I was weaned on Ron Kenoly, enjoying Abe Sr.'s sweet and melodic lows and Tom Brook's colorful and tasteful harmonies and progressions even before I had the guts to audition for the worship team of the Church I was with back then. I was amazed by the beauty of it all. It was progressive, it was cutting edge and it was acceptable in Church!
Then came Israel Houghton.
He just blew me away! The intricacies of the arrangement and how the band inter-plays with the vocals without becoming showy or overbearing is a sheer joy to listen to! His team is so talented and anointed, truly an encouragement and standard that should be aspired by a lot of the younger worship teams.
I admit it. Musically, I am a very very big Tom Brooks/Israel Houghton fan.
Lyrically, I just love the richness and the depth of the U.K. Song writers. Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon & Al Gordon are among the list of worship leaders and songwriters whose lyrics are just overflowing with God's truth, artfully written without compromising the theology behind it. Nikki Fletcher is an Australian worship leader whose song writing was refined in and through the community of UK worship songwriters.
These are people that are full of God's anointing, yet are so humble. They worship fully and abandoned, in their own way, in their own tongue.
They worship in their own voice.
We are recognized world wide as excellent musicians. Filipino musical talent can be found sailing the seven seas, in the nightlife of Asia and all over the internet. Our variety and entertainment bands are among the best in the world when it comes to doing covers.
As Filipino Christians caught in the crux of Globalization, we find ourselves surrounded with so many amazing (and not so amazing) worship leaders, song writers and artists. And we continue doing what we have been doing outside the Church: cover.
The beautiful thing globalization has done for the church is that it has opened us up to so many different songs and songwriters, making resources readily available for study. The adverse effect, though, is that we tend to be content to just copy. As musically talented as we are, we end up playing whatever song is dominating the Christian charts.
And that really isn't a bad thing.
What I do find sad is that we have settled to just sing the songs of other people; songs of their nation. God has blessed us with the gift of music. I believe it is time we add our own voice to the mix of nations who praise God. It is time we offer our own song and sing our own heart cry unto the Lord. It is time we strive for a higher level of excellence in our worship teams, not just in the music we play but equally so in the lives we live.
Please hear me out: I am not against using the songs of other people to worship. We should. That is part of what it means to worship as God's people. But I think that it's about time that we also add our own songs, and bring it to the level that other nations will be blessed by it as well. We are part of the body of Christ. We can also bless others by singing our own worship experiences to the Lord.
I really believe that every tribe, tongue and nation will worship the Lord. Every culture and people will praise Yahweh with their own songs. Why? Because each nation has had it's own spiritual journey, which makes it's own voice of worship distinct and unique.
As we continue to embrace the heart cries of our fellow brother and sisters from around the world, I pray that may we also find the courage, excellence, humility & dependency on God to lift our own voices to sing our own songs; that we may exalt the Lord in the way He has called our nation to. And I believe that if we remain faithful in this pursuit, the voice of the worship of our country will come to light and join the beautiful harmonies and symphonies of the voices of worship of our brethren around the world.
May you find your personal voice in worship as our people journey to find our lost voice of worship.
May you find your personal voice in worship as our people journey to find our lost voice of worship.
Shalom.
-M-
