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Print September 3, 2007 By Michael Alford
How far away from our musical heritage do we need to get to be modern? How far from our past do we need to get so that some preachers will feel that their churches can grow? They have changed the names of our churches so that they won’t offend anyone. Now it’s getting into the music.
I love the praise and worship music that we have in our churches, but what happened to the songs like “Everybody Will Be Happy Over There,” “It’s All in Him,” and all of the songs that are about the blood that Jesus shed. Do we not sing these songs any more because it is not politically correct? Do we not sing about heaven any more because we don’t want to offend those who are not ready? These are the things I think about now. Do we need to be so modern that we forget the songs that brought us to the places we are now—the songs that moved the saints of old? The songs that moved the hardest of hearts, songs that brought in the true anointing of God?
Changing Times, Unchangeable Values? Change is good and moving ahead and becoming more contemporary so we can reach a different generation—I’m all for it. Yet have we forgotten where we came from?
In the Bible there are many places where God told the children of Israel that they should not forget where they had come from, even telling them to build monuments to help them remember. To me, the old hymns are monuments to help us remember where God has brought us from as a church.
I myself am a fifth generation Pentecostal and a church musician; I know where I come from. I was told as a young child about my church heritage and how my family came out of denominational churches and had to fight for the truth. I heard stories of how some of them were tarred and feathered and egged, just because they wanted to be a part of a Pentecostal church. Many were beaten for preaching the name of Jesus. The old hymns came as a result of these trials—songs of faith, victories, and hope. When you sing these songs, you remember where you came from.
If you really want to feel the true anointing of God, sing some of the old songs. You will feel a deeper anointing than when you sing the new praise and worship songs. Some of these new songs don’t even talk about God, and some are even worldly.
Too Far or Just Far Enough So how far is too for? Are we at a point in our movement that we are ashamed of our heritage and our past and we are willing to let go of the things that are needed in our worship? Are we trying to become modern, more like the world? Is this the cost we will have to pay for a revival? If so, then why did God tell us to go back to the old paths to find the directions in the ways we should go? As Proverbs 22:28 says “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.”
Can that not apply to the older hymns of the church? And again I will say that I am for change; we do need to modernize. However, is it necessary to forget the songs of Zion, calling them old fashioned? Please remember these are the songs that helped make us different; these are the songs that we clapped our hands to and raised our hands up to God with praise, and we also shouted around our altars in victory with these songs. So how far are we going to go?
Advice and a Warning We need to keep singing these songs so that the new generation will know them and understand where this church has come from. They don’t need to forget that the generations before them had to fight for this truth to be preached and it was not always as easy as now, and that they can still get the victory singing the old songs of Zion.
As Lanny Wolfe says, “Some praise and worship music in the church music marketplace today would be better classified as making the singer ‘feel good’ above and beyond the true essence of the worship to God for which the song should be intended. To omit some of the great music worship treasures of the church in our praise and worship services today would be the same as a rich and powerful host serving a meal to dignitaries and not having the experience end with dessert! How will our new converts and our children and our children’s children ever experience the joy of “Blessed Assurance” or “The Old Rugged Cross” if we don’t serve them up as a part of our praise and worship music experience in our present-day services? It would be the minister of music’s responsibility to make sure that his musical menu provides for allowing our children the opportunity of being exposed to these great music treasures of the body of Christ so that they fall in love with them in the same way that our father’s generation did and in the same way that we have.”
You can hear the echoes of the sentiments of many saints who miss congregational singing. They are never recognized and are forced to listen to choirs and praise and worship singers. And again there is nothing wrong with some praise and worship music. Many saints do their best and sing their hearts out, but what about changing sometimes for their benefit, if nothing else, out of respect to those that have paved the way? Where has anointed singing gone?
What is wrong with hymnals? People are never blessed anymore and no one joins in singing when only choirs sing. Now you don’t sing at churches, you are sung to! You might as well be at a concert. It is the same principle.
Not New Members, But Remade Members Churches don’t need new members half as much as they need the old bunch made over and made in God’s image. This is not referring to such beautiful choruses as “You Are Awesome In This Place, Abba Father!” Beautiful beyond words! But what price do we pay for becoming modern in the eyes of this world?
The Israelites stopped singing their songs when they were in captivity in Babylon according to the Old Testament: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song: and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”(Psalm 137:1-4).
Please, let us not forget the songs of Zion.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Michael Alford
---------- Michael Alford is one of those church brats that was in church when the doors where open, which was about every night. He grew up in a musical family which helped his love for music. That love for music sent him to JCM to study under one the great Pentecostal musicians: Lanny Wolfe. Michael now lives in Nashville, Tennessee and attends the Turning Point Church, where he is the church organist and assistant to the music director as well as the Singles Pastor. Michael’s favorite pastime is to listen to all kinds of music form Classical to Black Gospel. His favorite CD at this time is Classic (hymns) by Caleb Collins.
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