I often wonder about this process. Granted, I have found a job using this medium and have found it beneficial in helping others as well. But I am intrigued as to how we approach finding someone to lead our churches. I mean, words can be typed to say whatever we want, but I wonder what matters most to churches in the Worship Leader Sweepstakes. Obviously we want them to be talented musicians and want them to have some sort of ability to lead a team. But how much is really dependent on their theology and approach to worship? Before I continue, let me say that I am not speaking as someone who is upset about being turned down by a church or anything like that. I’m asking questions because, from the worship leader side I believe that we should be as strong theologically as we are musically, if not more. I wonder just how much churches dig into the brains and hearts of the people they bring in to make sure that the person is where they want them to be.

Honestly, my prayer goes out strongest for the smaller churches. Smaller churches are always looking for someone to come in and lead music and handle that portion of the service. A lot of times leaders will use churches of that size as stepping stones to something bigger and better, which leaves the smaller church in a bind more times than not. And so I wonder if small churches have the tendency to maybe overlook some theological discrepancies for the sake of a talented musician…

Is there a better way to do this? Is there a better way to find someone to lead your congregation musically and spiritually? Is this approach a non-biblical one? Should we approach finding leaders in a less corporate way? Is this just a way for the church to take advantage of the technological world that we live in? As always, I’m just throwing the questions out there. What say you?

I look at music discovery in the same way. There are so many different types of music in the world today that it is a job in itself just trying to listen to it all. In the past few years I have discovered music that I probably would have never listened to or even tried to find on my own. This is true in the church as well as the rest of the world. There are songs and artists that I would have never known or heard on in my own searching, but I’m glad that I listen to now. There is music that has brought joy to my life and I only heard it because someone simply said, “hey, check this out.” There is some music that I’ve heard and I’m sad that I spent that 4 minutes of my life on that song. But all of these things have been used in shaping my musical tastes.

I write this because one of the conversations I have the most about what I do is about genres and styles and preferences. At the end of the day (for me, at least) is the desire to listen to and lead people in music that brings glory to God and is theologically correct. With that being my main parameters, that leaves a lot to listen to. Then the journey begins. I believe that some of us need to widen our parameter just a little and see if God shows you something that you never would have noticed before. Maybe even if it’s only for an experiment, it would be fun to try. Let me know what you come up with because I’m always on the lookout for new music.

When we look at the word classic, it has a connotation of something that has been around for awhile. Consider that a classic is something that was also considered a bit of a game changer, a paradigmatic force that shaped everything and everyone around it. For instance, Michael Jackson or Elvis or Boyz II Men or James Brown or Motown or U2 and The Rolling Stones. Across this spectrum there are many people who will look at what each of these groups are people have done as classic. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who can deny those claims either. You can’t take away hit after hit or the week after week of being number one on the charts. Most importantly, you can’t take away from people the moment, the instance where they can remember what they were doing when they first heard a specific song. Or how a song meant something to them in a particular place in their lives.

Are these the things that make something a classic? Are there other things to consider when giving a song or a book such a title? Are there different criteria for hymns and other church music? A recent comment to this question went with the line of reasoning that hymns are classic because of the words speaking truth about the story of who God is and the Gospel. I would tend to agree with that.  I also believe that we can look at their impact on the church at the time of their release. If you look at that, then classic doesn’t just apply to hymns. And before I go on, this is NOT a knock against hymns, but a lot of times that’s where the word stops. I also think about people like Andrae Crouch and The Winans. Bill and Gloria Gaither. Steve Green and Twila Paris. Thomas Whitfield and James Cleveland. Micahel W. Smith and Carman. Stephen Wiley and T-Bone. All of these people were game changers musically as well.

The funny thing about music in the church or the Christian culture, is the fact that it is so polarizing. I guess as I think about it, music in general can take that approach. People may accept what one person did, but because of personal feelings or preferences may not give the same respect to someone else. This causes me to wonder what this conversation looks like in 30 years. Will Holy is the Lord or Hosanna be considered classic? Will college students be writing their songs based on the words of that old song How He Loves? So again I ask you, what makes a classic? What are some songs or moments that you consider to be classics?

Sunday night while meeting with a group of worship leaders we were talking about how it seems that some people are maybe moving away from some of the things that we tend to rely on or hold to in today’s worship culture. And it seems that some of the younger people are leading that charge. There seems to be a shift starting that is moving away from a lot of the production and moving to some more “organic”, “grassroots” type approaches.

Both of these conversations started me to thinking. Sometimes that can be a scary situation, but I don’t think it is THIS time. Anyway, here’s the question(s) of the day. Is there really a worship music shelf life? And what makes the timeless classics so timeless? And if every time we have some sort of revelation we go back to these classics, why do we keep leaving them in the first place?

It seems that people may be asking these questions without actually asking these questions. Or maybe they are asking these questions and I just haven’t heard anything about it yet. For me, it seems like worship music has a shelf life. They can be in a heavy rotation and eventually get to the point where they aren’t as effective because people get tired of hearing them. Or do they? I tend to think that sometimes it’s the musicians and the people playing the music that get to the saturation point of a song before a congregation will. So who’s creating this shelf life? Well, before I take that tangent, I believe I just figured out what question will fuel tomorrow’s post. Anyway… whenever there seems to be some sort of reawakening or shift from the norm, it always appears to be centered around the hymns from the past. Then we find some sort of way to reintroduce them to a new generation of listeners. It had happened before this, but in 2003 there seemed to be another big push when Passion came out with their Hymns Ancient and Modern CD. A lot of the hymn arrangements we sing today came from that CD. A lot of the hymn arrangements that have been made today have been birthed from that CD project. There was a return to the classics. It now seems that another turn is coming, but even in a more…primitive(?) way than before. Groups like Mumford & Sons and some others are making the banjo cool again to the point that people are using them in everything. There aren’t many acoustic/electric banjos out there (or maybe there are now), so they cause you to take more of an unplugged approach to worship. So it seems like we are wrapped in the forming of a new circle yet again.

So why is it that we keep running away from the classics, only to come back to them after we get tired of whatever is out at the time? Could it be that we aren’t satisfied with what we are putting out? Or is it more of going back for inspiration? In the never-ending search for truth, is it possible that we realize that our musical truths have been there all along? Are we using the truths in the words of those old songs to provide us with the energy and foundation to write new songs? I think it should. I hope it is. Whatever it is, it can’t be denied that it seems like we may be in the midst of another worship genre turn. I wonder what that’s going to look like? What will my worship sets look like in 3 years? Well, if I’m still writing in that time, I’ll be posting those set lists.

What do you think about these questions? Do you see this? Has it been this way for awhile and I’m just now seeing/saying something about it?

So the question today is pretty simple. Do you think that contemporary music can ever climb out of the enormous hole that it has been placed in? It seems like no matter what contemporary worship music writers do, they can’t seem to win. It’s either not original or too lame to listen to. I come from the angle that it has it’s place in the church and in the hearts of the people of Christ. I also know that there is a whole city of people here in St. Louis who love contemporary music because there is an awesome radio station dedicated to just that and they are reaching people left and right. So I know that it fits in a certain place, but will the genre as a whole ever be able to do something to make it back to a level playing field? That’s my question for today. What say you?

Check out the Gatorade Commercial if you’ve never seen it.

I don’t know the specifics, but I’m positive that the sales for Gatorade, basketballs and garage hung basketball goals when up significantly during this time. They portray this guy who does extraordinary things on the basketball court and at the same time makes it look easy enough to make us think that we can do it as well. Even better, we are told to believe that the only thing missing from our lives is Gatorade. I bet the other numbers that really jumped was the enrollment in youth basketball leagues and high school tryouts. Everyone was told that they have the ability to do what the great Michael Jordan does. So everyone tried. There were some pretty good players. There were a bunch more that never made the cut. There were some that were playing with 2 left feet, a knee brace and an eye patch. But everyone tried. We felt empowered to do so.

Flash forward and switch genres. This smiling Texas boy starts writing songs and they are catchy enough. Then the Christian world gets a hold of them and now you can’t find a church on a Sunday morning that isn’t singing at least one of his songs. He plays four chords, writes what seems to be some pretty simple words, throws in a catchy hook and we’re all singing and praising God. Before too long someone decides, “If Chris Tomlin can write 52 songs in 47 minutes, so can I. None of his songs are that difficult, I bet I could do that too. He’s only playing 4 chords. It can’t be THAT hard to learn to play guitar!” Then youth group kids begin to flood Guitar Center, spending their allowances on a $2500 Taylor or Martin guitar when they barely know the difference between major and minor.

Why am I writing this one today? Well it’s sort of a follow up from yesterday’s post about creativity. Granted, I’m not blaming Chris Tomlin for anything, so don’t go and tweet him and tell him that I think he’s the problem with churches today. That’s not what I’m saying. What I AM saying is this: when someone is so good at something that they make it look easy, everyone starts to believe that they can do it as well. Now there are all of these imitators, or even better, people who think they are going to one up one of the most influential songwriters in contemporary Christian music today. The major problem comes when these kids step into our church and show minimal at best talent, and then they are throw up front and now they are leading worship for the youth and then maybe they get a shot in the main service. Some of them are the ones with talent that end up going pretty far in the game. Some of them are decent and with a little coaching could be pretty good. Some of them are playing with two left feet, a knee brace and an eye patch. But in the church we have let them all flow through. It has lowered the quality level of the music in our churches and somewhere along the line we just became okay with that.

Again, before you start beating me up, I know that this doesn’t apply to everyone. Some churches just don’t have a lot of talented people in them. Right now, in my own church, I can’t seem to find a guitar player to save my life! Even though what I just said is true in most churches, it is not the case in my own. So I spend most of my time trying to find someone to play guitar with me and I end up more times than not just going without one. So I understand that this may not apply to your church. And if you’re getting super mad about this one, I may be talking about you. Just saying…

At some point I believe that we have to find ways to allow people to use their creativity in ways that bring glory to God. Again, we were created by God. Created being the key word there. Why is it that we have gotten to the point where the “creative” stuff is good outside the walls of the church, but doesn’t work on the inside? I have another theory about that one, but maybe I’ll start my creativity theories next week. Chew on this one for a minute and let me know if you agree or disagree.

In the beginning, God created…

Pretty much EVERY translation of the Bible starts this way. Except for one that seems to add as many words as possible in translating  from the original language. But when I read this passage, this is what pops in my head. God created. Everything from then on comes from something that he made with his own hands. I’ve been having lots of conversations like this with people during this month of the Collision Course series we are doing at my church. When I think about how the Christian culture interacts with the rest of the world, it’s no wonder that there is such a divide. There’s no real collisions happening. It’s either running the other way or jumping WAY in and getting lost in the mess. But that’s another post.

In a discussion I was having last night with my friend Alex, we were talking about the newest Gungor album among other things. We started talking about how Michael Gungor had written a blog post about the Christians response to his album. He wrote a very interesting blog post back in November. In it he talks asks the question why some Christian music is considered “so creative” in its reviews. It seems as if we have been lulled to sleep by the music that has been released in the Christian music subculture. So when anything comes out that doesn’t sound like everything else, it’s considered “creative”. It’s as if creative isn’t normally accepted in the rest of the Christian world. I wonder why that is…

One of the phrases that always kills me in meetings and songwriting sessions (I’ve used it too, so I’m not throwing anyone under the bus here) is “let’s think outside the box”. One of the reasons it kills me is because the box is fickle. Also, the box is different for everyone. You look at a really large church with a 5 or 6 figure budget for their creative ministry and think “they have the ability to be creative”. I would venture to say they just have more money to play with. We were all made by the same creative God.

Somewhere back in time there must have been a decision made that there was some music that was not appropriate for the church. As a result it all became bland. So now when people like Gungor and John Mark McMillan and people write some really awesome music that speaks truth about God is a way that doesn’t fit the mold that we made for church, it’s considered creative. I think it does a couple things when we say that. 1, it almost alienates those who write music that doesn’t fit the pop mold. 2, it makes everyone else that writes music for church seem lame with no real flair for invention. I always feel bad for Chris Tomlin when conversations happen. I don’t know the guy. We have never met. But whenever people talk about church music verses ‘other’ music, he’s the first name that pops up. Let me go out on this limb right now and defend Chris Tomlin. Chris has done an amazing job writing songs that speak directly to the glory of God. I sing his songs in my church with pride because I know that I’m singing songs that speak Gospel truth and they usher people into His presence. I would venture to say that he’s a creative person. Now, there are some people out there who think, hear, see and feel musically differently than others. You listen to their music and think “how did they get THERE?” We immediately think that their music is so much more creative than anything we sing at church on Sunday. I think that’s messed up.

We were all here because of a creative God. That means that by default we have His creative genes because He is our Father. Is there some sort of way to bring the creativity back to Christianity? At what point do we stop looking at churches and think they are “thinking outside the box”? Can we get rid of the freaking box? Just saying…

1.Do you care more about the background loops than the songs being sung? +1 for yes

2. Do you spend most of your time counting the spelling mistakes in the lyrics? +1 for yes

3. Do you tune out when they don’t sing any of your favorite songs? +1 for yes (then bite your finger)

4. Do you count the change in your pocket by feel while the songs are sung? +2

5. Do you know the names, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Hillsong, Christy Nockles, Paul Baloche, or Natalie Grant? +1 for everyone you know

6. Do you follow any or all of them on Twitter? +1 for everyone you follow

7.Do you know exactly how many chairs are in the sanctuary at your church? +2

8. Do you wonder how many times in a row the worship pastor is going to wear that V-Neck/scarf combo on stage? +7

9. Do you email the worship pastor constantly with songs that you think or AWESOME or that “really speak to you in the car”? +5

10. Can you tell what song is getting ready to be played based on the first 5 seconds of the intro? +5

Bonus question for my STL friends: Do the names Greg and Sandy or Tim and Kim bring a smile to your face? +10

39-46 I’m not sure you can even do that based on the questions!

31-38 You are really in tune to what’s going on in the worship service. Or you’re quite cynical and waiting for something or someone to mess up.

24-30 You do what you gotta do to get to the real part of church: the WORD!

17-23 Your wife promised you Golden Corral after the service.

0-16 Ummmm…yeah.

Thanks for indulging me today. Share your point totals with me. Cause I want to know where you stand. And not in the room. Especially in my church. Because if you are a regular at my church I already know.

Come and Listen-David Crowder I LOVE this song as an opener. It really sets the tone for people to shake off everything that is going on around them and prepare themselves for what the Lord is going to say.

O Worship the King-Passion

You’re Worthy of My Praise-David Ruiz

All Because of Jesus-Fee

Communion-From the Inside Out-Hillsong

This is what we are singing at The Word at Shaw this morning. You still have time to join us here. Our service begins at 10:30. Click here for a link to the promo video for the sermon series that starts this morning

Why does change (in any form) cause so much friction? People always talk about making a smooth transition, but has that every truly happened? There’s always something that causes people strife when it comes to things changing. The one thing that is probably my FAVORITE thing to experience is whenever our beloved Facebook makes a change to their website. I think there’s only been one change that has been remotely interesting in the sense that I don’t know if I was a huge fan. But even in that, it took like 42.18 seconds to get used to it and then I was back to updating my status and living a life of procrastination. But it never fails that for 3 or 4 days after people get so bent out of shape that they proclaim that they will NEVER use Facebook again and that this change is the WORST. Then they get over it and they are fine. I can’t wait to see what people say about this upcoming change. It’s going to be glorious.

When it comes to the world of music, change is constant. Things are always changing there to the point that I think that’s the only thing that’s constant. People are always getting bent out of shape when it comes to the music in our churches. I just got through reading a post this morning about how men are complaining about worship music being too feminine. That is a whole other issue that I won’t jump into right now, but it seems that people are always trying to make things, whether it’s music or seasons or television, fit into a box. None of it ever really has and people have been upset with the changing ever since. The MOST ironic thing about all of this? The one person that has promised to never change and has help up his end of the bargain is the one thing that everyone seems to run from. Why? Because then the biggest changes would have to happen. That’s the change that takes the control out of our own hands and gives it to someone else. Does it matter that He’s much better at controlling things? Evidently not, because if it did we’d see more people accepting the fact that God is who He says He is. It’s a simple verse, but it’s mind blowing to think that one person could be the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). What would happen to the way you think and live if you TRULY believed that?

Eventually ( like tomorrow maybe) I’ll stop explaining this, but I’m trying to write every day in the month of November and share things that I’m thankful for in the process. So on day 3 I’m thankful for having a strong foundation laid for me by my parents. They are quite amazing people and they are totally to blame for the person I am today.