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Posts by David L. Ward

» New Album Announcement

If you follow Reformed Praise you've undoubtedly noticed that our website has been pretty quiet for the past few months. That's for several reasons, including the fact that Eric and I are continuing work on our Hymns Book Project. We were unable to secure a co-author so have begun the process of writing the content ourselves. It will feature devotional chapters, textual commentary, sheet music and sing-along recordings, so there's quite a bit of work to be done. If you follow our work please pray that we'll be able to find a publisher to give it a wide distribution.

The Album
Despite the calm on our Internet front, plans have been brewing behind the scenes for our first "Reformed Praise" branded album. Back in 2005 the Lord allowed me to complete my first major album, Cross-Centered Worship. In contrast to the simple demo recordings you'll find attached to each song on our site, an album features fully arranged, produced, mixed, edited, and post-produced content, all packaged together into a collection of songs presented as a unit. There's a lot of work that goes into making a high quality recording, which increases... (continue reading...)

» A Sermon on John 1:18

Tags: Sermon
Posted by David L. Ward on January 13th, 2010

I had the privilege of preaching this sermon to my local church family on Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Like Father, Like Son
John 1:18

I would like to start off by thanking those who serve us by taking care of our children on Sundays and Wednesdays. Those who have spent any time with my son Benjamin actually have a lot of insight into my personality, even if they don’t know me very well. Here’s a concrete example of how to know Ben is to know me. Last month I took him on a daddy-date to a monster truck show in Minneapolis for His fourth birthday. He absolutely loved it, but if you were with us you might have been hard-pressed to discern that. When I took him to his seat, the trucks were already “warming up” and were making a lot of noise. He managed to remain almost motionless – possibly even without blinking His eyes – even as I unbundled him from his winter gear and put his earplugs in. As I repeatedly shouted questions and explanations to Him, I realized that He was engrossed in the monster truck... (continue reading...)

» An Overdue Update

Pardon the silence here for the past month or so. I've been putting most of my non-worship-leading-non-father-of-five focus on a top secret software project (well, I like to think it's top secret). Eric and I have met a couple of times this fall to work on our Hymns on God's Attributes project, and we have drafts of all 15 hymns completed (though several of them might not deserve the term "draft"!). We need to revise them and are still looking and praying about whether we can publish them as a small book with a "real" publisher. Here's one of my favorite verses from our recent trip, verse 2 of "The Lord is Merciful" which explains how God's mercy is demonstrated in the gospel:
The Lord has saved us from sin's pow'r according to His mercy;
When we were helpless and oppressed He looked on us with pity.
The merciful High Priest approached the mercy seat
And through His sacrifice paid our redemption's price
To demonstrate His kindness.

I've also been busy the past couple of weeks preparing for a free concert at my home church. If you're anywhere near Minneapolis, MN and are... (continue reading...)

» Worship Team Recruiting / Info Brochure

Last week I wrote a pamphlet for prospective members of our "Song" team (otherwise known as the "Worship" team) and thought it might be worth sharing here. Hopefully you'll find a few ideas that will help you structure your music ministry or what you communicate to prospective team members.

Welcome
This little brochure has been created to answer common questions about who participates in leading our worship services and what’s involved in serving in this way.

We would first like to express how delighted we are that you have the interest and desire to be involved with the public worship of God. Worshipping God is one of our highest privileges and joys, and making music for His glory and the edification of His people is a great honor and can be very satisfying. Second, we’d like to point out that even if you aren’t up front, in a very real way you are still participating in our music. We believe that music in worship is designed chiefly as an aid to congregational singing and do all that we can to encourage, invite, and make participation by all possible. Before you make music... (continue reading...)

» E-Interview About Reformed Praise

An Internet acquaintance asked me to do an email interview about Reformed Praise and music ministry at Redeemer Bible Church. In the interview I shared about some of the spiritual struggles I face as an artist, songwriter, and regular "performer" (though not in the typical sense). I'm grateful for the chance to put God's grace on display - it's amazing that He uses sinners like me to spread the gospel and impact lives for eternity.

» Hymns on God's Attributes Work Day

Just a quick note to let you know that Eric and I are working together all day tomorrow and hope to finish all 15 three stanza hymns on God's attributes, as outlined in our original project post. We would appreciate your prayers for a productive and enjoyable time and that we be filled with the Spirit as we "speak to one another" in hymns. Please also pray for wisdom in what to do with the hymns; whether to seek publication with a major publisher; self-publish a physical book, or simply post them like our other works directly on Reformed Praise.

UPDATE: We finished our work day with four more hymns under our belt (not the 10 we were hoping for!) and were again blessed to spend so many hours pondering the mysteries of God's character and how they were so clearly demonstrated at the cross. This is perhaps my favorite stanza from our time, the second (gospel) stanza from The Lord Is Righteous:
The Lord has shown Himself as both the Just and Justifier
When Jesus died to satisfy what Justice did require.
The spotless Lamb was slain for guilty sinners' gain;
Through faith the... (continue reading...)

» Reviving the Hymns Seminar

The audio recording of my seminar from the 2009 Sovereign Grace worship conference is now available. I'm also making my notes available directly in this post (formatting may be hard to read) and as a PDF attachment (see the right-hand column).

David Ward
REVIVING THE HYMNS

I. Introduction
A. Hymnals – a fading icon of church music?
B. Who I am and why I love hymns
C. Today’s goal – that all those who attend will gain a better understanding and appreciation for the depth and power of hymns and will grow in their desire to use and promote them in their local churches
II. What Is a “Hymn?”
A. Dictionary Definition – the OED defines it as any religious song of praise, especially a Christian song in praise of God. By that definition all of our worship songs are "hymns."
B. Common Usage
1. A "hymn" typically refers to a strophic song of praise to God with a common meter set to a non-syncopated tune
2. The phrase “traditional hymn” is sometimes used to denote a song with traditional music that is at least one hundred years old.
(continue reading...)

» Update on our God's Attributes Project

If you follow our blog, you know that last week Eric and I carved out some time to work on our Hymns on God's Attributes project. We had a very enjoyable time together catching up with our lives and ministries. Both of us were tempted to postpone the trip because of the number of responsibilities on our plates right now, but we decided to persevere and trust the Lord, asking Him to help us manage our anxieties by casting them on Him. We're glad we decided to stick with it, for we not only enjoyed spending many hours plumbing the depths of God's character and how it was revealed at Calvary and works its ways into our lives, but we also had a productive time. We finished (that's a relative term) 12 stanzas, or 4 hymns. I thought you might be encouraged to read one of the texts. Remember, this is to the tune of "A Mighty Fortress"
The Lord is Holy
The Lord is holy, free from sin, unmatched in all his glory.
Before His throne angelic ones cry "Holy, Holy, Holy."
His holiness does fill His being, works, and will.
No... (continue reading...)

» Working Retreat: Hymns on God's Attributes

I just wanted to let you know that Eric and I are going to be working on this project for the next couple of days. Please pray for safe travel, an enjoyable time of fellowship together, and for productivity with our writing. We are really excited about this project as we feel that is needed and timely.

Here's a snippit from the original project post:
Project: Hymns on God’s Attributes
Description: A series of hymn stanzas, set to a popular and well-known tune, that teach on each attribute of God, show us how it relates to the gospel, and includes personal applications.

» A Sermon on the Hymn Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder

Tags: sermon
Posted by David L. Ward on July 13th, 2009

I had the privilege of preaching this sermon to my local church family on Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder: The Proper Response to the Gospel
Selected Scriptures
Do you ever notice the tiny little font that runs across the top of our worship songs? That’s the place where we put author and credit information. It’s purposefully small so as not to detract from the lyrics which we are seeking to engage with as we sing. It’s also small to fight the tendency to exalt songwriters or authors for the gifts they have used in giving us tools to move our hearts and minds towards God. This morning I’m going to go against that trend and make the tiny font of our last hymn huge by spending an entire sermon telling you about the hymn’s author and how it instructs and encourages us in worship. Why would I spend time telling you about the life of a Christian and pointing out the Biblical truths that are present in His song?

Because we are commanded to teach one another through our songs and to sing with understanding. ... (continue reading...)

» John Newton on Writing Hymns

In preparation for a sermon this Sunday I came across this wonderful little piece of advice by my favorite hymn-writer, John Newton. This comes from the preface to his collection of hymns, Olney Hymns.
There is a style and manner suited to the composition of hymns, which may be more successfully, or at least more easily attained by a versifier than by a poet. They should be hymns, not odes, if designed for public worship, and for the use of plain people. Perspicuity (clarity), simplicity, and ease, should be chiefly attended to.

I wholeheartedly agree with Newton. The most successful hymns have just enough poetry to satisfy the artistic sensibilities of those inclined to notice such devices, but no so much that the average, unlearned person would have a difficult time understanding the meaning. Newton could at times be justly condemned for oversimplification, even very bad poetry (or versification), especially when compared to his co-writer William Cowper, a poet par-excellence.

» The Pitfalls of Family Worship

The
      Precedent
      Priority
      Practice
      Pitfalls
of Family Worship

Family Worship is a Discipline
In the book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Don Whitney, the author spends the first chapter exploring the nature of discipline and reiterates the Biblical call to “discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness.” (1 Tim 4:7) In an age when many of us (especially my generation) have not been raised in a disciplined home or had a disciplined lifestyle instilled in us, discipline in any area can be challenging, whether it is finances, home maintenance, or spiritual disciplines like private worship. Family worship is like private worship: if we aren’t convinced of its value and don’t plan for it to happen, chances are it won’t happen very often. Until you form a habit and your time begins to feel like a natural part of family life, meeting together for worship may be difficult. You may be easily distracted by the urgent needs of the day that you are “neglecting” by taking time for family worship. Your children may have a... (continue reading...)

» Share Reformed Praise with a Postcard

When we launched our new website at the end of April we had some postcards made up to help us promote it. Since we have several hundred left over, I'm offering them to whoever can make use of them. You could hand them out to your worship leader, pastor, friends... really to anyone you'd like to share our site with. Just use our contact page to drop us a note requesting postcards (specify how many) and we'll gladly mail them to you at no charge. Of course, if you'd like to leave a donation to help cover postage we won't turn you down!

Here is the postcard:

» A Description of Public Worship

I thought it might be helpful to share a paragraph that I wrote on the purpose of public worship that's included on the front of our Sunday bulletin each week:

You have come to our fellowship of worship, otherwise known as the public worship service. This is a special time of the week in which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ who rose from the dead on a Sunday morning. We celebrate by worshipping the God of the Bible together; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Worship involves more than just being present at today's service; it is the inner attitude of our hearts as we seek, with the Spirit's help, to turn our attention to God's character and works and respond appropriately with our whole beings: our minds, bodies, and hearts. Though worship is a blessing to us, our primary task this morning is to give God the praise and glory that He deserves. God is present when His people gather and His Word is proclaimed and we pray that you will sense His presence with us today.

» The Practice of Family Worship

The
      Precedent
      Priority
      Practice
      Pitfalls
of Family Worship

When to have a family worship time
Lord willing these articles have been convincing you of your need to meet with your family or household regularly to worship God. When should you do this? Unfortunately there is no simple, pat answer that will be work for every household. Instead of trying to come up with a standard time of day that we all meet for family worship, it is more important for you find a time of day that works for your family and plan that time into your routine. Put it on the family calendar, the weekly agenda, or however else you plan your family life. Strive to plan a time when the whole family can be together, including Dad. Feel free to be creative with your time and piggyback it onto a meal, during driving time (as long as there is a reader who isn’t driving or you can listen to the Bible on CD!), or while dinner is in the oven. If you... (continue reading...)

» The Priority of Family Worship

The
      Precedent
      Priority
      Practice
      Pitfalls
of Family Worship

Family Worship and Parenting
The Bible contains everything we need to know about how to live life this side of eternity for God’s glory (2 Peter 1:3) but doesn’t go into specifics for many of the details of our lives. This is the case with our job as parents – God has not given us many specifics about what’s involved in raising children such as what their education in the world is to look like, what standard of living we should seek to give them, what kinds of skills they should learn, or what kind of schedule infants should be on. So when He does give specifics we should take great care to seek to be obedient in these areas. Deuteronomy 6 :4-9 is one of those passages:
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you... (continue reading...)

» A New Project from Eric & David

Update - the finished hymn texts are now available

We’d like to let you in on a project that Eric and I have begun and also make a request for your support of this endeavor. We have begun writing hymns on God’s attributes. Why write hymns on God’s attributes? Aren’t most good hymns about some facet of God’s character? I have been involved in choosing songs for corporate worship for nearly fifteen years and have often had a difficult time finding songs that taught much about a particular attribute of God. Eric recently preached through the attributes of God and for every sermon was on the lookout for hymns that tied into the specific attribute he was preaching on but to little avail. There are many wonderful hymns about God’s character in general, but they normally mention a few different aspects of God and do not explore one in detail. An example of this is the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy.” It teaches that God is holy (the title), merciful, mighty, glorious and worthy of praise (this is inferred by the picture of heavenly worship), everlasting, self-sufficient, loving, and all-powerful. ... (continue reading...)

» The Precedent of Family Worship

The
      Precedent
      Priority
      Practice
      Pitfalls
of Family Worship

Before discussing the precedent of family worship we should define what is meant by the term. Family worship is the gathering of a household to turn their attention to encountering and responding to God together. It is the regular practice of believers gathering in the place where they live to read and apply God’s Word, sing His praises, and pray together. It is a practice that is constantly under attack from our suburban lives. We face the unspoken pressure to fill our schedules so that we might measure up to those around us and live productive lives that serve and honor God in various ways. But far too often we buy in to the world’s definition of productivity instead of remembering what Jesus taught Martha in Luke 10.

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But... (continue reading...)

» Hymns for Private and Family Worship

Back in the fall of 2008, our church self-published a little hymnal for our own use. I'd like to share the contents of that hymnal to kick off a series of articles on the importance of family worship. Here is the preface to our little hymnal titled "Hymns for Private and Family Worship" with the general contents (not the lyrics to each song) at the end.

Preface
About Hymns
What is a hymn? The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as a religious song of praise, especially a Christian song in praise of God. In the proper sense of the term, all songs that we sing to or about God should be called hymns. In modern parlance, however, we often use the term hymn to refer to a strophic song (every verse uses the same tune) with a common rhyming scheme (called meter) normally set to traditional (non-syncopated) tunes. Hymn texts and tunes can either be historic or modern. They typically contain numerous verses (each of which contains several lines) therefore develop theological concepts and devotional thoughts more deeply than other forms of modern praise songs.

Apart from Scripture itself, hymns... (continue reading...)

» Samuel Medley

(From Joseph Belcher's Historical Sketches of Hymns, Their Writers, and Their Influence)

Samuel Medley (1738-99)

Rev. Samuel Medley was pastor of the First Baptist Church at Liverpool, England, for twenty-seven years, during which time he also regularly preached at Whitefield's Tabernacle and Tottenham Court Road Chapel, in London. In early life Mr. Medley was very gay and profane. He was engaged in the British navy, where he was severely wounded in one of the several actions in which he fought. Returning to his pious grandfather's house for the sake of surgical attendance, he was brought under the preaching of the excellent Whitefield and Dr. Giiford, and was soon led to the Saviour whose name he had so often blasphemed. He died, after a very successful ministry, in 1799, aged sixty-one years. In the year following his death, a volume of original hymns from his pen was issued, very few of which are now valued. He also published two or three sermons, and several humorous papers. He was eccentric in his manners, but had a pious soul and a noble heart.

» Evaluating Songs for Congregational Singing

I'm going to be listening to and evaluating (whether formally or casually) a lot of songs written for congregational singing soon. To prepare for that I've been keeping some notes about various ways to evaluate songs. It's always a good idea to solicit feedback and think critically about our work and the work of others if it is done in a spirit of love and humility. We want our songs to be the best that they can be, both lyrically and musically. This involves a life-long pursuit of growing in the craft of songwriting.

So here's my list of categories so far with minimal description. These reflect some of my values for congregational singing like the participation of all, theological depth, application to all, etc. I don't believe that every song that we use must excel in all of these areas (except in having Biblical lyrics!), but my hope is that the song diet of my local church as a whole would rate well in all of these categories.

Rate each on a scale of 1-5, 1=Poor / 2=Needs Improvement / 3=Neutral or N/A / 4=Good / 5=Excellent


Music(continue reading...)

» Songs for the 2009 Redeemer Pastor's Conference

On Monday I'll be attending and leading singing at the 2009 Redeemer Conference for Pastors. The theme of the conference is The Minister's Fainting Fits: Depression and Discouragement in Pastoral Ministry and we are honored to have Ed Welch along with our pastor, R. W. Glenn share with us from God's Word.

So far it looks like we will have a fairly diverse group of pastors or other leaders (like small group leaders), a large percentage who have never attended one of our conferences before. Choosing music for a conference can be tricky. Since the men attending will be from disparate churches I wanted to ensure that they would know a large portion of songs. To do that I chose 40% traditional hymns (texts and tunes). Another 40% are songs that will probably be new to many and have a more classical (less syncopated) tune, either old or new hymn texts. The remaining 20% are more contemporary songs or arrangements of hymns.

My friend and fellow songwriter Eric Schumacher will be joining us. We finished a song titled When Sorrow Comes especially for this conference. The abundance of... (continue reading...)

» New Piano Arrangement for By Grace Alone

I just wanted to let you all know that I replaced the Piano Score for By Grace Alone with a brand new version. It is a slightly more simplified arrangement that is on two staves instead of three and fits on one page. This is one of our most well-known songs and we pray that God will use this song, this arrangement, and most importantly the gospel of God's grace through Jesus Christ in this song, for His glory!

» New Website Up and Running

Welcome to the new Reformed Praise website! We are excited about the new look and functionality of our new Internet home. Some of the most notable changes are:
Addition of The Tinder Box and The Workshop, places where songwriters can post their songs for the churchNew donation-based ordering. Everything on the site can be downloaded or ordered for freeNew contact page that lets you contact individual contributors directlyPop-up MP3 player that lets you build a playlist of your favorite songsA better search feature which searches everything in the posts, including song credits like original authorAny many more... just check out the site!

Here are a couple of images that you can use to share our new site with others:

http://www.thousandtongues.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/postcardfront.png


http://www.thousandtongues.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/postcardback.png

» John Fawcett

(From "Library of Christian Hymns" by Dahle)

John Fawcett, Baptist preacher of England, was born January 6, 1739 (or 1740), in Lidget Green, near Bradford, Yorkshire. At the age of 16 he came under the influence of Whitefield and joined the Methodists, but three years later he became a member of the Baptist church of Bradford. In 1765 he was ordained to the ministry and was installed in the Baptist congregation of Wainsgate, Yorkshire. Seven years later, in 1772, he was called to London to succeed the famous Dr. J. Gills of Carter’s Lane. He accepted the call. After delivering his farewell sermon to the congregation at Wainsgate, six loads of household goods were brought up near the church preparatory to his leaving for London. But the congregation was not ready to bid him farewell. Men, women, and children thronged about their pastor and his family and wept. Fawcett and his wife also were moved to tears at the sight. Finally his wife said, “O John, I cannot endure this; I do not understand how we can leave this place.” “No, you are right,” he replied, “neither shall we leave.” Then all their belongings were unpacked and put... (continue reading...)

» Psalms & Hymns of Reformed Worship

Psalms & Hymns of Reformed Worship is the modern-day version of the original "Our Own Hymn-Book" published by Charles Spurgeon's Metropolitan Baptist Church in the mid 19th century. It is a fully modern hymnal which purports to follow the ethos and style of the original. Just like OOHB, it features many hymns centered on our union and intimacy with Jesus. It also features many hymns by Charles Wesley, which is somewhat unusual in such an outspoken particular Baptist collection of hymns. It is the original hymnal that started Reformed Praise founder David Ward on the quest of writing new tunes to precious old hymn texts.

Buy the words only edition
Buy the music edition

» Josiah Conder

(From the "Little Flock Hymn Book: Its History and Hymn Writers" by Adrian Roach)

Josiah Condor, the fourth son of Thomas Condor, was born in Falcon Street, Aldesgate, London, on Sept. 17th. 1789. His grandfather, Dr. John Condor, was a noted Dissenter clergyman. His father, Thomas, was also a strong Nonconformist and so Josiah grew up in this environment. At five years of age, smallpox blinded him in his right eye. Fearing the possible loss of his other eye, he was sent to Hackney for electrical treatment. His physician became his teacher, and carried him through the fundamentals of French, Latin and other studies. At fifteen he entered into his father's bookstore as an assistant. In 1810 we find him in co-operation with Ann and Jane Taylor and Eliza Thomas (who later became his wife) and some others in publishing a book called "The Associate Minstrels". It secured a second edition in 1812. He also edited a newspaper called the "Patriot" but was never out of financial problems, yet he went on encouraged by his Lord. He once had a fall from his horse, which laid him aside in much pain and suffering, but at that time he... (continue reading...)

» Joseph Hart

(From "Hymn Writers of the Church" by Charles Nutter)

Hart, Joseph, a Congregational minister of England, was born in 1712 of pious parents. He was well educated, and was for many years a teacher of the classics. In early life he was pious, but relapsed into sin and exerted a most pernicious influence upon all with whom he associated. While in this backslidden state he wrote a pamphlet titled The Unreasonableness of Religion, Being Remarks and Animadversions on the Rev. John Wesley's Sermon on Romans viii. 32. But he was deeply convicted in his fortieth year, and betook himself to daily prayer and to reading the Scriptures. It was not, however, until he attended a service at the Moravian church in Fetter Lane, London, on Whitsunday, 1757, that he obtained peace. He now became an earnest and consecrated Christian, and many of his best hymns were written within the next two years following his conversion. His Hymns Composed on Various Subjects, with the Author's Experience were published in several editions during his lifetime (first edition, 1759) and subsequent to his death. This volume led to his being importuned to become a preacher, which he did, although in his... (continue reading...)

» John Newton

(From "Memoirs of Hymn-Writers and Compilers" by John Gadsby)

John Newton was born in London, July24th, 1725. He was an only son. His mother, to whom he was particularly attached, herself taught him English, and that in such a way that, added to his own natural talents, by the time he was four years old, he could read any common book with propriety. She died before he was seven years of age, and he was then left to ruin wild, as is the case with too many children. His father married again the following year, and Newton was afterwards sent to a boarding-school in Essex. His father was then at sea, a commander in the Mediterranean trade. When 11 years old, his father took him with him to sea. In 1742 he was placed, with very advantageous prospects, at Alicant, in Spain, but his unsettled behavior and impatience of restraint rendered that design abortive. He had very little concern about religion, but was often disturbed with convictions. “I was,” he says, “fond of reading from a child; among other books, . Bennet’s ‘Christian Oratory’ often came in my way; and though I understood but little of it, the... (continue reading...)

» Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon