Comments on: Book Review: Worship Matters

By: Joel Klampert

Joel Klampert — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:24:53 +0000

let me first say that I love Bob’s website. It is a must RSS for me, but I do think it is very heady and not a site I would recommend off the bat to somebody new in my band. It is one stream theologically, but I read so much that I can intermingle other stuff in. I don’t agree with everything he says, but seldom do I with anybody I read.

I am glad you guys read it or have it ready to read. I think it can certainly enrich any worship leaders heart and ministry.

By: Bobby Gilles

Bobby Gilles — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:56:53 +0000

Joel, thanks for this review.

I’ve also placed “Worship Matters” on my “must read” stack. I’ve dog-eared my pages and highlighted the passages that were most helpful to me, and I’m sure I’ll frequent this book regularly for years to come.

By: Ryan Egan

Ryan Egan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:12:23 +0000

Chad,

You make such a good point! I absolutely love the book and would recommend it in a heartbeat – but you’re right about the limited theological viewpoint. It’s understandable, I guess, since Bob is part of the Sovereign Grace family – but I know he respects other views and authors and it would have been nice to see something from others in there.

For instance, I just came across quite a quote pertaining to worship from Carl Rosenius – a Swedish preacher/author who would be part of the history of my church body (The Free Lutheran Church) – that I thought was pretty worthy of pondering – he said,

“We have heard from God’s own mouth what is delightsome and acceptable to Him and, on the contrary, what displeases and offends Him. And we can never in this life praise God enough for the light to know with full certainty what God wills, what is acceptable to Him.” Some fantastic thoughts on worship from a little, packed book called “The Believer Free from the Law.”

Anyway, all in all, a fantastic book which I thoroughly recommend..

By: chad

chad — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:51:00 +0000

I read Worship Matters and thought it made some great points that needed to be made. The position of “worship leader” has grown so much in the last decade, and is often the most visible person in the local church besides the pastor. The thing I liked the most about the book was that Bob structured it in a way to get a large amount of information into a very manageable book (It is thick, but could be read in a weekend). Bob’s heart clearly showed through in every word.

My only critique was that their seemed to be a very narrow theological viewpoint behind the writing, and most everyone quoted was either in the Sovereign Grace family, Reformed Baptist, or somewhere in-between. Most of them were also still alive. For a topic that has such a large corpus of writing, I felt that he could have said many of the same things and made the book more accessible to the broader church.

But no matter what, Worship Matters was a great book and I have recommended it to several people. It should be on any worship leaders shelf. Brad is right to worshipmatters.com is a great resource.

By: Brad Loser

Brad Loser — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:44:07 +0000

I could not agree more whole heartedly!!!

Get this book and read it – - then read it again! You will not be disappointed. I am leading a discussion group at my church with some of the pastoral staff and worship staff on this book. It has provoked GREAT discussion and helped unify us greatly in our pursuit of building a biblical worshipping community. I am blogging about this book and those discussions on my site – it will help you get a good understanding of what the book is about before you buy it. If i could, I would put this book in the hands of EVERY corporate worship leader I could find.

I would however, differ with the post above. DIVE into the worshipmatters.com blog – - it is challenging and thought provoking, and some things may need to be read a few times – BUT DON’T LET THAT KEEP YOU FROM IT. We NEED to push ourselves and THINK about why we do what we do, why we believe what we believe, and how that effects those we lead.

Brad Loser
http://www.thinkworship.com