Are you in love with Jesus? Many of today’s Christian music artists claim to be—as do millions of Christians who sing lyrics like “Let My Words Be Few“:
You are God in heaven.
And here am I on earth.
So I’ll let my words be few.
Jesus, I am so in love with You.
But should Christians be in love with Jesus? In a blog post entitled “Jesus, I’m NOT in Love with You,” Professor John Stackhouse answers absolutely not and considers expressions like these inappropriate and unbiblical.
This version adds a substantial new feature (many are calling it Google Sky) which lets you not only look down on the Earth, but also look up at the night sky and see the starry heavens through the perspective of the world’s most powerful telescopes.
Bob’s work involves helping pastors and musicians in the theology and practice of congregational worship and contributing to recordings produced by Sovereign Grace Ministries. He is also one of the congregational worship leaders under Josh Harris at Covenant Life Church.
Bob blogs at Worship Matters, usually discussing the topics of worship and music.
Several articles and discussions on music have caught my eye recently. Music remains a controversial subject with strong opinions on both sides of the debate.
Stephen Altrogge praises God for Coldplay (Wikipedia). Erik Davis traces the Christian Rock movement to the Jesus People of the 60s. Harrison Scott Key tells the Jesus People to take their music back. Libby Purves points out a satirical music video, “Christian Rock Is Cool.” Webster Young contemplates the dilemma of Vatican II’s mandate to use “the music of the people” in light of the baseness of popular music.
Modeling Expressiveness. The Psalms encourage an unhindered, genuine, physical response to God in public praise that includes clapping, bowing down, dancing, standing in awe, lifting hands, and singing enthusiastically. . . . Having different vocalists model such expression can be an encouragement to a congregation to do the same. . . .
Unity in Diversity. Three or four people can more effectively models the “one body with many parts” aspect of the church. . . .
Musical Harmony. Vocalists can add variety and depth to congregational singing through the purposeful use of harmony and vocal fills. . . . Harmony can add depth, variety, beauty, and focus to certain lines or sections of a song. . . .
Authenticity. I don’t mean more authentic worship, but a more authentic musical style. For churches that use more contemporary styles of music, a vocal team is able to more accurately capture and communicate the emotional language of that genre. . . .
Greater Involvement. Using a vocal team can make room for more people to serve and bless the church with their musical gifts. That’s assuming, of course, that you’re not already using a choir. . . .
Bob closes with this warning, “If you do use a worship team, make sure they differentiate themselves from the performance-oriented, self-exalting culture of our day through demonstrating humility, joy, and a servant heart.”
Hampton Park Baptist Church has posted a helpful PDF on their website of the Scripture references to music. Someone wishing to study in depth what the Bible has to say about this important subject would surely profit from this list.
Are you in love with Jesus? Many of today’s Christian music artists claim to be—as do millions of Christians who sing lyrics like “Let My Words Be Few“:
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Here are today’s bullet points:
Paul Schafer at Reforming My Mind has put together another 
Several articles and discussions on music have caught my eye recently. Music remains a controversial subject with strong opinions on both sides of the debate.
