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Pastors are serious about discipling new Christians. But as we focus on teaching new believers about Bible study and prayer, we can't forget the importance of using music as a discipleship resource. It is a tremendous tool for rooting new believers in the Christian faith. 

All too common today are polarizing tendencies in worship that fail to reach the whole person. For instance, in some churches, how a Christian thinks is far more important than how a Christian feels. Worship in these churches is primarily geared to informing the mind. But when it comes to feeling God, they remain stoic. These churches turn worship into a classroom for learning.

In the opening verses of Isaiah 6, what the prophet encounters first in the house of God is the glory of God: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple" (v.1). It doesn't first say he encountered well-dressed people or hot coffee or influential power brokers or a booming sound system or a great organ. What he caught site of first was God's glory.

Contrary to what many modern people believe, we can't approach God any way we please. Trying to do so is extremely dangerous, as the Bible makes clear (see Cain, Nadab, and Abihu, for example). In the Bible, God provides us with commands, instructions, examples, and stories to illustrate how he wants us to worship him. Our worship, therefore, is to be regulated by God himself through his Word.

At sixteen I dropped out of high school. And because my lifestyle had become so disruptive to the rest of the household (I'm the middle of seven children), my grieving parents had no choice but to kick me out of the house.

Essential in our mission at Christian Sound & Song is to encourage music directors, leaders of worship, pastors, composers, and other church leaders in their ministries. Seeking to accomplish this across Christian denominations requires considering the essentials of what Christ was and is about: forgiving and saving grace, unconditional love and redemption, his presence as risen Savior and Messiah, and reconciliation to God. As my former pastor once said so beautifully, "Whenever I'm unsure of what to preach about, I return to the amazing love of Jesus."