Yes, the only worship that God accepts in the end is that which is "in spirit and reality (truthfulness)". Dead traditional worship is equally not of much value..
This is truth brother. This is the grand picture. I guarentee you God turns his ear to the hearts of those praising him, not to those who mouth the words for the sake of tradition. It doesn't matter "how" one chooses to praise him, what matters is one's heart's intention.
But going back to your earlier post, if our standard is the Word, and everything should be tested by it, why are these two posts based so much around your feeling and opinion without the Bible's backing? In this whole thread I've seen maybe two or three verses in total that could substantiate this stance ('God is able to raise up children from these rocks' 'Praise Him with the lyre and with the harp...let everything that has breath praise God') and those are far from concrete...
The Word of God, however it is delivered, --as long as it is not added to, taken from, or polished by one's personal opinion instead of inspired by the Holy Spirit-- should be bloomed in everything that proceeds out of our mouths and our daily walk. It doesn't matter how loud or how soft we display it, God's Word is standard.
I personally test the music I listen to according to God's word.
For example, I first believed that the band Evancence, because of what the content of their lyrics spoke, was a christian band. They even performed with a Christian band that I HIGHLY regard in the music industry. Their lyrics even led myself to think they were speaking to a generation of goth, and crying out to God. When I did my research, the band PROUDLY announced they were NOT Christians.
There are plenty of scriptures that back up music. AND- back up all styles of music. Music of hymns sung in multitudes and alone. Large groups of people, and small groups of people. David in Psalms sang with great emotions such as anger, saddness, praise, love, confusion, seeking wisdom, being victorious etc... But when it all came down to the grand scheme, David gave ALL the glory to God.
Here are some scriptures that base my opinion that God doesn't give us a "style" of music that he only accepts but using it for it's purpose...
Colossians 3:16 --Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
I Chronicles 15:16 --David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.
Psalms 33:3 --Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
James 5:13 --Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
1 Samuel 16:23 --Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
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Music was also used for other purposes according to the scriptures.. You cannot convince me that the "style of music" sang to praise God was the same. Here's a couple scriptures that prove a different style of music:
Celebrating military victories, Exodus 15:1-21
Feast days, Leviticus 23:23-25
Sound an alarm for battle against the enemy, Numbers 10:9
When we go to the Bible what kind of pattern do we see? In the book of Acts did Paul and Peter put on a Greek tragedy style gospel event to attract people to the gospel? In fact did they make any concession whatsoever to the popular art forms of the day? They only had the Word, the Holy Spirit, prayer, hymns...there isn't the slightest hint of wordliness in their gospel service. That is a wholly modern invention and one based more on man's preference than the Bible. Only when we lack the reality of the Spirit does it become necessary to resort to worldly means to bring people to Christ. ..
We cannot reach a generation or future generations if we are still living in the way of past generations. God's Word is the only thing that NEVER changes. Our times obviously have.
If one believes that heavy rock or rap or whatever genre of music is wrong and doesn't exalt God because that's not how they did it in Jesus' day or in the days the bible records, then we should banish computers, cars, electricity and anything that has evolved and discovered because it wasn't something done in that day.
Our young people are our legacy. We can change our "vehicles" of delivering God's word with the times. I believe God allows this, because it will reach people who are lost.
God doesn't care what car you drive, music you listen to, house you live in, or down to what brand of paper towels you purchase, as long as you give HIM the glory, and lead others to know Jesus as thier savior, this is what really matters.
Again, I know I'm touching people's strongly held feelings and I hope this does not offend you brother.
cerebus, reaching deep into God's word is important, and we are to test everything before we take part in anything. It is good to discuss these things, and to think about what we do because we ALL will give an account one day. You do not offend me, as we serve and honor the same God. We both love the same Jesus. We are both on the same team. We both are God's children and we both by grace are saved by the blood of Christ.
(I am a sister though-- haha)
