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
The Lamb Will Be The Light
On January - 15 - 2013
Here’s yet another new Grace Life Video. This one I wrote back in 2006 and integrated it into an original children’s musical I wrote based on “Pilgrim’s Progress” called “A Christian’s Journey”. I adapted it for our adult choir and had them sing it in the Shoals Christmas Praise we presented last month.
Here are the lyrics:
This righteous Man of innocence
Laid aside His own defense
And bore the wrath and wretched sin
Of all who put their faith in Him
And then at the appointed time
When God the Father gives the sign
This One will joyfully present
The souls His grace caused to repent
And the Lamb will be the light
In the city of our God
Our faith will then be sight
And we will stand in awe
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
With one voice we will cry
The Lamb will be the light
In the city of our God
All creation cries to see
The day of righteous liberty
Then new life in full display
We hasten on the coming day
We will rule and reign with Him
No longer bound by fallen sin
The matchless glory of the King
Will completely cover everything
Worthy are You
Our Lord and our God
Jesus Saves
On January - 10 - 2013
Here’s the latest Grace Life Music video. This is taken from last month’s Shoals Christmas Praise. Enjoy!
(BTW, onstage with me are (from L to R) Sarah Cosby, Mark Tucker, Chris Quaintance, and Julie Thompson)
Little Altar Boy
On November - 29 - 2012
I’m old school I guess. I just can’t get into listening to Christmas music for Christmas’ sake until after Thanksgiving. (I have to listen to Christmas music for church music’s sake during the summer but that doesn’t count.) I was listening to a local radio station the other day and the old classic Andy Williams’ song “Little Altar Boy” came on. In my mind, it captures the scene of a man who is desperate from possibly drunkeness or other addictive sins and runs to a Christmas Eve mass to find rest for his soul. I couldn’t help but be struck by the lyrics:
Little altar boy, I wonder could you pray for me?
Little altar boy, for I have gone astray
What must I do to be holy like you?
Little altar boy, oh, let me hear you pray
Little altar boy, I wonder, could you ask our Lord
Ask him, alter boy, to take my sins away
What must I do to be holy like you?
Little altar boy, please let me hear you pray
Lift up your voice and send a sing a prayer above
Help me rejoice and fill that prayer with love
Now I know my life has been all wrong
Lift up your voice and help a sinner be strong
Little altar boy, I wonder, could you pray for me?
Could you tell our Lord, I’m gonna change my way today?
What must I do to be holy like you?
Little altar boy, oh, let me hear you pray
Is there a song anywhere that captures a lost man’s desire to fix his own heart through improving his own performance? Can you see the fact that the “singer” knows that he has not measured up to God’s righteous standard (“I have gone astray”, “take my sins away” “my life has been all wrong”)? Can you also see the “singer’s” knowledge of needing the righteousness of another (“what can I do to be holy like you”)?
Unfortunately, the “singer” never embraces the truth that he already has Another Who has already made the way for him to be “holy”. Also, notice the “singer’s” false notion that the “holiness” of the altar boy was sufficient to save—God forbid! Because the subject never turns savingly to look on the merits of Jesus’ meritorious work (even though he seems to in that he asks the altar boy to ask Jesus to “take my sins away”–a lost man must deal directly with Christ, not through another) we can glean that the subject’s self-assessment isn’t Holy Spirit-wrought conviction but is sorrow that leads to death (2 Cor. 7:10). How unfortunate for all in this place. Let us make sure this Christmas season to find someone who needs to hear the truth that they can indeed be “holy like you” but that “you” is the One and Only Savior, Jesus Christ.
Here is the song:
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.
This Is Just Funny!
On September - 27 - 2012
I generally don’t like making fun of worship because it makes serious worship that much more self-analyzed….but this is just hilarious!
Piper Hits It Out Of The Park In 3 min.
On August - 9 - 2012
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this little video with a couple of Australian Asians (totally cool!) but Piper once again reminds us of the importance of heart-engagement with worship. It’s a message we constantly need to hear. Enjoy!
Could There Be A Greater Love?
On May - 22 - 2012
Here is a song by Delane Angel, a long-time member at GLC, who has also assisted in leading music here. He serves as somewhat of an itinerant music minister, serving in other local churches who need a solid Music Minister. He is currently serving with Ricky Nelson at New Life Baptist Church in Collinwood, TN. We love Delane deeply here at GLC.
Here’s the video:
Too Liberal
On May - 10 - 2012
Freeeeeeedoooooommm????
In my last post in this series, I dealt with how I believe, in looking at the scriptures, the Regulative Principle (RP) is more conservative than God. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been much good that has come from the RP. However, I do believe that looking at God’s word through the lens OF the RP can take a church down some dead-end roads.
That can also be said of the Normative Principle (NP). While the RP boasts in it’s a capella-only and psalm-texts-only (in varying degrees of strictness), to name a few ascpets, the NP boasts in its “freedom” of expression. They say “If God didn’t forbid (fill in the blank) then we’re free to use it, right?”
Well, yes and no. Yes, God has given much freedom in corporate worship, as has been previously mentioned. But God’s silence isn’t necessarily a blanket endorsement upon any and all means. Many times, what we do with God’s silence reveals more about us than at any other time.
For instance, God has not said specifically that you can’t have a firetruck baptistery (as one prominent SBC church has done). However, one would question the wisdom in so doing as to cheapen the Ordinance. God has not said specifically that a church must never twirl their socks during worship, but one would certainly ask the question “Is this in a manner worthy of the gospel?” (see video just below).
But there are also other times where God HAS specifically spoken about the use of a particular means. Imagery and visuals are in an entirely separate category from the auditory senses. In Exodus 20:4, God specifically forbids the creation of any image in heaven or earth and an object of worship. Col. 1:15 does say that Jesus is the image of the invisible God however the scriptures are very careful not to ever give us a physical description of what Jesus, as the Son of Man, looked like. (We are given a very detailed description of Jesus, as Son of God, in John’s Revelation (Rev. 1)), however.
Why would this be? Because, I believe, that the power of idolatry is more quickly manifested with visual images than any other sense. If God would have given us a detailed description of Jesus’ physical features, we would be prone to making an idol out of His appearance and not His Person. This is the primary reason why I believe (after much repentance on my part!) that pictures, dramas, movie clips, and other imagery of Jesus is, at best, unwise, and at worst, a violation of God’s Word.
This is another reason why the argument against certain music styles on the basis of particular styles being objectively “sensual” (or as one person called a particular style “aural pornography”) breaks down. God does not speak to music styles in the same way He speaks about visual images. Never does God say “Thou shalt not sing along with a piano” or “Thou shalt not have rap in the church”. It’s an “apples and oranges” argument.
But in regards to music styles, God has never spoken to the endorsement of one style or a category of styles and the condemning of others. However, just because “all things are lawful, not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor. 10:23). So, to my NP folks, I give a word of caution: keep in mind that even though a music style may be legal, it may not be edifying to your congregation. God said that all things must be for mutual edification (Rom 14:19). The use of music styles may not be an issue of right vs. wrong or legal vs. illegal but of wise vs. unwise and loving vs. unloving.
That’s why I believe the stance of Biblical Principle (BP) would guard against the somewhat unbiblical excesses seen in the NP folks. Again, many are well-meaning. After all, I’ve certainly done things in the church in the name of “freedom” that I now regret—even though I had the best of intentions and with the glory of God in mind….Which leads me to my next post in this series….
Temples
On May - 4 - 2012
Here’s one of the newest songs at Grace Life Church. It features Wes (at the piano) and Lance (at the guitar) Voorhees. Wes wrote the song based on 1 Cor. 6:19 and it’s a great easy song to integrate into your church’s song list. Enjoy!
