changed my world no I wasn’t the same
It was nothing I had done It was the free gift of Your Son
Grace for repentance and a brand new life
Grace for a blind man getting his sight
Grace for forgiveness for my sins
This is what it means to be born again
You’ve given me a heart that is brand new
I had a heart made out of stone This one beats for You alone
You’ve given me a love I can’t contain I wanna tell of what You’ve done
I want the world to know Your Son
I am not the same—God be ever praised
I am born again—I’m forever changed
Here is the video:
