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"VOICE OF TRUTH" by 'Casting Crowns'

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

"ONLY GRACE"

There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday has disappeared
The dirt has washed away And now it's clear

[Chorus] There's only grace/There's only love/There's only mercy /And believe me it's enough/ Your sins are gone /Without a trace /There's nothing left now /There's only grace

You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun

[Chorus] There's only grace /There's only love /There's only mercy /And believe me it's enough/ Your sins are gone /Without a trace /There's nothing left now /There's only grace

And if you should fall again Get back up,
get back up Reach out and take my hand Get back up,
get back up Get back up again

To either listen to this song or purchase the album "History", go to 'Sound and Spirit' at www.bmgmusic.com. Save on your purchases by signing up to become a member. Member introductory offer, includes getting 12cds (of your choice in any category) for the price of one (plus shipping and handling).  

Review: www.maranthamusic.com

There's been a reinvigoration of corporate worship over the past 25 years. Those of us who have followed the topic for a while recognize a few key players and events in the process.

Some of my top picks for influencing the movement: Vatican II allowed the English-language Mass (making the way for the "Folk Mass" and other stylistic interpretations); Ralph Carmichael, already orchestrating for the likes of Nat King Cole, shifted to writing contemporary cantatas (closely related to the invention of the "youth musical"); Calvary Chapel was founded. There, the group Love Song sprang up with a new kind of, well, love song -- sung to Jesus by young worshipers who dressed a lot like hippies.

Maranatha! Music was born out of the local ministry of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, Calif., 25 years ago and is now a leader in contemporary worship music. Now Maranatha! Music has its own website, MaranathaMusic.com, which contains loads of fabulous worship and music resources. The highlights of the site:

M!M Store -- I expected logo hats; what I got was M!M's main catalog!

• The Audio, Video, MIDI, and Songbook categories have most of the collections of worship music that M!M is known for. The Songbook page has complete song lists for each book of the collection -- really helpful if you're trying to find a song. You can still buy the "Beige Book!" 

• The best of the "Green Book" Resources (successor to the "Red Book") are the MasterSong arrangements -- complete Praise Band rhythm charts, keyboard and 3-part vocal arrangements, overhead transparency masters, and piano accompaniment arrangements of each song in the collection. This is convenient and allows you to avoid the time and copyright gray area of making your own charts. Unfortunately the site lists just four titles per page (40 pages), with no apparent way of skipping ahead, so if you want a song starting with a "Y" you do a lot of downloading. 

• Worship Underground is a new label featuring live worship sets from leading contemporary churches.

Worship Leader Workshop -- all the information on the popular workshops for worship teams and leaders.

About M!M -- a brief history of Maranatha! Music.

MP3 Downloads -- great idea but currently just two songs from Praise Band 10.

One-Minute Meditations -- a short devotional from Chuck Smith.

This site is a definite "bookmark" for worship planners and a good resource for anyone seeking worship music.

David Kennedy serves as a worship pastor in the Los Angeles area. His background includes piano performance and accompanying, music education and curriculum development, choral directing and he's a pretty good blues piano player. His involvement in church-renewal ministry has led him to serve as an "intentional interim" in a variety of stylistic and denominational settings including Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian, Friends (Quaker), Evangelical Free, and Reformed churches.

      Presents the sacred music of  Dr. Lewis Everett, Sacred Musicologist, Composer and Minister of Music of more than 30 years. Dr. Everett is now  Minister of Music at Ligtening Ridge Baptist Church, outside Ada, OK.         Under the annointing  of  the Lord  God,   Lewis  has composed wonderful sacred  music  selections,  however  the greatest of all  is the new works of praise and worship entitled "Sing A Song of Scripture" contained in several beautiful volumes essentially needing to be part of every Music Library in churches, music ministries and your home today. You can reachout to touch lives with  sacred music that is scriptures Lewis has masterfully composed music to as the Lord interprets the word to him.  By - Rev.Dr. Dennis John Bennett, Calvary Outreach Ministries 918.812.6406                  

 Contact Breezy Hill Music International at breezyhillmusic@yahoo.comor via telephone at 580.759.2145 to receive your "Sing A Song of Scripture"!Thank you and may the Lord richly bless you playing & singing unto Him.

One of the striking things about worship among charismatics is that there is a sense that God is there, in you, with you, and around you. So much so that even writers with little or no religious interest take note of charismatic worship.

Many charismatics I know see their worship style as a sharp reminder to the rest of the church. When they look at most congregations, they see a dedicated handful of prayer warriors and worshippers, and a majority who limit themselves to polite formal prayer and worship at tightly specified times. This chokes off the power of not just the individual, but of the congregation, the denomination, and whole Body of Christ.

Examples of Overshadowed Worship

This critique is often taken to an extreme, but it is a point is well-taken. Sometimes (especially in some parts of the Reformed and Baptist traditions), the sermon overshadows worship, and the service resembles a dressed-up classroom session.

In other traditions, cultural and congregational activities can overshadow worship. Announcements or special music become the centerpiece, the preaching is for reinforcing the old social verities rather than speaking the gospel message. Some liturgical churches have known about their form of the problem for a thousand years: the worship service becomes a museum for symbols that aren't well defined, with actions run and done by the clergy while the congregation watches as a passive audience.

Revitalizing Worship

Such practices do not reflect the Bride in love with Christ. Luther recognized this problem. That's why he put the traditional service in the common language of the people, stripped the absurdly long prayers down to their core purpose, and introduced vigorous hymns that everyone could sing with the kind of abandon they used to reserve for their local pub.

Charismatics involve their whole bodies in worship through lifting hands, bowing heads, swaying, linking hands, dancing, kneeling, and even lying prostrate at the altar (yes, that's quite biblical and traditional, but try it in most churches and see what happens!) And they often get caught up in singing, immersing themselves in chorus after chorus of what one critic called a "praise-dump." So be it. The church gathers to heap praises on God, knowing the pile can't get big enough to match what God deserves.

A Return to Liturgical Forms

Right from its beginnings at Azusa, the Pentecostal movement has stressed freedom from form in the belief that any human planning would just get in the way of the Spirit.

Yet there's a growing awareness among Pentecostal and charismatic churches that being new or "now" is no good without being godly. They are fast becoming more aware of why the liturgy developed the way it did. It was not just culture, theology, or happenstance, but it was also the Spirit working through those developments. They are discovering that the liturgy really can teach and reinforce, and that liturgical symbols really can bear great meaning and power.

They're also discovering that when the form of the liturgy is treated as worship and not Law, there's much room for movement, change, and difference of emphasis. When done with a whole heart, the liturgical forms can (and sometimes should) go off in an unexpected direction, not in lockstep accord with the bulletin or Missal, swimming in the current of the Spirit. The freedom is needed, but so is the structure.

Introducing the Charismatic Into the Liturgy

It takes a great deal of thinking and planning to worship charismatically through the liturgical tradition. It does no good to just drop a charismatic element into a worship service to jolt the pews; it may disrupt or interfere with the service.

The liturgical service is an ordered event, and the worshippers need to understand what they are doing and why they are doing it. When the elements of worship are in meaningless clash or are trivialized, it reduces the sanctity of the service, and thus defeats the purpose.

The congregation's leaders will have to lead the way, by learning about worship, both in their own tradition and in others. Then they will have to teach the congregation —a very slow process—as changes are introduced. The resulting depth and intimacy of worship may well be worth the effort.

Bob Longman is a Lutheran layman and writer who works as a municipal planner. He is an 18-year veteran of college radio and a big fan of acappella music. Bob's website, Spirithome.com, is a down-to-earth resource on faith, spirituality, and the Spirit.