Posted on 07/26/2008 7:39:25 AM PDT by rhema
The polished services at large churches today may be earnest, but spiritually, they can miss the mark.
My friend Jennie is a singer with a worship team at a local "megachurch." Recently, while rehearsing songs for the next day's worship service, she found herself experiencing a deep sense of union with God. As the music faded away, she stood in silent worship, then noticed someone speaking her name. "Jennie," called the worship leader, observing the rehearsal from the front seats, "when you're worshipping, don't forget to keep your fingers evenly spaced on the microphone. Thanks, everybody. Take a break."
Ouch.
The July 20 Star Tribune story "What makes a gigachurch go?" reminded me that among the faithful and earnest leaders of large and small churches across the country with whom I work as a retreat leader, the temptation to obsessively control the details of the "product" is constant and strong. I do not judge the motivations of the church highlighted in your article, but in candid conversations with pastors in retreat settings, I regularly hear that their need to control arises from a range of fears -- a fear of disappointing God, their congregations or their bosses unless they belt one out of the park every Sunday morning; a fear for souls that will be lost unless those people can be attracted to come to their churches and believe as they do, and the fear that really makes them shiver -- being ignored as culturally irrelevant.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
I’m not saying that your friend was in this situation, but the repetitive lyrics in many of these songs can put you in an altered state of consciousness. Reason to be concerned I think
Take a look at ecstatic dancing at Club Mysterio - is this of God?:
http://sliceoflaodicea.com/slicecast/category/new-apostolic-reformation/
huh?
To sum it up, it's a theological blinder: that man's "free will" trumps God's sovereignty, that the Holy Spirit cannot act on the human heart and soul unless (and until) the subject grants God permission first.
Thus, it's not a sovereign God being worshipped. Rather, since it's the unconverted soul that (they believe) can actually control whether God "shows up" or not, said uncoverted soul is placed at the center of worship.
Very true. They sound like Sunday School songs for kindergartners. Let's have some real hymns, eh?
-ccm
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
it’s ALL SHOW and NO SUBSTANCE
and everyone leaves feeling good about THAT!
Wait did you just say that God is not Omnipotent????
(I fore one would have no problem with agreeing with what you said)...but what about the perception that God is an all powerful God?
Why is that such a BIG issue when refering to the problem of evil?
“Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?” — Epicurus, as quoted in 2000 Years of Disbelief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil
***If it takes a circus to bring them in, it’ll take a circus to keep them.***
That is much more graphic an image than I have always heard: Whatever you do to binng them in needs to be done to keep them in.
I like the circus version...
They sound like Sunday School songs for kindergartners. Let's have some real hymns, eh?
"church for grownups".
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