#1: Shane and Shane’s Upstairs. Passionate vocal, tight harmony, and splendid acoustic guitar pretty much define their work. What sets them apart is how they sing scripture-particularly the psalms. They speak to the heart with eloquence.
#2: David Baroni Finger Paintings. David’s piano playing is very emotive. The Fingerpaintings series is all instrumental. The music has a winsome and thoughtful quality that makes it a great backdrop for meditating on the word.
#3: Jars of Clay Redemption Songs. Just when you thought these guys have disappeared, they come up with a body of work covering classic hymns of the church. The hymn lyrics are deeply personal and theologically rich: a fitting reason to delve into our hymn heritage.
#4: Phil Keaggy Beyond Nature. Acoustic guitar playing of this calibre reminds me that God is the inventor of music. Whether you want to call it a soundtrack to your soul or not, his music takes me places. The purity of wood and steel is quite moving and inviting to reflection.
#5: Bach, Mass in B minor. This towering classic is one of the great works in baroque classical worship. Part of it’s beauty lies in how it maintains a grand reverence while changing tempo and texture: from sweet solo passages to thundering chorus. It was never used as liturgy in its entirety due to its length.
Sometimes we need to shut out the world and listen to God. Well…a lot of times, actually. When the headphones go on and the bible opens there’s such an awesome opportunity for focus and holy convergence. We become single minded and attentive to the Spirit. Little details become big as they spring into focus…such is the sweetness of fellowship with God. A dear friend of mine used to say, “I’m going on vacation for an hour this afternoon…” Same concept. Time away with God is closer than we think.
In the words of Os Chambers, We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be.
i think personal worship is something that needs to be re-discovered by everyone, but especially worship leaders. you can’t lead where you’ve never been. we’ve got to bless the heart of God when we’re all alone in our room before we try to lead others to bless His heart.