Ring Side View from a Worship Leader

A man recently blogged that the only true worship music is Gregorian chant; that all modern worship music is inadequate to magnify our great King.  I chuckle, because when Pope Gregory reformed the church music in the Middle Ages, he shook up the Roman Catholic music scene with his "modern worship."  I don't know what people sang before that, but his chant style was NEW.

Paradox:  Sing to the Lord a NEW song (Psalm 96:1.)  There is nothing NEW under the sun (Eccl. 1:9.)

Wisdom says worship is not about new or old, or about the style, or the volume, or the quality of musicianship, or the acoustics, or the instruments.  One of the first lessons I learned as a worship leader was to lay my song and style preferences down at the altar.  A song that makes me want to yawn may be the exact song that heals another's relationship with God and draws him or her into the holy of holies.

Many Sundays I stand before the people of our church and ache for those who can't seem to cross that threshold into worship.  They don't realize the veil has been torn and they can enter into the throne room.  You can see it in their glazed eyes and bored countenance.

Worship is not a complicated mystery created for musicians and mystics.  It is a command for everyone and can be improved by considering a few important things:

• Come into corporate worship with expectancy.  Read what went on in the early church in Acts.  God was ACTIVE!  People were keenly aware of his spirit moving.  I venture to guess that God has not changed.  We have.  We've taken needle and thread and stitched the veil back together because it's more comfortable.  We don't want to REALLY see his glory.  We don't want to REALLY know his calling on our lives.

• Confess your unbelief and milquetoast attitude.  Ask for a fresh encounter with God.

• Don't be so cerebral about your worship.  The Hebrew word for worship means to prostrate.  That sounds like the body should be involved.  Let's stop picking apart temperaments and personalities and instead think about what it really means to bring a sacrifice of praise.  Could part of that mean sacrificing self-consciousness?

• Worship is not an escape or an opiate that is supposed to send us into some Zen ecstasy.  It is meant to open our hearts to hear and respond to the Kol Yahweh, the voice of God.  It allows us to be receptive to the scripture and sermon to follow.  Does your pastor's sermon ever fall flat on your ears?  How was your worship that day?  

Can you tell I'm fresh off of leading worship this past Sunday and that I just read the chapter on worship in Celebration of Disciplines by Richard Foster?  Some day, I just want to know what happens when every single heart in the room is tuned to worship, when every body is engaged, and every ear is listening.  What would God do with that kind of reception?

Legacy

It's been awhile since I wrote the song Legacy.  I remember what inspired it:  two back to back reports on the morning news, which I was watching while running on the treadmill at our local gym.  I remember it clearly, because both stories made me cry, which is awkward when you're running next to strangers.

The first story was about Bernie Madoff, the ponzi scheme convict, who cheated masses of people out of millions of dollars.  His adult son cracked under pressure and killed himself.  I remember thinking...gain the world and lose your soul...and your wealth....and your family....and your dignity.  It was a story that could have come right out of the 1 or 2 Samuel or Kings or any number of books in the Old Testament.

What happens
when a father chases after
everything that doesn't matter
to gain the world and lose his soul

His son
who is desperate to know
the value of his soul
learns to put his hope in wealth

And the kingdom crashes down
And there's blood spilled on the ground
-lyrics from Legacy

The story that followed was an interview with Elizabeth Smart, ten years after she was abducted as a 14-year-old from her homeand forced to live as the slave of a creepy, crazy couple in Utah, until she was found 9 months later.  What struck me was that even though she had endured a nightmare, she was clearly loved and adored by her parents and was recovering beautiful, even talking about a growing passion to become a lawyer to help other victims of violent crimes.

What about a legacy
of faith and hope and charity
for the children looking up to me
what about a legacy

What about solid ground
what about a love profound
mercy, Jesus, work in me
to leave a legacy 
-lyrics from Legacy

All of us who have entered into the great adventure of parenting must carefully count the cost and consider the legacy our children will inherit.  We can store up treasures here on earth, convincing ourselves it is what our family needs and wants, or we can lay a foundation of faith and character that they CAN.NOT.LOSE.  We can teach them the value of their souls.  There is no greater legacy.

The Long and Winding Prayer

I love to write bright and joyful songs that celebrate God's goodness, and funny songs that make us chuckle and relate, and breezy winsome songs that you can turn on while you're cleaning the house.

But I can't neglect the lament.  The song of confession.  These songs usually come to me after dark nights of the soul, where I spend  time in the desert until God leads me back to green pastures.  These times have been regular parts of my spiritual journey, and I'm no longer afraid of them.  I look at them now from the perspective of a tree whose roots are encountering obstacles in their search for water.  In the end, the roots find water and grow deeper.

Songs like Westward Home from my Herald album, Turn My Heart from Songs with Wings, and Pilgrimage are examples of laments.  In every lament and confession is a call to hope and restoration.  Read Psalms and Lamentations for proof!

Last summer was a desert time for me.  I wound down some weird paths trying to find relief for my angst.  I read some weird books that didn't help.  I think I only wrote one song.  But in August, I wrote:

This is a long and winding prayer
That wraps around the deepest part of me
I'm gonna take a cold, hard stare
At the demons I've been wrestling.

And a lament was born.  It is a necessary song to include on Deeper Wider.  I love how Richard Foster puts it in his chapter on Confession from Celebration of Discipline:

The person who has known forgiveness and release from persistent, nagging habits of sin through confession should rejoice greatly in this evidence of God's mercy.