The Worship Review

This week we hold a wide ranging interview with Jill of all trades, Kerry Baldwin--researcher, philosopher and reformed Christian. She gained notoriety from her pro-life arguments in her debate against eminent economist Walter Block . We discuss Kerry's unique background and experience with worship music. We also muse about men and women singing in the church, among other issues.

Dave joins us again for a collaborative review of Keith & Kristyn Getty's "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed." Dave is a musician and elder from Northern Ireland who produces music for the church under the name "KDMusic". In this episode, we have the pleasure of contemplating the account of Jesus' resurrection in the Gospel of John and seeing how it informs the text of this song. We also loo...

Dave Whitcroft is a worship leader, pastor/elder and musician in Northern Ireland. This wide-ranging interview covers Dave's music, what is means to make "the church the lead singer", how to balance new songs and old songs in church music as well as other issues both local and global in contemporary Christian worship music.

We are back with a Rend Collective song! Joined by Mike Tapper and Marc Jolicoeur of Series 5, Episode 9 and the study of worship music longevity "Worship at the Speed of Sound", our hosts take a look at the lyrics of Counting Every Blessing. Our conversation explores the use of different verb tenses for the different states of the human experience in salvation, and we praise the song for actually...

Mike Tapper and Marc Jolicoeur join us to share the results of their recent study, Worship at the Speed of Sound. Data from decades of CCLI rankings show the following trends: Worship music has a shorter lifespan on the charts now than 30 years ago Worship music hits the charts at higher levels than 30 years ago Worship songs peter out more quickly than 30 years ago Worship songs are entering the...

Jason Dorsey--pastor and artist based in Redmond (Seattle), Washington--talks about pastoral oversight of worship and the Psalms as a pattern for organizing worship. He also shares some aspects of worship music he finds troubling and why he describes himself as "chief worship leader" of his church.

This week, Vince (from The Berean Test) rejoins us to talk about "Together" by forKING&COUNTRY, a song which was nominated for a GMA Dove Award in 2021.  Lyrics: Oh oh oh oh oh This is for the busted hearts This is for the question marks This is for the outcast soul Lost control, no one knows Sing it for the can't-go-back Sing it for the broken past Sing it for the just found out Life is...

Vince founded and runs thebereantest.org--a Christian music review website which publishes several reviews a week. The Berean Test also features an active community of thoughtful commenters. Colin, Tyler and Vince discuss Vince's story, the challenges of evaluating music in the church and some common problems in the genre.

This week, we take a deep dive into the lyrics of "So Will I (100 Billion X)" by Hillsong Worship. This song rose to prominence—and controversy—in 2018 after its April release. There is so much to discuss in these lyrics! We talk about creation, the breath of life, God's promises, the atonement and salvation.  Christian Post article: https://www.christianpost.com/news/hillsongs-joel-houston-c...

Stephen is a former worship leader from Billings, Montana in the United States. He is co-host of the Ravel and Know Normal People podcasts, as well as being founder and CEO of the Highline Media Network. We have a wide ranging discussion about the church, Christian music and Stephen's own story as a church musician and worship leader.

David from the Goldsmith Odyssey is back to help Colin and Tyler in their review of Jireh by Elevation Worship and Maverick City, feat. Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine.

This week, we tackle some challenging issues with our guest David from The Goldsmith Odyssey podcast. David is an independent filmmaker, writer, and Christian thinker. Together we discuss the significance of truth in worship, the formulaic nature of much modern worship music, the interaction of popular culture and Christian faith, the experiencing of art on its own terms, and music as a deliv...

Tyler and Colin reflect on series four and some of the issues which arose over the past six months. We discuss the problem of vagueness in worship music, the pursuit of mystery and changes in our ratings of songs.

Tyler and Colin reflect on series four and some of the issues which arose over the past six months. We talk about the terms "worship leader" and "evangelical," the stating of doing things without the doing of the things stated, and discuss listener feedback.

This is the big one. Colin and Tyler take on the popular song "Oceans" by Hillsong line by line, evaluating how it compares with Scripture. Lyric video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw Song story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zlbunWsV5A&t=52s Drum solo discussed at end of podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xY-Lx8_fN0 You call me out upon the waters The great unknown wher...

This song is something of a staple in every worship leader's toolkit. But what exactly is it about? This week, we take a deep dive into Paul Baloche's "Open The Eyes of My Heart", a song which transforms Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church into a direct petition to God by the believer. We talk about this passage, the description of God's perfect holiness, and the various senses in which Christ J...

Well, Wickham did not promise 10,000 Great Things, so he's ahead of the eight ball. But should a song claim "You free every captive and break every chain"? Colin and Tyler discuss the pros and cons of Phil Wickham's "Great Things".

What happens when an ancient priestly blessing is set to contemporary Christian worship music? And what does it mean for the congregation to take part in the utterance of a blessing? Tune in to hear this week's discussion! The Lord bless you And keep you Make His face shine upon you And be gracious to you The Lord turn His Face toward you And give you peace Amen, amen, amen Amen, amen, amen May Hi...

What happens when John 3:16 gets set to music? Colin and Tyler discuss the heterodox view annihilationism as well as the challenging topic of singing about addictions in this weeks review of "God So Loved" by We The Kingdom.

Does God "unravel us with a melody"? Does Jesus' "blood flow through our veins"? Bethel got quite creative with "No Longer Slaves" and Colin and Tyler reflect on whether lines such as these stand up to biblical muster.

This song is about a person who needs Christ every hour. On this episode we examine the lyrics of the song and discuss various scriptural passages. We discuss the theme of the Christian finding rest in Christ, being called holy because of Christ, and the active defense of the believer that Christ's intercession provides. There are also several "shout-outs" to older hymns in this song, which we als...

Join Tyler and Colin as we discuss a song by an organization called CityAlight. CityAlight is part of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia, and seeks to write songs which are biblically rich and also sing-able. Tune in to hear our thoughts on the lyrics of this song. We also discuss this song's use of metaphor, the careful play on Christian turns of phrase, and the all-sufficiency of Christ....

This week, Colin and Tyler consider a newer song by the Gettys which marvels at the incarnation and encourages the church to "tell the world" about Christ's advent. The hosts discuss the past, present and future significance of the incarnation and, at one point, a robot children's choir.

Merry Christmas! This week's episode looks at a newer song which is popular among churches in America. In the course of our discussion, we look at the many metaphors used in this song and investigate what these metaphors might be saying about God and about the life of the Christian. Lyrics: https://hillsong.com/lyrics/seasons/ Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaEx2A7p9Dk Song backgroun...

What is the "dayspring"? What is the "Key of David"? The song "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" provokes a rich discussion of these sorts of questions, but also some comments on Milli Vanilli.