Music, Worship and Ministry

Blog Entry #125

Music, Worship and Ministry

Music is a very interesting thing. Short of searching out and typing out the various aspect of Music, I ask that you go to Wikipedia to reads about the definition and various aspect of music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music).

As part of music and in the modern context, I’d included the soundman as an integral part of worship within the “House of Worship” and I had written about it in one of my blog “Do all to the Glory of God” but I guess you can include the soundman within a wider context of modern music as well.

Music has the ability to move us and create certain emotions in everyone and much of it I guess is also dependent on our background and the type of music within our cultural context of where we grow up in but universally, music is emotive and cognitive and can generate much in terms “drive” where it can push us along certain line of thoughts and emotions. An example is the 1985 song “We are the world” done for the African famine relief that stir up such emotion (at least for me) that you cannot help but “feel” for the people in Africa that were suffering one of their worse famine.

Within the Christian context, music is also used in the worship of God and personally, it is also a mean of declaration of our faith, our believes , our relationship with God and much more. Last Sunday, other than the Chinese song “爱，我愿意”, the other song that touches me was “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” by Stuart Townend.

HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US

Words and Music by STUART TOWNEND

© 1995 Thankyou Music

Verse 1:

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away.

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory.

Verse 2:

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders.

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished;

His dying breath has brought me life.

I know that it is finished.

Verse 3:

I will not boast in anything;

No gifts, no pow’r, no wisdom.

But I will boast in Jesus Christ;

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart;

His wounds have paid my ransom.

Again, it is one of those songs that I had sung many times before but it was something that I do not take great notice of and again, cancer has the effect of changing one’s perspective in life including the meaning of songs that we hear.  Search for it in YouTube and have a listen to the song.  It is written and sung like a “hymn” which is fine for me as I loved hymns.

The song spoke about many things that I had written about in my blogs and is a confirmation of my feelings for God and thoughts and reflections about Him. For me, there are 4 significant portions of the song that spoke to me and are sort of my heartbeat as well; O how it says:

·       “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.”

·       “It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished; His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished.”

·       “I will not boast in anything; No gifts, no pow’r, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ; His death and resurrection.”

·       “Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart; His wounds have paid my ransom.”

O how I wish I could write and play songs such as this and take it as my worship of God, of my declaration of Him and His nature, the good and merciful God, the One that would save a wretch like me. Alas, I can’t but God had placed people like Stuart Townend in our midst to write such songs that would also become our heartbeat. However, as a soundman, I considered myself as a “musician” in the context of the band and thus this is my worship of God as in “playing” a song.

In saying all this, I am also kind of ashamed that I should find solace in songs more than in the God's Word directly. However I do find comfort in knowing that what I know of God and of the Scriptures had carried me thus far and that the songs that I had posted in my blogs are reflections of my inner feelings and thoughts about God, declarations of my faith in Him, His mercy and Grace and acknowledgement of His work in my life and so I quote the line in the song once again that says: “I will not boast in anything; No gifts, no pow’r, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ; His death and resurrection.”

In God We Trust.