The
online
Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Tuesday,
December 28,
2021
This Lancaster County farm is on Ridge Run Road near Mount Joy.
"A
New Song"
Message
summary: Thank God for the gift of music, old and
new!
Listen
to this message on your audio player.
"Oh sing
to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the
earth!" (Psalm 96:1). “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new
song, His praise in the assembly of the saints”
(Psalm 149:1).
"And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to
take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were
slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation, and
you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and
they shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9).
I (Stephen) have an admittedly peculiar
habit that can annoy my family. I often hum when I'm
eating at our table. Brooksyne claims it's because I'm
most happy sitting down and eating a meal. (She might
be right at that!)
As 2021 comes to an end I wonder how many
new songs have been written this past year to praise
the Lord and express faith? Do you suppose any new worship songs will be
written in 2022?
When I was around the age of ten or twelve I
started to enjoy popular music. It was also at this
age that I began to "notice" girls. One song I
especially recall was titled "Red Rubber Ball" which
had this line, "The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red
rubber ball". I thought that was such a cool phrase
and still think of it when I see a rising sun.
I looked up to my older brother, Pat who is
eight years older than me, and thought he had all the
answers. "Do you think songwriters will ever run out
of songs to write?" I asked him. He assured me they
wouldn't. Turns out over 50 years later he was right!
Thankfully and not surprisingly this is also true of
worship music. In fact I am sure God's people will
never run out of new songs with which to praise Him
and express their faith, even through the eons of
eternity!
CCLI is
a company that provides music copyright protection for
churches and ministries. Many of you have seen the
small copyright notice with a CCLI license on a
PowerPoint slide. We used it in churches we served and
our church presently uses it. I checked this morning
and there are over 450,000 Christian songs in their
database and consider how many songs are being sung
that are not included in this database!Of course many songs are written at the
local level or in other languages and never get
registered in their database. We also wonder just how
many songs have been written for the Lord through the
ages that were used locally or just for a season that
aren’t included. It's also interesting that only
24,000 public domain songs are in the CCLI database
meaning the vast majority of CCLI songs are newer.
Copyright permission is needed for music for a specific period of time. After that date it is in the public domain and out of copyright. Anyone using it does not need special permission nor is there a fee. But in reality virtually all the songs we sing in most of our churches are relatively new, written in the last 10% of the church’s history (since 1800). Very few of us sing songs written before 1600. Of course now we think of “new” in terms of just years and even a song written in our lifetime may seem like an old song! There's pressure on worship leaders in many churches to sing the newest songs, as Brooksyne can attest, since she led worship for many years in several churches.
God’s people in the Bible sang both old and new songs. The daily portions encourages singing a “new song”. But the worship leaders under King Jehoshaphat, who lived many years after King David, repeated David’s common musical refrain, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21). Brooksyne and I have often wondered what hymn the disciples sang at the conclusion of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30).
We
enjoy both new and old music. We are grateful for the
sense of heritage of an old hymn like “The Old Rugged
Cross”, for the deep conviction it brings to our
hearts, and for the people we connect to the song
because they sang it so often in our presence. We’re
also thankful for the spiritual vigor that stirs our
soul when singing a recently penned song like “Way
Maker”. I encourage you to have an appreciation for
both types, while acknowledging we all have our
preferences in style.
The older songs, particularly classic hymns, remind us that our expression of faith is not merely a passing fad and we are part of a multi-generational movement. What a blessing it is when a particular hymn stirs one’s memory of a godly parent or grandparent singing it in church. Our parents have been gone for many years but when one of their favorite hymns are sung in church we’re reminded once again of their Christian example. The more recent songs remind us that God is still actively at work in His plan of redemption today and gifting His people to write new songs.
I can’t sing well but I can sure hum or whistle in tune and you’re just as likely to hear me making a joyful noise to the classic hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, as well as a recent song and I’m spiritually blessed by both of them. New songs for the Lord are being written all the time and will continue till our Lord returns. And then amazingly we’ll be hearing some new music in heaven (Revelation 5:9). Thank God for the gift of music! As you gather with other believers sing, “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the saints".
Copyright permission is needed for music for a specific period of time. After that date it is in the public domain and out of copyright. Anyone using it does not need special permission nor is there a fee. But in reality virtually all the songs we sing in most of our churches are relatively new, written in the last 10% of the church’s history (since 1800). Very few of us sing songs written before 1600. Of course now we think of “new” in terms of just years and even a song written in our lifetime may seem like an old song! There's pressure on worship leaders in many churches to sing the newest songs, as Brooksyne can attest, since she led worship for many years in several churches.
God’s people in the Bible sang both old and new songs. The daily portions encourages singing a “new song”. But the worship leaders under King Jehoshaphat, who lived many years after King David, repeated David’s common musical refrain, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21). Brooksyne and I have often wondered what hymn the disciples sang at the conclusion of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30).
We
enjoy both new and old music. We are grateful for the
sense of heritage of an old hymn like “The Old Rugged
Cross”, for the deep conviction it brings to our
hearts, and for the people we connect to the song
because they sang it so often in our presence. We’re
also thankful for the spiritual vigor that stirs our
soul when singing a recently penned song like “Way
Maker”. I encourage you to have an appreciation for
both types, while acknowledging we all have our
preferences in style.The older songs, particularly classic hymns, remind us that our expression of faith is not merely a passing fad and we are part of a multi-generational movement. What a blessing it is when a particular hymn stirs one’s memory of a godly parent or grandparent singing it in church. Our parents have been gone for many years but when one of their favorite hymns are sung in church we’re reminded once again of their Christian example. The more recent songs remind us that God is still actively at work in His plan of redemption today and gifting His people to write new songs.
I can’t sing well but I can sure hum or whistle in tune and you’re just as likely to hear me making a joyful noise to the classic hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, as well as a recent song and I’m spiritually blessed by both of them. New songs for the Lord are being written all the time and will continue till our Lord returns. And then amazingly we’ll be hearing some new music in heaven (Revelation 5:9). Thank God for the gift of music! As you gather with other believers sing, “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the saints".
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, the Word directs us not to get
drunk on wine, but to be filled instead with the
Spirit, speaking to ourselves in songs, and hymns,
and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
our hearts toward You. You use these songs to teach
us about Your truths, remind us of Your promises,
comfort us in our grief, and refresh us in our
spirit. No voice that is weak, hoarse, off-tempo, or
out of pitch is rejected by You when we offer what
we have with glad and sincere hearts. Help us not to
be intimidated by those who have musical giftings,
for our “joyful noise” can be a glorious symphony of
praise when blended with thankful hearts to You
through our musical worship. Amen.
A
special memory: In Brooksyne's prayer she
said, "No voice that is weak, hoarse, off-tempo, or
out of pitch is rejected by You when we offer what
we have with glad and sincere hearts."Joe
Carroll, who is now with the Lord, was a long-term
member of a church we served in an interim role in
the Harrisburg, PA area about 15 years ago. Joe had
a wonderful testimony. He served in the navy
during World War 2 and his ship was struck by a
kamikaze plane killing many of his crewmates. The
plane actually struck the ship precisely where Joe's
bunk was located, but he was elsewhere on the ship
at the time.
Following the war Joe married, fathered six children and worked in the Harrisburg area. His wife Jessie was a Christian and she raised their children to serve the Lord, but Joe did not serve the Lord nor did he attend church. Of course she and many others prayed for his salvation for many years. She recalls how he would help her get the kids dressed for church but he would not attend. Maybe he was looking for some "quiet time" in the empty house.
In his late forties Joe had cancer of the larynx which resulted in having his larynx removed. He then began to use a voice box. It was during this time of extensive trial that Joe finally accepted the Lord as his personal Savior and began attending the church.
One of our most memorable blessings was hearing Joe sing. He did so with great effort, placing his hand on his throat in order to sing out. His voice has the characteristics of those who use a voice box, but that didn't stop him from singing out! We often stood just several rows ahead of him and I was so blessed to hear his voice joining in the song of the Redeemed! Brooksyne has told me that when she led out in worship and played the piano she hears Joe singing out. It often brought tears to her eyes when she hears his earnest voice and she is inspired to play and sing out even more fervently.
Following the war Joe married, fathered six children and worked in the Harrisburg area. His wife Jessie was a Christian and she raised their children to serve the Lord, but Joe did not serve the Lord nor did he attend church. Of course she and many others prayed for his salvation for many years. She recalls how he would help her get the kids dressed for church but he would not attend. Maybe he was looking for some "quiet time" in the empty house.
In his late forties Joe had cancer of the larynx which resulted in having his larynx removed. He then began to use a voice box. It was during this time of extensive trial that Joe finally accepted the Lord as his personal Savior and began attending the church.
One of our most memorable blessings was hearing Joe sing. He did so with great effort, placing his hand on his throat in order to sing out. His voice has the characteristics of those who use a voice box, but that didn't stop him from singing out! We often stood just several rows ahead of him and I was so blessed to hear his voice joining in the song of the Redeemed! Brooksyne has told me that when she led out in worship and played the piano she hears Joe singing out. It often brought tears to her eyes when she hears his earnest voice and she is inspired to play and sing out even more fervently.
Note
from Brooksyne: One of the most natural ways
of learning truths from God’s Word and their
application to our everyday lives is by singing and
memorizing the hymns. I also enjoy and learn a great
deal from studying hymn backgrounds. There are quite
a few books written that help us see everyday people
who were inspired by God to write about what He was
doing in their lives as they applied His truths to
their Christian walk. Contemporary writers speak of
what God is doing today while applying the style and
language of our day. That’s the beauty of music
because it is the very expression of the heart. I’ve
worn the binding off of a book, “Amazing Grace: 366
Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions” (366 –
allowing for Leap Year). Mr. Osbeck writes a
devotional based upon the hymn background and ties
it into that period of history. I’ve been enriched
and challenged spiritually when I read from this
book and many others in my extensive collection
including Robert J. Morgan's two books: "Then Sings
My Soul" Books 1 & 2. They're excellent
devotionals with biographical info about the
songwriters presented in chronological order of the
song's publication date.
Stephen's
note: We’ve visited many different kinds of
churches with various music styles, the most unusual
(for us) being the Sunday gathering at an Amish
church service. Their Sunday morning music is
hundreds of years old, sung in German in a very,
very slow syncopated tempo. A song might have 16 or
more verses and take ten to fifteen minutes to sing
it through. The plain people have no copyright
issues due to their older music long out of
copyright and interestingly they manage to have
church without using PowerPoint! When the youth
gather in their youth groups on Sunday evenings they
sing many of the same hymns we sing in our churches.
Another memory: Music,
at least all through our lifetime, but probably all
through history has been a source of division. Mike,
a local friend told us about a memory from a church
he attended when they first used an overhead
projector (for younger readers this was used before
PowerPoint). Mike recalls how this didn't go over
very well with some of the older members who refused
to look up at the screen!Years
ago I wrote a satire article titled, "Overhead to PowerPoint proposal
creates firestorm in local church".
Special
Year-end
Financial Note
We
want to thank
all who have
financially
supported our
ministry this
past year (and
some for many
years!). We
realize there
are many fine
ministries and
causes
requesting
support at
this time but
if you would
like to make a
donation to
our ministry
see here for
more
information. Like
many
ministries, we
typically see
a spike in
giving at the
end of the
year for which
we are most
thankful.
Our ministry labor is comprised of approximately half our time to Daily Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to companies from which we receive compensation. Each of these ministries essentially is the same as a part-time job (20+ hours weekly) for each of us. Our goal for many years is that each would provide half of our ministry expenses and income.
To
donate
directly
online
click here.
This will open
to a page that
designates the
offering to: STEPHEN
&
BROOKSYNE WEBER - 700001-237376 SERVING
IN SPECIALIZED CHAPLAINCY
Our ministry labor is comprised of approximately half our time to Daily Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to companies from which we receive compensation. Each of these ministries essentially is the same as a part-time job (20+ hours weekly) for each of us. Our goal for many years is that each would provide half of our ministry expenses and income.
To
donate
directly
online
click here.
This will open
to a page that
designates the
offering to: STEPHEN
&
BROOKSYNE WEBER - 700001-237376 SERVING
IN SPECIALIZED CHAPLAINCY
Please Note: If
you
desire you can donate directly through PayPal
using this link.
This will open
to a page that
states
"Brooksyne
Weber".
We keep this option available due to
the familiarity, convenience, international
supporters, and for those who may not need an
official receipt. You can also set up for
recurring donations. You also can use PayPal on this
link. Stephen & Brooksyne
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Sing a New Song"
Video The
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
"Red
Rubber
Ball" Video
The
Cyrkle (Song illustrated in message, not
a Christian song!) My brother and I grew up in
the Midwest in the Kansas City area. About 30
years ago he moved to Easton, PA to pastor a
church. Coincidentally, I looked up this group
and they formed their group at Lafayette
College in Easton!
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& Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Brooksyne Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA