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On October 12, 2022 By In Culture, Music

A Culture of Singing

Some Practical Ways to Expand Singing in the Church, Home, and School

I work in music and choir roles for both a church and a school. A significant portion of my week involves training people to read music and sing music together. I enjoy helping people learn to sing and read music with greater understanding. Because of this, I occasionally get the opportunity to speak with the heads of schools in our association about their music programs. 

The number one question I receive from school administrators who are already convinced of the benefits of singing and music literacy for all of their school is, “How do we build up a singing culture at our school? In the book Raise the Song: A Classical Christian Guide to Music Education there is a chapter titled, “Singing School” that talks about this very thing. We want schools that are singing and that are teaching students to sing. But a singing culture must be present in more than the school. It needs to be in the church and in the home as well. Here are some things that help strengthen and identify strong singing cultures in churches, homes, and schools. This list is not exhaustive. Hopefully, you are doing many of these things and maybe this list sparks you to think of how to keep moving further up and in the singing culture around you. Feel free to comment at the bottom of the post if there are other ways that singing is happening and strengthening you and your community.

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On March 16, 2021 By In Church, Music, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must edify one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The third duty that assembly-members have is to edify one another. You have the obligation to edify, uplift, and encourage your brothers and sisters.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29)

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another…pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all (1 Thessalonians 5:11, 15)

These verses teach that we are to build each other up. The Greek word for edify (oikodomé) means “to build.” It’s the same word for building a house. We build up the house – the assembly – through mutual edification.

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On July 7, 2020 By In Culture, Worship

Why We will Not Stop Singing

It would have been almost impossible to imagine a few months ago that we would be where we are today. Viruses and viral police stories have become the catalysts to bring to the surface deeper spiritual issues within the culture.   Equally difficult is to anticipate all the ways these crises will affect our life and culture in the days to come. One of the interesting effects of COVID-19 up to this point is the way in which we gather to worship as God’s people. Not only has it forced us to worship differently as the body of Christ, but it has stirred many questions regarding the way in which we are to worship. Living in a nation that was built upon the principle of religious freedom, the church in America has not had to wrestle much with the tension between faithfulness to God in worship and obedience to the State as citizens. That tension is quickly and inevitably tightening.

A recent example of this growing antithesis can be found, unsurprisingly, in California. It started several weeks ago with the suggestion from various sources that Christians should consider not singing within the corporate worship gatherings. The suggestion itself was not altogether surprising given the ignorance and obstinacy of the culture. But the fact that some churches and individual Christians actually considered such a suggestion should have been astounding. Now the soft, steady beat of suggestion and persuasion has risen to sound more like the drums of war. 

Speaking of war, I am the first to caution my brothers and sisters in Christ against the temptation to fight every battle, to make every bump a hill to die on. If Christ indeed rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to sit down at the right hand of the Father, if He is truly and presently ruling over all creation as King of kings and Lord of lords, then I think Christians should respond to the worldings around us from a position of strength. We have the high ground of truth. We are not called to live in a defensive position, reacting to the thorns and thistles that poke and prod us as we go. 

So when someone, well-meaning or otherwise, suggests to us that maybe refraining from singing in our worship services would be wise and considerate, the proper response should be nothing more than a dismissive chuckle. It should be the same kind of response you would give to the suggestion that air-borne illnesses would disappear if we all just started holding our breath. 

For the Christian, one who is not only created in the image of the Triune God but is being conformed into the image of the Son and is indwelt by the life-giving Spirit, singing is as natural as breathing. We should no more be able to stop singing than fish can stop swimming. If you see a fish that is no longer swimming, it is not going to be a fish very much longer. Its fish-life is either ebbing away or gone altogether. Christians sing together because it is in our very nature to do so. To cease from singing is to cease from being. I don’t care how ridiculous that might sound to the “wise fools” who pretend to sit in judgment over such things. 

However, there are fights worth fighting. There are hills upon which we can and must be willing to die. And when silly suggestions grow into perverse requirements, the people of God must remain steadfast in our faith, knowing that compromise and capitulation to our thornbush leaders would result in the life being choked out of us. a If you want to know what that looks like, there’s a great little parable about it in Judges 9. Therefore, as we anticipate the fight before us, here are a few things to consider.

First, we must fight out of love for Christ and in a way that loves our enemies. This is a tricky one for us in the current cultural climate. There are many voices in these conflicts that are antagonistic to the truth. Some are deceptive in nature, speaking in ways that tickle the ears of the culture for their own gain. Others are deceived in their motives. They think they are actually loving people by what they stand up for or affirm, but their words are empty of life.

At the same time, we who love the truth can also fall into a deceptive trap. We can become more enamored with winning the fight than pleasing God in the struggle. If the false prophets are shouting, we will shout even louder. We can become motivated out of frustration at losing rather than maintaining faithfulness to God. And we can easily end up fighting worldliness with self-righteousness rather than simply being bold witnesses to His justice and mercy.

Jesus commanded his disciples to live in such a way that others would see their good works and become worshippers of God themselves. b Our ultimate desire as Christians is not to sing and praise God loud enough to drown out the cries of our enemies. Our desire is to worship in such a way that God would overcome our enemies by His grace and they would join the loud refrain. 

Second, we need to remember that conflicts are gifts from Christ for the good of His church. It can be easy for us to get all worked up in a righteous frenzy when we feel the squeeze. It is helpful to be reminded that in every conflict there is opportunity for growth. In every crisis there is opportunity for clarity. These are God-given moments in the washing and beautifying of Christ’s bride. Let us not waste these trials, but use them to increase the depth, passion, quality, frequency, unity, and diversity of our singing together. There is much fruit to be gained here across all denominations and traditions.   

Third, we must sing out of a clear understanding and deep appreciation of our history and our future. Not only is singing a part of our nature as God’s image-bearers, c but singing has been a primary means by which we praise and magnify who God is and what He has done from the beginning.

We find Adam poetically expressing his delight in God’s gift of Eve after being resurrected by Him from the death-like sleep. d We find Moses and the sons of Israel singing a song following the exodus of God’s people out of Egypt. e  This song would be sung generation after generation to remind them of God’s faithfulness and power. It was a corporate preservative of their identity as a people chosen by Yahweh and called out of bondage to worship Him.  

Creation itself is commanded to sing to its Creator in response to God’s redemptive actions toward His people. “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.” f The Psalms command us again and again to sing to the Lord, g and as we do so in the assembly, it reorients our thoughts and affections rightly as the covenant community of the Risen Christ. h  

And at the final consummation of the age when Christ comes again to bring to completion the new heavens and new earth, we find the saints singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. i 

These are difficult and unusual times to be sure. The church is not without its challenges and concerns ahead. But it has always been this way and will continue until that final day when all presence of sin is eradicated from our midst and the bride of Christ stands in all her perfected beauty radiantly reflecting the glory of her Groom. Until then, we must remain “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” j Singing is an indispensable part of that work. We sing in victory, we sing in tragedy, we sing in the light, we sing in the dark, we sing as a means of warfare, we sing in expectation of peace. We will sing the great story of redemptive history from generation to generation, and we will continue to sing into eternity when time no longer matters.

  1. Matthew 13:22  (back)
  2. Matthew 5:15-16  (back)
  3. Zephaniah 3:17  (back)
  4. Genesis 2:23  (back)
  5. Exodus 15  (back)
  6. Isaiah 49:13  (back)
  7. Psalm 30,47,51,67,68  (back)
  8. Colossians 4:16  (back)
  9. Revelation 15:3-4  (back)
  10. 1 Corinthians 15:58  (back)

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On May 9, 2020 By In Worship

When Evangelicals Tell the Church to Stop Singing!

The absurdity in this COVID age is not simply that the government wishes to impose particular restraints in the life of the church without authority and violating sphere sovereignty, but that Christians are eager to support those policies and comply with them.

In the beginning there were examples of regulations against meeting in large numbers (understood in the early stages), then, upon setting guidelines for re-opening, certain city officials demanded that individual churches keep a private file for 30 days of all those who attended church (including entrance/exit time and other personal details); then, there were specific observations made to the effect that the Lord’s Supper was to be avoided for safety concerns.

Now, evangelical voices are siding with researchers on the dangers of aerosolized transmission in the church service. Scientists say that “It seems that the virus can spread in this manner; but we don’t know how infectious these tiny particles are.”

What’s the end result of all of this? That congregations should consider a ban on singing or that we should sing less and more quietly or that we delay the opening of church altogether (despite the green light of many officials that they can open) until a vaccine is available.

The rationale for such approach is one I have heard dozens and dozens of times through much of this conversation. It goes like this, “To love our neighbor is to not expose them to any potential risks of getting COVID, and therefore these measures however drastic are clear examples of our corporate commitment to love one another.”

Again, to stress the absolute obvious: precautions are good and prudent. People who are at high risk should take extra caution and religious leaders should offer extra grace. But now we are entering into the realm of the insane when the state (CDC, WHO, whomever) and even evangelical voices begin to demand for the sake of “love” that we retreat from our liturgical duties to appease the gods of the air.

The Church is giving in too much. The sign of our weakening is that the voices of doom from the outside are beginning to shake the very foundation of our faith within. Singing brings walls down, topples empires, brings fear to the devil, soothes the sick and hurting, establishes order and might I add is a marching order from the God who sings over us. Enough already! Singing to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is probably the most needed medicine in the church today.

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On May 8, 2020 By In Counseling/Piety

A Song for the Day of Trouble (part 3)

Everyone knows the power of the right song at the right time. I’ve experienced it on the radio, in the church pew, and in moments when singing was the last thing I felt like doing. There is a poetic potency in music to pierce through the darkness or rise above the noise. It should not surprise us that this is so. We are made in the image of a singing God. Music is in our blood. And when our hearts are set free from sin and death, we become a singing people- especially in times of trouble. Jesus and his disciples sang on the eve of the darkest night in all of history. Paul and Silas sang throughout the night bound and broken though they were.  These songs are gifts of the Spirit to stir us, strengthen us, and sustain us. Asaph seeks the remembrance of such a song now as he considers his present circumstances in light of how the Lord has revealed Himself to His people in the past.

Troubled times lead us to reorient our thoughts.

What song would he have sung to see the Lord’s favor again? What song would have stirred up his faith in the Lord’s protection and his hope in the Lord’s salvation? The Psalmist will turn to images from the Exodus in stanzas 3 and 4. So maybe it was the song of Moses recorded in Exodus 15. 

“I will sing to the LORD for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation; this is my God and I will praise Him, my father’s God and I will exalt Him.”

Exodus 15:1-2

Maybe it was the other song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 that God commanded him to write and teach the people as they were ready to follow Joshua into the land of Promise. 

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations;”

Deuteronomy 32:1-7

In this song of judgment, the faithfulness and favor of God is contrasted with the coming unfaithfulness and ungratefulness of his chosen people, Israel. They will grow fat in the day of prosperity and forget the God who delivered them out of the hands of their enemies and made them great. 

A song of judgment does not sound like a good choice in dark times, but this was also a song for the faithful remnant. For the faithful, God’s justice is a great comfort. His sovereign rule is not a burden to be carried but a blessing. This song was a reminder that although God had forsaken unbelieving Israel, he would remain true to his promises to those who fear him, to those who call upon his name. The Apostle Paul poetically says it this way:

“If we have died with him, we will also live with him;  if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.“

2 Timothy 2:11-13

We do not know for certain the song Asaph has in mind, but whatever the song, he turns to it now. And the spirit that had grown faint in remembering in verse 3, is now stirred up to make a diligent search. Now he is ready to ask the questions rising up in his mind, but notice the nature of the questions.

“Will the Lord spurn forever?” 

“Will he never again be favorable?”

“Has his steadfast love forever ceased?”

“Are his promises at an end for all time?”

“Has God forgotten to be gracious?”

“Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”  

Questions of the heart either flow from belief or unbelief. Sometimes we can fall into a false piety that says true belief banishes all questions. In reality, true belief simply produces the right kind of question. Questions of belief are rooted in a reality beyond one’s self. Because we believe certain things to be true, we wrestle with present circumstances that challenge those truths. It is the martyrs’ unwavering faith in God’s justice that provokes them to cry “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” a

God is not in the dock enduring the cross-examination of Asaph. Asaph is a child before his father trying to grasp something bigger than his little hands can hold on their own. 

In contrast, questions of unbelief rise from a heart at the center of its own universe. All other things must give an account in relation to the self. Listen to how differently the questions sound when they arise from a man-centered perspective. 

“Why has the Lord rejected me?”

“Why is he withholding his blessings in my life?”

“Why doesn’t he love me?”

“Why are his promises not coming to pass?”

“Why has the Lord forgotten me?”

“Why is he punishing me like this?”

As trouble squeezes us, it not only reveals what is in us, but in the hands of the Spirit, it can shape us in glorious ways. Our honest cries become holy cries. Our sighs become songs. Our questions become guideposts that lead us out of the shadows into the shadow of the Almighty. 

Or to go back to an earlier image, this psalm is a divine song teaching us the dance of faith. We’re learning to let the Spirit lead us rather than rushing ahead. The Lord is not being asked to get in step with our lives; we are seeking to get into step with His life. It is a descending down that leads to a glorious ascending up. 

And stanza 3 brings that turning point. 

“Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.”

Psalm 77:10-11

Difficulties have a way of dominating our vision. We spend all our time thinking about what we don’t understand fully and we can’t see through it. Like dark clouds blowing across the moon, the things closest to us can obscure even the biggest, most solid of realities. Asaph fills his vision with clear remembrances of God’s glory revealed countless times in the lives of His people. He appeals to the years in which the works and rule of God were plainly demonstrated. He lets what is clear inform his understanding of what is cloudy. He leaves no room for doubt to slip in. As we meditate on the greatness and goodness of God in history, we will find our minds less captive to the anxieties of the present. Asaph lives under a clear sense of God’s countenance even when it is hidden. “The years of the right hand of the Most High” bring several truths to his remembrance.

First, he remembers that God is holy. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? (v.13)

Second, he remembers that God is all-powerful. You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. (v.14)

Third, he remembers that God’s lovingkindness endures forever. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. (v.15)

Troubled times provide the backdrop of gospel glory.

The final stanza looks to the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt as evidence of God’s power and love. The nature imagery, much of which is drawn from Moses’ account recorded earlier in Scripture, provides a rich contrast between our response to figurative waves, storms, whirlwinds, and earthquakes. To us, these are the sources of trouble. But in the hands of the Almighty, they appear as mere servants to His redemptive grace.  

“When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.“

Psalm 77:16-20

The Psalmist looks back at the great deliverance of God’s people and he finds great comfort and hope in the midst of present trouble. The Lord is faithful to his own. His steadfast love endures forever. His promises stand firm. He is gracious, slow to anger and rich in compassion.

But there is a greater exodus that we are to look back and remember. We have experienced a greater deliverance by a greater Moses. We have been given a greater kingdom by a greater Joshua. 

It was all perfectly accomplished as water and blood flowed from his side, as the earth trembled and shook at the empty tomb, as he ascended to the right hand of the Father to shepherd his little lambs, and as He poured out His Spirit upon the church to become kings and priests to the world.

The psalms are gospel songs. What they looked forward to for Asaph are a means of looking back for us. We are not just a singing people. Our songs have a peculiar tune, a peculiar sound that cannot be ignored. Today, in the midst of real life, “let us love and sing and wonder; let us praise the Savior’s name!” b AMEN!


  1. Revelation 6:10  (back)
  2. Newton, John (1774). Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder  (back)

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On December 28, 2016 By In Theology, Worship

A Case for Working Hard in Worship: Eight Reasons to Sweat on Sunday Morning

From Couch to Warfare

There is a great app called Couch to 5K. It’s designed for people who have become comfortable with the couch and have an allergy to the treadmill. It’s an incremental approach to working out. As the weeks go by we become more accustomed to the patterns established and we long to achieve the final level when we run an entire 5K. It’s hard work. My proposition is very simple: Worship is hard. We cannot remain comfortable in our pews. We need to start running the race. We may not be ready to run a 5K, but we need to be headed in that direction. And like running, worship requires habits and consistency. I am calling you to burn your calories in worship not because I am a controversialist or a tyrannical trainer but because I want you to be a healthy sacrifice to God. In fact, the formal synonym for worship is liturgy. Liturgy comes from two words: “Work” and “people.” Therefore, worship or liturgy can be accurately defined as the work of the people. 

Our Lord was so righteously angry by the easy business transactions (easy worship) of the Temple that he turned upside down the world when he overturned the tables of the money-changers (John 2:13-16). Such audacity should be imitated by God’s people, but cautiously exercised in light of our sinfulness. So here is my attempt to cautiously turn a few tables upside down with the hope that some will decide to keep it that way rather than try to put it back up or mend the broken pieces. (more…)

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On October 4, 2016 By In Family and Children, Music

Why Don’t Men Sing in Church?

Why are men not singing in Church? Various articles have attempted to answer that question recently. But before we can try to offer a rationale for such a spectacular question, we need to observe that some are entirely comfortable allowing this trend to continue. After all, music plays a minimal role in their worship expressions. Others find the issue of congregational singing irrelevant due to the trained praise bands that lead worship each Sunday. “Let the professionals lead.”

Certain environments encourage people to hear and feel the music rather than sing it. And some groups have placed such high priority on the preached word that the very idea of a singing congregation seems secondary, if not tertiary in the priority list.

But on to better things.

Fortunately, there are a vast amount of churches and leaders that still treasure congregational singing and long for a time when men return to the old-fashioned task of singing God’s melodies. The cruel reality is that we are far from the mark. In my many visits to evangelical churches over the years, the few men who opened their mouths, timidly read the words like a child attempting to spell out his phonics assignment.

Timid singers make for timid Christians. (more…)

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On September 18, 2013 By In Worship

A Biblically Sound Worship Ministry

A Biblically Sound Worship Ministry

  1. Will be overseen and preferably led by the qualified, male elders in the church. Three important words: qualified, male, and overseen. These elders should regularly study God’s Word and read articles and books so they can help lead a faithful music ministry.
  2. Will make it a priority to hire a full or part-time music pastor, who could shepherd the church through music and song. This man will be trained theologically, pastorally, and musically. My point is that if a church has the ability to hire more than one pastoral staff member this position should be at the top of the list.
  3. Will seek to be faithful to God’s Word in content and form. One key to this is numbers 1 & 2.
  4. Will sing God’s Word, especially the Psalms. And will constantly be searching for more of God’s Word set to music.  We are grateful for hymns. But hymns are not God’s Word.
  5. Will study at the feet of God’s people from the past, seeking to use tradition wisely.
  6. Will not be afraid of contemporary songs or forms, but will use them wisely to convey God’s Word.
  7. Will highlight the voice of the congregation. This means most songs, after they are learned, will be accessible to most of God’s people. It means there should be regular singing without the aid of instruments.  It means instruments should support the people’s voices not overwhelm them.
  8. Will sing songs that have a variety of tempos, moods, lengths, and themes.
  9. Will express this variety using the God-given resources in the congregation.
  10. Will be grateful for all they have, but will seek to use all they have to push on to greater Biblical maturity.

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