Random Thoughts on Musical Worship

(Do I have any thoughts that aren't random?)

In recent years it has really struck me as odd that in almost any worship service you'll ever go to the musicians will be standing/sitting on a raised platform or stage, facing the worshippers, front and center. This hardly seems to me to be the best arrangement for facilitating focus on God.

This had never occurred to me until a missions conference at Moody Bible Institute in 2005 or 2006. On the last night of the conference, prior to the evening speaker, they had three musicians lead all of us in worship. The lights in the auditorium were turned way down. The musicians were dressed in dark clothing and standing in the space between the front row of seats and the edge of the stage, facing the stage. They had music stands with small lamps craned over them so they could read the music and lyrics.

They never introduced themselves, they just invited us into worship and played. Song lyrics were shown on screens on either side of the stage, but the central focus was a large cross on the wall in the middle.

The fact that they were talented musicians and played excellent songs helped, but I think that the set-up was a major factor in that night being one of the best worship experiences of my life. Without being distracted by a charismatic front-man, observing the technical talent of the guitarist, trying to remember which famous actor the drummer reminded me of or keeping track of which singers had their hands raised and which didn't freed me up to focus wholly on God and to really imagine myself before his throne.

I've never seen a similar set-up since and I can't help but miss it. I suspect there are some worship leaders who struggle with enjoying the spotlight and who sometimes want to be the center of attention, but I think the vast majority of them follow the prescribed set-up because they've never thought of doing it any other way or because their venues won't allow for any other arrangement. And some may not have ever thought about what affect it has on whether the music is actual worship or just a concert.

Now, here are two lists of some of my favorite worship songs/hymns. No idea why I thought about putting it together except that I was thinking about some of these songs today and the worship team at my church has played two of them recently. (Yeah!)

Top Ten Modern Worship Songs (in no particular order):

1. Jesus Paid It All -- Kristian Stanfill
2. The Color Green/Calling Out Your Name -- Rich Mullins (I'm cheating and putting these two together)
3. Rescue Is Coming -- David Crowder Band
4. Oh Lord, Most High -- Atlanta Vineyard (Billy Somerville)
5. I Have Been Redeemed -- UK Vineyard (Wendy O'Connel)
6. Beautiful, Scandalous Night -- Leigh Nash and Bebo Norman
7. Be Unto Your Name -- Robin Mark
8. Oh, Happiness -- David Crowder Band
9. O Praise Him (All This For A King) -- David Crowder Band
10. From The Inside Out -- Hillsong

This list changes periodically (generally whenever a new DC*B album comes out).

Top Five Hymns (some of them with their more recent arrangements):
1. Before The Throne of God Above
2. Be Thou My Vision (Fernando Ortega's version is the best I've ever heard)
3. Come Thou Fount
4. O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (Indelible Grace version)
5. O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (original arrangement)

Dancing Boy

Our little man loves to cut some rug. And now that he knows how to turn on the radio in his room, he can cut all the rug he wants. Here he is showing off his moves. (He tends to play it safe with a simple side-to-side rocking motion -- aka "the sumo"). He's also sporting the outfit my Mom got for him for Easter. Alas, as it was 50 on Easter he couldn't wear it. Today it was about 93 -- more appropriate weather for shorts.

Enjoy the video!

Appreciation

Last night, John and I went to Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God" concert. Shameless plug: we CANNOT recommend this concert highly enough! This was our second time seeing it, and it's by far the best concert we've ever been to. If it comes to your area, make every attempt to go!

The first half of the concert is his friends on this tour with him taking turns playing a couple of their own songs (this time, it was people like Bebo Norman, Andy Osenga, Jill Phillips, and Andy Gullahorn). The second half of the concert is the "Behold the Lamb of God" piece, with songs taking you through the Old Testament and ending with the birth of Christ. Amazing stuff, especially since so much of the focus in churches zeroes in on the prophecy in Isaiah and then the actual birth is Matthew and Luke. What this fails to take into account is that Jesus is found throughout the entire Bible, not just a few prophecies in the Old Testament and then making his grand entrance in the New Testament. That's why I appreciate this concert so much--it's a very basic Old Testament survey, weaving together the Story of God from the beginning and culminating in the New Testament birth of Christ.

There is one song that is done in this concert, "Labor of Love," that has really come to mean a lot to me. The entire Christmas season has always been my favorite time of year, but this year it really is special to me. Maybe it's because we'll be spending Christmas with my entire family (immediate and extended) for the first time in our married life, maybe it's because it's actually cold outside and we get to wear sweaters and stuff, but mostly it's because our son was born two days after Christmas. Going through the events immediately prior to Jesus' birth makes me truly appreciate my own birth experience. For instance, I am truly grateful I didn't need to ride a donkey to the hospital. I'm thankful that I was able to give birth in a hospital with the assistance of a doctor and nurses instead of in a stable with only the animals and my husband in attendance. I'm so incredibly thankful for the epidural to allow for a pain-free experience (can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like without it!). But then there is the shared experience with Mary of holding the first-born son for the first time. It's amazing to me to think that when she held Jesus, she was holding God Almighty. Holding Brennan for the first time was the most amazing experience of my life, but he's not God. I wonder what that would have been like to be holding the child you've just delivered and know that you were holding the Creator of the universe. What an amazing thought.

This year, among so many other things, I'll be rejoicing in the two best Christmas gifts we could have ever been given: the gift of Jesus Christ and the gift of Brennan Downer (even though he came two days after Christmas, he still counts as a Christmas present!).