Worship

Gospel Wakefulness & Worship

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Gospel wakefulness means treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly. Treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly is simply the the long way of writing worship. 

Worship is the ascribing of the worth to something or someone. In this case, of course, the recipient of this worship is God, the only one worthy of our worship. What happens in gospel wakefulness is that in our brokenness, our sense of self-worth and sufficiency in things other than God gets destroyed, and as the good news of Christ's finished work is applied to us, our affections become reformed, renewed, and revitalized.

Jared Wilson in Gospel Wakefulness, p 77 (bold emphasis mine).

Austin City Life: Glow EP

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Acl glow

Austin City Life church in, uh, Austin, has a new four song EP out: Glow. Stream it at Bandcamp.  couple of years ago I shared my thoughts on their first EP, One. Vocals are from Miranda Dodson (I really like here album, Change A Thing).

I've only listened through it twice. Two quick notes. I really dig the opener "Beautiful Love." Sounds like they blend some southern flavor to a hint of the vocal dancing of Eisley or Joanna Newsom. It's a lovely track. They close with a tweaked version of "Be Thou My Vision." Miranda dominates here, yet sings it delicately. They add a chorus (or a bridge?) that I believe will add a layer of understanding for those who get a bit lost in the wording of the original hymn. 

Glow is well worth checking out. Share your thoughts below. Would love to hear what you think.

Bifrost Arts - The Third Record

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IsaacIf you aren't a fan of Bifrost Arts (and brainchild, Isaac Wardell), I hope you will remedy that. Come O Spirit! is amazing, and their Christmas album, Salvation is Created, is maybe my favorite Christmas album. I gave it high marks in my review. They are making great, historically based worship music, and I want them to make more! Here's how we all can help them make more through their Kickstarter campaign...

Bifrost Arts has had a very full year!

Between a conference, a new curriculum, lots of new songs, and new liturgical materials, we've barely had time to catch our breaths. We're so encouraged by the ways that God has grown this project of ours into something larger than we could have foreseen four years ago, when we began.

Now, after a two-year hiatus since our last full-length, Bifrost Arts is excited to announce that a new record is fully underway. Our plan is to gather together some of our favorite singers and musicians from past records, as well as a whole host of new talent to converge in the recording studio this winter, to record another full-length record.

For the last two years, we've been writing an compiling new church music, trying it out in our congregations, as well as demoing the new material. The theme of the record is the Lamb of God. Many of the songs are are about death and resurrection, about communion, and about suffering and redemption. Folks who have attended Bifrost Arts events in the last two years will recognize some of them from our hymn-sings.

Please consider giving generously to this project so that we can continue our work of writing, producing, and performing new sacred music for our churches and for our communities.

(You can email bifrostarts@gmail.com with questions about the details of the project, and the recording budget.)

Go support these great artists as they produce more music to bless the church.

Review | Sojourn: The Water & The Blood

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SojournI don't know what to say about Sojourn Music. I feel like if I'm too positive then I'm not really reviewing. I feel like I need to find something critical to say, because I'm pretty much head-over-heels for everything they do. Seriously tough for me to do anything but tell everyone about their music because it's all worth having and loving.

That said, Sojourn has a new album of Isaac Watts hymns: The Water and the Blood. Their previous album of Watts' hymns is Over the Grave.

My initial reaction to The Water and the Blood is the feeling that it's missing something. That's what happens when you open your previous album with "Warrior." I looked for that song. There's really nothing close. Where Over the Grave rocked and rolled and in many ways roared, The Water and the Blood seems to go in a different direction. I was concerned.

The Water and the Blood is reserved. It's kinda sad. Has Sojourn lost it's rock? No, I don't think so. And it took some thinking for me to figure out why I was expecting something I wasn't getting.

I think this is a new movement in the story that Sojourn is unfolding. It's the moan. It's the blues. It's not the joyous push of going Over the Grave. In many ways, The Water and the Blood is standing at the edge of the grave and meditating on who God is in view of the grave. It doesn't lack in Gospel, in fact it gives us the Gospel richly. And it's not always brooding, as we find a bit more daylight in songs like "Blest Be the Lamb." But for the most part it speaks to us during difficulty, and the mood makes it clear. It's about death and suffering, and doesn't always give us healing. Sometimes The Water and the Blood helps us to cry out when healing has not yet come. It's seeking the LORD. It's waiting on the LORD. It's trusting in the LORD. While distress is near and pain is felt, those suffering while in the grip of Christ have One listening to our cries.

There are times when I need worship songs like "Warrior," but there are also times I need The Water and the Blood. It's rich food for the aching soul. Listen and receive grace in your time of need, and know that the LORD "spilt His Son's blood in our place." ("From Deep Distress")

I highly recommend The Water and the Blood. Please pick it up. If you move quickly, you can get any of Sojourn's albums for $6. Also, for $15 you can pick up their last three albums. Don't miss some of the best and most creative and most theological worship music I've heard. At this price, you should get it all. 

Sojourn | The World Didn't End Sale

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Sojourn

Sojourn Music is putting out some of the most creative and theological worship music around. It's always one of my first recommendations for folks looking for worship music. Now you can get their last three albums for just $15 in their The World Didn't End Sale. If you don't have them, you need to get them now. The sale may not last long. Or buy any of their albums individually for $6 each, including the newer albums or their earlier releases like Before the Throne (song "We Are Listening" is outstanding) and These Things I Remember.

Don't miss this sale!

The Gettys | New Song at TGC11

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Keith and Kristyn Getty's band played a new song (that hasn't been recorded as far as I know) at The Gospel Coalition. It's "a hymn about money" that's "set to the story of the rich young man." My buddy took the video and sent it to me so I could share it with my Music Monday friends. Enjoy!

And when I cling to what I have
Please wrest it quickly from my grasp
I'd rather lose the things of earth
To gain the things of heaven

Split EP | Brooks Ritter & Jamie Barnes

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739026670-1 I recently told you the Split EP -- Brooks Ritter: The War EP & Jamie Barnes: The Mercy Seat EP -- was coming.

It's here. Buy it today or stream it online for free. It's great and I think you'll love it. 

I also highly recommend the previous albums from Sojourn Music. These albums, along with the new split EP, are the only albums my kids insisted I put on their iPods...

Family Worship & Bible Reading

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I'm learning & growing to be the pastor of my family I've been called to be, and I'm enjoying leading them better in family worship and Bible reading. The recent Desiring God Pastor's Conference message by Joel Beeke on family worship was convicting and encouraging. You should check it out.

Right now we have five main resouces for family worship &/or Bible reading (singing resources aren't listed). For the most part our kids read Scripture in the morning and we use the other resouces at night. Let me know what resources you have found helpful in the comments below.

1. The Bible | Each of our kids has their own ESV Bible (compact Bible for my boys, my daughter has a prettier one). They are reading James every day in the mornings, sometimes on their own and sometimes with me and/or Molly.

2. ESV Study Bible | Same text with notes that help the family when we need a few interpretive helps on a passage. We have a copy permanently stationed in our living room for the kids to open if they need to check notes on their own. They don't do this much yet, but will get the hang of it.

3. The Story of God for Kids | Created by the good folks at Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington. My family LOVES this. Well written and helpful notes for using it well, good questions to help it sink in. I have been reading it off my Kindle to them. Last night Elijah was peppering me with questions as he is piecing together the larger "Story of God" from the lessons blending together. Wonderful resource. Check out their other resources for adults and small groups.

Operation World

4. Operation World: A Prayer Guide to the Nations | Eye-opening for our kids as they learn about the world and the needs of the world from a missionary perspective. They love to thumb through the pages and learn about a new country. We are putting little biographies of missionaries in their hands and they want to learn about those countries today. We want to teach them to pray BIG prayers to our BIG God for our BIG world. UPDATE: Commenter reminded me of Window on the World, an Operation World of sorts for younger kids. We have that and the kids like it a lot.

9781433521942

5. Four Holy Gospels | Just got this in the mail yesterday. It's the most beautiful Bible I've ever seen, with artwork by NYC artist Makoto Fujimura. Our family was able to meet Mako and attend the Crossway Books release event for the project. We now plan on using the Bible at least once a week (Sundays) to take turns reading aloud from a Gospel together before we leave the house to gather with our local church. It's nice to add a substantial piece like this into our family worship & Bible reading that will last through the years as a family treasure.

Music Monday: Barnes & Ritter (Sojourn) EPs

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Barnes Ritter

On February 22nd Sojourn Music (Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY) is releasing a dual EP with two Sojourn artists, Jamie Barnes and Brooks Ritter. It's 10 new songs available for download on the 22nd, 2 EPs of 5 songs each: The War (Ritter) and The Mercy Seat (Barnes). I've had it for a week and have listened multiple times through the whole thing. It's exactly what I've come to expect from Sojourn and these two great artists -- truth, beauty, creativity, worship. It's just great & already a family favorite. 

Here's an interview of both artists (via) which includes a song from each EP. MJ Butterworth already has a review up, and check out the great artwork...

Jamie EP Brooks ep

Bifrost Arts: Liturgy, Music, & Space

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I heard about the new Bifrost Arts worship conference at Covenant Seminary a few weeks back. It's called "Liturgy, Music, & Space." If you don't know Bifrost Arts, you should. I very much enjoy their two albums: Salvation Is Created (Christmas) and Come, O Spirit (worship). More about the conference...

Each week we tell our congregations a story with how we use liturgy, how we use music, and how we use space in worship. Bifrost Arts has developed a curriculum for small groups and Sunday School classes entitled “Liturgy, Music, & Space” to help churches walk through a coherent, biblical view of how these elements of worship are forming us.

Join us from March 29-31 as we present this curriculum at a conference with lectures, workshops, and times of worship in St. Louis, Missouri with:

  • Nicholas Wolterstorff
  • Bryan Chapell
  • Greg Thompson
  • John Hodges
  • Kevin Twit (Indelible Grace)
  • Betsy Steele Halstead
  • Isaac Wardell
  • The Welcome Wagon (great album)

Conference fee is $150. Discounts are available for students, campus ministers, and church employees from small congregations.

This conference is made possible through a worship renewal grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, MI, with funds provided by Lilly Endowement Inc.

I'm not a worship leader, but this sounds amazing for worship leaders, pastors (especially of smaller churches), etc. 

Bifrost Arts from josh franer on Vimeo.

 

Free Page CXVI Hymns

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PAGE CXVI HYMNS - II LOGOOne of my favorite worship CDs is Page CXVI Hymns I. You can get it free until next Tuesday, so run and get it now! Song list for Hymns I...

  1. Come Thou Fount
  2. In Christ Alone
  3. My Jesus I Love Thee
  4. When I Survey the Wonderful Cross
  5. Nothing But the Blood
  6. Solid Rock
  7. Joy

They are giving it away so promotion is for their 2nd CD, Hymns II, which is now available to download. Physical CDs available on Tuesday. Song list for Hymns II...

  1. How Great Thou Art
  2. Praise to the Lord
  3. Jesus I Am Resting, Resting
  4. Rock of Ages
  5. Abide With Me
  6. Battle Hymn of the Republic
  7. Doxology

Friends, I can't encourage these hymns CDs enough. Beautifully done.

The Open Sourcebook

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Open sourcebookThe more I look through The Open Sourcebook the more I love it. About the site...

Welcome to the Open Sourcebook, a growing collection of resources for worship. Our collection grows daily, and comes from real-world church contexts. You are welcome to use anything from the Open Sourcebook for free, as all of our content is protected by the Creative Commons License.

You can submit materials and request materials as well. The site was created by Sojourn Music (really good guys) and The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.