To write or not to write...

I thought I'd ask the question... How many of you out there are using your own music in your worship sets? I try hard not to use my own stuff each week, but sometimes you come to that place where you want to say something, express an emotion or a feeling and nothing quite does it for you. Then, I think it's time to write.

Here's a quote from Matt Redman... from Bono... that Matt Redman quoted... that Bono said, that Redman put on his blog... that I... uh... yeah... you get the idea.

"Speaking on songwriting he [Bono] said 'You can have 1000 ideas, but unless you capture an emotion, it’s an essay.' What a great thought. Truth-based songs will always resonate... but... if that truth is delivered with passion, purpose and emotion it will be even more compelling. When writing a worship song we’re not just trying to give people some information. We’re trying to convey the awe-inspiring wonders of Jesus, and describing how our hearts, minds and souls respond when faced with these things."

After reading this, my thought is, how much more passionate, purposeful and emotional can we be than when we're singing a song that came out of our own personal experience. I think that's why people have responded to "on my knees again". I can't hardly sing that song without reliving the day that my wife told me she had breast cancer. And then to believe that He used that experience to simply bring us to our knees so that He could bring Glory to Himself by delivering her from such a thing. That shows through any cognitive lyrics that have been written. People connect with the emotion as much as they do the lyrics.

What do you think? Is that a case for doing your own music in a set or simply a brain fart/realization that music is so much more than good lyrics?

P.S. here are the lyrics to On my knees again...

VERSE 1 (Eb-F)
I’m running back to you
Where this road began
I’ve stayed away too long
I’m on my knees again
I’m back where I belong
I need your healing touch
I need to hear your voice
Oh I need you so much

CHORUS 1 (Bb - Gm - Eb - F)
I’m falling on my knees again
To the place I always should’ve been
To hear your voice and to feel your touch
Oh I need you I need you so much
I’m falling on my knees again
To the place I always should’ve been
I don’t know where this road will end
But I know where it begins

VERSE 2
I need to hear your voice
Whisper softly in my ear
I need to feel your touch
Just to know that you’re near
I think I hear your voice
Can you hear mine
I need to feel your touch
Oh I need you I need you so much…

So, does that bring you to tears like it does me everytime I sing it? Probably not because it doesn't mean to you what it means to me. But if you were there while I was singing it, it probably would.

So what do you think, to write or not to write? O.K., dumb question. Of course you should write. The question is really, to play it on Sunday or not to play it on Sunday? What do you think?