Too Much Jesus?

[tyndale1946]

Those who know me on here I'm not questioning that there is too much Jesus but questioning that the way worship of Jesus was presented... My wife and I are old fashion and we like a simple church worship, where we hear the gospel in our small church of 200, praying, singing and preaching in that order... Now let me cut to the story of what I mean, in the title of my OP... We found out from my wife's son, that there was going to be a speaker at a mega church and my wife had read many of his inspirational books and ladies of her church, had read them also and used them in study and she wanted to go hear him in person... So he came in our area and we decided to go and took our place and got in the front row... Great for hearing him but bad for what followed... Let me put it another way I have a son, age 41 who was born profoundly deaf... IT WAS SO LOUD!... With the Christian Rock Band... He would have been dancing in the aisles... If you want to look up the band and take a listen... They are called THRIVE and were cutting a live album at the church, that evening... That is going global... Do you have that in your church?... Like I said my wife and I are old and old fashion... Scripture says make a joyful noise unto the LORD... It was noise ok... Joyful???... Emotional!!!... Like I told my wife... This type of worship shakes my bones our simple type of worship shakes my soul... Am I being to picky?... Oh and before I forget it, after all the noise, the speaker was great... Brother Glen

 

[SavedByGrace]

Those who know me on here I'm not questioning that there is too much Jesus but questioning that the way worship of Jesus was presented... My wife and I are old fashion and we like a simple church worship, where we hear the gospel in our small church of 200, praying, singing and preaching in that order... Now let me cut to the story of what I mean, in the title of my OP... We found out from my wife's son, that there was going to be a speaker at a mega church and my wife had read many of his inspirational books and ladies of her church, had read them also and used them in study and she wanted to go hear him in person... So he came in our area and we decided to go and took our place and got in the front row... Great for hearing him but bad for what followed... Let me put it another way I have a son who is profoundly deaf... IT WAS SO LOUD!... With the Christian Rock Band... He would have been dancing in the aisles... If you want to look up the band and take a listen... They are called THRIVE and were cutting a live album at the church, that evening... That is going global... Do you have that in your church?... Like I said my wife and I are old and old fashion... Scripture says make a joyful noise unto the LORD... It was noise ok... Joyful???... Emotional!!!... Like I told my wife... This type of worship shakes my bones our simple type of worship shakes my soul... Am I being to picky?... Oh and before I forget it, after all the noise, the speaker was great... Brother Glen

Brother, from Genesis 1:1, to Revelation 22:21, the Holy Bible is about

JESUS CHRIST

There are many Churches that I have visited in my life, that are "Baptist", where they seem ASHAMED to mention JESUS from the pulpit! They say LORD and GOD, etc, but very rarely JESUS!

How many Churches you have been to, have the leadership say JESUS we LOVE YOU, we WORSHIP and ADORE you???

WHY NOT???

Jesus on God the Father, "Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God" (John 8:54)

Jesus on the Holy Spirit, "He will Glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:14)

Revelation 5:11-12

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

 

[Aaron]

Those who know me on here I'm not questioning that there is too much Jesus but questioning that the way worship of Jesus was presented... My wife and I are old fashion and we like a simple church worship, where we hear the gospel in our small church of 200, praying, singing and preaching in that order... Now let me cut to the story of what I mean, in the title of my OP... We found out from my wife's son, that there was going to be a speaker at a mega church and my wife had read many of his inspirational books and ladies of her church, had read them also and used them in study and she wanted to go hear him in person... So he came in our area and we decided to go and took our place and got in the front row... Great for hearing him but bad for what followed... Let me put it another way I have a son, age 41 who was born profoundly deaf... IT WAS SO LOUD!... With the Christian Rock Band... He would have been dancing in the aisles... If you want to look up the band and take a listen... They are called THRIVE and were cutting a live album at the church, that evening... That is going global... Do you have that in your church?... Like I said my wife and I are old and old fashion... Scripture says make a joyful noise unto the LORD... It was noise ok... Joyful???... Emotional!!!... Like I told my wife... This type of worship shakes my bones our simple type of worship shakes my soul... Am I being to picky?... Oh and before I forget it, after all the noise, the speaker was great... Brother Glen

Simplicity is the name of the game in Christian worship. That's simplicity, not shallowness. Simple tunes and simple harmonies easily engaged by the congregation. Two or three songs at most.

Riotous music has no place in the assembly.

 

[tyndale1946]

Brother, from Genesis 1:1, to Revelation 22:21, the Holy Bible is about

JESUS CHRIST

There are many Churches that I have visited in my life, that are "Baptist", where they seem ASHAMED to mention JESUS from the pulpit! They say LORD and GOD, etc, but very rarely JESUS!

How many Churches you have been to, have the leadership say JESUS we LOVE YOU, we WORSHIP and ADORE you???

WHY NOT???

Jesus on God the Father, "Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God" (John 8:54)

Jesus on the Holy Spirit, "He will Glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:14)

Revelation 5:11-12

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

To answer your question SBG... I grew up in the era of rock and roll... I was also a song leader in our church for over 35 years... I led rock tunes in our church too... Solid Rock and Rock Of Ages and we sang those hymns and the words were buried in our mind, heart and soul as we sung them... This style of worship is for the young folk and I leave it to them but that being said, does worship need to be the equivalent of a jet plane taking off?... I'm sorry SBG that you have been to churches where Jesus was hardly ever mentioned... Never been to one where he wasn't mentioned repeatedly in every sermon... We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified... Attending this style of worship brought up God's interaction with Elijah and I will close on that thought... Brother Glen

1 Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

 

[tyndale1946]

SBG... Since you seem to be the descending vote so far let me give you a taste of what we heard... Don't want leave you out of the loop... Also on a live performance you can't adjust the volume... Brother Glen

Thrive Worship

 

[Bible Thumpin n Gun Totin]

I'm in agreement with you Bro. Glen. I like to think about what the words mean that I'm singing, and when the music is so loud that it pushes all thought out of my head I cease to be "worshipping" and become frustrated.

If our songs were sung Opera-style, or if the banjo is cranked up to 11, or if there's a Christian rock band, all of those would be in the "too loud" category IMO.

My Church has a small version of a band, but it's fairly quiet (which I still don't like, but it's at least not a rock concert).

 

[Van]

Ever hear the phrase, "it is what it is?"

One of the common hindrances to Christ's ministry is to present the gospel according to the last generation's cultural norms, rather than becoming all things to all people so that we might win some. Our church under the guidance of a young Pastor was presenting very loud music. I told him it was too loud, but he thought from his front of the stage location, it sounded fine. I pointed out that very young children in the pews ahead of me were putting both hands over their ears. We toned it sound some.

Bottom line, our audience kept growing, such that we were reaching more people for Christ.

Today, as our local churches are returning to lower in person attendance, but higher on-line attendance, we need to address both lines of evangelism, and not ignore those open to the gospel we reach on-line.

 

[SavedByGrace]

To answer your question SBG... I grew up in the era of rock and roll... I was also a song leader in our church for over 35 years... I led rock tunes in our church too... Solid Rock and Rock Of Ages and we sang those hymns and the words were buried in our mind, heart and soul as we sung them... This style of worship is for the young folk and I leave it to them but that being said, does worship need to be the equivalent of a jet plane taking off?... I'm sorry SBG that you have been to churches where Jesus was hardly ever mentioned... Never been to one where he wasn't mentioned repeatedly in every sermon... We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified... Attending this style of worship brought up God's interaction with Elijah and I will close on that thought... Brother Glen

1 Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

I agree, that there are many "churches" that are more interested in attracting the young, by adopting their worldly music. I was in a "christian" music shop when I lived in London, some 25 years ago, and the music was very loud, and I could hardly make out the words! A friend that I had told me of his church's youth group hiring a huge hall that was fillied with about 10k, who were dancing to "christian" rock and roll! I asked if there was any message preached, he said no, but many went forward to accept Jesus at the end! This is FALSE

 

[tyndale1946]

I agree, that there are many "churches" that are more interested in attracting the young, by adopting their worldly music. I was in a "christian" music shop when I lived in London, some 25 years ago, and the music was very loud, and I could hardly make out the words! A friend that I had told me of his church's youth group hiring a huge hall that was fillied with about 10k, who were dancing to "christian" rock and roll! I asked if there was any message preached, he said no, but many went forward to accept Jesus at the end! This is FALSE

SBG... Little did you know when you posted this you hit the nail right on the head... Why did they accept Jesus?... They danced to Christian Rock and heard no message, where was the reason?... The brethren who I have had conversations with for years and years, know the exact reason... We love him because he first loved us... The love of God, draws ALL of his children... Brother Glen

 

[SavedByGrace]

SBG... Little did you know when you posted this you hit the nail right on the head... Why did they accept Jesus?... They danced to Christian Rock and heard no message, where was the reason?... The brethren who I have had conversations with for years and years, know the exact reason... We love him because he first loved us... The love of God, draws ALL of his children... Brother Glen

Actually when my friend told me about this, I asked him why did the hundreds go forward to "accept" Jesus. He said that it was because of the music. I said that they cannot have been saved!

 

[canadyjd]

Simplicity is the name of the game in Christian worship. That's simplicity, not shallowness. Simple tunes and simple harmonies easily engaged by the congregation. Two or three songs at most.

Riotous music has no place in the assembly.

I was in a church once, many years ago, that had a “blended” service; some hymns, some praise and worship (modern).

An older saint told us it was wrong. We should only sing hymns, and only the 12 hymns he had picked out were worthy to worship God with.

We should sing all 12 hymns every week, and only allow for 10-15 minutes of preaching (just a gospel presentation). If we did that, we’d fill the church every Sunday, he assured us.

I guess I’m saying everyone has their preferences. If the brethren are being edified by “Thrive” music, I can be happy for them, even if it’s not for me.

Of course, if the lyrics contradict scripture, then I’ll have a problem.

peace to you

 

[Aaron]

I was in a church once, many years ago, that had a “blended” service; some hymns, some praise and worship (modern).

An older saint told us it was wrong. We should only sing hymns, and only the 12 hymns he had picked out were worthy to worship God with.

We should sing all 12 hymns every week, and only allow for 10-15 minutes of preaching (just a gospel presentation). If we did that, we’d fill the church every Sunday, he assured us.

I guess I’m saying everyone has their preferences. If the brethren are being edified by “Thrive” music, I can be happy for them, even if it’s not for me.

Of course, if the lyrics contradict scripture, then I’ll have a problem.

peace to you

And round and round we go.

 

[agedman]

Let the world keep what it owns.

All to Him I owe.

 

[Van]

Ever hear the phrase, "it is what it is?"

One of the common hindrances to Christ's ministry is to present the gospel according to the last generation's cultural norms, rather than becoming all things to all people so that we might win some. Our church under the guidance of a young Pastor was presenting very loud music. I told him it was too loud, but he thought from his front of the stage location, it sounded fine. I pointed out that very young children in the pews ahead of me were putting both hands over their ears. We toned it sound some.

Bottom line, our audience kept growing, such that we were reaching more people for Christ.

Today, as our local churches are returning to lower in person attendance, but higher on-line attendance, we need to address both lines of evangelism, and not ignore those open to the gospel we reach on-line.