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Posts for ‘General’

» Teaching Doctrine Through Song

There was a heretic in church history who taught that Christ was a created being. He spread his error through song. The children would skip through the city streets singing, "There once was was when he was not."I was reminded of the power of song to teach (and defend) right doctrine yesterday when I received this e-mail regarding my text, He is Altogether Lovely:
Mr. Schumacher,
I just wanted to encourage you to keep writing. Just the other day I was talking with 2 Morman missionary girls about the deity of Christ and how the person they call "Jesus Christ" is not at all the Jesus Christ of the Holy Scriptures . The words you penned (scripture shining through song) quickly came to mind and aided me as I proclaimed to them the deity of Christ. After a short conversation, they insisted that they could no longer stay and talk about this any longer as scripture clearly revealed Christ's deity. All that said, I just wanted to say thank you for your service to the kingdom.

» Grace Gathering: 5/28/06

Grace Church of Columbia - Grace Gathering
Sunday, May 28th, 2006 10:00 am

Call to Worship
Psalm 96

Opening Song
And Can it Be? (Scott Roley/Charles Wesley)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon
Confession of Sin 2.2.68 from The Worship Sourcebook
Leader: God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
God's People: But we have defiled our hearts with idols of our own choosing, doubting thatGod will keep his Word and his promises. We continually compromise the truth by trying to find meaning and security in our jobs, our friends, our pleasures, our projects—but not in God.
Leader: Lord, please show us your mercy.
God's People: Lord, have mercy upon us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 John 1:9

Songs of Worship
I Will Glory in My Redeemer (Steve & Vikki Cook)
Better is One Day (Matt Redman)

Confession of Our Common Faith
Westminster Shorter Catechism Q37 & 38
Leader: Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
God's People: A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies,... (continue reading...)

» Key Worship Convictions of Grace Church

I put this together sometime ago, when I was sharing my vision for worship with Luke. Tell me what you think. I would love to read documents of some of you out there that have tried to do a similar thing.

Key Worship Music Convictions: Grace Church of Columbia

God-Centered Orientation: The service in general, and the songs in particular, should point people to God, not self.

Gospel Focus: The service and songs should remind participants of the gospel—that they are sinners saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Theological Richness: Songs should not only be doctrinally true, but theologically rich. Preference will be shown to modern hymns, and shallow, repetitive songs will be avoided.

Historical Connection: The great hymns of the faith should be sung, either with their original tunes or with modern revisions of them, allowing today’s worshippers to be connected to their brothers and sisters of the past and their depth of expression.

Modern Expression: The best of today’s worship songs should also be used, allowing for modern expression of ancient truths, while still preferring God-centered, gospel-focused, and theologically rich songs.

Indigenous Style: The... (continue reading...)

» Grace Gathering: 5/21/06

I suggested recently to David and Eric that we begin posting our Sunday "orders of service" to promote discussion and provide ideas. Here is ours for tomorrow:

Grace Church of Columbia: Grace Gathering
Sunday, May 21st, 2006, 10:00 a.m.

Call to Worship/Welcome/Announcements: Lamentations 3:21-26

Opening Song: Jesus, Everlasting King (Isaac Watts, Matthew Smith)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon: Confession of Sin 2.2.68 from The Worship Sourcebook
Leader: God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God's People: But we have often presided as harsh judges over the lives of others. We have been quick to place blame on anything or anyone but ourselves. We have avoided obligations to care for or to help people in need.
Leader: Lord, please show us your mercy.
God's People: Lord, have mercy upon us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Titus 3:4-7

Songs of Meditation: Thy Mercy My God Is The Theme Of My Song (John Stocker, Sandra McCracken)
Only Hope (Charles Wesley, Randall Goodgame)

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:1-17

Song of Prayer: Be Thou My Vision (Eleanor Hull)

Offering
Corporate Prayer: 4.4.17 from The Worship... (continue reading...)

» Singing to Jesus or My Prom Date: David

Kevin said “So, brotherhood, what do you think is the impact (good or bad) of groups like MercyMe?” First off let me say that I don’t know any Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) “stars” personally. I don’t know their character, their commitments, or even if they are genuine believers. But I do have an opinion about the public face I see of these stars. Interviews I’ve heard on the radio or read in magazines often grieve me. The Lord has given these men and women a platform to share about the character of God, His mercy to them, and most importantly the gospel to a lost and dying world. Instead, what I normally hear is what their favorite foods are, what the last movie they watched was, why they shaved their head, why they choose the clothes they do, etc. And the article on MercyMe shows the increased trend to make references to Jesus more veiled to draw people in who might not know right away that they are listening to music whose supposed aim is to glorify the Lord. What I see of how CCM musicians compose themselves on the stage also grieves me. Again, I don’t know their... (continue reading...)

» Stuck in a Rut: David

I wanted to add a couple things to this idea of clinging to traditions. Ferguson refers to tradition both in terms of our words and our activities. I find it amusing that churches who often consider themselves non-liturgical (not following a liturgy or specific service order rooted in tradition) and free from stuffy traditions of the past quickly manufacture their own new liturgy. Many worship leaders essentially pray the same thing using the same 10 words between songs or at certain points in the service. Over time Christians can develop their own mannerisms, way of speaking, way of using words, and ways of doing mundane things like driving. I’m not kidding. I have witnessed the affects of a church that developed their own complete sub-culture that was totally disconnected from the culture around them. And you know what? People were repelled from Christ because they felt they wouldn’t be accepted unless they started wearing a tie and using certain words in their speech.

His exhortation to make sure we aren’t clinging to meaningless tradition in our words hits home to me most in our practice of public (and private) prayer.... (continue reading...)

» “God is my girlfriend” or Reflection of the Psalms?: David

Sorry that it has taken so long to post a response to this! Hopefully the previous article from Sam Storms won’t be too far out of the minds of Doxologue readers. Chuck Colson’s original article can be found here, and the response by Sam Storms can be found here.

First, it seems apparent to me that Colson’s demeanor both in his writing and in his own description of how he responded to a worship leader is not Christ-like. The very first sentence in his article is a sweeping generalization that he can’t stand any contemporary worship music or worship leaders. He also declares that “Draw Me Close” has zero theologically content – a statement that can’t be true and is inflammatory. Colson’s defiant shout against the worship leader because he didn’t like the kind of singing that was going on does not display the humility and love of Christ. If the song or leader was leading people into unbiblical ideas about God or leading them into sinful behavior I could see justifying this kind of public retaliation.

Colson says “I'm convinced that much of the music being written for the church today reflects an unfortunate trend—slipping across... (continue reading...)

» Together for the Gospel!

I just returned this weekend from hands-down the best conference I have ever attended. What a fabulous 3 days.

1) As a church planter, the conference was incredibly encouraging. I left encouraged to keep plugging away, keep trusting God's promise to build His Church His way.

2) I was greatly encouraged by the unity present at the conference across denominational lines. There was true brotherhood around the gospel without the "lowest common denominator" feel of other non-denominational events I have attended. The understanding of the gospel and of God and His Church was so marvelous that I felt more at home than had I been at a meeting of my own denomination.

3) It was a wonderful opportunity to see old friends and catch up with them. Nice to chat with you, David and Eric.

4) The worship through music was AMAZING. Bob Kauflin, if you read this, your song selection and humble leadership were greatly appreciated. It was a remarkable experience to sing such God-centered songs with 3000 passionate men. A preview of heaven, for sure, although the sopranos and altos there will round things out... (continue reading...)

» Singing to Jesus or My Prom Date?

The New York Times recently featured a story about a popular CCM/worship band. The article has interesting things to say about the state of Christian music and the evangelical subculture.

Read the article here.

Read Dick Staub's comments here.

» Martin Luther: Pastor-Musician

Gene Edward Veith reviews the 4-CD set, Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth. This is one of my favorite "worship albums." It offers a great look at a pastor who loved for the church to worship God in song. It features every work ascribed to Luther. The songs are interspersed with quotes from Luther on the topic of worship.