This is the very fact why I think it is so important to sing hymns over the new "Praise and Worship" songs of today. Hymns have been completely left out of services today. Very few know why hymns were written and the fact each one was written based on biblical truths. Seven Eleven music, as it is now entitled (Seven phrases repeated eleven times) are not based on biblical doctrine as hymns were. The following is a prime example:July 3
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
Horatio G. Spafford, 1828�1888
God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
Inner peace through an implicit trust in the love of God is the real evidence of a mature Christian faith. Only with this kind of confidence in his heavenly Father could Horatio Spafford experience such heart-rending tragedies as he did and yet be able to say, �It is well with my soul.�
Spafford had known peaceful and happy days as a successful attorney in Chicago. He was the father of four daughters, an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and a loyal friend and supporter of D. L. Moody and other evangelical leaders of his day. Then, a series of calamities began, starting with the great Chicago fire of 1871 which wiped out the family�s extensive real estate investments. When Mr. Moody and his music associate, Ira Sankey, left for Great Britain for an evangelistic campaign, Spafford decided to lift the spirits of his family by taking them on a vacation to Europe. He also planned to assist in the Moody-Sankey meetings there.
In November, 1873, Spafford was detained by urgent business, but he sent his wife and four daughters as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Harve, planning to join them soon. Halfway across the Atlantic, the ship was struck by an English vessel and sank in 12 minutes. All four of the Spafford daughters�Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie�were among the 226 who drowned. Mrs. Spafford was among the few who were miraculously saved.
Horatio Spafford stood hour after hour on the deck of the ship carrying him to rejoin his sorrowing wife in Cardiff, Wales. When the ship passed the approximate place where his precious daughters had drowned, Spafford received sustaining comfort from God that enabled him to write, �When sorrows like sea billows roll � It is well with my soul.� What a picture of our hope!
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll�Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well with my soul.
Tho Satan should buffet, tho trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and shed His own blood for my soul.
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll: The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, �Even so��it is well with my soul.
Chorus: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
For Today: Psalm 31:14; 142:3; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 4:19
Ask yourself if you can truthfully say, �It is well with my soul,� no matter what the circumstances may be that surround you.
Osbeck, K. W. (1990). Amazing grace : 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (202). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications.
I would just like to say after reading your profile and comments that I agree on mostly everything you wrote and find it interesting as well as refreshing that you state what you believe and want in a women.
The 711 music statement is what I would like to question. The Bible states we are to sing hymns and praises to God and each other, however, Contemporary and Gospel music also has it's place. It is another tool to inspire, encourage, and comfort one another or one's self. Any music that praises God and is anointed by the Holy Spirit can be used as a tool to reach others. We have to expand our thinking and not put our faith in a box. I love hymns and sing them often, but I also love Worship music from Africa, the Bahamas, Ireland, and from all over the world.
HI, I'm "skyborn", and would like to say that I am in full agreement with my brother who disdains 7-11, contemporary music. YES, the old hymns have character, doctrine, comfort and genuine spiritual content. There are a number of good women on this site that I could correspond with, but for the music issue.
We are spirit, soul and body. The spirit is what got born again. That is where The Holy Spirit abides in us. The soul is the seat of our emotion,volition and intellect. The body is the container and is overwhelmingly concerned with self...pleasure...fun...etc. Music was give us by God to be used in worship to himself. We were created for HIS pleasure, and not our own, but when we realize that, we find that in his presence is fulness of joy! Develop a strong spirit and you will find the old hymns will thrill you. nuff said.
I would tend to agree with you and Doug. I am a lover of the hymns of faith and enjoy singing them corporately and playing them on the piano.
The 711 songs tend to have a lot of me me me and I I I in them, which to me show those songs are more about myself than worship to God. We are singing to him and worshiping him in Spirit and in truth. He already knows about us......he wants to know we care and love him in worship.
Very few churches, with a worship and praise team........ and a band, I've been in have successfully accomplished worship with "praise and worship" songs. Most of their praise songs are non-repetitive and concentrate on God.
