Philosophy of Worship

I am often asked what my philosophy of worship is and I am sure there are others who may wonder but never ask. So, here is the philosphy of worship that I attempt to apply to my worship leading each and every Sunday.

I believe corporate worship should be:

1. God-centered: Celebrating the distinctive roles and work of the Trinity

• God the Father (Ephesians 1:3-6)
• God the Son (Ephesians 1:7-12)
• God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14

2. Bible-based: Concentrating on teaching the truth of God’s Word

• Pray the Word (1 Timothy 2:1)
• Read the Word (1 Timothy 4:13)
• Sing the Word (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19)
• Preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2)

3. Gospel-declaring: Communicating the good news of Jesus Christ

• Man’s sin (Romans 3:23)
• Sin’s consequences (Romans 6:23)
• God’s solution (John 3:16)
• Christ’s sacrifice (Romans 5:8)
• Man’s faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• God’s gift (Romans 6:23)

4. Church-building: Cultivating the common good of the Church

• Edify the body (Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Cor. 14:26)
• Educating the believer (Colossians 3:16)
• Engaging the head and heart
• Encouraging unity (Romans 15:5-6)
• Evangelizing the lost (Matthew 28:18-20)
• Exhorting saint and sinner

I value corporate worship that is:

1. Congregational (Psalm 111:1, 149:1)

• I believe that our chief instrument of praise is the congregation’s voice. This impacts my choices of music and instrumentation. During congregational singing, the congregation’s voice will be primary. Instrumentation and corporate worship leaders will enhance the congregation’s voice, not cover it up.[1] I believe that the congregation should have an active role in our corporate worship services through attitude, action, thought, preparation, and response. Corporate worship is not passive entertainment, but intentional engagement. I should come to church ready to participate by paying attention and involving myself in the worship in order to bear witness to the message being declared through the worship service.[2]

2. Excellent (Psalm 33:1-3)

• I believe that corporate worship should be intentionally planned, creatively designed, adequately rehearsed, skillfully led, and intentionally evaluated in order to better promote an atmosphere of worship.

3. Appropriate and Relevant

• I believe that corporate worship should be both, appropriate in holding exclusively to God’s commands in Scripture as my rule of worship, and relevant in applying those commandments in legitimate, and often nontraditional ways.[3] Although worship is directed to God, the songs will be understandable and usable by the congregation.[4

4. Authentic and Genuine (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8-9)

• I believe that corporate worship should be done in a sincere and humble manner. Vain repetitions and empty exercises have no place in heartfelt worship.[5]

5. Trans-generational (Philippians 2:1-7, Romans 15:5-7)

• I believe that corporate worship should transcend generational barriers by recognizing and embracing an appreciation for various worship styles, tunes and texts. I believe in forging a form of corporate worship within a framework of Biblical theology that takes seriously both our history and our contemporary reality.[6] The primary characteristic of our worship will be that it is based upon the truth of God’s word.[7] Scripture alone takes precedence over opinion, tradition and preference.[8] I believe that corporate worship should unite the church, not divide it. Therefore, I believe that the predominant attitude of worship must be one that is preferential toward one another in love.

[1] Adapted from Crossroads Evangelical Free Church in Earlham, Iowa
[2] Adapted from a quote by John M. Frame in Worship in Spirit and Truth, p. 107, P&R Publishing, 1996
[3] Adapted from quotes by John M. Frame in Worship in Spirit and Truth, p. 46 & 67, P&R Publishing, 1996
[4] Adapted from Crossroads Evangelical Free Church in Earlham, Iowa
[5] Adapted from a philosophy of worship by Joshua Berrus
[6] Adapted from Crossroads Evangelical Free Church in Earlham, Iowa
[7] Adapted from Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana
[8] Adapted from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Martinez, Georgia

Favorite Worship Songs

Top Five Favorite Worship Songs:
1. Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman)
2. Everlasting God (Lincoln Brewster)
3. Forever (Chris Tomlin)
4. The Power of the Cross (Keith Getty)
5. Jesus, Thank You (Sovereign Grace)


Top Five Favorite New Worship Songs:
1. Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)
2. Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall)
3. All Beacuse of Jesus (Steve Fee)
4. Love the Lord (Lincoln Brewster)
5. Hallelujah to My King (Paul Baloche)


Top Five Favorite Hymns:
1. Jesus Paid It All
2. Here Is Love
3. Doxology
4. How Great Thou Art
5. I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say


Top Five Favorite Song Writters:
1. Chris Tomlin
2. Keith Getty
3. Sovereign Grace
4. Paul Baloche
5. Fanny Crosby

Righteous Confidence

The whole counsel of God is a marvelous mystery. How it always works together and reinforces the truth is amazing. After reading about God's love of righteousness yesterday in Psalm 11 I read of the confidence righteousness brings in Proverbs 12 today. Check it out!

The righteous find favor with God - Proverbs 12:2

The righteous cannot be moved - Proverbs 12:3

The thoughts of the righteous are right - Proverbs 12:5

The house of the righteous will stand - Proverbs 12:7

The righteous yield fruit - Proverbs 12:12

The righteous will come through trouble - Proverbs 12:13

No trouble will overtake the righteous - Proverbs 12:21

The way of righteousness is life - Proverbs 12:28

For the love of righteousness

I was reading Psalm 11 this morning during my daily devotions and came across Psalm 11:7, "For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright."

Immediately I was reminded of Romans 3:21-26, "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

What beautiful justification we have received through the grace of God and the blood of Jesus Christ.

Here it is, an Original Song

People have been after me for years to write worship songs. I usually do not have enough time in a week to devote any significant effort to composing music and writing decent lyrics to a singable worship song. But for the past three weeks I have been working on one that has turned out fairly well and the Merge Band and I are getting ready to unveil it at the Merge Service this Sunday night. Here are the lyrics to the song. Hopefully I'll be able to post a live recording of it soon. The song is called In Christ and is primarily inspired by my series in the book of Colossians of the past few months.

IN CHRIST

In Christ I have been given what I never could have earned
Forgiveness and salvation through His grace
In Christ I have been pardoned from the sentance I deserved
In His mercy my guilt has been erased

For God so loved the world He sent His sinless Son
to be sin for us, dying on a cross

In Christ I have been declared righteous before a holy God
Justfied freely through His blood
In Christ I have been redeemed from the bondage of sin
Purchased through His sacrifice of love

For God so loved the world He sent His sinless Son
To be sin for us, dying on a cross

In Christ I've been set free
I am in Christ and Christ is in me
In Christ I am complete, in Christ
In Christ I have died, In Christ I'm made alive
In Christ I'm satisified, in Christ

In Christ I have recieved access to the wisdom of God
I'm learning to walk by faith and not by sight
In Christ I have a future and a hope that is secure
And one day I will reign with Him on high

For God so loved the world He sent His sinless Son
To be sin for us, dying on a cross

In Christ I've been set free
I am in Christ and Christ is in me
In Christ I am complete, in Christ
In Christ I have died, in Christ I'm made alive
In Christ I'm satisified, in Christ

John 3:16; Romans 3:24, 6:8; 2 Corinthians 5:7, 21; Ephesians 1:7-14, 2:1-10; Colossians 1:14, 19-22, 27, 2:1-3

Frustrated with Conservative Voters

I find myself becoming more and more frustrated with conservative, Christian voters and their narrow-minded,albeit, passionate propagation of the absolute necessity (and biblical mandate) to vote for John McCain. While I agree that McCain may be the best choice for President, I do not agree with the reasons and tactics many conservative, Christian voters use to manipulate and convince people to vote for him. Here are just a few of my pet-peeves:

1. Focusing only on Abortion and Marriage
Most people I know who are voting for John McCain are doing so simply on the issues of abortion and gay-marriage. While these are important issues, they are not the only issues. We are never going to have a candidate that we fully and completely agree with. We must consider all the issues and use discernment when selecting a candidate.

2. Violating the Separation of Church and State
Christians love separation of church and state as long as it is the state staying away from the church, but the church is often guilty of not staying away from the state. Just this week during a Sunday evening service I received a "prayer guide" that led me in a prayer of victory for John McCain and Sarah Palin while praying for the eyes of those misguided souls voting for Obama to be miraculously opened. I do not belive that it is the church's responisbility to promote or support a specific candidate. We all have the right and responsibility to vote for whomever we want.

3. Assuming that Republican and Christian are synonymous terms
Just for the record, Republican does not mean Christian and Democrat does not mean Satanic.

4. Forgetting a Biblical perspective on God and Politics
I was reminded the other day of the Jews desire for a "political" Savior throughout the Old and New Testament. But God was (and is) not interested in political kingdoms, only spiritual ones. We need to spot wasting our time hopeing for a revival in our political systems and start fulfilling the great comission to go and make disciples of all peoples. God is interested in individual souls, not national platforms.