The Psalms are the word of Christ

[aron]

Originally Posted by aron

We are free. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

We may initially think that some superior forms and formats are preferred vehicles for the HS, but too quickly they become yokes of slavery. Entanglements.

I had an interesting conversation this week with the "worship leader" after a church service. The guy was obviously very skilled, but he was doing a kind of simplistic melodic structure, kind of repetitious. Later I went up to him and said, "Obviously you are a skilled player, and I love your style, which is very inventive (he had a 'jazzy' style; very fluid and nimble and you could tell he was having fun). But that song was rather rudimetary. Are you purposely 'dumbing down' your music for the assembly?"

I felt that he was afraid to really play up to his skill level. Like he had to do the lowest-common-denominator thing for the church service. Many Praise & Worship groups really bore me.

He said, "No, I took my time, and worked hard on that arrangement. Both the words and the song structure were very carefully chosen. But thank you for your input."

Later I felt convicted -- like, who was I to tell him how to arrange his song? That experience really helped me. I can "like" or "not like" an arrangement (and believe me, there's a lot I don't like), but that doesn't mean that anyone else's relationship with the Holy Spirit of God is of some inferior quality. Everyone has their own approach -- who am I to dictate what is "better" or "closer to the heart of God"? As long as someone approaches God respectfully who can tell them what's the proper "joyful noise"?

Wow -- I really felt free after that. I'm free! Hallelujah! If God wants to tell a musician to compose differently, then certainly God is able to. I can be free to follow the voice within. We all will stand before the Lord. What a release that was. Incredible!