Good church musicians constantly ask whether the “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” of the church’s worship are sung “so that the Word of God may dwell in us richly” (the forgotten purpose clause of Col. 3:16). Good liturgical musicians worry about the link between...
It’s not wrong to use songs that people in our community relate to stylistically or culturally. Neither is it “more spiritual” to use styles that are inaccessible or foreign to guests. The best approach is to use a diversity of styles that reflect an appreciation and...
Singing is a spiritual activity best experienced in community. The documented benefits are as significant as those in yoga, a healthy diet, and prayer. Our culture, however, has commodified singing and turned it into a perfected idol that is performed by the few and...
Each musician must come to experience the dignity, rightness, and eventual joy of putting things aside, of emptying oneself and taking the form of a servant. Such musicians must be able to move back and forth, gracefully, servingly, and willingly, from the symphony to...
By the mercies of God, this new covenant community has been released from the darkness and foolishness of illicit worship to serve the living God in spirit and truth. In a very real sense this is the goal of the process of redemption, just as it was in the Old...
I wonder if in the rush of creative planning and the desire to see people enjoy our worship gatherings in the modern church, we have pushed to the sidelines what we are supposed to be doing… In the emerging church, we need to make sure we view our worship services as...
Liturgy continually confronts us with the call to sacrifice our preoccupation with self. Because liturgy is intrinsically corporate, it resists any narrowing of the spiritual life to a private relationship between the solitary soul and God. Liturgy places God in the...
In all its elements,…Christian worship is the action of God, of Jesus, and of the community itself for the community, and therefore the upbuilding of the community. From this center, it can and should spread out into the wider circle of the everyday life of Christians...
If believers worship with gladness and passion, anyone not yet a part of the community certainly will be attracted to the One who is the object of their worship. But to focus the worship on evangelistic introduction deprives believers of deeper nurturing toward Church...
The tapestry of worship is formed by the various threads of conversation that occur in interweaving fashion: God’s Word being communicated to the gathered community (both individually and corporately), worshipers responding to God under the prompting of God’s Spirit,...