Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

Archives for October 2010

How to Write Better Worship Songs (Part 1)

Why is it that you love the songs that you do? What is it about them that is engaging? While this is rather a subjective question (different people like different songs), I think there are some tips to writing congregational worship songs that assist in their success (And by “success” I don’t necessarily mean songs that the global church is singing and make a lot of money. I’m referring to songs that really connect with a local congregation whether they are ‘discovered’ or not.)

Enjoy:

  • Say something old in a fresh way – there’s nothing new under the sun. As worship songwriters we’re not trying to write about new ideologies and revelations. We are looking to shine a spotlight on the revealed truth of God in a way that connects with a modern listener.
  • Keep it singable – I understand your voice sounds great singing those high G’s and A’s but the average churchgoers eyes are popping out as they attempt to sing it. Keep it in a singable range and keep your phrasing  out of the ‘rap music’ category if you want people to sing along.
  • Avoid cliches and too much rhyming – Example: “God, we call on your name, and give you all the praise, and love all your ways, you never cease to amaze, God, take away this haze.” Yuck. Sometimes it sounds better not to rhyme or use half-rhymes.
  • Know your congregation – what is God doing in the midst of your people? What are they experiencing? What is your pastor preaching on? Write to that. You want to give voice to what is in their hearts.
  • Don’t depend on melodies and arrangement…until later. If you have a killer voice, great melody, impeccable arrangement, but an awful song, it’s not a success. Work on your lyrics so they express exactly what you want to say.
  • Write and rewrite and rewrite again…and again – Don’t fall for the “God gave me this song just as it is. I’m not changing it” speech. Don’t blame God for your lack of hard work. I like what Brian Doerksen says, “God doesn’t give songs…he gives seeds. It’s our responsibility to grow the seed.”

Allow me to leave you with a song that I love. I’ve posted this before but still love it. Matt beautifully articulates a great theme and takes you on a journey that culminates with a fantastic bridge. Beautiful lyrics, melody, and a consistent theme throughout. Notice this song is about one thing – God’s saving power. Get’s me every time.

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Play it Safe or Act in Faith?

Every day I wake up, I have a choice – play it safe or act in faith. The choice is mine. Will I act on what I know, what I can manage, and what is comfortable, or will I step into the realm of the unknown, ask God for the impossible, and inconvenience myself for the cause of God’s kingdom on earth?

I’m an expert at rationalizing risk out of my life. I’m an expert at playing it safe.

I don’t want to do that today. While it would be easy to blog about stepping out in faith for the rest of my life, I know my weakness. I’m going to start with today – this very day that is right before me with endless possibilities.

What about you? What are some ways you are stepping out in faith? What chasms are you crossing? What prayers are you praying? What territory are you taking?

The Lost Discipline of Personal Worship

How is your worship behind closed doors?

Do you know the importance of a personal worship time?

I believe your ministry will rise and fall on it.

My hunch is that we just don’t carve the time for it because, in our fast paced culture, our minds are trained to constantly process information. From checking facebook, to updating Twitter, to checking the news, to listening to a few podcasts, we feel the need to stay occupied and connected.

But God calls us to rest. He calls us to worship. Has personal worship become a lost discipline? Has it been replaced with an onslaught of media?

Get alone and be with Jesus.

Perhaps it has. But I would love to offer some suggestions for taking it back. If you want your heart to be spiritually alive, you need to worship God…on your own.

But what does one do if there’s no worship leader, no congregation, and no light show?

Glad you asked.

  1. Carve out a few minutes – while I love the idea of ‘worshiping on your way to work’ or ‘sing while you do the dishes’, I think it’s important to have times dedicated to being with Jesus. Try once a week for now and gradually build up to more.
  2. Get alone – I’m always distracted if someone is in the room. Even if they’re being quiet, it’s difficult for me to really ‘let go’ because I’m always thinking about that person.
  3. Move around – this has been incredibly helpful to me. I typically like to worship in the early mornings. If I don’t pace, I’m tempted to fall asleep. Put on some good worship music, or my preference, great ambient/instrumental music and begin to worship.
  4. Read Scripture out loud – this is what really gets me going. If I’m being honest, sometimes I just don’t know what to say or pray so I’ll open the Psalms, read a verse, and then close my eyes and worship God based on that particular verse. It’s amazing to worship God with the Bible. It can give voice to a distracted heart like mine.

This will not always ‘feel’ emotionally charged like a Chris Tomlin concert in the XCel Energy Center. But it is always time well spent because the more you do this the more inclined you are to praise God when difficulties arise. You’re re-capturing the lost discipline of personal worship.

Would you add anything? What do you do in your personal worship times? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

5 Habits to Protect the Sanity of a Leader

There seems to be quite a chasm between public leadership and private devotion. The more successful a leader becomes, the more responsibility is given. The more responsibility that is given, the busier life becomes.

It can be extremely difficult when, in the course of a week, a leader is constantly relied upon to give direction, to inspire, and to breathe vision numerous times. How does a leader keep his private devotion to Christ fresh? How does one ensure that his leadership and vision is coming from a place of honesty with Christ?

Is it possible to properly balance the public and the private?


Well, I happen to be a young leader, so I hardly claim to have the corner on this topic. But here are a few things that I would recommend:

  • INVITE ACCOUNTABILITY – Being a leader can be lonely because you are providing care and direction to people but rarely getting that same attention for yourself. Find a close friend you trust, or another leader/pastor who you can vent to. Preferably someone older and more experienced who can be a listening ear and coach you in your leadership.
  • DON’T COMPROMISE YOUR HOME – The more leadership you take on, the more temptation you will have to neglect time at home, date nights with your spouse, time with your kids, etc. Increase your vigilance when it comes to guarding these priorities. Don’t allow your public leadership to kill your leadership and availability at home.
  • INCREASED LEADERSHIP = INCREASED PRAYER – another temptation when faced with more leadership, is the tendency for your prayer life to weaken. You find yourself so busy that prayer seems a waste of time. Bible reading just has to wait until life slows down a bit. You start to rely on cranking through task lists. Resist this urge with vengeance. I would say the most important thing you can do is to increase your prayer life with any increased leadership. A posture of dependance on Christ is essential to remain humble and ensure you are hearing from God for your people.
  • READ – always increase in learning. A leader is a learner because he wants to know where to take his people.
  • REST – be sure to take adequate breaks. I love Rick Warren’s philosophy – Divert daily, Withdraw Weekly, Abandon Annually. Easy to remember, sometimes difficult to apply. Your ministry will not die if you obey this principle; if anything, it may strengthen as you delegate to other capable leaders you are raising up.

QUESTION: What has helped you in your leadership? Anything you would add to this list?

8 Ways to Improve How You Engage People in Worship

In my early days of leading worship, I was oblivious to the people I was leading. I didn’t even really think about them. I basically thought it was some grand display of my musical gifts and anointing for others to enjoy. I know, awful, right? While I still battle pride on a daily basis, I’ve learned that leading worship is more about “engaging” your congregation than it is about “amazing” them with your worship leading brilliance.

One of my tendencies is to over-prepare musically and under-prepare relationally. Yes, I said relationally. In order to lead a congregation to breakthrough worship, they need to trust you. Here are some tips on how I work this out:

  • Pray for your congregation
  • Respond with grace to criticism (but don’t take it too seriously)
  • Respond with gratefulness to compliments (but don’t take it too seriously)
  • Relate to your congregation where they are (who is present? – unbelievers, new Christians, senior saints, rebellious teenagers, trendy young adult?) Trust needs to be established for them to follow you.
  • Select a healthy balance of music (song choice & style)
  • Practice your public speaking & communication skills
  • Develop good people skills – you need to be like-able!
  • Utilize humor tastefully – humor helps people relax and feel comfortable around you

Do you agree? What have you done in order to connect with your congregation?