Billboard Top 10

I preached the message this week on A Biblical Perspective of Music. It was a lot of fun and I got some amazing feedback. So many people over the weekend, and also in follow up emails, are buzzing about the content. Very exciting. Part of my sermon was about what people are listening to now and how non-redemptive it is. I read out the subject matter of each of the Billboard Top 10 in the church services to make a point that we’re seeing the “debased mind” that Paul refers to in Romans 1 lived out in our most popular music. I am not shocked easily and it did not really suprise me the content of these songs, but rather I was shocked these are the MOST POPULAR SONGS IN AMERICA TODAY. For your edification, here is the list I presented. The subject synopsis’ are mine based on reading the lyrics:

#10: About using drugs to get away from the tough things in life
#9: Love song about teenage romance
#8: Only one night to be with a girl, so the guy goes for it
#7: Highly descriptive song about sex, the only good thing about a woman
#6: Death to self, that ends in hopelessness
#5: Lust. A guy sees a girl who’s so hot he’s burning with passion for her & it’s overwhelming
#4: Guy cheated on his girl and now she’s kicking him out of the house
#3: Friends trying to stop a girl from loving because she’ll only get hurt
#2: Oral sex (graphic and descriptive)

And the #1 most popular song in all of America according to the Billboard Hot 100 is:
#1: Girl gets drunk at a party and has a lesbian sexual encounter and hopes her boyfriend doesn’t mind

Purpose Statement for Music

I am giving the sermon in our church this weekend and I am going to be speaking on the Biblical perspective of music.  I want to give the definitive statement of the purpose of music.  In preparation I came up with the following purpose statement for music that I want to post out here to get feedback on.  Here you go!

“Music is a creation of God and has existed in the heavenly realm even before the creation of the world; it currently is, and will be used in the heavenly realm for eternity to bring praise, worship and glory to God. God sowed music into the fabric of the world for His purposes, to be used by mankind for the purpose of God’s glorification.”

In Everything Be Thankful

Psalm 100:1-5 says, “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he, who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

What an amazing scripture! The faithfulness of God is a humbling thought. Look at the past few months and see how he has looked after all the details of our lives! Thanking and praising him doesn’t mean that difficult times become easier, that problems disappear, or that good times get even better. It just means that God gives us hope through Him in every situation and that when we choose to acknowledge Him, we take on His perspective instead of our own. Be encouraged to take a minute each day, remember to bless and praise the name of the Lord, and watch Him work in and through your life!

Worship Through the Storm

Worship as it relates to suffering is a subject of discussion that doesn’t seem to be widely talked about. The book “Blessed Be Your Name: worshipping God on the road marked with suffering” by Matt and Beth Redman addresses some of the biblical approaches to suffering and making the choice to worship God no matter what. Here are several thoughts to ponder directly from the book.

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned…”

“Worship is a choice the choice to praise God despite the pain a person may find themselves in. It’s at these times of suffering when we can do nothing but trust God. Do we have faith to believe God is God of the storms of our lives? Faith will always fan the flames of worship. We need to be reminded that God’s love, and loyalty will never run out, and are new every morning.”  

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Psalm 13:5-6 says, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”

“When we can’t seem to perceive God amidst our path and the clouds of anxiety and fear closes in on us, the way forward is to remind ourselves of what we know to be true and dependable. The unchanging grace of God.”

Psalm 42:5-6 says, “…Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him. My Savior and my God…”

“To worship God is to tell Him that we believe Him for who He says He is. I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

“Yes, every act of worship is a choice, a decision to believe and respond to God for who He says He is; no matter how pressing our circumstances. And the greater the pain we’re experiencing the greater a choice it may be.”

“Sometimes we will walk blindly, unable to understand a certain situation.  Our only comfort being the knowledge that God Himself is not walking blindly, but instead, kindly, and firmly in control. So often God will often take our broken moments and weave them into a powerful tapestry to the glory of his name.”

“To praise God through all of the storms is to fully praise and worship him. To know that he is Lord over all and has a perfect plan.”

Worship:Three

Great news!  Our 3rd CD is now out.  It’s called worship:three the savior of the world EP.  It’s 5 songs of worshippy goodness.  It includes the 4 most recent tunes from the songwriters at Mountain Springs Church and is 100% live.  You can check it all out by clicking here.  Check out the song samples, read the stories behind the songs, download free song sheets, etc.  Let me know what you think!

Praising a Long Time

The history of Praise and Worship in the Bible is a fun and interesting adventure.  Music has a tendancy to be a bit controversial topic within the church these days.  The best case scenerio is one where us Jesus-followers would advance past personal opinion and onto the purpose of the church which is to praise God, leaving issues of style and culture as unnecessary dividing lines.  To that point, if I sing “Jesus, how sweet the name” and I do it with a pipe organ, or an a cappella group, or a choir, or with drums and electric guitars, does it really matter?  I think not, what matters most is the heart with which we praise.  Nevertheless when subjects like this kick around in my mind I find myself wondering what God thinks of this.  How can we honor Him?  The components we use for His glory in Praise and Worship are namely 1) Instrumental and 2) Vocal.  (Additionally we have a) soul and b) spirit but we’ll save that discussion for another day.)  One teaching I’ve done many times and still adhere to this exegesis, is that if God sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17) he must have a) created song b) love song.  Therefore anything, any music, that deviates from the purpose to glorify God is an abberation of its original intent.  That thinking excludes a lot of music in the world, but I believe it to be true.

One encouragement to those of us who are called to praise God and lead others in the same, is just how long this has been going on.  We often highlight David’s court as an example of praise in the highest order. Yet a quick look into Genesis reveals that this has been going on a really long time.

In Genesis 4:17-22 we have a listing of some of Cain’s descendants.  Check out verse 21 where we are introduced to Jubal.  “…He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.” (NKJV) Wow.  This enables us to pinpoint the use of instruments in praise and worship to as early as the 7th generation from Adam.  I don’t know about you but that gets me really excited!  (Being a guitar player, knowing that stringed instruments existed as early as the 7th generation gets me extra stoked.)  I’ll also point out that the number 7 represents perfection in Kingdom accounting.

Secondly, a few verses later there is an amazing statement.  In verse 26 we read “That’s when men and women began praying and worshipping in the name of GOD.” (The Message)  By reading further and adding up the age when Adam fathered Seth, and then Seth fathered Enosh, we can estimate something just over 235 years from the creation of man to when humans began corporate worship of GOD.

A little over 200 years from the dawn of creation and people congregated in worship.  Only seven generations passed and musical instruments were used in worship.  This leaves no doubt in my heart that music is God invented, God inspired, and God purposed.  Does this encourage anyone else out there?  Let me know!

The Complainer

So I was thinking about the general nature of the complainer this week.  We had a guest speaker at church since our Sr. Pastor is in Israel (”lucky!”) and he asked the congregation in each of our 3 services “be honest, how many of you have not prayed for your pastors, any of them, even one time in the last 2 weeks?”  Most people raised their hands.  I’ll give them this, they are an honest congregation (I absolutely love this church).  He said, “so you never pray for your pastors, but when something gets said from the pulpit you don’t like or the music is not quite right you are so quick to send off an email to them and complain.”  Wow.  Being a pastor I was one part edified and another part squirming a bit.  If you are in public ministry you’ve heard it.  The complaints: too loud, I couldn’t worship, where are the hymns?, it’s obvious this is about you and not about God.  Yes I’ve heard a lot of it.  In fact, I myself am a complainer.  I complain about all sorts of things that make my life difficult, or anything that pulls me out of my comfort zone.  Just this morning my wife said, “you ought to squeeze in a bike ride, the weather is nice.”  I got up put on bike shorts and jersey, socks and shoes, and then asked “what’s the temperature?”  It was a little cold for the clothes I was wearing.  I complained because I had to change my clothes.  I did end up on a bike ride and am very happy I went.  She was right, the weather was beautiful this morning.  And I did find myself praising God for His creation which I often do when I go biking.  But I just HAD to complain at some point didn’t I?  But it seems that when people uncork on a pastor in the church, it’s quite vile.  Why do these complainers feel the need to spread so much venom (yes, venom) when they complain (actually said to me in church: “how dare you assume to know what I need to worship God”)?  Congregational church is about giving back to God (see 1 Peter 2:9); declaring His praises.  That’s the primary purpose of the church.  But some people arrive with a consumer mentality and are just flat out furious when it doesn’t conform to whatever standard they have imposed on “church.”  With the American church body rife with complainers are we really acting as His disciples and ”lov[ing] one another” as Christ commanded (John 13:34)?  What do you think?   

Backstage Pass Interview

A few months ago I was interviewed by Fletch Whipp who runs Rockstazusa.com.  We chattted about gear and the future of music, etc.  This site caters to the unsaved so he interviewed me as a way to present another viewpoint on Christianity to his many students and contacts in the music business.  Fletch is an amazing guitarist and member of our church worship team, and a more amazing friend and Spirit-filled Christian.  You can check out the interview for yourself here

National Day of Prayer

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer.  This special event was different than some others I have been involved with.  This year was a joy to coordinate and the tangible results were all good.  At Mountain Springs we had a noon event and then at night I led worship at a city-wide event.  All day long at church we had various groups meeting and praying.  This year seemed special.  It seemed that there was more unity among God’s people.  During both events I led at, I sensed true spiritual unity and thus, power in the prayers.  Maybe it takes a season of losing ground in order to spur people into action.  Colorado Springs is one of the most unchurched cities of its size in the country.  15 years ago something like 29% of the people in this town went to church.  Now the stat I heard is 18%.  That means in our mission field, we’re losing.  We’re not proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel loud or often enough.  But yesterday I saw believers from all over the city gathering in faith, praying; offering supplications of repentance for what we, the church, has or has not done for the Lord.  It was inspiring to me. 

There was also a time of prayer for pastors.  People came over to Dina and I and prayed for us.  That was fantatsic.  Unexpected that it ministered to me so much.

Three worship pastors from somoe of the largest churches in town (that would include us) led worship.  We sang songs before our Senior Pastors came up to pray.  No agenda, no ego, no one-upsmanship, just joy in serving each other and the Lord.  It was great to be a part of that kind of unity and connectivity.

Footnote: I read a sad article from someone complaining that the National Day of Prayer was lame because of how it excluded people.  Like Buddists and Muslims.  And also that since Shirley Dobson created it, it must exclude anyone who is not a right wing evangelical.  Funny that in an effort to be inclusive, people ultimately become exclusive themselves.  If we changed the National Day of Prayer to include all belief systems and faiths, wouldn’t that then ultimately exclude the people that gravitate towards it as a rallying point for their worldview and faith?  If buddists wanted their own National Day of Prayer in America don’t you think they would be asking for it? 

Today is a good day

Today is a good day.  I led worship this weekend and each of our 3 services was a ton of fun.  I woke up to my lovely wife of 21 years (we got married when we were 12, okay just kidding…16.  Okay just kidding…19.  Not kidding.).  I prayed and spent time in the Word.  This morning I finalized the mix on our new CD.  We finalized the cover art today as well.  I listened to a new song by one of our songwriters for critique and I liked it.  I met with my Communications Director and we discussed spreading the gospel more effectively through media.  I confirmed worship leading at Thursday’s city-wide National Day of Prayer event.  I played a prank on an admin.  I discussed design options for our August recording night for our next full length CD.  My daughter turned 16 on Saturday and today she was full of joy as she prepared for online schooling.  I gave my son permission to borrow my Les Paul for his band rehearsal tonight.  Then we discussed that after his small group later tonight he’ll come home early so we can watch an episode of “Band of Brothers.”  So all that and other things.  Today is a good day.

Okay so why is it so hard to come up with a title for this EP?  We have discussed “the spring EP” and maybe “an EP release” and also “the savior of the world EP” and finally maybe just “the EP.”  Of all the things that we have to do with this release, why is it that this title thing is so hard?  There are hard things in this world.  I was just minstering to someone and teaching them about spiritual warfare.  He’s going through a tough learning curve on the demonic.  That’s hard.  Someone in our church is dealing with cancer.  That’s hard.  Titling an EP should not be considered hard.  But we’ve been wrestling with it for days.  Seems silly right?  Right now I’m leaning towards “the EP” since it’s only a sub title and the main title is Worship:Three since it’s our 3rd CD release from Mountain Springs Church.  Okay that’s even more hilarious.  We’re so lame we can’t even come up with a subtitle.

I hope to post regularly on this blog.  I hope you all come and comment and post.  I hope to glorify God.  I hope to come up with a title for our EP.