Keith,

I love the song "As the Deer Pants for the water." An older lady in a previous congregation hated that song because she felt it was no use. After telling her in is a "scriptural song" she immediately told me 20 other reasons she did not like it. The problem with her communication was she never listened.

Also, I I love to sing, "Joy like a Fountain." Usually we sang that song for VBS, but once in a while we would sing it in the assembly only to have no one smile. It make you wonder what visitors see.

PS. I am no song leader, trust me, I try to preach and one day I will.

Gallagher

Spent several years listening to a preacher with a hard edge - preached grace a lot, but always sounded angry. He was followed by a whiner - great messages, but the tone was sometimes still disconcerting.

Why do we stand up for the "stand" songs (usually have nothing to do with the act of standing) and never kneel for the "kneel" songs?

Ever notice how listeners can also be angry? Sometimes they seem nice and personal on the outside, but inside they are angry. They disagree with whatever the pastor says, whatever a brother or sister in Christ tells them, even when what's said is the Word of God. They are just plain angry. There's a disconnect there too.

I think as humans created by God for His purposes, we all carry our "sin baggage" wherever we go. Even though we may be saved, we continue to struggle with sin. But praise God who has created us for His purposes. He works His will through us, even when we are not perfect. But we are perfect in Him. Nothing can thwart God's plan, even when we are critical of each other.

I have a lot of respect and honor for pastors whom God has called to preach His word. I do not put my faith in pastors. My faith is in God. We need to listen to the message, and not the messenger.

Similar to this, Keith, a pet peeve of mine is the TV newscasters (or radio) who read some tragic story about any number of human events that break your heart or leave you burdened with the feelings that many news stories generate, then the next thing you know they're joking with the sportscaster about some jovial trivia.

Sadly, I've been in large, well-known worship settings where we went from an upbeat, one-another hand-clapping "Hooray for Jesus" song to something like "Jesus, Meek and Gentle" then back again to "Blue Skies and Rainbows". You could get emotional whiplash from such "planning". It's as if the leader hasn't considered what they're singing or hasn't thought about how people are supposed to genuinely engage with such contrasts.

I think in broadcast the faces we see or voices we hear have not written what they're reading and they are perhaps sight-reading their script without really engaging in the story themselves. They have no expression to match the story because they are almost oblivious to what they're reading.

I wish that was not the case with worship leaders. However, I believe there is often a disconnect of both the body and soul. I find it to be difficult to be and stay engaged with the text with all my heart, soul, mind and strength 100% of the time. But that is my goal.

I once saw a brother during a Sunday morning assembly, while leading a worship song, pull out his finger nail clippers, while continuing to sing, and proceed to trim some nails. True story.