Dr Paul Allen

When it comes to church worship music, I have particular tastes. I’m a millennial, but I love church pipe organs and classical music. I prefer Victorian hymns and Stuart Townend songs over Hillsong and Bethel. I dislike “modern renditions” of old hymns, where the melody is slightly tweaked or a new chorus is added in between original verses. A simple piano, organ, or acoustic guitar accompaniment to “Be Thou My Vision” will do just fine; an EDM version of it sends me for earplugs. I like to hear the voices of the congregation singing; I like choirs and four-part harmonies; I like Isaac Watts, Fanny Crosby, and a bellowing Bach toccata for an organ postlude. But none of these things is present in my current church on a Sunday morning. And that’s okay. I’m learning to sing my heart out anyway. Different Preferences, Same God The worship at my current church has been hard for me. It’s louder, newer, more electric than I like; it’s much more charismatic than I’m used to. At least half the

Author: John Piper. Anyone involved in worship or production ministry is all too aware of the critical role that volume plays in worship services. Can the congregation hear the drummer? Do the people in the back row hear the Scripture reading? Are the words being sung loud enough to be understandable? But whatever the ambient volume of the sanctuary, there is a more critical matter of volume and understanding at play. And it is one of the most glorious truths in the universe. It is implicit in our worship, but too seldom is it mentioned. When we gather to worship at our local churches, behind all our prayers and all our songs, behind all our exhortations and all our encouragements, is this stunning truth: God hears. Has that simple, astonishing truth recently escaped you? Do you realize that, though God is all-powerful and present everywhere, he is not required to hear you? Would your engagement in corporate worship differ if you were more aware of that truth than the volume of the

What is a modern hymn ? Opinions vary but for the sake of this new playlist , we’re including songs that: Feature all (or mostly all) original lyrics . In other words, these are not old hymn lyrics that have been set to new music (often known as “retuned hymns.” We’ll do a special “retuned hymns” playlist at a later date. Feature lyrics that are set to regular “metrical” patterns. You can  read more about hymn meter here . Are either entirely made up of verses, or that rely on verses to carry the message or story, but also include brief choruses or refrains. Without any further adieu, here’s our  full Spotify playlist of  modern hymns  – 17 songs, over an hours’ worth of music. If you’re blessed by these songs, consider purchasing some of them as singles (or purchase the full length records from whence they come). And if you’re a worship leader , consider adding some of these songs into the rotation at your church! Related articles The Sacred In Between - A Guest Post b

Charles Wesley’s hymn “And Can It Be” (1738) is one of the greatest hymns of all time. It’s a powerful proclamation of the good news of the Gospel , and full of amazing images of the freedom that Jesus purchased for us on the cross. s. Related articles Wesley's Chapel, the Museum of Methodism, and Me (aprilyamasaki.com) Moravian Musical Influence (haskerj.wordpress.com) The History of Christianity in 25 Objects: Olney Hymns (challies.com) A Thousand Tongues (thehaynesblog.com) Sunday, January 26, 2014 (musicatwesley.wordpress.com) John Meunier on Charles Wesley's "Let Us Plead for Faith Alone." (tbolto.wordpress.com) The heart of Methodism in 16 lines (johnmeunier.wordpress.com) Sunday, December 29, 2013 (musicatwesley.wordpress.com) Amazing love! (theonegaz.wordpress.com)

Christmas Eve celebrations feature Tradional Christmas carols , items, Bible reading , songs and a gospel Christmas message. Hope Church Varsity Lakes 6-7pm 175 Varsity Pde, Varsity Lakes Qld 4226. 

Alistair Begg recently spoke at Western Seminary . And just before he got into his sermon, he went on a fascinating little digression about the fact that American men don’t sing during worship .  It’s not just that we can’t sing, but that we don’t. And, although his primary focus is on worship, he thinks it’s a more widespread cultural phenomenon . In other cultures, especially in the UK , singing is a normal part of life. Men sing at football matches and in the pubs. So when they enter the church, singing is normal. But in America, it’s different. In Australia they just stand there. So Begg makes a fascinating point at the end of the clip when he says that he thinks you can really tell that a male has really been converted when he begins to sing during worship.  Check it out. If the video doesn’t start at the right place, jump to the 5:08 mark for the relevant clip. Mind you it may also have something to do with the music? But that's another story. Related articles

Image via Wikipedia Malaise is a mercy that feels yucky. Malaise is that feeling you get when you’re getting sick but you don’t quite know it yet.  It’s a vague sense of dis-ease . Your energy is draining. You just want to lie down. Emotionally, you might feel discouraged, irritable, depressed, or cynical for no identifiable reason. You ask yourself, “What’s the matter with me?” Precisely what you’re supposed to ask. Malaise is the early warning system God designed for the body. It’s telling you something destructive is attacking your bodily systems. It’s a messenger running ahead of an invading enemy alerting us to get our defenses in place. The soul also has its diseases and they are more deadly than the body’s. Soul diseases attack our belief systems. Corrupted beliefs can be very serious if left untreated. They grow and spread, wreaking destruction in us. And when contagious, as they frequently are, they harm others. Such diseases can result in soul-death . Mercifully, there is

Image via Wikipedia Malaise is a mercy that feels yucky. Malaise is that feeling you get when you’re getting sick but you don’t quite know it yet.  It’s a vague sense of dis-ease . Your energy is draining. You just want to lie down. Emotionally, you might feel discouraged, irritable, depressed, or cynical for no identifiable reason. You ask yourself, “What’s the matter with me?” Precisely what you’re supposed to ask. Malaise is the early warning system God designed for the body. It’s telling you something destructive is attacking your bodily systems. It’s a messenger running ahead of an invading enemy alerting us to get our defenses in place. The soul also has its diseases and they are more deadly than the body’s. Soul diseases attack our belief systems. Corrupted beliefs can be very serious if left untreated. They grow and spread, wreaking destruction in us. And when contagious, as they frequently are, they harm others. Such diseases can result in soul-death . Mercifully, there is

Image via Wikipedia One of the biggest obstacles for many people in worship comes when it’s time to sing a song or a line they don’t fully mean or haven’t fully lived up to. Lines that declare that we’re ready to sacrifice everything, when giving 10% of our income feels like a harder sacrifice to make than martyrdom. Songs about God ’s glory being our greatest passion, when it’s usually our greatest afterthought. Some choose not to sing these lines or songs at all. They wouldn’t dare sing something they don’t mean or live. Others sing them, but feel like they’re being hypocritical . Both of these groups miss an essential truth of worship: Worship isn’t an assessment of my performance but a statement of my intention. If I had to completely mean and live every word every time I sang it, I would never sing. Nobody would. Even the men who wrote the Psalms . By still singing , we’re not being hypocritical. We’re training our  flesh  to submit to our  spirit . We’re stating

Image via Wikipedia Mal Fletcher. The Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini once said that, ‘Every kind of music   is good, except the boring kind.’ I wonder if he would respond the same way if he were taking part in the current debate on the over-sexualisation of music aimed at young teens. Today’s teen music industry may not be boring, but is it healthy? This question was raised again this week by Mike Stock , former pop impresario and the man responsible for launching the career of Kylie Minogue .  Mr Stock is no longer the force in music production and promotion that he was in the 1980s when he was part of the influential triumvirate Stock, Aitken and Waterman.  Yet his views still carry weight, coming as they do from someone who, in his time, was not averse to using sexuality – albeit a gentler kind – to sell his wares. 'The music industry has gone too far,’ he says. ‘These days you can't watch modern stars -  like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga  - with a two-year-old.’