Viewing archives for "June 23, 2010"
When Christians discuss worship, they often focus on one primary element of worship above others—music. The church’s songs are without question the most controversial aspect of Christian worship. I am convinced, however, that some careful thinking about what Scripture has to say about our hymns, adequate understand of the purpose of power of Christian hymnody, [...]
Continue Reading →Last time we observed the fact that we sing because the Bible commands us to sing.
But let’s get a little bit deeper than simply singing because we’re told. Why, exactly, has God told us to sing in worship? We can certainly recognize why he commands things like preaching and praying and reading the Scriptures. [...]
Continue Reading →The next level of form is poetic meter and rhyme scheme. A poetic meter is basically how many syllables are in each line of the poem, and where the naturally stresses are. Consider this example:
A – MAZ – ing GRACE! How SWEET the SOUND
That SAVED a WRETCH like ME!
[...]
When Martin Luther (1483—1546) sparked a Reformation of the Church by nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the Church door at Wittenberg in 1517, he challenged the Roman Church’s doctrine and practice, but never its musical forms. The musical forms of the Reformation continued to follow in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The most significant change Luther made for [...]
Continue Reading →On the wall in my study I have three portraits. All three are portraits of theologians who were also heavily involved with music. They are Martin Luther, J.S. Bach, and Isaac Watts. All three men fought their battles in defense of high standards for worship music. All three had their share of controversy.
And all [...]
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