Where Have All The Men Gone?

[Coonskinner]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

Seems where discussing sexuality in a mixed venue ... right now ... including your references to "queers" ... in your words.

But in general terms.

I am just stating up front, Brother, that there are boundaries.

Discussions on that line have a way of going outside what is acceptable to me.

[Coonskinner]

Originally Posted by Joseph Miller

It is NONE of his business what they wear.

I have never in almost 20 years of preaching felt the need to mention ladies undergarments from the pulpit.

[Nahum]

What's wrong with "Jesus is my boyfriend?" (Maybe not what you think)
Posted by Alan @ 10:39 am CDT
Filed under: Music

Just a thought on the "Jesus is my boyfriend"-type songs that are so often the target of contemporary worship music criticism.

I have been a critic of that type of worship music on many occasions. I don't think those songs are the best music the church has to offer; I don't think they should have priority of place or frequency in worship.

But I try to be fair as I understand the gut reaction against these songs, from myself and others. I want to get away from the most common criticisms, and instead focus on why, at least in part, our criticisms may be off-base.

I have a theory. Our reaction to these songs is too much conditioned by our acceptance of how our culture views love and worship, and not enough by the Bible.

What in our culture works to distort our understanding of desire and worship? Our culture has difficulty understanding any desire that is not erotic. For our culture, any fellowship that men share has to be based upon (1) cars (2) sports (3) hunting or (4) homoerotic attraction. So any time two guys get together, and 1-3 are absent, 4 is presumed to be involved. In a culture has eroticized everything in its reach, it is hard to understand that there could be any other kind of desire.

Our culture has difficulty with worship of the true and living God, but accepts idolatry as commonplace.

Desire and worship are thus both distorted. The result is that it is normal for erotic love to be characterized by the language of worship-- that, in essence, you're supposed to idolize your lover.

So when you sing a song of worship to Jesus, how can it help but sound, to ears conditioned by this culture, like erotic love, horribly out of place for the worship of God?

thinklings.org/?p=3079 - 79k

[Nahum]

Originally Posted by Coonskinner

I have never in almost 20 years of preaching felt the need to mention ladies undergarments from the pulpit.

TMI

[Coonskinner]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

TMI

Huh?

[SDG]

Originally Posted by Coonskinner

Huh?

Too much information ... country boy.

[SDG]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

Wal-Mart rejects 'racy' worship CD

|

ANAHEIM — The latest Vineyard Music worship CD, "Intimacy, vol. 2," has raced to the top of the Christian sales charts, but Wal-Mart is refusing to stock the album without slapping on a parental warning sticker. The ground-breaking — some say risqué — album includes edgy worship songs such as "My Lover, My God," "Touch Me All Over," "Naked Before You," "I'll Do Anything You Want," "Deeper" and "You Make Me Hot with Desire."
"We've had concerns about previous Vineyard CD's, but this time they went overboard in their suggestive imagery depicting the church's love affair with Christ," said a Wal-Mart spokesman. "It would be irresponsible to sell this to 13-year-old kids."
A Vineyard Music Group (VMG) spokesman defended the album.
"We felt this was the next logical step in furthering people's intimacy with the Lord, as the title implies," said Sam Haverley, director of VMG public relations. "People aren't content with yesterday's level of closeness. They want something more. We feel this album gives them that."
Wal-Mart represents a third of all CD sales, which has forced VMG to try to negotiate a deal. VMG proposed adding a heart-shaped warning sticker rather than the black-and-white label more often seen on raunchy rap albums, but Wal-Mart refused. VMG is considering issuing a censored version of the album.
"If Christians want to make R- or X-rated music, that's up to them," said a Wal-Mart spokesman, "but we don't have to carry it." •

Now that's funny .... don't matter who you are.

[Nahum]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

Now that's funny.

It was a joke.

[Joseph Miller]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

Wal-Mart rejects 'racy' worship CD

|

ANAHEIM — The latest Vineyard Music worship CD, "Intimacy, vol. 2," has raced to the top of the Christian sales charts, but Wal-Mart is refusing to stock the album without slapping on a parental warning sticker. The ground-breaking — some say risqué — album includes edgy worship songs such as "My Lover, My God," "Touch Me All Over," "Naked Before You," "I'll Do Anything You Want," "Deeper" and "You Make Me Hot with Desire."
"We've had concerns about previous Vineyard CD's, but this time they went overboard in their suggestive imagery depicting the church's love affair with Christ," said a Wal-Mart spokesman. "It would be irresponsible to sell this to 13-year-old kids."
A Vineyard Music Group (VMG) spokesman defended the album.
"We felt this was the next logical step in furthering people's intimacy with the Lord, as the title implies," said Sam Haverley, director of VMG public relations. "People aren't content with yesterday's level of closeness. They want something more. We feel this album gives them that."
Wal-Mart represents a third of all CD sales, which has forced VMG to try to negotiate a deal. VMG proposed adding a heart-shaped warning sticker rather than the black-and-white label more often seen on raunchy rap albums, but Wal-Mart refused. VMG is considering issuing a censored version of the album.
"If Christians want to make R- or X-rated music, that's up to them," said a Wal-Mart spokesman, "but we don't have to carry it." •

I am not denying that some take it too far. I travel the US preaching and I don't see this type of thing in the Apostolic churches that I am preaching in. Maybe I am preaching in the right places and some others are in the wrong places if that is what they are seeing.

[Coonskinner]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

Wal-Mart rejects 'racy' worship CD

|

ANAHEIM — The latest Vineyard Music worship CD, "Intimacy, vol. 2," has raced to the top of the Christian sales charts, but Wal-Mart is refusing to stock the album without slapping on a parental warning sticker. The ground-breaking — some say risqué — album includes edgy worship songs such as "My Lover, My God," "Touch Me All Over," "Naked Before You," "I'll Do Anything You Want," "Deeper" and "You Make Me Hot with Desire."
"We've had concerns about previous Vineyard CD's, but this time they went overboard in their suggestive imagery depicting the church's love affair with Christ," said a Wal-Mart spokesman. "It would be irresponsible to sell this to 13-year-old kids."
A Vineyard Music Group (VMG) spokesman defended the album.
"We felt this was the next logical step in furthering people's intimacy with the Lord, as the title implies," said Sam Haverley, director of VMG public relations. "People aren't content with yesterday's level of closeness. They want something more. We feel this album gives them that."
Wal-Mart represents a third of all CD sales, which has forced VMG to try to negotiate a deal. VMG proposed adding a heart-shaped warning sticker rather than the black-and-white label more often seen on raunchy rap albums, but Wal-Mart refused. VMG is considering issuing a censored version of the album.
"If Christians want to make R- or X-rated music, that's up to them," said a Wal-Mart spokesman, "but we don't have to carry it." •

Unbelievable.

What's really going on is that people's unbridled sensuality is so all-consuming that they even want it titillated at church.