We go to Church of the Highlands. That probably indicates where I stand on the subject.

Regardless of the music, our church is the most spiritual, loving, welcoming, giving and God centered that I have ever been associated with. I have never known a Church that does more for God than this church does.

Psalms 96:1 Says...

"O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth."

He doesn't say keep singing the old ones forever...

As a pastor I have seen this tool used to destroy many churches! The very music God uses to touch a generation and bring them closer in relationship...they begin to worship the tool over their God! Its a sad situation that disables the unity of the church and handicaps her in power by division! This reminds me of the brazen serpent found in Numbers 21! The brazen serpent was a "symbolic" tool used to save the people from the fiery serpents! The problem was as with people today.....nine hundred years later in 2 Kings 18 the religious crowd is "worshiping" burning incense to the brazen serpent! The very thing God used they have turned and put their focus on it instead of Him and are worshiping it! Hezekiah breaks the serpent to pieces and the Bible tells us He put his trust in GOD!

Thanks to all for the discussion.
I think we do agree that it is all about where your heart is.
This thread has challenged me to take a look more at myself than worry about others worship. Only they can make that right.
My biggest hurdle will be that of maintaining a worshipful heart when I am asked to change something for the sake of the grumpy folks.

Throughout the last couple of days and reading through this thread I began to hum and sing this song.

That's what I got from this thread.

This what we did. However, now it is hard to keep up with all the new faces.

This is not a new battle; been going on for years as main-line religions are leaking membership to non-denom/contemporary up-start churches... My personal belief is this situation has WAY MORE to do with the teaching/doctrine of the church rather than the music, but ... you asked about music, which typically is the "target" ...

Based on my own first-hand experiences with this "battle" (lead a worship band & co-lead worship at a non-denom), it's almost like oil & water - the two don't mix... Too many churches IMO try to please everybody & straddle the fence -- pick one & roll with it & let the chips fall where they may ... Technically speaking, it was tough to blend a worship service w/both styles; I've seen some "modernizing" of old hymns to fit in a contemporary setlist, and that works pretty good ...

I remember taking my contemporary band into a traditional church & we were almost burned at the stake ... Nobody "participated" in the worship -- nobody ... I'm not saying one is better than the other (although I prefer contemporary), but it's best to leave the two independent & let it ride ...

BGD

PS Here's a song I wrote that we used to perform on Sunday AM's -- the singer was the worship leader ...



and this is me & Tim doing a Friday nite set at a coffee house one time:

I'm wondering where drinking strychnine falls in this whole thing.... are they singing Amazing Grace or Christian Rap with that these days?

Coming soon to the Pine Hill Baptist Church - The Rolling Stones............

My wife's Baptist Church in Saraland AL (Shiloh) is Contemporary all the way. Praise songs (some of which the lyrics are almost comically simple sounding to me) are 95%.

They have a "Praise Team" of 3 or 4 who stand in front of the choir (and in my opinion are an insult to the other members of the choir who don't get "spotlighted"). Once a month or so they will sing a song from the hymnal.

Periodically the idea of holding up a hymnal like the actor in "Say Anything" did with his boom box outside the girls window goes through my mind. If I were there alone I might do it, as the pastor has a sense of humor and might see the funny in it.


All of these things caused me to feel like a grumpy old fart in church and have a bad attitude. Now I attend a Methodist church closer to the house.

I decided (right or wrong) that it was better for me to attend where I felt comfortable and enjoyed church rather than somewhere I fixated on things I didn't like and got distracted from the message. My wife and kids come with me 3-4 times a year to mine and I go to theirs probably 7-8.

I AM SURE this will not be the right answer to many on here. Many have spoken against a poster earlier for his disdain of others dress or lack of contribution and scolded him for his attitude. Many of you said his outlook would drive people away from the church. Your attitudes may drive him away too. What's the difference.


We were all raised a certain way. "Praise Songs" do not speak to me and neither do many aspects of Contemporary church going. I saw a kid wear a fedora hat through a service at my wife's church a couple years ago and I was nearly apoplectic. Out of respect for my wife and in-laws (her father was a deacon before he passed) I kept my mouth shut that day, but mentioned it to Pop in passing. hat was never worn again.

Yes, things change but SOME things I think are sacrosanct.

I was raised Church of Christ where musical instruments were shunned 100%. Absolutely no music period. My wife and I now are Southern Baptist. We have a choir and a praise band,which I played drums in for awhile. Personally, I could do without the music myself and just go to hear the Word. I kinda miss the sound of peoples voices praising God without an electric guitar and drums in the background.

My biggest issue with either style is the lack of correct theology (or frankly ANY theology) in the songs (yes, even many of the old hymns). I suspect we are far too easily roused emotionally, so the rhythm and crescendo of the music, or the nostalgia/tradition of the old songs is what we're really moved by. I am the oddball who is passionately interested in scripture, I genuinely dig theology, so I always critique a song for it's meaning. Most music is badly man-centric (so is most preaching, probably not incidentally).

A song I really like (yes, I know this is random) is Natalie Grant's song "Your Great Name". It mentions absolutely ZERO about me, period. It is not only laser-focused on Christ alone, but it theologically nails who He is. It is a legit "worship" song. So much of music today runs this tracks: "I am experiencing grief or trouble, so let me run to Jesus to feel better." Not that that's a bad thing, but the focus seems to be WAY more about the trouble, or it really makes Christianity all about felt needs, as if Jesus is only impactful when you're experiencing bad things. In a church some folks are having deep grief, some folks are on top of Happy Mountain, but all the music seems to be about grief (that is man-centric). I want to worship Christ in song for more than "being there in my valley" (my joke about the jargon of songs).

Believing loud music, lights and what looks like a performance more than praise doesn't make me a "grumpy" person. It just means what I believe is respectful and reverent during church services may not jibe with someone else's idea.

This thread makes me wonder how people worshipped prior to 1863

"God is not my pal and church service isn't a party to me."(Ridgestalker)

Or an opportunity to show the new licks I learned on my guitar.

These threads highlight so much of what is wrong with the church. If you are arguing in your church about what style of worship songs you should sing on Sunday you have missed the point ENTIRELY. Obviously the church needs to be sound theologically but I after that I am concerned about two things:
1. Are lost people coming to our church and getting saved
2. Are we making and equipping disciples

I don't believe the church service on Sunday morning is for me. Yes, I love going and I worship God but I know that our Sunday worship service is geared towards non believers. Worship is exciting and the message is relevant and practical and every Sunday people give their lives to Jesus. On Sunday morning we (believers) shouldn't be consumers, sitting in our seat to get our church fix for the week, we should be serving and loving on those people who have stepped into the church for the first time in years, those people that are hurting and broken.

^^^THIS^^^

you put it a lot more succinctly than I did.

^^^That message will preach!

James 3:16 ... the American Business Model of Religion (aka church) inherently misses the point ...

You telling me where I stand with God isn't?

If a person hasn't heard 100 folks singing acapella you truly can't understand the difference.I stop singing often and just listen to others sing from their heart.I can hear my daughters beutiful voices in harmony singing "Victory in Jesus". I can hear the lady on the back row born mentally handicapped sing "Thank you Jesus" over and over to every song.I can hear a brother that recently lost his wife of 50 years pour his heart out in "Precious Memories". I hear the small children sing out to "Jesus Loves Me" and the old in "I'll Fly Away.Was I entertained? NO It leaves me feeling built up in the faith and happy inside. Could I enjoy this with a guitar or organ playing?

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" Col 3:16
This is what music does for me at church and why I choose to go traditional.

nobody is saying that the way you prefer is wrong....we're just saying that it's not any more "right" than another way. There's nothing wrong with personal preference, one way or the other. The only thing that is "wrong" is for one person to say their way is more right than someone else's.