Tag: Worship
Worship and Hymns
The worship wars have been a battle fought for decades now. The two sides: pro-hymn and pro-modern stand on two sides of a peaceful fence. But in order to stand on one side or the other, we have to be aware of what each side stands for. We have to understand what defines a ‘modern’ […]
Three Songs of Worship
Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. Ephesians 5:18-19 At the very core of modern day worship is this call from Paul’s letter to Ephesus; “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs among yourselves”. It encouraged corporate worship in […]
Providing New Music
Historical Hymns For a while now I have been in conflict with the use of hymns in church today. Is there a place for them? Why do we still sing them? Are they still relevant? As a church, we are constantly reflecting on whether we are “catering” for all generations. But we still need to […]
Worship Leading – Re:Read
This post is a reflection of many of the observations I’ve had over the past few months. It is a post about judgements, reading people, and leading worship. Reading People Each time I get up to worship lead I’m trying to get a gauge for where Gods people are at. Are they busting to stand […]
Hymning, Singing, or Worshipping?
The following is a reflection of a conversation between my brother and I. Both of us are passionate about music, and about worship, and we regularly struggle with the tendency of our church to reluctantly sing modern contemporary worship songs, and regularly resort to hymns of younger times (of which we both find hard to […]
The Worship Conversation
When I worship, I try to open up a conversation between me and God. I praise Him for all He is, and all He has done in my life. I glorify Him with my song and my heart. And then I reflect and meditate on Him, and listen to what He has for me. Often […]
Worshipping Critically
As a musician in a worship team for nearly 10 years now, I have learned how to play worship songs. I have learned how to create space. I’ve learned how to play by ear. I’ve learned how to play a chorus with power and strength, and then with softness and tenderness, all in the same […]
Worship: Leading People Vocally
There’s been many a battle cry, leading people forward in confidence and braving the fight and struggle that lies ahead. I find that the same needs to be applied when you lead people in worship. But what is vocally leading? Simply put, it’s where you say out loud the next part of the song that […]
Cutting off the Fat
Dowsed in His Spirit, I felt a steel rod go down the centre of my being, grounding me. I saw the picture of a carving knife slicing down my spiritual body, cutting away the fat and stripping me down to just the bare-bone essentials. The words of Matt Redman’s song rang out from the […]
Guitar: Large Worship Team
Introduction Earlier I wrote a post looking at how to play guitar in a small worship team. But what if there are many other musicians to fit in with, usually as a part of a larger church. For this scenario we will assume that there is a keyboardist, a pianist, a drummer, bass player, and […]
Guitar: Small Worship Team
Introduction So you’re in a small worship team. There may be a keyboardist, a drummer and of course, you on guitar. What is your role? What is theirs? These questions well answer and give you a few ideas on things you can try next time you play. What is Your Role? In a small team, […]