How greatly did I weep in thy hymns and canticles, deeply moved by the voice of thy sweet-speaking Church! The voices flowed into mine ears, and the truth was poured into my heart, whence the agitation of my piety overflowed and my tears ran over, and blessed was I...
00871 – Use Your Talents!
Use the talents you possess,for the woods would be very silentif no birds sang but the best.
00870 – Singing Multi-Generational Worship Music
To sing worship music from more than one generation is, in part, to communicate our larger identity as the people of God. We hail from many backgrounds, families, races, and tastes, but now we are joined together through the blood of Jesus Christ, who has reconciled...
00869 – Making Music without the Lord?
Sometimes those of us in church music get distracted to the point that we are making “the Lord’s music” without the Lord.
00868 – The Purpose of Music
The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of our souls. If heed is not paid to this, it is not true music…just a diabolical twanging.
00867 – Where Is Your Music?
Most people die with the music still in them.
00866 – Paying Attention to How Music “Feels”
As many philosophers and theologians have observed, music is close to “spirit”—a non-material medium of receiving and conveying a sense of the world. In our deepest attentiveness and encounters with certain forms of music, we are opened to a depth of awareness; a...
00865 – Musical Admonitions
LOUDER is not necessarily better. FASTER is not necessarily more spiritual!
00863 – Church Music is Theological Expression
I believe we should consider church music basically to be THEOLOGICAL expression—part of the dialogue between God and worshipers. With few exceptions, music in worship is coupled with important words. For this reason, we should choose literature—for instance, hymns...
00862 – Do You Have a Song?
Somehow, about forty percent of churchgoers seem to have picked up on the idea that “singing in church is for singers.” The truth is that “singing is for believers.” The relevant question is not “Do you have a voice?” but “Do you have a song?”