Are you an AV Projectionist or a Visual Worship Leader?

When I was a teenager, a few of my friends and I used to be in charge of the overhead projector. Yes, an overhead projector. For those of you who haven’t been in church past the last decade, the overhead projector was a machine that projected acetate slides onto a screen. This was, in effect, […]

For the Joy Set Before Us: Going from “Got to” to “Get to”

Today, we got up late. I blame that epic monster of a movie Gladiator which was on the TV last night. When I was younger, I couldn’t appreciate all the political interplay and I got bored. But these days, I’m (hopefully) wiser so the movie was actually really gripping. It finished at about 1.15 am […]

Worship: Treasuring God Above All Else

Here is a great definition of worship I recently came across whilst reading John Piper’s Let the Nations Be Glad. Piper says (at 231): Worship is not a gathering. It is not essentially a song service or sitting under preaching. Worship is not essentially any form of outward act. Worship is essentially an inner stirring of […]

Reflections on Worship Ministry from the Life of Bezalel

During Sunday’s message, Ps Benny Ho made an interesting observation. He asked “who was the first person in the Bible to be filled with the Spirit?”. The answer: Bezalel. Here’s the reference in Exodus 31: Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the […]

Epochal Song 6: Power of Your Love (Geoff Bullock, 1992)

I’ve been inspired since reading Worship Leader magazine’s Top 20 Songs in the Last 20 Years to continue my series on the Epochal Songs of the Praise and Worship Movement. So we go to the year 1992… Geoff Bullock’s “Power of Your Love” in my opinion, was one of the defining songs for the Australian […]

The Day the Holy Spirit Fell

Pastor Benny Ho’s message on “Activating the Gifts of the Holy Spirit” today at Faith Community Church was amazing. It seemed to me that God was orchestrating a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on FCC. Pastor Benny began his message by sharing on the common theme of the four church camps from which he […]

Should We Keep Harping on Hymns?

Today, I am continuing my series on Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In particular, I want to explore the use of “hymns” in our worship services and ask the question: are they still a valid musical expression for the church today? The emergence of hymns was very much a product of the Reformation. Luther understood […]

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Have you ever had that scary moment when your pastor comes up to you and says “Can we have a quick chat?” You hesitate but then say, “uh, okay” and then you both translate five steps towards the side of the room where he clears his throat a little, narrows his eyes ever so slightly […]

Blessing the Lord

One of my favourite Psalms, both for personal encouragement and as a great service starter is Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your […]

Worship Leader Magazine’s Top 20

I am an avid student of the history of the so-called “praise and worship” movement. I believe that if we are going to revolutionise the way we “do” church and worship, we have a lot to learn from the past so that at the very least, we don’t repeat its mistakes. So when I first […]