Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Amazing Grace, praise, Worship on December 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Here is my version of Amazing Grace, written when I was volunteering at Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen in Pensacola, many years ago.
nielsprip.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AmazingGrace.mp3
More original music at https://nielsprip.com/scripture-song-and-hymns/
Posted in Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged faith, god, jesus, praise, Worship, worshiptainment on January 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »
By David Ravenhill
A.W. Tozer referred to worship as the missing jewel in the evangelical crown. I couldn’t agree more. My father often referred to Prayer as being preoccupied with our needs, Praise as being preoccupied with our blessings, and Worship as being preoccupied with God Himself. My father wasn’t discounting prayer or praise as everything has its time and place. Worship, however, is the first and foremost commandment of all, regardless of our personal state or struggles.
There is a biblical or scriptural reason why we begin our services with singing. Colossians exhorts us that in all things Christ is to have preeminence or first place. Having said that, we need to take very seriously how we fulfill or carry out that admonition.
I believe the book of Malachi provides us with great clarity as to how God sees or interprets our worship. After all, He alone has the right to reject or accept what we offer Him.
Let me address for a moment this truth that God would reject our sacrifice of praise or worship. King David, the great psalmist, made it very clear that not everything he offered to God was acceptable. Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.” The prophet Isaiah wrote, “I am sick of your sacrifices. Don’t bring me any more of them…” (Isaiah 1:11). Jesus told the religious people of His day, “You honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me.” We see in the Old Testament that one of the roles of the priest was that of inspecting every sacrifice to make sure it was acceptable. Anything found to be torn, sick, or blemished in any way was immediately rejected.
Let me take you back to Malachi for a moment. In the first chapter, God, in His role as the Great High Priest, is examining the sacrifices His people are offering Him. Let’s listen in:
“A son honors his father and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name.”
God makes it clear throughout the remaining chapter that it was not the quantity but the quality of the sacrifices they were offering Him. They were bringing the blind, lame, and sick, thinking God wouldn’t notice, but He did and still does. God finally cries out, “Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar!” He continues, “…you bring what was taken by robbery, and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering. Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord.
Today, the Lord would be seen pleading with those controlling the sound system to cut the mikes, dismiss the singers and musicians, asking them to search their hearts as well as the words they are singing. If most of the worship set is about God’s love for me rather than my love for God, then I become the object of worship. Now, obviously, there is a place to thank God for His incredible love, grace, mercy, etc. However, we need to make the transition from praise to worship if we are to truly ‘worship Him in spirit and in truth.’
I personally believe the role of a worship leader is to ‘cast up a highway’ that enables the people to come into the very presence of God. I believe there should be as much time given to preparing the worship set as the pastor spends preparing his message for the people. After all, worship is what we offer the Lord, while the message should create a greater hunger for the Lord. If we spend less time in preparation to worship than we do to receive, then we are no longer giving Him preeminence!
Allow me to drill down a little further on our approach to God. God told His people Israel that whenever they built an altar upon which they would offer Him sacrifices, they had to build it of uncut stones. (Exodus 20:24-26) He made it clear that if they embellished the stones in any way with their own tools, they would immediately profane the altar and render it useless. Now, while we no longer build altars, the principle nevertheless remains. In other words, if I play or sing in such a way as to draw attention to myself, then I’m the one seeking the attention that should be directed to the Lord alone. If we have singers or musicians who love the limelight, then our sacrifice becomes unacceptable to Him. As the psalmist wrote, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory.” (Psalm 115:1)
One further word regarding the ‘worship set’. I would encourage those who feel called to lead to take whatever time necessary to prayerfully and carefully select songs/hymns that build upon each other. Just as the rungs of a ladder lift the person higher with each step, so likewise should the songs. To me, this principle separates a song leader from a true worship leader. Just choosing five or six unrelated songs that you enjoy is not the same as carefully choosing songs that relate to each other. For instance, choosing songs all having to do with the name of Jesus or the blood, etc., are far more effective than just unrelated songs that tend to zig-zag all over the place and tend to lead to nowhere. Forgive me if that seems cynical, but after sixty years of ministry in numerous countries, I can count on both hands the number of times I’ve really felt led to linger in the presence of the Lord; or in the words of the song “I stand, I stand in awe of Thee…Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you.”
If I’ve trodden on some toes, please forgive me. My goal is to prepare God’s people for the day when we will all unite together with the redeemed from all the ages and sing as one:
‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise.’ (Revelation 5:12)
PS. I’m aware that worship involves far more than just music, etc. Webster’s dictionary of 1823 describes worship as: “to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission.” Webster no doubt had in mind Abraham offering his beloved son Isaac as an act of worship. Notice also that Abraham first built an altar. We are not told that he embellished it in any way!
Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged bible, biblical worship, god, god hates your music, jesus, praise, Worship, worshiptainment on January 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I would like to express some thoughts on modern praise and worship. These are thoughts that have developed over 54 years of being a Christian musician and songwriter, and being a praise and worship leader during that time.
Amos 5:23-24 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”.
It is a scary verse to come across, especially in our modern day where there is so much emphasis on music as worship. To realize that we too can offer songs unto the Lord that He is not pleased with, that we too can come to a point where God hates our gatherings (festivals v21), is scary. The songs, though possibly beautiful in melody, can lack the sincerity and righteousness that God requires. We tend to prefer the songs that align with our taste in music, rather than aligning with what God requires, or with the word of God. This serves as a reminder that praise, and worship must be heart felt and must be aligned with God’s will.
There is too much emphasis on the outward expression, and not enough on inward communion with God. Augustine wrote, “How many are loud in voice, dumb in heart! How many lips are silent, but their love is loud! For the ears of God are to the heart of man. As the ears of the body are to the mouth of man, so the heart of man is to the ears of God. Many are heard with closed lips, and many who cry aloud are not heard.”
I think of missionaries that I know in China, they cannot sing in their meetings for fear of being found out and arrested. They worship God at a different level, their commitment seems so much deeper than mine, I have not been tested in that way. Their outward worship does not make them the people of God, their inward worship does, trusting in His grace.
May we guard our hearts, all of us, but especially those of us who are musicians in the church. It is possible to be so focused on the outward expression of music, that we forget to have a real and obedient relationship with the Lord. If we offer just music to the Lord, it is not enough! Our lives must reflect our real relationship with the Lord. Praise offered from an obedient and loving heart will please the Lord.
Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged advice to worship leader, church, god, how to lead worship, music, praise, Worship on October 16, 2024| 2 Comments »
I recently went to a church where very few people in the congregation were singing. In many of the churches that I am familiar with, that is the case. The musicians are basically playing songs that are somewhat unknown to the congregation, so they just all stand there and listen, like they would at a concert. Then there is some light applause after each song.
Have we have lost our way? The purpose of having a time of praise and worship is to allow the congregation to lift their voices in one accord unto the Lord, to exalt His name. We are to be “filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father”. It is a participatory event that is both God-ward, and meant to encourage your brothers and sisters in the Lord. In many churches that is not happening anymore. I remember hearing from a British pastor years ago, “the musicians have hijacked the worship”. Boy was he right!
Praise and worship leaders have lost their way. They have lost it by focusing on the music, on the groove they can create and the vibe. It is all about the latest popular praise songs on the internet and in many cases created for one reason, that reason is to create a hit song, just like the world. We have pushed the Spirit out out and replaced it with a hit. No wonder no one is singing, it is more like a concert than a praise and worship service.
Praise and worship leaders have to get back to singing songs that the congregation knows. They are to lead the congregation, not perform for the congregation. That might mean singing an old hymn or simpler songs. They have a responsibility to make sure the lyrics of the song are theologically correct. It is not just about being a musician. Too many times a church picks a musician just because he is talented. What about the spiritual maturity of that musician? Getting up and leading praise and worship on a Sunday morning can go to your head. It can be exciting to be on a stage, believe me, it can go to your head. The concern has to be, bringing the congregation to a time of praise. Making the congregation lift their voices to the Lord in one accord, God is worthy of that. That is what a leader should do! Play songs that the congregation knows, play songs that are theologically correct, playing songs that are easy sing and easy to follow. People in the congregation need that. The congregation is filled with people who can sing and with people who really can sing very well. Some are musical and some are not. Some can sing on key, others can not. As praise and worship leaders, we need to be sensitive to all of that. I ask you all, please take heed to this!!!
Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged praise, what is worship, Worship, Worship or Entertainment on October 4, 2021| 2 Comments »
Today, when people say worship, they usually mean music and songs. But if you read the first Biblical account of the worship, it is in Genesis 22:5, “Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” The story is quite frightening, and there was no music or songs associated with the event. There is a thing called the Law of First Mention. The “law of first-mention” is the principle in the interpretation of Scripture which states that the first mention or occurrence of a subject in Scripture establishes an unchangeable pattern, with that subject remaining unchanged in the mind of God throughout Scripture.
In Abraham’s case, obedience and sacrifice, and love of God were the main elements of his worship. May we never lose that true meaning. I have friends who are missionaries in China, in the underground church where they can’t worship the way we worship, with loud music and singing. Because if they were heard, they would be exposed and possibly go to jail. Their worship is true worship, in spirit and in truth, not dependent on music. We are blessed in America because we don’t have those limitations. We can use music as a form of praise and worship, but it must never replace true worship, worship that is in spirit and in truth.
Hebrews 12:28 -29-“Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.”
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