Dan Wilt introduces the phrase that will revolutionize your rehearsals.

It’s Sunday morning, and rehearsal was supposed to begin at 8:00 am. Your electric guitar player shows up, as requested, at 8 on the dot – but then takes 20 minutes to set up his gear. Is there a better way to start rehearsal on time?

You bet there is, and strangely enough, I didn’t discover it until I had already been leading worship for 15 years. It’s called Downbeat Time, and the phrase is revolutionizing worship rehearsals everywhere.

The Phrase “Downbeat Time” In Context

I still meet many worship leaders and musicians who have never heard of this phrase, and it is such a helpful solution to how your bands think about start times.

Downbeat Time means “the time we’ll begin to play music together.”

Here is the phrase used in a sentence:

“See you Wednesday night for rehearsal. Remember, downbeat time on rehearsal is 7:00 pm, so if you have gear to set up, you’ll need to be there earlier.”

In short form, once your band learns the term, you’d just say:

“Downbeat is at 7 pm. See you there.”

What can this simple change in language about rehearsal do?

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Editor’s note: Artist and worship leader Shaun Groves wonders if he should be using worship songs that come from a ministry with questionable theology. He doesn’t mention the ministry so I’ll save you the Google search: it’s Bethel Church, and here’s a summary of what their pastor is teaching. For further thought, read the WorshipIdeas article Should You Sing Good Songs by Bad People?

“Heretic” is an overused word isn’t it? We slap that label on anyone who disagrees with us.

Real heresy is a belief in opposition to a central belief of historically orthodox Christianity. (Justin Holcomb defines heresy more completely here than I have space for.)

Central belief – not a difference of opinion on homosexuality, evolution, women in ministry, or the superiority of the King James version. Central beliefs are things like…well, I think we can all agree that the divinity of Jesus is central right?

HYPOSTATIC UNION

Historically orthodox Christianity teaches what theologians call “hypostatic union“. In plain English? Jesus is somehow mysteriously both fully human and fully divine. (Colossians 2:9, John 10:28-30, John 1:1-5, Mark 2:5-7, Hebrews 1:8-11)

Ted (not his real name) pastors a large congregation renowned for writing and recording a great deal of modern worship music now sung in churches across America and around the world. In fact, the church acts as a record label signing, recording, distributing and profiting from many artists. And Ted believes Jesus was not divine.

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Russ Mohr says we need to keep the classics alive:

Last night, while relaxing on the couch, I overheard my wife streaming a movie trailer on Facebook. I immediately rolled my eyes. It was for a new Cinderella movie. “Well, so much for Elsa,” I said. “Now they’re gonna start pushing new Cinderella stuff to all the toy stores out there.”

I watched for a moment, and in my best crotchety-old-man-internal-voice, wondered why we need another Cinderella movie. Why do they keep remaking old films? Are they out of ideas? Aren’t they making enough money on princess stuff?

And that’s when it hit me: it’s a classic. That’s why they keep remaking so many old movies. Storytellers find it necessary to keep them alive, to reinvent them and pass them on to new generations, lest these timeless tales go the way of the Blockbuster video store.

As the trailer went on, I wondered if my kids would have ever known the Cinderella story – or many other old standards – apart from the suped up modern versions. In many cases, probably not. And while my inner old man was annoyed at that thought, a part of me was satisfied to know that the stories will live on. New actors, CGI animation, corny new songs, creative liberties and all, the story will live on. And that’s a good thing.

I recently attended a worship conference where a couple speakers mentioned the importance of our music’s longevity. One of the speakers, Harold Best, suggested we ask folks over age 65 what songs they have carried with them through life – to discover what songs have strengthened their devotion to God through the years, songs they leaned on through thick and thin.

Those are good, lasting songs. Yet our catalogs are full of songs that will be “played out” within a couple years. For the most part, those are not the songs you find yourself building a life of faith upon.

Continue reading.