Fruitful Worship
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Stop and Check Yourself. Are You Being Kind to People with Different Worship Tastes? Reestablishing the Terms of the Bethel-Hillsong Debate.
Let me open this sixth article in our Bethel-Hillsong series with a confession: I have not always been kind when it comes to worship music. I have vivid memories of sitting through sets that I didn’t like with clenched jaws and crossed arms. That is not kind. Let me follow that up with another confession. Continue reading
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Should we be Concerned that Using Music by Bethel and Hillsong is Contributing to our Culture of Immediate Gratification? On Patience and Using CCM Music in Worship
One of my favorite hobbies is discovering lesser-known Christian artists and listening to their entire output on repeat. I’ve come across some wonderful artists who have established careers and impressive catalogs of songs…so why aren’t we using their work in worship? Aside from overt issues of heresy and immorality, perhaps my biggest concern when it Continue reading
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Is Singing Music by Bethel and Hillsong Promoting Peace in the Body of Christ? The Answer is More Nuanced Than You Think.
Peace is a sorely abused fruit of the Spirit. Too often we are told to “keep the peace,” meaning to keep quiet and refrain from speaking hard truths. But the beatitude is “blessed are the peacemakers.” Makers. There is more to peace than comfortability and tolerance. Instead, it is about Christ making peace for us Continue reading
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Rejoicing with the Truth: Does Using Music by Bethel and Hillsong Generate Genuine Joy in our Churches?
Writing this article is more difficult than I anticipated. Yesterday, I watched the recently-released 7News documentary on Hillsong. The abuse and arrogance exposed here (and in many other sources) made me physically ill, not to mention spiritually grieved. An exposé like this gives concrete urgency to the question “to sing or not to sing?” Now, Continue reading
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Is it Loving to Sing Music by Bethel and Hillsong in Our Worship? Reexamining the Debate According to the Fruit of the Spirit Part 1
The fruit of the Spirit is love. Love is not only listed first among the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23; it is the root of the fruit. For Christians, love is not a stand-alone virtue. Instead, it must contain and convey joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Without these, love Continue reading
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Sick of Unfruitful Arguing? It’s Time to Reexamine the Bethel-Hillsong Debate According to the Fruit of the Spirit.
I’ve seen countless articles about the Bethel-Hillsong controversy. The debate over whether or not to use music by theologically and/or ethically suspect organizations has become the new “Worship War.” The battle previously waged between staunch traditionalists and contemporary music fans is taking a back seat to this more immediate, heated debate: Can Bible-believing congregations rightly Continue reading
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Reawaken Hymns Livestream
Yesterday, I participated in a livestream on the fruit of the Spirit in musical worship Nathan Drake of Reawaken Hymns. It was a wonderful time full of insight and humor. You can watch the complete livestream at the following link: Reawaken Hymns Livestream Continue reading
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Renew the Arts Podcast
I had the joy of recording a podcast for Renew the Arts, a patronage organization for Christian artists. We discussed my current project, the fruit of the Spirit in musical worship, and you can listen here: Renew the Arts Podcast Continue reading
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The Fruit of the Spirit in Worship
I have written extensively on singing as a scriptural mandate, as essential evidence and enforcement of the Holy Spirit’s ministry. For reference, please see my previous posts, “Four Reasons Your Church Should have a Choir” and “Preaching as the Choir”. Worshipful music (note that not all “worship music” is necessarily worshipful) must be practiced and Continue reading
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