- Is it the music??
- Is it the words??
- A little of both??
Do you like a song the first time you hear it or does it have to grow on you??
I find I like some songs immediately (usually like the music) and grow to like others (the words speak to me).
Have you ever heard a song that 2 years ago you just loved & thought "what did I ever see in
that??"
Why do some songs seem to catch the imagination of an entire church for a season??
Does hearing some song immediately bring you back to that period in your life ?? (vineyard songs from the 90's do it for me)
How do worship leaders pick songs for a service ??
What criteria does a worship leader use to pick a new song??
22 comments:
oh.oh.oh. what makes a good worship song? for me, it has to be about God. the subject of the song needs to be jesus or god, and NOT me, my relationships, other people.. it has to have reverence for god, and not make it sound like a teenage crush that will get me stuff.. the song itself has to sound cool, not be some weird preformance art, and be lead by a worship leader into worship, not preformance.
this is the beginning of my list..
Hmmmmm, not sure what makes a good worship song for me, but do know that like you Bob, some I like immediately, others grow on me.
Are there some I don't like? You bet, .....remember the "I love you with the LOVE of the Lord!!!"
Some songs bring me back like "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"....always takes me back to the beginning in the 70's when I first got saved!!! Always loved that song.
What criteria does a worship leader have for picking a new song?? Well...it has to be singable. Some songs sound amazing on CD's, but try to play and sing them with the worship team and it's not so pretty.
Personally, I like my music REALLY loud! Love listening to it in the car, and also through my iPOD. If you get the ear-buds pointed the right direction, you can hear a lot more of the background music (ie. the bass, bongos). Sometimes simple songs are the best.
I love it when worship songs are taken directly from scripture. It's always amazing to be reading the bible, and suddenly know the words you are reading, even though you've never read that passage before.
mrv: it's interesting you should remember 'Turn your eyes upon Jesus'. That's such a classic worship song - relevant to today, and made to sound modern with very little effort.
I really believe that words are very, very important.
The rest is personal preference. If the music is so bad that you want to throw up or leave... well, that's not so good. I like music loud - usually, but that's just me.
Bad music played loudly becomes awful noise. But what someone else thinks is great music might drive me crazy and vice versa, so I can't get fussy about that. The tune is not the point.
I love listening to our congregation sing. It's real. When it's real, it doesn't matter if someone is off tune or quiet or loud.
Worship comes from our heart.
The music, if you think about it, is really a secondary issue and subject to personal preference. Yes, words are very important, but let's not get caught up in silly discussions. Christians already do that adnausium about doctrinal issues and all it does is create division. I like Pastor Roys way of doing things. he divides it up into Absolute truth, Community standards, and personal preferemces. That makes it easy.
Have you ever experienced a deaf service?
The music really has to come from your heart then.
I don't think a discussion about words is "silly".
There is power of life and death in the tongue.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to hear what other people think. Many times it causes me to think further or differently about an issue. Personally, I learn a lot through listening and discussion.
Threat.. I agree as long as the discussion does not cause division in the body. Paul warns us about that.
2 Timothy 2:23
" Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels."
Churches have been divided over lesser issues than how to do worship.
At Crossfire, I think we are smarter than that though, because we have genuine brotherly love for each other.I think that is a key.
As you know I love discussion about faith issues. That is one of the reasons I blog. As long as we respect each others opinions and remain friends at the end, I'm all for it. I too learn much from hearing others opinions and have been known to change my position because of it.
I enjoy the discussions you and I have had, we haven't always agreed with each other, but we are still friends and you are still my sister in Christ. That is what I am talking about. If it wasn't for Christ love in our hearts, I wonder sometimes where some of these things would end up?
Woops! It was Timothy not Paul. That's what happens when you don't look the scripture up before you speak!
Dougie, at least you have a clue as to where scriptures are located! All I ever seem to know is that "it's in there somewhere"...
Hmm. I'm feeling a little set up, since I'm the worship leader at CF.
I have certain criteria for picking songs, and I'm pretty ruthless with my criteria and my own gut instincts.
A song has to be singable by our congregation, and by our worship leaders.
It has to be playable by our band.
It has to fit loosely within our style - we don't do a lot of twangy country stuff, nor do we do reggae. (For now, anyway!)
I'm pretty picky about the words; if it's got theology that I strongly disagree with, we don't sing it. People learn their theology from songs.
However, that is not to say that every song must have deep theological words. Some songs have very simple words, but they're still true.
I try to do a variety of songs (kind of like the Psalms are) - some are directly from Scripture, some are celebratory, some are warfare, some are declaring who God is, some are very emotional and loving, some are receiving from God, some are statements of our own response to God, etc., etc.
And...I do some old, some new.
And if someone in the congregation suggests something, I try to fit it in, if it works with the above criteria...after all, the church reflects all of us.
Oh yeah - it has to be covered under our copyright agreement too.
It takes FOREVER to sort through songs, and figure out which ones we're bringing into Crossfire!!
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Music is a huge language and form of expression for me. It is strongly tied to memories and emotions and thoughts and faith and beliefs and my relationship with God.
Some songs have very simple words, but they're still true.
Oh, yes. And sometimes a simple truth is also a profound truth.
I also personally agree that music is a language. It's important.
What I am I thinking? Actually, it was Pauls letter to Timothy. I was right the first time. I'll be ok.
Do you have a study bible with a concordance? That makes it easy to look up scriptures. The electronic bibles are good for that too.
Patti.. Just want to say you and the team do a great job. I've always loved the worship at Crossfire. We have always been a worshipping church. That is one of our strong points.I have visions all the time that we are joining with the heavenly host in our worship and we are singing and worshiping along with them.
It's awesome.
sorry Patti - I didn't mean to set you up.
But I am glad you responded - its good to hear how much goes into the process.
I liked the phrase "people learn their theology from songs"
I'm just kidding; if I really had felt set up, I wouldn't have responded at all!!
One of my teachers in Bible College said something about learning theology from songs, and it really stuck with me.
I think it's very true. And it's something I really take seriously, because from time to time I have heard people talking about "things they know are true" - and they don't realize those things are not from Scripture, they are from a song.
Think about how many sermons you remember. And how many songs you remember.
I bet the songs greatly outweigh the sermons!
Oh yeah, I like my music loud, btw.
Or not at all.
I rarely have "background music". It grabs my attention, no matter how quiet it is, so I can't think about something else, if there's music in the background.
Not for me. I remember the sermons more so than the songs. Especially this series on John. It has been very memorable for me.
Really?!!!!
Wow.
Learn something new every day.
I remember songs a lot better than sermons. Just a couple of bars of an old song will bring the words back & a lot of rememberances (is that a word?) of the people I hung out with & the church I was in at the time.
Marion & I have almost always attended churches with amazing preachers (& story tellers) and I know many of the sermons I've heard have been life changing but I'd be hard pressed to recall too many of those messages.
"Oh yeah and it has to be covered under our copyright" --> LOL!
what's copyright? ;)
I love it all ... and it's all important to me to varying degrees at different times ... the WORDS, the STYLE, the GOD focused or MY RESPONSE focused. All serve their purpose and all have a place.
I think it's just important that we don't get legalistic regarding any of the factors.
Threat: I agree....I like discussing and see what other people enjoy also.
Not all discussions cause disunity.
Only if you are not willing to hear what others think.
God speaks to everyone differently.
We are all unique. Some more unique then others lololol but I won't go there!!!!
TLC: Yep I can see how some songs
just arent for corporate worship. They might do great in the car or living room, but trying to sing them in unity corporately, could be a touch difficult.
Patti: It amazes me at the variety of worship songs our team plays.
We seem to flip back and forth, old, new, vineyard, its all good.
I think simple songs can be as great as the hard ones. I know for me learning Jesus Loves Me....so simple yet helped me walk
through the most difficult time in my life.
"Only if you are not willing to hear what others think."
Exactly!
It's not the subject matter - it's the attitude.
Thank you for stating it succinctly.
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