Thanks, PleaseNoMore, that was a good post, and a good explanation of that song.
Ed
I grew up listening to Southern gospel music as I attended a small country church and the folks there were just common people, many of them farmers etc. My grandfather was the pastor there and he firmly believed in freedom of worship as well as sound doctrine and order. We raised our hands and shouted Hallelujah when Miss Virginia would play the piano and screech out the words to something out of the hymnal and we raised our hands and shouted Hallelujah when the young lady who came in with the gifting of praise began singing more contemporary music accompanied by other instruments.
In my experience, our worship was never about entertaining a congregation. It was about worshipping together corporately, as a body of believers. What moved some taste wise didn't move others and vice versa, but we knew we weren't there to "feel good" and be entertained. We were there to worship the Lord of Lords and the Kings of Kings as a unified body and "little things" like the genre of music never did cause much trouble at all as, in the scheme of things, it was inconsequential.
My grandfather passed away in Jan of this year and our little country church dissoved. I now attend a larger, more contemporary church where the praise and worship is more contemporary but it is sincere and meaningful.