Tag Archives: Singing

Eugene Adkins 6:03 am on 2016-12-20
Tags: , , Singing   

What I don’t like about Christmas songs

Yes, I like Christmas songs, but I don’t like all of them. And my dislike often has to do with one thing – what they teach.

The birth of Jesus doesn’t take up a whole lot of territory in the gospels. Not including the veiled references of unbelievers, John basically uses one verse (John 1:14), Luke uses less than three “chapters”, if you count the announcement to Mary and the genealogy tree, to go more in-depth including the angelic announcement to the shepherds in the field (Luke 1-3), and Matthew uses two “chapters” to cover more genealogy, the announcement to Joseph and the gift-giving wise-men account (Matthew 2:1-2).

The biblical account of Jesus’ birth, and its surrounding events, are fairly easy to understand … unless, for some reason, you’re a “Christmas” song.

Many Christmas songs help to promote biblical ignorance by combining Luke’s account of the shepherds, who actually visit Bethlehem the night Jesus is born, and Matthew’s account of the wise-men, who first visit Jerusalem (after the birth of Jesus takes place) and then later present their gifts after finding Jesus in a house, into one mismatched scene.

The simple fact is, whether one tries to sing it or not, the shepherds didn’t have to make room for the wise-men that exciting night in Bethlehem. To some people this may not seem like a big-deal, but truth be told – the truth of Jesus’ birth can’t be told with many “Christmas” songs, and that’s what I don’t like about them.

#christmas, #knowledge-of-the-truth, #singing

Eugene Adkins 7:49 pm on 2016-12-19
Tags: , , Singing   

I like Christmas Songs. Do you?

I don’t know about you, but I like “Christmas” songs.

I can’t say I like every song, or even most songs that fall into the “Christmas” category, but some of my favorite songs just happen to be songs that are labeled as “Christmas” songs.

I don’t like listening to all of the pop-stars singing to make a buck with their latest “Christmas” album. I may be wrong, but judging by the albums released before and after the nicey-nice holiday studio cut, I don’t think the vast majority of the famous singers really care about the message that surrounds the average “Christmas” album.

I like singing several songs while I’m alone and while I’m with others. Silent Night, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, and O Come All Ye Faithful are songs worth singing. They remind us of an important message (1 Timothy 3:16).

Whether the calendar says it’s December or July, I like singing these songs because they do my heart good, and I hope they do you good as well.

I’m not saying you have to like “Christmas” songs … I’m just saying that I do.

“Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:2 – NKJV)

By the way, if you want to watch one of my favorite video and song combos, you can click here.

#christmas, #opinion, #singing

docmgphillips 12:17 pm on 2016-10-04
Tags: Singing,   

Singing

I suppose every Christian has memorized Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, right? We all know we are to sing as a past of the worship service, and to do so without the use of mechanical music. That is a given … I hope.

But, have you also memorized James 4:10 and I Peter 5:6? What do these two verses have to do with the first paragraph? Well, think about it. I have heard many say, “I don’t sing because my voice is bad,” or “I don’t sing because I can’t carry a tune,” or maybe even, “I don’t want to torture those in front of me.” Yes, I have actually heard all of these … excuses. They are excuses, not reasons.

Now look at I John 2:16. (I am not quoting these five verses because I want you to be sure I am using them correctly.) Pride is a common sin, also maybe known as “the pride of life.” I don’t think I know anyone who has never had pride as a sin. So think about it. God said sing. He never said you had to have a beautiful voice. He never said the song service had to sound like a professional choir. No! God said sing. Of course, we want to offer God our very best. No question there. But if my very best voice is a rough croak, and I am singing from the heart because I want to please God—not myself nor my fellow Christians—then my voice is pleasing to God. Isn’t that what really matters?

What say ye?

#singing, #worship

J. Randal Matheny 6:27 am on 2016-04-28
Tags: , , Singing   

Popular religion is selfish, but Christ and self cannot coexist.

Over on QBT, I wrote how a bad habit in nomenclature ignores the horizontal element in singing, toward one’s brethren, in order to focus solely on the vertical element, toward God. This manifestation reinforces the conclusion that popular religion feeds selfishness.

Most Brazilian religious songs, among evangelicals, anyway, speak of the individual, rather than the group. Perhaps, in part, it is a linguistic problem, since the former requires fewer syllables. But it adds evidence to the tendency of selfishness in popular Brazilian religion. Continue reading →

#popular-religion, #selfishness, #singing

J. Randal Matheny 7:28 am on 2015-12-19
Tags: hymnology, , Singing,   

Complicated hymnology

Seems that hymnology has gotten complicated. Many songs are hard for new people to pick up on. Continue reading →

#hymnology, #hymns, #singing, #worship

Eugene Adkins 6:41 am on 2015-08-11
Tags: parenting in the church, Singing, teaching children to worship,   

Children, Parents, and Singing in Worship

Parents, what are you doing to help your children engage in singing when it comes to the worship services of the church? Here are a few tips to accomplish this goal:

  • Sitting a young child in your lap and using your finger to show them the words that you are singing is a great way to teach your children word association (i.e. helping them learn to read) by engaging their eyes with the words and melody of the song.
  • Explain to them the meaning of some of the more complex and deeper meaning words that may be used within a song. This will help to engage their thought process which helps to avoid the emptiness of repetition when it comes to a song that they are familiar with (think “Jesus Loves Me” for example).
  • Help them to concentrate by limiting distractions. Many young children, like adults who need to work on their short attention spans, may not be able to understand the point of preaching yet, but singing is something that most children quickly take to when they understand or catch on to the melody.

At the end of the day, parents have a responsibility to teach their child how to worship by example and by instruction. And one area of emphasis, which can be done with the right amount of effort, should be the singing that we offer to God. Singing is something that is delightful to our Creator and it is something that his worshipers should find delight in doing (Hebrews 13:15).

So when we show our children how much singing in worship means to us, it will mean something to them, and then later they will understand what it means to God, but only if we strive to engage them in it.

#parenting-in-the-church, #singing, #teaching-children-to-worship, #tips-for-worship

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John T. Polk II 10:43 pm on 2015-08-01
Tags: , , Singing   

7-24-2015 Use The Right Instrument

Why do people listen to what God says at first, but not last? “Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2 NKJV). We may approach God through the voice music of “singing.” But David added to this: “Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets” (1 Chronicles 13:8 NKJV). God said “Woe” to those: “Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David” (Amos 6:5 NKJV). Today, Christians should be “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19 NKJV). The churches of Christ don’t use David’s instruments, but our God-given hearts for singing.

This is Johnny Polk, with “Words of Wisdom” brought to you by the Oneida church of Christ.

#david, #instruments, #singing

Ron Thomas 10:00 am on 2014-09-30
Tags: , Singing, ,   

Doctrine: SONGS

It is common for churches to sing songs of praise to the Almighty, and we can see the wisdom of this. These songs of praise are to not only be accurate in the substance of the words sung, but they are to be sung with the singular design of pleasing the Lord, and not ourselves. That is not to say that we can’t be pleased in our singing, or even by the sound of it, but if that is our focus, then are we singing to ourselves? Moreover, when the Lord’s people meet to worship, the Lord’s people (or church) are to sing, not some specific, or exclusive, choir/chorus. It is of note that most churches of Christ do not use a mechanical instrument of music; this is on purpose. The Lord does not directly prohibit an instrument in the New Testament, but neither did He sanction one. Thus, to use one in the context of the church’s worship is to presume on the Lord’s prerogative. Let us not lose sight of what is important: our heart in direct connection to the Lord through the songs of praise we sing.

#praise, #singing, #songs, #worship

Eugene Adkins 6:55 am on 2014-09-05
Tags: , Singing,   

That's what I meant to sing

You’ve probably seen lists like this before, but here are few song titles that have been rearranged to reflect what some people mean to say while they sing during the worship services:

  • Oh, How I Like Jesus
  • It is Fairly Well with My Soul
  • Just as I Pretend to Be
  • Sit Down, Sit Down for Jesus
  • I Need Thee Every Other Hour

Unbelief is alive and well, and even our singing can reveal it. High-mindedness is not the answer because the unbelief can get any of us (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). So honest examination is key; and drawing closer to God helps to get rid of the duplicitous and even hypocritical song notes that are echoed off the walls (James 4:8). If out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34) then how much more so does this truth apply to our singing?

Let us consider our desires, our life and the words of the songs that we sing lest we become the one who sings the stanzas on the page instead of the stanzas in our heart.

Related Article:

#self-examination, #singing, #songs

Eugene Adkins 7:51 am on 2014-04-27
Tags: , , Singing   

Had a good weekend and looking for the first day to start the same way

I had a good weekend, hope you did too.

On Friday night we went to a singing in a neighboring county at the Morrison congregation (Do you ever attend any local singings?). According to the count there were 340 people there to join in on the teaching and admonishment via the song route. It had been a few years since I had gone to a singing and I thoroughly enjoyed it; even the new songs that were a bit tricky for this lay note reader. There was one brother there who was physically blind – but that didn’t keep him from leading a song entitled “Be Still My Soul” from his braille song book…there’s a thought for you. I had sung that song once before. It has an interesting sound.

On Saturday we went up to the Short Mountain Bible Camp to clean up the cabin that we sponsor. You can find it up on the mountain that’s between Smithville and Woodbury (for those of you who may have even the slightest familiarity with the geography around here). It amazes me how many ladybugs can find their way into a building every year! Thankfully we had a shop-vac. This is the third year that the congregation has been the cabin’s sponsor. All that basically means is that we’re responsible for the up keep – which has included adding lights to the closets, hanging new blinds and ruffly curtains (it’s a girls cabin), building new bunk-beds, adding a built-in bench to the porch, painting the ceiling and closets and recycled furniture, staying after wood gnawing bumblebees, and little bit of roof work (plus a few other little odds and ins). We still have a few things that can be done but thanks to the hard work of several brothers and sisters our little cabin is still sitting pretty and ready to be used for another camping season.

Today I’m aiming to start the week the way I ended the last one. I’m going to be preaching from John 9:8-28 about skeptics, deniers and plain old unbelievers…they’re nothing new, so stand strong in the Light of the world that’s opened your eyes! After we get home and I finish our/my regular Sunday afternoon routine I’m going to try to write-up a concise little story about the Spanish congregation that’s been started here in DeKalb county for Brotherhood News. New work is work and working is what the church ought to be doing one way or the other, right?

#bible-camp, #evangelism, #singing

Eugene Adkins 6:31 pm on 2014-03-25
Tags: , , Singing,   

Looking for a suggestion

Most of the time on 5th Sundays we have a Song and Scripture service in the evening. I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned it here before. The gist is that there’s an overall theme that determines the direction and then from there we read some scripture that’s associated with the topic and then follow that with a song to match.

What I’m looking for is an idea for a theme. In no particular order, other than alphabetical, these are the themes that I have used in the past:

Continue reading →

#nudge, #scripture-reading, #singing, #worship

Joshua Gulley 11:54 pm on 2013-12-20
Tags: , , , , , orchestral music, , , Singing,   

victory

I was recently afforded the opportunity to perform in the Murfreesboro Symphony Chorus at a concert with the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra. I had been to orchestral performances many times before, and while they can be very exciting, they can also be a bit tiresome during some passages. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself waking up to the applause of the audience at the end of a piece. This one, however–almost every moment of it–was different.

Perhaps it was the acoustics–the reverberation in the venue; perhaps it was the one or two thousand faces focused in on the stage; perhaps it was being able to see the conductor’s face for once instead of his back; perhaps it was getting to be part of a group of incredible singers to which I felt inferior; perhaps it was the beauty of the music, much of which was written by one of the best-known composers of our time. As I sang with the choir, or simply sat and listened as the orchestra played alone, excitement flowed through me like electricity during almost the entire concert. Every solo, every climax, every quiet passage, every pause created a sensation I could feel, not only in my mind and heart, but in my body. Here was a group of some of the best musicians (and me) performing excellent music by one of the most well-regarded modern composers on some of the finest instruments in a superb venue, led by one of the most talented conductors in our region. Every person there (on stage and in the audience) was focused on one thing–the music. Being in the midst of the ensemble provided for one of the most intense musical experiences I’ve ever had.

Revelation 14, 15, and 19 have descriptions of multitudes of people and angels singing praise to God. I’m afraid sometimes we think of that image and liken it to our local congregational singing, which–like any other thing we do on a regular basis–can often seem less than thrilling. Continue reading →

#assembly, #book-of-revelation, #christianity, #heaven, #music, #orchestral-music, #praise, #revelation, #singing, #worship

Eugene Adkins 7:02 am on 2013-10-10
Tags: , , Praise Teams, Singing,   

Who’s the one getting the praise again?

On page 3 (and continued on page 12) of this month’s Christian Chronicle there’s a story that praises a congregation’s “western themed cowboy church Sunday” out on an old movie ranch. Well yee-haw! I didn’t realize that it should take any theme other than God and Jesus’ sacrifice to get a person’s schedule centered back around worship, Bible study, fellowship and good works. But something else got my attention too while I was reading about the congregation’s get-together.

Included with the story is a sizeable picture of an audience sitting in the middle-ground with trays for communion in the foreground and a “praise team” in the background. Contrary to the picture though, I believe the order of the arrangements were completely the opposite. And by that I mean that the “praise team” was front and center with the communion trays sitting nicely in the backseat.

I never have understood the name “praise team” when it comes to the churches of Christ who are looking to spice up the worship services by adding a little more “spirituality” and “good emotions” to the mix. If you’re going to have “praise teams” then have them. But at least be honest enough with yourself and with others to call them what they are. They’re choirs without the robes! The rest of the religious world has no problem with calling their “praise teams” by the proper name. The only thing that I can figure is that they don’t want to look like or sound like the rest of the religious world too much. Too late! If it walks and quacks like a duck, then odds are it’s a duck!

And all duck references aside, please know that I didn’t grow up attending the worship services of the churches of Christ, so I’m more than just a little familiar with what I say. And I know that some won’t like what I’m about to say, but I’m going to say it anyways.

“Praise teams” take the attention off of worshipping God as a congregation in song by putting the emphasis on certain singers above the others. Try to spin it however you want – that’s the truth! I’ve seen the “applications” for those “praise teams” before. You have to be considered worthy to join. They’re not interested in making a “joyful noise” unto the Lord – they’re interested in people-pleasing notes and lyrics. “Praise teams” are exclusionary by their very nature and that’s why I am 100% against them. They take an act that’s meant to lift up God and they turn it into an act that lifts them up. And it doesn’t matter if it’s people up on the stage or “miked-up” voices in the pews; the goal is the same – a “better sounding” version of the song to the ears of people when the goal should be God centered worship.

“Praise teams” and their promoters need to remember who’s meant to get the praise during the church’s worship of God and start forgetting about what sounds “good” to their own ears.

#focus, #god, #praise-teams, #singing, #worship

docmgphillips 8:59 pm on 2013-10-08
Tags: , Scripturally correct, Singing   

I Corinthians 14:15…Singing

I love and encourage discussion among Christians, so here’s another thought question. In the above Scripture, Paul tells us to both pray and sing with “understanding” or with the “mind,” depending on the translation, and to edify others. As I grow in the Scriptures, I come to realize that some hymns, to me at lest, simply are not Scriptural. Some of them involve real errors in Scripture. If I am to sing with “understanding,” I need to be aware of what I am singing, don’t I? So, it seems to me, I need to notice the words in the hymns that have been selected if I am singing with “understanding” and to edify others present. My question is: If I realize that a hymn that has been selected by the song leader is not Scripturally correct, do I sing or not? What if the singing leads another to accept something that is not Scriptural?

#mutual-edification, #scripturally-correct, #singing

Eugene Adkins 6:33 am on 2013-09-30
Tags: , , , Singing, ,   

A Song and Scripture Outline: Notes from Revelation

I believe I’ve mentioned before that on 5th Sundays at Keltonburg we have a song and scripture service in the evenings. It consists of a topic/theme with the reading of scriptures pertaining to the theme and the singing of songs that go along with the scriptures that are read. The theme that we used yesterday was: Notes from Revelation. It was a play on the word “notes” to include the singing as much as the scripture when it comes to reminding us about the overall theme of the book.

Here’s the outline in case you’re interested:

  • Revelation 1:10-20 / God Holds the Future in His Hands
  • Revelation 4:1-11 / Holy, Holy, Holy
  • Revelation 5:5-14 / Worthy Art Thou
  • Revelation 7:9-17 / Beautiful
  • Revelation 11:15-19 / The Kingdom is Spreading
  • Revelation 12:1-11 / Hide Me, O My Savior, Hide Me
  • Revelation 14:1-7 / We’re Marching to Zion
  • Revelation 20:7-15 / There’s a Great Day Coming
  • Revelation 22:1-5, 12-17 / There’s a Fountain Free
  • Paradise Valley

It’s a pretty good outline as far as covering 22 chapters with 9 scripture readings and 10 songs goes, but a person can definitely add to it or take away from it as they see fit…the outline that is, but not the book (Revelation 22:18-19).

#book-of-revelation, #outline, #scripture, #singing, #song-and-scripture-service, #worship