"One of the things I don’t like about the church growth movement, how it creates a very homogenious congregation of approximately the same ages, and I think that has to do with the worship being fundamentally a form of entertainment, in which the congregation doesn’t do any work..." -- Stanley Hauerwas, from The Work of the People
"We are the most educated Christians in history, and yet our lyrics are considerably stupider than our much less educated Christian forebears–the people who sang lyrics by Fanny Crosby or Charles Wesley or Isaac Watts." -- John Stackhouse
"Rather than trying to get dumber than a fifth-grader in the worship service (no offense to my fifth-grade daughter), offer truth that grows my understanding of God as we glorify him." -- Bill Blankschaen
"True worship is not a fad; it never has been and never will be. True worship is eternal. Other trends come and go, but spirit-and-truth worship always has been what the Father is seeking." -- Terry MacAlmon
"Songs roam around in our heads, especially if the melody appeals to us. What is often overlooked is the serious impression music makes on people, and the teaching they are getting over and over again as they allow the song to repeat in their minds and on their lips." -- Sandy Simpson
"What you hear today in the music of the world, you will hear in the church within twenty years." -- Anonymous music professor
"When I see an emphasis on style and method, rather than Biblical teaching in church ministries and certainly in music programs I fear that, rather than being contemporary, we are being contaminated." -- J. LaVerne Smith
4 comments:
It's probably a sign of how low we've sunk that Fanny Crosby is held up in one of these quotes as an example of intelligent hymn-writing.
I agree partly, that we are the most educated in history of man kind, yet our education is worldly, not biblical.
On a SBC blog one pastor said & several of the others agreed with him, "That we are closer to God today than out brothers & sisters of the past. We are much better Christians than they were." And the fellow who stated this said both his father & grand father were Baptist pastors.
Yes, Jason, I think so. I've written (or "written at") a few hymns, and I'm not overly critical of the attempts of others (if they are sincere), but I think it isn't hard to see the difference between the hymns of Watts & Wesley versus Crosby -- and then to see how much Crosby excels most of what goes for popular Christian "hymns" today.
Old Cotton Picker, I'd have a hard time agreeing with that SBC pastor that we are closer to God today than our brothers & sisters of the past.
Lovely collection about music quotes. Thanks for doing like this job.
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