Archive for Hymns

Sing as Members of the Body of Christ

2014-04-24 Congregational Song, Hymns No comments

This is the 13th in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6, NIV)

When we sing hymns, we sing as members of the Body of Christ. As we receive God’s Word, as we respond in faith, as we praise our Eternal Father in song, we join with all members of Christ’s Body, stretching out through all places and all times. If we miss that unity, we miss one of the greatest blessings of living in Christ.

In hymn singing, let’s treasure the past. Cherish the witness of those who have gone before and now encourage us from that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1).

Let’s build to last. When future generations sift through what we’ve left behind, may they find hymns they want to keep—hymns that still express their faith and praise, hymns that transcend changes of style.

While we’re reaching out to those behind us and before us in the Body, let’s reach out to those around us now. In our hymn singing, let’s make the effort to include our varied brothers and sisters in Christ. With the mixture of ages and preferences in most of our congregations, that won’t be automatic. But Christian love demands it and will richly reward our efforts.

In the Friday blogs that follow, we’ll be looking more closely at each of these important ideas.

Jesus’ Relationship with His Father

2014-04-17 Congregational Song, Hymns No comments

This is the 12th in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

We often think of the earthly Jesus as a superman, with power flowing from His fingertips. But that’s not how the Apostle Paul describes Him:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8, NASB)

Listen to how Jesus describes Himself:

“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does…By myself I can do nothing. (John 5:19, 30, NIV)

“The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work…These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:10, 24, NIV)

It wasn’t Jesus’ own power that made Him what He was. He had emptied Himself of all that. He made Himself dependent on His Father, constantly and completely, for every word and action. Jesus was what He was by faith. His strength lay not in unique abilities but in His relationship with the Father.

Jesus longs to share that relationship with us. He wants us to have the same fellowship with the Father that He enjoys. He longs for us to participate in the deep love that flows unhindered among the Father, Son, and Spirit:

“I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him…we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:20-21, 23, NIV)

Study the life of Jesus. As you see how He lived, all through faith, the hunger will grow in you to share His beautiful, simple relationship with the Father. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit all deeply desire to share that relationship with you.

To enjoy Jesus’ relationship with the Father, worship as He worshiped. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Trust. Obey. Such a relationship is the reward and the fruit of worship—true worship that is not one hour a week but every hour; worship that is not just spoken or sung but lived.

The highest purpose of our hymns is to nurture such a relationship with the Living God. It is the key to our happiness and fruitfulness, now and forever.

Which Worshipers Pleased Jesus?

2014-04-10 Congregational Song, Hymns No comments

This is the 11th in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-20; 7:18-35)—He responded to God’s Word boldly and wholeheartedly, with singleness of mind.

The woman with the alabaster jar (Matthew 26:6-13)—She loved Jesus so much that she poured out on Him the very best she had.

The Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28)—Out of love for her suffering daughter, she humbled herself and refused to be deterred from seeking Jesus’ help. Her faith and perseverance secured her daughter’s healing. 

 “His mother and brothers” (Luke 8:19-21)—Jesus said that His mother and brothers were anyone who heard God’s Word and put it into practice.

The centurion in Capernaum (Luke 7:1-10)—Even in the most pressing need, he trusted Christ’s authority simply and humbly.

Mary, Martha’s sister (Luke 10:38-42)—She put aside everything else and sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to what He said. Jesus said she had chosen “the good part”.

Children (Matthew 19:13-14)—Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who come to God as little children.

The Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19)—When the 10 lepers were healed on their way to the priest, he alone turned around and came back to thank Jesus.

The widow with her offering (Mark 12:41-44)—Her offering was completely insignificant in human terms, but Jesus said that in God’s eyes, her gift was the greatest. She lovingly and humbly gave everything she had.

Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)—He put his repentance into action, giving away his wealth to the needy and to those he had wronged.

The twelve apostles (Matthew 19:28-30)—Most were common working people, with faith and understanding that were often imperfect. But Jesus said that because they had left all to follow Him, they would reign with Him on twelve thrones, judging the tribes of Israel. 

The thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43)—While everyone around was sneering at Jesus, the criminal humbly trusted Him and thereby secured a place with Him in paradise.

Which worshipers pleased Jesus? Those who expressed their faith and love by their actions.

The Greatest Commandment

2014-04-03 Congregational Song, Hymns No comments

This is the tenth in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

In our worship and in our living, what is most important to God? What does our loving Father want from us and for us? Jesus said it clearly:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40, NIV)

Loving Him completely, with all that we have and are — that is what our Father wants for us.

If loving Him is the sum and center of His desire for us, our hymns should have the same goal. Their purpose should help be to help us love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.

But let’s be specific and practical. What did Jesus have in mind when He said that life’s highest goal is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? Is He talking about wholehearted worship when we gather together? Is He urging us toward emotional freedom in our worship? Or does He mean something more?

Look at Jesus’ own life. He is our living example (John 13:15). We are to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). How did He love His Father with all His heart, soul, and mind? By His words and His example, how did he teach His disciples to follow this greatest commandment?

Read the gospels. Read them hungrily, asking God to enlighten you. You’ll see that for Christ, loving God was far more than telling God how great He was. Worship was not an experience. It was a life. He loved and worshiped His Father through daily prayer, faith, obedience, self-sacrifice, holiness, and patient endurance. He prized His Father’s approval, not seeking His own will nor the praise of other people. Hearing and obeying the Father was His constant goal and source of strength.

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34, NIV)

For Jesus, the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) was a lifestyle. He sought only His Father’s glory, Kingdom and will. He depended on the Father constantly and completely. He forgave all who wronged Him, even His murderers, and He turned away from evil, keeping His eyes on the Father.

The life of Jesus teaches us the meaning of the word worship. Our church services are only the smallest part of it. Worship is 168 hours per week, not one hour on Sunday. Worship is far more than telling God how great He is. Worship is a full life response to Him. It is daily walking with Him in faith, love, and obedience.

That should be the goal of our hymn singing. Our hymns should help us worship as Christ worshiped and walk as He walked, denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily, and following Him.

Our hymns should also help us live out the second greatest commandment: to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said this commandment was very close to the first, and indeed it is. We cannot love God without loving and serving those He loves so much. Our hymns should encourage us and guide us to Christian relationships in our homes, our workplaces, our churches, and in our world at large.

Expand Your Expectations

2014-03-27 Congregational Song, Hymns No comments

This is the ninth in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

Wherever you are in your current use of hymns, look beyond. Hymns can do more in our spiritual lives than we are allowing them to do. Expand your expectations. Consider new possibilities.

Are you primarily using short, repetitive hymns? Hymns can effectively express more complex ideas. Give them a chance to do so. Gradually expand to include hymns with more substantial texts.

Are you using lots of “heavy” hymns, with many words? Don’t forget to occasionally mix in shorter hymns. When the context is right, give yourself and your people the chance to reflect on fewer words and fewer thoughts. You’ll find such hymns in a wide variety of styles to suit your situation.

Look at the themes of the hymns you use in worship. Do most of them tell God how great He is? That is so important. All true worship is God-focused, and looking to Him should always be central. But remember, worship encompasses every response to God in faith. Prayer, holy living, loving others, Christian responsibility, perseverance in trial, resisting temptation–all are worship. All are responses of faith, and all are vital to our ongoing relationship with God.

These responses involve many different moods–sometimes joyful praise, sometimes reflective worship, sometimes thoughtful challenge or deep consecration, sometimes brokenness, repentance, and humble prayer. We need all these in our worship, and hymns can help provide them.

God’s beautiful truth for us comes in many different emphases, styles, forms, and flavors. Sing His truth, and sing a full range of responses to His truth.  Remember God’s promise:

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11, NIV)

God’s Word is powerful and always accomplishes His purpose. Embrace the fullness of His Word in your life and ministry. Embrace that fullness in your hymns.

Unworthy

2014-03-20 Congregational Song, Hymns No comments

This is the eighth in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

Lord, as I come to You and think toward singing,
I hesitate.
I sense that my songs are unworthy of You.
They are, Lord.
All our songs,
all our understandings,
all our expressions are unworthy of You.

But You want my praise, Lord.
You ask for it.
And I remember that praise doesn’t come from my song.
It comes from me.
Trust doesn’t come from my words,
but from my heart.
True worship and submission don’t come from my singing,
but from my doing.

Holy Father, Son, and Spirit,
fill me with yourself.
Cleanse my thoughts.
Purify this temple completely, Lord.
Sanctify me to Your use.

Then make me a vessel of Your praise.
Make my entire life an instrument of worship,
giving glory to You throughout all the ages,
forever and ever.
Amen, Lord. Amen.

Sing to Nurture a Relationship with God

2014-03-13 Congregational Song, Hymns One comment

This is the seventh in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

I believe that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to joy, satisfaction, fruitfulness, and meaning, now, every moment, and forever.

I believe such a relationship is available to every human creature. Personality doesn’t matter. Intellect and education don’t matter. Culture doesn’t matter. Age doesn’t matter. Financial and social status don’t matter. Every person can have a satisfying and meaningful life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Further, God is always, everywhere calling everyone into this relationship with Himself. What’s more, He gives us the privilege of participating in His call to others.

That’s why I believe so passionately in hymns. A personal relationship with Christ is the key to life for every person, and hymns can nurture that relationship.

Some worship leaders focus on creating “an experience” for their worshipers or trying to “make a moment” for them. Experiences with God can be important and formative, but only as they contribute to an ongoing relationship with God. That relationship is the key.

I suggest that our hymns and worship services focus on nurturing our ongoing relationship with God rather than on creating a temporary “experience” with God. Our services last one hour or so. What about the other 167 hours? Sundays should focus on the week, not the moment. Their purpose should be to prepare people for daily living. When that is the emphasis, substance becomes far more important than style.

As many suggest, it is vital that our worship services remind people of the reality of God’s presence. But remember, God is always with us, not just on Sunday morning, and we realize His presence, not by emotion, but by faith.

For example, consider how Christ mentored His disciples. Was it by leading them into a big emotional worship experience? Perhaps once, on the mount of transfiguration, with only three disciples, immediately before His death. But His focus was on nourishing their faith and a constant relationship with the Father. Jesus’ strength was fed, not by emotional pit-stops, but by a life of prayer and by constant trust in His Father. That’s what He wanted for His disciples as well.

That should be our deepest desire, both for ourselves and for those to whom we minister. Refocus your worship on nurturing a relationship with the Living God, a relationship of faith, for that relationship is life’s greatest treasure, now and forever.

Redeeming God’s Music

2014-03-06 Congregational Song, Hymns One comment

This is the sixth in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

I had blogged a devotional reading that ended in my Advent hymn, Come, Our Lord!. The same day I received an email from a lady who kindly said that she liked the words to the hymn but wished it would have been set to a different tune. The hymn tune is OLD BLACK JOE, and she was offended by the music of minstrelsy.

Her response is understandable. A number of the hymn tunes I use have had such unsavory associations. No example is more striking than AUSTRIAN HYMN. The music was a classical melody by Joseph Haydn, but it served as the national anthem of Nazi Germany (under the title, “Deutschlandlied”). For those who suffered during that era, that tune surely aroused horrific visions of militant hatred. But today the tune bears glorious, Christ-honoring words, such as the classic hymn, Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens, Adore Him, and Fred Kaan’s moving translation, Christ Is Risen, Christ Is Living, as well as my See the Seed of Faith.

While I understand objections to using such tunes, I make no apologies for doing so. All music is God’s music, created by Him for His glory. Evil creates nothing. It is a void, a poverty, an absence of God. It can only pervert God’s good creation.

But God did not abandon His marvelous creation because evil corrupted it. He did not abandon me. He is redeeming this beautiful world and all that sin has tainted. As His grateful child and His servant, I am part of His redemption process. For me, that includes redeeming God’s music.

One of my favorite sources of hymn tunes is folk tunes. They have a creative variety, a warmth, and a life-centeredness that I find charming and irresistible. And in a day when much of the music we hear is far too complex for congregational use, folk tunes are often very singable and people-friendly. They may have to be revised and adapted to work well as hymn tunes, but the raw material is there. (And I am careful to only adapt tunes old enough to be in the public domain. I always avoid copyrighted melodies.)

A folk song about a man who accidentally killed his wife became As You Love, a Maundy Thursday hymn. Ephesians 1 began as a drinking song. A Life of Thanksgiving was a bawdy ballad. By Faith started life as a sea chantey. And numerous other hymns borrowed tunes from folk songs about war, love, personal loss, or ordinary daily life; hymns such as O Living God, A Thankful Heart, All We Need, God Is Speaking, and God Is Working All Around You.

Experience has proven time and again that God’s powerful truth transforms the musical vehicles that carry it. His praise sanctifies the vessels that bear it; that is, it sets those vessels apart for His use. All music is God’s music, and He is reclaiming it to proclaim His glory, His grace, and His good news for all people. We, His servants in music, are privileged to work with Him in this. We look forward to the day when every song will sing of Him alone.

Mind and Spirit

2014-02-27 Congregational Song, Hymns One comment

This is the fifth in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

When I read 1 Corinthians 14, I identify with Paul’s situation. He’s talking about speaking in tongues and the place it should have in the church at Corinth. He doesn’t forbid speaking in tongues, as long as an interpreter is there to edify the church. But he does strongly emphasize providing solid, understandable food for the mind, not just the emotions.

That reminds me of my inner struggle every time our Sunday worship service is loaded with contemporary praise songs.

Now I’m certainly not equating praise songs with speaking in tongues. But I do see in 1 Corinthians 14 something of the situation we face. I sense that part of the hymns vs. praise songs issue in our churches is similar to the struggle Paul was facing in Corinth: mind vs. emotion.

Again, hymns are not pure “mind”. They express lots of emotion. And on the other hand, praise songs are not pure “emotion”. They certainly express objective truth. But if there is a line stretching from “mind” on one end to “emotion” on the other, I assert that hymns are nearer the “mind” end, and praise songs are nearer the “emotion” side.

I like what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:15:

I will sing with the spirit and
I will sing with the mind also. (NASB)

Music is always an emotional medium. But it can and must be more than emotional stimulation.

Speaking for myself, and myself alone—expressing personal preference only—praise songs are generally boring. The thought rhythm is too slow; that is, they seem to feed the emotions more than they feed the mind. Too little content, too much repetition. And with their complex, soloistic melodies that I can’t see (I’m used to reading music), they just aren’t worth the effort. They annoy me.

But for every one of me, there is at least one good, godly, Spirit-filled, committed child of God who finds my congregational preferences boring. They find them short on the emotional flavor they prefer, and thus the message just doesn’t connect.

Different cultures, ages, personalities, and individuals are comfortable at different places on that scale of mental stimulation to emotional stimulation. And of course, by even characterizing music that way, I’m painting a highly colorful media in black and white. The issues in congregational singing go far beyond the mind vs. emotion element.

But my point here is this: our Creator God has provided us with an amazing wealth of congregational song that runs the full gamut of mind to emotion. If you’re a worship leader, be aware of both needs, and know your congregation. Feed them a rich and varied feast of song, and don’t be afraid to give them a new flavor once in awhile. They might like it!

If you’re a worshiper, be tolerant, and allow yourself to be stretched. Consider it a chance to broaden your perspective and grow. Participate, and let yourself experience something outside your comfort zone!

For all of us, never forget these two unchanging truths:

  1. Congregational singing is like everything else in life: you will get out of it what you put into it. If resentment and annoyance are all you put in, resentment and annoyance are all you’ll get out.
  1. Always, unfailingly, constantly, show patient kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pursue love (1 Corinthians 14:1, NASB).

As those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone…Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3:12-14, NASB)

Emotion and Beyond

2014-02-20 Congregational Song, Hymns One comment

This is the fourth in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

Music is emotional. Music arouses passion. Who would want it otherwise?

Not I! As a child of God and as a hymn writer, it’s my goal to be fully responsive to the truth. That includes being emotionally responsive to the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ. Who can believe what God has done for us in Christ and not be emotional? How can we grasp that truth and not be passionate about Him?

That’s why music is such a magnificent gift. It combines meaning with emotion.

But the Church is not the only party speaking to people through emotion and the senses. We minister to a people on sensory overload. Communications media saturate their senses and coddle them with entertainment, desperate to get a hearing for their products. Radio, TV, recordings, billboards, everything is designed with maximum sensory appeal and maximum entertainment value.

When we in the Church attempt to communicate with these people, we sometimes use the same tactics. We feel our music must have maximum energy level to break through to people accustomed to high-appeal communications.

So in our church music, we turn up the emotional volume to maximum. And why not? What is more deeply emotional than the truth we are communicating?

But there are negative effects. We further addict our congregations to high-energy emotional appeals. We feed them salt, increasing their thirst for emotional stimulation and entertainment. More and more, entertainment values saturate our expectations and our judgments of quality. “Good” Christian music is music that excites and impresses us, whether or not it improves our lives and draws us closer to the Living God.

With this increased desire for music that emotionally stimulates us, some themes–critically important themes–are minimized in our songs because they don’t readily lend themselves to musical thrills. Topics like holy living, prayer, perseverance, and self-sacrifice tend to be edged out of our church music. I’ve spent over 35 years in church music publishing, and I can assure you that this is true.

For hymns, the problem grows worse because of a blurring of the line between performance music and congregational music. Choirs, ensembles, and soloists believe that their music has to generate enough emotional energy to jump the gap to static listeners and stir them to emotional involvement. And remember, these are listeners numbed by constant, high-energy sensory appeals all around them.

Whether performance music actually needs such emotional levels, congregational music should not need them. The emotional dynamic is completely different. Hymns don’t have to jump a gap from performer to listener. They don’t need to stir static listeners to involvement. In congregational singing, performers and listeners are one and the same. As they sing, they are already physically involved in the music. With performance music, the congregation has to be jump-started into involvement. In congregational singing, they are already involved. No jump-start is needed. That involvement advantage, along with simpler tunes, should free hymns to focus on meatier words.

But the performance and entertainment mentality has so pervaded our congregations that congregations approach their hymns looking for emotional stimulation as the measure of value. Additionally, as performance increasingly pervades congregational music, singability becomes less and less important. The discipline of simplicity is often lost.

There’s more fall-out. With our church music addicted to high emotional energy and focused on narrow, high-emotion topics, our songs get further and further away from day-by-day, moment-by-moment Christian living. We talk less and less in daily, believable tones about daily, practical issues. And let’s face it: happiness, holiness, and the salvation of needy people are won or lost more on Monday morning than Sunday morning.

None of this is doom and gloom, nor is it intended as an indictment of any particular style of music. The solution is not easy, but it is simple: remember and refocus. Christianity is less about feeling better than about being better. For yourself and for your people, do you want to feel better temporarily or be better every day through a closer relationship with Jesus Christ?

In our society, music is usually focused on temporary emotional stimulation. Music makers gauge their success by how much they can stir their audience to excitement or sentiment, though only for passing moments. Music can do much more than that. Expect more from your church music. Expect more from your hymns. As you sing, look to the Living Christ. Desire to know Him better and to live closer to Him. Let emotion be only an overflow of your faith in Him.

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