Southern California , and I ’ ve been fortunate to have traveled to Mexico , Honduras , Chile and Costa Rica , for worship training and conferences . I ’ m grateful that God gave me the culture I was born into and the opportunity to work as a bilingual teacher , counselor and administrator . I don ’ t believe that God makes mistakes and since He knew me from the womb , He knew what culture would be the perfect one for me .
[ WM ] What changes have you noticed in Christian hymn writing over the past decade or so ? What particulars should a worship songwriter value above all else ?
[ Eddie ] I think that the major change that I have seen are that so many of the songs have a theme that has to do with what the songwriter is going through in a given particular time . Now King David wrote from his experiences as he wrote many of the psalms . It ’ s natural to write about what one is going through since it ’ s what we know . However , I seriously think that we ’ re missing something as there seems to be a lack of the awareness of the presence of God which in turn has led to a lack of intimacy in the daily walk as Christians . Some might say that it ’ s because so many didn ’ t experience or have an encounter with God historically , but I believe in reality it ’ s because we have lost a Biblical perspective with what it is to worship in spirit and in truth along with the fact that God inhabits the praises of His people as opposed to the narrations , the lamenting , the opinions , etc . Worship teams have exchanged ushering people into the Presence of God for performance , professionalism and perfection and therefore the Church is losing its intimacy . My fear is that we ’ ve begun to worship worship and praise praise .
In corporate worship , I believe that anything that deviates from the heartfelt expression of humble worship with themes of adoration , exaltation , devotion , gratitude , etc . will have a negative impact on people experiencing God ’ s manifest presence in a worship setting . A worship songwriter needs to write from the perspective of intimacy with God and to guard their heart from pride . Staying Biblically sound is also a vital
responsibility that we have in order that we are not spreading doctrine that may be doctrinally unsound . With regard to corporate worship songs , not everything you hear on the radio is necessarily on God ’ s iPod playlist .
[ WM ] I must ask you about those trips to the UK and Ireland in the 1980 ’ s with Pastor John Wimber . The impact that those meetings had on the church worldwide and the modern worship movement is incalculable . So many pastors , songwriters , and worship leaders , were impacted by those visits . Matt Redman , Mike Pilavachi , Brenton Brown , Kathryn Scott , and even the Church of England itself , are just a few names that come to mind . Tell us about what you think the UK and Irish church was yearning for , that is missing today in many of our churches . What ’ s happened to expectancy ?
[ Eddie ] In those times we longed for , we expected , we acknowledged , and we experienced the presence of God in our meetings because of three key elements that must be present in worship . The lyric of the songs , the intimate walk of the worship team and hunger of the congregation are vital to cause us to experience Emmanuel . It was a holy time . People didn ’ t arrive at services late because they didn ’ t want to miss a song . It was said that you could feel a tangible difference in the atmosphere from the first chord . All I know is that there were countless times that I wouldn ’ t get through a worship set without weeping before the Lord because of gratitude for His grace and goodness to us . It ’ s because Psalm 22:3 in the KJV says that God is holy , and He inhabits the praise of Israel .
[ WM ] As a mentor for so many years and to so many , what non-negotiable attributes would you communicate to aspiring worship leaders ? What particulars are really important to leaders above all others ?
[ Eddie ] First and foremost is humility , because God honors humility but resists the proud . We can do nothing without Him , but God chooses to use us to usher in His presence as we worship Him while we lead them to a deeper relationship . As we walk in humility , God can use us to accomplish His purposes . Secondly , is perseverance in pursuing God through having a lifestyle of worship , prayer and devotion . Third , is knowing that our identity is the fact that we are His own , it is in Christ , whether or not we are ministering somewhere . I think that these attributes will keep us centered in Christ and