Contemporary worship

Th phrase "contemporary" is subjective. Contemporary worship is neither definied in scripture, banned in scripture, endorsed in scripture, or enforced in scripture. That goes for "traditional" and "classic" worship as well. Let each person worship in whatever style that s/he finds appropriate.

 

I don't know, can it be? Contemporary just means current. We can worship God with current music or hymns in the same way. I can and do. I love the good old hymns and I enjoy contemporay music in our Worship service with guitars, drums, and other instruments.

 

The key word is "worship", not what style word you add in front of it.

 

My previous comment stands, imo. "Contemporary" is subjective. Contemporary worship is neither definied, banned, endorsed, or enforced in scripture. Neither are "traditional" or "classic" worship. Let each be convinced in his own mind.

 

Psalm 33:3 "Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."

Psalm 98:1 "Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.

Isaiah 42:10 "Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them."

 

Worship occurs when God reveals Himself to us and we respond in awe, reverence and praise. Pleasing God should be our focus, not pleasing to ourselves.

Since God knows what is most pleasing to Himself when it comes to worship, we should only worship in ways that are supported by scripture.

 

amber

 

The difference between contemporary songs and those in the hymn book is 30 years.

 

Guitar preacher;
Congratulations! You get the Scripture Twister award!
That "new song" you so often like to toss about in support of your godless rock'n'roll is from a "new creation" and a "new heart". It is NOT from a "new style" nor is it from a "new way" of packaging godless music. The "new song" is godly music sung from a regenerated heart. It is NOT yer rock'n'roll carnal compromising boogie woogie "praise-a-thon" mumbo jumbo!!!

tee hee

 

one problem.... contemporary music has an upeat rythm to it. isnt that just like worldly music? many of the contemporary stuff has overpowering music that drowns out the lyrics. when ive listened to contemporary music i don't get anything out of it... it just doesnt speak to my heart. its just empty; no meaning. and also if you pay attention its usually the music which is the first thing you notice when those type of songs are played. many of the contemporary music that ive heard mainly focuses on how God is always there for you and how God is so good which is not a bad thing at all. but thats all they ever sing about. They never sing about God's saving grace or about His precious blood or about how were going to Hell if we dont accept the gift of eteranl life. A few years back there was an article about Amy Grant in which she stated that she had no problem with people smoking pot at her concerts. uh...Hello? Also, a very Godly man at a youth camp in Colorado that i went to last summer, had the facts in his hands stating that a guy
off the radio station 100.7, i dont remember his name, said that he was only in the music business just for the money and not to win people to Christ. in my opinion, many churches today have gone to contemporary music in their survices just to attract more people thus compromising good Godly standards. in 2 Corinthians 6:14 through chap. 7:1 it states that
worldy music dosen't mix with Godly music and visa-versa. i wouldnt go to a bar so why have bar type music in the house of God? i beleive that you can worship God with any type of instrument if it is done in the right way. not in a fleshly attractive manner. If the music reaches your feet before your heart then it isnt good Godly music. Just because it has Christian lyrics doesnt make it Christian music. if it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, swims like a duck, waddles like a duck, etc. then it isnt a chicken is it? need i say more?

 

Talk about heartless. I assume you don't sing "Amazing Grace".

 

Clean1

I find it interesting that you state that you didnt get anything out of contemporary worship.


I became a Christian 10 years ago and the church that I happened to go to at the time was a very contemporary church. They sang no hymns. The hymns that they did sing were to contemporary beats. All of this looks very bad to you, doesnt it?

I can remember the joy in my heart as I sang

"Hallelujah, Jesus is alive. Death has lost its victory, and the grave has been denied!!"

This song had a very fast and dancy (not bar like though) beat and people would just get up and lift their hands and praise God to it. There were many, many songs like this. While the beat was great, my heart was truly in praising and worshipping God.

now

flashforward 10 years. We go to a southern baptist church that is hymns-only. It took me a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time to get anything out of a hymn. They all seemed so dead to me. THe words were ancient and I wasnt singing from my heart. My mind would wander because even if I did want to praise God with the words, I didnt understand them. I wanted so badly to break free from all of this and sing words that I could understand to music that I can understand. Eventually, I really came to loving some of the hymns, but at first, it all seemed to meaningless to me. It seemed like meaningless tradition.

At my church right now, they have a blended service. While I find that I actually like the hymns better than the contemporary now, I can understand the need for it.

I think the important thing is that the person worshipping it truly worshipping. While I do agree with you that some forms of music have a rebellious sound to them and are not the right choices, a bouncy upbeat praise song is hardly rebellious or "worldly".. why, even your hymns are "wordly" by somebody's standards.

 

Christian music existed long before secular music was ever thought of. So who is leading?

When I read Psalm 150 it sounds rather loud and upbeat to me. Why be quiet and like I have eaten a bowl of sour grapes when it comes to worshiping God.


Psa. 150, "Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"

When is the last time you heard that kind of music in your church?

Worship is not about me. It is about my response to God.

 

guitarpreacher do you play rock and roll music?

IF you do and you do so in the name of the LORD then I will take my hat off to you and yours .

 

Some people are able to handle new styles of music and others are not. If you don't like it, stay away from it and if you do then enjoy. The Bible does not speak of style of music, it speaks of the words, the way the Israel worshipped in song would be offensive to most traditional churches and the way that we worship God would be offensive to Israel. It just boils down to how has God lead you in this area. Don't throw rocks because not everyone does not agree with you. (no insinuation intended that anyone has YET on this thread).

 

Rock and Roll a Ghetto term used by Allen Fread and Chuck Berry meaning having sexual intercouse in the back seat of a car while it was moving.

 

I don't think chirches should play " christian rock " music in church and youth groups. I don't allow my kids to listen to that stuff so why should they hear it at church ?

 

But that is just your opinion of a genre of music that you do not care for. There is no scripture to define the music you hear. There is scripture to define the words that you hear. So many of the songs that we love as "old hymns of the faith" were very contemporary when they were written and even set to the tunes of secular music of the day. It is all about the words and not about the actual music.

 

And what ways would that be?