Album Review

Be Lifted High is the most recent live album from the worship team at Bethel Church in Redding, California and the second album they have released in the past year. Bethel Live features notable Christian artists such as Jeremy Riddle, Amanda Falk and Brian and Jenn Johnson to name a few. With regard to production quality, live worship albums can sometimes leave much to be desired for the listener. This is not the case with Be Lifted High which is excellently produced featuring stunning harmonies, screaming guitars and a very fluid quality start to finish despite several different vocalists taking the lead throughout the album. Another great production quality to this album is that the crowd vocals are mixed just right, without the overkill we’ve come to expect with many of the live Hillsong albums of late. The songs are extremely Christ centered, the standout being “Furious” featuring Jeremy Riddle; a song that uses some unfamiliar terminology to describe the depths of Christ’s love for us.  If you can’t get enough of live worship albums, Be Lifted High is a must have and will leave you singing many of its catchy tracks for weeks to come.

Download this: “Furious” featuring Jeremy Riddle

Be Lifted High is available on iTunes

Filed under: Album Review, Dave's Thoughts

WG09 Recap

Below is Dave’s recap of the conference; and he touches on some powerful points that we’re made in our general sessions over three days….

As I open up the Mac to write this I have just returned from the Worship God 09 Conference at Sovereign Grace Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  Even attempting to collect thoughts on the 3 day experience is going to be challenging, but I feel it’s one of those times when writing is all you can do.  On Wednesday morning I had a brand new leather notebook ready to go, and now 33 pages in, I’m beginning to review what I have learned over the course of various speakers, seminars, and times of worship. For those of you who don’t know, Sovereign Grace is a family of churches numbering around 100 across the globe.  The conference site, which is the largest of these – resides in Gaithersburg led by Pastor Joshua Harris and Music Director Bob Kauflin.  The conference itself takes place every other year and includes morning and evening worship meetings as well as individual classes that cover topics from “Songwriting Basics” to “Developing and Training a Music Academy for God’s Glory.” The conference is tailored for worship leaders and team members, which include everyone from the singers to the sound crew.

            It was an honor and blessing to take a group of 10 from our church this year to WG09. On the opening night we heard John Piper give a message on “The God of Worship” from Romans 3:25-26 which he said himself “just may be the most important passage in all of scripture.”  I am not sure that I have ever heard a portion of God’s Word so clearly and eloquently explained as when Piper presented the text that evening.  One of the most penetrating points he made that night was, “If you were able to embrace all the universe with benevolence, leaving God out of the account, you would have embraced something so small that God could barely see it.”  He continued to add several focused and well thought out points that because of their length and composure were sometimes difficult to fully understand during the sermon. It wasn’t until I returned to my room later that night to review the full context of his words that I became fully aware of the meaningful doctrine filling Piper’s statements. 

            The following night we heard Pastor Jeff Purswell  speak on “The Leader’s of Worship” covering the 3 main reasons why we gather as a corporate body: To encounter God, to respond to God, and to strengthen each other for the glory of God.  The biggest takeaway from this meeting was Jeff’s point that, “We do not inspire God with our worship.” This is so true! How often do we try to put ourselves in emotionally “inspiring” situations to worship looking for some kind of false emotional high that we mistake for a true experience with God? Emotion definitely plays a real role in our worship but it alone and without context serves no purpose and does not edify or glorify the living God.  During the morning session on day 3 we heard from Thabiti Anyabwile who spoke on “The Church of Worship.”  He used I Corinthians 12 to discuss how we should love the local church because it is “God’s workmanship.” Of any message the entire week this particular one struck a chord with me.  Our entire worship team feels deeply connected to our congregation at Community. We hope that people can come and fulfill God’s command to worship Him, having no distractions and no hindrances from doing so. But more than that, we truly want to serve people outside of just Sunday mornings and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ on a daily basis. This is what Thabiti spoke to saying that, “We cannot mature in Christ independent of the local church.” In addition to Thabiti’s message, we all heard many other incredible speakers and attended individual workshops. The entire week was focused, clear, and applicable. It was great to see the entire team bonding together through everything from sharing worship times to meals and car rides. Late every night we spent over an hour recapping the day and talking about how we can serve our church more effectively. I can do nothing but thank God for the few days to be refreshed and renewed, knowing that we have much to learn, but also much to teach. 

Filed under: Dave's Thoughts

More Than Music

 

             We all listen to music. I usually like a variety. Jazz, punk, alternative, metal, indie rock, pop, R & B.  Each has its own appeal for various reasons, and our moods often drive what we are going to be listening to, or sometimes vice-versa.  A steady, driving drum beat at the gym, a slow ballad on a rainy day, or heavy rock on Friday after a brutal week at the office.  But it doesn’t all hinge on style or rhythm. The lyrics of a song draw us into the music in an entirely different way.  Just as we all have listened to many styles of music, some of that music, no doubt, has affected us emotionally.  Songs that have the best chance of connecting with us often contain lyrics that seem to fit perfectly into what we are going through at that moment in time. We all know the feeling of hearing a song for the first time and thinking it was written specifically for us.  We immediately connect with the song, and often times we will care less about the style if the words make sense to us.

 

            So what similarities does worship music have to all other kinds of music? Melody, measure, harmony; check, check, check. But lets take a step back and define “worship music.” Worship is definitely present in all kinds of music. Artists worship money, fame, people, and many other things. And they write music about that worship. When we talk about “worship music” we are talking about music that speaks about God or directly to Him. It’s that simple. So what’s different about worship music? It’s just music that is sung to God, right? I truly believe it’s more than music.

            What makes worship music so special is that it is the ongoing story about the most significant relationship in our lives, our relationship with Jesus Christ. If worshipping God though music seems all too natural of a thing to do, it’s because we were created to do it.  Worship music separates itself from anything else in that its subject (God), has conquered our sin, paid our price of death, and now lives in us and works through us. Turn that story into a song, than compare it to a song about a breakup, a lost love, or anything else under the sun. If we can be moved with emotion by hearing a love song that could be about anyone, than how can we be unaffected by songs that speak of our Glorious Redeemer and what He has done for us? The Psalmist David seems quite moved in Psalm 139, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”  The truth about God is what drives the emotion in the worshipper. So is it just music? In some ways, yes, but it’s music that we can live by. It encourages us, strengthens us and makes us think about God in new ways. And it only does this if it is built firmly on evident truths in His word. All music can have a special place in our hearts, but when we sing to our God, our emotional state, whether repentant, overwhelmed or awestruck should be more evident to us than at any other time. He deserves nothing less.

Filed under: Dave's Thoughts