About Me
I am blessed to be ministering as the worship pastor of Evangelical Baptist Church, Laconia, NH. I am also blessed to be married to Susan, my wonderful wife of nine years. And I am blessed to be father to our two kids, Malia (6) and Eleck (2). But most of all I am blessed with Christ and the power of His Gospel at work in my life. Apart from him I honestly would not have a whole lot going on for me. If left to my own devices I would be a wreck. But He has chosen to show me far more grace and mercy then I deserve… To me this is the greatest of the cosmic mysteries… “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) It is also the reason why I am a pastor and a why I am a worship leader.
About This Site
The Promotion of Worship Thought
In 1646, in the wake of the Reformation, the Westminster Assembly of Divines con-verged on Westminster Abby to define the philosophies and practices of Protestant worship. The result of their labor was the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Shorter Catechism. The crowning words of these documents are: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”
In our own time, theologian and author John Frame suggests:
“In one sense, worship is the whole point of everything. It is the purpose of history, the goal of the whole Christian story. Worship is not one segment of the Christian life among others. Worship is the entire Christian life, seen as a priestly offering to God. And when we meet together as a church, our time of worship is not merely a preliminary to something else; rather, it is the whole point of our existence as the body of Christ.”
If worship indeed plays this significant of a role in our existence as both individuals and the gathered church, then it only makes sense that we give a great deal of thought as to how we go about doing it.
I do not claim to be an authority on worship but I do consider myself to be an enthusiastic student of the subject. And therein lay my greatest strength. Consider C.S. Lewis’ opening comments to his book Reflections On The Psalms.
“This is not a work of scholarship. I am no Hebraist, no higher critic, no ancient historian, no archaeologist. I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself. If an excuse is needed (and perhaps it is) for writing such a book, my excuse would be something like this. It often happens that two schoolboys can solve difficulties in their work for one another better than the master can. When you took the problem to a master, as we all remember, he was very likely to explain what you understood already, to add a great deal of information which you didn’t want, and say nothing at all about the thing that was puzzling you. I have watched this from both sides of the net; for when, as a teacher myself, I have tried to answer questions brought me by pupils, I have sometimes, after a minute, seen that expression settle down on their faces which assured me that they were suffering exactly the same frustration which I had suffered from my own teachers. The fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it so long ago that he has forgotten. He sees the whole subject, by now, in such a different light that he cannot conceive what is really troubling the pupil; he sees a dozen other difficulties which ought to be troubling him but aren’t. In this book, then, I write as one amateur to another, talking about difficulties I have met, or lights I have gained, when reading the Psalms, with the hope that this might at any rate interest, and sometimes even help, other inexpert readers.”
So, I will borrow the words of Lewis and say… In this blog, then, I write as one amateur to another, talking about difficulties I have met, or lights I have gained, when studying worship, with the hope that I might at any rate interest, and sometimes even help, other inexpert students.*
The Promotion of Hymn Texts and Music
I am an avid proponent for the practice of setting old hymn texts to new tunes. There is some great work being done in this area by ministries such as Enfield, Igrace Music, Sojourn Music, Sovereign Grace Music, and many more. You can view my contrabutions to this effort on the Hymns page.
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*Please understand that I am not arguing for education in a vacuum. I read a lot and regularly seek out the council of those who are older, wiser, and more experienced then myself. Note that Lewis was not arguing for education in a vacuum either. If he was why would he have been a teacher? Reflections On The Psalms was part of the process for Lewis. He worked out his questions through writing. And I am working out my questions through writing. I would venture to guess that any well published and honest writer would admit that at some level he uses writing to work out his questions.
Daniel Lyle is a pastor and worship leader living and ministring in New Hampshire. 
