dear folks, what are your thoughts on when a church has what i call an open mic time each service for one of the congregation or a group to come up and sing to the LORD in front of everybody.. and they sign up and take turns doing this in the order they sign up in..
now my question is if they dont sing good to most folks should they be not allowed to continue to sing for the LORD when there is open mic and their turn? thanks
Yeah...I'd say this is the reason we have hymns and group singing in church. We're all supposed to blend into one body. That's the reasons behind the church. And while it's ok to sing God's praises everywhere...I'd say at church...it should be a group thing. So...you wanna sing up front with a mic? Grab some friends. Show humility. Blend in with Christs body. Maybe you're a eye instead of a mouth. Take some time to recognize your gifts and talents. Draw a picture...you could even put it in front of the mic...although I don't think it'd have the same effect. Tell a story. Recite a poem. Every one is not a singer...thank God...that would get old. And remember, once you make it through this krappy life...you'll receive a body like Christ's with every part in harmony...including your voice.
dear folks, , in ephesians verse 19 there would it be fair to say it is speaking of making a melody in your heart to the LORD? and not speaking about ones musical abilities.. ?
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
in other words if youre singing your heart out to the LORD and youre doin so with a joyous heart then isnt that making a melody in your heart to the LORD? cause when someones singing their heart out to the LORD it is joyous music in HIS ears is it not?
cause if thats not the case then there would be very few people that would be able to sing to the LORD , if it all depended on one having a beautiful voice concidered by all...
im thinkin also that not everybody likes every singer out there.. even the ones who are concidered able to really sing..
so lets say youre really able to sing good concidered by most.. yet say ole brother joe back in the back just dont like your voice .. so he goes up to the pastor and says hmm pastor i really dont like that gals voice.. so she cant sing anymore cause she aint no good. please dont let her have that mic again.. hehe
see i believe if you have an open mic the thats what it is.. open mic is just that.. open once the doors been opened to open mic you cant rightfully stop someone from singing because you or even some think they cant really sing..
now if say the choir directoror music director wanted to have some of the choir members do solos and he appointed them to do so .. instead of an open mic then yea you can pick and choose then.. cause its not been open mic ed to the congregation ...
or you do have the option of not allowing anyone to do so and just use the choir and the congregation as a whole or seperate.. you know everyone singin the same thing at the same time..
i got to tell yawl some of the best times ive seen was when a young child or a teenager or adult or elderly person got up to sing and even though it may not of sounded the best to my ears you could just see their love for the LORD and the GLORY of the LORD shining on their faces and in their words and you could just feel the SPIRIT flowing through the church.. some of those times toutched my heart more than times when there were concidered tremendous singers come by..
and as for maybe sometimes someones hearts not in the right place, well, let the LORD judge them on that one..
cause youll miss out on alot of heartfelt movement if you dont let em all sing.. ya never know when the LORDS gonna use someone to toutch another..
dear randy, ya see it doesnt really matter much whether it was a question for my self or someone elses i may of heard before..
the point is that when anyone gets the nerve up to ask a question on a public forum, well that takes guts to start with and you do make yourself vulnerable ..
now theyve asked their question and someone answers, what part of verses so and so didnt you understand?
now when we belittle others or become condescending, or sarcastic or insulting, to others here,
what that can do is make the one asking the question feel really embarrassed and kinda foolish..
and make em so theyll never ask a question again..
therefore causing them to possibly perish for lack of knowlege..
ya know its possible the next question out of their mouth might have been how do i too become saved?
and then that question never gets answered for them out of fear for embarrassment for asking it.... so its really best we dont do that to others here..
we answer the questions as best we can.. without the other things ya know..
thanks once again for the good scripture you gave..
Frankly I don't have a problem with anyone getting up there and sounding like the seagull in the Little Mermaid. The problem isn't that they sound bad, its all that murmuring in the congregation. Oh, come on now, you know its true, a giggle, a whisper, a roll of the eyes, or just a gulp and wide eyed "Wow!"
Then you have the ones that truly are gifted perhaps following them up. Not even really going to get into haughty or proud spirits rising up here, you have as good of imagination as I do.
Really now, if we are going to worship as a free for all, what do you need a Pastor for? Maybe someone in the crowd was make a talented Master of Ceremonies
But there are a lot of churches out there that work for a lot of people. Guess I am not a lot of people. I don't really like a bunch of murmuring in my church, nor do I like situations that lift up the largest contributors and lead others to believe that their thoughts don't matter because they don't have a right to one until they have a check big enough to buy one.
Maybe that is harsh, but frankly I get real tired of children of God being harsh to each other in a nice way. Or is it being nice to each other in a harsh way? Hard to figure out sometimes. There is just so very much of this, why anyone would open the floor to dissension this way is really beyond me. To me this is not worship, its entertainment, and if you want to have entertainment through church, then schedule a variety night and sell tickets.
Don't get me wrong, I encourage participation at worship. Just am not convinced that a free for all open mic is really a good idea, for if even one person gets hurt in the deal, was it worth it?
I only posted the verse to melody and should have put to the Lord to finish the whole verse, sorry about that.
I think it is melody to the Lord no matter how off key a person is when singing to HIM alone, but when one is singing to the Lord in a microphone in a church setting with people listening? God wants order and edifying for the whole body of Christ there.
Would anyone want someone to get up and play a trumpet, guitar, flute, piano or anything else out of tune in that mic? Would it be persecution to say that the instrument needs to be tuned or that the person actually needs to learn how to play it before doing a solo in a mic?
Quite honestly I speculate that the early church had singing a lot as they gathered each time in each others homes and the spotlight on one person did not exist. If one person did solo singing it was probably in tune as they did have stringed instruments to sing with but if not at least there was no microphone to magnify the non melody sound.
My grandchildren were playing the piano on Thanksgiving day and it was cute at first but I had to put a stop to it after a few minutes because it just did not bring harmony to my ears and was loud~lol~
I gently told them that they must learn what keys to play to make a pretty sound come from the piano~it's the same if we want to sing solo. We should be able to take constructive criticism from a skilled music director and learn how to sing in key and make a pretty sound to people too, if we want to bless them.
If you have ever been to a symphony or your kids band concerts and get their early~they are warming up and everyone is tuning their instruments?. It sounds bad~but oh how melodious and harmonious when they all get their instruments in tune. :applause:
I guess I would have to say an open mic is opening a door for all kinds of problems and in my opinion our voices are instruments as well and need to be trained and tuned if it does not come naturally to be a solo singer, in any setting where the spotlight is on that person's singing.
Hello, my two cents worth - and it's my opinion so i'll just say this.
I believe that if God is leading that person to get up and sing a song, then it will be beautiful. I think that it should never interfere with the PREACHING of Gods Word.
If it is a truely annointed service, things will work themselves out. That is why God has given us pastors and deacons to oversee the church.
I don't know that there is anything wrong with getting up at an open mic, especially if you feel called to do so, but I question the thinking in authority that opens up that can of chaos.
Today's confession: I did not read the lengthy posts above.
Today's joy: During our service two gentlemen with serious and persistent mental illness sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" at our contemporary worship. I bet the Lord just loved it! Their hearts were really in it, and they've been working on it for months.
Have we made the assumption that what sounds professional and polished to us is what we're driving for? Maybe spiritual "showbiz" has our loving LORD recoiling in horror as He sees the heart condition at the same time. A sort of Isaiah 64:6 scenario.
I'd advocate to simply bring our best gifts of thanks, prayer, praise and worship directed to the LORD alone. The congregation is NOT the audience.
