Jennifer contacted me to let me know Nine Ways God Always Speaks is available for free download in Kindle format on Amazon for this week only.

Don't have a Kindle? Don't worry, because there Kindle reader apps available for Mac, PC, iPhone/iPad, and Blackberry. I'd encourage you to download the software and then download your free copy of the book. If you like it, you should buy a copy of Six Prayers as well and complete your collection.

You can download the book from Amazon here.

Download the free reading apps here.

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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More importantly, the whole exercise was born from a statement I heard years ago while sitting in one class or another in college. The statement has resonated with me for all these years.

"We bring our whole life experience to music."

What does that mean? I suppose there are many levels, but here's my take.

• Every person sitting in the pew on Sunday morning has a different musical background than the person sitting next to them. Each person's background affects their "appreciation" of whatever kind of music is being presented.
• Every person in the band, choir, and praise team has a different musical background. This will affect how they interact within your leadership group.
• The worship leader/music minister standing up in front of the crowd every week has a different musical background. This background affects his/her presentation of the music.

I'll be really honest here. I don't like about half of the music I stand up and lead most of the time. This has nothing to do with traditional vs. contemporary, but more to do with how the song fits into my life experiences. Some stuff I liked a few years ago, I wish would just go away and never be heard again—at least until my tastes change. I mentioned before I'm not a big hymn lover, partially because I have some pretty negative memories from my childhood, teen, and college years associated with them. Having said that, there are some hymns I love dearly. The same is true for modern worship music. If I went by personal tastes alone, hardly any of the songs we currently sing at my church would make the list. I prefer a much harder rock and roll sound than what all but the most cutting edge churches would appreciate.

Why bring this up? I think there needs to be a level of understanding, a sense of compassion shared between us when we gather together on Sundays to worship together through music.

That guy standing with his arms cross during every single song, the person who refused to sing on the contemporary songs, the other person who shuts down during the hymns, the music leader who grudgingly sings a song they don't like—they're all bringing their life experience to music.

The lady nearly dancing in the aisle with her eyes closed and hands raised, the person who loves it when you sing something from the hymnal, the other person who prefers songs less than a year old, the music leader who feels like this song is the best worship song ever—they're all bringing their life experience to music.

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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No offense intended to all the hymn lovers out there, but even after growing up in a traditional church and singing the standard hymns for years, I never felt like I was singing my heart language most of the time. I have a few favorites that resonate with me (Jesus Paid it All, My Savior's Love, Heaven Came Down), but for the most part I don't have very good memories of most hymns.

Yeah, I've got some baggage I suppose.

So, when I started listening to contemporary worship music again, I fell in love with some songs. There're no surprises here I suppose, but there are some good memories.

Shout to the Lord – Hillsong

My Redeemer Lives – Hillsong

I remember attending a web design conference in Atlanta, and finding a good Christian music station on the radio (Charleston didn't have a good one at the time). I heard this song for the first time, and nearly had to pull over. I was simply captured by what I heard. Not profound, but it resonated deeply with me.

God of Wonders – Caedmon's Call

Somewhere along the line our youth minister handed me a couple of CDs by this band I'd never heard of before. The rest is history, as I found my all-time favorite artist, and one of my all-time favorite songs.

Make a Joyful Noise/I Will Not be Silent – David Crowder*Band

Another group I was very late in discovering is Delirious? Here's one of my favorite songs by them from their fairly recent concert at Willow Creek.

Miracle Maker – Delirious?

On evening I tagged along with the youth group for a free concert from another band I'd never heard of before. (I usually avoid posting non-live videos with cheesy graphics, so please excuse this one. Just listen if you've not heard it before.)

Holiness – Sonicflood

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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Here's a few of the songs we did to rev up the crowd.

Peter Gunn

Mission: Impossible Theme

Rockin' Robin

Sweet Georgia Brown

Pink Panther Theme

Gospel John (This was really more of a stage band favorite. Endure Maynard's showing off at the beginning before the song starts.)

And what pep band hasn't done this one?

Rock and Roll part 2 (The Hey Song)

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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This song, Go Lovely Rose by Roger Quilter is still my all-time favorite "art song" to sing. This guy here does a pretty good job of it.

By contrast, here's one I wish I could forget. It wasn't hard to sing, but I never liked it.

Honour and Arms from Samson by Handel

Get a good look at the piano workout on this one. My wife was my accompanist for me, and I think she should have been given the music degree for the performance instead of me. Wow.

Der Erlkönig by Schubert

I loved singing German songs. I can't explain it, but they were always so fun. French on the other hand…blech! This next one makes the list solely because I was forced to sing at least one French song for my senior recital, and this was it.

Bois épais by Lully

Ok, enough suffering for one post.

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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Much, but not all, of what we did was Southern Gospel. Yeah, me singing Southern Gospel. Ironic.

Here's a sampling of songs we sang.

Step Into the Water – The Cathedrals

Movin' Up to Gloryland – The Cathedrals

John the Revelator – Gaither Vocal Band

I Shall Wear a Crown – Gaither Vocal Band

A Few Good Men – Gaither Vocal Band

Alright, that's all I can stand.

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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Long story short, they quickly became my favorite group during my college years. I saw them in concert every time I could when they rolled through Springfield. Here's a couple of my favorites.

Where There is Faith – 4Him

Over the Horizon – 4Him

Another group I discovered at the time was Take6. Wow, their a cappella stuff was incredible. Here's a medley of some of their stuff. The audio/video sync is a little off, but more than worth listening to.

I also started listening to a group I had heard about, but never had a chance to hear before. The called themselves Petra, and I remember when they came to town in concert, we were told by the college not to go or suffer some consequences. So what did some of us do? We drove to Kansas City and spent the weekend at a friend's parent's house, and went to the concert there. The payoff? I got to pray with John Schlitt. Good times.

Beyond Belief – Petra (Enjoy the sleeveless shirts and keytars.)

Farewell Acoustic Set – Petra

We Believe – Steve Green

Michael W. Smith was still going strong in those day—he still is, in fact—and he rolled into town with this little group just starting out named dc Talk. Thank the Lord they got a WHOLE lot better.

Nu Thang – dc Talk

There was a band from Australia who'd been around for a little while before I started listening to them in college. You might have heard of them. They've changed personnel over the years, but they're still around.

Shine – Newsboys

I'm putting this one up for a couple of reasons. Long before his scandal, Michael English was one of the "approved" artists students could listen to, or so I thought. I learned otherwise when I played this song while running audio for a basketball game, then got griped out by the school vice-president for doing so. He asked me how long I had been at the school, then proceeded to tell me I should have known better after being at the school that long.

Sigh…

Solid as the Rock – Michael English

I also remember fondly singing Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir music in both the college choir and the local church choir.

Worthy is the Lamb – Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Last one for today.

It's Time – The Winans

What were you listening to in college?

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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One year our youth group all got caught up in the hype and came back determined to destroy all that evil devil music. We thought about having a bonfire in the church parking lot, but the adults wouldn't let us. Instead, we all brought our records and tapes and VHS movies and anything we thought the preach might preach against and smashed it do bits.

I'll admit though, I didn't hand over the Thriller cassette, or my Billy Joel Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2. I'm just sayin'…

So caught were some of us (read: me) that we were convinced that even contemporary Christian music was bad mojo—because they used drums…or something. I decided I wouldn't listen to anything that wasn't "classical," and got all snooty for a while. I was also heavily involved in choir and band in school, so there's stuff I fondly remember performing even to this day.

Lots of flute rockin' in the videos below. I kid about the flute, but not too much. You see, I was a flute player in the school band. Yup, probably the only male flute player within a several hundred mile radius.

Nunc Dimmitis – Palestrina

We performed part of The Messiah in high school choir, and this is the piece I had the privilege of singing.

For Behold and The People that Walked in Darkness – Handel

My favorite word of music from all genres is Brahms Requiem. It was the major work for tryouts for All-State choir my junior year. I've loved it ever since. Here's the fourth movement.

Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen – Johannes Brahms

My senior year, the major work for All-State was Duruflé's Requiem. Here's the pinnacle of the work. When I think about spiritual experiences in my everyday life—feeling the Holy Spirit—it was during the rehearsal of this movement under the direction of Paul Salmonovich during All-State rehearsals.

Sanctus – Maurice Duruflé

Mars, The Bringer of War – Gustav Holst

Bolero – Ravel

I also spent some time in a group in high school that went around performing stuff. One of the things we did was throw a little barbershop quartet in there. Here was a song a hated to love.

Bill Grogan's Goat

I also really enjoyed singing English madrigals during high school. Here's probably the toughest one we ever attempted.

Fyer, Fyer – Thomas Morley

What did you sing/play in high school?

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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Too bad they don't actually play music videos anymore. I remember the term "VJ" being coined, and saw the rising stars of the likes of J.J. Jackson, Mark Goodman, and Martha Quinn.

Everybody's got their favorites, and nothing here will be all that unique. Either way, here are some of my most remembered videos from those early days. Warning: There will be a LOT of videos here. Enjoy watching whatever you've got time for.

I have to start off with Michael Jackson. He, more than anyone else, defined the medium, taking the early idea of music video and turning it into longer forms. The very first cassette tape I ever spent my own money on was Thriller. I think it cost me around $20 at the time. It was the first of what eventually became a huge collection, mostly due to joining the Columbia Record and Tape club.

Thriller – Michael Jackson

Money for Nothing – Dire Straights (In retrospect, not a very PC song.)

Insert music by Prince here. You'll have to imagine it because he demanded it be taken off YouTube.

Land Down Under – Men at Work (Another band rockin' the flute, but we forgive them because they're Aussies.)

Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leppard

One of the first concerts I ever went to was the Monsters of Rock tour with Van Halen as the headliner.

Livin' on a Prayer – Bon Jovi

Love Walks In – Van Halen (Yeah, I preferred the Sammy Hagar era.)

Rock Me Amadeus – Falco

In the Air Tonight – Phil Collins

Every Breath You Take – The Police

U Can't Touch This – MC Hammer

Addicted to Love – Robert Palmer

Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic (With Michael Jackson's original video for comparison.)

What do you remember from MTV?

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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I remember going to Six Flags one year with the youth group in my high school years. It was a Christian music day of some sort, and attending that days concert was mandatory. I was in a bad mood and didn't want to go. When we got to the amphitheater I was sure the music was going to stink on ice. I asked the music/youth minister who was performing and he said, "Truth."

I said, "Who? What are the like?"

He described them, and I was even more sure than ever it was going to be bad. Really bad.

Well, they took the stage. A full band of drums and guitars, eight singers, and a hot horn section. By the end of the first song, I found my favorite group—at least until a few years later.

Truth was neat because it was a revolving door of members, especially the singers. So many who were with the group went on to be more successful musicians in their own right. Most people listening to Christian music in the 90s remember 4Him. They met and sang in Truth for four years. It was always pretty cool to go get a new Truth tape/CD and find out who the new members were.

Admittedly, their sound wasn't for everyone, but really loved listening to them during their heyday.

Here's maybe the definitive Truth song from the late 80s/early 90s. The four guys you see here are the ones who went on to form 4Him.

Holy of Holies

I can't find many videos from back in the day, but here's some clips from their farewell concert.

70s Medley

He is Able

Majesty (Here's one with as many of the former singers that could come.)

Another group I was introduced to, by a completely different music minister, was named Glad. They had a huge influence on my musical taste for years afterward. Their A Cappella project was brilliant.

Be Ye Glad – Glad

A Mighty Fortress – Glad

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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