Casting Crowns

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Our glorious capital ‘C’ Church

Today I have the pleasure of talking about two of my favourite things: author C.S. Lewis and the band Casting Crowns. Both of them have much to say about the church, not just the local church, but the capital C “Church”. By this I mean the fellowship of believers that is spread around the globe, through all time and space. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We are all part of this if we are in Christ. The “crowd of witnesses” in Hebrews 12 help make up this great gathering of God’s people. They can already see the reality of the things we hope for in Him. And they cheer us on to persevere with the small ‘c’ church, no matter how frustrating it can be at times. God’s Church marches on as he unfolds his plans. What a great grace and privilege that God draws us into something (Someone!) much greater than ourselves, much greater than the here and now.

But when it comes to Church we often can’t see the wood for the trees. And Satan would happily keep us distracted in this way!screwtape  In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis describes the strength of the Church. These are fictional letters between a senior and junior devil. (For those not familiar with this classic book the main topics of their correspondance is how to discourage Christians, distract them and weaken their faith. Totally worth a read if you haven’t!)

“. . . the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, (is) terrible as an army with banners. . . that, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans”. (Letter 2)

“We want the Church to be small not only that fewer men may know the Enemy but also that those who do may acquire the uneasy intensity and the defensive self-righteousness of a secret society or clique. The Church Herself is, of course, heavily defended and we have never quite succeeded in giving her all the characteristics of a faction . . .” (Letter 7. By the way, by ‘Enemy’ these devils mean God)

Oh, that we could see the glory of Christ’s Bride! (That’s us!) Casting Crowns’ songwriter Mark Hall takes up this topic, looking forward to the final union of the Church, the Bride of Christ, with the Bridegroom, Jesus. Listen and read the lyrics below. I particularly like the description (verse 2) of the highs and lows of the Church through history. Despite these we were made to wear Christ’s robes of righteousness, on that wedding day! The love of Christ has come and set us free, indeed!

Wedding Day – Casting Crowns

There’s a stirring in the throne room
And all creation holds it’s breath
Waiting now to see the bride groom
Wondering how the bride will dress
And she wears white

And she knows that she’s undeserving
She bears the shame of history
But this worn and weary maiden
Is not the bride that he sees
And she wears white, head to toe
But only he could make it so

[Chorus:]
When someone dries your tears
When someone wins your heart
And says your beautiful
When you don’t know you are
And all you’ve longed to see
Is written on his face
When love has come and finally set you free
On that wedding day, On that wedding day

[Verse 2:]
She has danced in golden castles
And she has crawled through beggar’s dust
But today she stands before him
And she wears his righteousness
And she will be who he adores
This is what he made her for

[Bridge:]
When the hand that bears the only scars
And heaven touch her face
And the last tears she’ll ever cry
Are finally wiped away
And the clouds roll back as he takes her hand
And walks her through the gates
Forever we will reign

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When should we sing that song?

piano-stairs3There are times when a song fits just so perfectly! It arrives during the gathering at just the right place and right time. Other times a song will stand out like a sore thumb. Despite our best laid plans, both of these instances can occur even within the one church service! If you are new to the service planning task, or even if you’ve been doing it for a while, here are a few tips to help create the best possible sequencing of songs. I hope these thoughts are helpful in some way. (Note: I am writing for churches that use a mix of contemporary songs and hymns.)

OPENING SONGS:
Songs work well early in the service if they have a positive feel and lively tempo. They should be uplifting and encourage as many people to sing as possible. This will create energy and anticipation for all they will do/hear together in the rest of the service. Avoid songs with super-complicated rhythms or minor keys. Songs should be quite well-known to the congregation and not be recently ‘new’ songs. Thematically, it is good to open with songs of adoration, which describe the general attributes and actions of God/Jesus and give praise for them. Songs that encourage personal response/reflection, or that describe details about salvation, are not very helpful as opening songs. Newcomers may be struggling with the concept of God existing at all. Let’s establish that first!
Good Examples:
Come People of the Risen King (Getty), Creation sings the Father’s Song (Getty), Indescribable (Laura Story), Majesty of Heaven (Tomlin), Hallelujah to the King of Kings (EMU), Across the Lands (Getty), O God Our Redeemer (Everlasting) (Altrogge), God of Wonders (Byrd & Hindalong).

MIDDLE SONGS:
Songs through the middle of your service can branch out in terms of theme and feel and tempo. It is a good place to sing songs that teach the Gospel in detail, that speak of salvation and how it was won for us. Songs that speak to each other as God’s people (using terms like we/us/our) help draw people together into community. These songs provide the encouragement described in Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”  Songs that move from minor to major feel are great here. Certain songs can also be a calming influence, helping people prepare to hear God’s word preached (without putting them to sleep!).
Good examples:
By Our Love (Christy Nockels), We Belong to the Day (EMU), By Faith (Getty), How deep the Father’s Love for Us (Townend), Mighty to Save (Hillsong), Glorious Day (Casting Crowns), See the Man (Hodge/EMU),  In Christ Alone (Getty), Count it all Joy (Sovereign Grace). How Great is Our God (Tomlin) is an interesting one – seems like it should fit in the opening songs category by theme, but the tempo and feel are not quite right (in my humble opinion). It works well in the middle.

END SONGS:
This is probably the best place to put songs of personal response or commitment or resolve (“I” songs) – since by this point people will have heard the Gospel explained in the sermon, bible readings and earlier songs. Both slow songs and more upbeat songs can be effective for closing, depending on the type of mood you want to leave people in. It is good to remember the final song can be ringing in people’s ears long after they have forgotten the main points of the sermon, so choose something memorable that says something important!
Good examples:
You are My King (I’m Forgiven),.My Hope (Baloche), I give you my Heart (Hillsong), You Chose the Cross (Lost in Wonder) (Martyn Layzell), I will Glory in My Redeemer (Sovereign Grace), From the Inside Out (Hillsong), Stronger (Hillsong), Be Thou My Vision, This Life I live (EMU), Desert Song (Brooke Fraser Hillsong), 10000 Reasons (Matt Redman), May the Mind of Christ my Saviour, Here I am to Worship (Redman), Jesus Thankyou (Sovereign Grace).

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To know Christ means to . . . ?

Knowing-Christ-Screen-530x397” . . . everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”.
Philippians 3:8 (NLT)

Knowing Christ is what makes us Christians. We know Christ and have decided to follow Him. We want to know Him better. We wouldn’t be following Him if we had never met him or realised his worth. But how well do we go at explaining, in practical and understandable terms, what it means to “know Christ”, to “know God”. This is something that non-Christians really want to know. What does it mean to have a relationship with God, what does that look like? We need to get a whole lot better at explaining this.
Probably a good place to start is to talk about what it means to “know” another human being. If you know a person it means you have met him, you have knowledge of their name, appearance, you have encountered their character and spent time with them. Just a knowledge of their existence is not actually “knowing”, just as you don’t know some random Facebooker who applies to be your friend, or some far distant cousin you have heard exists, sitting far out on a branch of your family tree. Knowing is about a relationship.

So knowing God means having a relationship, which has a beginning point. This may be for some a slow and gradual growing relationship starting in childhood, or it could be a sudden meeting in a dark alley, as with a stranger. And once you know Him, how could you forget – His character, His love, His grace is irresistible. HE draws us into a relationship with him, and we grow to know Him better, as we spend time soaking in His story which is revealed to us in all the pages of the Bible. He speaks to us there. We know and understand more of His character and ways. We speak to him in prayer.

And He is not far from us; He is with us. His Spirit, the Spirit of His Son has come to live in us! And we are IN Him! We are found in Christ, wrapped up in His righteousness and made perfect in Him. How much closer could this relationship be? One song my youngest daughter sings at school asks about The Creator (which is the song title):
“What if he was much closer,
Closer than your toaster,
closer than your tie?”
An interesting way to phrase it!

To me, knowing Christ means I am in the growing process of having my selfish and sinful desires replaced with his desires. I know peace with God, forgiveness through Christ’s finished work on the Cross. So I want to follow His agenda and align the desires of my heart with his. I want to obey and please Christ. I want to know Him better – He is the Word of God to us. None of this comes from myself! I am certain of that. So I know I know God because of this.

How would you go at explaining what it means to know Christ?
Casting Crowns has attempted to answer this very question in the song below – and the emphasis is on that desire to grow in knowing.

TO KNOW YOU (Casting Crowns)

To know you is to never worry for my life, and
To know you is to never to give in or compromise
To know you is to want to tell the world about you
‘Cause I can’t live without you

To know you is to hear your voice when you are calling
To know you is to catch my brother when he is falling
To know you is to feel the pain of the broken hearted
Cause they can’t live with out you.

More than my next breath, More than life or death
All I’m reaching for, I live my life to know you more
I leave it all behind, you’re all that satisfies
To know you is to want to know you more
To know you is to want to know you more

To know you is to ache for more than ordinary
To know you is to look beyond the temporary
To know you is believing that you will be enough
Cause there is no life without you

More than . . .

All this life could offer me, could not compare to you, compare to you
And I’ll count it all as lost, compared to knowing you, knowing you

 

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New songs we’ve been singing in 2012

Just reflecting here on the range of new songs our church family has enjoyed this year, songs of great encouragement and challenge, songs which speak God’s truth well. I’ll describe each one a little for you below (click on the title to listen), with my suggested best key for each. Hopefully you will find something refreshing to inspire your congregation, and continue to grow everyone together in the grace and knowledge of God . . . through the power of His Word in song!

My Hope (2010) – Paul Baloche, Alyssa Mellinger, Ed Kerr, Sheila Rabe (album “The Same Love”). This one has been a real blessing, particularly the line “Nothing can reach the end of all your faithfulness”. I have introduced this at two women’s conferences during the year also, where one woman told me it was an answer to prayer. Awesome. It has a fairly gentle verse, and a rousing Chorus which echos the thoughts of “My Hope is built on nothing less”. I’ve talked more about this one in another post. (Key: A Major)

Majesty of Heaven (2010) – Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Matt Redman (album And if our God is For Us). This song gives a great picture of King Jesus ruling over this creation, and each of us. The nations bow down to the Majesty of Heaven, in whom all things hold together! We also taught this one in January to a gathering of 600+, mainly mature folk at a CMS convention. They caught on quickly and sang well! (Key G Major).

Hail the Day that Christ Arose (2011) – Charles Wesley, Steve and Vikki Cook (Sovereign Grace Music, album Risen). This song is about the day of the Ascension, something not written about all that often. It is based on an old hymn, but has a really triumphant new ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, which points us to see the King of Love on His throne. We use the Coda section as a Bridge and finish with the Chorus. (Key D Major)

By Our Love (2009)- Christy Nockels (Album Life Light Up). This song is a great one for encouraging unity and acts of love in your church family. It is based around the verse which says the world will know we are Christians by our love. Each verse addresses a different group of people, men, women, and children – who will be reaching with the words of the Gospel “long after we’ve gone”. (We use G major – starts quite low, but chorus is too high if you shift up a key.)

Stronger (2007) – Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan (Hillsong – Album This is Our God). This song has a really victorious feel, which celebrates the power of Jesus’ resurrection over our sin. He is stronger than every thing that burdens us, He is Lord of all, so let’s lift up His name. (Try this in C or Bb major.)

Oh What a Day (2011)  – Mark Altrogge (Sovereign Grace Music, album Risen). This is pretty speedy and rhythmic song, which can be carried by a drummer or pianist with good rhythm! The Day this song focuses on is the Day Christ defeated death and rose from the grave. (Default key is D – we find it works better in C.)

Glorious Day (2009)- John Wilbur Chapman, Mark Hall, Michael Bleecker (Casting Crowns, album Til the Whole World Hears). You will find the whole Gospel in this song. Each verse speaks of a different glorious day: Christ coming to earth, dying, rising, and then looking forward to the day of his return! (Key A Major.)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

Blessings to you as you encourage God’s gathered people to praise Him!

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City on a Hill: Standing strong together

While writing the last post about 1 Corinthians 3:16, and thinking on the amazing way Christ lives in us collectively, I was singing along in my head to Casting Crown’s CITY ON A HILL. The song is based on Matthew 5:14 “A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Casting Crowns have such challenging and biblical songs, with beautiful lyrics and melody. Here is another challenge for our judgemental spirits: accept differences within the Body of Christ, particularly for the sake of our witness to the world. We are to be salt and light, and that requires many individual Christians to make hard choices, to humbly deny their pride and their ‘rights’, for the sake of unity. Keep shining for Christ, together! Enjoy.

CITY ON A HILL by Casting Crowns

Did you hear of the city on the hill?
Said one old man to the other
It once shined bright and it would be shining still
But they all started turning on each other

You see, the poets thought the dancers were shallow
And the soldiers thought the poets were weak
And the elders saw the young ones as foolish
And the rich man never heard the poor man speak

And one by one, they ran away
With their made up minds, to leave it all behind
And the light began to fade, in the city on the hill
The city on the hill

Each one thought that they knew better
But they were different by design
Instead of standing strong together
They let their differences divide

And one by one, they ran away
With their made up minds, to leave it all behind
And the light began to fade, in the city on the hill
The city on the hill
And the world is searching still

But it was the rhythm of the dancers
That gave the poets life
It was the spirit of the poets
That gave the soldiers strength to fight
It was the fire of the young ones
It was the wisdom of the old
It was the story of the poor man
That needed to be told

It is the rhythm of the dancers
That gives the poets life
It is the spirit of the poets
That gives the soldiers strength to fight
It is the fire of the young ones
It is the wisdom of the old
It is the story of the poor man
That’s needing to be told

One by one, will we run away
With our made up minds to leave it all behind
As the light begins to fade, in the city on the hill
The city on the hill

Come home
And the Father’s calling still
Come home
To the city on the hill
Come home