Thursday, April 19, 2012

Give a Poor Prude a Praise

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Remember last week, when I skimmed the surface of the ‘hymns vs. praise’ debate?
Since I cut my teeth on hymns and still enjoy them every week, my exposure to Praise and Worship songs is limited at best.
So here is what I'd like for Theology Thursday:
Your favorite praise song.
To help you narrow the field, could you limit to the following criteria?

1)  The song you share has to be capable of being sung by a congregation.
The Newsboys ‘The Breakfast Song’ is all kinds of fun to listen to, but it may be difficult for a large group to keep perfectly in time while singing ‘When the big one finds you, may this song remind you that they don’t serve breakfast in hell.’

It doesn’t need 4-part harmony, but it should be free of swoops and dives and uncountable pauses that work fine for soloists but confuse a congregation. Especially if tone deaf prudes are sprinkled in here and there.

2) The song can use adjectives like ‘great’ and ‘worthy’ and ‘awesome’ to describe God but then it has to tell WHY He is great/worthy/awesome.  If my husband or children tell someone how fabulous I am I want them to back it up. Describe how I can wrap a yarn wreath or take 400 photos in a single Easter Egg Hunt. Just make sure the hearee knows WHY I am so special. So your praise song should tell me what about God is great.

3) Your song can’t be ‘How Deep the Father’s Love for Us’ or ‘In Christ Alone’. I know them already. I love them already.

4) You can share a link or just the title and composer. If you wrote it? So much the better!

3 comments:

Lori Lipsky said...

I'll have to mull this over for hours and get back with you...

Lori Lipsky said...

I've decided on my favorite...now I just have to think of the name of it (not kidding). It's the one we used to sing in church where the men and women sing different parts and words at the same time. I forgot to ask Mark about it last night.

stephseef said...

Lori, was it 'You are Holy'?

Prude, I can't answer this question; I believe it's unanswerable. I can give a list of a few favorites, but different ones rise to the top for different occasions. Truly.

Here's one: - Before the Throne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ6QaZcPphM&feature=related

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