A few good reads
Here's a few good links thanks to Matt :D
I'm lucky I was bored otherwise I would have never stumbled upon these gems - I recommend reading at least this one: Link even if you're not bored :D
Also visit http://geezmagazine.org for some interesting left-winger kinda stuff. It's especially good if you think that Christianity should extend beyond the borders of the church and into things like environmentalism etc.
-Fin-
I'm lucky I was bored otherwise I would have never stumbled upon these gems - I recommend reading at least this one: Link even if you're not bored :D
Also visit http://geezmagazine.org for some interesting left-winger kinda stuff. It's especially good if you think that Christianity should extend beyond the borders of the church and into things like environmentalism etc.
-Fin-
posted by Luke at 7:12 PM
6 Comments:
"I sorely wish Christian musicians would write songs that help to sustain us as exiles, as foreigners in a forbidding country. We need songs that strengthen our resolve and inspire us to act."
As a church musician I'm tired of seeing seven or eight pages of music for the same 4 chords and predictable lyrics. I agree with Michael Frost - I want songs that strengthen my resolve, that remind me of who Jesus is and give me courage to act for Him in the face of fear or adversity. And having said that, as a musician I'm in a position where I can do something about it....writing meaningful lyrics is DIFFICULT, and perhaps that's why we have so many songs in church at the moment with the same old, same old. Are we too used to the idea of a music market? Is praise/worship music becoming a commodity? Are we treating it like the Top 40, where we have to have a constant stream of new songs? What's wrong with taking a year to write a song?
I don't want to pay out anyone for the work that they do as a praise/worship songwriter. But I also don't want to see praising God turn into a product.
Luke,
Thanks for the link. Glad you were bored :-)
Wait a minute Luke, are you saying you only read my blog when you're bored?! ;-)
I can handle it...
As far as church worship songs go, I could say a lot, but for once I won't. One brief comment I would make is that worship song writers should practice the art of taking the message of Scripture and expressing it in a new language.
Whilst I understand that creating songs directly from Biblical phrases is a good way to memorise Scripture and its values, I also think that the same phrases can lose their depth of meaning if repeated too often.
E.g. "praise the Lord", "you are holy", "hallelujah", "all of my heart"... and all that talk about eagles... could hit home afresh for people if conveyed in new language.
Off the top of my head, "Indescribable" (performed by Chris Tomlin) is a good example of this in many ways. Common themes in fresh language.
Actually, this made me dig out a good book by Nick Page called "And now let's move into a time of nonsense: Why worship songs are failing The Church". If you're involved in worship ministry you must read this book (ok, you don't have to, but you should). Here is a short list he provides of common worship words which could be replaced with modern equivalents:
Verbs:
Exalt
Magnify
Anoint
Seek
Extol
Bless (as in 'bless your name')
Minister
Nouns:
Fortress
Tower
Burden
Robe
Garment
Canopy
Gates
Captives
Also he did a survey of the "Songs of Fellowship" series and found that out of 640 songs, a total of 3 used modern imagery. That speaks clearly to the problem!
Ok, enough from me. Next time I promise not to say it will be a 'brief' comment.
:D long comments are great. I might do another post about this however so you can leave a big long one.
Oops! I didn't realise this was an ongoing topic! Sorry about my comment in the next post, I'll read the links when I have more time, sorry.
OK, now that I've worked my way backwards, I feel I should make the following comment.
I agree with Michael Frost in that I too don't like singing that I feel things that I don't at the time. I just stop singing and pray instead.
I also don't like singing ‘Jesus, I will never let you go...’ because I know it's a promise I can't keep and I'm singing about what I'm going to do rather than what God did for me. So instead I just pray that I never will let Him go.
I'm still unhappy that I was so hasty to comment, but I'm glad (and surprised given past experiences) to see I'm not the only one dissatisfied.
I just wish I could trust the songs and that I didn't need to keep feeling like I was being self-righteous or rebellious or something everytime I refused to sing certain words and prayed instead.
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