"Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!"-1 Chronicles 16:9
The role of music and worship has dated back all the way into the medieval ages, with songs in Greek and Latin telling us "jubilate deo omnis terra" meaning "tell all the earth" [about God's glory].
Being able to worship God through music has opened many ways for people to open their hearts with the Lord.
A couple of chapels ago, I recorded the worship band, and really listened to their choices of each songs.
The very first line in the first song was "Come and see his glory, come just as you are; come and hear his story of his heart." I don't know about you, but that makes me have chills. He's saying to come and love God, no matter where you are in life, Whether you are a small child, an elder, a college teen strung out on coffee and stress...or someone about to break down.
Then after the song, Linny, the lead singer read Romans 8:36 and went into the song called "Set a Fire" and I looked around and saw one of my friends with his eyes closed, determination on finding that bond with God, and then I look to my other side and see my roommate with her eyes closed, singing the words from heart, with her hand raised in the air. I honestly have never felt moved enough to ever do that, so when I see people with their arms or hand our to the air, I know they have that connection and feel moved enough by the words sung.
I love how worship has come into music, because that's how I feel like I can relate to God the closest. I remember going to Vista the first weekend of college, and they sung a song I had never heard before called "Oceans" and I was brought to tears. My eyes watered because I felt so moved. The song was based off of Matthew 14:22-34, when Jesus called out Peter to walk on water, and he started sinking because he had doubt, but Jesus held out his hand to help peter from sinking.
Part of the reason why I teared up when I heard this song was because I felt suddenly ashamed of myself. I realized why I had never raised my hands in praise wasn't because I wasn't "moved enough", that was just an excuse I created and believed. It was because I cared about what other people would think of me. I felt like I would be judged, and that made me doubt myself and doubt my relationship with God. That is why when I heard the first words of the first song telling me to "come and see his glory just as you are" gave me chills. I realized God doesn't care if I'm a mess with my life, or if I'm struggling with my faith. He still loves. Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".
I know I kind of steered away from the main topic of this post, which was to write about scriptures and find out what God's word has to say about the role of music in worship. Anyone can look up a hymn and write about that, but I feel like the real answer is in how we are able to praise God with the use of music in worship, and what effects that the music has had on us personally.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Ear Worms
So I promised a post about writing of a time my preference changed. Specifically from a song I hated to a song I liked, but honestly, writing about Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe" didn't really fit the requirements because I still dislike the song. So, instead I'll write about a song I absolutely LOVED that turned into a song I turn away from.
I'm sure you've heard Bastille's song "Pompeii" during the time it was extremely popular. If not, here it is.
I remember I loved the song because of the lead singer's unique singing style. He is British, and you know me, I love the Brits. But seriously though, as a singer, we are taught to sing without an accent, and typically people do lose their accents while singing. I believe that was a HUGE reason why I loved this song. I thought it gave a unique style to it. Another reason why I really loved to sing with the song was the introduction. The very first thing you hear is strong, loud, chanting. It just set an image of ancient Rome, specifically Pompeii, and a large, rowdy crowd of soldiers about to fight.
It wasn't until it started becoming well known that I started to dislike it.
I remember I had shared this song with a certain friend before it had gotten popular, and we were saying the typical "I knew this before it was famous" stuff. Later on in the year I started dating this friend. You remember when giving mixtapes was a thing for couples right? Well, this song was kind of like that. It wasn't until three weeks after we started dating that I found out he was bipolar... and then the manic periods came along. It was very hard for me to cheer him up when he became sad or frustrated, and I always thought about the lyrics "How am I going to be an optimist about this?" repeated in the song and how it fit him so well. After a painful year of going through his manic states and apologies, and multiple times of breaking it off, and forgiveness, I grew to dislike the song.
Eventually the rowdy chanting I once loved became a warning, like the war that the romans were about to fight in were towards me, just like the actual fights with him were. Then it became unbearable for me to listen to this song at all, without thinking of the bad memories of my friend and I fighting and the silent treatments that lingered.
When we had split up, the song was still popular on the radio. I couldn't stand to listen to it, triggering the memories I had with it. It was very hard for me to listen to the radio. Honestly, since that happened last year, I haven't really listened to the radio since. I don't even know when the song had faded away.
Looking back, I wished I hadn't associated the song with those memories, because I truly did enjoy the song. I have the album and some of Bastille's other songs, and I listen to them, and I am fine. The memories are only triggered when I listen to that specific song.
Today, I can still feel the anxiety and the feeling of walking on eggshells when I listen to this song. But while I am listening, I still appreciate the creativeness of the lyrics and the musicality of it. It is hard not to dislike it, with the catchy tune that sticks in your head. I actually believe that when a song keeps playing over and over in your head is called "Ear Worms" in the UK.
I just hope that while I have this Ear Worm I can get the sense of normality back and enjoy it when I relax.
I remember I loved the song because of the lead singer's unique singing style. He is British, and you know me, I love the Brits. But seriously though, as a singer, we are taught to sing without an accent, and typically people do lose their accents while singing. I believe that was a HUGE reason why I loved this song. I thought it gave a unique style to it. Another reason why I really loved to sing with the song was the introduction. The very first thing you hear is strong, loud, chanting. It just set an image of ancient Rome, specifically Pompeii, and a large, rowdy crowd of soldiers about to fight.
It wasn't until it started becoming well known that I started to dislike it.
I remember I had shared this song with a certain friend before it had gotten popular, and we were saying the typical "I knew this before it was famous" stuff. Later on in the year I started dating this friend. You remember when giving mixtapes was a thing for couples right? Well, this song was kind of like that. It wasn't until three weeks after we started dating that I found out he was bipolar... and then the manic periods came along. It was very hard for me to cheer him up when he became sad or frustrated, and I always thought about the lyrics "How am I going to be an optimist about this?" repeated in the song and how it fit him so well. After a painful year of going through his manic states and apologies, and multiple times of breaking it off, and forgiveness, I grew to dislike the song.
Eventually the rowdy chanting I once loved became a warning, like the war that the romans were about to fight in were towards me, just like the actual fights with him were. Then it became unbearable for me to listen to this song at all, without thinking of the bad memories of my friend and I fighting and the silent treatments that lingered.
When we had split up, the song was still popular on the radio. I couldn't stand to listen to it, triggering the memories I had with it. It was very hard for me to listen to the radio. Honestly, since that happened last year, I haven't really listened to the radio since. I don't even know when the song had faded away.
Looking back, I wished I hadn't associated the song with those memories, because I truly did enjoy the song. I have the album and some of Bastille's other songs, and I listen to them, and I am fine. The memories are only triggered when I listen to that specific song.
Today, I can still feel the anxiety and the feeling of walking on eggshells when I listen to this song. But while I am listening, I still appreciate the creativeness of the lyrics and the musicality of it. It is hard not to dislike it, with the catchy tune that sticks in your head. I actually believe that when a song keeps playing over and over in your head is called "Ear Worms" in the UK.
I just hope that while I have this Ear Worm I can get the sense of normality back and enjoy it when I relax.
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