Not your parents' worship--and that's okay

     This was a difficult book for me to read, because it is a book that I needed to read. And even though I like to think that I'm eclectic in my tastes, and that I'm as contemporary as the next guy, I definitely have my biases.  What's wrong with the hymns written 200 years ago? Who says we need to update the contemporary worship music from the 70's?  Why do we need a worship leader instead of a choir director? What's wrong with piano and organ, with the occasional trumpet fanfare on Easter morning?
     Yes, I'm being facetious.
      My friend and co-laborer Fred Lopez of Ogden's Hope Resurrected Church has just released Rising Soundz: From Pain to Purpose. Several of his worship leader/music minister friends have corroborated with him and in addition to the book you can also buy a CD and/or DVD.

     Pastor Fred identifies the need for a sound that this generation can identify with, much as my parents liked centuries old hymns, and I could relate to Maranatha. But things have changed. More and more people in this country (USA) are not identifying as Christian; yes there are Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists, but there is a huge increase in the group that identifies as no religious preference. How does the Christian community reach out to them?
     Lopez paints a picture of the pain that exists in all generations, but is especially visible in a certain element within our culture. But pain doesn't have to end there. God has a plan for all of us, and in many cases our pain can lead to creativity, which in some ways defines our purpose. And that purpose just might be to join God on his redemptive, restorative mission.
     As a strategist, Pastor Fred is able to develop a plan for the worship leaders of this generation to be able to connect with others in their context and culture. He identifies biblical precepts and precedents for the role of worship leader, and just as, if not more, importantly, offers the encouragement that is so sorely needed if a musician is to put forth something 'new'--that is different from what we've been doing in church for a very long time. How do we become a part of the body when we don't fit in? (It's hard to believe that a church would be so picky about who's up in front of the congregation, but there you have it).

     Unity, leadership, creativity come together to make a major impact on those who wish to minister to the least and the lost. And that combination comes together in a number of ways, most of which don't look like your parent's Sunday morning worship experience. Worship is pleasing to God; we are created to worship. You're unique, and your worship is too. Don't let the pain of your past drag you down, allow it to help your soar into the worshiper that God has always intended you to be.

head to this site to order your book.

5/5