Todays churches have lost their way regarding “Praise and Worship”..
I can remember the groanings of people back in the late 80’s/90’s toward the “same old hymns and choruses..”. Then came the grunge movement. -which we are stuck with -30 years on.. (U2 guitar/Phil Collins drumming..)
The whole reason for a “praise & worship team” should be to accompany the singing of the congregation. These days, they are wannabe rock stars who overpower everything - as they urge on the congregation to “sing along!..”
There is a DIFFERENCE between songs that edify and actual PRAISE & WORSHIP. Most songs I hear in churches are the former.. songs people ought to listen to during their week which may be to their taste and fortify their faith. But that doesn’t make it Praise and Worship. Churches today completely fail to understand this.
Blacking out the room; using cool rock-show lighting; a 40,000 watt p.a. system in a 400 square foot room…turning it into a rock show isn’t praise and worship. It’s basically a concert.
Praise and Worship are His people - singing TO HIM -together as one. Somewhere along the line, younger generations began considering this to be ‘old hat’, ‘boring’, uncool… And so they mimick the rave parties that they used to have in college with “Christian” themes and call it praise and worship.
Then, justify it because we older folks “just don’t get it..”
It’s very sad. We enter the Lord’s very gates with thanksgiving; we enter His very courtroom and presence with true praise. Those who have been there will never be satisfied to just bop and jam out like we did at concerts as teenagers. It is NOT the same thing.
Then again, I’m not expert and I don’t know everything..
Some of the most meaningful and moving church services I’ve attended incorporated extended times of complete silence, in prayer. One church I attended during college had a sign above the door of the sanctuary, “Enter in Prayer, no Unnecessary talking.”
Clint Eastwood Reads Praise Song Lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7gPIIQT7Y
“...doesn’t much sound like church music to me. What does it sound like like what would happen if my six year old granddaughter married a Care Bear and they wrote their own wedding vows...”