| onsdag, august 02, 2006 |
| Til alle låtskrivere |
Dette er skrevet av Tim Hughes. Og anbefales og lese dette på det sterkeste, enten du er låtskriver eller tilbeder.
I've been spending the last month or so thinking a lot about songs. Particularly the songs that I've been working on. It can become a very consuming process. Does it sound cool? Is it a singable melody? Are the lyrics fresh? Will people love it or hate it? Is it better than other songs I've written? Does it capture emotion? They are all good questions and worth thinking about - but recently I realised that there was one key question that I was failing to ask. That is, 'God, what do you think about this song?'
I think God's verdict over our songs has much less to do with musicality and creativity. Rather God looks at the heart behind the song. Reading Amos 5 shatters all our pretences that God is impressed by our new songs and recordings, if our hearts are far from Him and far from the poor.
I hate, I reject your festivals,
I will not stomach your assemblies.
Even though you offer me burnt offerings
and your grain offerings,
I won't accept them;
and the peace offerings of your prize beasts
I won't approve.
Spare me the roar of your songs;
I won't listen to the music of your guitars.
Amos 5:21-23 (Postmodern Bible)
The message of Amos is clear. God is looking for a people for whom social justice is the indispensable expression of true worship. The Lord was enraged to see His people trample the poor and abuse the weak and yet gather together to offer up extravagent gifts of worship. As a result the sound of their songs had become meaningless and detestable in God's sight. God simply refused to listen to the sound of hypocrisy.
It puts song writing into perspective. If I want to please God with the songs I write, then I need to live a life of love. As James says, 'Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world' (1:27). I've been feeling really challenged in my life about what I place priorities on. God's heart breaks and beats for the poor, the downtrodden, the abused, the fatherless, the lonely, and the hurting. If I am not allowing my heart to feel the same sense of passion for these people then I may write a song that I love, but in God's ears it will be an unpleasant sound. He'll be looking down saying, 'spare me Tim.' I'm trying to learn what it means to love the poor and to be honest at the moment I'm way off. But I'm on a journey - God is gracious, but the call is overwhelmingly clear.
I end with these words from David Ruis, "The fragrance of worship is justice...where there is no justice, there is no fragrance." |
posted by Trond Westby @ 12:27 p.m.   |
|
| 3 Comments: |
-
Hei på du!
Veldig bra dette her.Han er en fin mann han Tim H.=)
-
Enige med Linda. Kor e du nå? I byen eller på tur, mon tru...?
-
akkuratt nå er eg i byn. Men reise til TMF på søndag og komme hjem søndagen etter. ska ha lovsangseminar der. :)
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
| |
| About Me |
|
Name: Trond Westby
Home: Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway
About Me:
See my complete profile
|
| Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
| GUDS ORD |
Min sjel, lov Herren,glem ikke alle hans velgjerninger!Han tilgir all din skyld og leger all din sykdom.Han frir ditt liv fra graven og kroner deg med godhet og miskunn.Han fyller ditt liv med det som godt er,og gjør deg ung igjen som ørnen. |
| Gjengen og de |
|
| Andre linker |
|
| Powered by |
 |
|
Hei på du!
Veldig bra dette her.Han er en fin mann han Tim H.=)