Posted on 03/21/2017 3:30:30 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I enjoy singing in church. I’m not half bad. Am not half good either.
Music is a gift God gave to mankind. Hymns are not as much about us singing to Him as they are about us locking the things of God into our hearts and minds.
No offense intended to anyone.
I once attended a Apostolic/Pentecostal Church in Colorado Springs in the 1970s. At the time, it was very popular and well-known there.
Many, many regulars spoke in tongues or prophesied. After about a month, the religious education director said to me:
“Alas, I see your not speaking in tongues or prophesizing during worship... What’s wrong?”
I replied, “Well, you know I almost did once but it seemed I would be faking it. It just didn’t feel real...”
He replied, “Go ahead and just fake it, then. The Holy Spirit will start speaking thru you after a while.”
Well, I was shocked, actually, to get that response.
I also noted that because this guy had brought so many of us young GIs into this church, from various bases around: Cheyenne Mountain (me), Peterson AFB, the Air Force Academy, Ent AFB and Fort Carson, he was given a new Cadillac from the pastor, as a reward for bringing in almost 200 of us.
Anyway, the whole setup disturbed me, so I stop attending.
One of the guys who lived in my barracks still was going, and he told me later that the same RE at this place had him give an allotment from his paycheck, because, dig this, he ate at the chow hall free, so he didn’t need food, and he lived in the barracks, so he didn’t need to pay rent, so he could give most of his pay to the Lord!
I think he was asking all the young single military men to do so. Cadillacs are NOT cheap.
I’m with you, I miss the hymns, the organ, piano, choir. Now all they have are loud 7-11 songs - seven words repeated eleven times. Not to my taste but what ya gonna do?
My dad had a bad singing voice. It used to bother me a bit; but now that he's gone to his God, I'd give a lot to hear him sing "... to tell the old, old story, of Jesus and His love" just one more time!
Very sad testimony for that denomination.
I wonder if anyone ever called them on the fake stuff and coercion to tithe.
My earplugs go in as soon as I go in the worship center. Great singers and musicians but horrible songs. Totally unsuitable for congregations. Lots of people don’t come in until the music is over.
Traditional Latin hymns and chants. No chance of some goofy rah-rah song creeping in. The only non-Latin hymn at my parish is the recessional, but it's always appropriate -- either a traditional English hymn, God Bless America, or something of that nature.
I love 7-11 songs. God’s really not dead -he’s surely alive. Repeat 11 times and move on.
Yeah, when I was young I went to all kinds of different churchs. The Pentecostal one was different from all of the others. I will say they were more enthusiastic than all of the other churchs. However I could detect they were bringing some of this on themselves. They were going into trances. Once they knocked out a glass pane by my pew. I don’t see the reason for it so I left.
But maybe they are *mindful* repetitions...
Me too.
That story reminds me a little bit of my friend’s experience when he visited a Charismatic/Pentecostal church 20+ years ago. He should have known right there that it was going to be a problem when the “pastor” was female.
He said they all sat in a circle, and different members in the group began speaking in tongues while he just sat there trying not to break out in nervous laughter.
After the meeting, the “pastor” approached him and asked if he had ever received the gift of tongues. He said that he had not.
So, she told him that she would teach him. She said, “Just start repeating, ‘Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah’ over and over again until the Spirit takes over!” So, he reluctantly tried.
After about five-ten seconds, he felt stupid and stopped. At that point, the “pastor” got excited and and asked, “What happened? Did Jesus get a hold of your tongue?!”
He sarcastically replied, “No, I think it’s this gum I’m chewing!”
And with that, she gave him a dirty look and walked away...
I think he should put whiskey in his Latte.
The church had Lattes I presume.
A Latte Churches like this usually do.
.
Lots of hymns are based on apostate doctrine.
To sing them is to deny the word of Yehova.
.
“Doesnt the Bible exhort us against mindless repetitions in our worship?”
The Bible warns us to avoid “vain repetitions”.
“Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and call it a day, I say.”
There you go!! The hymnals in our church’s racks are “Great Hymns Of The Faith” — probably my favorite hymnal.
I attended services in a church once where the pastor announced they were going to introduce a new song to the congregation.
He went through the words and in a couple of places pointed to scriptural references behind a thought the words expressed. Then he had the musicians demonstrate the music, by itself, and ended with one vocalist going through the words with the music. Then, with the lyrics shown on a large screen, he took the congregation though singing the song together.
I appreciated the process, as I’m sure other visitors and any new members probably did too.
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