I have read the comments here about the Dallas Church of God. We have visited Dallas and I agree. Something always hits me when I hear and read things like this.As a preacher’s kid I used to sneak out of church during service. In EVERY town dad pastored during the singing service there were about half as many people from the neighborhood outside listening to the singing as inside.I have spoken to people in several states, especially Florida and they remember the same. There were no trained choirs, very seldom was there a ‘practice’ session. Working people weren’t told if they didn’t practice they could not sing in the choir, etc.My wife and I were traveling the USA at the time the ‘Praise Teams’ were being formed. Churches across the country and several denominations were doing the same. No longer did the pastor announce, Anyone want to sing in the choir come on up.During the phase in of the ‘teams, People did not know when to stand or when to sit. Many folk stood for 30 minutes, many seniors could not.You will notice that Bro Danny over the years has not gone to a praise team. THE CHOIR IS A PRAISE TEAM!!!! He used the talent sitting in the pews. 20-80 people in a choir can see the action and reactions of a congregation. They can see as their brothers and sisters begin to praise and worship and they join in.If all the church sees is the pastor and the praise team they do not get to see that. There is more to singing in the choir than singing, there is INTERACTION.At times the Praise Team is a ‘show group’ they do get to use their talents, BUT WHAT OF THE OTHERS that also have talent but are more introverted? I am not finding fault here, just saying that to have the services experienced, you must have the same spirit and actions of those days past.Those are just my opinions. To be factual, most people who love, enjoy and appreciate those services on screen are us older folk, ones who remember times past. Are today’s ‘worship’ services wrong? I don’t think so. We change, or usually morph. We still serve the same God even if we do not run the aisles, BUT our singing is not what it was in the 30s-60s. We aren’t as joyful. ________________Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/
So many churches are worshipping worship and more concerned about attracting the right crowd, numbers, etc., than they are attracting the Holy Spirit. You known what I mean! I’m sure you’ve seen the meme they’ve traded in the altar for a stage. This little video has a lot of truth, also! fb.watch/4Apfu9faUA/I love the Dallas Church of God praise, worship, sermon! I also love Ladd Springs Church of God .. check it out. Our former General Overseer Dennis McGuire is pastoring a church God has called him to, Ladd Springs COG in Old Fort, TN. The services are live-streamed on FB. The Branham family are usually the leaders in worship.laddspringscog.com/
Re: The Best Singing in the Country
You make some excellent points. Your comment that we aren’t as joyful as we once were strikes me as being at the root of what’s missing in our churches. If the joy of the Lord is our strength, might the lack of joy explain, at least partially, the absence of real power in our services________________“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
I agree that joy is missing in the lives of many believers and feel it would help if people learned the value of praising God throughout the week. We are on the same page because last Sunday when sharing about the joy in Acts 2
Ladd Springs was the first church I remember attending as a child. My dad received the Holy Ghost there in 1958, during a revival with Charles Forgey. Later my dad preached his second sermon there (someone asked him to Bancroft COG, then Bro. Forgey heard about it and told him he was preaching that coming Sunday night–ha!)
To many people worship a style of music. I can worship to about any style as long as the message is right. I do struggle when people have to be begged to sing or do any ministry. If you’ve not prepared you have not given God your best and that is not worship in my opinion________________
God bless the Dallas Church of God. I have watched their services and it is certainly like the music that I grew up with. I think that is why a lot of people watch Jimmy Swaggart. They like reliving the type of music and such that ministered to them at a certain point in life.
Dallas COG is the style I grew up with and deeply love. I also love much of the newer stuff. Basically, as long as it has the touch of God on it, I’m in!It is important to remember that it is often the older folks that paid the bills and supported a church to get it to where it is today. It is very easy to want the old folks to upgrade to the newer music…but when isn’t it just as valid to ask the new folks to start liking the older music?We ought to be trying to reach everyone, of course, but we ought to ESPECIALLY seek to ensure that our older folks–the ones who often bore the burden to get the church to where it’s at today–are fully ministered to. It is deeply unfair to expect them to adapt to all the changes, but not as the young folks to do some adapting also. That in itself show a harmful bias against the older generation. Yes, we need to attract new people. But if it’s done right, old and new can be mixed in a way that is satisfying to all. Medley’s that start with old songs and morph into newer ones (or vice versa) often help bridge that gap.What doesn’t work well–unless it is truly an anointed song–is used REALLY NEW stuff. If people know that song enough to sing the words, or at least have some familiarity with it, that seems to enable greater acceptance.
Aaron said: EVERYTHING works if it’s anointed.Amen to that________________Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/