Praise and Worship or Hymns
68Music
|
Voices: Ultimate Gospel Collection
Price: $7.53
List Price: $12.98 |
|
The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash
Price: $7.73
List Price: $19.98 |
|
Wow Gospel 2009
Price: $10.75
List Price: $18.98 |
|
Going Up Yonder: The Best of the Gospel Choirs
Price: $8.94
List Price: $12.98 |
THE OLD WAY
Gowing up I attended a very strict church. The music leader used only hymns for group worship and specials were often given a great deal of scrutiny. The Piano, Organ and occasional acoustic guitar were acceptable instruments but most others were unwelcome. Classic instruments like the violin, cello or others might have been tolarated if anyone knew how to play them. The drums were a no-no and electric instruments weren't even considered.
If the music had a rock rythm it was taboo and any form of dancing was forbidden. A group of singers from the bible college many of our youth went to marched into the auditorium singing a song and continued swaying to themusic until the song finished. At that point they were escorted out of the auditorium while the pastor apologized for them. The had been scheduled to give a concert.
The youth department of the same church was a lot different. Most of our intruments were percussion since any kid with rythm could play them and the Jr Church leader would play the piano or use record albums and tapes for backup. All our songs had motions or dance moves to go with them and to entertain and occupy the kids.
Theses kids, of course, grew up to lead the church.
THE NEXT GENERATION
Having grown up in a traditional church the next generation knew and enjoyed hymns but also enjoyed Praise music. For a while the seperation of generations was handled with seperate services for tracitional and contemporary.
This seperation resulted in church division largely on generational lines and while both groups were fine on thier own they didn't interact much and tended to disagree on music and style of worship a lot. The pastor tried to remedy the rift by combining the services with an immediate loss of several members who refused to go along with the new music. The new music leader wasn't comfortable with hymns and usually used contemporary arrangements even when leading the older music. The eventually led to a great many older members leaving.
Instruments
|
New mandolin fine musical instruments (EMS)
Current Bid: $.89
|
|
NEW YAMAHA 211 Silver Flute Musical Instruments sale
Current Bid: $133.00
|
|
wonderful musical instrument 4/4 Violin Have box
Current Bid: $4.49
|
|
The Manufacture of Musical Instruments incl Organ etc.
Current Bid: $8.06
|
HARMONY
It occured to me, during this time, that the old hymns were well known and loved by most people in both generations. If the young people didn't listen to hymns much at home they at least grew up with them in church. The familiarity is comfortable and the message of hymns often illustrates key doctrines in the church. Much of the more modern music is solidly based in scripture and often large portions of the songs are direct quotations from the bible. Why should the two be opposed.
At one point, I was leading music for a weekend long event and bumped heads with a few old timers who thought the new music should not be used. i resolved the problem by coming up with a series of a dozen songs that were nothing more than scripture set to music. As the Traditionalists began to recognize that they could read the words of the song right from thier bibles without looking at the powerpoint a change began to occur. I furthered my point by linking scripture based praise songs to Hymns with the same message. By the time we were finalizing plans for the event the traditionalists were asking for more praise songs and less hymns beacuse the tenor of the event was to be upbeat.
CONCLUSION
By melding Praise music to Hymns of simalar message I was able to show that modern artists are as devoted to God as the Traditional Hymn writers. I the process I got conteporary music lovers more interested in hymns and traditionalists to start listening to Praise and Worship even outside of church.
Music should not be a reason for division among Christians. A true music lover, leading worship services, should used all the tools in the box. Hymns speak to the heart the way turkey and stuffing speak the the stomache. They are comfort food for our ears. Like a good pizza the contemporary Praise and Worship music can appeal to all audiances if they give it a chance and aren't force fed the same stuff every time.
I Love Pizza but my life is better with a variety of Pizza, meatloaf, Chinese food, Turkey and stuffing, Hot pockets, Casserole, Taco's and stew. Tomato soup is best with grilled cheese sandwiches and chili can be a great combo with cheeseburgers. Comfort food and fast food live happily together and so should Hymns and Praise.
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
And yet there is more..Have you ever listened to Christian Native American music like the group, "Broken Walls?" Or Messianic music with "Paul Wilbur or Chuck Pearce?" I like the old hymns and really love the Christian rock/rap/alternative, but there is so much more that people are missing out on, because they can't get over that Praising G-d comes in all kinds of music..
I hear some other types of music when friends or accquaintences are litening to it but if it's not on the local Christian stations I rarely hear much. I have about a dozen Christian CD's others have bought me and 2 or 3 I bought myself but most of my collection is old enough to be on vinyl. I just don't spnd much money on music anymore and I play my CD's on my playstation for lack of a cd player.
With few exceptions I like almost all gospel music. Some metal band attemts have been rather lame with little difference in lyrics from secular tunes. Most Christian rap is good and the alternatives are almost universally sound in message and style. Celtic, Native American, Messianic Jewish is especially nice(I love the stuff from Zola Levitt), and others. The gospel songs in traditional music styles like that speak to the heart in a way that even hymns sometimes can't. they speak to our collective and traditional roots like the old spirituals.
I am curious about this G-d thing. I understand not spelling it out in some of the off color jokes that get forwarded around but I see more and more people adding the dash in everyday posts. What's wrong with God?
Dude, I so feel ya on this one. I grew up in neo-fundie Bob Jones shadow, and frankly it scraed the living crap out of me. I got out as soon as I could, but I still love the old hymns. I like different styles of music, and I don't feel that one style is secluded to church. I know a lot of people who say classical and sacred musics are superior, but there's no real proof of that, in fact many of the hymns produced ca. 1890-1975 are terrible. I'd even argue that the music of the last decade outdoes anything in the last 100 years as far as biblical depth and musical innovation. Thanks for your words :)
What I tell people all the time about these things is that even the old hymns were brand new at one point in time. I am a bass player and I love playing songs by Third Day, Mercy me, Chris Tomblin, etc. . .
Love the hub and hope it helps to pull some out of tradition and frees them up to worship God in spirit and in truth.
SirDent, you're a bass player? That's awesome!
nice lens...
There are churches out there that go so far as to say that nothing belongs that isn't in the bible. They only approve the psalms and without music. the problem is the psalms were all set to music and still are in the Jewish Synagogue. The Apostles didn't finish the Last Supper with a psalm they concluded with a hymn and went out. What constitutes a hymn is also a moving target. I have a couple of hymnals with dozens of Bill Gaither tunes in them. The Gaithers were one of the bands that got a lot of scrutiny when I was a kid and now their music is called hymns. The argument doesn't hold water.
The beauty of the older hymns is that they are part of the collective narrative. We all grew up with them either in church or with Elvis. Few country music stars get far in thier carreer without doing an alboum of hymns and most get their start singing in church so is comes easy. The best of contemporary music is much the same. I don't know to many people who don't know Rise Again by Dallas Holm but He was also one of those Christian Rockers the church frowned on just a couple decades ago.
Being a Praise Worship Leader I find that different music draws different people. And long as we are reaching souls and bringing them into the presence of God, is all that matters. Hymns, gospel, comtemporary, southern gospel, christian rock, christian rap, to me is all good. There's a message in each for the good for those needing the Word of God! I love your Hub Carl, YOU ROCK!!!! lol When you have a chance, listen to my CD BREAKOUT, Im' Breaking Out on my profile. I wrote this song, very different but real giving God ALL THE GLORY!!! Be Blessed!
i think Satan wins when we have conversations like this! It is not about the style of music! T-Keeley you i quote " in fact many of the hymns produced ca. 1890-1975 are terrible. I'd even argue that the music of the last decade outdoes anything in the last 100 years as far as biblical depth and musical innovation. Thanks for your words :)" This is a lie from the pit of hell! Obviously you are clueless! I should not spend time on this subject but to come out and make a claim like that does more harm to Christianity. Try taking a course on Hymnology! That would be on the study of hymns. Satan wins when we have conversations like this because 1.) It is fruitless discussion, and 2.) It does not edify. Worship is a lifestyle and when you think of it that way you should be able to worship to a song from a hymnal just as much as a "praise chorus". Carl what you did to solve your problem with the people who like the traditional worship was awesome it was encouraging! Keep up the good work!
As for us all please know when debating about different styles of worship it comes down to preference not conviction. It is ok to prefer one style but do not ever say that the other is not scriptural or that today’s music is more scriptural.
Pastor Ken Hutcherson is an ex line backer in pro football who leads a church in Washington state. He has a policy in his church that rotates worhip styles from week to week. If I recall correctly the last time I heard about it he had 5 different worship and music styles in rotation. When people want to argue about the music they don't like he points out that they should be celbrating the fact that this weeks music is blessing other members just as they should do the same for you when the week for your style comes around. Some people have no connection to a certain music style and can't enjoy it but to insist it isn't capable of blessing someone else in the congregation is to enter unfruitful dispute that divides and destroys the church.
our job as Christians is to do what Christ did when he was here. He built His church.
HA!!!
I burst out laughing after reading Farid's comment. It's highly presumptuous and ignorant of the person who he is referring to--ME!
I attended the largest pro-hymn school in America-- BOB JONES U. Yes, the one and only scary-as-hell-itself-fundie institution. I went there. Trust me, I know a whole lot more on the subject than this moron claims I do. I don't mind pointing stuff out, but if (farid) insists I am a lame-brained idiot without a clue...tough stuff, I know more than he even probably does.\
And yes, the music of the middle 1900s were CRAP. Musically, theologically, etc...there's no substance to much of the "hymns" from that period of time.
Obviously I'm not a Gaither fan. Otherwise that era would be tops in my book.
I am a huge advocate of P&W music. I have been for a long time. I also attend a church that uses reformation hymns...you know, the songs so old you probably don't even know what I'm talking about? Yeah. THOSE hymns. So I'm obviously as unbiased a source as possible, considering my everyday life includes BOTH extremes.
Hymnology...psssh....beginner's material!
Once again to the author, phenomenal hub. I hope to read more like it in the future!
For the Record, Farid is an ordained pastor from a seminary of equivilent reputation. The purpose of this article was to, hopefully, squash some of the divisions betwwen brothers and sisters in Christ regarding their opinions of various music styles. While I am quite willing to enjoy a variety of worship styles and accept that others may be blessed by the styles I don't enjoy as much, I am unwilling to host an argument of the type that I have been working so hard to end in the churches with which I have worked.
It is most important that we understand that all worship styles have one purpose and that is to worship and praise God. Just as I am Brought into His presence by admiring the night sky, I know others who are most moved by the ocean or the mountains. Different aspects of creation move different people to the awe which makes it impossible for them not to think of God. Different music acts the same way and when faced with something you don't like, you should be happy that it is blessing someone else who might need it, just then, more than you do.
The harmony of the music styles I try to foster is oriented towards greater harmony within the church. Fighting over music destroys that harmony and a "I know more than you do" attitude is confrontational and inharmonious. it also seems to come from a mutual ability to underestimate educational levels. Perhaps it would be more useful to understand the reasons for anothers point of view instead of attacking it. In this case, if the reasons are biblically unsound, then there might be room for debate. If they are simply personal opinions or taste then it would be most useful to the body of the bride of Christ to find the harmony between disperate views.
Praise music is just another symptom of the dumbing down of America. Trite, shallow & easy to sing pop style crap -- religious pablum for the moronic masses. If you don't like to think too much or work too hard, praise music is perfect for you. I'm afraid that most people today have zero appreciation for sacred masterworks by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Mendlessohn, Faure, Brittain, Honneger, Rutter, Vaughn Williams, etc. It's too bad we are training ourselves and future generations to only appreciate that which is simplistic, selfish and vapid.
chuck says:
14 months ago
very good
on target