These guys are good. I think all Christians need to listen closely to what Josh Brown has to say in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82KyfftAINo

That speech sounds a lot like one I’ve heard from some of my favorite churches & we’ve given at 24-Seven. If church is designed to just make the “religious” happy rather than touching ALL people in culturally relevant ways then we are not doing what Christ did. The message of Christ stays the same but the method in which it is delivered should make sense and be inviting to those who don’t go to church. I’ve been called the rock-n-roll pastor by a few “religious” people who thought I’d actually take it as an insult. I will say though, I have been pleasantly surprised we haven’t been attacked by more people for our unique style of reaching people for Jesus at 24-Seven. The majority of other churches and Christians have been so loving & supportive. They seem to understand that we need churches with lots of different styles of delivering the life-saving message of Jesus because different people are attracted to different things - we’re not a cookie cutter nation.  Some people prefer McDonalds, some prefer Olive Garden, others prefer Pizza Hut… Some people connect better in traditional style churches, some prefer a blend of traditional & contemporary (I call it easy-listening), and some prefer more contemporary.  Not one style is right or wrong if the focus is on glorifying Jesus and bringing people closer to Him.

Good post, thanks & God bless!

Pastor Steve,

Thanks for the reply. I’m sure that you take alot of heat from folks inside the Adventist Church community about your style of music.

Check out a group called This Beautiful Republic...they really rock for Jesus...check them out on thescup.com

This is where the Adventist Church needs to really think about itself and the true mission of a church...reaching people.

At times...I have seen folks...typically older Adventist who condemn this type of music...to me that’s simply just legalistc and dogmatic. I guess they base their views on Ellen White and her stance on music. Again...here we go about the Ellen White deal and putting her on a pedestal.

I struggle in my mind about her...I’m not sure I consider her a Prophet...with that said, can one still be an Adventist and not believe she is a Prophet? After all, she was one of the founders of the church.

Please help me with this.

Lawrence

Actually we don’t get much heat at all.  When I was in the Mid-west I had some people hassle the churches we started there, but 95% of the Adventists in the Seattle area have been supportive or at least understanding of what we’re trying to do.  Most of those who are uncomfortable ask me to help them understand rather than judge us.  It’s been very refreshing.

Not being clear whether EGW was a prophet or not does not disqualify you from being an Adventist.  Based on my experience I would say at least 70% of Adventists question one or more of the 28 beliefs.  Remember, Adventist do not have a creed aside from the Bible.  From the Adventist website, “Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed...”

God bless!

I just happen to be reading online here and found this; it’s very appropriate to what we were discussing:

“Of course some of the things we label as ‘church’ just aren’t church at all! Sometimes we use the word to describe a structure. A religious club. A historical society - not the community that makes God’s heart race and his spine tingle. But wherever people gather in the name of Jesus, he promises to appear. Not out of some dull duty, some biblical handcuff. He appears because he wants to be there like lovers always do. Like lovers always will. And you can laugh at the furniture, hate her mother’s cooking and her father’s jokes but you still want to be with that girl every time she calls. And sometimes when she doesn’t.

So you can make church a place of smells and bells with free-range monks and polystyrene communion wafers or you can make it a happy clappy bless-me club with facial hair and non-alcoholic wine, you can shout in tongues or chant in Latin, you can read the King James or the Eugene Peterson versions of Scripture. But if the gathering is in the name of Jesus, I know that he’ll be there. I know that love will be there. And yes, I guess I’ll be there as well.”

Ellen White rightfully asks us to look to the Bible for truth. She even undercuts her ow teachings, suggestions, and visions by saying that she didn not think of herself as a prophet. Lets follow her advice in this. (Not that she dose not have some great things to say, but so does Pastor Steve...ya see?)

Psalms 98:4-9

4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;

5 make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

Psalms 150

1 Praise the LORD. [a]
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

2 Samuel 6:14-15,20-23

14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets....

20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

21 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

From http://www.laudemont.org
Musical expression of Christian worship reaches its New Testament climax in the hymns of the Revelation to John. In John’s vision, acts of praise before God’s throne accompany the dramatic unfolding of events on earth. These hymns glorify the Creator (4:11), proclaim the worth of the Lamb (5:9-10; 5:12), extol both the Father and the Son (5:13; 7:10; 7:12), celebrate God’s triumph over the enemies of his people (11:16; 11:17-18; 12:10-12; 19:1-3; 19:6-8), and proclaim his justice (15:3-4; 16:5-7). Additional songs celebrate the defeat of the unfaithful city, persecutor of the saints (chapter 18). This pageant of praise is initiated by four living creatures drawn from the vision of Ezekiel, singing words derived from Isaiah’s vision in the temple (Rev. 4:8). It expands to include the elders of the covenant people, the hosts of heaven, and eventually every creature. Perhaps these hymns reflect the actual worship practice of the church near the end of the first century. If so, the Revelation offers a window not only into the judgments of God in the earth but also into the development of Christian liturgy and hymnody.

Me again…

It looks like as the technology improved for making music, Gods people used it. Revelation describes a choir singing too. Jesus gave us a few warnings about the last days. See to it that you are not deceived! Lets keep our minds open to correction! At the same time the evidence I have seen points us to passonate praise of God. This is a gift for God.