Looking for new music?

If you are like me, you look at your mp3 player or computer sometimes think, "I really need some new music." Sometimes it's due to the fact that you have not bought a new CD in a while or sometimes you are just feeling like something new. I like a couple of websites out there that help bring exposure to more music.

The first one is New Release Tuesday. NRT is a website that keeps up with new releases from Christian artists. They have all styles from worship albums to rap. Yes, Christian rap does exist and it's awesome.

Another one to check out is Noise Trade. Noise Trade has a lot of styles also although a lot of it is kind of folky and has an indie feel to it. The best part about Noise Trade is that it is free! You can download full length songs for free! The way it works is you give them your email and they email you a link to download the album. You can "tip" the artist and give them some money if you want but you are not obligated to. You pay however much you feel.

Happy listening.

Trinitarian Worship

We've been talking about the Trinity lately at Grace and I've been musing on the subject. I've been reading, "Worship in Spirit and in Truth," by John Frame. The title of the book comes from John 4:23 where Jesus is talking with the Samarian woman at the well.  Jesus says that, "a hour is coming, and is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." I see something going on here that's awesome.

Frame says that we often see this passage as Jesus saying that worship will be more sincere and heartfelt. We've missed the point here a little bit. So often we measure our worship by how we are feeling so naturally when we read this passage, we tend read it with a, "worship experience," perspective. So many times we think what would make my worship experience better? How can I feel that I'm connecting with God even more? We crave that feeling of God's presence as we worship. We naturally look at this passage and think, "Yes! There is is! Jesus is himself saying that there is a going to be a time where we can worship with all our being! In fact, it's here now! Where can I find this? How can I do this?"

But Jesus is talking about something so much more profound, something that I think will fuel our worship even more than the search for that even elusive feeling of, "better worship":

"He was referring to the new things that God was preparing to do for our salvation. The, "truth," is the truth of the gospel, the good news of our salvation in Jesus. The, "spirit," is the, "Spirit of truth," who comes to bear powerful witness to that gospel. Worship "in Spirit and truth," then is, Trinitarian worship- worship that is aware of the distinctive work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit for our salvation."

Our worship is Christ-centered in that he is the reason we are even able to approach the throne of God. We are saved by Christ only because of the work of the Spirit and all of this is for God's glory! Therefore, "worship is always IN the name of Christ and BY the Holy Spirit."

How cool is that? We actually get a glimpse of how worship looks when it comes to the Trinity. Our worship needs to recognize the workings of all three. When we do see the different persons of the Trinity in our worship, and understand it, we see how significant Christ's death was. We have a direct channel to God! That fires me up and I hope it does for you too.

"By Faith"

We introduced a new song this past Sunday that I wanted to say a little bit about. Every new song we introduce is chosen for a reason but this one, "By Faith," really stood out to me as having significance. This song was written by Keith and Kristyn Getty along with Stuart Townend. This trio is known for writing modern hymns like, "In Christ Alone." I appreciate their perspective on corporate worship. This is what they had to say about the inspiration behind this song:

Our culture is so fixed on chasing what’s most current that we often miss seeing how God has worked in past generations. We can learn, for example, from the incredible passion, conviction, priorities and art seen in the lives of the first hymn writers (while also realizing that even our newest ideas often can be traced to earlier origins). Creativity can take on new forms of expression and human insight can produce fresh fruit with each age, but none of us begin with a blank sheet of paper! We are in the middle of the story.

As God’s people, we need to lean on those who’ve gone before us.

Tonight we ate Mexican food with a pastor friend who shared how young members of his congregation are finding themselves in need of the older ones to demonstrate what it means to live and grow as men and women of God. As a young boy I observed my grandfather’s practice of arriving at church an hour before the service began to spend quiet time with the Lord in preparation for worship. Both examples demonstrate the impact one generation can have on the next. Scripture also reveals this:

“One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.” Psalm 145:4, 13, 21

When I read this passage, I’m reminded that the praises and testimonies of one generation are to echo into the next. All ages serve and worship the same God, gather under the same gospel and add to the collective song that praises the faithfulness of God as each generation shares in his promises to us. We are part of something timeless, and the exercise of stretching our vision beyond ourselves leads us further down the road to an eternal perspective on all of life and our very reason for being.

In our own songwriting for the church, we often consider these questions:

- Is there a musical vocabulary that might link generations and not separate them?

- What thoughts were important to believers in the church from generations past?

- Are the lyrics we sing expressing these overarching themes or dispelling both the challenge and relief that comes when considering the well-trodden path of faith?

These questions influenced the lyrics in “By Faith,” our song inspired by Hebrews chapter 11. We tried to tell the chapter’s overarching story and show how believers today are traveling on the same journey of faith as those throughout the ages who’ve walked before us. Our prayer is that our songs–and lives–will give something whole and bright to the those coming after us who are ready to take hold of it!

I find great joy in looking back on Grace's history and seeing God's faithfulness throughout the years. I hope when we sing this song as a congregation, we can sing with thanksgiving for how the Lord has provided for Grace.

Defintions

We come across a lot of "definitions" of what worship is. I find a lot of them pertain to corporate worship but this one that was sent to me by pastor Al stood out as a great way to view worship as a way of life.

"To worship is to:

Quicken the conscience by the holiness of God,

feed the mind with the truth of God,

purge the imagination by the beauty of God,

open the heart to the love of God,

devote the will to the purpose of God."

-William Temple

Realizing who we are worshiping will bring us to a place of reverence before God.

Focusing on His word will keep us worshiping in truth.

Letting the image of God free our minds from any distraction makes us more aware of his presence in everything we do.

Taking comfort in His grace and acknowledging our need for grace softens our hearts before God.

Submitting to His plan for us ultimately shows that we are living for the glory of the Lord.

lectio divina

I picked this up from a book by David Crowder called, "Praise Habit." Lectio divina (or spiritual reading) is a practice that has been around for a while. It's a way we can deliberately read scripture and see what the Lord is revealing to us. There are four parts; read, think, pray, and live.


Read- Immerse yourself in His word. Read consistently and intentionally. Carve out the time to do so.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth." Deuteronomy 11: 18-20

Think- Spend time in specific passages not taking for granted that you have understood what you have just read. Think of someone who visits the Grand Canyon. They pull up, look around, snap a few pictures, hit the gift shop and take off. Now think about the person who finds the place they can be away from the crowds. They spend time soaking in the sights, sounds even smells. Our approach to the word should be like that.  We shouldn't just read a passage, quickly decide what they mean and head to the gift shop. Read a passage and look for words that jump out at you. Ask why they jump out. Think about how it applies to your life today. Chew on the word.

Pray- Focus on declaring to God what was revealed to you as you read. Ask Him to help you understand it. Proclaim the characteristics of the God you just read about. The very nature of our God is revealed in His word. This is how we get to know Him!

Live- The more you read, the more you ask the Lord to reveal Himself, the more these concepts will be reflected in your daily lives. When you live the word, you truly live."

Not sure where to start? Try some Pslams first. Pslam 23, 33, 34, 40 are just a few.

"We" Centered Worship

"How can we go deeper in our worship? How can we make it more meaningful and less worthy of parody? And how can we make worship more about “we” the church than “me” the consumer, but above all about God?"

Biola Magazine recently published an article about worship and how churches today practice the art of worship. The article references a video parody put out a little while back that is both hilarious and thought provoking. For those of you who have not seen, “Sunday’s Coming,” watch it, then read this article, "Weightier Worship." 


One thing that stood out to me was the concept of breaking away from "Me" centered worship. There is a reason we call it "corporate" worship when we gather together on a Sunday morning.  We worship together as a community of believers. We worship together both the young and elder, male and female, the musician and the tone deaf. When we gather, we must get away from the thought of what the morning does for me, the individual, and think about what it means for us as a community. Music will change over time. The way we design churches will change over time. The clothes we wear to church will change over time but our God will not change. His word will not change. We must see corporate worship as the proclaiming of God's truth and rejoicing in the promise of the risen Christ not according to our own personal tastes  but according to how our community lives out the gospel together. When we do this, worship becomes something that spiritually unites us instead of something that stylistically divides us.   

-Scott