So, I was taken out to a concert on a date with my lovely girlfriend Kristen and some friends (Evan and Shantelle) Jeremy Camp and Jeff Johnson.
Jeff Johnson I had a lot of respect for as a fellow worship leader (not that I do that too much any more) and Jeremy Camp most Christians under the age of 30 in America know about.
Something happened while listening to Jeff Johnson that has not happened in a while: I enjoyed Mighty to Save.
You know the song. Everyone knows the song now. People can't stop playing it, which I don't mind, it's a fabulous song.
But I've stopped enjoying it.
People don't understand that song when they play it, and they BUTCHER the way the song is meant to be built up and emphasized. I've heard it played at my church back home in Dallas, and they play it the same way Hillsong does: They play the "shine your light and let the whole world sing" part like 4 million times, at maximum volume and strength.
Now, you can disagree with me, but I completely think that is the least important part of the song. They don't understand that all the choruses (or chori, whatever) are meant to be quiet and built up, like the verses, and then the bridge is supposed to be the SHORT interlude where it builds up momentum to the final chorus and we declare that He is Mighty to Save!
It's such an exciting song, and people recognize that, but they waste the emphasis on building up from a quiet start. Plus they play it way too fast.
Jeff Johnson was amazing at building and working through the song and he had some great stuff to say about it and it was powerful.
I kind of wish we had a bigger vocabulary of standard, everyone-knows-them-and-loves-them worship songs so people could just use them at the right moment and we'd have enough songs that one would always perfectly fit the mood.
This was like the second time that song has actually been at the right moment for me.
Also, Jeremy Camp is an amazing worship leader, which I totally did not expect. I hate his voice on the albums but he is powerful to hear.
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So, this is the blog of Brett. I used to write on my Myspace and I still use my Facebook all the time to tell people what's going on in my life, but I suppose true blogging isn't about what's happening in your life, it's about your reaction to it and what it inspires you to think. Not to say that this is my journal. It's where I drop my brain off at the end of the day.
2 comments:
Which I think may say something about the nature of worship. The best worship leaders aren't always the ones who sound the best or do the coolest things, they are the ones who are listening to what God is saying, what the writer of the song meant when they put those words on paper, and they are really giving the glory up to God. I think part of why the bridge is so built up is because we feel that it's about us. We like to be selfish in worship a lot. In the bridge it is the individual who can say that they are singing for God's glory and even possibly that they are shining the light of Christ to the world. Both of those things are good, but the emphasis should be on God who is MIGHTY TO SAVE! Those words really are powerful, because if you think back to Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal, our God is the one who sent fire from heaven! Our God is the one who saved Isaac and built a nation through Abraham. Our God is the one who sent Jesus Christ to die and save us from a damned nature. That's the best part of our Christian life, which is why I would figure it would be the best part of that song.
Anyway, good thoughts dear. I like that you think. It makes you less of a trophy boy. :D
Brett is totally my trophy...
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