i am an offering

Yet again, I’m going to postpone my post on discipline and exercise until tomorrow.  I was going to post it today and ignore what everyone else is posting about - but’s too important to not talk about.

You’ve more than likely heard, but for those who haven’t, Mike Guglielmucci, who wrote “Healer” which had quickly risen as a worship-song phenomenon throughout the worship leading world, and who had claimed that the song was born out of a battle with cancer was exposed yesterday morning. Various news sources revealed that he had been faking it all along.

What do we do with something like this?  The first thing my wife said when I mentioned the news to her is, “That is absolutely disgusting.”  And she’s right - but once we get past the insanity of what Mike chose to do and really wrestle with the consequences for the rest of the world as they watch this - how do we respond?

• How do we respond when the world says that Christians are no different than the rest of the world and are actually mere hypocrites?
• How do we respond to the fact that someone families put their trust in as a youth pastor devastated that trust?
• How do we respond to someone using one of the most serious diseases that cause so many people immense amounts of grief as a disguise?

We respond the way we would respond every day.  Realize we are all sinners and filthy in God’s sight without Jesus’ work on the cross.  Learn about, embrace and daily practice integrity in everything we do.  Surround ourselves with accountability on several levels - we can’t just trust our family to hold us accountable as we are completely capable of fooling even our own families.  And then respond this way:

• When the world says we’re no different - admit that they’re right. We are all messed-up sinners who need a Savior.  We all talk one way and act another many times.  Embrace humility and compassion above all else.
• Realize even more the importance of accountability within our personal lives, our family lives, our professional lives and our lives in ministry.  We must have people that hold us accountable.  And not just an occasional question here or there.  We need to be willing to be put to the grueling test - and often.
• We pray.  We realize that what he has done does not change who God is and what Christianity is all about.  And we realize that God is still the Ultimate Healer - for everything - physically and mentally.

My heart breaks for Mike - and even more so his family.  My heart breaks for the church.  But even more so - my heart yearns to apply integrity, accountability and raw honesty with unbridled passion to everything I do.  Will you do the same?

I also want to point you to a fantastic perspective and response to this situation at The Worship Community - written by Fred McKinnon.  Please read it and think deeply about what he says.

As always, another great day at Living Word.  And a fantastic day of rest with the family.  I’ve been attempting to set aside Sundays as a complete day of rest from several things (computer, housework, yardwork).  Of course it has to start after the service, but even to have the majority of the day be restful is extremely helpful.  It’s given benefits already.

Here’s what the service looked like yesterday:

Pre-service gathering song: Let Your Kingdom Come - Sovereign Grace Music.  More on this song in a minute.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord (Strong Tower) - Love this song.  It’s such a great reminder of who God is and so good to repeat these thoughts as we worship.  And, several people started the clapping in the congregation - thank God for worship leaders who don’t even know they’re worship leaders!

Let Your Kingdom Come - we officially taught the song here.  I love this song as it talks about making our desires His desires and making His “glorious cause” our own.  In the midst of our new building project I think this song will play a pivotal role in reminding people that we are about building God’s kingdom, not just having a place to come to church.

I usually like to use a new song as a pre-service song and then do it again during the service after people have it in there heads a bit.  How I taught it was by singing a phrase and then having the congregation repeat the phrase.  We did the whole verse, and one spot in the chorus that has a note that sort of comes out of nowhere.  It seemed like the congregation grasped this song very quickly and it seems like teaching them a new song this way seems to work really well.  Does anyone else have expereince with this?  If you were at Living Word yesterday, did it work for you to learn the song this way, or was it distracting?

Closing song - In Christ Alone - Unfortunately, the words to this song were not right on the screen.  The words we had up were from Brian Litrell’s “In Christ Alone” (which is a great song - just not the one we needed!)  This is a good reminder that we always need to double and triple check things and not rely on the song title alone to enter a song.  Many people knew the first verse and we’re singing along with me as I tried to figure out what to do.  I just simply stopped the music and read the words to the fourth verse, which directly applied to the message that had just been given.  A few people told me how disappointed they were that we didn’t get to actually sing the song.  We’ll do it again soon.

The message was very convicting and encouraging at the same time.  We learned about subtle ways that we steal and how important it is not only to tell the truth about our neighbor but to “build their reputation” as well, as Luther mentioned in his explanation of this commandment.  It was a great morning.

(This post is a part of the Sunday Setlist community at Fred McKinnon’s website.)

Fred McKinnon asks this great question and one that I think has been defined and redefined often through many, many years.  I wanted to spend some time looking in depth at this great question.  A lot of people have submitted their thoughts in the comments section of Fred’s original post, but I thought this deserved a whole blog post - so here we go.

What is a “Worship Song” Anyway?

In order to define what makes a great “worship song” we have to figure out what a “worship song” actually is.  Is it a song by a “worship artist?”  Is it a song that you sing during “worship?”  What kind of “worship?”  What is it?

The broad definition that I would give a worship song as this:  A song that, when sung, causes one to think about something to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship it.  The problem is that we, as worship leaders in Christian, evangelical churches need to narrow the definition.  After all if the broad definition applies, then “I Love Rock and Roll (or I love Rocky Road, in Weird Al’s case)” would be a worship song about rock and roll music (or ice cream, in Weird Al’s case).  You could easily turn many, many “secular” songs into worship songs.

We need to narrow the definition.  A Christian worship song could be defined as this:  A song that, when sung, causes one to think about God (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit) to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship Him.  Now, what makes one of those great?

Biblical Pictures of Worship

In looking at what makes a great worship song we need to look at the history of the “worship song.”  Worship songs (as defined above) have been happening for a long time.  Moses led the Israelites in one after escaping the grasp of the Egyptian forces.  David, Asaph and many others penned multiple worship songs in the Psalms.  What made these songs great?  Moses praised God by reminding the people that He was the one who delivered them from the Egyptians:

The Horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea…Pharoah’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea.” Exodus 15:2, 4

Moses also included in His song many things about who God is:

The Lord is my strength and my song (15:1)…a warrior (v3)…right hand is majestic in power (v6)…who is like You among the gods (v11)…in Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed (v13)…shall reign forever and ever (v18).

The psalmists do very similar things - constantly reminding through the lyrics of who God is and what He has done, but then taking it a step further and emotionally responding to those things.  If they tell of God’s mercy and love, they rejoice.  If they tell of God’s justice and wrath, they tremble.  But even after trembling at God’s wrath, they rejoice at His mercy yet again.

What Makes the Song Great?

Looking at what made the worship songs of the past great, I see two common themes:  A remembrance and reminder of what God has done and who He is, and a personal emotional response.  These songs that we see in Scripture are indeed great, as every time I read them I am moved to worship.

A great worship song communicates truth about who God is and what He is done and allows time for an emotional response to those things.  A great worship song speaks clearly about what it is that is intended to be worshiped and offers universal words used to worship.  It is narrow enough to speak of who we are worshiping, but broad enough to let every person of every walk of life worship through it.

One thing that is much harder to see in the examples of Scripture is what a great melody can do for a worship song.  I am guessing the songs that Moses and David and others wrote in Scripture had melodies that the people of the time could remember.  A well-written melody that fits the mood of the lyrics will enhance any song, but a well-written melody in a worship song helps people be able to put truth to music and remember the truth a little bit easier.

Another instance of why the Scriptural examples are so great is the fact that they were almost always born out of a personal experience that caused the writer to worship God and write about it.  Moses was led to sing out of the fact that His God had showed His power by saving him and his people.  David was often led to write out of painful experiences (hiding from his own son (Psalm 3), often fleeing from enemies, wrestling with his sin (Psalm 51).  A good worship song is born out of a personal worship experience as well as, in Moses’ case, a congregational (if you will) worship experience.

This is What Makes a Great Worship Song:

What makes a great worship song is its ability to cause one to think about God to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship Him, it’s born out of personal or congregational experience, it emotionally responds to who God is and it has an easily singable melody.

Yesterday’s service was great.  Especially the message.  Man was it hard-hitting and necessarily so.  I love how our pastor will constantly challenge men in the church and cause us to think hard and fast about what we’re really doing to lead our families.

Some highlights for me were that “some things you just can’t do in the recliner.  You have to get up, turn off the TV and do them.”  I’m not much of a recliner and TV sort of guy, but the concept applies to whatever area of life has become “your lazy” area if you will.  Pastor Wade also gave us the challenge that if we have problems with daydreaming/fantasizing we should focus that energy on how to make our marriage better and how to honor our wives and families more instead.  What a great concept!

We are also held accountable for making sure we talk to our daughters about modesty.  Men, we understand how these things work - we were (and maybe are) all there at one point or another.  We need to teach our daughters especially how their dress affects other men.  Great challenges yesterday.

The songlist (posted in collaboration with other worship leaders at Fred McKinnon’s Sunday Setlists)

• Wonderful Grace of Jesus - gathering song.  Being a fan of Southern Gospel music and in particular The Cathedral Quartet, I’ve always loved this song.  It was a great way to remind us of what God has done for us in Jesus.  The only problem with this song is that it can get a bit too high at some points for your average singer.
• The Name of The Lord (Strong Tower) - hadn’t sung this for awhile so it was fun to sing it again.  The congregation seemed to lack a little energy and I was wishing so much that we had some hand-clapping or some percussion involved on this one.  I suppose I could have started the hand-clapping.  Whoops.  Leading worship from the congregation didn’t work on that one from me this week!  Guilty!
• When I look into Your Holiness - I had only sung this song a couple times but for some reason the words really struck me yesterday and drew me into worship.  Such a simple song, but so effective.  “When all things that surround become shadows in the light of You - I worship You!”  What can help us to make the things that surround become shadows so that His light shines brighter in our lives?
• Oh the Glory of Your Presence - I had never heard this song before.  I’m not sure if it was because my heart was already very open to worship or if the song was just well-written, but I was able to really enjoy worshiping through this song as well.
• ‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus - closing hymn.  Another classic.  However, this one also gets a little high.  I love the fact that our pastor also knows how to lead worship, though, because he had us repeat the chorus after his closing thoughts - but he brought the song a few keys down.  Nice work!

We also had the experience of hearing from my friend Tara who shared about her time as a missionary in Sudan.  It’s exciting to hear the work that God is doing throug her.

The rest of the day was filled with eating with friends and family and watching lots of olympics.  And boy am I glad we stayed up to watch the men’s swimming relay race.  What a race! Our men certainly represented our country well - both in how they swam and how they handled the interview afterward.

Yesterday was week #2 of guest teachers at Living Word.  We were blessed to have a message from a guy that I actually counseled at camp once who’s now helping with the youth at our church.  He’s grown a lot and it’s been really amazing to see.  He shared from Hebrews 10, continuing where I left off last week. There are five great encouragements in Hebrews 10 that I’d definitely encourage you to check out.  We sang:

• Soon and Very Soon (traditional hymn)
• Beautiful One (Tim Hughes)
• Before the Throne of God Above (hymn reworked by Vikki Cook)
• Victory in Jesus (hymn)
• These songs are part of the Sunday Setlists post from Fred McKinnon.

Yesterday was also a complete sabbath from any computer time from me and boy, I didn’t know how much I needed that!  Lately, God has been opening my eyes to some ways I need to remanage my time and it’s already beginning to pay big dividends.  More on that to come.  Enjoy your week!