The Key to Successful, God-Pleasing Worship

I’m going to come straight out and give you the answer. The key to successful, God-pleasing worship is obedience. But wait. There’s more to this than meets the eye. Buckle up. Let’s jump in like this:

Throughout the Old Testament we see that right worship practices, while commanded by God, are not enough to please God. Worship actions, in and of themselves, weren’t enough. God, as we know, looks at the heart. The sacrifice of bulls wasn’t pleasing until the worshipper’s heart was broken and contrite. (Psalm 51). So often we see worshippers in the Old Testament perform the actions and rituals of worship perfectly, thinking this is enough to please God (after all, he commanded it, right?), but at the same time hates his neighbor. God saw this and called them out on it, saying essentially that their disobedience outside of worship negated their obedience in worship. This is precisely what Jesus was talking about when he said “These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” The worship practices were right on the outside, but the heart was rotten on the inside. “In vain do they worship me.”

On the flip side (and on a much neglected topic that, alas! will remain neglected here), God also condemns worship practices that have veered from His commands. God commanded that sacrifices be unblemished. Yet we find the priests in Malachi’s day (for instance) offering marred and blind sheep. God was not pleased with this worship either. But if we look closely we’ll see that the root for God’s displeasure is the same. Worshipping God in a way that he has not directed is a problem because at its root, it is also a heart problem.

So if there is one thing we could conclude about successful worship after briefly looking through the Old Testament it is that full obedience is the key to God’s pleasure in worship. Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. The worshipper must be pure and clean outside the Temple to assure successful worship inside the Temple.

This is extremely bad news for us. Wait. What? Bad news? But we just figured out the key to successful worship! Let me explain.

All Bible-believing Christians come to the same conclusion: The biblical key to successful, God-pleasing worship is our obedience. However, once this is discovered and a church tries to implement it, the results are devastating (sexy for a season…but in the end, devastating). Once it is conveyed that our worship will not ‘work’ until we are obedient, we immediately begin to see two things (among others); Guilt and Pride.

Guilt creeps in when we realize we don’t know if we’ve been obedient enough for our worship to achieve success. Our sin is too blatant. We look to others in the church who obviously have it all together. We can’t even compete with their standard, let alone God’s standard. This leads to unending anxiety and/or despair. We live in never ending worry, always trying and realizing our failure to worship, or we simply just give up. What’s the point?

Pride creeps in when we’ve figured out just how obedient we need to be to achieve success in worship. God-pleasing worship becomes a formula. Do this, don’t do that, and worship becomes a success. Our sin isn’t as big a deal because it isn’t blatant (unlike those people). Over time, the standard we’ve been able to meet becomes our standard, the standard. (But of course, we maintain with confidence that it’s really God’s standard). We live in never ending false-assurance and judgmentalism. And the only thing that threatens our stability is when someone challenges our standard (how dare they challenge God’s standard!).

There is nothing new under the sun. This is exactly what the Israelites were doing in the Old Testament. This is what people were doing in Jesus’ day. The prideful Pharisees and the guilty tax collectors. And this is exactly why it is bad news for us that obedience is the key to successful, God pleasing worship. But it’s God’s plan, right? How can God’s plan be bad news? Well, God’s plan is actually good. Perfect actually. Holy. The problem isn’t God’s plan, the problem is us, and a holy plan is bad news for unholy people.

When it comes to successful worship, we simply cannot turn the ‘key’ to achieve anything. We can’t even put the key in the key hole. Our dirty hands work like a resisting magnet when we come close to the key. As much as we want it and as hard as we try the key will always be just outside of our reach. The guilty know this and freak out. The prideful are too busy looking through the key hole and gloating over their vantage point. Big whoop. They’re all still outside. No one is pleasing God with their worship. Bad news.

But the good news is this; Jesus was obedient for you.

God is the same. He never changes. He is holy. His plan is always good. This means that the key to successful, God-pleasing worship is still the same: obedience. But now we no longer need to be dependent on our own obedience, on our own righteousness, to please God! This is why Jesus came; to do for us what we were helpless to do. So worship is still dependent on obedience, but now it’s flipped. God provides obedience, through Christ, on our behalf. This obliterates pride. I didn’t do it, Jesus did. It annihilates guilt. Jesus has given hope to the hopeless and rest for the weary.

Now when we enter into the presence of God, because of, and through Jesus, God is pleased with our worship! This does not mean we ought to fall into immorality because Jesus will pick up the slack. This cannot be the case. The reason? Because now that Jesus has accomplished full obedience on our behalf, and we are given access to the Father who is pleased with our worship, we will be transformed in His presence. Like Isaiah, an encounter with the living God is a life changing, life cleansing experience. Our hearts are changed because true, God-pleasing worship always leads to sanctification.

Now that Jesus has turned the key and opened the door, giving us access to God in worship it certainly doesn’t mean that we revert back to our own standards of righteousness. That would be like thanking Jesus for letting us in and then leaving him at the door. Then we’re left wondering why our worship is bland, boring, lifeless, ugly, and ineffective. We sense that God is not pleased, so we return to the Bible, like the good Protestants we are, rediscover the key to God-pleasing worship is obedience and because we assume Jesus is cool just being the gatekeeper we try to jumpstart our worship with more of our own obedience, fueled by our perceived ‘righteousness’. But God is still holy and without Jesus all of your obedience is like filthy rags in his sight. If God sees that you left Jesus at the door to get your own groove on in worship he’ll boot you the hell out. Door slammed in your face. Flaming sword. Scary angles. All that jazz.

In my estimation this Leaving-Jesus-At-The-Door type of thinking has largely infected much of modern Evangelical thought and worship. I recall attending a worship conference and listening to a rock solid, well known preacher speaking about the subject of how worship is linked to obedience and moral living. He had every opportunity but he said nothing about Jesus’ obedience on our behalf! His reasoning is far too common: “The Bible says obedience is required for God-pleasing worship so…let’s all obey!” It makes you want to weep in sadness. That, or smash your head through a plate glass window out of frustration. To separate from Jesus, and begin operating by way of your own righteousness and obedience, well, we’re back to where we started at the very beginning. No need to call your friends, Pride and Guilt, and invite them back to the party. They already came in through the bathroom window. But God is gracious through Christ, even to dunderheads who leave Jesus at the door. The point is, don’t leave Jesus. Without him, worship is vain.

The key to successful, God-pleasing worship is obedience, just not our obedience. It’s Jesus’ obedience on our behalf.

Wanted: Hymn Writers

The church is always in need of more hymns. Good hymns. Hymns that last the test of time. Hymns busting at the seams with biblical truth matched with mind blowing beauty. Hymns full of sound doxology. A robust collection of hymns that give voice to every occasion.

One thing the church does not need more of is bad hymns. Shallow hymns. Ugly hymns. Meaningless hymns. Unfortunately it is much easier to write wretchedly than it is to write wonderfully.

So what the church needs (and always needs) is an army of hymn writers. Hymn writers who value truth and beauty. Hymn writers that venture into the depths of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God and come back with treasures and tales of their adventures in that marvelous, perilous realm. What a noble task it is for the church to equip their poet-warriors with the necessary tools and training for such a calling.

Unfortunately, the church in America has done a pretty pitiful job at raising up hymn writers. I mean, if the church struggles to raise up pastors, how on earth will they be able to raise up hymn writers? I'm not talking about training and equipping musicians, though I believe that is a worthy goal I also believe that the church has more musicians than she knows what to do with. Heaven knows we could certainly deal with one less rock star wannabe. Then again, Heaven knows we could certainly benefit from fresh new melodies packed with submissive beauty.

But hymn writers need to be more than musicians. I would even say it is possible that one does not necessarily even need to be musically talented to be a good hymn writer. Though musicality is beneficial, I would argue that hymn writers need to be poetical rather than musical (though some would argue they are one in the same to some degree). But the point is that a hymn writer doesn't need to play piano or guitar or even sing well to write a good hymn.

Not only does one need to be poetical, but also vastly knowledgeable about God. This means that an understanding of sound theology and doctrine is crucial for the hymn writer. It is no surprise to me to see that almost every master hymn writer in the past was a pastor. Wesley, Watts, Newton, Doddridge, etc. Their main business was mining the depths of the gospel each week. To do so they had to be intimate with the Scriptures. As a result, not only were these men pastors worthy of emulation, they became the greatest hymn writers of the English language. Where are our pastor-hymn writers of today? There are exceptions to this however, in that there are many great hymn writers who were laymen. Anne Steele and William Cowper, for example. But only skim through their hymns and you will find that they are dripping with theology like honey from the comb.

The key is that a hymn writer needs to strive to become masterful in joining together truth with beauty. (A love for the people of God, I believe is quite necessary as well.) I like how Kevin Twit describes this melding of truth and beauty in hymns: "theology on fire". And it's in the church's best intrest to invest time, energy, and resources into developing and assisting her hymn writers.

Most of these thoughts were fueled by the following three articles. I happened to read them all within about a day of each other and I became greatly encouraged how each one seeks to support the hymn writer.

• First, Fernado Ortega recently wrote an excellent piece for the Rabbit Room called Avoiding Convenience: A Word to Hymn Writers.

Here’s a portion of what he says:

"Let this be an encouragement to modern hymn writers—a cause for inspiration to those who are suffering from writer’s block. There are so many Biblical scenes to choose from that would make for beautiful songs: the transfiguration of Christ, the feeding of the five thousand, the woman at the well, the stoning of Stephen, water baptism, washing of the disciple’s feet, the betrayal of Judas. If just a few good modern hymn writers tackled some of these subjects, the anguish that untold thousands of music ministers suffer weekly could be greatly diminished.

It’s easy to write a chorus that says:

God, you are a Holy God
I need your grace to see me through
I need your mercy to make me new
Let me live each day for you.

I just made that up in two minutes and there’s nothing wrong with it. It might fit easily and competitively among the hundreds of worship songs that are available to choose from. But compare those lines to the third stanza from the above hymn:

Let holy charity mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;
True lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,
And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

It took some real thought to craft those lines. They’re timeless. They set a standard for all of us who write music for the church. I didn’t set out to write a didactic piece. I’m reminding myself, too. Be specific when you write songs about God. Avoid cliché. Avoid convenience. Avoid an obsession with the consumer. Avoid the temptation to make commercial success your central goal. Write with intelligence, employing all the craft, skill, and experience with which God has endowed you."

I absolutely love what he has to say. Though this kind of thing has been said before, it can never be said enough. Encouragement and advice like this needs to become as strong and steady as a pounding drum.

• The second article that caught my eye is over at Cardiphonia. Bruce Benedict has been kind enough to share what he's been learning in his "Songwriting and Theology" class at Duke. I hope he takes good notes because I'm stealing them...

Songwriting and Theology
Songwriting and Theology Week 2 Paradoxes 

These posts are great in and of themselves and Bruce links to some great thought provoking articles, but what really grabbed my attention was something his teacher said:

"The Church has no theological expectations of her musicians."

This such a sad statement that at first I had a hard time agreeing with it. But after thinking about it and pondering the putrid wasteland of music that has been produced (and peddled, and packaged, and sold)  by the American Church, I have to agree for the most part. It is certainly true that this is an accurate reflection of the status quo.

I would also take that expression and turn it on it's head a bit and say that, "The Church has no poetical or musical expectations of her pastors and theologians."

• Third, I came across this new blog by Sojourn Music songwriters Bobby and Kristen Gilles called My Song in the Night. It looks as if this entire blog will be highly beneficial the hymn writer.

The 'mission statement' of the blog says this:

"Helping you express words of worship and testimony through songs and stories."

The article I specifically want to direct your attention to is one in their Songwriting section called Modern Hymns. They do an excellent job at laying out a very basic outline of the ins and outs of hymn writing. Just reading through this made me want to stop and find a pen and paper.

• Lastly, though I didn't just run across this, I do want to direct your attention to a post I put up a few years back called Towards a Better Hymnody. I link to a pamphlet that I think will continue to help us think soundly about our hymnody and our hymn writers. Also, as it was written more than 50 years ago, it lends to the idea that the church is always looking for better hymns and hymn writers.

I hope that these articles have motivated you like they have me. Let's keep the drum pounding. Let's keep spreading the word that the church is in great need of hymn writers.

The Fall

Over the past couple of weeks I've been working on a project writing songs to assist in family worship. The songs are meant to aid in teaching theology to children without watering down truth or compromising the gospel through legalistic moralism. I hope to discuss this project in a bit more detail in the future but that being said, I want to share with you one of the songs I've written for the project.

This song is intended to teach about the Fall. The themes are sin, original sin, our response to sin, and God's response to sin through judgment and salvation all wrapped in the story we find in Genesis 2 and 3. Enjoy!

The Fall by Rich Tuttle

The Fall

When God made the world He had a plan, made a man and a woman, named Adam and Eve
He gave them a job, “Glorify, multiply, but don’t eat from that middle tree
The Tree of Knowledge of Wrong and Right, if you eat it you will surely die.”

The serpent walked right up to Eve and said, “Do you really believe
that God meant what He said that you would die?”
Then Eve saw that the fruit looked good. The serpent said, “You really should
just eat the fruit and open up your eyes!”
And she listened to the snake, she took the fruit and then she ate,
and turned to Adam and said, “Take a bite.”
Then they felt the shame
and God called their name

He said, “What have you done?
You disobeyed and now you’ve laid the foundation for a painful life,
full of anguish and toil and strife.

“Now every child that’s born to you will pass this curse and bear it too;
a wicked nature, born to sin and die.”
Now every nation, tribe, and tongue will be afraid and be on the run
‘cause God is watching with His holy eye.
And He made for them some skins, to show what happens when you sin.
Blood must be shed from an innocent life.
But not all hope was lost, ‘cause God had planned the cross.

To the serpent God had news for him; Good news for us but his news was grim
A promise made and this is what God said,
“Though the woman took your crooked deal, her seed will come and you’ll bruise his heel,
but that’s ‘cause with it He will bust your head!”
And on His promise He made good, Jesus came to our neighborhood and for our sin
His perfect blood was shed!
And He removed our shame
then God called our name.

Matthew Smith, Indelible Grace, and My Hymn Seminar Notes

Yesterday I attended a seminar on Hymns with Matthew Smith from Indelible Grace Music. If you are unfamiliar with Indelible Grace I would encourage you to check them out immediately. Indelible Grace is a group that Matthew Smith has participated in for about 10 years and they are rooted in the college ministry of the PCA called Reformed University Fellowship (RUF). They are doing something the church has done for a long time, which is putting hymn texts to modern music. It sounds simple enough but the practice, for the most part, has fallen by the wayside in our day and age of modern, cutting edge, happy-clappy worship songs. They are a driving force in the resurgence of hymnody today.

At the seminar Matthew Smith gave a brief history of his life as a worshipper and how he got involved with Indelible Grace. I was struck by how similar our stories are. He grew up in a Christian home, led worship for the youth group, and felt like a failed worshipper. Much of his guilt and feelings of failure were a direct result of the songs they sang and what he falsely thought worship should be. Matthew said he had a hard time explaining this feeling but I knew exactly what he was talking about. In some ways he felt as if worship meant that he had to ‘disconnect’ in some since and ‘attain’ a certain ‘level’ of worship for worship to actually occur. The songs they sung (as did I) were songs that said, “I want to” and “I will do” and he felt the weight of failure on his shoulders. Then he discovered RUF in college and was intrigued by two things; the acoustic guitar folk rock music caught his eye first, but what really kept him and drew him in were the hymns they were singing. The hymns placed all the emphasis on Jesus rather than on himself. Matthew had found that which released him of his feelings of guilt and failure in worship; instead of the world becoming a fuzzy disconnect that he always thought it should be, the world actually became more real, it became clearer and sharper in focus. I don’t know if this resonates with you but I completely understand where he is coming from, and so I found much encouragement and confirmation in my own story after hearing his.

After this Matthew gave a brief, but loaded presentation about why we need hymns and why he and Indelible Grace love the hymns so much. Before he began he made clear that when he talks about Hymns he uses the word ‘hymn’ as being distinguished from what many people consider as hymns, such as the Gospel Songs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Gather Music, etc.

I’ve listed the notes I took below. I summarized a bit but all of it is derived from what Matthew said.

Hymns engage our:

Imagination – Hymns paint a picture and they can be both personal and universal at the same time

Intellect – Hymns make you think about what you are singing – they help people engage or participate in worship more fully – the over all theme of a hymn should be understood after singing it once, but it needs to be sung over and over to better understand it.

Will – Hymns make you want to live differently rather than telling you to live differently – they have a shaping quality that assists the singer to change certain beliefs – Hymns say things you don’t want to say

Emotions – Hymns effect our emotions without being emotionalism and without manipulation – When you cry to a country song, it’s because the songwriter wanted/intended for you to cry. When you cry to a hymn it is because the hymn writer is crying with you. We share the emotion with the writer. (Matthew used the country song example because he knows of artists in Nashville that do it.)

Hymns are:

True – Hymns tell the truth about who we are and who God is

Good Theology – Hymns contain good (sound) theology – Kevin Twit says “Hymns are theology on fire” which means that hymns convey theology not in a stoic or stagnant kind of way, but it gives theology life and it spreads and is efficacious

Beautiful – Hymns are not just a tool to be used for practical purposes, ie. Just to teach, or for evangelism, etc (I tend to be guilty of this) – Art that is only practical is propaganda – ‘beauty’ does not equal ‘pretty’, beauty can be ugly – bad art lies and at it’s worst lies about the human condition

(As a side note I would add on my own that Hymns are also authentic. In that they were written most often for the hymn writer’s local congregation to aid in worship rather than written to be sold as a product to consume. I wish I would have thought of this during the discussion time to hear Matthew’s thoughts…anyway, back to the notes.)

Good Writing and Bad Writing

CS Lewis – he referred us to what Lewis had to say about the difference between good and bad writing. Although he didn't quote it, this is the quote he was referring to:

'In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the things you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us the thing is “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers “Please, will you do my job for me.”'

Bad Writing tells you how to feel (ie. That woman is beautiful)

Good Writing describes and displays the woman in such a way that the reader can only come away with the conclusion that the woman is a knockout.

According to this criterion, hymns would be considered “Good Writing” whereas most modern day praise songs would likely be considered “Bad Writing”. Where a modern praise song might say, “Jesus is amazing” a hymn would take three or four lines (or maybe the whole song!) describing and displaying Jesus in such a way that the singer can only come away with the conclusion that Jesus is amazing.

Then we moved into a Q&A/Discussion time that produced some great food for thought:

When asked what makes a hymn a hymn (as in distinction to modern songs) Smith said it has much to do with the form of the hymn. The secret weapon/advantage of the hymn is that it is Verse, Verse, Verse, Verse and develops a thought without interruption (the interruption typically being a chorus). But he was quick to point out that the chorus in many songs are not bad, but the verses of these songs tend to point only to the chorus so the development of thought isn’t always as strong as a hymn.

When discussing archaic language Matthew was not against changing language so that modern readers might understand, but he also felt it was perfectly fine to leave archaic language as it was written just the same. In doing so the singer will have to think and learn. He said he doesn’t have a rule about it because a hard and fast rule such as this destroys art.

The best part of the discussion was when the topic became sadness or darkness (in a sad since) in hymns as opposed to happy, peppy, chipper songs. Before I attended this it was a strong conviction of mine that the church must sing songs that prepare people for suffering, and sing them every week, and after listening to this discussion I am even more encouraged and fully strengthened that my conviction is valid. Here are four quotes that I wrote down during that discussion:

- When planning a service or when selecting songs: “Never aim for happy—always aim for joy.”

- “Mournfulness in songs doesn’t equal Mopey-ness.”

- “Jesus was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. If your songs don’t reflect that you’re picking the wrong songs.”

- In discussing how people at an A.A. meeting can often times be more honest than at church and how the church is a place for broken people: “The church should be a place where if you boast in yourself you should look stupid. Go play golf stupid.”

Following the seminar was a concert with Matthew and the Indelible Grace band. These guys not only love hymns and make a great case for them, they make excellent music for us to sing them to. I praise God for Indelible Grace and others who continue to put great music to great hymn texts.

KC Worship Conference Update

Wornall Road Baptist Church has just posted more info about the upcoming WorshipKC10 Conference with Don Whitney and Ron Owens including the Schedule. I've listed all the info below.

WorshipKC10 - NOT FOR WIMPS

Saturday August 14, 2-9PM
Wornall Road Baptist Church, Kansas City, MO

LEADING US

Dr. Don Whitney serves as Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also serves as Senior Associate Dean. Before that, he held a similar position (the first such position in the six Southern Baptist seminaries) at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, for ten years. He is the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality. He is the author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, How Can I Be Sure I'm A Christian, Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, Simplify Your Spiritual Life, and Family Worship.

Ron Owens and his wife Patricia have been used by God in an amazing ways for decades all over the world. Serving alongside Manley Beasley, Ron was co-founder and co-director of International Congress on Revival. He also served alongside Stephen Olford. From 1991 – 2000 he served as associate to Henry Blackaby in the Office of Prayer and Spiritual Awakening at the North American Mission Board. The Owens served as worship consultants to the International Mission Board. Their published writings include: Return to Worship They Could Not Stop The Music, Worship: Believers Experiencing God (Co-authored with Henry Blackaby) Manley Beasley: Man of Faith, Instrument of Revival, Iris: Trophy of Grace.


SCHEDULE

Saturday August 14
1:00– 2:00 PM Registration, bookstore and coffee shop open
2:00-3:00 Worship and Revival with Ron Owens
3:00-4:00 Dr. Don Whitney Reforming worship part 1
4:00-4:15 Break
4:15– 4:45 Worship and Revival with Ron Owens
4:45– 6:15 Dr. Don Whitney Reforming worship part 2
6:15– 7:00 Dinner served and questions and answers from Ron and Don
7:00- 7:30 Worship and Revival with Ron Owens
7:30– 9:00 Dr. Don Whitney Reforming worship part 3

Sunday August 15
9:30– 10:30 Dr. Don Whitney an introduction to Spiritual Disciplines in the worship center, open to everyone
10:45– 12:00 Worship with Ron Owens, ordination of three pastor leaders by Wornall Road Baptist Church and the sermon by Dr. Whitney

Sunday evening Sycamore Hills Baptist Church in Independence would like to host Ron for an evening of Sermon and Song.


PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE

In the work of reforming a local church, no area is more important than reformation in worship. This conference helps to build the Biblical basis for and provides practical steps to reforming congregational worship. The teaching is suitable for the entire church body, but it also works well for the pastoral staff, church leadership, and/or the worship leadership team.

With Dr. Whitney leading us, this conference is built upon two major principles. First, worship is focusing on and responding to God. Biblical worship is, of course, the worship of God. Therefore everything in the worship service should be focused on God. And because of the greatness of the One focused upon, however much that we focus upon Him, to that degree we will respond in worship.

Second, worship is to be done in Spirit and truth. While most true believers have a general idea of what it means to worship in Spirit, few have a clear grasp of what it means to worship in truth. The failure to measure worship by this standard Dr. Whitney believes, has led to most church conflicts over worship.

Ron Owens will guide us in worship and share powerful truths about the relationship between revival and worship. Ron has an abundance of knowledge of Revivals in various times and places. Understanding more about true revival will help us embrace true, God focused worship.


FOCUS

Move deep into the heart and substance of worship at Worshipkc10. Worship is not just a verb. Too much of our worship is focused on our experience, on our feelings, on performance, on light , sound , video, on our preferences or getting us ready and worked up to hear the sermon. No wonder our people are confused about worship. Unpack the true Biblical nature of worship in the local church. Understand the role of worship in the life of the church and in the life of the Christian. Listen to, learn from and share with two of the most experienced and gifted leaders teaching on worship in the world today. If you attend one worship conference this year, make sure it is Worshipkc10 - Not for wimps.

DINNER/BOOKS

At Wornall Road we love the deep things of God and great BBQ. A BBQ dinner is available at no cost. If you know you are coming please text or call 816.260.3332 by August 12 to let us know how many in your group will be sharing dinner with us. You can also register for dinner the day of the event before 3PM. (we will take donations to offset the cost of the meal)

There will be a bookstore with Don & Ron’s books and other related resources.


PARTNERS

This very unique event is sponsored by Wornall Road Baptist Church and our partners, The Spurgeon Baptist Association of Churches and the Blue River - Kansas City Baptist Association.


NO COST TO ATTEND
With a desire to increase the passion for and knowledge of Biblical worship, we are pleased to provide this entire conference at no cost to the participants.

John Newton, 285 Years Old Today

John Newton was born July 24th 1725. However, after Britain switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, Newton himself considered his birthday to be on August 4th. So 285 years ago on this day John Newton was born.
John Newton was so much more than just the man who wrote Amazing Grace. His life and conversion are as if pulled straight out of an adventure novel. His marriage and love for his wife put to shame any romance movie. His friendship with William Cowper is legendary and worthy of emulation.

The impact he has had on not only Christianity, but the entire world is simply astonishing. I am continually amazed (but more and more less surprised) every time I come across some great event or great movement or great man of God and find that I can trace it back somehow to Newton. Most people know that Newton was instrumental in William Wilberforce’s life. It is not hard to imagine that if there were no Newton there would be no Wilberforce and who knows how long slavery would have endured in England (and quite possibly America).

Perhaps a lesser known story is the part that Newton played in the beginning of the modern missions movement. When people think of modern missions the name William Carey comes to mind. But Newton plays a large role behind the scenes in this as well. Newton wrote constantly, advising and encouraging and training a young John Ryland, who along with Carey formed the first missionary society. Ryland was one of “three ropes” that held Carey as the “Father of Modern Missions” went off to preach the gospel in India. Not only did Newton play a large part in Ryland’s life, but also directly influenced William Carey himself. When Carey realized the near impossibility it was for missionaries to enter into India (due to the trade regulations and policies of the East India Company) he sought out Newton for advice. Carey asked what he should do if he was unable to enter and Newton replied, “Then conclude that your God has nothing there for you to accomplish. But if He has, no power on earth can hinder you." These words gave Carey the tremendous strength to carry on. Again, the case could be made that if there were no Newton then there would be no Ryland and if there were no Ryland there would be one less person to “hold the ropes” for William Carey. The mission society would not have been started and it is doubtful that Carey would have even made the trip, especially without the crucial advice and encouragement from John Newton.

And these examples are only the tip of the iceberg. It would take a scholarly work to figure out the exact impact John Newton has made (and continues to make) throughout the world and I doubt one could do it accurately. To say that John Newton’s life had a ripple effect would be an understatement. The man was a tidal wave.

Theologically Newton was a Calvinist, however he likened his Calvinism in preaching and his writings as sugar being mixed and dispersed in a cup of tea. It is abundantly evident when you read Newton because his lips are laced with the sovereignty of God. You cannot avoid it.

Instead of outright attacking heresy and false teachings Newton felt that, “The best method of defeating heresy is by establishing the truth.” This, I believe, is a major reason why Newton could be friends with both George Whitfield and the Wesley’s and remain friends with both parties even after Whitfield and the Wesley brothers bitterly split over theological differences. The friendships were so deep in fact that Charles Wesley requested that Newton be a pallbearer at his funeral. This spirit of gentleness and kindness mixed with an unflinching stand on truth and sound doctrine is what attracted and still attracts so many to John Newton. John Piper desires that Pastors would imitate John Newton by being “as strong and durable as redwood trees, and as tender and fragrant as a field of clover—unshakably rugged in the "defense and confirmation" of the truth, and relentlessly humble and patient and merciful in dealing with people.”

I could go on, and I’m tempted to do so, but I hope that the previous paragraphs have inspired you, at least a little, to do some research about John Newton on your own. I’ll only add that I cannot say enough about John Newton. The more I find out about him the greater I admire him. I find that I can relate to him in ministry and I strive to imitate his example. Simply put, he’s my hero.


Links on John Newton for further research:

Worship Leaders: Imitate John Newton - previous Sound Doxology post
 
John Newton's Approach to Hymn Writing - previous Sound Doxology post
 
John Piper Sermon on John Newton - simply excellent
 
The Cowper and Newton Museum in Olney - lots of good info and pictures
 
The John Newton Project - possibly the best John Newton site on the web
 
Thank God for John Newton - from Desiring God
 
John Newton's Olney Hymns - pdf version. must have.
 
Cardiphonia - from Google Books. These are Newton's collection of letters
 
Books
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Letters of John Newton
 
 

 








The Works of John Newton (6 Volumes)
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wise Counsel: John Newton's Letters to John Ryland Jr.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Out of the Depths (Newton's Autobiography)

KC Worship Conference with Dr. Don Whitney and Ron Owens

I am really excited for this upcoming conference on Biblical Worship that is being hosted at my church in August. Don Whitney (who is pretty much the man) will be our main speaker alongside Ron Owens. It's an all day event that includes a BBQ dinner and there is no cost!

Dr. Don Whitney is the Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky and is the author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Back when Don was a professor at Midwestern here in Kansas City I was privileged to be present on a couple occasions when he taught and preached at a local church. His lessons on Spiritual Disciplines has had a lasting impression on me (especially actually resting on the Sabbath) and I often go to his website for his articles and advice on worship.

Ron Owens has worked alongside Henry Blackaby in worship ministry for many years and is the author of the book Return to Worship: A God Centered Approach. I ran across this excellent book about 10 years ago. It was a very key book early in my ministry that struck a pretty severe blow to my faulty understanding of worship. I am thankful to God that I read this book at a relatively young age (around 17 or 18) and I can definitely look back at that time period as a pivot point in much of my theology of worship and Ron's book played a large part in that. His website is here.

Not only will these men be in town for the Worship Conference but they will also be here for an ordination service for three men, including myself. Dr. Don Whitney will be preaching and Ron Owens will be leading worship. I am humbled at God's grace and gifts and am greatly anticipating that day.

If you live in driving distance to the KC area this is conference is definitely a must. If you live a little further out and need to stay overnight, contact our church (info below) and we'll point you to some good hotels or whatever you need. You will simply not find another Worship Conference in the Midwest of this quality for free.

Further Information about the Worship Conference:

WorshipKC10- Not for Wimps

A major conference on Biblical Worship will be held Saturday August 14 from 2 to 9 PM at Wornall Road Baptist Church. Our two featured leaders will be Dr. Don Whitney of Southern Seminary and Ron Owens, who for many years was the ministry associate to Henry Blackaby.

WorshipKC10 is an ideal conference for pastors, worship leaders and their ministry teams, and will benefit anyone who desires to learn more about Biblical Worship.

We are passionate about worship and helping others learn about worship so there is no cost for this event and a BBQ dinner with our two speakers is included. The conference and the dinner are free so come hungry for the Word and hungry for some excellent KC BBQ!

Please respond via Facebook or contact the church office at 816.444.8900 or wornallroad@gmail.com so we can have a headcount for dinner. And be sure to check out http://www.wornallroad.org/ for more info!

And be sure to stay tuned, I'll be posting the upcoming Schedule for the conference soon!

Blog Partners with Westminister Bookstore

I am happy and honored to announce Sound Doxology's new partnership with Westminister Bookstore through their Blog Partners program. Through this program Westminister Bookstore has given me a personal address so that I may link to their website from my blog.

The program is actually pretty cool, especially for this blog. It gives me the opportunity to show you guys some awesome resources and books offered by Westminister Bookstore (something I have done and would have done anyway) while at the same time giving me the opportunity to earn credit at their store. I earn credit when readers click the links I post from Westminister Bookstore. You can read more about it here.

Here's the deal. Even before this partnership Westminister Bookstore (wtsbooks.com) was the place I went to for two reasons: selection and price. You will not find junk here. Everything they carry is solid theologically. You can trust what they carry is the best. And they carry the hard to find books too! Books like this. Not only that, but you really can't beat their prices. When I first discovered Westminister Bookstore a few years back I was on the lookout for The Reformation Study Bible by Ligonier Ministries. I couldn't find the leather bound edition anywhere for under $60. But wtsbooks.com was selling it for under $40! (and they still are...)

I'll add this too. Last year, when I purchased Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chapell they sent along with the book a CD and a letter explaining that Bryan Chapell had recently preached at Westminister and they thought that I'd also enjoy his sermon. I don't know how common it is for them to send along free stuff with the purchased product, but I really liked that they did that. I think it speaks to the integrity and character of those who run the store.

All of that just to say that I really do like and use and recommend Westminister Bookstore. They aren't telling me what to advertise and I wouldn't recommend anything to you that I didn't personally use or trust.

I'll be straight with you. I love me some free books. But I also love to give my readers good information regarding worship and all things related to sound doxology. So this partnership is a win-win situation. So if you're looking for a place to find some good books please consider stopping by Sound Doxology first, clicking the links for books and other resources I put up here on the blog (and not just the ones from wtsbooks either!). They are solid resources; resources I have and would have recommended anyway. And it'll help me out a bit too. (It'll help me save up for the awesome 6 volume collection of The Works of John Newton!)

Many thanks to Westminister Bookstore for such an awesome idea!

Towards a Better Hymnody

I recently ran across this little digitized pamphlet written in 1959 by an Austrailian teacher named Frank J. Funston. You can read it for yourself here.

The pamphlet is titled "Towards a Better Hymnody" and has some great insights about music in the church that would be our loss if we were not to consider them today. I've gone ahead and picked out some wonderful quotes that I'm sure will be beneficial to anyone interested. As the title suggests, Funston is basically putting forth suggestions and criteria that are recognizable in good songs and looking to apply this to modern hymnody. I should say that Funston's use of the word hymn is basically synonomous with 'worship song' as in 1959 all church music was recognized as 'hymns' rather than 'hymns vs praise chorus' for example.

I'll start you off with Funston's imagery of the whole of Christian hymnody as a stream. I love this illustration and will definately use it in the future.

"It would be an attractive project to chart the whole stream of hymnody. Some little knowledge of it is, in fact, desirable if our hymns are to make the maximum contribution of enrichment to our worship. We could seek the springs from which the stream rises, what are its main tributaries--sombre or sparkling, restful or tumultuous, clouded or clear as they may be, but each bringing its distinctive contribution. We could inspect the shallows, the deeps and the occasional whirlpools along its course. Power plants there are in places, and unfortunately, too, commercial interests are here and there to corrupt what should be a pure stream. Nevertheless, legitimate commerce of prayer, devotion, praise and doctrine are borne along on its waters."

Hymns and Good Music

"We need tunes which are not just catchy or temporary; instead, let us seek and use those that are robust and dignified without being stodgy or highbrow or difficult."

"Nobody who knows anything of the history of religious revivals from the days of Moody and Sankey down to Billy Graham could possibly query that there is a place for the lighter music of the gospel song with its catchy phrase, its resounding refrain and its sometimes disconnected lines of thought, but it is not on such foundations that a worthy and lasting all-purpose hymnody is built."

Hymns and Sound Theology

"The theology of the creeds has often been a bone of contention, but the theology of hymns may often fulfil a very different function, and be quite constructive in the direction of binding together different groups of Christians. Thus very perfunctory search of an Anglican and a Methodist hymnal could show that, while each had hymns from their own and the other body, both also had large numbers of hymns from Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Quaker and other sources."

"There are two elements of danger--one inherent in the writer of the hymn, the other in the user. Firstly, because hymn-writing talent it neither confined to one branch of the Christian church, nor indeed flourishes more markedly in one branch than another, there must be a certain amount of "screening" rather than indiscriminate use of hymns...Secondly, it is futile to look for "a full gospel" in every hymn. No hymn need be suspect because its writer is not theologically precisely in step with those who use it. As we have all heard sermons with which we would agree--but only up to a point--so some of our best hymns are pruned of verses theologically unacceptable, and other excellent hymns have very little of theology in them. No sermon, no passage of Scripture, and no hymn contains a full gospel, nor can they be expected to do so."

Hymns and High Literary Standards

"We forbear to mention some of "the horrors of hymnody"--whole verses which defy analysis either grammatically or as to their spiritual content, and others so utterly muddled or absurd in their figures of speech that it would become difficult to use them once one came to give some clear thought, to the expressions used."

"Instead, of attempting any major general task regarding literary excellences, we will here limit ourselves to two minor manifestations in this field. (1) Those involving structure include progression or development in thought...(2) Minor elegances often very effectively used by poets who are "masters of sound" include alliteration and assonance."

Trends In Modern Hymnody

[Remember 'modern' to him is 50 years ago...but this is still applicable.]

"Perhaps [some] lines of improvement may be suggested:(1) We could surely make better use of our present hymnody...(2) The intelligent use of hymns written in a special form would deepen their meaning...(3) As a brotherhood, we must be alive to the possibilities of using new hymns." [some examples he gives:] "new hymns through missions, new hymn tunes, new hymn texts through unstudied languages, new lyrics written by youth"

Some Helpful Advice
"Let us be under no illusions about the habit of "cutting out verses." Surely those who edit hymnals are not the only ones with the right to exercise this prerogative!...[B]ut whatever the occasion for limiting the number of verses to be sung, let it be done intelligently and only after a careful examination so that there is no marked break in the continuity of thought."

"At the very least, we can sing on, still hoping! If we cannot achieve it all, we would still be unwise not to make the attempt."

Music is a Servant to Words

As I was flipping through my new copy of Gadsby's Hymns the other day I kept thinking about a statement made by Bob Kauflin, "In congregational worship, music is a servant to words." This simple statement has almost become a philosophy for me. Not only does it direct our attention to the most important aspect of congregational singing (the words/lyrics and the truth contained in them) but it gives the music, which accompanies the lyrics, a higher purpose than just being a "catchy" tune.

What I'm getting at here is basically this; a song, no matter how theologically rich and wonderful the words may be, must have an appropriate tune to carry it. I like to think of it this way; music is the vessel, or cup, that carries the lyrics, which is the liquid contained. Now you can drink wine from a styrofoam cup, but a more appropriate vessel is a wine glass. The glass was specifically made to complement the wine. I feel like a lot of the older hymns have suffered because of this. So many great lyrics have been paired with trivial, boring, or just plain wretched melodies it is no wonder why many people cringe when they hear the word 'hymn'. Wine in any old cup is still wine, but it cannot be fully appreciated and fully enjoyed if not contained in the proper vessel, namely a wine glass.

The flip side of this idea is no matter how beautiful, majestic, catchy, or pleasing the music may be, it means nothing if the lyrics are simply weak theology and mindless dribble. To continue the analogy, if you owned a beautiful ornate goblet, fit for a king, would you drink chocolate milk, or kool-aid out of it? If you are 10 then yes, you would. But for anyone else it doesn't make since to do so. The reason is because kool-aid, though sweet and tasty, is not complemented by such a cup. The reason I don't drink kool-aid from a wine glass is the same reason I don't drink wine from my child's sippy cup.

Here are a few practical examples. Let's look at the most well loved English hymn, Amazing Grace. The words were written by John Newton in the 1700's but the tune, NEW BRITAIN, was written in the mid-1800's. Before the tune was composed Amazing Grace was just another ordinary song in the hymnal. Nothing special really, other than good poetry. Now, take the words to Amazing Grace and sing them to the tune of Gilligan's Isle or House of the Rising Sun. Some people would say that is sacrilege! That is because the tune falls short of the lyrics. They do not complement each other. It is wine in the sippy cup.

Here's another, albeit a bit silly. The tune and lyrics of A Mighty Fortress is Our God written by Martin Luther evoke majesty and triumph. Let's use that wonderful tune to sing the following lyrics:

There was this man from Galilee/His love is like a river/He died one day upon a tree/He is the perfect giver/I raise my holy hands/and bow and kneel and stand/Just gotta worship Him/And singing without end/La la la la la la la la la. (with hand motions?)

Ok, first I must say that I feel dumb just writing that off the top of my head. I need to apologize to Martin Luther when I get to heaven. Second, these lyrics (unfortunately) evoke much of today's modern "worship" music, however I digress, that is for another post... But it serves to make my point clear. This is kool-aid in the wine glass.

This may not seem like a very important topic to some people but for the singing congregation I believe it is vital. Trivial music paired with truth-laden lyrics will cause us to trivialize the truth. Wonderful, beautiful music paired with weak, senseless lyrics will cause us to believe that what we are singing is the core of the gospel, when in fact we may be happily singing heresy!

So let us be cautious in what we sing by understanding the submissive role music takes to the lyrics.