1. Worship: Adoration and Action – D.A. Carson
  (Wipf and Stock Publishers) 1992
 This collection of essays reminds us of the biblical underpinnings for worship, as well as giving us some practical advice for worship services. A terrific companion to Carson’s Worship by the Book.

2. Worship in Spirit and in Truth – John Frame
  (P&R Publishing) 1996
 Frame’s biblical insights into the nature of worship help us avoid the worship wars that plague North American churches. He grounds his book in the abstract principles of the Word, but also offers terrific practical advice to worship leaders and worshippers in general.

3. The Divine Hours – Phyllis Tickle
  (Doubleday) 2000
 Phyllis Tickle draws on the Book of Common Prayer and the early church fathers as she compiles this terrific source of psalms, prayers and readings for those interested in fixed hourly prayers. The written prayers here are a terrific supplement to one’s prayer life.

4. Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts – Harold Best
  (Downers Grove: Intervarsity) 1993
 Best reminds us that worship encompasses all our life and not just what we do on Sunday morning. Christians are always worshipping, even if our worship is not always directed towards God.

5. For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church – N.T. Wright
  (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans) 1997
 A terrific book that is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the God worthy of praise and the second part shows how can we reflect God’s image in the world. Wright is unique among worship writers, because he not only calls for a renewal of worship but also a renewal of the Christian witness of today’s church.

6. Reaching Out without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for this Urgent Time – Marva Dawn
  (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans) 1995
 Dawn makes the case for traditional worship by showing the underlying problems of the contemporary worship movement. Dawn’s advice is radical in that it calls us back to verticality in worship and demands we not dumb down our theology for an increasingly impatient generation.
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I know this song has been out almost a decade, but I still love it… especially the line “Tell me how can I love Jesus when I’ve never seen his face, yet I see you dying and I turn and walk away?”

Where else can you hear Kirk Franklin, Crystal Lewis, Mary J. Blige, Bono, and R. Kelly in one place?

Caedmon’s Call is back… and while they might not be “better than ever,” they’re definitely better than they have been in a long time. Overdressed (to be released next Tuesday) returns Caedmon’s Call to their acoustic/folk roots, giving us an engaging collection of songs that hearken back to 40 Acres and their self-titled debut.

Derek Webb returns to the Caedmon’s fold for Overdressed, and not a moment too soon. I’ve never thought Caedmon’s Call was as good without Derek, and neither have I liked Derek as much without Caedmon’s. The album begins with Derek in full force on a folksy gospel-twinged song called “Trouble,” a song that sets the theme for the rest of the CD. We’re depraved. We’re sinful. We’re overdressed. But God is good.

From there, we jump back into standard Caedmon’s fare: “Need Your Love” features Cliff Young’s recognizable vocals, a catchy chorus, and the characteristic pop sound, creating a song that could fit comfortably on any Caedmon’s Call album since their debut.

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The podcast that Tony Kummer and I did with Derek Webb over at SaidatSouthern is making some waves in the blogosphere. Shortly after it was released, several people took issue with Derek’s off-the-cuff definition of “the gospel.”

“What a great question. I guess I’d probably…my instinct is to say that it’s Jesus coming, living, dying, and being resurrected and his inaugurating the already and the not yet of all things being restored to himself…and that happening by way of himself…the being made right of all things…that process both beginning and being a reality in the lives and hearts of believers and yet a day coming when it will be more fully realized. But the good news, the gospel, the speaking of the good news, I would say is the news of his kingdom coming the inaugurating of his kingdom coming…that’s my instinct.”

Granted, I would define the “gospel” somewhat differently than Derek. Sitting next to him in the interview room, I knew immediately that some people were not going to find his answer satisfactory. Not enough “penal substitution.” Not enough “wrath of God.” Not enough “grace versus good works.” In short, not Reformed enough.

After reading some of the comments on blogs about Derek’s definition, I am now concerned that Peter, Paul, and even Jesus himself might not answer the question well enough for some of these guys.

Mark tells us very clearly that the “gospel of God” that Jesus proclaimed was, in summary: “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in this good news!”

Of course, some could rightly say that Jesus’ message was and should be different, now that we are living post-resurrection. And I would agree with that assessment, except that the apostles’ gospel proclamation still remains kingdom-focused and resurrection-centered.

Let’s leave aside our own gospel formulations and go back to the text.

Peter, at Pentecost, preaches a gospel that tells of Jesus’ life, spends one verse on Jesus’ crucifixion and then takes 13 verses expounding Christ’s resurrection and subsequent exaltation as Lord of the world. Three chapters later, in Acts 5, Peter again centers on the resurrection.
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Wednesday morning was fun. Tony Kummer came down to Nashville from Indiana, and I drove up to Nashville from Shelbyville. We met and did a podcast interview with Derek Webb. Fascinating interview with some great stories. Be on the look-out for it next week at SaidatSouthern. For now, here’s a picture of me, Derek, and Tony.

 Keith and Kristyn Getty (writers of songs like “In Christ Alone” and “The Power of the Cross”) have written a song for Communion called “Behold the Lamb (Communion Hymn)”. It’s one of the best Communion songs I have heard in recent days. Check it out.

 They are making this available for free download here.

I suppose my musical taste for the Carpenters has been vindicated now that they’ve seen a resurgence in album sales during the last decade. Ten years ago,  some of the 1990′s top alternative artists (Sonic Youth, Babes in Toyland, American Music Club, The Cranberries, etc.) collaborated on a tribute album called If I Were a Carpenter, in which they pledged their unswerving devotion to the duo that got laughed off the rock scene in the 1970′s.

Horizon is the finest album by the Carpenters. Some fans have considered it to be the Carpenters’ equivalent to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The music is outstanding. Richard’s arrangements are flawless, and Karen’s vocals are extraordinary. This is also the album recorded at the very onset of Karen’s battle with anorexia nervosa, which just 8 years later would claim her life.

Horizon is brief, clocking in at just over 30 minutes. It begins and ends with two short companion pieces called “Aurora” and “Eventide.” A chilling piano fades in, followed by Karen’s entrance, singing “Morning opens quietly, a shadow vision over me.”  The lyrics of these songs employ a series of images, which is unusual for The Carpenters.
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In the summer of 1997, I picked up a funny-looking brown album called Caedmon’s Call and thought I’d give it a listen. Ten years later, I’m still listening. Next month, Caedmon’s Call will be releasing Overdressed. I recently had the opportunity to interview a couple of the band members. So here’s the scoop on Caedmon’s Call in 2007.

Trevin Wax: It’s been ten years since the release of your self-titled debut. What have you learned during this past decade and how has that influenced your music?

Garrett Buell: Ten years is a long time to be able to do this thing, make music and record music knowing that people will actually hear it. It’s been even longer since the band actually started with a couple of independent records and lots of touring before self-titled was done. We were kids then. Now, most of us have kids. Life around us is very different; our responsibilities are different. Our music reflects that change in our lives, as it always has. Subject matter is born of the “everyday” and everyday, each of us really just feels like the “every man” or woman. So it’s all about being real, knowing that our lives and our gifts were never meant to become obsessions or stairways to celebrity, but just a part of our daily routine.

Ten years ago, we strived to relate to our college-aged peers and today, we are still striving to relate to our family based and “grown-up” peers. What have we learned from that? Keep true to yourself. Follow those passions that you have no doubt about and don’t bend in order to sell more product. Just bend in order to be as honest and true an artist as possible.

TW: How did Derek Webb’s return to the band come about? Should we continue to expect solo work from Derek?
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The guys at SaidatSouthern are reviewing each song on Derek Webb’s CD The Ringing Bell. My contribution appeared today for the song “A Love that’s Stronger than our Fear.” I encourage you to head over to SaidatSouthern and check it out.

In previous posts, I wrote about how youth services should be Word-centered, God-focused, and how the service should involve all the young people, not just the ones who like to sing. Today, I’m writing about the use of worship bands and also the type of songs we choose to sing.

1. Worship Bands
I prefer to be cautious with worship bands, because I have seen how sometimes they can so drown out the worshippers that the congregation begins to accompany the band instead of the band accompanying the worshippers! This danger is found in many churches, regardless of worship style. (Some organists are just as guilty.) When this happens, God is used to display man’s talent instead of man’s talent used to display God.

I am also cautious about the youth themselves leading worship. This may seem strange after all I have said about the youth serving and participating in worship, but I would prefer a college student or young adult to lead worship, instead of one of the youth. There are many reasons for this, but I’ll suffice to give you just three.

First, we should not be naïve and think that a young person is sufficiently mature to be able to stand up in front of his/her peers and perform weekly without letting it go to their heads. Dare we forget how tough it was when we were teenagers and we craved so much the acceptance of others?

Second, if the youth leading worship are at odds with anyone else in the youth group, it is much more difficult for the other teenagers to get past them and truly be able to worship.

Third, most worship bands I have seen turn youth worship services into mini-concerts.

I would rather have someone who is outside the youth group and not as easily influenced by peer pressure leading the worship band. I would also want to ensure that the worship band sees themselves as a group pointing others to God, not as a group performing for themselves.

What I am saying about worship bands can also be applied to adult choirs too! This is nothing new, and I am not picking on worship bands. The Eastern Orthodox were on to something when they began having the choirs sing from behind the worshippers in the balcony, out of sight, 1500 years ago!

2. Song Choice
There are some great new songs and modern hymns coming out today in the church. I think of Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, and other immensely popular singer/songwriters. The Bible commands us to sing to the Lord a new song, and I believe we should take that literally.

At the same time, I believe it is healthy for us to take a good look at new songs that are coming out and not to assume that just because it sounds good on the radio it should be sung in corporate worship. Songs teach us just as much as anything else in the worship service. Many people won’t remember one word of the sermon, but a song lyric will dance around in their heads for days after. I think we should consider carefully about what we are teaching the youth through the songs we choose.

I’ll have some thoughts on “approaching God” and “authenticity in worship” later…

written by Trevin Wax. © 2007 Kingdom People Blog