by Bret Capranica | Mar 25, 2008 | Music, Worship
As a worship leader, I found this article helpful: Planning Songs for the Long Haul | Worship Matters
by Bret Capranica | Sep 13, 2006 | Music, Worship
Other than the suggestions that we not really expect people to sing and that we need to lighten up our services (really, this is our contemporary problem?), this is a decent discussion on congregational singing. It’s good to at least talk about it, right? Helping People Sing Their Hearts Out –...
by Bret Capranica | Sep 7, 2006 | Bookreviews, Ecclesiology, Worship
Rick Muchow, the worship leader of the well-known Saddleback Church in Southern California, pastored by best selling author, Rick Warren, has written a short devotional book entitled The Worship Answer Book. The intention of The Worship Answer Book (WAB) is to “stimulate personal discovery and to help [the reader] consistently move into the presence of God” (17). Such is the definition for Muchow of what biblical worship consists. Muchow seeks to make WAB a tool to assist us in “understanding biblical worship – what God says worship is and how we are to worship him” (15). WAB consists of fifty-four chapters arranged in seven different sections. These sections include: “The Basics of Worship,” “Worship in the Bible,” “Personal Worship,” “Music . . . and More,” “Group Worship,” “Leading a Managing Worship,” and “Change & Conflict in Worship.” The book is published in a smally, very colorful and glossy format that one comes to expect from Countryman Publishing. WAB has a number of aspects I can readily commend. Muchow’s discussion of worship in general and references to worship in the Bible are helpful and accurate. He provides a concise chapter reviewing all of the Hebrew and Greek terms in the Bible commonly translated “worship,” along with quick definitions and corresponding passages (76-80). Related “worship-terms” from the Bible are also defined in a following chapter (82-85). His content in the second section, “Worship in the Bible,” is a good overview of biblical terms translated as worship and associated with worship. He has helpful overviews of what Jesus taught about worship and how he expressed worship while on earth. Muchow also notes...
by Bret Capranica | Aug 15, 2006 | General Theology, Worship
Challies Dot Com: WorshipGod06 – Reflections Tim Challies, who live blogged the WorshipGod 06 Sovereign Grace conference last week, gives a helpful reflection on the conference from his cessationist convictions. He is humble and still firm in his convictions. I very much appreciated his making his thoughts...
by Bret Capranica | May 7, 2006 | Ecclesiology, Music, Worship
Worship Matters I used to listen to the lyrics of Bob Kauflin through the group GLAD. This group put out some contemporary redentions of old hymns as well as produced great lyrics, some sung acapella, through more recent songs. While his blog has been out for awhile, I’ve just started looking it over. He has some great thoguhts on the subject of...
by Bret Capranica | May 30, 2005 | Worship
While studying and meditating on Psalm 95 in preparation for preaching on this Psalm, I appreciated Spurgeon’s comment: It is to be feared that very much even of religious singing is not unto the Lord, but unto the ear of the congregation: above all things we must in our service of song take care that all we offer is with the heart’s sincerest and most fervent intent directed towards the Lord himself. From The Treasury of David, Vol 2, 164. – a good reminder for our preparation for corporate...
