SOUND WORSHIP conference series

05/14/2014

Songs for Liturgy, by Cardiphonia

27 terrific songs for liturgy for only $1 by Cardiphonia Music

28 track album

03/21/2014

A Singing Church

"The vertical and horizontal dimensions of singing compel us to praise even when the music may not be to our personal preference. We see that glorifying God and encouraging one another is more important than my hope that the musical glory of 'Enter Your Favorite Band Here' invades the congregation."

When I first began the journey of planting a church one common refrain of encouragement from seasoned planters was,

01/07/2014

Shall We Sing of Sanctification?

“If someone was born in our church and grew up singing our songs over the course of twenty years, how well would they know God?”

A character in Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Hours, uses two analogies for “the realm of the duped and the simpleminded.” One is “Christians with acoustic guitars.” While this post is not about determining the appropriate instrumentation in corporate worship (acoustic guitar...

12/17/2013

Music vs. Truth Experiences – A Testimony | Worship Matters

"The temptation to move people with music more than biblical truth is a temptation every congregational worship leader faces."

Author: Bob Kauflin, Categories: –Mentoring Leaders, —Choosing Songs, Tags: theology,worship leading,worship-leaders

07/30/2013

Can I change the lyrics to a worship song?

"Some of us have a genuine desire to change lyrics for the better, I’m sure. But what one person believes is improving the lyric could be totally opposite to what another believes. And it’s not as if you have an automatic right to enter a songwriting relationship with the person, no matter how genuine your intentions."

A common question in music ministry is whether we can change the line to a worship song. Sometimes it's a line that you have no idea what it means (e.g. "Here I raise my Ebenezer"). Or it could be ...

07/09/2013

Doxology and Theology: How the Gospel Forms the Worship Leader

"We need godly, deep, thoughtful worship leaders who take their leadership seriously. This book gives current and aspiring worship leaders challenging, but practical advice on how to lead the people of God to the throne of God." - Darrin Patrick

Many in the church see worship leading and theological processing at opposite ends of a big room. Theology is considered the business of pastors and professors, while worship is the business of musicians and rock stars.But a new wave of young worship leaders is hungry for something different, the...

06/04/2013

Stanford scholar looks at the commercialization of Christian rock

"Music is a gift from God to deepen and develop the relationship with him," Kauflin said. However, when the song "becomes an idol … when the performer becomes the mediator … when people can't worship God unless the music sounds a certain way, when they can't worship God unless they sing these certain songs," then the songwriters "have messed it up."

Through a study of the booming Christian music industry, a Stanford professor finds that the commercialization of Christian rock may be undermining its spiritual purpose.

05/30/2013

The Difference between Congregational Worship and a Concert

"Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice–and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of “performing” the reality that, in Christ, we are one body. But that requires that we actually be able to hear ourselves, and hear our sisters and brothers singing alongside us."

Two authors (John Piper and Jamie Smith) offering similar points, like if you can't hear the congregation singing, the praise band is getting in the way of corporate worship.

04/30/2013

Themelios | Article: Music Singing And Emotions Exploring The Connections - The Gospel Coalition

"My positive point... is simply that singing not only helps us to engage the emotional dimensions of our humanity, but that singing truth helps us to engage with the emotional dimensions of reality, thus helping to bridge the gap between cognitive knowledge and experiential knowledge."

Music, singing and emotions: what are the connections? The question is by no means new, but it's certainly one that has received renewed attention in recent times. Of particular interest is the power of music to foster emotional health and psychosocial well-being. For example, in his Musicophilia: T...

04/09/2013

Habit-Forming Worship

"A wellspring of experience from years of worshiping together has formed all kinds of ideas about what worship is, who God is, and what it means to be the church. For good or bad, our worship practices are forming us and our communities, giving shape to what we believe."

How we gather shapes who we are and what we believe, both explicitly (through the actual content of songs, prayers, and sermons) and implicitly (through the cultural ethos and personas).

03/07/2013

“We need more worship wars, not fewer. What if the war looked like this in your congregation – the young singles petitioning the church to play more of the old classics for the sake of the elderly people, and the elderly people calling on the leadership to contemporize for the sake of the young new believers? This would signal a counting of others as more important than ourselves (Phil. 2:3), which comes from the Spirit of the humiliated, exalted King, Christ (Phil. 2:5-11). When I insist that the rest of the congregation serve as backup singers in my own little nostalgic hit parade of back-home Mississippi hymns, I am worshiping in the spirit all right, but not the Holy Spirit. I am worshiping myself, in the spirit of self-exaltation. The church negates the power of the third temptation [of Christ--to accept control of the world from Satan's hands] when we remind ourselves that we all have this devilish tendency and cast it aside whether in worship planning or missions or budget decisions.” Russell Moore (Tempted & Tried, 150).

02/27/2013

“We must also be clear about what the cross actually means. Some worship songs leave the impression that the cross is about how important we are to God. One song claimed Jesus “would rather die than live without me.” While it’s true that God’s love motivated him to send his Son to die in my place, the cross ultimately points not to the greatness of our worth but to the greatness of our sin. Yes, if I were the only person in the world, Jesus would still have come to die for me. But that’s because my sins would require the shedding of his blood unto death.
Frederick Leahy cautions us:

‘There is an error to avoid, the danger of seeing the loving obedience of Christ as primarily and exclusively for the sake of man, when, in fact, it was primarily out of love of God that he accepted the cross (Hebrews 10:7)…. This is a truth too often overlooked, and it in no way detracts from the wonder that Christ loves each one of this people with all of his love.’”
-Bob Kauflin (Worship Matters, p78)

01/31/2013

"Words make you think a thought; music makes you feel a feeling; a song makes you feel a thought." - Yip Harburg

http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/music_singing_and_emotions_exploring_the_connections

12/11/2012

Bob Kauflin on the Content of Worship Songs - Worship at Crookes

"Our tendency is to pursue being emotionally affected by music rather than moved by some fresh understanding of God’s greatness and goodness. Ideally, the power of the lyrics is supported and complemented by the power of the music."

Bob wrote Worship Matters primarily for people involved in leading corporate worship, but has been told that it’s helpful for anyone who wants to grow in their understanding and practice of biblical worship.

09/11/2012

What are the Essential Songs for Your Congregation?

A survey for Worship Leaders to reflect on the songs their people need to know:

08/14/2012

http://mysonginthenight.com/2012/08/13/should-worship-songs-focus-on-objective-truth-or-your-hearts-

"This is an interesting blog post on worship songs and the comments are fun to read too."

08/11/2012

Sound Doxology: The Key to Successful, God-Pleasing Worship

"All Bible-believing Christians come to the same conclusion: The biblical key to successful, God-pleasing worship is our obedience. However, once this is discovered and a church tries to implement it, the results are devastating."

08/10/2012

57 Ways to Add Good Songs to Your Worship Repertoire

"How would I save our repertoire reservoir, even as increasingly shallow lyrics and inconsistent musical quality threatened to dry it all up? These questions set me on a path. I began to develop new ways to build and refresh my songs—57 ways, to be exact."

When I was 21, I got my first full-time job as a musical worship leader. This was the era of the “Big Three” worship publishers—Maranatha!, Hosanna!, and Vineyard. It was pre-Tomlin, post-Jesus People. It was the time of the birth of Contemporary Worship Music—and I was all in.

07/23/2012

Worship in the Wake of Aurora - Zac Hicks Blog - Zac Hicks // Worship. Church. Theology. Culture.

"There are times of God's choosing when worship leaders need to be smacked out of their pastoral coma and realize that they have a duty to shepherd the flock through the services they plan and lead."

There was a lot of crying in worship yesterday. Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church sits on the edge...

06/04/2012

How Passive Worshipers Become More Active - Zac Hicks Blog - Zac Hicks // Worship. Church. Theology

"We come to church regularly not primarily to do something again, but to receive something again—and, yes, also to respond in gratitude. True enough: it isn’t about us, but it is for us. And a funny thing happens when we surrender to this divine charity: we actually become active again in faith and its fruit of love and service to others."

Contemporary worship has been criticized over and over again for its ability to form spectators, b...

05/12/2012

Behold Our God LIVE - Sovereign Grace (Arranged by Joshua Spacht)

Behold Our God (with orchestra)
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2012/01/05/behold-our-god-with-orchestra/

Visit joshuaspacht.com to hear more music by Joshua. This video was taken during the final song of Grace Immanuel Bible Church's 2011 Christmas Concerts. Tha...

05/04/2012

Registration has been extended until noon today!!!
Only $10- includes free resources!

soundworship3.eventbrite.com

05/03/2012

Looking forward to singing to our Awesome God this weekend. Come let us worship together.

05/02/2012

SOUND WORSHIP CONFERENCE SERIES Part 3: A Call to Worship

LAST DAY TO REGISTER!!
$10 online until tonight...then, $15 at the door (cash or check only)
http://soundworship3.eventbrite.com/

Looking forward to it!!

Promoting Gospel-saturated, Gospel-exalting worship music in the culturally- and ethinically-diverse Body of Christ East Point Church is honored to host a series of three conferences that focus on the importance of Gospel-centered worship. Thanks to a Worship Renewal Grant from the Calvin Institu...

05/01/2012

Sneak peak at the workshops scheduled for this weekend:

Children as Worshipers and Worship Leaders

Experience how children are not just the church of tomorrow; they are the worshipers, worship leaders, and church of today as well!
Teacher: Terry Taylor

Soul Food for Sound Worship

If we are what we eat, are we feeding our congregations a musical diet that will grow their faith? This workshop starts with the assumption that our song repertoire is our sung theology—we sing what we believe and we believe what we sing. We’ll look at ways to expand our repertoire to sing the whole faith.
Teacher: Greg Scheer

Blended Worship

This workshop addresses how to reconcile the differences a multicultural church faces as people from various cultures and backgrounds collectively worship the same God. We will explore how a worship leader can plan and prepare the weekly service accordingly; incorporating several styles of worship together and potentially changing the order of service if necessary.
Teacher: Allan Bynoe

04/30/2012

Greg Scheer | The Art of Worship

The first 50 online registrants for Sound Worship 3 receive a free copy of Greg Scheer's book- The Art of Worship

http://www.gregscheer.com/art_of_worship.html

"This is music that will disturb your imagination and delight your heart–a rare combination." –Jeremy Begbie

04/30/2012

East Point Church / Welcome

Sound Worship Conference is this weekend!!! Registration closes Wednesday!
This is the last of the series and we're excited to have Greg Scheer and Terry Taylor as our guest speakers!

http://www.epointchurch.org/#/sound-worship

04/20/2012

http://mysonginthenight.com/2012/04/20/5-things-to-pray-for-your-congregation-as-you-prepare-to-lead

5 Things to Pray for Your Congregation As You Prepare to Lead

04/11/2012

Worship Leaders, We Are Not Rock Stars

"It is the job of worship leaders to raise the affections of the people we lead to the highest possible height with the truth of the worthiness of God in our songs."

We don't have to be rock stars. We have Jesus. And Jesus is more than enough.

04/10/2012

SOUND WORSHIP CONFERENCE SERIES Part 3: A Call to Worship

Registration for Sound Worship Conference Series Part 3: A Call to Worship is now open! And only $10!

Promoting Gospel-saturated, Gospel-exalting worship music in the culturally- and ethinically-diverse Body of Christ East Point Church is honored to host a series of three conferences that focus on the importance of Gospel-centered worship. Thanks to a Worship Renewal Grant from the Calvin Institu...

04/07/2012

Songs that Celebrate the Resurrection in View of the Cross | Worship Matters

"Because we tend to sing a high percentage of songs about the resurrection on Easter Sunday, I thought I’d take the opportunity to suggest some songs I’ve become aware of that highlight the resurrection, especially in view of the cross."
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2010/02/26/songs-that-celebrate-the-resurrection-in-view-of-the-cross/

Author: Bob Kauflin, Categories: —Easter, —Worship and Christ, Tags: Easter,resurrection

04/03/2012

Sound Worship 2

Sound Worship 2 Recap

Take a look at a recap of the second in the series of three Sound Worship Conferences. Sound Worship 3 May 4th & 5th.

03/29/2012

thegospelcoalition.org

"A Professor I enjoyed during my seminary days used to say, “Bible, Bible, Bible, everyone uses the Bible.” He was telling us in his own dramatic way that most heretics in the history of the Christian faith have used Biblical language; what they lacked, was theological accuracy according to the whole counsel of God’s Word."

The Gospel Coalition is a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures.

03/28/2012

Ten Principles for Church Song (Part 1)

"Love is indispensable when we sing and when we are trying to discern what is best to sing."

The Gospel Coalition is a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures.

02/28/2012

Getty Concert | Mountain Park First Baptist Church

Keith and Kristyn Getty are playing in Stone Mountain, GA, this weekend (March 4th) at Mountain Park First Baptist Church. Check out www.mpfbc.org/gettyconcert & http://www.gettymusic.com/tour.aspx for more details!

02/28/2012

Symposium 2012 - Tune My Heart to Sing Your Praise: The Re-tuned hymn (and psalm!) movement in the c

Tune My Heart to Sing Your Praise: The Re-tuned hymn movement in the context of the broader culture.

When Kevin Twit and Reformed University Fellowship began setting historic hymn texts to new tunes, who knew it would grow into a movement with contributions from Indelible Grace, Sojourn Music, BiFrost and others? Several leaders in this movement will discuss the cultural background, perform example...

02/28/2012

Sound Worship ~ Part 2!

02/21/2012

The Bono Effect and Corporate Worship

"Choosing songs is a pastoral task. The songs we sing and the way we sing them shape the way our congregation understands the gospel of Jesus Christ. In singing, we marry texts and music, communicating truth through a particular aesthetic---a particular cultural lens."

How does the current climate of mp3s and pop music shape the way the church sings? In this video: Mike Cosper, Kevin Twit, Isaac Wardell Permalink: http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/a/the_bono_effect_and_corporate_worship

02/20/2012

Sound Worship II: Just Days Away

This blog post re: SOUND WORSHIP conference series via East Point Church's lead pastor, Tony Carter: http://epointchurch.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/sound-worship-ii-just-days-away !!! Online pre-registration sales continue till midnight! $10/person - http://soundworship2.eventbrite.com

The second installment of the Sound Worship Conference Series is set to begin in just a few days. Last conference we examined the question, What is Gospel Worship? This week we will seek to underst...