The Vita Passiva I’ve been quite silent in the blogosphere lately, for several reasons. First, honestly, I’ve sensed the Lord telling me to “cool it” for a while, to not stress over it, to not be enslaved to it. Second, since I started my blog over six years ago, the worship conversation has changed, and there are more voices out there writing on things I really care about. I feel less burdened to write because I find that there are … Read More
My Big Move, My New Church
Over the last twelve months, my postings have been sparse due to all the creative energy being poured into the book. (It’s available for pre-order on Amazon, by the way.) And over this last month I’ve been on radio silence as my family made a pretty big transition out of South Florida and on to a new call up the road. Many of you already know, but for those of you that don’t: I’ve joined hands with some great leaders … Read More
Jesus Loves Me releases TODAY!
Jesus Loves Me (Single) by Zac Hicks & Coral Ridge Worship A while back, Coral Ridge Music purposed to write kids’ songs for our local church that gave shape to the liturgical rhythms we hope to instill in our little ones. We wrote several songs that our kids currently sing, and we’re writing more. We’ve written songs of praise, songs of confession, and songs of grace and absolution. The first-fruits of this labor was a project tackled by our interns … Read More
Exciting New Projects for Coral Ridge Music
I want to share two things that we’re doing with Coral Ridge Music that really light my fire. They are extensions and expressions of the way that we’re trying to think pastorally about the way we write and produce music for our local church…with the hope that it will help some other churches out there, too. A Kids’ Worship EP One of the things we felt burdened to do was to translate for kids some of the ways we’re experiencing the … Read More
Behind the Music Over at LIBERATE
Since the album release of Come and Make Us Free a few weeks ago, we’ve been sharing the behind the scenes details about the crafting of each song–the theology, the experience, the process. This week’s song is one that I’ve already done some writing on, and I invite you over to LIBERATE to read the summary of why we wrote “Christ Surrendered All.” It was one of the standout favorites at LIBERATE 2015. Come and Make Us Free by Zac … Read More
Two Posts Not To Miss
So, I’ve been doing a lot more guest-posting, especially over at LIBERATE, but you’ll also see me writing articles a few other places, like Reformed Worship and Doxology & Theology. For those that follow my blog, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss these articles. A Review of Dan Siedell’sWho’s Afraid of Modern Art “Hearing Art Tell Me Who I Am” First, and most importantly, I want to commend to my readership an unparalelled book that weaves together art … Read More
Lamentation: A Necessity, Not an Option
A month ago, I introduced Coral Ridge to her first (at least to my knowledge) full-blown congregational song/Psalm of lament (Karl Digerness’ fabulous “How Long O Lord [Psalm 13]“). It got me thinking about the relationship of lamentation to the gospel and how it all works both in corporate worship and in our daily lives. Go over to LIBERATE and check out the post: “Why Lamentation Must Precede Liberation.” SIDENOTE: That piece of art at the top of the post … Read More
Worship as the Means to Overcoming Pride
Good worship is formative. Good worship actually makes disciples in the moment of worship. It reflects what 2 Corinthians 3:18 teaches: we grow by beholding (see my post about that). I meet many earnest young worship leaders who describe themselves as having huge pride-problems. “I really struggle with pride,” or “My pride so often gets in the way of me being a worship leader,” they say. I get it. I remember those same deep struggles when I was in high … Read More
Dear Pastor, If There’s One Thing That Would Bless Me as a Worship Leader…
The Wind in My Sails, by Amy RiceThe Most Tense Relationship in the Church The Pastor-Worship Leader relationship has, in recent times, been one of the most difficult ones to navigate, whether a church leadership team is large or small, paid or volunteer. I have had innumerable conversations with worship leaders over the years who feel HUGE amounts of tension and friction between they and their overseeing lead pastor. In another post over at The Gospel Coalition, I cite this … Read More
Two Songs that Gain Traction Wherever I Go
Tullian preaching this past week at the CoveThis past week, I was at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove with my partner in crime, Tullian Tchividjian, and we were leading a little mini-conference on the themes of grace, law and gospel, and how Christian growth happens. The conference was largely a distillation of Tullian’s fabulous new book, One Way Love, which is no less than a distillation of the heartbeat and ministry ethos of everything that goes on … Read More