WINTER 2001 2002 VOLUME 2 SEEKING THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH A Pastor s Perspective A Pastor s Perspective BY RANDALL E. DAVEY In Search of a Common Song LONG BEFORE I REACHED THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY, I kne more gospel songs, hymns and choruses than nursery rhymes. My repertoire had nothing to do ith me being a child prodigy in things musical or spiritual. It had everything to do ith the home in hich I as reared and the church my family attended three times a eek. My folks eren t big on orldly entertainment and shopping as restricted to necessities. The bulk of our discretionary time as spent around the piano, or at least I remember it that ay. Though I didn t kno a middle C from a French Horn, I loved to sing ith my father and sister hile my mom played our out-oftune piano. It as one of the things e did as a family here age didn t seem to matter. It as that ay at church, too. I gre up in the pre-children s church years in an assembly devoid of many kids. To my benefit, I as thron in ith people of all ages and learned to pray, testify, sing and serve. With little effort, I can still hear the strains of Ho Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, Heaven Came Don and Love Lifted Me. Young and old alike sang ith passion and conviction our common songs, rooted in memory and experience. In more recent days, I attended a minister s retreat. The musicians leading orship ere Gen X types and hat they did, they did extremely ell. I didn t kno a majority of the songs but as I looked around, most of the younger folks kne the choruses by heart and moved in sync ith hat appeared to be orchestrated choreography. Clearly, I asn t the lone silent voice. Most of the gray hairs looked on ith interest and a fe ith disapproval until a familiar tune appeared on the screen. Then they sang ith eyes closed, hands uplifted hile notably more than a fe of the younger people squinted at the screen as though looking at fine print on an ancient archeological exhibit. It could have been an anomaly unique to that retreat, but I don t think there as one song e sang ith one voice as our common song. Rather, some sang contemporary songs ith gusto hile the others accented our preference for traditional gospel songs. High Praise and Quiet Thoughts TBY BONNIE KEEN Sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives - ords, actions, hatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God every step of the ay. COLOSSIANS 3: 17 (THE MESSAGE) Before September 11, 2001, before the events that broke the hearts of our nation, I had started ork on a piece for this publication. To be honest, it as flavored ith my on somehat judgmental perceptions of the pitfalls of Christian ministry and a heartfelt call for purity in purpose. That piece has been deleted. No, I am struggling ith hat to rite to encourage all of you; you, the music ministers, orship leaders and pastors across our country ho ill have a ne gathering of hurting, suffering, questioning people to fill your services. You are on the front lines. You are the ones that our nation ill turn to for consolation, for healing and for hope. Thank God that His name is being invoked again in the media and by every man. In a recent Fox Nes poll, it seems that since September 11, 91% of Americans prayed. What see Perspective on page 2 see High Praise on page 2
CALLED TO WORSHIP, Seeking the Father in Spirit and in Truth, is a free quarterly publication edited by Marty Parks. Complimentary subscriptions are available by contacting: LILLENAS WORSHIP RESOURCES Attn: Subscription Department P.O. Box 19527 Kansas City, MO 611-6527 or by calling 1-800-373-3505 or by logging on to: Subscriptions@lillenas.com. The subject is Called to Worship. Unless otherise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Ne International Version (NIV ). Copyright 1973, 1978, 198 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Perspective (continued from page 1) High Praise (continued from page 1) In our legitimate quest to reach the orld and compel them to come in, it seems e have lost our common voice through common songs. In an effort to succeed at niche marketing, e have branded music as children s, teens, traditional or contemporary. I understand the distinctions and the motivations behind using the descriptive terms, but I m a bit cautious if not fearful for our future. Someone observed that Sunday orship is practice for heaven here the redeemed ill gather around one throne, celebrating one baptism, one table, one Lord and ith one universal language e ll praise Him. With that in vie, I onder if there is any merit in intentionally trying to rediscover our common songs in anticipation of the day e ll join a choir singing familiar ords to perhaps an unfamiliar tune. The ords Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, ho as and is and is to come. (RANDALL DAVEY IS SENIOR PASTOR OF FAIRVIEW VILLAGE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE IN FAIRVIEW VILLAGE, PA. A POPU- LAR SPEAKER AND AUTHOR ON THE TOPIC OF WORSHIP, HE WAS ALSO A CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO THE SEVEN VOLUMES OF THE COMPLETE LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.) 2 onderful beauty from the ashes of our ravaged hearts. More than ever before, people are truly desperate for honesty and for the grace of God to apply directly to their circumstances. They ill ant to hear and see in action the love of a God ho allos pain, yet uses it for purposes e cannot kno. If anything, e are called to the uncomfortable position of brokenness. As my friend, Max Lucado, once said to me, You on t ever truly minister until your heart is broken. And so no, all of us are broken and have this precious opportunity to turn our grief into a balm for the eary. Psalm 3: 18 declares the truth e must carry - The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those ho are crushed in spirit. So for all of us called to alk this precarious line of speaking the truth of the beatitudes to a generation afraid to believe that there is a place of blessings left in the rubble, I pray for you to be ounded healers. And I ask you to consider including, more than ever before, the timeless poer of our hymns into your orship. Every eek I m called to sing on recorded praise and orship projects that are onderfully poerful and spiritually uplifting. Yet nothing but the ords of the hymns of my childhood have entered my mind as I process our recent national tragedy.... If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, tis no. A mighty fortress is our God... Be ith me, Lord, I cannot live ithout Thee... Great is Thy faithfulness... Seet hour of prayer, seet hour of prayer...... It is ell ith my soul. My children have not heard many of these amazing, grace-filled songs. I hope that they ill not lose the legacy of this comfort in a contemporary trend that fills our churches ith more musically friendly offerings. Please don t misunderstand me - all of these songs have their place and direction. I simply ant to offer my encouragement to you to look back through your hymnals and bring out the tried and undeniably true hymns to offer people you are called to serve. May God Himself bring His strength and daily manna of grace to you as you alk in these ne times of faith versus fear. Faith is stronger and you are the arriors no of a different cloth. Thank you, from all of us, for carrying the banner of truth to our people. Your reards are many and your sometimes thankless job is acknoledged in the heavens. I imagine that angels rejoice daily over the sacrifices you make that no one sees... the tears you cry as you ork to organize, galvanize and defeat the enemy of our souls ith your eapons of song, prayer, scripture and other acts of orship. The grace and unceasing love of our Jesus, the Christ atch over and strengthen you. (BONNIE KEEN IS AN ACCOMPLISHED RECORDING ARTIST, SONGWRITER, SPEAKER, AUTHOR AND FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE RECORDING TRIO FIRST CALL. SHE HAS RECENTLY RELEASED HER DEBUT SOLO ALBUM, MARKED FOR LIFE AND HER FIRST BOOK, BLESSED ARE THE DESPERATE IS AVAILABLE FROM HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS.)
B O O K D I G E S T Digging Deeper If the Holy Spirit should We live in a mixed-up kind of (EXCERPTED FROM come again upon us as in orld in hich many, many people are WHATEVER HAPPENED TO earlier times, visiting church not at all sure of hat they believe or WORSHIP BY A.W. TOZER; congregations ith the seet hat they ought to believe. Most of COMPILED AND EDITED BY but fiery breath of Pentecost, e them excuse it by telling us that they GERALD B. SMITH; C. 1985; ould be greater Christians and are seekers after truth. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF holier souls. Beyond that, e Some churches advertise that ay CHRISTIAN PUBLICATIONS) ould also be greater poets and - you do not have to believe anything; greater artists and greater lovers just be a seeker after truth. of God and of His universe. Someone generally gets mad at me hen I Men and omen continue to try to persuade themselves that there are many forms and be exposed. We need to double our efforts to tell say that this kind of seeking after truth needs to ays that seem right in orship. But God in His the orld that God is Spirit and those ho orship Him must orship in spirit and in truth. revelation has told us that He is spirit and those ho orship Him must orship Him in spirit It must be by the Holy Spirit and truth. We and in truth. God takes the matter of orship out cannot orship in the spirit alone, for the spirit of the hands of men and puts it in the hands of ithout truth is helpless. We cannot orship in the Holy Spirit. truth alone, for that ould be theology ithout It is impossible for any of us to orship fire. Worship must be in spirit and in truth! God ithout the impartation of the Holy Spirit. The stark, tragic fact is that the efforts of It is the operation of the Spirit of God ithin us many people to orship are unacceptable to God. that enables us to orship God acceptably Without an infusion of the Holy Spirit there can through that Person e call Jesus Christ, ho is be no true orship. This is serious. It is hard for Himself God. me to rest peacefully at night knoing that millions of cultured, religious people are merely car- So orship originates ith God and comes back to us and is reflected from us, as a mirror. rying on church traditions and religious customs God accepts no other kind of orship. and they are not actually reaching God at all. The term integral orship has been coined to describe orship experiences comprised of various elements, each playing a vital and equally important role. When one of these elements is missing, our orship feels incomplete and not totally fulfilling. These elements take on various modes of expression, from high praise to quiet meditation, and encompass music as ell as the spoken ord. An exciting feature of Christian orship these days is the melding of old and ne; a unity found in combining the ancient and the contemporary. Classic hymns, rich in theology, are balanced ith ne orship songs, exuberant and fresh in their essence. Historic or modern-day acts of praise are enhanced hen accompanied by God s Word read corporately or by individuals. Best of all, e re finding that by alloing our congregations to follo a theme, they enter into orship more fully, concerned more ith substance than ith style. Perhaps integral orship resonates ith the personality of your gatherings. Regardless of the style or tradition of your church, consider some of the folloing options: A traditional, familiar hymn coupled ith a contemporary orship song, in a complementary key and centered on the same theme. An historic creed or affirmation of faith, read in unison by the congregation and folloed by a contemporary song, as a response, that re-states the central message of the reading. A scripture passage, read responsively by a orship leader and the congregation, taken from a modern Bible translation and folloed by a classic hymn of the faith that underscores the focus of the scripture. A congregational prayer, prayed in unison, folloed by a spoken prayer led by a minister or orship leader, folloed by an appropriate prayer song. A season of prayer is the goal here. Smaller sub-packages ithin the context of the larger service. This allos for to or more emphases to be expressed. A service progression might move from a vertical (God-centered) opening to a horizontal (Body of Christ-centered) focus to an inard ( personal) response and application. 3
DramaWorks CREATION AND THE CREATOR A Responsive Reading based on Psalm 8 and Genesis 1 LEADER: O Lord! CONGREGATION: Our Lord! LEADER: Ho majestic is Your name... CONGREGATION: in all the earth! LEADER: With the psalmist, let us celebrate the Creator of the heavens and the earth. CONGREGATION: Our Creator! LEADER: In the beginning God created... CONGREGATION: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning God brought order out of disorder. LEADER: God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness." CONGREGATION: So God created man in His on image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. LEADER: God is the inspiration for human creativity. So, e create ith purpose and order, but the ildness and freedom celebrated by sunsets may also be found in human creativity. Our use of creativity in ministry glorifies the God ho created us. CONGREGATION: O Lord, You made us a little loer than the angels. You croned us ith glory and honor. LEADER: God sa all that that He had made, and it as very good. CONGREGATION: To God be the glory! EVERYONE: Father, You have created us and have put us on this earth for a purpose. You have sent Your Son to die for us and You are calling us to complete Your ork. By Your hand Christ has been raised and is exalted. And You give us hope to continue the ork of Christ. No send Your Holy Spirit to help us to be the ministers You have called us to become. Amen. ( From ACTS OF WORSHIP by Wyatt and Miller, 1995, Lillenas Publishing Company) Defining the Worshiper in all of Us! A quarterly publication of practical ideas, innovative concepts, and thoughtful commentary ritten by some of today s most gifted orship leaders, pastors, and theologians. A broad spectrum of topics for a ide range of orship traditions. Books and other printed materials exploring the dynamics of corporate orship, personal devotion, and theology of orship and the arts. A biannual collection of ne songs for congregational orship, all born of experience in local felloships. Each recording is accompanied by a highly functional companion songbook. The Worship of God is the Highest Calling of the Believer Energize your orship! Subscribe today for your FREE Lillenas Worship Resources quarterly publication. Yes! I ould like to receive a FREE subscription to Called to Worship. NAME CHURCH NAME CHURCH ADDRESS CITY STATE CHURCH PHONE CHURCH FAX E-MAIL ADDRESS ZIP Please mail to Lillenas Worship Resources / Attn. Subscription Dept. / P.O. Box 119527 / Kansas City, MO 611-6527
& b n & # # # # # & b n n & # # Beginning corporate orship ith a strong, vertical, God-centered emphasis helps all other planned elements seem to fall in place. Our congregations often need that encouragement hen they assemble, as one, from a multitude of backgrounds and experiences. COME NOW BEFORE HIM is an ideal service opener, introit or call to orship for choir or for praise team. Have it sung once in unison and once in parts. The last to measures make for a built in tag if sung tice. Consider folloing COME NOW BEFORE HIM ith one or more of these congregational hymns and orship songs: All Hail, King Jesus All People that on Earth Do Dell Come, Christians, Join to Sing Come Into His Presence Come, No is the Time to Worship Let Everything that Has Breath Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Stand Up and Bless the Lord We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise H Y M N S F O R T O D A Y H Y M N S F O R T O D A Y 5 Churches ith a blanket license from Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc. (CCLI) may photocopy this hymn for noncommercial congregational use. For information on CCLI, call 1-800-23-26.
WORSHIP SONGS, VOLUME 2 Dra Us The second installment of 13 fresh, highly accessible songs for congregational orship.worship Leaders and songriters from around the country have contributed to this folloup to the highly popular Worship Songs,Volume 1. The fully functional songbook includes for each song: Full version printed keyboard parts, chord symbols & vocals leadsheets rhythm charts lyrics programming ideas WORSHIP SONGS VOL. 2, DRAW US COMPANION PRODUCT LISTINGS MB-873 Book $19.99 DC-9321 Stereo CD $ 9.99 DC-9321S Split-channel CD $19.99 TA-9321S Split-channel Cassette $16.66 MD-538 Book & Split-channel Cass. Combo $29.99 MD-539 Book & Split-channel CD Combo $29.99 Ancient of Days COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY MARTY PARKS 50 poerful songs of praise & orship usable individually or in one of 20 medleys A valuable resource for choir, praise team, ensemble, congregation or any combination of these A unique gathering of best loved orship songs from around the orld, current standards in contemporary and blended orship, and fresh expressions from Lillenas Worship Resources A generous offering of accompaniment options: full orchestra, trax and keyboard ANCIENT OF DAYS COMPANION PRODUCT LISTINGS MB-866 Book (ire-ring) $ 8.99 MB-866A Solo/Accomp Ed (ire-ring) $ 19.99 TA-9316C Double Cassette Pack (stereo; norelco case) $19.99 DC-9316 Double CD Pack (stereo; jeel case) $ 2.99 L-9316C Choral Promo Pack, Cassette $ 1.00 L-9316CD Choral Promo Pack, CD $ 16.00 MU-9316S Accomp. Cassette (Split-channel; double cassette $90.00 MU-9316T Accomp. CD (Split-channel; double disk) $ 90.00 OR-9316 Orchestration $95.00 Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Permit #7 Kansas City, MO SEEKING THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH DIVISION OF NAZARENE PUBLISHING HOUSE BOX 19527 KANSAS CITY, MO 611-6527 The Worship of God is the Highest Calling of the Believer INSIDE THIS ISSUE A Pastor s Perspective High Praise and Quiet Thoughts Digging Deeper DramaWorks Hymns for Today Integral Worship CW-2002-2WI