A few CD’s worth listening to…
I find music so helpful in communicating the gospel… a few contemporary groups are doing a great job with awesome lyrics that make you think… I highly recommend anything Casting Crowns does… especially their new CD, the Altar and the Door. And Todd Agnew’s Better Questions Cd is awesome… I really am challenged by his song “Will there be peace?” and on his Reflections of Something CD… the song My Jesus is inspiring.Â
 What music inspires or challenges you?
03 Oct 2007 Martin Hutchison
It’s really a “God-thing” that you posted this, Martin. It’s been on my heart to write about a particular piece of music since I went to the Altar and the Door concert last weekend. No, it’s not a Casting Crowns song (although I admire their ministry in music and our worship team uses many of their songs). Instead, I was mostly interested in hearing worship leader John Waller start off the concert with his current hit, “The Blessing.”
Many times in Church of the Brethren circles, contemporary-style music gets a bad rap. Some people complain about the repetitive words, simple chord design, addition of “non-traditional instruments,” underscored by the biggest complaint: “it’s just not what we’re used to.” With this kind of attitude, I am afraid we are missing an opportunity to reach a generation who have not grown up in a church setting and does not value what it means to “march to Zion” or “love to tell the story.”
When I first heard Waller’s first release off his CD in March 2007, I was struck by how appropriate the lyrics were for CoB vision and mission:
“Let it be said of us
That our hearts belonged to Jesus Let it be said of us
That we spoke the words of life
Let it be said of us
That our heritage is blessing for life
For your Kingdom, for our Children
For the sake of every nation”
Isn’t this a message we want to lift up in our denomination? That our very reason for exisiting is to be a blessing in others’ lives because of how God has blessed us? If we are so judgmental about the style of music we use to worship, we might just miss the significant messages that millions of others (Christians and non-Christians alike) are listening to daily.
Three members of our worship team were involved in the more contemporary-style music at NYC 2006 and when I reported back that NONE of the songs from NYC were played at this year’s Annual Conference, they were surprised. How do we expect to keep the youth (and others) involved and inspired in worship if we’re not using relevant music? Especially since many youth connected with songs like Casting Crown’s “If We are the Body” and Andy Park’s “Multiply Your Love,” not to mention songs written by CoB members Seth Hendricks, Michael Good, Shawn Kirchner and others.
I hope that we will consider music choices carefully when preparing for worship– not just choosing something because it represents what we’ve always done or because it’s what popular in mainstream Christian music, but that we will select music based on how God speaks to someone’s heart through the song.
As John Waller opened the concert for Leland and the Casting Crowns, he reminded us that although we were here to see really great groups of musicians, most importantly we were there to sing in worship to God. And that we did, inspired to be a blessing to others in our faith– “For Your Kingdom, for our Children, For the sake of every nation.”
Here’s a link to more about John Waller’s CD:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2007/blessing.html
And I really appreciate the work done by CoB pastor, Pete Haynes, on this link to all kinds of Christian music: http://rockhay.tripod.com/worship/hymnlist-2.htm
Hey Martin!
It’s really a “God-thing†that you posted this. It’s been on my heart to write about a particular piece of music since I went to the Altar and the Door concert last weekend. No, it’s not a Casting Crowns song (although I admire their ministry in music and our worship team uses many of their songs). Instead, I was mostly interested in hearing worship leader John Waller start off the concert with his current hit, “The Blessing.â€
Many times in Church of the Brethren circles, contemporary-style music gets a bad rap. Some people complain about the repetitive words, simple chord design, addition of “non-traditional instruments,†underscored by the biggest complaint: “it’s just not what we’re used to.†With this kind of attitude, I am afraid we are missing an opportunity to reach a generation who have not grown up in a church setting and does not value what it means to “march to Zion†or “love to tell the story.â€
When I first heard Waller’s first release off his CD in March 2007, I was struck by how appropriate the lyrics were for CoB vision and mission:
“Let it be said of us
That our hearts belonged to Jesus Let it be said of us
That we spoke the words of life
Let it be said of us
That our heritage is blessing for life
For your Kingdom, for our Children
For the sake of every nationâ€
Isn’t this a message we want to lift up in our denomination? That our very reason for exisiting is to be a blessing in others’ lives because of how God has blessed us? If we are so judgmental about the style of music we use to worship, we might just miss the significant messages that millions of others (Christians and non-Christians alike) are listening to daily.
Three members of our worship team were involved in the more contemporary-style music at NYC 2006 and when I reported back that NONE of the songs from NYC were played at this year’s Annual Conference, they were surprised. How do we expect to keep the youth (and others) involved and inspired in worship if we’re not using relevant music? Especially since many youth connected with songs like Casting Crown’s “If We are the Body†and Andy Park’s “Multiply Your Love,†not to mention songs written by CoB members Seth Hendricks, Michael Good, Shawn Kirchner and others.
I hope that we will consider music choices carefully when preparing for worship– not just choosing something because it represents what we’ve always done or because it’s what popular in mainstream Christian music, but that we will select music based on how God speaks to someone’s heart through the song.
As John Waller opened the concert for Leland and the Casting Crowns, he reminded us that although we were here to see really great groups of musicians, most importantly we were there to sing in worship to God. And that we did, inspired to be a blessing to others in our faith– “For Your Kingdom, for our Children, For the sake of every nation.â€
Here’s a link to more about John Waller’s CD:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2007/blessing.html
And I really appreciate the work done by CoB pastor, Pete Haynes, on this link to all kinds of Christian music: http://rockhay.tripod.com/worship/hymnlist-2.htm
You write very well.