A Tribute to Keith Green
28 years ago, I spent a summer in Long Beach, California. In fact, I spent two summers there, two memorable, life-changing summers. During that first summer, in 1982, I had the chance to go to a...
View ArticleNot worth the fight
I guess it’s no secret that the topic of music is a highly-charged one in our brotherhood. I don’t plan to get into that argument per se; you can look at the discussion going on over at Jay Guin’s blog...
View ArticleThe church and her music
I want to spend some time here on the blog talking about music. Specifically about music in the church. I’ve grown a bit weary of the subject outside of this forum, yet I feel like there are a lot of...
View ArticleIn praise of singing
I’m a singer. I took almost 10 years of piano lessons, but never took it seriously, so I remember very little. (Sorry Mom!) I played violin for one year and cello for three years, but that’s not enough...
View ArticleMusic in our time and place
Singing has a strong tradition in the United States. There was a time when singing was one of the most common pastimes. There was a strong tradition of gathering around the piano in someone’s parlor,...
View ArticleSinging through the worship wrangling
One of the silliest phrases that came into vogue the last few decades was the term “worship wars.” There have been people at times in history who have been killed for choosing to worship a certain way....
View ArticleSinging: All or nothing?
Wow! If you haven’t read yesterday’s post, don’t bother. Just skip down to the comments section. Some brilliant insights there, plus a sharing of experiences from different viewpoints. I realize that...
View ArticleScripture and our druthers
There’s a saying I’ve heard attributed to Dr. Jack Lewis. He was speaking about an individual in the church and said something to the effect of: “He has a hard time differentiating between what the...
View ArticleSinging: My personal history
I grew up with a cappella singing. At some point in my youth, I became aware that “we didn’t” and “they did,” and I became quite proud of that fact. I’ve planted a cappella churches, though one of the...
View ArticleClement helps me ask a question
Music is then to be handled for the sake of the embellishment and composure of manners. For instance, at a banquet we pledge each other while the music is playing; soothing by song the eagerness of...
View ArticleContentious Choral Conversations
I don’t want to talk about the instrumental music issue. I will discuss it a bit more on this blog, but I don’t want to. As I’ve said before, I don’t think it’s worth all the fuss. And I’m deeply...
View ArticleEmotions and worship
If you aren’t reading Paul Smith’s Instrument-Rated Theology, you need to be. If you didn’t read his post yesterday, you need to do so. Knowing that some of you are too contrarian to go read Paul’s...
View ArticleAgreeing on why as well as what
As I’ve said before, people seem to take many different paths to arrive at an a-cappella-only stance. Personally, I can’t think of another doctrine that has people that reach the same conclusion based...
View ArticleChurch music: What other issues need to be addressed?
As we continue discussing the questions surrounding church music, I’m wondering what other topics need to be included. Philosophy of worship has been mentioned, as well as hermeneutical principles....
View ArticleWhy don’t we chant?
One thing that I haven’t figured out yet is why our brotherhood hasn’t embraced chanting more fully. Before we get distracted, please note that the ancient world didn’t make the distinction between...
View ArticleChant? We cant
The Jews developed a system for ritual chanting of readings from Hebrew scripture. It’s called cantillation and consists of a series of marks placed within the text to guide the canting of sacred texts...
View ArticleHow old of a path should we seek?
I want to pause this discussion for a while. All of the good comments have left me with lots to think about, and I want to work through some of this in my mind before proceeding. More than once I’ve...
View ArticleMemorable music
Here’s a thought for a Monday. I’ve got songs from my daughter’s concert running through my head. Catchy tunes from a pops concert I heard Friday and Saturday night. Doesn’t often happen to me with...
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