Collide Magazine

Today I received two notes from people telling me they enjoyed the “Is Christian Music Dying?” cover story from our last issue. On the other hand, I’ve also had someone tell me they had problems with the piece. Now, it’s your turn. I’d love for you to share your thoughts on the piece as a comment on this post. What did you agree or disagree with? What is your prediction for the future of the Christian music industry?

If you haven’t read the piece yet, it’s online here. Even if you have read the piece, you might be interested in this short, unedited Q&A with Charlie Peacock that I conducted in preparation for writing the cover story.

Let me know what you think.

Part 2 of Worship Service Faux Pas - Go here to read Part 1

Below are things that I’ve personally experienced, both on and off stage, which have taken my focus off the Lord and quickly tainted my worship experience. I write this not to poke fun at these things, but to bring it to the attention of worship leaders and churches that might be forgetting the purpose of corporate worship.

Performance/Solo pieces – When we gather together at church, we gather to worship, fellowship, sing, hear the Word proclaimed, remember, and pray, not to necessarily to watch someone perform a solo piece. If I want to see a performance I’ll go to a theater or movie. What this does is take the church congregation away from participating in worship as we become spectators of it. Much like guitar solos, this tends to focus more on the person singing, than the God they are singing about. And also like guitar solos, if you have these, make sure they serve a higher purpose. However, these can be appropriate during communion or the offering as people are focusing on something else than singing.

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As a 25-year-old worship leader I tend to spend most of my time at church on stage. Occasionally I get to be a part of the congregation on Sundays so that I can empathize with them and boy, do I feel sorry for them sometimes. Below are things that I’ve personally experienced, both on and off stage, which have taken my focus off the Lord and quickly tainted my worship experience. I write this not to poke fun at these things, but to bring it to the attention of worship leaders and churches that might be forgetting the purpose of corporate worship.

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First of all, it’s great to be back in the office after spending most of last week at Arise (aka the Willow Creek Arts Conference). I realized earlier today that I’m still processing how awesome Robbie Seay Band’s set at arise was. Yes, it’s been more than five days since I heard them play, and yet I can’t stop humming the tunes and reminding myself what a great experience it was to hear them last week. RSB has a knack for rockin’ music, unique and insightful lyrics, and melodies that won’t leave you alone. On top of that, Seay comes off as an incredibly humble and genuine guy (imagine that).

If you’ve been jonesing for something amazing to listen to, do yourself a favor and pick up RSB’s latest effort, Give Yourself Away. Standout tracks on the album include “Song of Hope,” “Shine Your Light On Us,” and “Beautiful Scandalous Night.”

In an interesting turn of events, Seay mentioned that many of the songs on Give Yourself Away were inspired by his families sponsorship of a child through Compassion International. Interestingly enough, singer/songwriter Shaun Groves has written a great article about Compassion’s blogger experiment for our upcoming July/August issue (which we’ll preview on the blog soon). Everywhere you look, COLLIDE reader, someone is talking about Compassion International. Perhaps someone is trying to tell you something (such as, “What are you waiting for? Sponsor a child already!”).

One of my favorite bands is the now-defunct Pedro the Lion, the brainchild of David Bazan. I was listening to The Only Reason I Feel Secure (a Pedro EP from 1999) this morning when I was reminded of the genius of one particular song, “Letter from a Concerned Follower.” In the song, Bazan asks God how in the world he’s going to keep up with the technological advancements of modern men. Bazan sings:

i hear that you don’t change
how do you expect to keep up with the trends
you won’t survive the information age
unless you plan to change the truth to accomodate the brilliance of man
the brilliance of man

some folks think we’re better now
social evolution’s new synthetic breed
will keep us on a straighter path
as better men use brand new math
with no wrong answers

i’m just a little bit worried
do you have some sort of plan
have you been finally defeated
by the cunning of these fully evolved men

Hopefully, as we go about using media and technology, we aren’t doing it because we think its the only way God will survive the Information Age.