Perry wrote: > One turn-off, I feel, to modern worship service "performances" > is that people applaud the performaners and the performance. > Are we not in a worship service to bring glory to and worship > God? Is it wrong to recognize human performances in such a > setting? After all, the gifts they are exhibiting are > from God. Should we instead yell, "Thank you, God, for the > wonderful gifts you have given to them to use in praise of > you!"? My resolution to this has been to not applaud during > or following the "performance"
In the charismatic circles I had fellowship with years ago, the worship leaders would turn any clapping into a clap offering to the Lord. They would point up and start clapping to the Lord, and the people then would start clapping to the Lord and maybe dance too. Sometimes they would even read some verses from the psalms and teach about giving a clap offering unto the Lord and made sure people clapped to the Lord and never to them. Sometimes music makes you want to express yourself, and I always liked the way these worship leaders could get the congregation to get their eyes off the performers and onto the Lord, yet still provide an outlet for them to get into expressing themselves in a reaction to the music. Perry wrote: > Nicely put, David. Do you ever feel proud when > the National Anthem is played? Is that a bad thing? No, I don't feel proud. Actually, I have mixed feelings from the National Anthem. I've never really thought about it before, but now that you have brought it up, I guess I realize that. I've never warned anyone to avoid the National Anthem, so I guess I don't see it as much of a threat. :-) What I had in mind by mentioning pride is the way some rock music, like KISS, and especially heavy metal type, the way it makes people feel. It never ministered to me at all, but I have had friends get into it and I have observed how it affected their behavior and their attitude. That kind of pride is what John warned us about in 1 John 2:16. Peace be with you. David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida USA ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
