Hymns are Not Gone...

I love the old hymns of that have been passed down through the church. I grew up with them and have not stopped appreciating them and I am glad to know that they are not going to die any time soon--in spite of the rejection of them in many churches. Of course, there are some lousy hymns just as there are lousy contemporary worship songs (that's an understatement!).

Check this out from Justin Taylor's blog:

Here's a cool project:

Page CXVI is a project started with the idea of making hymns accessible and known again.They are some of the richest, most meaningful, and moving pieces of music ever written.

For a limited time you can download the album for free.

HT: Lukas Naugle

And if you don't know about it, also check out the Reformed Praise website. Here's an introduction:

Reformed Praise is a music ministry dedicated to bringing together the rich tradition of hymnody, especially from the reformers or those directly influenced by them, with the modern worship song movement. Sound like a bad idea? Please see our articles page for links to articles about reformed theology, worship, styles of music, and many other topics by various respected theologians and pastors pertaining to this issue.

We truly believe that an incredible wealth of worship music is being "lost" amidst a sea of often over-simplified contemporary praise choruses. Our worship songs should be full of biblical, rich, and powerful truth, truth that is all too often absent from modern worship songs. Hymns have long been a rich source of deep lyrics, but many traditional tunes used to sing these hymns hinder rather than help believers feel what they are singing. The modern worship styles (and there are many) offer a new arena to make these hymn texts come alive to new generations. When these classic and biblical texts are wed to contemporary tunes, the result is a truly powerful worship experience that enables God's truth to settle deep in our hearts and minds.