A Philosophy of Worship Music

Few words are as apt to elicit a passionate response as the words worship music. Churches, institutions, and homes have been rocked (pun intended) by debates over what is—and more Pianooften, what is not!—acceptable music. While I understand the debate and tend to land on the conservative side of it, the fact that the term worship is heard by many as a call to arms instead of a call to prayer grieves me.

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Weary of the Worship Wars

I Surrender “Some”

Ethnic GuitarsWhen I came to Christ at age nineteen, my life was dramatically and irreversibly changed. Many of those changes were immediate. I stopped doing and selling dope. I cut my hair. I burned my rock albums (no CDs then!) and shaved my mustache, the final vestige of my worldly life, before going to Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC).

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Four Ways Instrumentalists Can Raise the Bar

by Greg Howlett

Music is a lightning rod for controversy on SharperIron, and I am hopeful that this article will lead to some thoughtful discussion and introspection. However, I have challenged myself to write about music in a way that is relevant to the average fundamentalist church while avoiding the normal debates about CCM and stylistic preferences.

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Book Review—Sunday

Reviewed by Todd Wood.

Harline, Craig. Sunday: A History of the First Day from Babylonia to the Super Bowl. New York: Doubleday, 2007. Hardcover, 450 pages. $26.00.

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God-Focused Conversation and Worship

I am a devoted pursuer of this topic. Sure, I like ice cream, oak furniture, running shoes, fast bikes, tuned skis, ocean beaches, and exotic cultures. I drink Mountain Dew. I enjoy good mountaineering. I sprint after my kids for some fun tickle-tag, and I smooch my wife (an absolute blast). But it is God at the center who brings everything into true joyous praying.jpgharmony.

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Bible Study on Worship and Music Now Available

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David Ledgerwood, fine arts department chair for Maranatha Baptist Bible College, and his wife Kim, have published a 30-day Bible study on worship and music. See here for more information and sample pages.

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