The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Regulative principle

Sure! (pardon me for coming back 6 months later...LOL). I believe that while the elements of the RPW should be present and adhered to in every worship gathering every Sunday morning, we must not confuse the cultural expression of them with the thing itself. For example, one person mentioned that they preferred more 'worshipful' instruments - what makes a pipe organ more 'worshipful' than a piano or a full band and a 3-4 member praise team leading the congregation in song ? Music led by pipe organ (or organ, period) is a reflection of the culture of the 1600's and 1700's. All of the music looked/sounded like that during that time period. It was what the culture of the time had developed.

I believe our music should look and sound 'modern' (within limits, of course). We are living in the 21st century and not the 17th.

Likewise, the style in which the music is sung should not be a major issue, provided that the CONTENT of the songs is theologically sound and that the songs are sung with reverence. A great example of this is Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries. I got to talk to him for about 10 seconds this morning (he had a plane to catch) at Covenant Life Church over in Gaithersburg. He has taken many older hymns with explicitly reformed content and added new melodies to them (you can head to their website and pick up a copy of one of their CD's), as well as wrote many new hymns/praise songs which get sung on Sunday morning (and other times) with explicitly reformed content. You won't find a more reverent bunch of folks who realize that all to God in Christ they owe than these folks. And it doesn't make them quiet.... but it makes them raise their hands and voices aloud in praise and adoration of the one true God who took on flesh and died for them.


Yes. As a matter of fact, there's some 'questioning' I have on one of the articles - the one on evaluating rock n' roll states:


I disagree with this statement. Everyone isn't going to like the same type of music. I personally think some music sung in churches is stiff, sterile, emotionless and has no real depth to it beyond the words. What criteria are you using to determine what music is 'lovely' ? Would you badger your kids into 'well, this music is lovely because I say it is and that's final', though they may protest that music is dry as a desert ? We are talking about the God of the Universe who gave Himself for me. You're telling me that the music celebrating this great truth is dull, stale, sterile and lifeless ?

A great example is the lyrics from Cruz Cordero - one of the former members of the hip-hop gospel group, the Cross Movement. Cruz is a Calvinist and his lyrics were/are very Biblical and explicitly calvinistic. At the end of any of his songs, I can, with a clean conscience, head still boppin' back and forth from the beat, say 'Praise the Lord for that song!'. But hip-hop isn't going to have a 'good report' among both young and old. Some older folks just don't like it - it's not their preference. What the author has done is insert his personal preference into the text of scripture as the criteria for judging what is 'good' and 'not good'.

I believe it is unwise and unbiblical to force one 'style' of music on all believers, simply due to your personal preference (hence my above comments on the RPW).


Yep. No virii in four years and only ONE trojan horse, built-in firewall protection that most hackers couldn't break with a month's straight work (24-7), access to all major software titles, a secure, faster and more stable OS than WinAnything and even when Leghor.....er...Longhorn finally comes out, it'll still be 3-5 years behind anything that gets put out from Cupertino, CA.

*waits for the first few PCs to start imitating the iMac G5, just like everything else....*