Together for the Gospel Live

Beating Time

TITLE: TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL LIVE
WEBSITE: http://www.sovereigngracemusic.org
STYLE: conference hymn singing
FORMAT: CD/MP3 download (19 tracks)
PRICE: US$12 / US$8

Reports of the death of hymn singing are an exaggeration. Indeed, I am happy to report that hymn singing is alive and well, even in contemporary circles.

Together for the Gospel (T4G) began as a friendship among four pastors: Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler. In April 2008, more than 5000 people, mostly pastors, gathered at the T4G conference to hear God’s Word and sing the praises of the Saviour.

The conference website (www.t4g.org) lists 22 hymns for the week, of which only four are from contemporary writers. Stuart Townend chalks up three, and it has to be said that they stand up well alongside time-proven greats from the likes of Isaac Watts, John Newton, and Charles Wesley.

There are no drums, and there is no band. Bob Kauflin (http://www.worshipmatters.org) leads the 5,000 soaring male voices simply from the piano. His choice of tunes and arrangements is excellent. Some may find his occasional shouts a little unusual, but I certainly haven't grown tired of them.

Kauflin also gives the lie to the notion that some older hymns are just too heavyweight for large-scale contemporary use, as the inclusion of this banquet from Watts shows:

How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
‘Lord, why was I a guest?’

‘Why was I made to hear thy voice,
And enter while there's room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?’

'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

In a word: substantial.

PGDH
http://www.colossiansthreesixteen.org

© Evangelicals Now - February 2009
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