Andrew Peterson Talks About Counting Stars - Part 1

One of my most favorite artist! Can't wait to get this!!!

Why Your Church Doesn't Feel Like A Family

This is dead on!!

What Is the Philosophy of Worship that Unites Us?

Download:

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By John Piper April 1, 1994

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God-centeredness: A high priority of the vertical focus of our Sunday morning service. The ultimate aim is to so experience God that he is glorified in our affections.

Expecting the powerful presence of God: We do not just direct ourselves toward him. We earnestly seek his drawing near according to the promise of James4:8. We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in the midst.

Bible based and Bible saturated: The content of our singing and praying and welcoming and preaching and poetry will always conform to the truth of Scripture. The content of God's Word will be woven through all we do in worship and will be the ground of all our appeal to authority.

Head and heart: Worship that aims at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, but does not manipulate people's emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things based on shareable evidences outside ourselves.

Earnestness and intensity: Avoiding a trite, flippant, superficial, frivolous atmosphere, but instead setting an example of reverence and passion and wonder.

Authentic communication: The utter renunciation of all sham and deceit and hypocrisy and pretense and affectation and posturing. Not the atmosphere of artistic or oratorical performance but the atmosphere of a radically personal encounter with God truth..

The manifestation of God and the common good: We expect and hope and pray (according to 1 Cor. 12:7) that our focus on the manifesting of God is good for people and that therefore a spirit of love for each other is not incompatible with, but necessary to authentic worship.

Undistracting excellence: We will try to sing and play and pray and preach in such a way that people's attention will not be diverted from the substance by shoddy ministry nor by excessive finesse, elegance or refinement. Natural, undistracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through.

The mingling of historic and contemporary music: And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" Matt 13:52

New Life

Had a great time with New Life Church tonight. That's my church, New Life Church of Eads, Tennessee.
One of our dear families is having to leave our church and move to St Louis. It was our last home group with them in their home where we meet each week. This family has been a huge encouragement to me which has helped my ministry to the church greatly.
Being an encourager brings great things,sometimes it's the very thing that motivates them to continue pursuing what God has put on their hearts to do. The Anderson family is that kind of family; encouragers. I will miss seeing them and hearing them sing to the Glory of God!
God bless you guys!
Tom

Jesus Cast A Look On Me

Have you ever heard the phrase "Don't put words in my mouth"?
Well this song puts words in your mouth that you want to be there.
Let me explain. This song helps us express our longing and desire for Christ to be our all in all; no more me, all Christ. It gets to the heart of how we should live in every moment.
I challenge you to learn it and sing it to the Lord.
Here is a link to where you can listen to it.
Take time to check it out. You will be blessed.


http://igracemusic.com/ig3/







Jesus Cast a Look on Me
© MPJ Music. Words: John Berridge. Music: Matthew Perryman Jones.

1. Jesus cast a look on me,
Give me sweet simplicity
Make me poor and keep me low,
Seeking only Thee to know

2. All that feeds my busy pride,
Cast it evermore aside
Bid my will to Thine submit,
Lay me humbly at Thy feet

3. Make me like a little child,
Of my strength and wisdom spoiled
Seeing only in Thy light,
Walking only in Thy might

4. Leaning on Thy loving breast,
Where a weary soul can rest
Feeling well the peace of God,
Flowing from His precious blood

5. In this posture let me live,
And hosannas daily give
In this temper let me die,
And hosannas ever cry!

The importance of your passion for Christ in ministry.

I am a big Bob Kauflin fan and Spurgeon is one of my hero's of the Faith. So I thought I would pass this along from a post from Bob's Blog. It reminds us what our purpose is in what God has called us to do. Magnifying the glories of Christ.

Spurgeon on the Inexhaustibility of Jesus

Posted by: Bob Kauflin In: —Leading a Congregation| —Worship and Christ| —Worship and Music

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) has few peers when it comes to stirring up biblically informed passion for Jesus Christ. My wife made me aware of one of his quotes today from The Daily Spurgeon. It’s from a sermon called “The Fulness Of Jesus, The Treasury Of Saints,” that Spurgeon delivered February 28, 1869.

Spurgeon describes how both preaching and music grow dull if they don’t magnify the greatness of the Savior in people’s minds and hearts. His words are just as relevant today as they were 140 years ago.

“Brethren, there is an abiding fullness of truth in Christ; after you have heard it for fifty years, you see more of its fullness than you did at first. Other truths weary the ear. I will defy any man to hold together a large congregation, year after year, with any other subject but Christ Jesus. He might do it for a time; he might charm the ear with the discoveries of science, or with the beauties of poetry, and his oratory might be of so high an order that he might attract the multitudes who have itching ears, but they would in time turn away and say, “This is no longer to be endured. We know it all.”

“All music becomes wearisome but that of heaven; but oh! if the minstrel doth but strike this celestial harp, though he keepeth his fingers always among its golden strings, and be but poor and unskilled upon an instrument so divine, yet the melody of Jesus’ name, and the sweet harmony of all his acts and attributes, will hold his listeners by the ears and thrill their hearts as nought beside can do. The theme of Jesus’ love is inexhaustible, though preachers may have dwelt upon it century after century, a freshness and fullness still remain.

I thought I would make my first post a review of one of my favorite Cd's from Sojourn Music.
The link is below if you want to sample some songs or even purchase it. I love this album. It has bolstered my faith and caused me to play some air guitar and drums as well:).
Enjoy!




http://www.sojournmusic.com/albums/over-the-grave/

Over the Grave

In the midst of the Reformation in England, Isaac Watts recognized that people needed to see the gospel in the psalms and hymns of the church, and they needed to sing them in language and metaphors that they understood. In this, he became not only the father of the modern hymn, but the pace-setter for contextualizing the gospel for the people of God.

As musicians, pastors and songwriters, our desire was to explore the hundreds of hymns that Watts wrote during his lifetime, to learn from the incredible range and depth of his lyrics, and to re-envision those songs with modern language and melodies. In particular, we gravitated towards themes that seem unfortunately absent in modern worship — themes about God’s wrath and judgment, His righteousness, and a dramatic vision of the cross and atonement of Christ.

This CD is the first installment of the Isaac Watts Project: songs inspired by and adapted from his hymns. The record was written and performed entirely by musicians from Sojourn Community Church — 35 in all. It is our hope that this project, like Watts’s hymns, will point us beyond the music and lyrics to see the glorious Savior who inspires them.