Simple Church Minute 37--praise and worship band

37—Praise & Worship Band

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute.

            When I was a teen, I was attending a traditional church that had a hymnbook with about 500 songs in it.  The songs varied on subject such that the pastor could choose songs that fit with the subject he was speaking on.  In the evening service, a song leader would ask the congregation for suggestions on what to sing.  Out of those 500, the ones that would be requested came from a group of 9, week after week.  One of those songs was titled, “At Calvary,” which began, “Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified.”  I just don’t know how many people there that had a personal story that fit that song.  Then, why was that song continually picked?  Musically, it was one of the nine best in that book in being relatively upbeat, easy, and fun to sing.  Here at this radio station, they’ve got a lot of music they never play because those songs are missing some x factor that the songs they do play have.

            The Word instructs believers to worship.  Worship is different than music.  Music can be included but does not have to.  Some music can be musically good, can have a message that glorifies God, but still doesn’t fit worship.  There is no style that is more or less scriptural or unscriptural.  To that effect, today I’m going to mention the youngest of the post-Biblical, post-apostolic traditions in this series.  The praise and worship band goes back to 1965, in southern California.  Personally, I like the concept, but it isn’t necessary for worship, and the church, for better or worse, has moved on for generations without it.  Also, and while this is by no means the case yet, if almost everyone does a thing as if it is in scripture, but it is not, we walk close to the warning of Revelation 22 verses 18 and 19.   Worship, first and foremost, is honoring God from our hearts in spirit and truth.

            You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com. For more info on organic church*, visit http://www.simplechurch.com/ or locally at (local website).

On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.”  While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better.  I comment on that in blip 94.

           

Simple Church Minute 28--An introduction (it should have been #1)

28—orthopraxy (an introduction, which should have been #1)

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute.

            Martin Luther is recognized for, among other things, the phrase “sola scriptura”, in English, scripture alone.  The meaning is that God has communicated the truth that His people need for living so as to serve Him rightly through the Bible, and not the Bible plus any other tradition or book or secret communication that is to be held to be equal to the Bible.  Over the centuries, between the apostles who were inspired to write the New Testament and the Reformation, many doctrines and practices grew up in the church that cannot be traced to any correctly understood Bible passage.  Some have no connection to the Bible, and some were directly taught against by the apostles.  The Reformation targeted many points of incorrect doctrine, and in the following controversy many such incorrect points were corrected in at least some of the church, a few points in all of the church.

            The notable word I just said there was doctrine.  We use the word orthodoxy to mean right doctrine.  There is a similar word—orthopraxy—which means right practice.  The Reformation said little about, and to this day there are practices in all traditional church organizations that cannot be traced back to a direction given in scripture for the people of the New Covenant.  Some are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves, but if all or almost all of the church does a thing as if it is commanded in scripture, we walk close to crossing the line of violating the command of Revelation chapter 22 verse 18-19 not to add or delete from the Word.  Many of the problematical practices came from the Roman Empire forcing pagan accessories into the church.  The idea of this series of programs is not to say to any organization, “You are wrong,” but for you, as a believer in Jesus, desiring to do His will, to consider in your spirit problems of faith not being dealt with by parts of the Christian subculture, to God’s glory.

            You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com.  For more info on organic church*, see http://www.simplechurch.com/ or locally (local website).

On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.”  While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better.  I comment on that in blip 94.

Simple Church Minute 7--marketing plans

7—Marketing plans   

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute.

            Whether it is formally laid down on paper or not, almost all traditional churches have marketing plans.  It includes a name, which inside of it includes a denominational name or not, sometimes a logo, a location—sometimes a small building down a residential street, or a supermarket sized building on a heavy traffic count street, or something in between.  The building will have a certain look—maybe historical, maybe ultramodern.  Usually it has a person designated to serve as the head of the organization, presenter of lively, witty speeches, and, if he and his family are young and attractive, may also serve as mascots on billboards, websites, and TV.  Certain other features might be done to attract higher than average income and education types—or maybe lower than average, or a certain ethnicity, or a mix of ethnicities, or something else.

            None of that is scriptural, although some of these items may not actually be wrong, depending on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We all fall somewhere on the attractiveness scale, where the church meets will have a traffic count, even if only two or three are gathered.

            BUT if everyone, or at least many groups of believers do these same things the same way to the degree that it looks like we’ve added it to scripture, then—have we? Revelation chapter 22 verses 18 and 19 says, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.  Jesus addressed this in his day, as the Pharisees added, and the Saducees deleted, with regard to the Old Testament.  It is personally each of our jobs to desire to live in the direction Jesus is pointing.

            You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com.  For info on organic simple church*, see http://www.simplechurch.com/ or locally, (local website).

On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.”  While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better.  I comment on that in blip 94.