Quote:
Originally Posted by chaotic_resolve
Over the weekend I spoke with a friend of mine who's a rather conservative minister . . . wow. I think DB and my friend went to the same conference, though from my friends rant it was hard to believe.
Some of his angst: 
He wasn't happy with it. The music was too wordly. The musicians weren't dressed right. Too much rock and roll. Too charasmatic. The worship leader looked too worldly. Worship was fake and the real spirit of God wasn't there. And the one time there was real worship, someone stopped it too soon instead of letting it continue.
JU was trying to be like TD Jakes too much with the blasted organ . . . should look in the mirror and find himself instead of trying to emulate TDJ.
TG's message wasn't very good. Apparently my friend was upset over something TG said about (paraphrase) "what's better...7500 people getting the Holy Ghost or 1 person getting closer to God? 1 person getting closer to God." He was all kinds of upset about that.
DB, do you remember the quote or context?
Then he got mad at me for laughing while he was ranting.  I just couldn't believe the differences in the reports. I asked him if the spirit of God wasn't there (or the real spirit, that is), how come I've read reports and talked with others who were there and either had friends or loved ones get the HG or who received a blessing themselves. His reply was that if you're hungry enough for God, you'll get what you need.
He didn't like the candles either.
*sigh* He's not a fan of the GYD . . . says they've been to too many charasmatic youth conferences.  oloroid
It's interesting how different people view the same thing. The good thing is I've heard far more positives about NAYC than I have negatives. And I won't say from what side of the spectrum the negatives are from, but one could probably guess correctly.
Also . . . anytime you get 15,000+ young people in one place worshipping God - it's a great thing! |
Guess it underscores the divide we have in the UPC at present.
I don't know what the music being too worldly means. If it was Southern Gospel Quartets, it would be worldly too, because the style didn't begin in church. If the style would've been black gospel, again it would've been worldly because church music is a mixture of a lot of other types of musci from the church and the world. Bro Tenney himself said it in the minister's meeting that he didn't like the music but that it was a matter of taste and style. He said we have to becareful not to demonize something that goes against our sense of taste/style. He said what he heard in church when he was 16 is the kind of music he likes. The young people of today will be talking about the good ole days 30 years from now and how much they miss songs like "Worthy Is The Lamb" "I Am Runnin Back To You" "Let The Redeemed of the Lord Say So" and "I'm A Pentecostal".
The musicians were told ahead of time that their attire would not be ties and suits. The singers were all in suits and ties (men) the women were dressed in their Sunday best, only J Dean never wore a tie. As far as modesty they were all appropriate.
Too much rock and roll? Depends on your definition of rock and roll. I suppose if they had thrown in a fiddle and banjo it would've been acceptable. They did do an acoustic set with a mandolin and an accordian in the mix. It was a great arrangement of "When I Think About The Lord".
Too charismatic? As far as I know, none of the musicians and singers were trinitarians.
Worship was fake? How can anyone know? Can you look into the hearts of 18,000 people or even one person and know whether their worship is real or not? Unless there was proof that NAYC was some mass conspiracy to fool this guy, I would be very careful to call phony that which is very holy and sacred in the eyes of God.
The real spirit of God wasn't there? Can you imagine what the consequences would be for saying such a thing if he's wrong? Its one thing to not like some aspects of the meeting, I didn't like everything, but to characterize this meeting this way to me is dangerous.
The TG quote I didn't hear. I would have to hear the context. I know TG and I can't believe he wouldn't want people to receive the HG or that he would feel bad of 7500 received the HG.
So if people received the Holy Ghost, then the real Spirit of God must have been there.
The candles? Much ado about nothing. Its called decorating the platform. Its no different than elaborate floral designs, potted bushes, nice chairs, etc. Don't read too much into it.
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