Which do you prefer? Why?

I like both. I like the contemp music now but I also like the old hymns. My pastor preachs from a KJV bible and I love that!

I prefer the High Mass with Gregorian Chant and Incense...Heavenly....

texasag: in Latin?

Seriously, as a devout Protestant, I REALLY like formal (high church) worship services. They don't have to be as "stuffy" as lots of contemporary worship adherents claim. Contemporary worship music leaves me wondering "was that worship, or just entertainment", with strong tendencies to believing it's the latter.

Any worship style can be and too often is an idol. The purpose of worship is to worship, not be entertained, or to be comfortable, or to feel like your doing something ancient, or to get a warm fuzzy, or to “experience God”. Worship is about Him. It is about our worship of Him. He is the audience, and we are the ones praising, adoring, honoring, seeking, humbling, meditating, praying, etc… Too often in the American evangelical church the focus is about getting people to make a decision for Jesus, and so the lay peoples wills become the focus, the sovereign, the thing to be wooed, and convinced, and touched, and moved, and inspired.

The alternative to this is often an insistence on tradition, what feels right, and best. Some of that old time religion, either appealing to ancient historicity, denominational historicity, or even a familiarity with ones personal youth experiences of what Church is supposed to be like. Again, each of those is typically about ones self.

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Man, is that ever an unpopular view!


Well said and true, though.

SWOSU - Yes, the Latin is the icing on the cake, although the English Version is heavenly too...Malachi 1:11 is definitely being fulfilled...

aggiesgirl, why do you love that he preaches from the KJV?

I like things about both, but I believe that one can choose to worship in spirit and truth in either.

My church uses alot of contemporary Christian praise/worship songs. They usually fall into the soft-rock genre. I frankly get tired of them and want it mixed up. I would like a rocked out praise song followed by "Onward Christian Soldiers," and then followed by a bit of litergy.

Previous point made. I get tired of alter calls where I feel like the clergy just want to validate their message by manipulating people to raise their hands and "come foward."

A high church Anglican service can fit the bill:

it looks good, "feels" good and right and ancient, but you still get to believe whatever you want. The national cathedral in DC (a georgeous place where serious Christianity was several decades ago left behind for left-liberal politics) is the prime example of this.

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Contemporary worship music leaves me wondering "was that worship, or just entertainment", with strong tendencies to believing it's the latter.

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That is exactly how I feel.

Late night reading, and I come across the PERFECT example of my (only-semi tongue in cheek) post:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/194nejfc.asp?pg=2

Defrocked Catholic priest Matthew Fox, now an Episcopalian, blamed war and economic injustice on "those who want to worship a dominating punitive Father God which includes the put down of women, nature, [and] gays." In soothing contrast, Fox offered a unisex, pantheistic "mother/father God who is embedded in nature, creativity, our bodies and all our art forms."

Redstone - Thanks for posting- Matthew Fox, an Episcopalean, is a certified nutcase. Episcopalean Bishop #2, Bishop Spong, is also a looney tune.

Frankenstein - What say you??

...."Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong lashed out at this "domination" religion. "It's time to name evil as evil when sounded in pious accents of biblical
religion," Spong declared. Conservative Catholicism and "evangelical fundamentalists" are growing because "hysterical people are seeking security," Spong fretted. Referring to the rise of religious conservatives based in the South, Spong claimed, to the audience's delight, "The old [segregationist] George Wallace vote simply applied perfume and call themselves the Religious Right."

Notafraid,

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Any worship style can be and too often is an idol. The purpose of worship is to worship, not be entertained, or to be comfortable, or to feel like your doing something ancient, or to get a warm fuzzy, or to “experience God”. Worship is about Him. It is about our worship of Him. He is the audience, and we are the ones praising, adoring, honoring, seeking, humbling, meditating, praying, etc… Too often in the American evangelical church the focus is about getting people to make a decision for Jesus, and so the lay peoples wills become the focus, the sovereign, the thing to be wooed, and convinced, and touched, and moved, and inspired.

The alternative to this is often an insistence on tradition, what feels right, and best. Some of that old time religion, either appealing to ancient historicity, denominational historicity, or even a familiarity with ones personal youth experiences of what Church is supposed to be like. Again, each of those is typically about ones self.

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Well said! I'd only say that God is more the object than the audience, but it is clear what you mean.

True worship (service) but be of TRUTH and SPIRIT. This eliminates all other reasons for worship.(argument from silence???)

I understand this as Truth=God's will revealed in the Bible and Spirit=the Heart in line with God's loving will.

John 4:23-24 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

I like our new service we just made up. First we have a "Christian" rock band come in, and sing some power ballads. Then we order 25 pizzas and eat. While eating someone gets up and preaches. We have turned the Lord's supper into burgers and sodas. We feel like we will attract more people doing it this way rather than the way God said. Our "praise team" then gets up and gets us all hyped up. Wow it's great.

There are a lot of wonderful teenagers in praise bands and Wed. and Sun. night things. I grew up with them.

But it does start to feel more like a social club and less like worship everytime you walk in the door - especially if the "leader" is not very committed to keeping things on track.

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I like our new service we just made up. First we have a "Christian" rock band come in, and sing some power ballads. Then we order 25 pizzas and eat. While eating someone gets up and preaches. We have turned the Lord's supper into burgers and sodas. We feel like we will attract more people doing it this way rather than the way God said. Our "praise team" then gets up and gets us all hyped up. Wow it's great.

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I hear ya. Sometimes I wanna say, "hey, Jesus is not some warm, fuzzy sweet guy, who exists for the sole purpose of making you have a better life.

Makes me remember the kid in Narnia asking the Beaver if Aslan is nice, and he said, "no, but He is good."

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I like our new service we just made up. First we have a "Christian" rock band come in, and sing some power ballads. Then we order 25 pizzas and eat. While eating someone gets up and preaches. We have turned the Lord's supper into burgers and sodas. We feel like we will attract more people doing it this way rather than the way God said. Our "praise team" then gets up and gets us all hyped up. Wow it's great.

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To each his own...That kind of get together I would find really strange, but then again, I am OLD...

texag73, 77 was being sarcastic. Funny I might add, but sarcastic. He is of the Church of Christ, "we don't use instruments in worship" group.

Many times when I attend a "high church" service, one that is more traditional with music (style) that could only be found in a church today, I sometimes wonder if it was truly worship or if it just had that holy, religious feeling to it.

I prefer music that more resembles something I might normally listen to. At one time in history, the hymns we are singing today were considered "contemporary" and there were people up in arms about them.

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texag73, 77 was being sarcastic. Funny I might add, but sarcastic. He is of the Church of Christ, "we don't use instruments in worship" group.

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Funny thing is that they did actually ditch the wine…

you bet NotA! For you to not know the Lord never commanded the use of "wine" in His commeration supper is willful ignorance of what the "fruit of the vine" is

...we wouldn't use oinos "the biting type" ,that so many are soooo fond of, instead we use oinos or gluekos or Tirosh as was used in Bible times and as Jesus gave example of.

Why be so traditional? Because God is our audience and object in worship.

Why would the church of Christ insist on the traditions of the 1st C church and reject the addition of musical instruments to the worship of God? NotA said it well, because it is not about pleasing self or what denominational preference we grew up in?

When did the sound of the organ become associated with something that sounds like church? What contemporary style was that at the time?

The timeless tradition is the human voice with the heart toward God with true praise being the fruit of the lips.

Hbr 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

That is the Tradition service of praise.

[This message has been edited by AgGermany (edited 10/12/2005 4:38a).]

Not all Churches of Christ reject using musical instruments in church. I'm not saying they put on a "concert" necessarily as some congregations seem to, but we are definitely moving away from some of the very traditional services. I grew up w/o instruments in the church, but now I've come to really enjoy the use of them.
I do agree with you though AgGermany as God always has and always will be the main object in worship and before a lot of extra things are brought in we should focus our hearts on praising him first.

[This message has been edited by aggiechick06 (edited 10/12/2005 10:25a).]