Noteworthy Blog

Published in over 1400 hymnals since 1757, this hymn by Joseph Hart points us to the work of the cross to deal with our plight.   In the church music world, there’s a never-ending discussion of the old and the new music. As I lead our blended worship ministry, I encounter this discussion often. Recently, some research was published about the most statistically popular newer worship songs and their common origin. As I write this, 4 main sources are creating most of the popular music sung in modern worship settings worldwide. Now, if you consider that Fanny Crosby wrote upwards of 9,000 hymns, having 4 sources of popular worship music seems less alarming. The issue of discussion is not the lack of more sources; it’s the content of the music.   In many churches, hymns, like Come Ye Sinners, are considered too old in language and offensive compared to popular worship music today. Even though this is an encouraging song to all who need a savior, the raw nature of its

This song was written by Jonny Robinson, Rich Thompson, Michael Farren, and Jesse Reeves of CityAlight. It’s a beautiful reminder of God’s everlasting existence, His incredible power, and His dominion over all. The title “Ancient of Days” is another name for God first found in Daniel 7:9 during his vision of the four beasts. “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool”. That image is beyond beautiful and magnificent. In the splendor of God, we know he is love and that he is overflowing with mercy and grace. But, he is also the Almighty, ruler of the universe. The Psalmist asks in Psalm 90:1, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” Though the nations rage Kingdoms rise and fall There is still one King Reigning over all So I will not fear for this truth remains: That my God is the Ancient of Days John writes in Revelation 17:14, “They will make war on the Lamb, and the La

Originally published as “Advocate” by Irish poet Charitie Lees Smith Bancroft in 1863. It gained some popularity through the 1870s and was published in 1884 in Charles Spurgeon’s “Our Own Hymn Book”. But after that, it seemingly got lost in the shuffle for nearly 100 years. It reappeared in a few hymnals in the 1970s. Later, in 1997, Vicki Cook of Sovereign Grace Music put the poem to new music, and through subsequent recordings by various artists, it regained popularity. If you read the news, listen to the radio, watch the news, or even talk to your neighbor… you are aware that the world is not perfect. While that may be the understatement of the century, we live in and with pain, struggle, tragedy, and everything else. Certainly, there is positive news, but it’s often overshadowed no matter how hard we try to focus on it. For example, during Covid, Ryan Reynolds started a hugely popular YouTube channel called “Some Good News”. It lasted 9 episodes and hasn’t been restarted. Maybe we

The most famous hymn of all time, Amazing Grace, has found its way into nearly 1400 hymnals since it was written in 1779 by John Newton. The refrain “My Chains Are Gone” was introduced in 2006 as part of the soundtrack to the movie “Amazing Grace”, which tells the story of William Wilberforce’s work to abolish slavery in England in the early 1800s. Historians have recorded that Newton’s testimony against the very same slave trade that earned him a living as a captain was essential to the success of the abolitionist movement. Newton was able to give his account of how gruesome and atrocious the slave trade was. For that to happen, he had to experience it firsthand. Newton’s story is one of extreme ups and downs, with arguably more downs than ups. You can read a good article about Newton here – and I encourage you to take a few minutes and read it before moving on. Certainly, many of us know this hymn by heart and can sing it without the words in front of us. But, something so familiar

Matt Papa said this song began as the title. From there, he built a melody and some thoughts on verses and brought in Aaron Keyes, Luke Brown, Keith, and Kristyn Getty to work on it together. What we have is a beautiful celebration song of God’s love. Matt Papa said, “This song celebrates God’s love in all facets of life.” Verse 1 Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love Too vast and astounding to tell Forever existing in worlds above Now offered and given to all Oh, fountain of beauty eternal The Father, the Spirit, the Son Sufficient and endlessly generous Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love In the first verse, we’re presented with the fact that God’s love is beyond any form of measure and forever exists. In the book of Exodus, we see God present himself as a cloud by day and fire by night. A cloud to shield them from the hot day sun and a fire to keep them warm in the cold desert night. He sent manna from heaven and supplied water from a rock. God’s love is “sufficient and endlessl