Kevin Stilley

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Worship – Recommended Books

Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recommended the following books on Worship.

Allen, Ronald, and Gordon Borror. Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel. Portland: Multnomah, 1982.

Berkley, James D. Leadership Handbook of Preaching and Worship. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992.

Best, Harold. Music Through the Eyes of Faith. San Francisco: Harper, 1993.

Dawn, Marva. Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Eskew, and McElrath. Sing With Understanding. Nashville: Church Street, 1995.

Frame, John M. Worship in Spirit and Truth. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1996.

________ . Contemporary Worship Music. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1997.

Hustad, Don. Jubilate II: Church Music in Worship and Renewal. Carol Stream, IL: Hope, 1993.

Leisch, Barry. The New Worship. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.

Martin, Ralph P. Worship in the Early Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.

_______ . The Worship of God: Some Theological, Pastoral, and Practical Reflections. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1988.

Peterson, David. Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.

Schaeffer, Francis. Art & the Bible. Downers Grove: IVP, 1973.

Senn, Frank C. Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997.

Segler, Franklin M. Christian Worship. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996.

Underhill, Evelyn. Worship. Guildford, England: Eagle, 1991.

Wainwright, Geoffrey. Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life. New York: Oxford, 1980.

Webber, Robert E. Rediscovering the Missing Jewel. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

________ . Blended Worship. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

________ . Worship Old and New. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.

________ . Worship is a Verb. Nashville: Abbott/Martyn, 1992.

Westermeyer, Paul. Te Deum: The Church and Music. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998.

White, James Emery. Opening the Front Door: Worship and Church Growth. Nashville: Broadman, 1992.

White, James F. A Brief History of Christian Worship. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993.

_______ . Introduction to Christian Worship. rev. ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1990.

Wright, N. T. For All God’s Worth. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

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Idolatry – select quotes

As we have seen, an idol is any desire that has grown into a consuming demand that rules our hearts; it is something we think we must have to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. To put it another way, it is something we love, fear, or trust.
~ Ken Sande, in The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) pp. 109

Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai and his Disciples entered a town.  Some beautiful women passed them.  Rabbi Simeon lowered his eyes and siad to his Disciples: “Turn ye not unto the idols.” (Lev. 19:4)
~ The Talmud, Zohar, iii, 80

The amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry, no idol more debasing.
~ Andrew Carnegie

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Worship – select quotes

Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half full) of artificial admirers (like people who write generic anniversary cards for a living). Emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the disciplines of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections from God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.”
~ John Piper, in Desiring God (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1986), page 76

Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to His purpose—and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.
~ William Temple, in Readings in St. John’s Gospel, vol. 1 (London: Macmillan, 1939), page 68

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Worship

Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral, Florida (pastored by Tom Ascol) shares on its website the following list of recommended books on Worship.

  • Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin
  • Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship by David Peterson
  • Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation by Allen Ross
  • Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship by Phil Ryken, Derek Thomas, and Ligon Duncan (eds.)
  • Worship: The Regulative Principle and the Biblical Practice of Accommodation by Ernest Reisinger and Matt Allen
  • The Art of Worship: A Musician’s Guide to Leading Modern Worship by Greg Scheer
  • Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts by Harold Best
  • Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs
  • We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry by G.K. Beal
  • Worship by the Book by D.A. Carson
  • Exploring the Worship Spectrum by Paul Engle and Paul Basden (eds.)

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Worship Texts – Gary Parrett

Dr. Gary Parrett taught a course in Worship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary during the summer of 2001. The following textbooks were used in the class.

Marva J. Dawn, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time, Eerdmans, 1995

Marva J. Dawn, A Royal “Waste” of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World, Eerdmans, 1999

John M. Frame, Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense, P&R Press, 1997

John M. Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth: A Refreshing Study of the Principles and Practice of Biblical Worship, P&R Press, 1996

David Peterson, Engaging With God: A Biblical Theology of Worship, InterVarsity Press, 2002

James B. Torrance, Worship, Community & the Triune God of Grace, InterVarsity Press, 1997

Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Worship, Ancient-Future Worship Video Series

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Best Amazing Grace Recording

What is the best audio recording of Amazing Grace? This week I was at a party for my brother-in-law in which each of the guests had contributed a favorite song for a compilation CD. One of those attending had selected Elvis’ recording of Amazing Grace. They explained, “Everyone knows it is the best recording of Amazing Grace, ever.” Really? This particular “everyone” doesn’t know that. I like Elvis, but am not particularly fond of his rendition of Amazing Grace.

So, my question is, which is the best recording of Amazing Grace ever?

Here are some of those that I know of. Feel free to contribute others in the comment area below.

101 Strings Orchestra
Tori Amos
Chet Atkins
Joan Baez
Batmobile
The Beat Daddys
Elmer Bernstein
Blind Boys of Alabama
Pat Boone
Boys II Men
Shirley Caesar
Glen Campbell
Johnny Cash
Cecilia
Charley Daniels Band
Cherry Bomb Club
Cincinnati Pops
Charlotte Church
Judy Collins
Crazy Cat George
Dave Matthews Band
The David Rose Orchestra
Ani DeFranco
Phil Driscoll
Esteban
Faith Evans
Fats Domino
Scott Fitzgerald
Aretha Franklin
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
The Gatlin Brothers
George Gershwin
Mickey Gilley
Al Green
Arlo Guthrie
Merl Haggard
Jimmy Hendrix
Whitney Houston
Mahalia Jackson
Sonny James
George Jones
Janis Joplin
Jordanaires
K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Krystal
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Christy Lane
Leadbelly
Meadowlark Lemon
The Lemonheads
Loretta Lynn
Blind Willie McTell
Herbie Mann
Glenn Miller
Drop Kick Murphy
Anne Murray
Jim Neighbors
Willie Nelson
The Neville Brothers
Oak Ridge Boys
Original Drifters
Patti Page
Twila Paris
Vicki Philips
Pras-Ghetto
Elvis Presley
Ray Prices
Boots Randolph
Lou Rawls
Charlie Rich
LeAnn Rimes
Diana Ross
Pete Seeger
Seven Nations
Shanon
Robert Shaw Festival Singers
Paul Simon
Tommy Smith
Ray Stevens
Rod Stewart
Supastar Mantovani
B.J. Thomas
Randy Travis
Tsa’ Ne Dose
Ike & Tina Turner
Conway Twitty
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Voices of Watts
The Von Trapp Children
The Weavers
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lawrence Welk
Andy Williams
Victor Wooten
Glen Yarbrough

Okay, there are a few for you to consider. Amazon lists 3,213 Mp3 downloads for “Amazing Grace” so I am sure this list is just the top of the iceberg. Which is your favorite?

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Your Relationship With God?

“The biweekly attendance at worship services is, by believers’ own admission, generally the only time they worship God.””Eight out of every ten believers do not feel they have entered into the presence of God, or experienced a connection with Him, during the worship service.”

“Half of all believers say they do not feel they have entered into the presence of God or experienced a genuine connection with Him during the past year.”

[Taken from the book Revolution by George Barna. (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2005), pages 31-32]

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