happy worship songs

have you ever noticed that many or most of our worship songs seem to be happy?  right from the beginning let me say i think that’s a great thing.  we should be coming before our lord and creator with praise and adulation, which certainly creates a happy, positive vibe.

however, have you ever read the psalms? there are laments and psalms questioning god and wondering when he will come through for them. 

-where are these things today?
-why are they not showing up in our worship services?
-are they just not popular?
-where are the songs of confession?
-are we scared?

i personally think this last question is the one that kind of sums it all up.  it seems as though we are probably scared of upsetting god.  we are scared of church attendance dwindling if we aren’t singing and playing the most uplifting of songs (yes, ouch, this one hurts to read). we are scared to wear our questions on our sleeve.  we are scared to show that we don’t have it all figured out.

we need to be allowed the freedom to wonder. to question. to be confused. to struggle. to live. to learn. to make mistakes. to wallow in the depths. to figure things out. to doubt. to not be sure.

not only do we need to be allowed to do these things, but i believe god wants us to.  how can we ever be cemented in our faith and christianity if we take it all at face value? 

and so to me, it only makes sense that our worship and our songs would reflect this aspect of the christian struggle.  but from where i sit, that is not happening.  i want to personally invite you to feel free to express the positives and negatives of the christian life.  if you are writing songs, don’t feel pressured to stick with the present day norm of making everything happy. allow your questions to show through in your songs.  if you are planning services, don’t feel forced to make all the prayers, sermons, dramas, scripture readings, etc happy either. 

let me conclude by saying that i love happy songs.  if you know me you know that i wear a happiness on my face just about every moment of every day.  and that smile comes from the joy of the lord.  but, know that i have my moments and days and weeks where i’m having questions and doubts myself.  in fact i’m working on a song with some friends right now called “now and then” that looks at both side of the coin.

the lyrics so far are:

now and then, i am over you
but that’s okay
cause i am over me too

now and then, i am plagued
with all this doubt
but you come, you come
and work it all out

now and then
i can’t see your face
in anything
so please forgive my unbelief

now and then,
i’m unsure of everything
but you come, you come
and cause my heart to sing

so there ya go.  that’s me on a day when it’s not all perfect and happy.

what are some of your thoughts? written any songs questioning god? what do you do when its not all perfect?

thanks for checkin in!

until next time, don’t be mean to red heads. they are people too. (my friend/roomie chad – he a redhead – told me that just today he was spat upon…i for one do not condone this).

potluck worship songs

howdy friends, it’s time to write the first “song writing” blog. this is one that has been stirring around in my head for sometime. it stems from conversations i have had several times with my best friend brad. the foundation for these ideas are all straight from his head (so if you don’t agree with me yell at him…but if you love it then i’ll take all the praise and pass it on to him…haha). really all i have done is to put a name on the idea.

the thought is that it often feels as though many worship songs are written by someone putting a bunch of christian words into a hat and whatever words are pulled out are the lyrics to the song (which would stink if you pull out “grave” and not “save” or “grace” but not “place” or “praise”). and come on i had to use potluck cause that was one of the best parts of my childhood growing up in chrurch was the sunday lunch potluck. you just never knew what everyone was gonna bring for the sunday luncheon. it was always random, but always mostly the same types of things.

that’s how many worship songs feel. they use very generic language. it’s almost as though the thought is that as long as a song is sprinkled with a few christian words it is a solid corporate worship song. i feel like i’m often singing the same song just with a different name and by a different author.

i would like to challenge all you song writers out there: BE CREATIVE!!! one of the biggest problems with the church today is a lack of beautiful artistry and creativity. as a worship leader or song writer, you owe it to the creator of all things to bring your most original and interesting efforts. please do not settle with the status quo of what worship songs are. we, as the body of christ, need you to step up! get outside of the current “worship song mold” and use all the talent you have been gifted.

let me be sure i also say that there is a lot of great music out there. there are many many songs that are very biblically based, with interesting melodies, and creative chords and artistry, that are very singable congregationally.

thanks to every one of you who is producing music for the church to latch on to. we need your unending dedication to bringing the entire world into the bride of christ. thanks for all you do! keep it up!

until next time, this whole potluck thing has made me hungry. why don’t you plan a potluck meal with some good friends?