Scores-at-the-Net
Scores-at-the-Net
Notes and Quotes
These Notes and Quotes are intended as a dynamic list of helpful insights into a philosophy of Music, Music Ministry, Musical Communication, and Christian life and ministry. Feel free to suggest other relevant, pertinent quotes by email. [mailto:granteaton@usa.net]
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| Paradigms | The following
quote illustrates how important it is to understand the context
within which a behaviour is observed, in order to fully understand
that behaviour. [We are sometimes prone to judge without attempting
to discern the context...]
The act of drinking red wine from a glass, may be described as:
- Ayer, A.J. (1964). Man as a Subject for Science. London: Athlone Press. |
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Worship
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Why are we bored with worship? * This is an excerpt from the new magazine called Relevant, the author of the article is Winn Collier
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| Lifestyle
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It does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live. [As Harry returns and dwells on the image in the mirror that shows what the viewer most wants in life.] - Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter |
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| Worship |
The Reformers saw clearly the significance of the Pauline teaching about justification - that we are freely accepted by God in Christ, not because of our "good works," but by God's grace received in faith. They also saw clearly that God does not accept us because we have offered worthy worship. In his love, he accepts us freely in the person of his beloved Son. It is he who in our name and on our behalf, in our humanity, has made the one offering to the Father which alone is acceptable to God for all humanity, for all nations, for all times. It is he who unites us with himself in the one body, in his communion with the Father and in his continuing intercessions. the real agent in worship, in a New Testament understanding, is Jesus Christ who leads us in our praises and prayers, "the one true minister of the sanctuary," the leitourgos ton hagion, (Heb 8:1,2) James B. Torrance, Worship, Community & The Triune God of Grace, IVP. 1996, P.23 |
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| Worship
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...the Lord's Supper as the supreme expression of all worship. It is the act in which the risen and ascended Lord meets us at his table, in the power of the Spirit, to bring his passion to our remembrance and to draw us to himself that we may share his communion with the Father and his intercessions for the world. James B. Torrance, Worship, Community & The Triune God of Grace, IVP. 1996, P.23 |
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| Worship |
...the discovery that worship is not just something which we, religious people, do to please God, but that in worship Christ himself comes to live in our hearts by the Spirit and draws us into the very life of God. referring to entries in George Whitfield's diary...James B. Torrance, Worship, Community & The Triune God of Grace, IVP. 1996, P.24 |
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| Worship |
We do still worship in church-but only in the sense
that we breathe in church. We don't go to church to worship any more
than we got to church to breathe. Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, "Church/Campus
Connections," in TELLING THE |
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"Our lives begin to end the day
we become silent about things that matter." -- Martin Luther
King, Jr. (Source unknown) |
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Communication |
Am I getting through? "As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. "When all this comes true--and it surely will--then they will know that a prophet has been among them." (Ezek 33:30-33 NIV) Many musicians are well satisfied
to |
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| Worship Philosophy | Donald Hustad wrote the forward to Liesch’s
The New Worship. He concludes with one point of disagreement with Liesch regarding the concept
of "free-flowing Praise" and it’s "journey into the Holy of
Holies" Hustad says this concept of P & W originated with the charismatics and
their approaches are "carefully devised according to charismatic theology and
Scripture interpretation, and are expected to lead to characteristic pentecostal
experiences." He goes on "Charismatic believers have a right to develop their
own worship to match their own theology and exegesis, and they have done this well.
Noncharismatics should not thoughtlessly copy or imitate their worship formulae, unless
they expect to enter the same "Holy of Holies" in the same way. Instead, they
should develop their worship rationale based on their scriptural understanding, and then
sing up to their own theology"
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He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep for what he cannot
lose.
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Whoever’s rules are ruling your life, is functioning as god to you.
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| Lifestyle | Life is too short to be waiting around for things that aren't going to
happen.
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| Communication | What we need, are people who can discern the significant signals from
all the background noise.
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| Worship Philosophy | Let the music be redeemed from being a human entertainment, and let it
become a divine revelation. Let it never be an end in itself but a means of grace,
something to be forgotten in the dawning of something grander. Let it never be regarded as
an exhibition of human cleverness but rather as a transmitter of spiritual blessings;
never as a terminus, but as a thoroughfare.
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| Worship Philosophy | The purpose of worship is to elevate, not to degrade. The quality of
the music used should be above rather than below the cultural level of the congregation.
If the music seems to be 'over your head' the best plan is to raise your head.
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| Worship
Philosophy
Communication |
Our failure to impact contemporary culture is not because we have not
been relevant enough, but because we have not been real enough.
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| Worship Philosophy | Spectator worship has always been and will always be an oxymoron
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| Leadership | People want leadership, and in the absence of leadership, they will
listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone.
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| Worship Philosophy | The net result of our "fuzziness" regarding worship is that
many of us have ceased to have any objective standard by which to judge whether what we
are doing in our worship centres is worship or not.
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| Worship | The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the church
is famishing for want of His presence. (1948)
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| Real Worship | In our infatuation with the cosmetic, perhaps we have forgotten that
what will both draw and keep people is worship that is not only culturally relevant, but
real. Real worship is a lot more than this week's production. It is where we allow the
supernatural God of Scripture to show up and to interact with people in the pews.
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| Power
of music
Communication |
Music
cannot change societies, as can changes in technology and political
organization. It cannot make people act unless they are already socially
and culturally disposed to act. It cannot instil brotherhood, as Tolstoy
hoped, or any other state of social value. If it can do anything to people
the best it can do is to confirm situations that already exist. It cannot
in itself generate thoughts that may benefit or harm mankind, as some
writers have suggested; but it can make people more aware of feelings that
they have experienced, by reinforcing, narrowing or expanding their
consciousness in a variety of ways. Since music is learned in these kinds
of context, it is composed in the same spirit. A person may create music
for financial gain, for private pleasure, for entertainment, or to
accompany a variety of social events, and he need not express overt
concern for the human condition. But his music cannot escape the stamp of
the society that made its creator human, and the kind of music he composes
will be related to his consciousness of, and concern for, his fellow human
beings. His cognitive organization will be a function of his personality.
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| Function of music | The chief
function of music is to involve people in shared experiences within the
framework of their cultural experience.
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| Music
as Art
Communication Value of Music |
The value
of music is, I believe, to be found in terms of the human experiences
involved in its creation. There is a difference between music that is
occasional and music that enhances human consciousness, music that is
simply for having and music that is for being. I submit that the former
may be good craftsmanship, but that the latter is art, no matter how
simply or complex it sounds, and no matter under what circumstances it is
produced.
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| Lifestyle | It is
better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
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| Lifestyle | Keep your
feet on the ground, let your heart soar as high as it will, refuse to be
average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment.
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| Communication | I know
that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure
you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.
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| Conducting | Some of
our young conductors have yet to learn the difference between
individualism and peculiarity.
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| Conducting | Musicians
aren't happy with nothing to ignore, so that's what conductors were
created for.
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| Ministry
People |
Treat
people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become
what they are capable of being.
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| Mouths of Babes | Our 3
year old son proudly told some guests, "My dad works in the Music
Miseries."
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| Mouths of Babes | Our 5
year old son on his first day of school eagerly announced, "I'm a
Schoolboy." His younger brother topped that with, "I'm a
Playboy!"
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| Composing | Accept
our praise, O Lord, for all your glorious power. We will write songs to
celebrate your mighty acts.
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| Composing | Composition
is like childbirth, only worse, because you have to endure for much longer
than 9 months.
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| Media, Marketing | You can't
ask people what they want, because they don't know until they get it.
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| Christ Alone | If Christianity is dull and boring, if it is a burden and not a blessing, then most likely we are involved in a project, not a Person - a system, not a Savior, rules rather than relationship. Followership is not a religious thing, a list of rules, a host of rituals, a philosophy of life, or the best choice among other possible lifestyles. Authentic followers do not live for liturgy or liberation. Following is not celebration. It is not contemporary or traditional. It is not jubilant dance or compelling drama. It is not preaching. It is not praising. It is not obeying or conforming. It is Christ, and Christ alone. All the rest is because of Christ and for Christ.
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God is calling out, raising up and anointing. Position, education, &
tradition is becoming more and more irrelevant. If you're called to preach,
worship or anything else, the anointing will open doors even if it's not the
traditional ones, or the ones we think they will be or should be.
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| Worship
God's Presence Professionalism |
When
the
Church
turns
all
its
focus
and
energies
toward
the
technical
and
professional
perfection
of
our
well-rehearsed
music,
our
crafted
sermons,
and
our
tightly
scripted
services,
we
can
unknowingly
begin
competing
in
the
wrong
arena.
We
need
to
stick
with
the
one
arena
in
which
no
one
can
compete
with
us
-
the
art
and
ability
to
pull
down
the
manifest
presence
of
God.
Technical
perfection
may
win
the
praise
of
men,
but
only
the
anointing
and
glory
of
God
can
melt
their
hardened
hearts.
At some point point we've got to turn man's volume down and turn God's volume up.
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| Worship
God's Presence
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We
can
remain
satisfied
with
our
bland
diets
of
powerless
services
interspersed
with
a
few
"good"
services
each
year,
or
we
can
pursue
God
at
any
cost.
Most
of
us
are
uncomfortable
with
change,
but
change
is
a
part
of
what
God
is
about
to
do.
He
is
redefining
the
Church
and
making
our
religious
labels
obsolete.
I
can
tell
you
this
much
about
it:
His
manifest
presence
is
going
to
be
supreme.
That
means
that
it
won't
really
matter
who
speaks,
who
sings,
who
prays,
or
who
does
anything
in
those
services
-
as
long
as
He
is
there.
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| Hungering after God |
The modern Church is a caretaker or a maintenance organization at best, and a museum of what once was, at worst. Our greatest problem is that we've "stocked our shelves" with the wrong stuff. We offer the hungry our dusty shelves of bland, man-produced religious ritual that no one in his right mind is really hungry for! Empty religious ritual is as appetizing as "blue mashed potatoes" or some other unnatural concoction. If anybody could ever open a store that just dispenses Jesus, the hungry masses would come. Perhaps the reason we haven't stocked our services with the right stuff is because it doesn't come cheap.
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We have to face the fact that we have become addicted to all the things that accompany church, like the choirs and the music. But they are not what God calls "church" and they are not true revival either. I have a strong sense that God is about to strip all that away to ask us, "Now. who loves Me? Who wants Me?" It's time to seek the Reviver instead of revival!.
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