New Hymns for Old! New Hymns for Old!
If asked which of our two very different worship services I like better, I give the most honest answer I can possibly give: That’s like asking me which of my two very different children I like better. Truth be known, there are aspects of each that I dearly love, and aspects of each that frustrate the stuffing out of me.
When people ask me that question, they are usually fishing for something more than just my opinion. Often they want either to confirm or to refute what they may be thinking or may have heard someone else say about where my “loyalties” lie. It is not difficult to read the underlying question: “Is he with that other crowd or with us.” My heart breaks when signs of disunity prevail among my brothers and sisters here. The truth is plain and simple: These things should not be.
For that and other reasons, I love it when contemporary songwriters tackle what some have erroneously seen as a “dead” literary form – the hymn – and produce something wonderful that can span the divisions we may have about the style of what we sing in worship. Todd Fields and Michael Gleason have done just that with a hymn they wrote about 5 years ago. It has been coming up in my mind time and time again since I first encountered it about 4 years ago. I took it from the contemporary lead-sheet format and voice it in traditional hymn fashion (CCLI license allows me to do that). We will use it this Sunday morning in both services, but it will sound a little bit different in each. [see it at the close of the blog] I pray that you will find it as refreshing as I have.
So where do my loyalties lie? This is what I strive for: that my loyalties be with whatever honors Christ … and I am convinced that He is less concerned about the external aspects of our worship than we are, and more concerned about the condition of our hearts.
That’s enough to think about for now.
When people ask me that question, they are usually fishing for something more than just my opinion. Often they want either to confirm or to refute what they may be thinking or may have heard someone else say about where my “loyalties” lie. It is not difficult to read the underlying question: “Is he with that other crowd or with us.” My heart breaks when signs of disunity prevail among my brothers and sisters here. The truth is plain and simple: These things should not be.
For that and other reasons, I love it when contemporary songwriters tackle what some have erroneously seen as a “dead” literary form – the hymn – and produce something wonderful that can span the divisions we may have about the style of what we sing in worship. Todd Fields and Michael Gleason have done just that with a hymn they wrote about 5 years ago. It has been coming up in my mind time and time again since I first encountered it about 4 years ago. I took it from the contemporary lead-sheet format and voice it in traditional hymn fashion (CCLI license allows me to do that). We will use it this Sunday morning in both services, but it will sound a little bit different in each. [see it at the close of the blog] I pray that you will find it as refreshing as I have.
So where do my loyalties lie? This is what I strive for: that my loyalties be with whatever honors Christ … and I am convinced that He is less concerned about the external aspects of our worship than we are, and more concerned about the condition of our hearts.
That’s enough to think about for now.
As I Walk
As I walk down this road Lord
By faith not by sight
In believing Your promise
I give You my life
Though at times I may falter
Your hand is my guide
My anchor forever
With me You abide
Jesus my Jesus
In You I'm secure
And whatever befalls me
My soul will endure
All my hope and foundation
Forever you'll be
With the strength of Your Spirit
Forever in me
In the still of this moment
My heart longs to stay
In the light of Your presence
All else fades away
All the tears that were flowing
Have now been replaced
By the love and the goodness
Found in Your embrace
CCLI Song No. 4140339 • © 2001 Gleasongs\Robinson Lane Music (Admin. by Pressure Point Productions, Inc.)\ Michael Gleason / Todd Fields • For use solely in accordance with the SongSelect Advanced Terms of Agreement. All rights Reserved. www.songtouch.com
posted by Morris at
6:44 AM
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