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Speaking of his rewrite of Power of Your Love Geoff says, "Instead of singing the prayer, ‘Hold me close’, it’s ‘You hold me close’. Just expressing it in that way... To say ‘Lord, hold me close’ is actually a misunderstanding of the Gospel. It’s sort of like saying ‘Oh Lord, have mercy’ - well, how much more mercy must He show? Or ‘Lord, forgive me’ - well, how much more forgiving can God get? I’ve become so aware of what God has done for me in having to apply grace to my journey rather than trying to prove myself worthy. It made me realise that there’s a whole culture of people pleading with God to do something that He’s already done. And when you turn around and realise the miracle - that He has done it - it turns life all the way around. It suddenly puts a value on you that you could never achieve in your own endeavour at all.”
Music has an awesome power to teach truth and shape culture. Songwriters and worship leaders have an awesome responsibility. It's sobering to think that even when so many people are singing your songs it's still so easy to let the focus slip from God onto yourself. Jesus said (John 12:32), "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Let's sing about God, who He is and what He has done, rather than ourselves, how we feel or would like to feel, and see if everything else doesn't just fall into place.
Below are this month's featured songs. Click here to hear all the featured songs (streaming playlist).
It's exiting to see the number of visitors continue to grow to over 4000 per day, with heaps of hits coming in from Google and music search engine singingfish.com.
And we'll leave you with Rick Muchow's column on song selection.
Blessings... until next time.
Marty Kendall ShareSong.org Coordinator
QUESTION: Song Selection?
“What involvement does your worship team play in song selection? What criteria do you use for selecting songs for worship?”
RICK MUCHOW:
It is my responsibility to put all the songs together. Ultimately, I choose all the songs but having said that, it is wise to use the resources of your team to find songs.
To me, a great congregational song for a weekend service offers clear, Biblical, memorable lyrics in a music style that fits the service. The song is easily singable, while it subtly or directly reinforces that weekend’s messages. A great worship song has a universal message for and from all believers, and is a general expression of faith anyone can give and which is made personal by the giver.
A great solo song must fit the above criteria but does not have to be singable. It’s more important for that song to drive home the point of the message.
In the early days at Saddleback, Pastor Rick asked me to preview every song but in giving the soloist the theme for the weekend, I would highly value their input on songs they loved and that fit their voice well. Many times singers would submit songs that didn’t fit that weekend but would fit a future service.
A strong caution – make it very clear to all singers that individual songs do not belong to them. Just because they find a song, sing it, or really want to sing it, they do not “own” that song. One time I asked a certain soloist to sing a song at Christmas and another regular soloist informed me that was “her song.” I explained as graciously as I could that although she had sung this song in the past the song was not really hers but the Lords, emphasizing that the worship service does not exist for our benefit alone as the team or member, but for the overall purposes of God.
Songs for worship must serve the purpose of connecting the people to God. We classify songs through a song flow formula that is more of a guide than a strict rule but the concept behind the formula is that we are telling a story: starting in broad terms and bringing people to a focused, intimate place. For example, we start with songs about God (His character, nature, benefits) leading to songs sung to God in the first person. We want to help people get to a place where there is an opportunity for an expression of worship, one on one from each individual to God.
I love the hymn that says “Let the Amen sound from his people again.” A great worship song is a beautiful frame for the Amen of God’s people. People will remember songs much longer than they will remember sermons.
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"‘What must I do to experience the presence of God?’. That was what
Geoff Bullock was all about: "What must we do to make the church
successful?; To experience the presence of God?; To have an encounter with
God? To get more of God? Now it is the all that You (God) have
done to enable me to be in grace and to be part of who You call the church
to be, not what I need the church to be.”
