Creativity & Leadership

“For the leader, creativity is essential. Life is constantly changing, but people always fear change. The leader is responsible to help them adapt and do something new. So, by increasing creativity, suffering or deprivation may feed the springs of leadership in a young soul.” Leighton Ford (Transforming Leadership, 42)

Why Update Hymn Arrangements?

An important, yet often neglected, reason to update hymn arrangements relates to chord structures and patterns. Updating a song, or becoming more relevant, is not merely a matter of instrumentation. Simply adding guitar and drums does not make a hymn contemporary. In fact, many of the hymns were composed for piano or organ, so we can do them a disservice … Read More

The Structure of Worship

Helpful comments from C.S. Lewis on experiencing the “art of worship” within familiar forms: “Every church service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best– if you like, it ‘works’ best– when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think … Read More

Hymns that Inspire

For those of us who write worship songs, it is easy to fall into the same patterns. By reading lyrics of other songs, especially well written hymns and songs from other cultures, we can be moved to think in new ways and to expand beyond our normal categories. For a sample, check out this hymn shared by Thabiti Anyabwile. How … Read More

Advent: The Name of Jesus

20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he … Read More

Lyric Formatting for Worship

In many churches, there has been a subtle change over the past decade. When we started using PowerPoint for worship, the majority of churches would use a slide for a verse, another slide for the chorus, and so on. Today, however, the trend is to use a slide for 2 to 4 lines — more like a snippet — in … Read More

What is a Hymn?

A friend recently asked me to explain what a hymn is, and it is a great question. Here are a few observations. Feel free to comment and add any of your own. 1. A hymn is not determined by when it was written. The date is irrelevant. Many hymns are being written today — usually more modern in style and … Read More

All of Creation – Psalm 19

Before God created music, He created the heavens and earth. Think about it for a moment. There are many styles of music, but we all share the oceans, the stars, the sun and moon. All over the world, we look at the same handiwork of God. Incredible! Psalm 19:1-2 tells us that the skies display the glory of God. David … Read More

Come, See, Go, Tell, and Everything Else In-Between

What is evangelism? Is it inviting people to church? Is it sharing the gospel? Is it about helping the suffering? Christians have used different methods of evangelism. Willow Creek and Saddleback are prime examples of the “come and see” approach, where a large gathering is used to attract people who do not normally attend church. On the other hand, some … Read More

Contentment

I wonder how much time we spend wanting something else. When a child, we want to be adults. When we are adults, we want to find a job and a spouse. Then we want a child, maybe a few. When we have children, we want a house, then a bigger house. We also want a car, a television, a computer, … Read More

Suggestions for Meaningful Worship

Recently I was asked, “What are your suggestions for a Christian to experience meaningful worship?” What a great question! It can be answered in a variety of ways, but here I will limit my response to the weekly worship gathering. In this post, I would like to summarize a few observations that I have made over the last ten years. … Read More

God-Honoring Worship

How can we honor God in our worship? Although Exodus 20:22-26 is not frequently quoted in the context of worship, it provides some direction for us. In speaking to Moses, God gives the Israelites four instructions. They are simple and helpful, even for us today: 1. Do not worship anyone else beside me. (v.23) 2. It is absolutely necessary to … Read More

WorshipGod Worship Conference (Sovereign Grace, 2008)

Very rarely do I post links to other websites, but this one is so beneficial, I couldn’t resist. If you are interested in worship or lead worship at your church, Sovereign Grace has graciously posted 37 audio sessions on their website at: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Events/WorshipConference.aspx Worship conferences usually cost several hundred dollars, so this is a blessing for those of us without … Read More

New Worship Song

After several late-night recording sessions, “He Heard My Voice” was just added to my latest worship EP.  You can check out a demo of the song and download it here: http://www.discrevolt.com/groups/view/3023 Enjoy!

Worship: Responding to God’s Voice

Several weeks ago I wrote that art does not create truth, but “uncovers truth,” as an artist chisels away stone.  In other words, art discovers truth, but does not create it.  Whatever the form, it is important that art never gets so self-consumed that it loses sight of the original Source of Truth. On the other hand, maybe even “uncovering” is giving ourselves … Read More

Postmodern Theology

“Tom Beaudoin reveals four themes that shape the theology of many Postmoderns: (1) all institutions are suspect; (2) personal experience is everything; (3) suffering is spiritual; and (4) ambiguity is a central element of faith.”   (source) To respond to each of these, it would seem that the Church should:  (1) embrace people more than programs; (2) focus on interactive, … Read More

Imagining God

Theology is different from other “ologies” in the sense that if we only engage our subject intellectually, we miss the mark. We may understand hundreds of propositions about God, but if our imaginations are not involved in the process, I would say that we have failed. (By imagination I mean “envisioning what we do not rationally know.”) Over at Signs … Read More

New Worship EP!

My new worship EP is now available for purchase online.  You can download tracks, or the entire EP of A Thousand Names, at DiscRevolt.com.  Just click HERE to find the Joel Jupp page!