1. The message test. Does this song express the Word of God?

2. The purpose test. Choose songs that reflect our emotions or are likely to produce the emotion we wish to feel.

3. The association test. Does the song unnecessarily identify with things, actions, or people that are contrary to Christianity?

4. The memory test. ‘Does the music bring back things in your past that you have left?’

5. The emotions test. ‘Does the music stir our negative or lustful feelings?’

6. The understanding test. Is it understandable? Easy to find the meaning and the melody?

7. The music test. Looks at the song to determine its merits based on hymnology. It seeks to determine if the song is singable, if it flows comfortable from one line to another. Does it make your heart join in the song?

The Sojourn Music blog has a good little write-up about Epiphany and why we should recognize it.

It’s a time to focus on the gradual revelation of Jesus’ person and mission in the minds and hearts of his disciples as He ministered on earth, and a time to realize our own mission: to spread the gospel, declare “the Kingdom is at hand,” and carry the “ministry of reconciliation” wherever we go.

The literal definition for “liturgy” is “the work of the people.” It come from the Greek Leitourgia. In Ancient Greece, before Jesus came, this word referred to work done by citizens of a community, for the community. When we assemble together as a community of faith, our “liturgy” is the work we do together. The reason it’s helpful to think of our worship service in this way and to instruct our congregations is that it helps us all to remember that corporate worship is not a concert or a spectator sport.

Key takeaways:

• Use a click track
• Pay attention to tuning
• Pay attention to dynamics (and arrangements in general)
• Pay attention to transitions
• PREPARE

Check out the list.

Here are some worship artists that I keep a pretty consistent eye on for new music.

• Passion (Matt Redman, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, others)
• Brian Doerksen
• Delirious
• Hillsong’s United
• Jared Anderson (Desperation Band)
• Matthew Smith / Indelible Grace
• Tim Hughes
• Red Mountain Church
• Sovereign Grace Ministries

We have songs from a large variety of other sources and artists as well, but these seem to produce consistently excellent music. There are many other bands that produce consistently good music as well, but for whatever reason, I usually stick to the above, with a few exceptions.

Who do you go to for music? Do you write you own?

If I could pick only ten praise albums to choose songs for corporate worship from, they would be as follows:

1. Illuminate – David Crowder Band
2. The Cutting Edge – Delirious?
3. Sonicflood – Sonicflood (Jeff Deyo, really)
4. Offerings – Third Day
5. Live From Austin – Chris Tomlin
6. Blessed Be Your Name – Matt Redman
7. Enter The Worship Circle: First Circle – Waterdeep and 100 Portraits
8. The Best of Passion So Far – Passion Bands
9. ??
10. ??

See what I did there? I condensed what would have been about 6 other albums into a few best-ofs I also couldn’t come up with a 9 or 10 off the top of my head (that is to say, I couldn’t pick two from the 15 or so that came to mind… each with one or two songs on them.)

How about you?

1. The song is not public domain!
2. Some good thoughts on the flow of music in worship
3. Good thoughts about instrumentation and arrangements in music for worship.

Give it a read.

Dear brothers & sisters, My question is: On the “See the Morning” CD by Chris Tomlin, the song “How Can I Keep From Singing” is listed under the lyrics as Traditional. I was wondering who wrote it, what year, is this the original melody? Thanks, LA

Information about most traditional songs can be found on CyberHymnal.org which I find to be a great resource for historical information. This particular song can be found here.

Tomlin’s version of the song, which appeared on his album “See The Morning” was co-written with Matt Redman and is loosely based on the original song.

• volume levels
• styles of music (hymns vs. contemporary songs, and blended services)
• instrumentation (electric guitars, acoustic drum sets, pianos, three pianos, how many singers)
• how to choose music that makes everyone happy, etc.

I would argue, however, that none of these issues is the most difficult issue to deal with as a leader of a music ministry.

Our toughest job is to understand what God wants from music at our church, to be convinced of it, and to not let the desire to please people sway you from pursuing the vision God has given you for music.

A tough questions to ask:

What is our mission?

What are we trying to accomplish at our church? Who are we trying to reach? What age group? What style of music is “popular” in this area? This is a missional issue. In our service, music accounts for a quarter to a third of the service. That’s a large chunk! Are we “speaking the language” of the culture that surrounds us? If we were a church in Nairobi, we wouldn’t be singing in English, and we likely wouldn’t try to force our U2 style of praise and worship on them. We would play something that is culturally relevant (though I’m not exactly sure I know what that would be.) That wouldn’t be wise.

So why is it that we oftentimes try to force a completely unintelligible musical style (or lack of style) on our community?

If your community is a predominantly college town, ask yourself, what do the college kids listen to? What does the music sound like in other contexts of live music in your area? (Visit a few local venues or clubs to find out). If you live in a town with lots of retired people, what kind of music do they listen to? A more traditional style of service may be in order.

This is always an issue of outreach. There is no such thing as a sacred style of music.

Too often, our musical style, song selection, and production is driven by hard-hearted complainers in the church, rather than those with a vision for outreach.

People might leave the church when you take a strong stance on music. Let them go.

Some Warnings

It is incredibly easy for music leaders (especially one with strong preferences like me) to let their vision be clouded by their preferences. This is the other side of the spectrum and is just as bad as striving to please people. An abundance of counsel is necessary to make sure your decisions are guided by more than preference.

Jesus is responsible for the direction of your church, the pastors are responsible for leading under Jesus’ direction, so submit to your pastors. They have the deciding vote when it comes to these issues. However, if they have appointed you as music leader, advise them! Be aware of what is going on musically in your community, and be a part of it. But ultimately, obey your leaders. They are the ones that will give an account and not you. Do this cheerfully (Hebrews 13).

Music is an amazing opportunity for a church to influence people for Christ. But too often that opportunity is squandered by selfishness or complacency – selfishness on the part of the music leader or on the part of the loud, influential members of the congregation; complacency on the part of pastors and music leaders who don’t take the time to discern God’s will in this area and who don’t have the guts to stick it out through the complaining.

Is it beneficial to sing songs with phrases that need that much explanation? Don’t we want songs to be more accessible? Yes and No…

ht: ESV Bible Blog