In Favor of Worship

I like a lot of the old hymns. I like semi-old hymns. I also like contemporary songs. In the great debate of what type of worship songs to have in church services, my answer is to not choose a category. I'm in favor of songs that worship God, not songs in a particular genre.

In my opinion, worshiping God isn't limited to one particular genre. He doesn't ONLY like being worshiped with hymns or contemporary songs. I think that our attitude in singing is one of the nice parts of worship. I think focusing on worship God, instead of which worship style is being used vs. my worship style preference, is what worship is about. If I only sing *my* favorite genre to worship God, I feel like I'm missing the point of worship.

Some of my favorite songs of worship are old hymns. (I define semi-old hymns are 100 or less years old. Old hymns are over 100 years old.) There is beauty in these old hymns, sung through the ages, by people seeking God. There is heritage and cadence present when I open my mouth to sing.

I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the old hymns until I started to pay attention to the dates of publication. Some songs I was surprised to learn how recently they were written. Other songs were from the 1400s or earlier.

One factor of choosing worship songs, is the attitude of the singer and the meaning of the song. There are great old hymns and great semi-old hymns, and great contemporary songs. There are also theologically unsound songs and songs full of platitudes in all categories.

I like songs that have heritage, that connect me with my family and my past.
     -Be Thou My Vision was sung at my parents' wedding.
     -Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing was sung at my sister's wedding.
     -How Great Thou Art was my Grandpa's favorite song.
     -It Is Well is the Gentry family song (and sung at my wedding).
     -an Amazing Grace remix is one of my first memories of BCM.

I do like re-vamping the old songs (i.e. singing to a guitar instead of a piano) sometimes.

If I had to list some of my favorite old hymns, what songs would make the top of the list of Liz?
     -Be Thou My Vision
     -In Christ Alone
     -Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
     -Amazing Grace
     -Blessed Assurance
     -I Surrender All
     -All Creatures of Our God and King

What are some semi-old hymns and contemporary songs that I love?
     -How Great Thou Art
     -Wonderful Merciful Savior
     -And God Cried
     -Here I Am, Lord
     -Testify to Love-Wynonna Judd
     -Our God is Greater-Chris Tomlin
     -You Loved Me Anyway-Sidewalk Prophets
     -Desert Song-Hillsong
     -I Will Lift My Eyes-Bebo Norman

What types of worship songs do you like? Why? Can God be worshiped with other genres of worship songs?

Reverently Standing?

Have you ever wondered why we are asked, in churches, to stand while the scriptures are being read? I know I have wondered this.

I'm told that we stand to honor God, but I know that my attitude is throwing sighs around as I stand up.

I'm told that it's a scripture thing (check out Nehemiah 8:1-18-especially verse 5). This wasn't a tradition thing or a requested thing. It was a decision made by the people present.

Who were the people? The Jews
What were they doing? Rebuilding the city.
When were the people there? After they were released from the Babylonian captivity.
Where were the people? In the rebuilt city of Jerusalem.
Ezra brought out the Torah and read it out-loud for 6+ hours (daybreak until noon).

The people stood (they weren't told to) when Ezra opened the Torah.
Ezra praised God and the people worshiped too (Amen!) and bowed down before God.
In 2nd Kings 22:1-23:31, it was a HUGE deal when the Torah was rediscovered.

As a side tangent, when was the last time that I got excited about the Bible? That I viewed reading the Bible as a privilege, not a thing to check off my to do list?

The part of me that loves consistency says, "If we are to stand in reverence to the reading of the word, we need to show this reverence every single service. We should not stay sitting on longer readings or sit in the evening services. Consistency is good."

If standing during the scripture doesn't mean anything to you, then standing isn't necessary. Stand, sit, kneel, bow down. Whatever makes you pay reverence to God.

I don't think standing while scripture is being read is a salvation thing or the foundation of Christianity, but it can be an act of worship.

Standing, responding (Amen, Amen), and kneeling before God can be acts of worship, but only if my heart is in the right place.

(Standing while praying is also a Biblical instruction. Check out Mark 11:25-WHEN you STAND praying...)