Worship

I cannot remember when hymns were not deeply embedded in my mental framework. How soon I began to go to “big-church” I do not recall, but the singing always made a deep impression on me and the language upon which I first began to meditate consisted of phrases in the musical repertoire: Holy, holy, holy…

I miss the traditional Thanksgiving hymns. I’m talking about songs such as “We Gather Together,” “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come,” and “Now Thank We All Our God.” Perhaps you don’t know them. But for nearly all my life, those were the songs of November—especially on the Sunday before Thanksgiving—in my local church experience. In the…

You don’t want to be the sort of worship leader who makes yourself the central reference point in every situation. As a worship leader or worship pastor, you must look past yourself and remember that you serve Christ and his church.

  [tweetable]Preaching — the practice of expositing God’s Word to God’s people — has fallen on hard times.[/tweetable] On the one hand, the large number of evangelical pastors I know who remain committed to faithful biblical exposition greatly encourages me. These men know the purpose and the power of preaching God’s Word. On the other…

  What are your goals as an artist and hymn writer? I’ve spent my life with twin goals. One is to try and let the word of Christ dwell richly when people meet together and sing. What we sing is as important, if not more important than, what we speak. And secondly, to try and…

I remember where I was in our home in Missouri when my wife looked at me in frustration and said, “Do you realize what’s at stake?” I had just finished directing and leading the music and worship activities of a large church through a busy Christmas season. Her comment was directed to my lack of…

Worship is the purpose for which we were made — and only the redeemed can worship the Father in spirit and in truth.