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Songs That Echo the Gospel of Grace
I’m finishing up a seminary class on Paul’s epistles, and came across this really helpful quote from a commentary on Colossians by R.C. Lucas. When he comes to the passage familiar to many worship...
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If You Can’t Think of Songs for Sunday, Stop Thinking About Songs for Sunday
There are times when choosing songs for corporate worship on Sundays is easy. Themes, keys, grooves, transitions, dynamics, blend of new versus old, etc., all seem to come together in beautiful stream...
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We Believe Our God is Jesus?
What do you do when one word introduces theological imprecision to an otherwise good song? This is the dilemma in which we find ourselves with a song titled “Once and For All” featured on the new...
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Ten Worship Leading Non-Negotiables
There is so much good and helpful advice for worship leaders out there that I thought I’d try my hand at condensing it all down into 10 non-negotiables. You are not the center. You make Jesus the...
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When You’re Out of Ideas
What do you do as a worship leader when you’re all of ideas? Particularly when picking songs for yet another service seems to be next to impossible? Here are some suggestions: Take a vacation One sign...
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Know Your Destination
Occasionally my wife and I will get in the car (i.e. minivan), with all three kids successfully fastened into their car seats, with the diaper bag appropriately packed with snacks, drinks, diapers,...
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Sing A New Song (But Not Too Many… And Not Too Many Of Yours)
The Bible is clear: We should be singing new songs to the Lord (Psalm 96:1 as one example of many). What is less clear: How often should we sing new songs at our churches? I took a stab at answering...
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Performing A Role Or Performing A Show? Looking At The Fruit
Yes, we’re all performers. The stay-at-home Mom performs her duties as well as she can on as little sleep as she gets. The mechanic performs his duties with the tools and training he’s gained through...
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Responding To The Increasingly Short Shelf-Life Of Worship Songs
Things are not as simple for worship leaders/church music directors as they used to be. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certainly a more complicated thing. There are now more songs to...
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The Three Cs of Worship Leading
There are so many different kinds of churches, with different expressions of worship, using different musical styles, in different parts of the world, with different histories, different emphases, and...
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The Gospel Works
A worship leader can never go wrong having his congregation proclaim the gospel in song. In our weekly quest to find something that “works”, we quite simply don’t have to look any further than to...
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Pursuing Lyrical and Musical Flow
What’s one thing that can make or break your effectiveness in worship leading? Flow. Good storytellers, movie directors, public speakers, and writers learn how to flow naturally from one...
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On Not Beginning with the Ending
This past August, during two weeks’ vacation, I had the wonderful experience of actually sitting with my family during church, not leading any songs, not being up front, and being the one to do the...
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Beholding the Beauty of Jesus: In His Suffering
“ECCE HOMO (Christ Before the People)” by Edward Knippers. A few nights ago I was about to head out to choir rehearsal for a few minutes before doing a couple of errands around town – when I decided to...
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Thinking in Thirds
There are few responsibilities that a worship leader should take more seriously than choosing songs for his or her congregation to sing. In the words of the theologian Gordon Fee, “show me a church’s...
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Eight Of The Most Common Worship Leading Mistakes
No worship leader ever stops making mistakes. From the most seasoned and experienced worship leaders, to the newest and greenest, mistakes are inevitable, humbling, and part of the process of maturing....
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The Freedom of Long-Term Worship Planning
For much longer than I’d like to admit, I lived in the weekly tyranny of song selection. Monday morning would come, the upcoming Sunday would again be approaching (they have a way of doing that), and...
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Don’t Waste Your Livestream
This past Sunday – and for the foreseeable future as the world grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – my church, like thousands of other churches around the globe, livestreamed its worship...
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