Things That Matter: Matt Redman on Worship and the Glory of God.

on this episode of things that matter I interviewed Matt Redman and we are talking about why worship matters stay tuned hi and welcome to this episode of things that matter it's great to be with you today and I am delighted to have in studio today my friend Matt Redman Matt thanks so much for being here pleasure and looking forward to having a conversation today yeah and you know well first of all I wanted to say just thank you so much for the gift you know that you've shared with us and your your songs have I know blessed so many and and me included and so I just wanted to kind of give you a big you know things for everybody I know people that are watching are going to feel the same way fantastic that's not - yeah yeah Loie is it all downhill from here down oh it's going to get better today so I you know what what I was thinking about is I'd like to talk about kind of Center things around three of your songs now of course I know you've written many many songs but but there are three that kind of stand out in my mind at least from my own experience and I think other people might be able to relate and kind of just wondering about the the background the context you know with these songs so I think I first became familiar with you when I was actually living in London in the 90s and it was the the heart of worship song I think that's maybe the first song that I ever heard and I remember as I heard it it just really you know not only is it a great tune a lot of clean everything else but I I thought the message the things you were communicating that were pretty significant so can you give us a little sore yeah background on that song yes interesting it's like a bus from the past was a student conference recently and they asked me to sing that song yeah and I said to I'll be the only one in the room it was alive and out and that was written are you sure people right there there was it was interesting just been singing it again a little bit recently and just seeing that that theme I think still lives with people people I think now and again we all need that yeah kind of restricting it all away and just checking where the heart of things are at and that's how the song was written I was in this church in what for the pastor called Mike Pihl avati and he you know he is he's Greek and he can be a little bit you know he's that he's kind of all-in or not you know yeah so one day he said look we've lost that way with the worship music in the services there's something that's not there that we had before and because it's so important I'm going to do saying drastic so he said we're going to take the sound system down we're going to take all the instruments out and we're just going to show up with their hearts and voices and our Bibles and check we can still worship it going like that right yeah yeah so I mean for some people they were thinking this is the end of the church you know no yeah week to who's going to show up but actually it became a really beautiful profound moment as we discovered again something about coming and bringing you offering yeah instead of our culture so consumerist right and it's so often with you know what's in it for me but actually yeah something about that bringing a sacrifice of praise on off all the goodness you've already been given for the glory already been shown why don't you show up and reply to that and respond and so we did that and it over you know good few weeks it became very special time and but my song was just describing exactly what happened when the music fades always stripped away yeah and simply come longing just to bring something that's worth and I didn't think it was a con Gatien of song yeah and so that song very nearly didn't see the light of day was yes it was really just for me and how I was yeah processing that moment yeah getting back to the heart of worship it's all about you instead of it can become about us okay yeah right yeah and yeah like I said I think that was my first sort of exposure to your music and I just remember the song you know again just even just from the standpoint of musically and melodically it's just such a you know it really captures captured my heart anyway but then but then those lyrics you know those were powerful and that's that was a bold step for Mike to take yeah cuz it was very bold and but the interesting thing was even though we did it in quite a drastic way yeah I think that God was speaking that the same kind of Majesta so many yeah pastors and worship music churches about you know what is this about what is the heart yeah and I think that's why the song resonated because I think everybody to some degree kind of got that like wow you know maybe we need to sort of real value it you know because it easily can become all about you know the band and the technology and I mean that's just yeah quite natural really isn't it I mean I think you know we do need these reefs entering moments where we you know our worship is very informed by culture I guess very informed by all sorts of things and we just have to keep making sure that it's rooted in the scripture more gang culture and its root and so you know even just to return to that picture we get saw front of you of the an open heaven what are they singing before the throne there yeah they said this is song that keeps coming up again again holy holy holy yeah is that the essence of what we're yeah singing you know some you know the no one's thinking about themselves in heaven huh that's a good point yeah so so you started you look about fifteen years old or something when you started leading worship yeah right something like that the same guy Mike I was in his youth group yeah he forced me to leave ER simply yeah we're not I really did wonder were you were you like an aspiring musician worship leader or were you just a guy that you know you can play the guitar a little bit so hey we'll throw that up there well I was loving and worship music and it had a real turbulent childhood and into my teens you know I lost my dad when I was seven and then I'm remarried and there was real tough time and really worship ease it was like the stabilizing thing in my life you know I I learned pretty early on that not only is the the throne of God a place of reverence it's a place of refuge yeah and for me when everything else was crazy and breaking and shaking apart and I'm ridicul there was this place I could go which was unchangeable and unshakable and yeah and so I learnt guitar because I loved what was happening with worship music church but I didn't have want to lead anyone else today I was just for me to sing along in my own house yeah and then who were the guys that were ministering to you back in those days what songs were really cooking so vineyard movement obviously California yeah we're mean to be honest we took everything we could get from from America we're out there any ARDS yeah we were we all over all of it and and then there was a few things popping up in England garkel Graham Kendrick who I particularly loved him he's as a lyricist that was really resonating with me yeah but I was just laughing it all up yeah and then yeah just I started playing these songs at home my youth leader found out that I was doing that yeah he said we need worship I said no he asked me about 15 more times I said no not ever yeah stop bugging me well and in the end he sounds elaborate hoax to manipulate me into leading worship I'm not sure I'd be able to call discipleship but he had this other guy run along and say hey uh my guitars broken I can't lead tonight and he very often though and these mics like what we going to do tonight Matt worships important isn't it I was like yeah course so we importantly worship with God tonight and music that such a great way to do that wonder how we could do this I don't suppose you and that's how I let some creative disciple yeah yeah yeah now you know it's may that you said that that you know you guys are kind of taking everything from the states and born here because over on this side and a little bit later you know as the as the worship thing really started to develop you know with you and of course with delirious and then with Jim Hughes and you know I think over here we're looking over there going wait what is that we need some of that so you know yeah I mean I love how that happens just like a cross-pollination yeah at the word yeah polymerization I don't really with it with us but it's kind of how it happens yeah because I mean even in the old days of hymns there was a good deal of that going on as well but but you know and Australia getting the mix and yeah ever else but there definitely was that you know I felt like some of the loveliest moments for me with some of the places and that really inspired me we would in the end get invited over to and be ministering amongst and so welcome there and that was just a thrill and a joy to to be in those situations and but I love it and I think you know these days I mean and I probably some of the people are song right most with our Americans yeah and we spur each other on and some of them like Chris Tomlin we've been we wrote together in California in 2001 the first time did you really and so we've been yeah writing together saying why yeah yeah that's great you know now you know kind of moving forward in historically the the song of yours that really gosh it just really gripped me was was blessed be your name and I remember I kid I could remember right now the first time I ever heard it and I just thought gosh and here's the thing that really struck me was the theological depth to it and you know at that point I mean obviously I didn't know much about you or anything but but when I heard that song and I heard you know the the lyrical content and of course it's based on you know Psalm 103 right as um well I mean I know old and lots of region is yeah yeah Oh sort of yeah a little bit oh yeah I mean you've got back jobobo exactly but what was the thing that really you to Brooklyn was was the the depth of it and I thought wow you know I just thought Matt's got some depth to him and I really appreciated that and that song I think just for myself but I know many people where that is a song that even today every time I hear it it just like she just administers to me thanks man I mean it's interesting because it I felt like that song was a long time coming in terms of some of the stuff I talked about from my childhood you know life not being easy I felt there was a song somewhere that hadn't written yeah to do is making a choice even in those moments and just responding to the worth of God in every season of the soul and so what happened was we flew out to California about four days after 9/11 for a sabbatical okay and because we're on sabbatical we're traveling around with different churches just trying to learn and get refreshed and and so in those weeks after 9/11 I was really encouraged by the preachers there was speaking about the sovereignty of God speaking about the half-god there were so many angles they were coming at which was so helpful in biblical and relevant in that moment yeah but but every nearly every Church would go to I would feel like where the songs when they vocabulary for at unless we haven't got anything to sing and and I thought that's interesting because number one it would be a really relevant thing to do right now but also it's a hugely biblical thing in the look at the content of the science of massive percentage of that content it's kind of lament they still crying out to God or trusting God in the storm and so I felt that I think the song was a long time coming but but I think the real trigger for it probably was being here in that sea and seeing a nation that was really broken having a lot of questions lot I mean were flocking to church yeah don't usually go and it was just thinking well what was that vocabulary for these moment you're not yeah gosh yeah that's powerful I I battled with a chronic illness for many many years in the UK you guys refer to it as Emmy yeah here we call it chronic fatigue syndrome so but you know blessed be your name when the roads marked with suffering when there's pain in the offering possibly your name you know that administered to me so much because I live through seasons like that you know and that's where I just so appreciated that you know being expressed in a way that you know how a song just sort of h's something forever in your mind right the melody you know it's all kind of works together yeah so yeah really nice that's powerful I mean and I love with these songs how a lot of stories find their way back to you yeah through these songs honestly I've met some of the most inspiring worth because I've ever met yeah people who just in the most intense moments of their life yeah making a choice I don't understand everything right now yeah but I know I've seen enough to know he's worthy and I'm going to keep singing I'm going to keep worshiping it it's amazing yeah so fast forward to a few years ago now then again another kind of one of those moments where you know you know how a good good song is you you know you kind of know a good song right from the right from the get-go don't you well I don't yeah we get oak wetland over time as long as you believe how many good songs I've missed Here I am to worship with my friend two views yeah I was the first person he ever played that - I think my zet words were is quite good it's not as good as most of your others so you might know good song but I don't haven't yet okay well I am claiming right now that I kind of can just pick a good table to hear it but when I again when I first heard 10,000 reasons I just thought oh my gosh this song and it just it like became an anthem almost but it wasn't just the song it was the entire record was just every single song was just so significant and I my wife felt the same way my kids felt the same way as a matter of fact I was with my youngest daughter the other day she's 28 almost next week but and somehow we got in the car and the radio was on I was taking her somewhere and she said I've been listening to the 10,000 reasons record again that's so good Wow you don't praise about it so again I love her so did you know it was a good song so here's what happened to prove my point from earlier so I had like 20-something songs we had to get down to a low and songs I think the recording and about two weeks before I think it was me wrote 10,000 reasons I'll say we it was a friend of mine called Jonas Myron who's a Swedish guy and we were in a little chapel in England but they let us use like 24/7 and we were writing late one night like you know here's about 1:30 a.m. we've been writing since 10:00 a.m. in the morning he and I said I'm I'm going home I and he said no I want to play this one little idea and I said may I'm going with another time and and he's not usually pushy so he was like now I want to play it now so it did make me listen and he had this at the beginning of this course melody and it was just a lovely little moment where as soon as you swing out I said I know what may that's that bless the Lord thing we've been trying to write an and then the verses were pouring out it was him sometimes I might say some rings like a boxing ring and other times it's like a playground yeah and this was a playground it was beautiful moment anyway I still had all these other songs in the mix and but I sat down with the producer and lantern I said hey we just written this thing I don't even know if it's finished and because it doesn't have a pre-chorus it doesn't have a bridge and he just said to me I don't care what song were throwing off for that one's going on yeah so it's the first thing thing I had yeah that you know so he knew he heard it might be all right why am i I think you can get a little bit musically snobby or something but I think it's four chords doesn't have a normal structure yeah you know is it definitely finished yeah so I love team in those moments yeah and then it was a joy seeing it and some of the mentum and again it's the stories really I mean some of the stories yes you wrote a little book and put some of the stories to get out there and and I mean one there's prisoners in death row in Bali and Indonesia and it and they were for drug trafficking offenses they committed nine years before then they become Christians become radically saved and they still had to face their penalty and I got this I was reading the newspaper in Times of London it was telling the story in the Sun as the Sun was song blessed Lord while they were being executed her and so he looked into the story a bit and smoke even to that pastor was then just their story of a worship the story of hope and trust and praise evilly on that crazy moment that the way they transform so many lives in that prison community on my yeah just an amazing story yeah and so the songs definitely leads you to hear of acts of faith and they're never here novel aware yeah I mean it must be astounding and I'm sure it's humbling to think that people all around the world are singing a song I mean that's literally what's happening you know yeah I mean yeah I guess is a reluctant kid the one who was not going to get up there yeah this is good over here no it is yeah and actually yeah I love the the little surprising stories where a song goes to somewhere you think it would never go here really what I love the most yeah yeah and you know you travel all over the world I travel a lot as well and you know I'll go to places you know where English is not the first language and you'll it'll hear the song you know hear the melody and you'll hear it in there you know translated version of their whatever their languages and you're just thinking how it's amazing how these songs have just really like I said initially you know been a blessing to the church but so a couple things just as we wrap things up what as a person who you know God has gifted and called you to you know we use the term lead worship I mean sometimes I don't know some of these terms look like okay that's what it is but but what would you say to just that the church the body the you know the congregation not the person on the platform leading so much but the person there what what do you feel you know passionate about in regard to worship just for for Christians in general yeah probably what I alluded to or about something about reverence because I think there's with the cultures gone the opposite way there's no reverence no mystery right and there's hardly a lot of respect you know yeah but you can't to reverence is a essential ingredient for worship sure you know you can admire someone adore someone appreciates someone and that's all great but there's a there's another level when it comes to God there's a level of wonder and yeah mystery and like he is not like a yeah yeah and I think sort of the fear of the Lord yeah I think it's a great way to say and just yeah I think that would be what the biggest wake-up call to mean because number one because it's honoring and we should number two because it reflects Scripture and sometimes you're seeing a couple of songs or two or three songs look at them they look at scripture thing it's not like it's not quite as a there's a big gap here obviously between who we portraying here and and and that but the biggest reason for me is discipleship because if you don't present a God whose holy and God is high higher than you could imagine and more glorious than you can fathom and then what kind of disciples you going to end up making and so I think I think it's super important honestly and from there's so many levels and I don't have all the answers because yeah you know there in old days with a cathedral I think he had a head start in a way there yeah everything was telling you look it up yeah you're small he's holy right right he's Granny's yeah um you know we've got our acoustic guitars yeah now we're in AB the culture that were in I think it's so important and you know because here's what I say to worship is often if you go into a church service pretty much everything is the same if you were in a gig the night before downtown some venue summer yeah you know I mean the stage this is probably similar instruments the amplifications probably similar there's lights you're facing them they're facing you everything looks so similar so the biggest mistake you can never make it to think that that's it the same yeah the reason it's similar is because we want to be culturally relevant because we want to do things in a way what people will feel at home yeah I feel like it relates to them right but you have to keep pointing out the things that are different you know and that here we are with the people of God and the presence of God pouring out the praise of God yeah and when that goes right it's like the most beautiful thing that can ever happen yes beautiful isn't it's amazing yeah so we just have to keep reaching for that and reminding ourselves here we are and we've come to this great building and it's light but we've actually come to so much more exciting much more awesome we don't have to get anything going today we're just joining in with something something going on that's high praise of a holy God and yeah we're actually coming to you is very throne yeah I think if people who capture something of that and then something very special and powerful can yeah and you know what the 22nd psalm I think you know where it says the Lord inhabits the praises of his people orient enthroned in the praises and you think of you know we're always wondering about you know gosh how do you get people to come in and how do you keep them and how you do this but you know the truth is I think if God's presence is in a place you don't need anything else you're the great distinguishing sacrificial it makes all the difference doesn't I love that and you know you read it's not a new challenge and you read someone like tozer you know and user he's like sometimes the reason we're messing about and I services rule that skips and delays and stuff is because the Shekinah glory really feels like if something of the glory of God was in that place I don't think we'd be really doing so with a graph oh yeah oh yeah well either it is interest it's not a new challenge but it's definitely a challenge in area so so so just one one quick word to worship leaders out there what would you go juice I'm Ephesians chapter 5 verse 10 find out what pleases the Lord make that that aim of your life the aim of when you're rehearsing your band when you're putting a song this together yeah when you're up before people find out what pleases the Lord the great thing is that he's made it quite obvious yeah in Scripture he tells us what his character and nature attributes like and he tells us how he like to be approached he tells us what kind of offering going to please him and you know so we got we got a good thing there in there's one point in accident it was an unknown god yeah how would you know how to respond to an unknown God you wouldn't have a clue yeah but but without God with with Jesus he's shown us and told us very clearly made himself yeah how you would like to be worshipped so let's find out what pleases our look awesome Matt thanks so much great a lot of it god bless you thanks for joining us hope you enjoyed our time together today and we look forward to being together again soon god bless you

Channel: Brian Brodersen

Views: 4,159

Rating: 4.8805971 out of 5

Keywords: ttm, things that matter, brian brodersen, #calvarychapel, #calvaryglobal, matt redman, worship

Id: wpkZu9iuhHs

Length: 25min 11sec (1511 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 01 2017