[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Have you read the magazine Relevant? I've read one issue. I was TOTALLY unimpressed. It's like trying to have it both ways -- Christian and worldly. It crossed the line, in my opinion. I'm fine with hip worship styles. I went to a church recently where the pastor had a very long beard and many of the parishoners were barefoot. But they were worshipful. They did not try to redefine God as some hip dude who was like totally obsessed with entertainment you know. I've been to more traditional services that were pretty dead. There is truth on both sides of this issue. But there is a lot of crossing the line going on in churches today. I would say that the major error I see is in being too permissive. Churches, especially their youth, are having great difficulty understanding that God hates sin; He is not honored by it just because we are willing to elevate it in church.

The Bible reveals a great deal about the character of God, and about how He wants us to worship Him. Too often we try to define God in our own image. We redefine his forgiveness to mean that sin does not matter, or that holiness is not important to Him anymore. It is going to get increasingly difficult to reach a lost world with the gospel of Jesus Christ when the "church" itself is acting pretty lost.

After watching a beautiful yet graphic portrayal of the high price Jesus paid for our sins, how can we possibly miss understanding how passionate He is about holiness?

[11th Earl of Mar]

There is very little to disagree with in your post.

My problem is with the "King James only" crowd and the "Baptists are the Way, the Truth and the Life" people who show up on these threads claiming that Christians who worship differently than them are lost.

[kjam22]

We're in the next step of experientalism. Worship services in many modern churches are focused on the people. In fact most leave and decide if the service was good or bad based on how it effected them. Worship is about what we do for God. It's not about going to church with the need to be "wowed". Now there is no doubt that sometimes during our service and worship of God we get wowed. But many of today's "worshipers" are there solely for the wow factor.

Jesus said in John 7 that God was seeking worshipers who would worship in spirit and in truth. Our churches design services targeted at "the world". They fill the pews with lost sinners who because of their severed relationshipo with God cannot worship, who are still in a state of rebellion, who do know God..... and then say "worship with us". The praise and worship songs start, and everyone wants to experience it. Worship never happens.

I know because until a couple of months ago I played music in one of those churches for several years.

Yes... lots of churches have crossed the line. They've traded true worship for packing the pews with people searching for something. But the message that they need to hear is seldom preached.

That's my opinion.