Active and passive singing
Singing is (or should be) an important part of our walk. The words of hymns can help us reflect upon the Word and what we learn on Sunday. Historically, Psalms played a significant role in congregational singing in reminding God’s people throughout the ages of God’s character, to encourage, to rebuke the nation and provide […]
Recommended songwriters and hymns from the twenty-first century
I have often talked about the issues of church music; in fact, some may think it is the only thing I can talk about! The debate in the church should never be old versus new, contemporary against tradition, but rather about what honours the Lord. Thus, although we like traditional hymns, we also are really […]
Christian Music: an updated opinion piece
Psalm 96 1 Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples. 4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be […]
A reformation in how we sing!
As you may be aware, congregational worship is something that has really impacted me over the last few years. I have written many articles on the subject, and it’s a topic that really needs attention. I recently read the Getty’s ‘Sing’ book (now also a conference which I highly recommend looking at) which described how […]
Music as a form of worship
The phrase ‘Let us start worship’ or ‘Let us begin worship’ is one that never sits easy with me. The term ‘Worship Leader’ for me doesn’t seem to be a biblical principal. In this post, I am to pick apart these terms and phrases and suggest what I believe we should be actually doing instead. […]
God in our hobbies: writing worship
I love sitting down with my guitar and coming up with a song. Granted, I am not a great singer or a great musician, in fact, I’m probably one of the worst around. Nonetheless, to spend time with God and giving praise to him, there is nothing I’d rather do. The Bible says to ‘make […]
The solution: authenticity in worship
In the last two posts, there has been analysis of both traditional and modern worship, showing both the positives and the negatives. This third and final post will aim to bring both of these together, discuss authenticity and finish off with showing a few examples of each styles. Tunes I think it can be agreed […]
‘Modern’ worship: du jour, but is it Gospel pure?
From the post on traditional worship, we can see that hymns are beneficial to the church. We now turn our focus towards modern or contemporary worship, choruses, bands, and artists. We have already defined Godly worship; but before we begin, what is ‘modern worship’? Well it’s about bringing in new styles of music/instruments into the church. It’s […]
Old hymns, weird words: is ‘traditional’ worship stuck in the past?
Welcome to, what is intended to be a three-post series on music worship in and out of church. Essentially, our two styles of worship today can be broadly labelled ‘traditional’ or ‘modern’. The aim of these posts is to explore both, and to address certain divisions which differing worship styles have caused. My aim is […]