Tuesday's Toss-up is here, and it's YOUR turn to comment on my blog!!! I love praise & worship -- so dear to me -- and I'm pretty sure near and dear to many of you... so, here is a quote I found on two different kinds of praise and worship music...
Read the quote, process it a bit, and comment on what crosses your heart and mind about this comment... and whatever else you want to share about praise and worship. Don't worry about length... it can be short & sweet, or long and detailed... just GO FOR IT!!
"...Hymns are like trees;
praise songs, like flowers.
Both are God's creation ...
neither more important than the other."
By: Gerrit Gustafson
P.S. Remember -- no Googling ... original thoughts from YOUR heart and mind only!!!
AND -- check back through out the day to see what others have shared!!!
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17 comments:
I love hymns....this is something I wrote for our worship service awhile ago.
The treasure of an old hymn
The history of this great hymn is an example of a “lorica or breastplate recited for protection arming oneself for spiritual or physical battle” (Hamilton, 2004). Believed to be written originally in the 7th century, it was modernized by Mary E. Byrne and published in 1905.
This Irish folk song continues to bless us as we sing it yet today. Be Thou My Vision echoes the desire of Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, when he spoke of the mystery of Christ: “My purpose is that [you] may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that [you] may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that [you] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2: 2-3).”
As we face the spiritual and physical battles within our lives today, put on the breastplate of God’s Word found in this hymn, by keeping your sight on the One who has already provided our victory:
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
I love when God moves on my heart and I am brought to tears while worshiping Him. It doesn't always happen while in church, more often when I'm alone and listening to the radio or a cd. Those are the most precious times to me, just me and God and a heart full of praise.
Interesting that this mentions Hymns and Praise Songs. In so many congregations it seems that one is "more important" than the other. It breaks my heart when I hear of/ see God's children arguing over which songs we should be singing.
I grew up with the good old Hymns. I LOVE them! I have so many fond memories of them. There is so much truth in them. Almost mini sermons...
And then there are the praise songs. These minister to a different place in my heart and soul than the hymns... they can get right to the core.
I think they are both worthy of our time and attention. They can both minister, speak, and find that corner of our heart that needs to be touched.
I believe that music in itself is a way to prepare our hearts to be in His presence, to hear from Him, to soften our hearts and thoughts towards Him.
The Bible also speaks of music being used powerfully. So many of the psalms are songs that were sung. Ah, music and worship can at times be interchangeable...
And frankly, the Bible tells us that if we don't praise the Lord, then creation will!
Finally, I believe that God created us as creatures of worship. That was his reason for creating us... for that relationship with Him... to worship and adore Him. One way we can worship is through music. (there are many types of worship, music is just one).
So yes, Music (whether it's praise songs or Hymns) and creation... both created by God for their purposes. The quesiton is, Creation is fulfilling it's purpose... are we?
The first thing that came to mind is how strong trees are and how delicate flowers are. They are both beautiful and majestic, yet both serve a different purpose.
It reminds me of the quote: "Same goal, different role!" from a sermon I once heard.
I love Tuesday's Toss-Up, thank you very much!
I think Hymn's like trees have strong roots. We've sung hymns in church for years and years. Praise songs remind me more of flowers because they don't always last as long. It seems praise songs get real popular for a while and then kind of fade away but old hymns can and will be sung for many years to come.
Personally, I love both and in the church we're in now (meeting in a school) we don't even have hymnals yet. Our praise and worship leader does an excellent job at using all kinds of songs though! We have a great mix of old and new!!
Thanks for this toss up!!
I agree with both. I write songs, and its always something that I'm inspired with (I can't just write a song without some source of inspiration like a great sermon or a beautiful sunset or something)
Anyway, I think that when men wrote the hymns, they were things that inspired their hearts. They were the "praise and worship" of the day if you will. I mean before the first hymn people strictly sang Psalms from the Bible (which I love too by the way). The hymns were shunned by many because they were written to "bar tunes" But God used the hymns, and now they are known and loved by so many. I think praise and worship is the same. I can be down, and a simple praise melody can come to mind and my heart is lifted. It just sets the tone for worship.
But I don't believe one should replace the other. There is room for both, and they can each be used by God.
There is a place for "At the Cross" as well as "Here I Am to Worship."
Hmm, I agree about the hymns and praise songs, not about trees and flowers. How's that?! Trees seem to me to have more purposes than flowers. But I see hymns and praise songs as pretty equal.
This is great. There seems to be a great debate amongst my church-goers as to what is the "proper" way to worship. We have one service for "traditional" worship (i.e. hymns) and one service for people who prefer praise songs (choruses, etc). It's interesting to me that the service with hymns is always fuller than the "contemporary" service. I personally love both. And it really shouldn't matter, imo, how we praise God. I truly don't think he cares, as long as we do! Good thought for today! :-)
I think that like trees and flowers, hymns and praise songs must co-exist. It's not that the tree alone is not beautiful and useful, for it provides shade and its own special kind of beauty. The flowers alone are also beautiful, refreshing and add color unlike the tree. Yet, my picture of worship is far more complete with the blending of both in my life.
I have some old, favorite hymns that I would be sad to lose to all the new trendiness (?) of praise songs. I want my children to enjoy the old classics right alongside their new favorites. There is definitely a place for both in the landscape of worship.
Both serve an important purpose, but give me the old hymns any day. Sometimes, when I'm singing one, I think of all the mouths that have sung those same words over the centuries. I still get cold chills every time we sing "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and I see the name Martin Luther in the author line. That is a powerful legacy of faith!
So while I'll always "fight" (bad choice of word, but you know what I mean) for the hymns, I DO love some of the newer choruses and certainly think they can contribute a lot.
This is the first time I've done this on your blog. I've seen it a couple of times, but never in time to really comment. This one is a treat for me, because my husband is a worship director and music is really a passion for both of us.
I love this quote because it is so true. Hymns like trees have been around for so very long while praise songs are relatively new. But both awaken my heart to praise the God who created the mightiest of trees and the most delicate of flowers. The Bible says the rocks would praise him if they could, so I'm sure the trees and flowers would love to lend their voice as well. In all, no matter which is sung, it is a gift to be able to praise the One who created me, just for his pleasure.
I'm so practical, here's my first thought. Honestly. I hoped the trees didn't overshadow the flowers. Not to deep, but that's what jumped into my head.
Then I thought about how the trees adn flowers are now starting to bud and bloom. How SPRING makes me happy and want to sing. Then I thought about the seasons of life we live under God.
Well, there are my thoughts! ;)
P.F.Y.P.: So deep! Have you been published? You should be! I love that hymn so much!
Heth: Funny you should say that... BROUGHT TO TEARS -- oh, yeah ... I'll be blogging about that shortly!
MomRN2 -- wow! You said... "The question is -- creation is fulfilling it's purpose... are we?" honey -- I'm not gonna let ANY rocks cry out, 'cause I'm gonna praise the Lord until the COWS come home!!! Oh, YEAH!
Kpjara - good quote!!!
Stacey -- did you jump into my brain and see what I was going to blog about today??? Did you, huh, did you???
Heather -- so, when, exactly, are you planning on sharing these songs with us, little missy???
jeana - it's true... they are both equally important. I'll touch more on the comparisson to trees and flowers on Wed's blog! On second thought... for a quick answer - look at Kris's comment.
Kris - another person reading my mind!
Kristen -- you are right... God does care that we worship him, because if we don't, then Creation will cry out and do it in our place! (See MomRN2's comment)
Peach -- so beautiful! Thank you for that comment... I'm gonna quote you in Wed's blog...
Oh, Shannon -- I sooo agree with you... hymns truly are a powerful legacy of faith!
Addie -- Oh, my! I'm so pleased you took the great leap to comment on Tuesday's Toss Up about Worship! I love what you said... and guess what? I'm gonna quote you, too!!! I just gotta! And -- I will be devouring your blog later on today! Thanks for commenting!
Kris - you are so cute... and have I mentioned how much I LOVE your new blog design (totally off subject) ... okay -- first of all... take the word "stupid" and all forms of it OUT OF YOUR VOCABULARY! You voiced a very valid question... you said: How/What do you google on a quote and why? Well, you might Google the subject (in this case, worship), or if I placed a scripture out there, you might Google the scripture and see what other people think about it, or what they have taught about it. This takes away from your FIRST IMPRESSION of what you have read, and generally, first impressions come from the heart... not the brain. For instance... many of my first impressions can tend to be very very deep (ha!) and go something like this... "WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN?" but after I sit in front of the quote and process it a bit... I start to "feel" something in my heart... Now, your first impression on this quote was very beautiful... and hopefully, not swayed by anyone elses comments... but when you go back and read all the other comments, new thoughts collect in your mind... well, at least in mine they do. That's why I ask y'all not to Google anything before writing your own comments down. Did that make any sense whatsoever, or did it sound more like blah, blah, blah, blah! LOL!!!
Y'all just don't know how full my heart is from reading all your comments! Thank you for sharing them!
Oh, Momma M... you jumped in a commented before me, and I didn't include you in on my wrap-up ... You said... "SPRING makes me happy and want to sing. Then I thought about the seasons of life we live under God." So, sooooo true! Spring makes me want to sing, too! And yes, we all go through different seasons of life under God, don't we?
Loved your Tuesday's Toss-up and even posted a comment, but apparently it didn't post. I can't remember it now. Sorry, because I really liked this post on music.
That's okay, Morning Glory... I was hoping you'd weigh in!!! Maybe next time?
Definitely next time! What a bummer, too, because I felt like I had a good thought, but yesterday was so crazy for me that I can't remember what my thoughts on it were exactly. I don't know why the comment didn't post. Rats!
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