We had to leave my great-niece’s baptismal service (at Andy Stanley’s church) because it was so loud. The Vegas-style floor show on the stage was louder than any rock concert I’d attended in the ‘70s. After a person was baptized and came out of the water, the congregation screamed, blew loud air horns, and did those party things that that unfurl and make noise when you blow into them. It was advertised as a “Baptism Bash”. What a travesty.
I’m used to hearing a few very soft “Amens” and the organ quietly playing, “Jesus Paid It All” or similar.
My wife and I are in our 60s and we like a mix of traditional hymns and modern Christian worship songs. We’d much rather worship our Lord with instruments similar to the secular music we listen to. As a kid, the Catholic organ music and funeral dirge hymns (think Faith of Our Fathers) made the concept of “worship” unintelligible to me. The first time we went to Andy’s church (over 20 years ago) was the first time I felt like I was worshipping God in a style of music that made me want to sing with joy for all He’s done for me. As an aside, we no longer go to Andy’s churches - he has reduced Scripture it seems to a very small part of his messages and it’s very disappointing.
But what I always tell fellow Believers - if you don’t LOVE the church you attend, FIND ANOTHER ONE!
Is Andy still a heretic?
Luke 15…. 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And they rejoiced with soft Amens and soft organ music playing Jesus Paid It All….