A dear friend, skilled musician and gifted worship leader forwarded this beautiful article. To learn more about his ministry check out: www.proskuneo.info. Below is a segment of what Jim Carattini writes in "Some Melodious Sonnet" posted on Ravi Zacharias' International Ministries website...
"John Wesley offered his congregation a list of guidelines for singing, even providing encouragement for the one who would claim he could not. In the preface to Sacred Melody, published in 1761, he wrote, "Sing all... Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing." He had in mind both the expression of the community and the heart of the individual. Sing lustily, sing modestly, and with good courage, he instructed. Wesley sought to remind all that it takes audacity to approach a God holy and mighty, and boldness to sing a hope weighted in God's glory. "Above all, sing spiritually," he concluded. "Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature... [A]ttend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually."
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