The story behind the 'Heart of Worship' song

A few years back in our church, we realised some of the things we thought were
helping us in our worship were actually hindering us. They were throwing us off the
scent of what it means to really worship. We had always set aside lots of time in our
meetings for worshipping God through music. But it began to dawn on us that we´d
lost something. The fire that used to characterise our worship had somehow grown
cold. In some ways, everything looked great. We had some wonderful musicians, and
a good quality sound system. There were lots of new songs coming through, too. But
somehow we´d started to rely on these things a little too much, and they´d become
distractions. Where once people would enter in no matter what, we´d now wait to
see what the band was like first, how good the sound was, or whether we were ´into
´ the songs chosen.

Mike, the pastor, decided on a pretty drastic course of action: we´d strip everything
away for a season, just to see where our hearts were. So the very next Sunday when
we turned up at church, there was no sound system to be seen, and no band to lead
us. The new approach was simple - we weren´t going to lean so hard on those
outward things any more. Mike would say, ´When you come through the doors of the
church on Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God? What are you
going to sacrifice today?´

If I´m honest, at first I was pretty offended by the whole thing. The worship was my
job! But as God softened my heart, I started to see His wisdom all over these
actions. At first the meetings were a bit awkward: there were long periods of silence,
and there wasn´t too much singing going on. But we soon began to learn how to
bring heart offerings to God without any external trappings we´d grown used to.
Stripping everything away, we slowly started to rediscover the heart of worship.

After a while, the worship band and the sound system re-appeared, but now it was
different. The songs of our hearts had caught up with the songs of our lips.

Out of this season, I reflected on where we had come to as a church, and wrote this
song:

When the music fades,

All is stripped away,
And I simply come;
Longing just to bring something that´s of worth
That will bless Your heart.

I´ll bring You more than a song,

For a song in itself
Is not what You have required.
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear;
You´re looking into my heart.
In the chorus I tried to sum up where we were at with worship:

I´m coming back to the heart of worship,

And it´s all about You,
All about You, Jesus.
I´m sorry, Lord, for the thing I´ve made it,
When it´s all about You,
All about You, Jesus.
(Matt Redman, Kingsway´s Thankyou Music)

This extract is taken from Chapter 8 of ´The Unquenchable Worshipper´ by Matt

Redman, Kingsway Publications.

The Unsatisfied Worshipper

The Unsatisfied Worshipper

Lord, since the day I saw You first,

My soul was satisfied;
And yet, because I see in part,
I´m searching, more to find.

(Taken from "Intimacy", Matt Redman, Thankyou Music)

As worshippers of Jesus Christ, we live in the tension of the ´now´ and the ´not yet
´. From the day we received Him, our souls found their destiny and reason. The
reality of His love and presence invaded our hearts, and we found fulfilment. The
Bible reveals a God who ´satisfies [our] desires with good things´ (Psalm 103:5).

But that´s not the whole picture. We´re also unsatisfied worshippers - a people who
see only in part. This side of heaven we´ll always be carrying in our hearts a holy
frustration: the inward groan of believers waiting eagerly for ´our adoption as sons,
the redemption of our bodies´ (Romans 8:23).

Eugene Peterson wrote: ´Worship does not satisfy our hunger for God - it whets our
appetite.´ (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, IVP, 2000)
The more we see of Jesus, the more we know there´s still so much to be seen. The
more He touches our lives, the more we realise our desperate need for Him to
consume every part of us. Worship often creates just as many questions as answers.
Every glimpse of Jesus, wonderful as it is, is just a drop in the ocean. And the more
glimpses we have, the more we begin to realise just how vast that ocean is. We are a
people ever searching, ´more of Him to find´; adoring hearts on a tough but
rewarding journey. One day we´ll reach our final destination, but for now every step
on our walk with God is just a tiny foretaste of the glorious inheritance that lies
ahead.
Sometimes it´s encouraging to realise how far we´ve already come on our journey.
At a quayside people will draw watermarks - reminders of the levels the tides have
reached in that place. In the same way, it´s so good to reflect on the peaks and
troughs in our own journey. When I look back, I begin to see the marks of God´s
grace all over my life. The further back I look, the more I realise just how much He´s
been shaping and healing my heart.

I´ve always found writing lyrics a great way of documenting my walk with God.
Reflecting on different songs or poems can really help me retrace my relationship
with Him. Recently I wrote a song called ´The Father´s Song´. Based on Zephaniah
3:17, it talks of the powerful, life-changing song God sings over His people:

I have heard so many songs,

Listened to a thousand tongues,
But there is one that sounds above them all;
The Father´s song, the Father´s love -
You sung it over me, and for eternity
It´s written on my heart.

Heaven´s perfect melody,

The Creator´s symphony,
You are singing over me
The Father´s song.
Heaven´s perfect mystery -
The King of Love has sent for me,
And now You´re singing over me
The Father´s song.

(Matt Redman, ´The Father´s song´, Thankyou Music).

That verse in Zephaniah has always intrigued me. It´s an amazing thought - that
God Almighty could be rejoicing over me with singing. Yet one evening, sitting there
with my guitar, it struck me more than ever before. So much of my life involves
music, but that night I realised the most meaningful song I´ll ever come across will
be the one my heavenly Father sings over me.

Soon after writing the song, I found a poem I´d written at the age of 15. It had a
pretty different tone:

Due to certain circumstances and conditions of my heart

I´ve been starved of the love of a Father in the past,
And it doesn´t seem to matter, but inside there´s still a thirst
That says ´I want my Daddy´, like a hurting five-year old.

Due to matters arising and control of situations

I have run from the love of a Father in the past.
And to me it´s not so pure, and I find that I´m not sure
If I want that love to seek me and to reach me anyway.
And it doesn´t seem to matter, but inside there´s still a thirst
That says ´I want my Daddy´, like a hurting five-year old.

When I look at these two sets of lyrics back to back it shocks me. I realise just how
far God has brought me along the path of healing. It´s easy to forget the pain I´d
carried around after my largely fatherless upbringing. The voices of hurt that used to
echo so loudly around my head have been drowned out by a different sound: the
Father´s song. When I compare these two watermarks, I´m humbled by God´s hand
of kindness in my life.

That´s not to say I´m a totally whole person now - far from it. I´m an unfinished
heart. Now and again I feel the twinges of pain from the past. I may never be free of
them this side of heaven. I remain an unsatisfied worshipper, limping towards
wholeness, yet full of hope and gratitude.

There´s also another reason we´re likely to remain unsatisfied worshippers in this
life. We start to see the world through the eyes of heaven. The more we see God´s
perfection, the more we realise the imperfection all around us. True worshippers look
outwards - noticing the world they live in, and longing to make a difference to the
injustice, poverty and pain that surround them. A worshipper of Jesus cannot turn a
blind eye to these things. Jürgen Moltmann explains it like this:

Faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest ... It does not calm
the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ
can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it.
Peace with God means conflict with the world. (Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope,
SCM, 1969)

There´s a holy, sometimes painful, frustration that cuts right to the heart of the
unsatisfied worshipper. Everything in us knows ´it wasn´t meant to be this way´ (I
´m indebted to Bishop Graham Cray for much of the teaching in this section):

We become intercessors - people who see the gap and long to stand in it. God
imparts to us His heart for restoration and a burning desire to see His love and
justice healing the nations. But if we´re really to have integrity in our worship,
somewhere along the line this desire has to turn into actions: to share our food with
the hungry, to clothe the naked, and satisfy the needs of the oppressed (Isaiah
58:7,10). We cannot be worshippers who simply walk by, ignoring the realities of this
broken world. God longs to bring us to the place where we ache so much with His
heart, that to do nothing is simply no longer an option.

I´ve been challenged on this a lot recently. I say I´m a worship leader, and I also say
that worship is far more than just about music. So why are all my acts of worship
leading done through music? When it comes to reaching the broken of this world,
why am I so often near the back of the queue? I´m longing to be a worshipper who
sets an example for others to follow, not just with my lips, but with my life. God has
made it very clear that worship and justice are inseparable.

To bring it all together, there are three unresolved tensions in the heart of unsatisfied
worshippers. First, we have merely glimpsed the glory of God - a few small drops in
the ocean of His splendour. We live with a constant thirst for more of Him in our lives.
Second, we live in the knowledge that we´re a broken people - healed in part, yet
still so fragile. We are unfinished worshippers, longing to be whole. Lastly, we exist as
strangers in a foreign land - painfully aware of the troubles that surround us and the
many lost hearts who have not discovered Jesus. Looking through the lens of heaven,
our hearts ache to usher God´s Kingdom into these situations.

Yet these three tensions do not make us worse worshippers. Instead, they sharpen
our devotion, strengthening our resolve to persevere in faith. We see only in part, yet
what we see is enough to give us hope and purpose on our journey. And as we go
about our worship here and now, we keep one eye fixed on the horizon, confident
that one day the imperfect will disappear, and we shall know fully, even as we are
fully known. C.S. Lewis sums it up best: ´If I find in myself a desire which no
experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was
made for another world.´ (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses,
Prentice Hall, 1980).

This chapter was taken from ´The Unquenchable Worshipper´ by Matt Redman,
Kingsway Publications, 2001.

Revelation and Response

Worship is always a response to a revelation. And as someone involved in leading
worship, I find these two words "revelation" and "response" very helpful to delve
into. What sort of revelation of God have we received? What sort of response does
require or delight in? What kind of revelation do the songs we write, or choose, give
to the people who sing them? Is there enough of God in the songs to awaken even
tired, discouraged hearts to a meaningful response?

Pondering these two words is a definitely a helpful way to think about the way we
worship. But the more I look at them, the more I realise I´ve paid more attention to
one of them than the other. Too often, I approach a worship time much more mindful
of the "response" element than of the "revelation" side of things. And I wonder if that
isn´t the case for many other lead worshippers too.

I´ve been in worship times where it´s obvious the worship leader is consumed,
above all else, with getting a "response". Not much is implied about the integrity and
heart of the offerings. Instead comes a barrage of forceful encouragements to
"shout/clap/dance" and anything else you can think of. Instead of focussing on
bringing a true and meaningful overflow of the heart, it seems instead that we´re
involved in some sort of spiritual disco competition, with a prize for the wildest
participant. But wait. Am I so very different when I lead worship? Personally I don´t
go for too much vocal instruction, but what´s going on inside my head when I lead?

Haven´t I led in meetings when, after every celebration song, my mind gets out the
"clap-o-meter" to check if we´re on course? (After-all, if people clap at the end of
each up-tempo song, that means we´re in for a good night, doesn´t it?!) Don´t I
sometimes find myself sub-consciously scanning the congregational horizon for any
sign of life? Some outstretched hands, perhaps? (That definitely means "it´s
working"!) Next, as we move into intimate reverence don´t I sometimes squint
through my half-closed eyes to see what other responses are happening - hoping to
see at least one person on their knees?

Of course I´m exaggerating in all of these examples, but I hope my point is clear. Too
often when I lead worship I´m driven by getting a good response out of the people. I
want to see results. Now, all of these things are potentially good things - dancing,
lifting up holy hands, clapping, and kneeling. But rather than being so desperate to
see these things happen (or, God forbid, even trying to make them happen) I should
be far more interested with what lies behind these responses (or the lack of them.) It
´s a subtle distinction, but an important one for the mindset of any lead worshipper.

And that takes us right back to the "revelation" side of things. Before we get
consumed with how people are responding, it´s good to be mindful of what they´re
responding to. As worship leaders and songwriters, we need to pay more attention to
the reasons for God´s worth in our writing and leading. What aspects of His wonders
and splendour are we presenting for people to get their hearts into? How are we
reminding hearts, minds and souls of the merciful acts that have been done for them,
and the amazing grace that has been won for them? Now, of course, this isn´t just
our responsibility - everyone involved in the service plays a part. But we must take
our part of the role seriously. Instead of ever trying to work people up (however
subtly) to some sort of response, let´s take a different approach. Let us bring songs
so full of our glorious Jesus that they ignite a fresh fire and a heart-filled response
from those who sing them. If we can somehow help usher people into a fresh
revelation of Jesus during our worship times, I´m convinced the response will take
care of itself. We will not be able to stand in the way of a passionate room of dancing,
shouting, bowing, adoring lovers of God.

William Temple once wrote,

"Worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God,
To feed the mind with the truth of God,
To purge the imagination by the beauty of God,
To devote the will to the purpose of God."

Notice how much of his definition of worship is centred around "revelation". Here´s a
man that knew that if we could somehow get people involved in the holiness, truth
and beauty of God, it would result in the devotion of the will to the purpose of God.
Our whole lives poured out in worship. And that, in the end, is the ultimate response
of any true worshipper.
Matt Redman

An article by Matt Redman which is published in "The Heart of Worship Files",

Kingsway Communications Ltd, 2003.</P%3< td>

Worship started off in the heart

Worship started off in the heart: now everybody´s trying to chart?

I´ve participated in a few interviews recently for different parts of the Christian
press. And there´s one little question which keeps coming up time and time again.
"What do you think of the current emphasis on ´worship´ within the Christian
music industry?" Then follow some comments on the dangers of marketing and
selling worship. Lauryn Hill sings that "Hip-hop started off in the heart; now
everybody´s trying to chart." So, is the same true of worship?

The first thing to say is I´m glad we´re asking these questions. That can only be a
healthy sign. The danger with momentum is we become so consumed with ´riding
the wave´ that we cease to keep asking the most important question - "What does
God think of all this?" At the end of the day, that´s a question for everyone
involved in the worship music ´industry´ to ask themselves. Personally I´m
encouraged though that so many seem to be asking the hard question. After all, it
´s a pretty biblical one - as the psalmist himself prayed, "Search me O God, test
me and see if there´s any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting."

That phrase from the Psalms is actually a fantastic test through which to check all
of the different ways we minister. Are we ministering in "the way everlasting"? With
our songs, with our albums and all of these things, are we building towards eternal
things - things that will edify the church and strengthen her mission? Or are we
simply jumping on to current trends with less admirable motives? Here´s another
way to ask it: "Whose Kingdom are we building?" Writing a song, accepting an
invite, recording an album, or whatever it is - whose Kingdom am I building? Is it
the ´Matt Redman´ kingdom - (the infantile pursuit of making myself look much
better than I really am) -or is it the holy, unshakeable and eternal Kingdom of God?
Are all of my efforts in ministry truly for the King and for his Kingdom? Pretty tough
questions. Especially if we´re looking for very honest answers.

Now you may be thinking, "This isn´t relevant to me. O.K, I do a few home
recordings of my songs and burn a few CDs of them, but I´m unlikely to be signed
up by a record company and get sucked into this crazy Christian worship music
´scene´" But you may be more involved than you thought. For actually, this article
isn´t fundamentally about worship music and an industry that´s grown up around
it. This article is really about motives, and heart standards. As the Proverbs tell us,
no one can really tell what his own motives are. That´s a job for the Lord - the
scrutinising spotlight of His Holy Spirit. It´s time for us to invite some more
psalmist-style heart searching.

The Holy Spirit of God is the ´investigator´ when it comes to pursuing pure
worship. And He is also the ´orchestrator´. Congregationally I always say that
nothing deep, pure, meaningful and spiritual can happen in worship without the
Holy Spirit. As Philippians 3:3 tells us, we "worship by the Spirit of God." He is the
agent of our worship - He always has been (since the day we first confessed Christ
as Lord), and He always will be. Now, if it´s true congregationally, it must also be
true when we come to talking about worship music that´s written and resourced
out through albums and the likes. If we want the fruit of our labour to be deep,
pure, meaningful and spiritual, it must be something that´s birthed by the Holy
Spirit of God. Record companies, songwriters, sounds engineers, worship leaders -
are we listening out for God-ideas, birthed by the Holy Spirit, or have we settled for
good ideas that seem to be meeting a ´gap in the market´? I have no doubt that
this whole new wave of worship music that´s sweeping across the world is Holy-
Spirit breathed and conceived. But here is the challenge for this stage of the
journey - that we make sure that what was started ´in the Spirit´ doesn´t get
followed up ´in the flesh´. Sadly, that is the death of many a wonderful ministry.

There´s no formula by which we do this ´worship thing´. In its purest form it is

´deep calling to deep´ - the deepest places in our hearts encountering the deepest
places in God´s heart, under the divine unction of the Holy Spirit of God. The point
is this. We can manufacture CDs, but we can never manufacture true worship.

by Matt Redman

This article is taken from www.heartofworship.com

The Adventurous Pursuit of Creativity

We worship the God of all creation. Everywhere we look, from the tiniest atom to the
grandest galaxy, we find evidence of an extravagant and exuberant creator God.
Scientists and artists alike marvel at the dazzling design of creation. Whether we
peer through a microscope at the detailed design of a butterfly wing, or through a
telescope at the star-filled canvas a night sky, we find the stamp of the Creator´s
artistry.

We human beings are made in such a way that our ears can hear around 300,000
different tones, and our eyes distinguish between 8 million colour differences. God
has designed us to recognize and value His astounding creativity. More than that, He
has formed us to be creative ourselves. As worshippers of the Creator God, and as
those made in His image, one of the best ways we express what´s going on "inside"
is through outward displays of creativity.

Creativity is essential when it comes to our congregational worship. Firstly, it´s a

sign of "life". A healthy church will be bursting with new songs, new sounds and new
sights. They are explosions of the heart - souls so caught up in the glories of God,
that they cannot help but respond in imaginative and artistic ways. Creativity in its
purest form is a reflex - a flash of inspiration coming forth from the artist who has
glimpsed the splendour of the Divine. Putting that into the context of a church
worship service, creativity does not come from a desire to be musically clever, or do
something new just because "variety is the spice of life". Instead, it´s an imaginative
and heartfelt response to the received revelation of God. As we see more and more
of the goodness, greatness and majesty of God, we find ourselves imaginatively
responding with creative expressions of joy, thanksgiving and reverence.

As well as being a response to God, creativity is also a reflection of Him. God reveals
and expresses Himself creatively, and we find ourselves responding in a creative way.
Yet as we do so, we also reflect Him to those around. The whole of creation tells of
the glory of God:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

(Psalm 19:1)

And in the same way, our artistic expression through songs, sounds and sights, are
to be reflections of Him. Of course, they will always be just the faintest whisper and
the subtlest echoes of His true worth, and yet they are an important part of our
proclamation of God. I recently traveled to Australia for the annual Hillsong worship
conference, and encountered one of the most creative congregational worship
expressions I have ever seen. The band brought innovative and interesting musical
arrangements to the fresh worship songs. But it went far beyond the music. There
was colour everywhere - lighting and visuals all conceived in an original and tasteful
way. There was movement everywhere too - teams of dancers, and over a hundred
singers, who at times all moved in unison. Most visually stunning of all were the
huge fireworks which lit up the whole place at appropriate moments during the
worship songs. In a sense, it was a display of the Lord´s splendour - a call to
worship, reminding us of the wonders of our God. It was a banner held high, to the
lost and the found, which spoke of the greatness of the God we were worshipping.

Now obviously we don´t get chance to create this sort of display every time we
gather to worship. And yet, why in the church do we so often see a lack of creative
expression? As worshippers and lead worshippers of the Living God, we are called to
the adventurous pursuit of creativity. In times past, the church has led the way in
the whole of society in many forms of art and music. Look through history and you´ll
find that many of the great artists and poets were simply giving creative expression
to their walk before God. A few hundred years ago, many looked to the church to
lead the way through music as they saw that the "ecclesiastical style" was the most
pioneering and exciting sound around. And we must pray for the same in this day
and age, for the arts are fantastic pointers to the glory of God. It´s time to become
more adventurous in our pursuit of creativity in worship. Through visual art, through
musical sounds, through poetry, and through movement, how can we point people to
the glory of our God? We can start with the simple things - paintings, banners and
backdrops which, rather than remaining the same for months upon end, change
every few weeks, as a way of awakening us to the splendour of God. Songs arranged
in fresh musical styles, with a variety of instruments, or vocal groups. Perhaps a
string arrangement, if you never before have used strings in worship, but have able
players. It can start with the simple things.

Creativity is sometimes a mindset we must develop, especially if we have fallen into

a "this is the way we do things" trap. I recently returned from a conference where on
consecutive nights the worship band were joined by a gospel choir, a group of hand
percussionists, and a DJ. Each evening we journeyed before the throne of God with a
slightly different musical flavour. And each one of these creative expressions
unlocked a freshness in our time of worshipping through music.

One of the reasons we sometimes encounter a lack of creativity in the church is that
we have not created the right environment for it. Creative expression thrives under
certain conditions, and dies under others. In an environment of harsh criticism of
artistic experimentation, or no room for risk-taking, the creative flow will soon
perish. Too often in the church we live under these conditions, and all too quickly
clamp down on any new forms of expression. Of course, creative types must learn to
be submit to authority, and to love the people of God in such a way that they will
always seek to bring in new expressions in a pastoral and humble way. As C.S. Lewis
reminded us, Jesus´ charge to Peter was "feed my sheep", not "try experiments on
my rats". That being said, there must be space to experiment, and room to grow in
the arts. All too often, the blunt and practical tendencies of a pastor clashes with the
sensitive and reactionary personality type of an artist, and creative expression is
squeezed out. In truth, the world often uses the arts as rebellion, and pastors are
rightly concerned that this tendency does not creep into the church. Yet, it is time to
redeem the stolen goods, for the very best use of creativity is to praise and proclaim
the Living God. We must make room for our artists to lead us in this. If you can´t be
creative in the church, where can you be creative?

One thing we must note, is that creativity is not always about new and innovative
expressions. It can be equally powerful to re-present something "old" - a song, a
sound or any art form from our church heritage. And, as the biblical saying goes,
there is nothing new under the sun, and an "old" thing may in fact become to us a
"new thing" again. Introducing a five hundred year old hymn may be just as creative
as introducing a five day old song which has just been written. Both can be an
expression of creativity, and both can unlock freshness in our congregational
worship.

The worshipping church should be leading the way in all things creative. After all, it
makes sense that those most in touch with the Creator should have more insights
into the creative than others. Besides, in the church we have more to sing about
than the rest of this world. We have more reason to celebrate, more inspiration to
dance, and more grounds for all kinds of artistic expression. For we have seen the
glory of the One and the Only. And this revelation leads us to explosive and
imaginative heart responses.

And there is one final reason too why the church of God should be the standard
bearer for creativity. We are those in whom the Holy Spirit lives, and He will inspire
and equip us to respond to the Father in colourful, imaginative ways. A.W. Tozer puts
it best:

"If the Holy Spirit should come again upon us as in earlier times, visiting church
congregations with the sweet but fiery breath of Pentecost, we would be greater
Christians and holier souls. Beyond that, we would also be greater poets and greater
artists and greater lovers of God and His universe."

Let us never give up the adventurous pursuit of creativity in worship.

by Matt Redman.