Liesch on Worship

Congregational worship continues to be an interesting subject in the western church. Just when many churches have begun to use more modern worship songs and choruses, a new wave has emerged, longing for the richness of the ancient Christian traditions. A worship leader must be able to balance the many musical tastes and desires represented in the worship service and manage to help people make a worshipful connection to God. Barry Liesch’s book, The New Worship: Straight Talk on Music and the Church is an excellent resource for today’s worship leader and pastor.
Liesch begins the book with a short historical comparison of today’s culture to that of the church’s history. Over time, he argues, culture and worship interact and effect the church as worship begins to fit and reflect the culture it comes from. He then gives very helpful and descriptive treatments to the major schools of design in congregational worship services. One of the most beneficial things is the way that Liesch points out both positives and negatives to the different styles available without showing any bias. Bravely, Liesch takes on the issues of performance in today’s church worship and shows how excellence can be beneficial for worship without becoming focused on the person or band who is leading. The book finishes with some helpful guidance for worship leaders about working with senior pastors and with volunteer musicians.
There are two applications from the book which relate to my role in ministry right away. I spent a lot of ink underlining and understanding the models of designing services. Since this is the biggest weekly event in most churches, church leaders need to be able to use music to maximize the impact of connection with God for people. The service design section really had great information that I will apply to services I am leading. There is also a section for senior pastors who are working with or hiring worship pastors. Worship pastors are usually wired differently than senior pastors and if that is not understood then expectation will not be met. That was a great chapter for me, though I am not a senior pastor, because I already work with worship leaders in different areas I lead.
Overall, this is a really great book that helped me understand theologies and philosophies of worship. It is clearly written without being overly simple and gives a lot of useful information.

Tozer on Worship

Not only should worship be passionate, but it should be explored, discussed and felt deeply and with much conviction. This is extremely evident in AW Tozer’s book, Whatever Happened to Worship. Through a series of printed sermons, Tozer lays forth an aggressive consideration of the current state of congregational and personal worship and offers the church a beautiful way forward in our worship of God.

Tozer very much believes that there is a correlation between worship and Christian service. While some people would say that if the church will worship more, “no one will do anything” (19). In fact the opposite may be true. Tozer believes that everyone will do more and do it with a deeper understanding of the meaning behind Christian deeds. This is an important observation for Christian leaders, whose responsibility it is to equip the saints for good works. Accordingly, the pastor who helps his congregation to give them selves to worship will see his congregation give themselves to the work of the kingdom of God.

I really appreciated Tozer’s comparison of the Roman empire’s demise to the church’s demise in worship. Many times, Christians blame outside influences for the weakness in their local church’s worship. Often there are complaints of not being able to compete with music video channels on television, or with local concerts. I believe it is a sad day when our worship becomes a part of a competition! Tozer points any blame for internal worship decay directly onto the church as it deviates from it’s original purpose. When a church behaves like a social club or a current events forum (96), the worship will not be all that God dreamed of for His church.

This book is a concise discussion of the current state of worship in the western church, we would do well to heed it’s observations, warnings and instructions. As a pastor Tozer had a strong desire to help his church experience true worship and this comes across clearly in this book. He encourages Christians to give up whatever is holding them back, whether it is from sin or mere inhibition, and to worship our Creator with spirit and truth.

Worship Journal 8

Many times people say we should join God on mission to the redemption of all creation. This is what God is doing, so it should be what we, as Christians are doing. I just read, however, a reasoning why. Why does God work for the redemption of all people? In John Piper’s book, Brothers We are Not Professionals, he says God’s main purpose in existence is to glorify Himself. So, everything He does can go back to this root – God is working for the redemption of the world, because it will glorify Himself. If this is true, then worship is the way that we can most closely join God in His mission! This is the first time that I have thought of worship in this way – joining God in honoring God – that’s really an new and awesome thought to me, and I’m not sure yet what implications that’s going to have on my life…

Worship Journal 7

I have finished the Tozer book and have a lot of thoughts about it. He seems to have this
old school fire to his writing, the kind you don’t see very much anymore. I was really interested in his statements about God saving us for/to worship. It makes sense that God would do things to enable us to worship him, since God’s main purpose is to glorify Himself.
Tozer also manages to talk about fear and mystery being important elements for worship.
Like we should be kind of close enough to the edge of something great that it makes us nervous, but not terrified. Good stuff, I think, but the way Tozer says a lot of stuff there doesn’t leave a lot of room for discussion.

Worship Journal 6

I just finished listening to a podcast from Mars Hill Michigan where the teacher made connections between worship service and service as worship. I liked it a bunch because I like to see when people put real actions into their words. I guess I think talk is cheap, but when I see Christianity in action, it’s a beautiful thing.

Part of this in me, I figure, comes because the music that I hear on Sunday mornings just doesn’t resonate with the music that plays in my soul. That sounds cheesy, but I figure most everyone has a soundtrack playing inside of them and they hear music and they like it when the music they hear resonates with whatever is already playing inside of them. This little theory of mine has no backing, but I think it’s true anyways. I figure that’s why the oldies in church sing louder when it’s time for a hymn, and that why I find myself lost when I try to sing them. It’s like the beat or the rhythm or the mood of the music just doesn’t match with the music that’s already playing inside of me. And that’s why I work better when the music is louder – my soul soundtrack is loud, aggressive and has a heavy bass line.

One the other hand…maybe I’m wrong. Either way, there’s something about certain types of music that matches with certain types of people – and that’s very clear in corporate worship services all over.

Worship Journal 5

I’ve been reading the Tozer book. He sure has some strong things to say about worship. It’s kind of interesting to see someone saying the things he said, back when he said them. I appreciate his assessment of the leaders of the church and a consideration of their influence in leadership according to their passion in prayer and worship. I hate when church leaders pray and it lacks any passion.

Someone also mentioned to me this week that he sees a lot of children worship happening in our culture. I thought he was right on with that thought. A lot of people with kids are worshipping (ordering their lives to ascribe supreme worth) to their children. I wonder how Tozer would speak into this phenomenon. I’d love to see his reaction to hearing that a church is family-centered instead of Christ-centered!!

Worship Journal 4

4. October 16, 2007

Worship this weekend was alright. The sermon was excellent for me, the singing kind of regular – it didn’t really go anywhere for me. I didn’t really go anywhere either. I know that’s not supposed to be the point of worship, it’s supposed to be like is God honored and stuff like that, but that seems to be an ‘of course’ answer. I mean, wouldn’t a better question be – how was God insulted? That would be a way more interesting discussion, that’s for sure.
We had our first night of the year with singing worship at the high school worship gathering. I was also a night with HS volleyball, water polo and JV football. Needless to say, our attendance was down significantly and overwhelmingly male – it wasn’t exactly a great night to try and get them to sing. I thought it went well, though. I certainly don’t think God was very insulted by it! Great!

Worship Journal 3

1. October 4, 2007

Well I haven’t really gotten to the Tozer book. It’s been put behind two other textbooks,
but I will get to it eventually. Thinking about worship – this past weekend was pretty regular. A lot of time people think that good worship is all about that big moment, that one thing that surprised everyone. I think that’s really true, those moments are awesome and enjoyable, but, there’s something to be said for the steadiness of God and the people who worship him. Maybe that’s why people like the hymns so much – because they’ve been around so long, there’s a certain amount of trust in a faithful song that has been a part of keeping the church steady in worship so long.
I am going to be picking up the new David Crowder Band album, hopefully this
weekend. I will surely love to worship along to those songs as they just seem to be able to wonderfully put words into my feelings about God. I am also excited to see them live on the 18th of this month – I think we can anticipate a worship journal that is a little excited about that experience. I’m looking forward to a big moment!

Worship Evangelism

I really love Sally Morganthaller (sp?). I've always had a funny feeling about her contending for worship evangelism. Her book was put into much practice in the youth ministry I now lead, and "successfully" so (quotes indicate success according to formerly chosen metrics, of which I disagree).






She now has gotten out of the worship industry and published a really wild article through a little ministry in Idaho. Here's a taste:

No sad songs. No angry songs. Songs about desperation, but none about despair. Worship for the perfect. The already arrived. The good-looking, inoffensive, and nice. No wonder the unchurched aren't interested.

Read the rest here.

Worship Journal 2

September 26, 2007

So this past weekend we had a change in our Sunday morning corporate worship – the
main leader is stepping down or taking a break so there are new leaders – and new experiences. The worship team actually laughed on stage (something I haven’t seen for quite a while), though it was at a ‘mistake’ when they were coming into a song. I loved it. For me, I love seeing others who aren’t perfect being willing to be leaders. There’s a phrase going around about worship needing to seek ‘excellence’ because it’s for God. I don’t disagree with that in principle. I do disagree with that when life (love, laughter, peace, etc.) is sacrificed for excellence. That kinda freaks me out. So I actually enjoyed singing along to the old songs this week because I got to sing them with people just like me.
Sunday night we had a worship service (Kainos) also. It was pretty decent – the band was just a piano/guitar with the players singing, but it seemed like people engaged with God. We participated in communion also – which I always appreciate, especially when I partake with my son.
Finally, I got my AW Tozer book in the mail this week. Looks like a collection of sermons, so I’ll probably be commenting on those here as well.

Worship Journal 1

For my schooling I have to keep a record of a worship journal. So I am going to post them here also.

1. September 12, 2007

I write this as class is finishing up so I am going to discuss class a bit. I really resonate with the consideration of the influence of Judaism on Christian worship. Today is actually Rosh Hashannah, Jewish New Year, which we normally celebrate with the youth ministry. I think I have a willingness to be experimental with my worship. I like to try new things or different traditions. Sometimes it’s a great experience, sometimes I don’t understand what’s going on at all. At the same time, though, an experimental attitude sometimes gets me in trouble with fundamentalists who think its this way or the highway.
I also appreciate in class the way that when we really actually look at the emerging church we can appreciate the contribution that they are making to the western church. This takes a bit of humility from both sides though. The emergents need to remember to be patient, and the ‘old school’ needs to remember that they are old (kidding…mostly).
One thing I am still wondering is about the relationship between worship and personal taste. I wonder if its alright for me to like a certain style and not like another. It seems normal to me and it seems biblical. I wonder, then, why people say that it is a sign of growth when I worship God in styles I don’t like. Wouldn’t that make me a faker? Hmmm….