QUIZ: Contemporary Worship Song or Love Song?

ChurchPOP ^ | January 27, 2015 | ChurchPOP Editor

[millegan]

Yes, yes, the Bible describes the relationship between Christ and the Church as a bridegroom and bride, and the Song of Songs is pretty explicit (and is traditionally interpreted as being about the relationship between Christ and the Church), but still – anyone else feel a bit awkward by this phenomenon?

[metmom]

“The Stand” by Hillsong

You stood before creation
Eternity in your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart, Oh God
Completely to you

So I’ll walk upon salvation
Your spirit alive in me
This life to declare your promise
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart, Oh God
Completely to you

I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the one who gave it all
I’ll stand
My soul Lord to you surrendered
All I am is yours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV5iZBTNYrk

[metmom]

But you must admit that “me-centric” is indeed a trend in modern worship.

That is true.

I just ignore those or don't sing them when they're played.

[Tax-chick]

Thanks! One of the choirs at my church has been doing some Hillsong pieces recently. I need to make the effort to find some Spanish arrangements.

We do Robin Mark songs sometimes, in English, but you can only do so much of that when you’re on the docket as a Spanish band ;-).

[vladimir998]

Mongolian rap with traditional instruments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el93MIxAf-c

Mongolian gangsta rap (in which the Mongolian rapper, Gee, mocks American rappers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8joiH8KEuc

[metmom]

Agreed.

There seems to be a Catch 22 with the RF, in that commenting on hit and run blog pimps can fall into the category of *making it personal* thereby protecting blog pimping on the RF.

And there have been instances of people doing blog pimp type posting on the RF of topics that really don’t qualify as RF material.

So it seems.......

But maybe that’s just me.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

A way of being snooty under guise of... I am not sure what! :^\
That is a lovely song and inspired me to look up some of the music I grew up singing. Usually we sang with guitar, drum and other rhythm instruments (Eeeek!) maybe an accordion if the church was a larger one or it was a conference of several churches.

[metmom]

Hillsong has an enormous amount of songs and I THINK that some are in Spanish on various labels.

They are out of Australia, but maybe you can check their website and see if you can find any.

My favorite Hillsong CD is *Yahweh*.

[vladimir998]

Straight outta...Ulan Bator? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Lh43hjyO4

[vpintheak]

A HUGE part of the reason I can’t stand most contemporary “Christian” music. It’s all a bunch of mush and it doesn’t combine your heart, soul, and your head. Worship should combine all of you, not just your feeeeeeelings.

[Tax-chick]

Nocmpromiz, who is a church musician, has shared some Hillsong scores, and I know they exist in translation. It’s a bit of a different style for our group: we’re more a Ranchero band, Mexican country music.

[MayflowerMadam]

“The only music more offensive than Christian Rock music is RAP music...”

Amen to that. Our last Sunday at the SBC church we’d attended for a few years was when the youth group did a hip-hop rap dance during morning service to advertise the upcoming VBS program. It was about three years ago and the theme of VBS was something like “The Big Apple”.

I started to get up to walk out immediately. Hubby didn’t want me to embarrass him so we toughed out the whole service. Never went back. Found a traditional fundamental church.

After a few Sundays, Pastor called to see why we weren’t showing up and I told him the contemporary music slowly moving in was offensive to us. His oh-so-Christian response was, “Well, it’s good you left because that’s the way we’re going.” Alrighty then...

[Tax-chick]

A way of being snooty under guise of... I am not sure what! :^\

Protecting God from the affections of the unsophisticated?

We usually have two guitars (my husband and daughter) or guitar and bass. Number-one son used to play drums, but when he got into college his schedule was too unpredictable. Just last week a Mexican man said he wanted to contribute and was willing to learn percussion; we'll start him off with cajon. Maybe he'll keep time better than our son.

Haven't had an accordion yet, but I met a very nice Mexican priest recently who plays accordion. He said he might come by someday to join us. He said "Altisimo Senor," which I learned just last fall, was the first song he remembered learning, holding his mother's hand in the church in Mexico.

[Tax-chick]

That’s weirdly fascinating.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Protecting God from the affections of the unsophisticated?

A delightful turn of phrase!

I seem to remember a couple of stories from the Bible along those lines. Something about an alabaster box? And another about some children. :)

Down south you find very few pipe organs in churches. You make do with what you have. The praise is no less sweet.

[Jedidah]

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. . .” Acts 17:24

If we believe, as Jesus said, that He is among us when we gather in His name, we must not assume that brick and mortar can wall Him in.

Moreover, if casual dress and a cup of coffee lures a hurting world into the presence of God, bring on the denim.

[Tax-chick]

Something about an alabaster box? And another about some children.

Quite so. People should read the Bible. Human romantic relationships - always prone to sin - are a shadow of the passion and intimacy we can (the Bible says) share with our God.

I don't think the organ is particularly helpful for congregational singing. It's too overwhelming. Maybe it was different in the old days, when there were very big churches with no amplifiers: you'd never have heard a solo guitar!

[vladimir998]

I know! :)

Here’s a neat song that mixes throat singing with Bulgarian high pitch female choir singing. Seriously, it’s better than my description sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQUgtEBbPi4

You have to give it at least one minute and 15 seconds for the Bulgarian choir to kick in.

[vladimir998]

Tax-chick, ever hear a Black Sabbath song sung in Latin with renaissance instrumentation?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX2y51ixsu8

You will be AMAZED!

[NoCmpromiz]

does this arrangement with keyboard.

Hey... What's wrong with doing it on keyboard?? ;-)

But, I'm no good at unraveling spoken Spanish so I lost a lot in translation..

You know I could go on for a while about music and especially Church music but many times when I find myself involved in a discussion about the contemporary versus the "Olde Hymns" I bring up a story about a teenager who complained to his father (a Deacon) that the church music was monotonous. His father snapped back, 'All right young man, you give us something better...'

So he did. And it was radical stuff for the church at the time.

One of his songs went like this:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Contemporary to the church of Isaac Watts time is now Olde..

You need to know I have an arrangement that uses this in combination with a more modern song... ;-)

[Tax-chick]

I think I’ve heard the contemporary arrangement on the radio.