Pure Church

JT posts a great video conversation between Bob Kauflin and David Powlison on the intersection between counseling and worship.

Was thrilled to have a front row seat for this one!



See JT (HT) for the lyrics.

Bob Kauflin reflects on passing worship to the next generation. He borrows a metaphor from track and field, the relay race, to offer four points:

The race is about the baton, not the runners.
The relay brings out the best in every runner.
Practice until the handover becomes instinctual.
The baton exchange should occur at very close to maximum speed.

Hear his sermon from Worship God '09 here.

Sometimes the things that impact us most are things we hear in passing. It happens with conversations and sermons all the time. Someone says something that's almost a line in passing and the hearer is profoundly impacted.

This past week at Worship God, there were two things that struck me that way.

First, my daughter Kasey prayed in thanksgiving to God "that we awoke under grace and not under wrath." Okay, that's something to be thankful for everyday. It's impacted my prayers and my greetings since I first heard it.

Second, perhaps more intentional, on a couple occasions I heard Bob Kauflin mention "living in the good of the gospel." Made me think more about where I "live," if it's in all of the rich wonder and goodness of the gospel. Am I applying the gospel in every way that I can to my daily life?

Just a couple things I heard in passing that have impacted my thinking and living.

How about you? Heard anything in passing that's impacted you lately?

The folks at Sovereign Grace put together the best conference I know of for folks involved in leading public praise. The conference blends both concentrated attention to the word of God and workshops addressing almost every imaginable topic involved in leading worship, songwriting, playing instruments (everything but the Oboe according to C.J.), and a host of other things. It's a wonderfully refreshing time.

They've made the audio from this year's general sessions available:
For all downloads, right-click and select "Save Target/Link As."

The God of Worship (John Piper)
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The Heart of Worship (John Piper)
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The Leaders of Worship (Jeff Purswell)
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The Church of Worship (Thabiti Anyabwile)
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Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Leading (C.J. Mahaney and Bob Kauflin)
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The Life of Worship (Bob Kauflin)
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What a joy it was to sit under the word and enjoy this fellowship!

I'm excited about the opportunity to sit under God's word and fellowship with His people in three upcoming conferences.

When you hang out with the Sovereign Grace guys, you laugh a lot. I mean A LOT! And they don't take prisoners either. You've been with them 10 minutes, you're fair game! I love that. That take Jesus seriously, but not themselves--or you either! I think that's one of their core values or something. Shame a brother into humility.

Take this video from the Worship God conference for example.


In Two Keys at the Same Time from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

About 1,200 witnessed it live. But my dear fried Bob Kauflin, a prince among men, one who would never embarrass you for no good reason, thought this was good enough reason to put Joe out there for the entire blogosphere to laugh at--I mean learn from. These guys are sweet people. With friends like these... :-) LOL

By the way, Worship God, beginning in 2009, is becoming an annual event! In my opinion, it's the best conference of its kind. I don't know where there is more laughter, joy, solid singing and music, and useful spiritual and practical instruction. Excellent stuff.

Excellent counsel from Bob Kauflin.

Do you think the same applies to preaching and preachers?

Worship God '08
What a wonderful time with the saints up at Sovereign Grace this past week! If you know the saints of Sovereign Grace then you know that the Lord has marked them with a wonderfully gracious, eager to serve, and hospitable spirit. And this past week was no exception.

I've made a resolution following this conference. I need to attend a "worship" conference at least once every other year, maybe once a year. I'm accustomed to conferences aimed at pastors, and they tend to take on a particular kind of focus and tone. I benefit tremendously from pastors' conferences for their focus on preaching, piety, church related issues of various sorts. But this conference was (to use a cliche) a breath of fresh air. There was plenty of word, and I loved that. But the combination of thinking about the word and public gathering was completely refreshing. A great deal was not only taught but also modeled throughout the conference. Being the music novice that I am, this was a very worthwhile investment of time.

Not to mention some of the new and recent music projects available at the conference:
The new Psalms cd was available. Excellent stuff.

Also available was Upward: The Bob Kauflin Hymns Project. Nicely done. Will have you looking up to the Savior!

I also picked up a copy of volume 3 of The Worship Songbook.

What I'm probably most excited about is Voice's new cd, Not Guilty: The Process of Pardon. It's hot. Biblical theology that's faithful, engaging, and set to head-bobbing beats. Any time you can put Lig' Duncan and Wayne Grudem on tracks discussing covenant theology and the ordo salutis, you know creative genius is at work!

Many, many thanks to Bob and the Sovereign Grace family for investing in the body of Christ in this way. You all are an honor to the Lord.

Speaking of Singing...
Finally a song worthy of deacons!

Thanks to Dan Phillips and Phil Johnson for reminding us of some things a pastor isn't.
Minister
Lord Vador