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Why Men Have Stopped Singing in Church
Patheos ^ | May 8, 2013 | David Murrow

Posted on 01/11/2014 8:08:33 PM PST by Benito Cereno

It happened again yesterday. I was attending one of those hip, contemporary churches — and almost no one sang. Worshippers stood obediently as the band rocked out, the smoke machine belched and lights flashed. Lyrics were projected on the screen, but almost no one sang them. A few women were trying, but I saw only one male (other than the worship leader) making the attempt.

(Excerpt) Read more at patheos.com ...


TOPICS: Ministry/Outreach; Religion & Culture; Worship
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To: Benito Cereno; lcms rev; Conservaliberty
The content of contemporary worship music is just plain icky: "I love you Jesus......you're my boyfriend! " Set the above to 3 chords and repeat over and over.......that's contemporary worship music.
101 posted on 01/12/2014 4:33:03 AM PST by RepRivFarm ("During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell)
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To: Charles Henrickson
At my parish, that's the 8:00 Mass. At the 10:00 they have what sounds like girls breathlessly describing their sweet-lovin' Boyfriend Jesus.

Same readings, though. Same rubrics. Man-repelling lyrics.

102 posted on 01/12/2014 4:33:38 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("In Christ we form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12:5)
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To: Benito Cereno
An old hymn, such as It is Well With My Soul, packs an entire sermon into four verses and a chorus.

Hymns at one time were used to teach doctrinal truths when books were rare. They not only encouraged but edified the congregation and were considered part of the worship. There is no greater example of this then the Psalms which were sung perhaps not by the congregation (maybe) but by other to the congregation.

Few songs being produced these days do that. Our church has "blended" service where we do sing some of the old hymns and some newer songs. But the newer songs are carefully selected to convey doctrinal truths (yes, they're out there). The choir is made up of half men/half women.

But I've been in many, many churches where we sing, "How great is my God..." over and over and over until I've felt that I wanted to walk out. Eventually I did though not over the songs. And, not surprising, I can think of very few of those songs that we sung. Do we really think this is somehow edifying? Don't we know that God is great? This repetition and lost for words is a sign of spiritual decay in our churches.

It's a shame that few can think of things to say about God besides He's great? King David never seemed to be at a lost for word. And Come Thou Fount-now that is a great song and one of my very favorite.

What great doctrinal truths it teaches us.
103 posted on 01/12/2014 4:36:14 AM PST by HarleyD (...one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.)
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To: Charles Henrickson
At the 8:00:

On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry

On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
announces that the Lord is nigh;
awake and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings.

Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
make straight the way for God within,
prepare we in our hearts a home
where such a mighty Guest may come.

For thou art our salvation, Lord,
our refuge and our great reward;
without thy grace we waste away
like flowers that wither and decay.

To heal the sick stretch out thine hand,
and bid the fallen sinner stand;
shine forth and let thy light restore
earth's own true loveliness once more.

All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
whose advent doth thy people free;
whom with the Father we adore
and Holy Ghost for evermore.


104 posted on 01/12/2014 4:37:33 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("In Christ we form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12:5)
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To: usconservative
I hate loud, rock-ish music


105 posted on 01/12/2014 4:48:34 AM PST by machman
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To: Benito Cereno

Too many church bands are getting into the rock meme as far as volume goes - makes it hard to sing along when you can’t hear your own voice, much less the voices of the band singers, over the music. I find it ironic that they will let the music overpower the voices, when the voices/words are the heart of the songs. I also find it ironic that the canned tunes they play before services has a good volume mix where the music complements the voices instead of drowning them out.


106 posted on 01/12/2014 4:58:07 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: AdaGray

Also some music ministries even change the tempo of the hymms to make it acceptable to contempary folks.


107 posted on 01/12/2014 5:16:01 AM PST by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Benito Cereno

We sing at my LCMS church. My little girl asks all the time to sing “Like the Organ” at church.


108 posted on 01/12/2014 5:21:56 AM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Fzob

Cut the worship leader’s budget. You’ll see no more light and smoke machines in a hurry. An idol is a good thing made an ultimate thing.


109 posted on 01/12/2014 5:23:48 AM PST by InvisibleChurch (http://thegatwickview.tumblr.com/ http://thepurginglutheran.tumblr.com/)
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To: Charles Henrickson
At our church we sing real hymns out of a real hymnal (Lutheran Service Book). And we use the historic liturgy of the Divine Service. Not bragging. It's just that's where we can find the best substance, paired with appropriate music, to deliver the goods.

I like the Lutheran Service Book much more than the one we used to use. It is more like the old "Blue Hymnal" I grew up learning and had most of it memorized. We still sing one or two songs from the "With One Voice" worship book per month.

110 posted on 01/12/2014 5:25:54 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (The Second Amendment is NOT about the right to hunt. It IS a right to shoot tyrants.)
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To: Viking2002

How would smoking affect your feet? Did you already have circulation issues due to diabetes?


111 posted on 01/12/2014 5:40:45 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: Conspiracy Guy
I can’t stand mega-churches and new wave churches

I'm with you! We attend a mega church and their goal is to get anyone in the door, any way possible. The outside looks like a business park. The inside has no cross at the altar... just a dove. Not my thing.

For Christmas, we attended the nearest Presbyterian Church. The pastor used to be a really good speaker (when we attended years ago). The first words out of his mouth were something like, "Many think there is a war on Christianity. There is not. You should not react to what is being said" (it was a "turn the other cheek" approach I guess). That was enough for us..... our search for a church that fits us continues.

I wouldn't mind a band before services start and a choir during the service. I still want a small town church where you don't get lost in the massive congregation that needs 3 Sunday services to get everyone through the doors and no one knows who you are.

112 posted on 01/12/2014 5:46:24 AM PST by CAluvdubya (Molon Labe)
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To: impactplayer

I can’t listen to the local Baptist station. There is one that goes ‘I heart Jesus’ that about makes me barf. In fact, the whole ‘Jesus is my boyfriend’ genre is sickening, particularly when sung by males.


113 posted on 01/12/2014 5:55:54 AM PST by PAR35
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To: Biggirl

But stringed instruments such as the nevel and kinnor don’t make quite a big impression as trumpets.


114 posted on 01/12/2014 6:00:03 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
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To: Benito Cereno

The Reformed Presbyterian Church NA sings only Psalms. No better lyrical content than what God wrote.


115 posted on 01/12/2014 6:01:53 AM PST by ctdonath2 (Making good people helpless doesn't make bad people harmless.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

They are all still very important.


116 posted on 01/12/2014 6:02:28 AM PST by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: agrarianlady
We attend a PCA church — can you find one nearby?

Not always a safe bet. You need to do some research on each congregation. You can't make assumptions denomination (or even Presbytery) wide. You can find some as hip as your hippest Baptist megachurch.

117 posted on 01/12/2014 6:05:09 AM PST by PAR35
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To: luckystarmom
The churches that have more traditional services like the Methodiist have very liberal churches.

That's like most of the Catholic churches around me. They preach "social justice" and the Evangelical churches preach Jesus and conservative values. I choose Jesus and morals (Evangelical/non-denominational) rather than amnesty and redistribution of wealth principles (Catholic church).

118 posted on 01/12/2014 6:08:07 AM PST by 2nd amendment mama ( www.2asisters.org | Self defense is a basic human right!)
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To: CAluvdubya

In my opinion, the anonymity of the megachurch defeats the purpose of the church. Fellowship gets diluted with sheer numbers because noboby knows anybody. I prefer churches with 400 or less members. There should be a social aspect to a church but it should be secondary to the spiritual message. Megachurches tend to focus on the social side to the point that the message tends to be secular to the point that God is almost an after thought. They tend to be like selfhelp gatherings where the message is believe in yourself because you are important and you can achieve and if you have trouble achieving come on back and we’ll tell you more about you because you need us and the power of positive thinking. They focus on the youth to make it become important to gather with their friends and have fun at the expense of any real message of salvation. Helicopter parents give in to their children and attend a church that does not serve their needs in order to make the kids happy. I guess if it shows a few people by accident the path to salvation it has done some good. But I’ll pass.


119 posted on 01/12/2014 6:13:16 AM PST by Conspiracy Guy (Did the ancients know they were ancients? Or did they see themselves as presents?)
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To: buffaloguy
I think the problem may be reliance on Praise Teams rather than a choir.

Nah. More likely the church itself. My church has a "praise team," a band, really, with some great singers. We have a lot of talent in that church. They play a variety -- some traditional, some southern gospel, some rock and some country. This is a church that is devoted to Jesus and Biblical Christianity. We all participate in the singing and praise. The Bible instructs us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord and it also instructs us to play instruments.

120 posted on 01/12/2014 6:21:20 AM PST by alnick
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