God's Gift of Music

Our Family is Loud

We are a large family of 7 with four very energetic kids, six years and younger, and a fun and full of life Halmuhnee (Grandma in Korean). If I had to describe our family right now with one word it would probably be LOUD. Being loud with this many people living under one roof is just unavoidable. Our poor apartment neighbors!

Being loud IS unavoidable, but what we want to focus on instead is what are we being loud about? Are we loving God LOUDLY? Are we loving each other and the world LOUDLY?

Loving others really all begins first with loving God rightly. How do we strive to express our love for our Savior and our Creator in a worship that pleases Him and works practically for our young family? As with all things - we look to Scripture to find our answer.

We Enjoy All Kinds of Music

Since we have had the opportunity to lead praise at several very different churches, we have had many friendly debates on what kind of music is the best kind of music for worshiping God. Do we stick to hymns, the Psalter, or contemporary music? Accompanied or acapella? Surely every Christian has their preference because we are all very different people with different likes and dislikes in music styles. And when all these different people come together and worship One God with One voice and One heart - regardless of musical style- God is glorified, the Holy Spirit is at work and the world takes notice.

“Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”

Ephesians 5:19 ESV

“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”

1 Corinthians 14:26 ESV

We apply this in our home as well with all kinds of different music. We expose our children to classical music, contemporary songs, classic hymns, kid’s songs, VBS songs, Christian rap and even choice secular songs with good lyrics.

We hope that as our kids grow and develop their own musical styles and preferences, they will have an appreciation for the words, the heart and the message of praise songs of all kinds and be able to join in anywhere around the world with any other member of the universal church.

The importance is not about how fast or slow a song is, how well orchestrated or relevant it is; it is all about Jesus, the One for whom we sing.