ayin jade Posted March 25, 2015 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 44 Topic Count: 6,178 Topics Per Day: 0.87 Content Count: 43,799 Content Per Day: 6.19 Reputation: 11,244 Days Won: 58 Joined: 01/03/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted March 25, 2015 Based on another thread I have going on worship, Im curious what folks think of worship songs. What songs do you consider good worship songs? Why? What makes or breaks a song for you in worship? What do you look for in worship songs? What is completely unacceptable to you in worship songs? Please keep in mind, this is worship songs, not Christian songs in general. Also, much as I would love to see videos of songs, the tos doesnt permit it. Perhaps stating song titles and singers/musicians can help folks find the music on their own. Im enjoying these discussions btw. Its been good to read the opinions of others on these topics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shiloh357 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I will say at the outset that my problem with modern worship isn't style-based; it's content based. I will say that I don't think every style of music glorifies God and is appropriate for congregational worship. Good worship songs are songs that emphasize who God is, and what He has done. They emphasize His power, His holiness, grace, mercy, and they honor Him for the blessings He has bestowed. Good worship is always God-centered and always glorifies Him on the basis of His attributes and His operations, what He does and has done for us. It particularly focuses on the sacrifice of Jesus and what that means to us. Worship is not about what I need from God. It is not about how good God makes me feel. It is not romantic in nature and it is focus on inordinate repetition. There is good modern worship and there is doctrinally shallow and heretical modern worship and it is based on content not style. There is a trend in our day to use modern contemporary Christian songs as worship music and that is not a good idea for a couple of reasons. For one thing, contemporary Christian music is usually written for professional singers who have much larger vocal range than the average person and are trained singers. They are vocal musicians. The average person can't sing them as they are not written for the average person to sing. So that inhibits congregational participation and congregants are reduced to spectators in many cases. Secondly, most if not all of the contemporary Christian recording labels were bought up and are now owned by secular companies. That means that lyrics can't always be too explicitly Christian due to the fact that these record labels are trying to make money. They need to sell albums and if the songs are not making it in the Christian market, they need to be able to make minor tweaks in order to secularize them as "love" songs and then record them for a secular audience. That's one reason that so many of these contemporary/worship songs sound like something you would sing to a romantic lover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricky Posted March 25, 2015 Group: Senior Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 40 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 508 Content Per Day: 0.14 Reputation: 216 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/04/2014 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/09/1985 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I thik a lot of Stuart Townend/Kieth Getty (In Christ Alone is a personal favorite of mine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LadyC Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 an all time favorite for me is: "praise you in this storm". sometimes that song is a necessary reminder, and a laser beam to help focus on God when everything seems to be falling apart. other favorites are it's your breath (that's not the title, i forgot the title... it goes 'it's your breath, in our lungs, so we pour out our praise to you only, Lord" word of God, speak (mercy me) your great name (natalie grant) psalm 23 (kathy troccoli does my favorite version) here i am to worship coming back to the heart of worship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Summers Posted March 25, 2015 Group: Removed from Forums for Breaking Terms of Service Followers: 0 Topic Count: 9 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 225 Content Per Day: 0.07 Reputation: 27 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/19/2015 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/29/1984 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I am a huge fan of Joel Weldon. Two of my favorites of his is "only you" and "take forgiveness". Take Forgiveness might be one of my favorite songs every written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman150 Posted March 26, 2015 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 7 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 128 Content Per Day: 0.04 Reputation: 44 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/04/2014 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/14/1958 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I thik a lot of Stuart Townend/Kieth Getty (In Christ Alone is a personal favorite of mine). Yes, yes, yes! These seem almost 'hymn-like' in their melodic and theological content. Absolutely sublime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pro1728 Posted March 26, 2015 Group: Members Followers: 1 Topic Count: 3 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 73 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 49 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/14/2015 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/01/1974 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I was at one church that I felt was fairly sound in doctrine and they started to drift into those songs that are like what others spoke of in the other post--cheesy love songs that have swapped "Jesus" for the girlfriend/boyfriend. There was one song so appallingly awful I can scarcely bear to type it. One that goes "so heaven meets earth like a...." Nope, sorry, can't type that. I must go take a shower to wash off the memories of creepiness. (((shudder))) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnut- Posted March 26, 2015 Group: Royal Member Followers: 39 Topic Count: 101 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 7,673 Content Per Day: 1.31 Reputation: 7,358 Days Won: 67 Joined: 04/22/2008 Status: Offline Share Posted March 26, 2015 I love the old hymns, songs like... I surrender all.... for one example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shiloh357 Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 The hymns contain a huge amount of theology and what's more, unlike modern worship, they were never written to make money. They were not even sung, many of them, in churches in the lifetime of the hymn authors because they might not have been put to music until after the death of lyrical author. Many of the old hymns were not written by theologians. They were written by average people who had gone through times of personal tragedy. "What a friend we have in Jesus" was written by a man who lost two fiancés to death. "It is well with my soul" was written by man who lost two daughters on a ship that sunk in the Atlantic. "There is fountain filled with blood" was written by a man who suffered from mild mental illness. "Blessed Assurance" was written by a woman who was blinded as a child. The hymns were often written by people who had immense tragedy but knew the sustaining power of Christ. These hymns are not church liturgy. They are testimonies of men and women who trusted God and they wrote from the bittersweet experience of having to walk with God through trials and tribulations. Back in those days, many of what we call "hymns" were originally poems that the author never intended to publish or make into church music. Granted there were some that were written for Church use. Isaac Watts is a good example of that, but even then, here was a man who was sickly, frail unattractive to women and never married, who ended his life as an invalid and still was carrying on in ministry. He was a preacher, but he never intended to make any money off of his hymns. There was purity to the motives of those old hymn writers that doesn't really exist in modern Christian music, to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayin jade Posted March 26, 2015 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 44 Topic Count: 6,178 Topics Per Day: 0.87 Content Count: 43,799 Content Per Day: 6.19 Reputation: 11,244 Days Won: 58 Joined: 01/03/2005 Status: Offline Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Do you like any modern Christian songs shiloh? There are a lot I quite enjoy. Some are scripture set to music. Some are quite full of praise and honor to the Lord. But unless Im misreading your posts, you dont seem to like any modern ones at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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