Churches Of Christ/Praise Music

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Expert: - 7/30/2011


Question
Can praise music be included in our worship services along with our old standards of songs sung by most churches?  Can it be backed up by The Holy Bible?  What would you need to watch out for in choosing appropriate Praise Music?  I have researched these questions and would like to have more input as I'm split about equally "for and against".  Thank you and God bless you and your endeavors, Gary

Answer
Hi Gary,

It is already done in most churches of Christ today. About every hymn book I have seen has at least some of what you call "praise music" in them. I personally have a real problem with many of them. I am a trained musician who has studied classical piano, voice, and music theory since I was 12 years old. I personally believe just on a music quality aspect that these modern "praise songs" are poorly written and because of more of the "pop" sound to me it seems they are less reverent to God just in their sound. Also these songs were written to be sung with musical instruments so they are not nearly as easy to sing acappella as traditional hymns.

I also see very shallow messages in most of them and many I believe are not scripturally sound for us to be singing in worship to God. I know that all this is mostly just my opinion and there are many within the church who might disagree with me, but it's how I see it. In regard to whether or not we should sing these "praise music" songs in our worship, I believe the best thing to do is have the elders within each congregation evaluate all the songs in our books and determine which are unscriptural in message and should not be used.

There isn't anything in the Bible regarding what we call "praise music" songs. So long as we are singing to God only with our voices and no musical instruments are accompanying us, I believe God is only offended if the words of the song are not scripturally sound in message.

I hope this helps. I might recommend you also ask your question to Ernie Lawrence here in our church of Christ expert list.

Thanks, In Christian Love, Joe Norman

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Joe Norman

Expertise

I can answer questions regarding acceptable worship, organization of the church, or any apsect of the Christian life. I am the son of a preacher and have studied the Bible from cover to cover since I was 12 years old. I am strong in my research skills and do not follow teachings of men. Many will label me as conservative and some might label me as liberal, but I just seek to be biblical. I understand proper exegesis and hermeneutics and apply them. My desire is to share my knowledge of God's Word with others. Please always keep in mind that none of us who are listed as experts here are divinely inspired and therefore it is possible to get incorrect answers from any one of us. Study the Scriptures and decide for yourself if what is taught is true.

Experience

I am the 4th generation in my family to be a faithful member of the church of Christ. I was raised by a preacher and have studied the Bible everyday since I was twelve. I am 45 yrs old now. I am not a "scholar", but I am very familiar with the scriptures.

Organizations
member of the church of Christ, served as a Deacon for a few years at LakeShore church of Christ in Waco, Tx. I currently live in the North Dallas area and am still very active within the church of Christ teaching, leading Bible Studies, and songleading as well. I am also actively involved in online ministry. I hope to open my own webpage eventually.

Education/Credentials
School of hard knocks

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