Doxology & Theology

Dr. Boswell gives a benediction for worship leaders on the glorious, majestic, transcendent, immanent, unchanging, everlasting, and eternally blessed triune God!

Andrew Peterson talks the creative process of song writing.

In this episode, Dr. Lister connects a theology of God's presence to our experience of corporate worship.

Dr. Jonathan Welch discusses the ways that praise can serve as protest.

Pastor Bleecker talks about simple songs with deep theology. There are songs that are simple but filled with depth and meaning. They are anchors to our souls.

Zac Hicks asks the question, "What does it mean for a worship leader to be a theological dietician?"

Hershel York discusses working with senior pastors. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Dr. Westerholm talks about the glorious reality of Trinitarian worship. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

#30 Greg Brewton - Christ-Centered Rehearsals by Institute for Biblical Worship

Kevin DeYoung discusses worship and God the Spirit. Lean more at biblicalworship.com

Mike Cosper brings us 10 questions to ask yearly. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Don Whitney talks about the discipline of worship. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Matt Boswell interviews Mark Dever about the role of senior pastor in worship. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Sandra McCracken discusses the disciplines of being a songwriter. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

G.K. Beale shows how we become like what we worship. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Shane Barnard offers tips for arranging a hymn. Learn More at biblicalworship.com

Join us at Together for the Gospel 2022 for a late night panel discussion hosted by Matt Boswell as we consider “How Worship Unites the Church.“ Tickets are selling fast! Register Now --> www.doxologyandtheology.com/dandt-at-t4g

Matt Merker offers 20 tips in 20 minutes to enhance your congregational singing. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Michael Reeves shows how Trinitarian worship is Christ-centered. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Daniel Renstrom helps worship leaders build a culture of worship.

Kevin Twit calls worship leaders to preserve gospel-centered hymns. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

H.B. Charles offers a stunning vision of God's glory. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Jared C. Wilson calls worship leaders to be bold with the gospel. Register for D&T 2021 at biblicalworship.com/conference

Sandra McCracken calls worship leaders to comfort God's people. Register for D&T 2021 at biblicalworship.com/conference

Matt Papa calls worshipers to look and live. Register for D&T 2021 at biblicalworship.com/conference

Paul Tripp offers ways to diagnose idolatry in ministry. Register for D&T 2021 at biblicalworship.com/conference

Jonathan Welch discusses the ways that corporate worship shapes believers into citizens of Christ's kingdom. Register for D&T 2021: biblicalworship.com/conference

Aaron Ivey diagnoses the glory-stealing tendencies of worship leaders. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Mark Dever considers the needs of a worshipper. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Tripp Lee takes a moment to consider bragging. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Ligon Duncan calls for worship services to feature the reading of Scripture. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Matt Merker discusses the role of a songwriter within a local congregation. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Don Whitney discusses the appropriate response to beholding a glorious God. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

In his message from Romans 11, Matt Boswell unpacks the commission of a worship leader. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Keith Getty takes a look at the effects commercialism has had on the songs we sing. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Matthew Westerholm talks about how God reveals his glory through his slow-motion activity. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Taken from a 1999 chapel service, Albert Mohler calls for rich theology in our songs, regardless of their musical style. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Who is here? Who should be here? Who has been here? Mike Cosper encourages us to plan worship services that reflect the time and place that the Lord has given us. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

What does Jesus mean when he says that God seeks true worshipers? D.A. Carson kicks off our first season with insights from John 4. Learn more at biblicalworship.com

Matt Boswell welcomes Matthew Westerholm as the new host of the Doxology and Theology podcast. Their conversation unpacks the history of D&T, and sets a vision for the future of the podcast.

Matt Merker offers a primer on what the regulative principle is and how it impacts our worship gatherings. Quotes: "When we have the debate about what should or shouldn’t be done in a service, we should all have it from the same posture. The regulative principle gives us that posture." "How can we conform our worship to what Scripture commands?" "What you do in a worship service isn’t neutral. The things we do on a Sunday morning are always teaching." "The choices we make about what to include in a worship service are formative. They help to train people’s hearts in what to love and how to live. Planning a service is part of how we disciple people."

Joel Limpic emcees a panel with Sandra McCracken, Caroline Cobb, and Ryan Gikas. The crew gives practical insight on how to write songs from Scripture, how to co-write, and how to share new songs with your congregation. Quotes: "How can you use melody and all the tools a songwriter has to make people feel the truth of this passage, what God is trying to get into our hearts with this passage?” "What words are we putting in the mouths of our people? What are we extracting out of our people? What is God doing in our church? Listen to the prayers of our people. What are you hearing consistently? Have a pulse on the community piece of it and the people around us.”

Matt Merker coaches songwriters on how to write fresh, singable melodies for worship in the church. Quotes: "Reasons we write new songs for the church: 1. God is worthy of new efforts we can make to praise him. 2. Creativity honors God and reflects his image. 3. To serve new lyrics. 4. Songs are portable theology lessons. 5. Every congregation is different." "The reason that music is so powerful for Christians is that it’s a marriage of theology and melody. Music helps to make the truths stick to our hearts, making a conduit between our head and our heart. We want to write not just melodies that work but melodies that stir our hearts first and then the hearts of our people by enabling them to engage with rich truths about who God is and what he’s done." "We’re writing to the church, we want to write a song that will minister to and bless and encourage our people, and we’re also writing for the church, we’re literally putting something in their mouths." "What makes a melody singable? 1. Intuitive—the melody is neither so predictable that it’s boring nor so complex that it’s baffling. It can be learned after being heard just a few times. Singable doesn’t mean it’s easy to learn; it means you want to keep singing it. 2. Natural—suits all the voices in the congregation in terms of its range and the phrasing allows you to breathe. 3. Complementary to the lyrics—the tone and mood of the melody matches the mood and the meaning of the text, and the tune should fit the phrasing and the meter and accent of the poetry. 4. Affective—it moves the emotions. It should move the heart, not just obey the rules of music theory." "Can the melody be interesting enough to carry the interest without relying on all these cool chords I learned in my music theory class?"

Sandra McCracken shares how she writes and leads modern hymns in the church. Songs Covered: "Steadfast" "Come Light Our Hearts" "Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right" "We Will Feast in the House of Zion" Quotes: "When we practice silence in this biblical way, we understand that the Lord is gracious with us, that Jesus is not there just to expose the things that are painful in our hearts, but he wants it to be opened up so he can heal us. Where there’s honest lament in this biblical way, there’s also an opportunity for that to be healed so that the tears are fruitful and our lament is not self-absorption or just wallowing in things. But moving through the sorrows and places brokenness and on to the other side. That’s what worship is designed to do—it’s to realign our hearts toward wholeness." "Silence makes way for lament, and lament is like a passage—it’s not a destination, it’s not the state we were meant for. Lament is what we do in the passage between now and the full restoration that God has planned and is committed to." "It’s so ordinary—we put charts together for a service, we plan things, we start at the wrong tempo, or someone gets sick that morning and can’t show up. All the logistics are happening, but if you zoom out you realize it's a miraculous thing that we get to be part of this, that we get to participate in the receiving and the giving of God’s comfort by way of song." "The doctrine of God’s providence in our lives was not given to us to be a theological debate. It was given to us as a comfort. The idea that God is sovereign is not meant to make you mad; it’s meant to help you know you are held and that God is not surprised by the devastation that happens in our world and in our lives."

Mike Cosper urges worship leaders to crave the real thing—intimacy with God. Quotes: "The power of social media is in its ability to shape our affections." "Think about this self-promoting, media-saturated culture—if it’s remaking us, what is it transforming us into?" "We’re learning to be satisfied with the veneer of something rather than the real thing. Social media is a curated version of your life. You’re able to take the best parts of your life and put it on display for other people to see and to approve. You get to control how you’re seen." "The universal temptation of our age is to be satisfied with the veneer rather than the real thing. For pastors and worship leaders, that means being satisfied with the appearance of joy, intimacy, and passion, rather than the real thing." "Joy, intimacy, and passion for God come from cultivating a deep life with God. What we see on Sunday mornings should be an overflow of that intimacy and not a substitute for it." "Is it enough for us as worship leaders to have Sunday morning as the place where we encounter the presence of God while we leave the rest of our lives untouched?" “I assure you, if you love the veneer, then ministry will ultimately destroy you. I also assure you, if you’re tired and burned out and worn out on religion, if you’re feeling fake on Sunday mornings, if you’re feeling like a hypocrite, if you’re frustrated with ministry and tired of people not getting it, then almost certainly part of the issue is that you haven’t carved out the space for intimacy with God.” "Don’t be satisfied with the veneer of Sunday mornings that go well. Crave the real thing, and let your ministry be an overflow.”

Afshin Ziafat calls pastors and worship leaders to make preaching the Word central in our corporate gatherings. Quotes: "Because we can know God through his Scripture, God’s written Word is powerful to give us life." "Get in the Word of God, and see the places where he’s very clear about what his will is." "Vision and dreams are prominent in places where the Word of God is not. I’ve met some people who have come to Christ through visions and dreams, and I’ve seen their Bibles, and it is devoured—they have notes on every page. They don’t want more visions and dreams—they want the Word of God." "Preaching is a stewardship that’s been given to us." "Preaching is God’s standard method, though not his only method, to herald the message." "The reason preaching is important isn’t because of the man preaching; it’s because the Word of God is so important." "The reason people shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God’s Word is because their aim ultimately is to get a crowd. If you just want followers or more people, then you’re going to avoid some sections of Scripture." "Even preaching and leading music, it’s not about our gifts. You preach so they would be equipped for every good work." "God doesn’t need non-Christians to believe his Word is authoritative for his Word to actually move and have power. He’s not dependent on that."

Charlie Hall, Ryan Gikas, and Joel Limpic discuss what it means to lead worship that is both saturated with Scripture and led by the Spirit. Quotes: "What’s the origin of the songs in Colossians 3:16? It’s a filling of the Spirit. As the Spirit fills the church, the Word of God comes out of our mouths." "The end for which the Word exists is not that I would be right, but that I would know the God who inspired this Word." "The aim of biblically-informed or biblically-saturated worship is that as our minds are informed, our hearts would be affected, that our affections would be stirred, that we would delight in him, and that delight would fuel a response, and that the response would be authentic worship." "The same Spirit of God is present on Tuesday when we’re prayerfully preparing and on Sunday morning." "We meticulously go through our plan, but also, I tell everyone, 'Stay alert. God is alive. He’s a resurrected King. He’s sent his Holy Spirit that points us to Jesus. This plan doesn’t rule us—Jesus rules us—so what can he do?'” "We’re not just telling a story that happened; we’re telling a story that’s happening. We’re inviting people in, rehearsing and remembering, but we’re also participating."

Sandra McCracken shows how our everyday creativity comes to life as we learn to walk in the way of the Trinity. Quotes: Belonging brings us out of isolation. We’re so prone to isolation. Left on our own, we’re isolated, controlling, trying to manage everything. Yet the life of the church is a life of invitation, of communal coming together and belonging. As we engage in what it means to collaborate, it doesn’t mean we passively have no opinions. It means that we come together and say, “This needs to be said, and I need you to hear it.” Anytime there’s creative work or you’re holding a microphone on a Sunday or anytime during the week, you’re going to be wrestling with your ego. It’s just inevitable. It doesn’t mean you have to run away. It means there’s an opportunity that the gospel can press in close and that it can become a place where we say, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we need your whole communion to invite us into wholeness only you can give us.” Because we have biblical examples, we know we’re not the first ones to experience what we’re experiencing. So we can press through those difficult places into healthy collaboration where we can disagree and still love, where it stays love and we don’t run from each other. It’s going to require forgiveness and letting go. There’s hospitality even in the logistics of asking how you’re going to set up the stage, or what you’re going to do when somebody drops something or misses a cue. Do we have the presence as people together to push through those awkward moments and to think about the logistics in light of welcome and wanting to be a place where people are invited because Christ is the host? In the way of the Trinity, there’s abundance.

Tony Merida invites us to consider how the Lord's Supper and baptism in the worship gathering make the gospel visible to one another and to unbelievers. Quotes: "The resurrection isn’t simply a truth to die on. It’s a truth to live on." "When we meet together for worship, we aren’t just looking at the stage. We’re ministering to each other." "We’re reminding each other that our greatest problem has been solved." "Grace fuels praise. When you realize your greatest problem has been removed, it gives you peace and a desire to praise." "You can’t encourage your brothers and sisters without being there. It’s a danger to not be with your brothers and sisters." "If you believe God has spoken in his Word, wouldn’t you want to read it?" "You can build a crowd on personality, but you can’t build a church." "What makes a church a church? It’s not a budget, or a building. It’s the Word of God preached and the sacraments administered." "The Lord’s Supper isn’t a funeral. Jesus is doing O.K."

Matt Boswell and Matt Papa answer questions from worship leaders about how to think about and implement—or not implement—liturgical elements in their services. Quotes: "I want our gatherings to be marked by great, gospel-filled joy.” "How do we make sure our gatherings are trinitarian? How do we walk in the balance between God’s transcendence and his immanence? How do we live in the reality of God’s revelation and our response? We're ensuring these various nuances and ideas are resonant within the meeting of God’s people." “If you’ve been in your new ministry context at an existing church for just a couple of months, go slow.” “If we’re always introducing new songs to our churches, they’ll never be able to settle in.” “Songs are meant as communion or as consumption. I want our church to think of songs as, ‘This is part of our communion with Christ together,' not to just consume them and hate them afterward.” “Go slow and be intentional in building the hymnal of your church. Your pastor should be involved in that work. Don’t go in the work alone.” “We’re not trying to pick songs just to get through the weekend. We’re picking songs to carry us through our lives. Don’t think just week-to-week. Think, ‘What are we forming people toward?’” "Look through your list of 30–40 songs, and think through the balance of what you’re saying. We’re people with personality quirks, and we tend to like certain aspects of God and certain styles, but be broad and objective with that.” “A great exercise for a new church is to index by category the songs you’re singing to see if you’re singing a broad scope.” “If you’re going to be writing prayers, make sure others’ eyes are on them too. There, in writing prayers that people are going to pray with you, you’re putting words in people’s mouths, so you have to be very careful with that.” “How do I lead and instruct a congregation that has no category for a confession?” “Our goal is not that our services should be more liturgical. Our goal is that our services always point more and more clearly to Christ." “There’s no step we have to take to become acceptable before God. We’re totally accepted through the work of Jesus. I didn’t want us to feel like we had to do these things in order for our worship to be acceptable. That’s the idolatry of liturgy.”

Bob Kauflin offers important principles for worship leaders early in their ministry as they choose songs for their church. Quotes: "You don’t want your song choices to be dictated by your musical limitations. Understanding there are some songs that are out of reach, you want to work to make those songs within reach." "Our goal is to remember, proclaim, and celebrate God’s worthiness, works, and Word." "Our goal is to inform minds with gospel truth, move hearts with gospel implications, and motivate lives worthy of the gospel." "Our songs should contain biblical proportions. There are verses in the Psalms that talk about our longing or hunger for God, but those wouldn't make up the bulk of songs. So if our songs do that mostly, they’re out of proportion." "Our songs can err in one of two ways: they can approach God in a way that's too flippant, or they can make it seem like we can’t get near to God at all." "Our songs should bring biblical clarity. A friend said, 'The gospel brings us out of darkness into light; our songs shouldn’t reverse that process.’” "Our goal is to equip and encourage people in their battles against sin, suffering, self-sufficiency, and self-deception." "We’re not aiming simply to move people emotionally. We want to give them shepherding care for their souls through the songs we’re singing. We’re not simply trying to have a good performance, we’re not trying to give people a satisfying emotional experience personally. We’re equipping them for the fight." "Choose songs so you can have a congregation that actually sings. 1. Sing songs people can sing. 2. Sing songs people actually want to sing—so they love singing. 3. Sing songs people should sing." "To care for people’s souls specifically, we have to move beyond thinking of songs in simply musical or stylistic terms." "If the primary way I categorize the songs I lead on Sunday is tempo and key, I’m neglecting the most important way the Spirit works in our hearts, which is the Word of Christ communicated in our lyrics." "If you hear a song and you love it, but then you read through the lyrics and go, 'That’s really not saying much,' don’t do it.” "There should be a progression in our songs. Throughout church history, cohesion and progression have been the norm. If you don’t know why your songs go together, don’t expect the Holy Spirit to fill in the gaps—he can, but just don’t assume that." "When we lead people to sing, we’re putting words, emotions, thoughts, perspectives, and responses in people’s mouths. And it should make sense.” “If people didn’t have the sermons, how well would they know God through the songs you sing after a year?" Resources Mentioned: sovereigngracemusic.org gettymusic.com igracemusic.com Park Church (Denver)