New Can Be Good And Old Is Not Always Stale A cousin of a childhood friend of mine had a skin condition that made him come out with rashes anytime he used a sponge to bath so he lathered himself with soap, waited a few minutes longer than normal and showered off. As a teenager, I wondered how he could get really clean just by doing that. My friend told me his cousin let him know he had been doing this since he was a baby. We debated the merits of both sides of the divided walking down the street to some fun activity we had planned. My position came from my mother telling me to always use a sponge so I could be really clean while taking my bath. We used to bath with a native sponge Kan kan... I hope I got the spelling right, made from the coarse root fibres of a plant and many children, me inclusive did not like its feel on their skins. Check out the following site for a humorous post on this sponge from Nigeria. goodnaijagirl/squeaky-clean I could not fathom another way of getting clean outside of the way my mother taught me. New could not work as well as the Old in my mind. Sometime later though I found out it worked just fine. I was curious, so I put aside my mothers tried and trusted method to prove if this one really worked! Yes it did. A matter of opinion to some maybe. Sometimes in our various Church denominations, we remain fixated on old processes even though there are new ways of getting things done and we often condemn anything new. There are many examples of this around and I am not referring to Bible principles. Those do not change. If we change them, there is a penalty spelt out in Revelation 22:18,19. I am only referring to our way of doing things in the church. Administration if you please. I want to focus on singing. Specifically, the use of hymns and contemporary church music in worship. In Psalms 96:1-4 we read; 1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. (KJV) A new song! It does not have to be an old song every time! I know we are more comfortable with what is familiar to us. We form attachments with things we have history with. Old hymns hold special places in our hearts and when we sing them they often bring up memories of past victories over difficult circumstances or remarkable blessings in our walk with God through life. They inspire us to a closer walk with God. I love them as well. There is a song which many do not know but I recall the first time I heard the choir sing it at a service in Apostolic Faith Church, Ilesa, Nigeria... My Assurance is one of my favorite songs. It is not a hymn but it is not a contemporary song either. I just love that song. Holy holy, holy by Reginald Heber (1783–1826) is my favorite hymn of all. That is a very old hymn. I can go back to even older ones which have lyrics in olde English! However, I also love contemporary songs that praise God and show appreciation for what he has done. My God Is Awesome by Charles Jenkins is a beautiful composition that just inspires heartfelt praise of God Almighty! Just like the Psalmist told us to do! I heard it for the first time last year and I had to know more about its history, so I looked it up, watched the songwriter perform it on YouTube and got blessed. It is sung in many African American congregations. Many more songs are being composed by people who have a reason to express what their songs say. Just the same way songwriters of the old hymns did. Crucified With Christ by Phillips, Craig and Dean is a powerful contemporary song that resonates with what I believe in. It is one of my favorite ones. In my opinion the divide over what kind of songs to sing in Church services comes from unnecessary criticism about the style of worship different organizations use. I come from a background of the Solemn Assembly which some find boring and old fashioned. Many feel it will not appeal to young folk and is a reason the Church is losing membership. I disagree with that simplistic view. There are many who can only flourish spiritually in this mode of worship and many young people love those old hyms once they get to know them. Then there is the Praise Worship mode which involves a less solemn type of church service. Some feel it is too wordly and takes away from serious worship. Whatever that means. I disagree with that as well. There are people who flourish spiritually in such organizations. They praise God and worship Him fervently that way. You do not think God accepts their praise because they do it differently from yours? Think again. God looks on the heart. We can only see the face. Do not try to assume you know the mind of God on this. There are many examples in the Bible of both forms of worship. What God hates about mans worship of Him he lets us know in Isaiah chapter 1. If our worship is combined with those things Prophet Isaiah mentioned there, it does not matter if you use a Solemn Assembly or Praise Worship mode in your church, God will reject your worship. He makes that very clear. A young preacher addressed this divide very eloquently at a Bible seminar I attended early this year. I quote him; To the older generation; Just because it looks different doesnt mean God isnt working. To the younger generation; Just because it might sound different or foreign doesnt mean the principles dont matter. In spite of the Variables, God remains the constant. Be faithful to what is in your control and trust God for everything else. Yes, the song might sound different. Does it lift up Jesus though? They might use musical instruments you do not use in your church but, are they praising God with them? They may move and dance in their assembly however, are they doing that just like king David did when he danced and praised God? Let us leave God to judge? The music could be old fashioned and have a rhytm you cannot dance to. That does not mean those singing that way are not progressive or do not understand how to give God His due praise in a modern age. They may not have drums in their church or move to the rhytm of the music like you would. You cannot see the joy in their hearts but, if you look closely, it shows on their faces and in their singing. God sees all of that and it is acceptable to Him. Be faithful to what you know and let God judge the rest. There is nothing wrong with singing a new song to the Lord! Why should we let the devil have the newest or the best tunes? Understand this as well. There is no reason to dispense with the old hymns either! They were borne through a labour of love and dedication to God and those tunes are still nice as well! Hymns in the Ancient And Modern hymnal are still relevant! If you cannot use both kinds of music in your worship, it does not mean you should condemn those who use the one you left off. Let God decide if He loves their mode of worship.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 01:52:04 +0000
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