Maundy Thursday at Creek...in Pictures

(Special thanks to Paul Adams Photo for the oustanding photography!)

Our annual Maundy Thursday Family Service at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Denver is probably one of the more unique times of worship that I've ever been a part of.  It is an interactive, multi-sensory, truly intergenerational experience.  We started doing it in this format four or five years ago, and it's quickly become a tradition.  Several years ago, God convicted our staff and leadership about our lack of attention to children as full-fledged worshipers.  We began a slow but persistent overhaul of how we thought about and engaged children in worship, and the Maundy Thursday Family Service was a part of that process.

We observed how high and formal our Good Friday Service was, and we wanted to be able to allow for a service where our kids would feel less on the outskirts, straining to understand, and more in the inner circle, quite literally.  So we devised a more informal worship service that included dinner as a part of the worship service. Dinner...yeah, it's biblical...and maybe it's especially appropriate for Maundy Thursday, a day commemorating the happenings in the Upper Room and Christ's great mandatum (where we get the word "Maundy"): "a new command I give you...love one another."

As best as we can, with the supplies we have, we transform center court of our multi-purpose center into a replica of what the original Last Supper table might have looked like.  The seating most likely would have been a Roman triclinium setup, with a U-shaped table, where those participating would have reclined forward on cushions.  We modify this idea, creating a center table on floor-level where, during a portion of the service, the kids come to gather for an interactive teaching time, bringing pillows around the table's edge, where the kids, while munching, learn about what the Last Supper would have been like and what Communion is all about (the adults end up learning a bit, too.)

With circular dining tables surrounding center court, we create a pretty communal atmosphere.  People share a meal that would have (slightly) resembled a typical first century meal: fish, chicken (because fish is scary for some), dates, grapes, bread, and a few slight variations like hummus and cheese.  And that's how the service begins, with people eating, talking, and enjoying one another's company.  We opened the meal in prayer.

Zac Hicks (guitar), Lucille Reilly (recorder, hammered dulcimer), Paul Adams (percussion)This year, as dinner was wrapping up, our ensemble (me on guitar, a percussionist, and a hammered dulcimerist) led some music (Rich Mullins' "Creed," to connect communion with the Apostles' Creed), with the congregation joining in on Matt Redman's "How Great is Your Faithfulness," interspersed with amazing, lengthy recitations from three of our kids on God's faithfulness in Christ through every book of the Bible.  The people cheered each kid on, and we were all moved by God's faithfulness from Genesis through Revelation.

We gathered all the kids around for the table experience, which is always a magical, unforgettable encounter, led by our Director of Student Ministries, Chris Piehl.

Our senior pastor, Brad Strait, then taught briefly on Communion and instituted the elements.  As our people came forward to receive the Lord's Supper, whole families came, and kids not ready to receive Communion were invited to take from a cluster of grapes that one of our youth were holding alongside our elders with the bread and cup.

We played an instrumental version of "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded," adapted for guitar and recorder, pulling from J. S. Bach's arrangement along with some of Paul Simon's variation on the tune in the last verse.  

Our music moved into one of our favorite Communion songs at CCPC, "We Will Dance," a Vineyard song by David Ruis that does a really nice job bringing the festive, eschatological themes of the Eucharist to the fore--lots of longing for the Second Coming and the marriage feast of the Lamb:

Sing a song of celebration, lift up a shout of praise
For the bridegroom is come, the glorious One
And oh, we will look on His face,
We'll go to a much better place

So dance with all your might
Lift up your hands and clap for joy
For the time's drawing near
When He will appear
And oh, we will stand by His side
A strong, pure, spotless bride

We will dance on the streets that are golden
The glorious bride and the great Son of Man
And every tribe and tongue and nation
Will join in the song of the Lamb 

Words & Music: David Ruis; ©1993 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing

The final part of the service was an interactive time of people grabbing a few inches of chain from the center of their tables, tying red ribbons on them, symbolizing sins that we're holding, burdens that we're carrying, and bonds holding us down.  Then, while singing "Amazing Grace," people came to center-court and threw our chains down.  

It was a moving experience to hear the chains slamming against the table; it made the freedom of the good news God's grace through Jesus all the more visceral.  After a prayer and the benediction, people left with a strong sense of the "heavy joy" of Maundy Thursday evening.

We musicians shared in communion together at the close of the service.

Review of White Flag, by Passion

Passion, White Flag (sixsteps/Sparrow)
Released: March 13, 2012

Passion's latest project continues in their strong legacy of fervent live worship albums.  One can never question on these records that this movement continues to be deeply committed to the core of what Christian worship is all about--encountering the presence of God with the people of God.  At the same time, White Flag continues to reveal the theological growth and maturation of Passion's main songwriters and artists--Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, Charlie Hall, etc.  There are even some surprising new ventures, as far as content goes. "White Flag" (the title track) appears to be a metaphor for surrender to God, which characterizes some, though not all, of the album.

SUMMARY

It is simply not possible that every album produced by a band or music-community can be landmark and earth-shattering, and while White Flag is a great listen and a solid offering of fresh anthems for the English-speaking Church, it is not extraordinary.  The production continues to be crisp, energetic, creative, and forward-looking within the pop-rock genre.  The theological content is solidly evangelical and orthodox, with charismatic leanings being dialed down a bit as compared to previous albums.  If we were to compare the breadth of content with that of the biblical Psalms, it has not gone much further than Here for You (2011) and Awakening (2010) in exploring the spectral realities in between poles like joyful praise and sorrowful lament, with one notable exception surprisingly opening the door toward worship's connection with the Lord's Supper.  

The songs I would most likely incorporate into worship in my local context would be:

• "10,000 Reasons" (see my review of Redman's album, on which this first appeared)
• "Jesus, Son of God"
• "Mystery"

With honorable mention to:

• "Lay Me Down"
• "One Thing Remains"
• "Yahweh"

MUSICALITY

White Flag is marked by the usual "arena worship" instrumentation--big drums, heavy low-end, high tenor vocals, backing "congregational" choir, epic guitars, and seeping keys.  No new or experimental/risky sounds will be found on this record, but there are a few slight new touches, such as the (most likely synthesized) dulcimer/harpsichord arpeggiations on "The Only One" and the electronica-plus-Death-Cabby-indie-guitars from Crowder on (the congregationally unfriendly) "All This Glory."  Songs like "White Flag" and "One Thing Remains" exhibit the typical arena-style soft-low-to-epic-high contour, all glued together by tom-beating, snare-banging, kick-pounding crescendos.  "Yahweh" has a nicely arranged skipping pedaled piano part in its opening and some fresh ways of coloring a triple meter.  The early 80s metal-style holds and fuzzy electrics fit well the grandeur of the song.  Some songs seem much more appropriate for special music because of their difficult rhythms, which congregations would find hard to follow, such as (ironically named) "Sing Along."  "10,000 Reasons," save a few minor variations is the same version in key, arrangement, and style, as Redman's earlier recorded version.

THEOLOGICAL CONTENT

Modern worship has always excelled at magnifying the prominent attributes of God--His greatness, His holiness, His majesty, His power, His perfection.  You hear it exemplified in songs like "Yahweh," whose first verse and chorus sing:

You have no rival to Your throne
In majesty, You stand alone
There is no limit to Your reign
Now all Your works shall praise Your name
As far as this, from east to west
There's no other, there's no other

Yahweh,
Your name alone be exalted
Yahweh,
Our hearts are Yours forever 

Debra and Ron Rienstra, in their book Worship Words (see my review), have challenged worship to incorporate more of the names of God.  "Yahweh," the chief name for God and perhaps the most obvious one scripturally, is still a step forward for modern worship which has for the most part failed to meet such a challenge.  Though, to be honest, much like Tomlin's "Jesus Messiah," there's not much exploration into the meaning and significance of the Name ("I am that I am").

"One Thing Remains" (previously recorded by Jesus Culture and a few others) is a testament to the power of God's love.  And this is no generic love, it is the type of love exemplified in the Hebrew word, hesed, often translated "steadfast love" or "covenant love."  Some might criticize the repetitive chorus, "Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me" as typical "mindless 7-11" worship music, but we need to remember that it is God's love which is celebrated in such a repetetive fashion in Psalm 136 ("His love endures forever").  The problem with this song is that it lacks a context for the most part.  It is faintly rooted in the gospel ("the debt is paid") but no mention of any member of the Trinity is made.  It is a direct-address song.  If it were to be incorporated in worship, it would need strong contextualization and grounding in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  But with this context, it is quite moving and compelling.

"Jesus, Son of God," even by virtue of its title, is a step forward (albeit a small one) in more Trinitarian explicitness, and it is a beautiful, singable, gospel-centered song, praising the incarnation and cross of Christ.  Verses 1 & 2, with the chorus:

You came down from heaven's throne
This earth You formed was not Your home
A love like this the world had never known 

A crown of thorns to mock Your name
Forgiveness fell upon Your face
A love like this the world had never known

On the altar of our praise, let there be no higher name
Jesus, Son of God
You laid down Your perfect life, You are the sacrifice
Jesus, Son of God
You are Jesus, Son of God 

The second line of verse 2 is a beautiful, rich poetic metaphor.  As the crown of thorns came upon His head, "forgiveness fell" upon His face.  Blood fell.  It is a powerful statment that the instrument of torture, in a providential twist, opened up the "precious flow" of blood, which would be the world's great forgiving balm.  

The most surprising song of all, from a theological perspective, is Charlie Hall's "Mystery."  Someone's been studying their eucharistic historical theology!  Check out these lyrics:

Sweet Jesus Christ, my certainty
Sweet Jesus Christ, my clarity
Bread of Heaven, broken for me
Cup of salvation, held up to drink
Jesus, mystery

Christ has died and Christ is risen
And Christ will come again.

Why is this surprising?  First, Passion is a parachurch worship entity, and the Lord's Supper is not something they have typically focused on in their worship music.  Second, the language is reflective of some "high church" exposure.  "Mystery" is a term that more "sacramental" churches more often use.  And the phrase "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again" is straight-up high church liturgical eucharistic language.  I'm very curious about the origin of this song...it is simply not typical evangelical megachurch content.  What makes this song more exceptional is that, for a Communion song, it's quite uplifting and eschatologically-oriented.  The bridge (which is the song's high point) sings:

Celebrate His death and rising
Lift your eyes, proclaim His coming
Celebrate His death and rising
Lift your eyes, lift your eyes

It's a moving, victorious, back-looking, forward-reaching Communion song.  Praise God!  Imbedded in this simple text is a very reflective, rich, full-orbed eucharistic theology.  This is remarkable.

One can only hope that what is barely hinted at on this album--a greater ecclesiastical awareness--is indicative of things to come.  One of the great issues facing the Passion movement along with a fair amount of the modern worship "industry" is that they are in many ways one-off from the Church.  They are "church enrichment" programs, to be sure, but they are NOT the Church, and as such, there will always be missing from their songs the very vital component of contextual music-making.  One wonders whether this missing piece is what is driving the Passion folks (Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin) to begin the move toward "settling down" into their Atlanta-based plant, Passion City Church.  In the meantime, I'll applaud any effort at building bridges between the largely "churchless" industry and the one true Bride of Christ.

CHECK OUT OTHER ALBUM REVIEWS 

Worship Leader Magazine's 20 Most Influential Worship Albums - Reflections

Worship Leader Magazine - January 2012 IssueThe most recent issue of Worship Leader Magazine released their list of the top twenty most influential worship albums of the last twenty years.  Many of the album-mentions include articles of reflection and appreciation written by other worship leaders and songwriters in the mainstream worship music industry.  The list is interesting and worth some analysis.

Click to read more ...

Review of 10,000 Reasons, by Matt Redman

It's not an exaggeration to say that 10,000 Reasons is Matt Redman’s best album to date.  Despite how popularity polls would re-arrange the pecking order, Redman stands at the top of the heap among the well-known modern worship songwriters (Tomlin, Hughes, Fee, Hall, Maher, etc.). 

Click to read more ...

Evidently the Devil Hates "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"

I'm relaying this story from my colleague, Douglas, who is the organist and choirmaster at our church.  I'm not necessarily sure what precipitated the conversation, but I found it fascinating.  I'm interested in the thoughts of others...speculations as to "why."  My up-front disclosure: I believe that the spiritual realm is real and quite active (Ephesians 6:12), and I believe that demon possession still happens today (though perhaps, as my friend Sharon Beekman reminds me, not always the way that we think).

Douglas told me that, on one occasion years ago, it was believed that a woman associated with their church was demon-possessed.  Douglas and his wife were asked to go over to her place and minister to her through music.  Unsure of what would or could be accomplished by this, they still went over, and they sat down at a piano and began to play and sing.  The woman sat and listened, and for a long time she remained basically passive.  She did not react much.  Douglas and his wife worked through, especially, a lot of praise choruses that were considered by many at the time to be "moving" and "spiritually powerful."  No change in the woman's countenance.  They went on like this for a long time.  No effect.

Douglas and his wife switched gears.  They opened up a hymnal and began to play and sing Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."  Almost immediately, the woman became visibly agitated, and as the song progressed she began writhing all the more.  The demon in her was obviously not happy.  Douglas said that as they sang, the woman's behavior frightened them, but they kept on...and she kept on.  (Douglas did not share what eventually became of the woman.)

To me, what most obviously would elicit a negative reaction from the prince of darkness is the fact that the hymn thumbs its nose at him.  Here are the offending lyrics (though, really, the whole hymn is offensive to him):

For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate...

And though this world, with devils filled should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth.

What is surprising about Douglas's encounter was that the praise choruses they sang did not elicit the negative protest of "the devils."  Critics of praise choruses would be quick to point out that this is confirmation of the spiritual impotency of modern worship music...and perhaps this is true, especially as a generalization and especially of early "praise and worship" music.  (I do want to remind readers that times have changed and that we're seeing a positive shift in modern worship toward more substance, rich theology, and historical connectedness, such that the broad-brush generalizations of yesteryear are fading in their applicability.) 

This all does raise an eyebrow to the lack of overt spiritual warfare themes in modern worship music.  Perhaps Redman's "We Shall Not Be Shaken" and the bridge of Tomlin's "Our God" are movements toward awakening about the need to "do" warfare in our worship music, but I don't know that I've ever seen anything as overt as "A Mighty Fortress" in a worship song.  For that matter, I don't know of many old hymns that come close to rivaling Luther's battle-hymn, either (perhaps some of you do). 

For some reason, the theme of "worship as warfare" just keeps coming up.  It's a fascinating and under-appreciated aspect of worship-thought.  One thing's for certain.  Whenever I sing "A Mighty Fortress," this story is at the forefront of my mind, and I end up singing a lot more forcefully in hopes that some of the shrapnel from my praise-bombs fly far enough to reach enemy camp.

Review of Passion's New Worship Album, Awakening

Passion, Awakening (2010, Various Artists)

In my opinion, the Passion folks have drawn the clearest line of demarcation between the stylistic eras of “contemporary worship” (80s and 90s) and “modern worship” (late 90s to the present).  I remember when Passion ’98 hit the scene.  The songs felt fresh, youthful, and different from its predecessors, and from that time forward, we watched the blossoming of the solo careers of these Passion artists (Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, David Crowder, Charlie Hall, etc.) as well as the arrival of even newer waves of modern worship (e.g. Hillsong United).  This most recent album of Passion’s shows stylistic and textual progression from their 1998 starting point.

OVERALL SUMMARY

Worth getting it?  If you’re buying this album for personal edification, get it.  You will be encouraged.  If you’re a worship leader looking for congregational material, save money and just buy the few songs worth evaluating (see the song-by-song analysis below).

Songs I would most likely end up using in worship: “You Alone Can Rescue” (Redman), “Our God” (Tomlin).

Accessibility: As usual, their sung keys favor tenors and altos (singing in nearly the same vocal range), alienating the bass and soprano vocal range.  But good worship leaders should have the musical ability to re-set these songs in accessible keys (and if they don’t, they should think about getting some musical training or else choosing a different vocation…because they’re not serving the church well when they lead these songs in the recorded keys).  Once the songs are set in congregation-friendly keys, the majority of them are accessible and singable for most congregations.

Theological depth: Passion still cannot stand up to the great hymns of the faith, but the longer they’re around the more their songs progress to being God-centered rather than human-centered, with a stronger gospel focus.  There is still a lack of substantive reflection on one major part of the Christian experience—suffering.  Where one of my friends had described the texts and styles coming from Hillsong United as “adolescent,” I would comparatively describe this latest collection from Passion a bit more mature (20s, early 30s?) with some deeper songs that push the average upward.  Whether they know it or not, the Passion folks still reflect a charismatic/Pentecostal theological perspective in the way they choose to express, experience, and request God’s presence. 

Musicality: As always, superb.  I would characterize the style as modern, yet conservative, with a slight edge.  They are not as experimental with rhythm, electric guitar work, synth sounds, and song structure as, say, Hillsong United, but they aren’t remaining stuck in the same stylistic forms that they were using on the previous albums (I keep comparing them to Hillsong United, so it’s worth pointing out that United actually made it on this album).  Musically, Tomlin’s “Our God” is enjoyable to me, especially for its bridge and musical interlude (see below).  The album is well-produced and polished, as always, and they’ve included more of the congregational “sound” (background voices) than in previous albums.  Probably because of the influence of Hillsong United, there are more congregational “whoa’s” (I don’t know what else to call them); they appear on several tracks.  I personally like this (to me they serve the biblical function of “shout of praise”) but I know that it seems to many in the church like pointless, rock-concert frivolity.  Still, could congregational “whoa’s” be the new version of call-and-response antiphonal singing?  Ancient-future, baby!

SONG-BY-SONG ANALYSIS

Awakening
It’s great to see two heavy-hitting worship songwriters (Chris Tomlin and Reuben Morgan) team up!  Here are the first two verses and chorus:

(V1) In our hearts Lord in this nation awakening
Holy Spirit we desire awakening

(V2) In Your presence in Your power awakening
For this moment in this hour awakening

(C) For You and You alone awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
For the world You love Your will be done
Let Your will be done in me

This is a nice, simple call to worship song, with a gradual build into a surprisingly powerful second half.  Its theme comes from psalms like Psalm 57: “Awake, my soul!”, and it’s therefore a wonderful reminder that, left to ourselves, we are spiritually lethargic (dead, even) and need our soul awakened by an outside Force (in the non Starwarsian sense).  Later, there are hints of the gospel and expressions of the desire for not just subjective, individual “awakening,” but world-awakening:

Like the rising sun that shines…
From the darkness comes a light…
Like the rising sun that shines…
Only You can raise a life…

In our hearts, Lord
In the nations, awakening

While I don’t have anything against this song, it personally doesn’t “do” anything for me.  It might for others.  I’m open to using it, but it’s not top on my list.

Say, Say
This is one of those pump-you-up songs.  To me, it seems filled with loosely connected Christian-ese clichés. The chorus:

Say, say
Say you believe it
Sing for the whole world to hear it
We know, and we declare it
Jesus is King
Sing loud, sing like you mean it
We know, and we declare it
Jesus is King

(yelled) “Say, say!”

For me, there’s too much hype and not enough substance to offer it to my congregation.  If songs are going to pump you up, their rockin’ musical backdrop needs to be accompanied by some pretty strong gospel-reflection—God’s true Pump.  Without it, we’re just a deflated spiritual corpse, rotting “from the inside out” ;).  “Jesus is King” serves as a gospel-reflection, but it’s just too nebulous…not enough meat on the bones.

Our God
Here’s a mid-tempo song that really has a rockin’, Coldplay-influenced bridge section.  I dig it!  It focuses on God’s power in both performing miracles and saving sinners.  Its chorus is general, but exalting:

Our God is greater
Our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer
Awesome in power
Our God, our God

The bridge is empowering to the believer:

And if our God is for us
Then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us
Then who could stand against?

In a Hillsong-style eighth-note banging build, it climaxes in a beautiful, powerful instrumental section that would be fun for bands to play and musically fits the triumph of the text.  Though this song is rather loose and generic in its reflection, it is transcendent enough, and it musically floats my boat.  It’s on my radar, but I’m not chomping at the bit to introduce this one.  It is my second favorite song on the album.

How He Loves
Though I’ve used this song before, I don’t personally feel it’s good for corporate worship.  I’ll explain why in a future post.  It’s a great personal worship song, and this particular version is a bit more stripped down and raw than some other recorded renditions…which I appreciate.

Healing is in Your Hands
Christy Nockels has an incredible voice.  I wish I had half her ability.  It is versatile and very expressive.  It’s difficult to teach women to sing like this.  This song focuses on the wideness of God’s love for us and the healing the gospel brings.  It verges on performance-song because of its upper range and held notes in the chorus.  The song doesn’t jump out at me, though, for congregational use.

King of Heaven (Isaiah 61)
This is an interesting, up-beat, eschatologically-oriented song.  I’m appreciative that this song, like Brooke Fraser’s “Hosanna,” is bringing attention in corporate worship to the second advent of Christ and the implications for the church’s present mission.  We need more songs along these lines: 

(C1) We’ll sing the gospel to the poor
We’ll go to comfort those who mourn
You’ll put together what’s been torn
King of Heaven

For the simple reason that other songs with a view toward justice and the eschaton do a better job of being cohesive in message and implications (e.g. “Hosanna,” our “Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending,” or Tim Hughes’ “God of Justice”), I’m inclined not to add this to my regular rotation of worship songs.

You Alone Can Rescue
THIS IS THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM.  This is from Matt Redman’s We Shall Not Be Shaken, which I reviewed over half a year ago.  When I wrote that review, this song was on the top of my favorites for corporate worship, but I ended up shelving it.  Its re-appearance on Awakening has renewed my zeal to use it.  It is God-centered, Christocentric, and soaked in the gospel.  The bridge moves me to tears.  I love this song.  It has “soli Deo gloria” written all over it.  Here it is, in its entirety:

(V1) Who O Lord could save themselves
Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your grace is deeper still

(V2) You O Lord have made a way
The great divide You healed
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes Your love goes further still

(C) And You alone can rescue
You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise

(B) We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes
You're the giver of life

Where the Spirit of the Lord Is
Here’s the chorus:

We know where the Spirit of the Lord is
(Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty)
We know living in Your freedom
(Living in Your freedom we see Your glory)
We know where the Spirit of the Lord is
(Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty)
We're Yours and Yours is the kingdom (We are Yours)
Yours is the kingdom (Yours is the kingdom)

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m personally growing weary of modern worship songs that speak in nebulous terms about “freedom.”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for true, Christ-bought, biblical freedom, but I get the sense more often than not in modern worship that when freedom-language is used, it gets truncated into an I’m-free-to-express-myself-however-I-want kind of vibe.  It seems to me that Paul’s phrase in 2 Corinthians 3:17 (from which the chorus of this song comes) gets abused in the context of worship.  Paul’s discussion of “freedom” in the larger context of that book and chapter involves a freedom to directly approach God the Father…but it’s not really addressing the context of corporate worship.  It’s speaking more personally, and even missionally.  Paul’s point seems to be that because God has so deeply reconciled us to Himself (He allows us full access to His presence!), we have a resulting ministry of reconciliation to deliver to the broken world.  The concept of being “free” in a corporate worship seems quite ancillary to the thrust of the passage.  Of course it is true that approaching the Father directly through Christ very much speaks to what is involved in the corporate worship experience for Christians, but this is NOT what Paul is addressing.  In summary, then, I don’t believe that this song is in theological error, but it is perpetuating an application, which, because of its frequency of “air time” in modern worship, might lead people to believe that the central thrust of the passage is worship.  This happens sometimes when short phrases from the Bible are quoted and re-quoted in worship songs…they take a life of their own and can confuse the Bible-reader about what that quote is truly talking about in its Scriptural context.

Where I see the concept of freedom abused in modern worship is in giving license to “express yourself how you want to.”  I’m not against this outright, but it does cater to American individualism, and, when encouraged in the corporate worship setting, lessens the corporate idea of worship and heightens individual experience.  Instead of corporate worship, “freedom” often produces a bunch of isolated worshipers, having a one-on-one experience with God…those worshipers just happen to be standing by several others who are also having a similar God-encounter. 

So despite the fact that this song rocks my face off, and despite the fact that it has a very cool antiphonal call-and-response between men and women in the chorus, I probably wouldn’t use this song in corporate worship.  Though perhaps I’ll change on that if someone convinces me I’m out to lunch (or buys me lunch).

Rise and Sing
Another pump-up song.  Fee really rocks this one out, complete with the aforementioned responsorial congregational “whoa’s.”  Stylistically, it’s punk-ish.  See the above thoughts on “Say, Say,” because they apply here, too.

Like a Lion
I like the musical themes in this song.  It’s beginning is reflective and helpfully preparatory (and it reminds me of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight”…a plus).  Its text is unique.  It reflects on the explosive love of our God, residing in our hearts like a lion. 

(V1) Let love explode and bring the dead to life
A love so bold to see a revolution somehow

(C) My God's not dead, He's surely alive
And He's living on the inside roaring like a lion

(V2) Let hope arise and make the darkness hide
My faith is dead I need a resurrection somehow

(Pre-C) Now I'm lost in Your freedom
Oh this world I'll overcome

(B) Let heaven roar and fire fall
Come shake the ground with the sound of revival
Let heaven roar and fire fall
Come shake the ground with the sound of revival

My problem with this song is that I’m not sure what it means.  It seems quite internal and subjective.  Biblically, God’s Lion-like qualities are for external purposes—dominating, ruling, conquering.  Of course all those things happen inside of us, but it seems that other biblical metaphors take over in those discussions.  Furthermore, “My God’s not dead, He’s surely alive, and He’s living on the inside” sounds a lot like the very subjective hymn line that does absolutely nothing for defending the faith:

You ask me how I know He lives
He lives within my heart!

(And just when you thought I had nothing bad to say about hymns!)  When you make a claim, “My God’s not dead,” you are entering the world of apologetics.  It is a response to Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous atheistic quip.  Unfortunately, like the line from “He Lives,” this song’s answer is subjective.  Of course my personal experience of God’s indwelling presence is enough to convince me of His existence, but it would not be how I would choose to respond to someone defending atheism.  It would most likely fit in a cumulative case of other more rational arguments.  I know I’m rabbit-trailing here, but I’m convinced that worship leaders are like dieticians, and whatever they feed their flock will shape the health of the people’s souls.  This song just doesn’t have enough to commend it for me to overlook the odd non-apologetic it contains.

With Everything

Wow!  Hillsong United on a Passion album!  Two worlds collide!  Is this some kind of modern worship monopoly--a centralization of power, seeking to overthrow all lesser contenders?  Are they threatened by the ever-growing influence of the hymns movement to the point of needing to rally the troops?  I wish…and I jest.  I like this song.  It is powerful and moving, even if a bit disjointed.  It ends with congregational “whoa’s,” the high note being a held-out G# (!).  It caps off the album with a sense of unceasing worship.  A friend who attended Passion 2010 told me that United was surprised by the congregational mass who kept singing the “whoa’s,” and the band was joyfully “forced” back into building the song up again.  It must have been powerful to worship with such eager participants. 

For Christ and His Church,
Zac



Review of Matt Redman's new album, We Shall Not Be Shaken

Matt Redman, We Shall Not Be Shaken (August, 2009) Summary My recommendation is that worship leaders and worshipers alike should buy this album.  My three favorite songs, which I hope to use at my church, are “You Alone Can Rescue,” “How Great is Your Faithfulness,” and “Remembrance.” Overall Comments I must say I’ve been following Redman for a long time—since the late 90s.  His early albums were great. In the 2000s, Where Angels Fear to Tread was a powerful album for me, mostly because, well before it became famous, “Blessed Be Your Name” became a heart-song of mine as God took my wife and me through the valley of the shadow of death.  After Angels came Beautiful News, and I must admit that I was disappointed in it.  My expectations were probably too high, but too many songs seemed either unsingable, too bland, or attempting too much chordally/musically.  We Shall Not Be Shaken is, in my mind, a few large leaps back up “great worship album” hill. As I’ve said about every album Redman has put out, We Shall Not Be Shaken shows Redman to be a worship leader who actually reads His Bible.  His songs, while existential, are filled with Bible quotes, Scriptural allusion, and theological depth.  In this respect, he seems to be getting better with every subsequent album. The production on this album is great…better than previous collections.  There is a nice sonic variety within the pop/rock genre.  Electric guitars aren’t monochromatic.  Some songs are piano-driven rather than guitar-driven.  There are U2 and Coldplay overtones here and there, and I’m hearing a more noticeable use of sampling/programming/looping than what has been on previous albums.  There are more mid- and up-tempo songs (which, personally, I find harder to write [with any substance] than slower songs).  Redman’s voice has never been a flashy one.  In many ways, I view him as the Rich Mullins of modern worship, in the sense that his recordings are admired not because he’s a virtuoso vocalist but because he writes incredible texts.  And there’s something refreshing about a “straight up” vocalist every once in a while.  You can tell Redman is a worship leader rather than a performer.  (I like Brenton Brown’s recordings for a lot of those same reasons.) Gospel-Centered, and God-Centered I praise Redman and this album chiefly for its gospel-centeredness.  Too many worship songs ignore the gospel, probably because the whole concept of gospel-as-entrance-ticket (but not as our ongoing source of sustenance and sanctification) is still pretty prevalent in evangelicalism.  So, that Redman continually points to the life and work of Christ, and that he roots our worship in God’s finished work in Jesus, are necessary correctives/emphases for mainstream evangelical worship.  The album is a gospel-centered album. I also applaud Redman and this album for its God-centeredness.  There’s a lot of “You” and much less of “me.”  And any time there is “me,” it’s always set in the context of “You.”  Song after song exalts God’s greatness, faithfulness, and enduring love.  As John Witvliet has pointed out about the Psalms, Redman grounds praise in God’s attributes and His deeds.  Worship is not a mere mystical encounter with the force of the Divine, it is a recounting of the works of God in history, ushering forth an overflow of praise.  Bravo, Mr. Redman!  The title track, “We Shall Not Be Shaken,” repeats a mantra similar those used by Hillsong United lyricists: We shall, we shall not be shaken. But, unlike the self-triumphalism one sometimes finds in the texts of modern worship songs, Redman points back to the reason that we are not shaken: For You are, You are never changing. Our triumph is grounded in Christ’s.  I appreciate that Redman makes that explicit, because when it’s not, it has a subtle way of educating our congregations to be boastful in ourselves or to think that we’ve got the spiritual fortitude to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.  The theme of God’s triumph and what that means for us reverberates throughout many tracks on the album—our glory is only great as it is derivative of God’s. Even in Redman’s communion song, “Remembrance,” where it speaks of our remembrance leading us into worship, Redman is quick to point out: By Your mercy we come to Your table By Your grace, You are making us faithful What a great line! We’re only faithful because God made us so.  More God, less me.  Amen!  “Remembrance” is a great song for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (not enough modern worship songs are written for this sacred, vital act of Christian worship!).  Redman seems, too, to be stretching his theological boundaries, coming from the charismatic side of evangelicalism.  Probably more implicit than explicit, there are overtones of Christ’s real presence in the sacrament, in climactic lines such as: Lord Jesus, come in glory. One can understand this line from a Zwinglian, purely symbolic perspective by saying that Redman is just referring to how the table points to the wedding feast and that the request for Jesus to “come in glory,” is a longing for Jesus to come in the eschaton.  However, I think the context shows that Redman intended for this request to be a desired reality in the moment of Holy Communion.  In this instance, Redman sounds more Reformed than Pentecostal...though I'm definitely willing to admit to biased lenses.  So, for Redman, it seems that this song goes further than its title…communion is more than remembrance.  It is an encounter with the living Christ—albeit mysterious and veiled in the “how’s.”  An aside to this song:  I love the opening programming on “Remembrance;” it reminds me of some Radiohead song I can’t quite recall right now (I think it’s on Kid A). The Three Best Songs on the Album I have three favorites on the album, which I will not rank, because they are too fresh.  They’re merely in order of appearance.  The first is “You Alone Can Rescue.”  It’s a slow to mid-tempo song with a nice dynamic contrast.  The lyrics are singable and attainable.  I love it for its high view of God’s work in our salvation: all God, no me. The second favorite is “How Great is Your Faithfulness.”  It’s an accessible song in a steady, mid-tempo 6/8 beat.  It’s got a splendidly climactic chorus (the recorded key is probably a bit high for congregations…I’d probably set it in G at church).  Though he doesn’t mention the word “covenant,” the song is filled with covenantal overtones.  It points to God’s promises, His unfailing love and justice, His steadfast, unwavering will.  I love it! The third favorite is the aforementioned “Remembrance,” mostly because it puts a celebrative spin on Holy Communion (while still engendering reverence) and because I find myself in agreement with its apparent stance on the presence of Christ in communion (see above). Other Comments “For Your Glory” is a nice song to encourage dancing in congregations (still tough for me to encourage in my congregation whose history has engendered a lot of stiffness!).  It’s a 120-ish bpm up-tempo number.  Its chorus is grounded in the famous Psalm often used in Advent, Psalm 24: “Lift up your heads, O you gates, be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” “My Hope” is exciting for me personally because Redman has set an old hymn (“My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”) to a new melody.  He’s replaced the standard chorus with a different one, equally beautiful, while a bit more personal.  The music in this song is epically exquisite—piano and strings.  With an interesting interplay of key-structure: verses are in G-minor and the choruses are in G-major (with a V of vi used to transition from minor to major).  Redman only uses two verses from the original hymn, but it would be easy to incorporate all the verses of Edward Mote’s original text.  The album ends on this song, which is a soft and beautiful “period” given to a beautiful set of songs. One Note, One Minor Error Don’t confuse “The More We See” with a song Redman sings that was hot on Christian radio a few months back, called, “King of Wonders,” which has the ending line, “the more we see the more we love You.”  This “The More We See” is a different song.  I don’t think it’s close to being the best on the album, but I wanted to point it out to any who might think that they’re getting “King of Wonders” when they’re not. There’s an error in the iTunes digital booklet.  The lyrics to “We Shall Not Be Shaken” were duplicated under “Through it All”…no doubt an editorial cutting and pasting issue.  Fortunately (and this isn’t always the case on recordings), the vocals are sung, EQ-ed, and mixed in such a way that the text is clearly audible and understandable.

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matt redman confesses to "girly" worship songs

This is impressive.  Matt Redman, upon reflection on Scripture, speaks quite candidly about modern worship's use of romantic love language.  He specifically mentions regret over the final line of the chorus of his famous song, "Let My Words Be Few," which says,

Jesus, I am so in love with you.

The reason this is impressive is because we have a truly humble man who is willing to admit that he's on a journey of greater depth of knowledge and insight.  It is also impressive because Redman is one of the top ten most recognized modern worship leaders and songwriters in the world. I also just want to say how big a fan I am of Redman, and why.  When modern worship was in its "fluff" heyday, which I would place around the mid to late 90s, Redman was carving a different path.  You look at his early albums in and just after that era (The Friendship and the Fear, The Heart of Worship), you really do get a sense that here we have a worship leader who reads his Bible.  Yes, early Redman was full of the romantic stuff, too, but there was substance.  My appraisal is that part of the reason we're seeing modern worship make a shift toward more biblical literacy, more God-centeredness, more theological depth, is because Redman paved the way.  I really can look at the "heavy hitters" of worship in that era, and I don't see many that were writing as Redman did.  Now, many more are. I haven't spoken directly about the topic at hand, i.e. modern worship's penchant for so-called "girliness," but much ink and HTML have already been spilt over that, so I leave it to my readers' comments.  I just think this video is remarkable.  And I thank God for humble public figures like Redman.

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