Although this also holds true of the praise & worship singing, I am partial to the old hymns so I chose to use them.
How often do we attend church tired, grumpy, depressed, angry, and any other emotion that over takes us for countless reasons by things we face in our lives? Instead of being spiritually, prayerfully prepared to worship a Holy God, we show up for personal prestige and duties sake.
We sing, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, while thinking of the SuperBowl; Amazing Grace, while gritting our teeth over what the neighbor said; It Is Well With My Soul, while we weep that the world is not treating us fair; Blessed Assurance Jesus Is Mine, while we dream of that person we want to be with; All To Jesus, while we fidget waiting for that final prayer to release us from the service.
We want to know why our churches are dying and not growing; why members leave and visitors don’t stay; why the preacher gets weary and the congregation gets tired.
We don’t need to build larger gyms; bring in all the entertainment; shorten the preaching and omit the words “sin” and “repent”; throw out the hymns and turn to music with only a feel good message; leave the old behind as we serve the young.
We need a revival in our heart to return to God; a life of prayer and obedience; a life of reading, studying, and meditating of scripture; a life of love for God and sharing the gospel with others; a life of singing and praising God from the heart and put a stop to Hypocritical Hymn Singing.
2 comments:
That was a very thought provoking post.
I agree, Sometimes life does seem to get in the way of worshipping, Sad to say but true.
But on the other hand sometimes, I go to church gloomy, sad, or depressed, and the sweetness of hymns and the uplifting testimonies
revives my spirit and I lift hands and voice in praise.
I agree Joy,
Sometimes we aren't as close to God as we should be, and the singing of praise to God, hearing the testimonies of others, having the Spirit speak to us through the preaching, and the fellowship of other believers, can move us back into the proper relationship with God.
Thanks for the visit.
Tim
Post a Comment