Worship – Page 3

June 11, 2008 0Likes 1Comment

Art that Betters the World

In his closing comments at the Arise Arts Conference, Brian McLaren complimented Christian artists for “using the arts to better the church.” Most of us could agree with that because over the past 30 years the Church has made huge strides in music and arts in the church. There has been an improvement in quality and diversity, as seen in our churches and the success of contemporary Christian music. Following his brief compliment, McLaren challenged Christian artists to use the arts to “better the world.” His challenge resonated deeply with me. Far too often, we fall into the temptation of…

June 11, 2008 0Likes 1Comment

June 1, 2008 0Likes 1Comment

You Are My Lord

Psalm 16, a golden psalm of David, is quickly becoming one of my favorite psalms. One of my favorite parts is verse 2, where David writes, “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, I have no good besides you.’ ” It is a simple reminder of how God should be exalted above all else in our lives — not out of legalistic obligation, but because He truly is the only good in our lives. Everything that is good comes from Him. If we claim Christ as our Lord, we should regularly remind ourselves of that commitment. Matthew Henry…

June 1, 2008 0Likes 1Comment

April 11, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

Worship: Responding to God’s Voice

Several weeks ago I wrote that art does not create truth, but “uncovers truth,” as an artist chisels away stone. In other words, art discovers truth, but does not create it. Whatever the form, it is important that art never gets so self-consumed that it loses sight of the original Source of Truth. On the other hand, maybe even “uncovering” is giving ourselves too much credit. My reason for second guessing myself is this A.W. Tozer quote from “Theology Set to Music”: Hymns do not create truth, nor even reveal it; they celebrate it. They are the response of the trusting heart to…

April 11, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

Sanctification: God’s Role Is More Important

Followers of Jesus should have an insatiable desire to become more like Jesus and are never satisfied with the status quo. We should want to be separate from surrounding sin, and without a doubt, distinct from the crowd. Although we are born and raised in a crowd of sinners, our life’s goal should be to step out of that crowd and move towards God. However, sanctification is not an act of self-improving ourselves. As A.B. Simpson worded 1 Thes. 5:23, ““the God of peace himself [will] sanctify you wholly.” Although we choose to be sanctified, God’s role is more important…

April 11, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

March 8, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

Postmodern Theology

“Tom Beaudoin reveals four themes that shape the theology of many Postmoderns: (1) all institutions are suspect; (2) personal experience is everything; (3) suffering is spiritual; and (4) ambiguity is a central element of faith.” (source) To respond to each of these, it would seem that the Church should: (1) embrace people more than programs; (2) focus on interactive, communal worship; (3) provide more opportunities for service; and (4) explore more gray areas in our teachings and discussions. What do you think?

March 8, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

February 27, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

Imagining God

Theology is different from other “ologies” in the sense that if we only engage our subject intellectually, we miss the mark. We may understand hundreds of propositions about God, but if our imaginations are not involved in the process, I would say that we have failed. (By imagination I mean “envisioning what we do not rationally know.”) Over at Signs of Emergence, Nick Hughes was quoted as saying, “I wish that someone, some group, something, somewhere would develop a theological project that captured the imagination. All the good ideas are elsewhere.” He is a graphic designer, not a theologian, but…

February 27, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

February 21, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

New Worship EP!

My new worship EP is now available for purchase online. You can download tracks, or the entire EP of A Thousand Names, at DiscRevolt.com. Just click HERE to find the Joel Jupp page!

February 21, 2008 0Likes 0Comments

November 1, 2007 0Likes 0Comments

There’s soft rock in heaven?

Whether it’s verbalized or not, a church’s music style communicates doctrine — or at the very least, it communicates values. That’s not something that we often think about. Unfortunately, we are usually more concerned with the sound than the substance, and we don’t stop to contemplate the greater implications of our style choices. What does style communicate? For the hymn-singing church, it may be that “Church tradition is inherently valuable.” For the blended church, it may be that “Everyone should get along.” For the contemporary church, “Sunday morning ain’t so bad.” For the modern church, “Newer is better.” And for…

November 1, 2007 0Likes 0Comments

October 31, 2007 0Likes 0Comments

Let the Children Come…

I recently led worship for 300 children. You never quite know how kids will respond, but they all like to have fun. So I began by asking them, “Are you guys ready to have some fun?” And of course, that was all they needed to hear. All of them were excited and ready to go. The projector wasn’t working, so there were no lyrics; but we laughed at that. Most of the kids couldn’t read the words anyways. I invited the children to sing if they knew the songs and to sing the echo parts after me. From the first…

October 31, 2007 0Likes 0Comments

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