Thursday, November 15, 2007

Sacred Choral Music

Some clever people have a sidebar that includes a list of current books they're reading, movies they've watched, and music they are listening to. Here, I am less cleverly recommending the music playing in my CD player right now.

Every Sunday morning the classical station plays sacred choral music instead of the mainly instrumental pieces. Whenever I can I turn the radio to that for the short five minute trip to church. Movie soundtracks with such choirs or boys choirs are my favorite. There is a track at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring with a boys choir. And Shadowlands has choral music straight through. Disney made a movie in the 90's that was all about a boys choir, called Perfect Harmony. I first discovered Michael Card through Unveiled Hope, when he was in his more classical style stage.

When I was a senior in high school I attended a concert by Moody Bible Institute's Chorale. It was the most soaring worship experience in which I ever participated - and I only listened. Honestly, the waves of music and blending of parts brought me with it to the throne of heaven, and I worshiped my God with a hundred silent amen's.

After that I also heard the Women's Concert Choir and Bell Ensemble, and then the Men's Collegiate Choir, both of which were incredible. I happened to have friends in each, but that was only the door to interest. If you want uplifting, beautiful music, go to their concerts; buy their CD's.

To God be all glory.

5 comments:

Kevin Schaub said...

Hey Lisa, don't you wish you could blog every day? I think that if I were a full-time pastor, and if a majority of the church wanted to read it, I could make it a huge part of my day. Instead, my current employer just told us to stay off non-related-business sites at work, meaning that I have to sacrifice sleep for blogging. Don't know how that story will end.

Hopefully well, by God's grace and will, and ultimately for his glory. I really want, at least tonight, that he do with me as he wants. I think, some nights, I don't want that. But tonight, even honestly reminded of my radical depravity, he is God and I am not. I want to be his. I want to be made new according to the discipline of his grace so that I could never claim I had anything to do with the substance of my good works, if there are any to speak of.

I like reading your blog because you honestly access things at church. We've talked about music before. I wrote about 'Above All' in my first blog at elect Exiles. For some reason, we've sang that song three of four weeks since then. What am I missing? I mentioned the praise that God gets when his people willingly embrace truth over beauty alone in my sermon on Eph. 6:10-13, but I'm sure they didn't think of 'Above All' when I said that we shouldn't sing things that aren't true back to Christ, even if we intend them to be worship.

I don't want that.

I want to sing truth to God. I want to claim his word and sing it back to him, especially when that truth honors his grace as redeemer and savior, as Father and King. I want to sing songs like 'Jealous Kind' and 'Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder' and 'Rock of Ages' from my tongue right back to God. At least tonight I do.

Robert said...

I sampled some music clips at the Moody link you gave.It sounds good.I have listened to Old Christian Music radio station that is online and plays music like that.

At the site http://everythingdomestic.blogspot.com/ there is a post on Oct 28 called Let them sing Psalms.Jessie has a link to a male choir singing the Psalms that you might enjoy.

Lisa of Longbourn said...

Thanks for the link and article, Robert. I finally got around to reading my May/June edition of Every Thought Captive (Highland Study Center/RC Sproul, Jr.) and it included an endorsement for the music of Nathan Clark George which I got to check out. You can hear samples of his praise music, and yes, Psalms, here: http://www.indieheaven.com/artist_main.php?id=72306

To God be all glory,
Lisa of Longbourn

Lisa of Longbourn said...

There's a balance, isn't there, between being honest and between trying to change what you honestly feel. I honestly want to love my church and be gracious and edifying in what I say, but I also honestly get very frustrated sometimes. Tired. I just want to sing like the choirs in heaven, without risk of insincerity (in me or my companions) or bad doctrine catching me in the next line of the song. But I know that just complaining, even just blogging, isn't going to help my church. So "let us CONSIDER one another, in order to stir up love and GOOD works."

Part of my frustration is my fault because I so seldom put in the Christian CD's I have and worship God on my own, out of my experience, in my environment. I think I need, like Jessie suggested in the post Robert linked, to take a walk through my neighborhood singing good praises to my ever-good, mightily glorious King.

PS: Sad day, about websites at work. Does that mean you can't write posts when inspiration hits at work, either? I do that all the time, but I have a cushy job.

To God be all glory,
Lisa of Longbourn

Kevin Schaub said...

yeah, that sad day made it to work.