My Favorite Hymn - part 2

Here is my follow up to my first post "My Favorite Hymn"
I took this from two of my responses to this Worship Community thread.

Hymns are the lifeline of our worship experience. The history of the church can be traced through Hymns, and some of us now are missing the experience of older Hymns altogether. We've recently seen a resurgence of Hymns with songs like "The Wonderful Cross" (And I mean recently like the last 10 years), Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) and others...

It is time for us to re-introduce these jewels of faith into our churches again. Who can't be moved by stories like Fanny Crosby's? She is the anointed author of "Blessed Assurance" and "To God Be the Glory" among hundreds of others she penned. Who wasn't moved the first time they heard the story behind "It is Well With My Soul?"

No one says you have to pick up a hymnal and lead straight out of it. There are lots of ways to reintroduce Hymns. Look at Chris Tomlin and what he's done. Listen to Third Day's "Blessed Assurance". Jadon Lavik has an excellent album that remakes hymns called Roots Run Deep. Chris Rice has two CDs that are nice: Peace Like a River and the beautiful instrumental Living Room Sessions. Jim Drake - a Worship Community friend got me a copy of this Matt Boswell jem called Vintage. Thanks Jim! And this is just the beginning....

All that to say - There are quite a few remakes of Hymns you could try... or you could just try your own... and most of them are Public Domain, so knock yourself out. Lifeway has even introduced quite a few in their Worship Project. There is a rich history of song in our church. Don't miss out on what our forefathers (and mothers :-) ) have left behind.

Here are my favorites... (You'll note that I could not make it just one)
...in no particular order
(1) Nothing But The Blood
- My friends Barry and Michelle Patterson did a version of this on Odds and Ends. Still my favorite version of this.
(2) Hallelujah, What a Savior
- This song just makes me weep.
(3) Before The Throne of God Above
- Yes I know this is new, but it extols the glory of God as Hymns should and it is written like a hymn... and I LOVE it!
(4) Grace that is Greater than all my Sin
- I have grown to love this song here at FBC Hamlin. It just sends chills when we do it.
(5) O For a Thousand Tongues
- Love the words... Love the progression... love to do it with We Fall Down... Amazing Hymn
(6) Blessed Assurance
- What a beautiful, lilting melody. It makes you feel like you're dancing with God.
(7) Come Thou Fount
- I agree with one of the members of TWC. "Prone to Wander..." is the most personal part of this Hymn
(8) I Love to Tell the Story
- This one just hits home. Oozing with truth.
(9) Jesus Paid it All
- Became a bigger favorite after the Kristian Stanfill version. YES!
(10) Tell Me the Story of Jesus...
- Reminds me that there is no better story to tell. Hallelujah.

That's all I have right now - I could go on because there are thousands of Hymns. While I love contemporary music (Hillsong, Gateway, New Life, and Jesus Culture are all doing GREAT stuff), missing out on our church's rich history of song is a big mistake. May God be glorified in every breath.

My Favorite Hymn - Part 1

Yesterday, I found out that quite a few worship leaders lead "There is a Fountain" last week. What a wonderful thing "Sunday Set Lists" are. Thanks so much for this, Fred. (If you want to see what I'm talking about go to www.fredmckinnon.com.
While I stated that "There is a Fountain" wasn't my favorite - a couple of you stated that it was. That lead me to wonder what my favorite Hymn was... and why...

This proved to be a much more daunting task for me than I realized. You see, if you grew up in the church, hymns are an important part of your faith. You heard them every week and they're ingrained in your spirit. David said in Psalm 119:11, "I have hidden Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you." Many of our Hymns are rooted in scripture, and these songs take root in our hearts. This is a good thing...

There has been quite a struggle between "contemporary" worship and "traditional" worship over the last few years. What is amazing to me is there really is no line between the two. There is no traditional. There is no contemporary. There is just worship. How you make it yours is up to you... How you make it His is what makes it worship. It all has to be about Jesus. It all has to be about God. Anything else should be called a "sing-a-long" or a concert. That's what makes our worship important. It is about worshipping Him. Paul implores us to worship in Colossians 3:16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." We are called to worship and as evidenced by this passage, hymns are an important part of that worship. They not only please God, but they enrich and edify us. So what are hymns? You see, Paul distinguishes 3 different kinds of worship songs: Psalms (Praises in Hebrew - or from Greek songs sung to a harp), Hymns and Spiritual Songs (Greek : 'ode pneumatikos; meaning songs of the breath of God) Psalms and Spiritual Songs - we'll talk about later... But what about hymns?

Hymns are actually not a word that means "old church songs." Hymns are any song directed to God and/or songs proclaiming his majesty and goodness. Sounds like some of our new contemporary songs are actually hymns, doesn't it? You see, there are very blurry lines between the three of these elements of worship. But, there are some distinctions.

So, now that I've written all of that, I'd like to hear what your favorite hymn is and why? Make it short and sweet, but remember this is a taste of what you offer to God, so make it genuine.

Blessings - I'll follow up with mine in a later post....