We NEED to Beware of This New Fad Among Evangelicals 

I can do without the loud music, smoke and lights.

My husband is not a believer, but he has begun attending church with me. He said he doesn't understand all the music. He likes the preaching. He's a musician too! Ha!

I was one of the main guitarists in a church that had a weekly attendance of around 5000 people each week for over a decade . I’ve thought a lot about what I was doing and how it glorified God. As the church grew and added more stage lighting… mist machines, it became clear to the point of being uncomfortable that the audience attentions were on the band and not pointed towards God. My prayer before every service was that I be invisible and that to him be all the glory. One night I was out at a restaurant with business partners and the waitress recognized me and was very complementary about my playing and how much she loved our church band.. big problem for me, I was clearly not invisible and all glory was not being given to the Lord. Praise band members really struggle with these issues. I am now in a much smaller church and I don’t participate on the music team. I am still very active in my church but my music skills are not being used or are they needed. Church service is to feed the word to the flock, not the world to the church. If what is being done in the worship service doesn’t point the congregation’s hearts towards God it shouldn’t be done and it has no place in our worship service. The entire purpose of our Sunday gathering is to point our hearts and minds towards our maker, to worship him and him only!

Years ago, during an incredible worship service, God laid on my heart that I was worshiping the worship rather than worshiping Him! What a wake up call! Thank you Lord.

"The Case for Christ" is an example of apologetics, which is NOT a fad - the interest in apologetics among evangelicals may have been short lived, but apologetics is a command of Scripture

As a longtime worship leader and musician I HAVE TO AGREE 💯 it’s gone too far!!

As someone who was heavily involved in worship music as a ministry....YES...I saw this first-hand. Lights, loud music, atmosphere...evoking EMOTION....but emotions are a fleeting wind. I recall the day I knew something was terribly wrong...when our band played the DOOBIE-Brothers song...'Jesus is just Alright with Me' and it felt so WRONG..I questioned WHY are we doing such secular music to reach the masses for Jesus??! The Gospel, speaks for itself! It does not need bells, whistles, drums and amps...to motivate people to worship the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD. I felt ashamed...that worship of such a Holy God had come to this. My heart felt broken...WHY must we ACT like the world to attract others? Isn't Gods gift of His SON worthy of more respect than this?? I Left my church after talking to my pastors...yet none understood what I said....

True revival will never be a fad.

FYI, I was saved during an "altar call" in 1977. I'm a little tired of people dissing them as if they shouldn't be done. If the Pastor had not made that invitation to come forward that day I'd likely be in Hades awaiting being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone! I had been witnessed to from Isaiah 53 one week earlier and God's Spirit convicted me that it was true and it was about the sufferings and death of the Lamb of God for my sins. I KNEW I needed salvation but REFUSED to get saved that evening. I remained under deep conviction that week. I went to church for the first time in about a DECADE the following Sunday and went forward. I was dealt with by the same young man who used the Romans Road to lead me to Christ. He made sure I understood and believed each point and led me in a sinner's prayer for salvation. Guess what, while I was praying that prayer I believed and got miraculously born again. Don't tell me that churches should not have altar calls or that saying a sinner's prayer is wrong or even leading someone in prayer for salvation is wrong.

Once you’ve matured as a Christian, you appreciate the sound of the people singing their worship of God…not the band.

I know a music teacher who quit church because he thought music was what was manipulating people into spirituality, not the genuine existence of God...

Listen to the words of the music. One church we had been visiting had music with too much messaging me, myself, and I. I yelled out loud "it is not about me, myself, and I. We are to be worshipping God and Jesus Christ!" I then left the auditorium

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

I so miss the hymns

In the past when true revival happened bars, strip clubs, drugs and etc closed down because no one was doing that sort of thing. True revival can be seen by the change in the people.

When I was a little girl I went down to the altar due to the preaching. No music 🎶

"Praise him with the timbrel and dance: Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath Praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." Psalms 150:3-6

One thing I really appreciate about the Missouri synod Lutheran church that I grew up in was the choir was *always* in the back. We were taught that our focus was to be on God, not the musicians/singers. I was scandalized when I visited other churches and the choir/musicians were in the front. It has always felt to me that this leads to idolizing the performers.

without the scriptures being taught most these poor people worship a god of their own making. You can't know God apart from His Word revealed in the scriptures. They rely on the skill of the band to produce a state of emotional high which they then attribute to the presence of the holy spirit. I experienced this for over 10 years before the Lord graciously saved me.

I can't thank you enough for your completely accurate truth. Great job....I've felt this for a very long time but I have no platform to espouse this. Please don't stop...people need to hear this. God Richly Bless you.

I've been waiting for years for a preacher to say this... I agree, take music down a notch and let the Holy Ghost CALL them out to REPENT!

I cringe every time I hear a so called Christian say “we have bands because that’s the only way we can get the youth in.”

I remember when I was a young boy asking my mom to pray for this or that…. She would start worshiping first thanking the Lord saying I love you Jesus she would go right into worship. As a boy, I was a little bit miffed because I just wanted her to pray. She shared the scripture with me. Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV): Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, (hallowed be your name). 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. She reminded me what is happening in heaven! Holy holy holy. Over and over again. I believe some good worship before you enter in to preaching or praying/ petitioning the Lord is healthy and biblical. Blessings brother.

If preaching the word is not part of it, it won't reach the soul. You are right Todd!

I think we have to be careful though because there is positive power to music. The Bible tells us David would play the harp for Saul and the demons would flee. It’s a balance no doubt- but we cannot cast negative dispersions on music in its entirely.

Idk, my pastors wife went to the Asbury revival in KY and the Sunday she came back, she spoke about it, and after her testimony, that evening there was a very strong presence of the Holy Spirit in our congregation. We fell on our faces, and worshipped for 3 weeks straight! The church kept the doors open and the whole town and towns alll around came for a touch from God! I haven't felt that same extreme call of the Holy Spirit on my heart since 1978, when I gave my life to the Lord thru the Jesus Movement. This is REAL. This grandma says, the Lord is moving!

I call it Emotionism instead of being repented and actually changing.

What's interesting is that over 400 times the Bible commands singing or making music to the Lord...

There actually was preaching at asbury. That’s when it started. The music wasn’t pounding with tons of instruments but typically led with piano or guitars. People there were reading scriptures, praying, and praising God. There were chapel messages, testimonies, and scripture shared throughout the day! What a glorious time.

Todd Freel must be the most negative and critical person in Christianity. He mocks any church “production” whether it’s musicians or something else, yet uses production elements in his own videos. The “set” he uses is designed to elicit a comfortable response for his audience. His walking around, following the camera is designed to foster interest. And no one should take issue with that. I’d sure like to hear Todd say something positive instead of too often tearing down others and assuming the worst. Any musicians serving the church must feel like I do after hearing Todd cast them aside as manipulative distractions. It’s more than disheartening and quite often insulting. Being honest here.

I’ve read some of Finney’s writings. He was against sensationalism in the pulpit. He questioned methods of other preachers if the salvation-of many was purely emotional and because he didn’t see a real repentance.. Also, the Holy Spirit moved upon him greatly, and that he would enter buildings entire factories five 600 men would fall to their knees, weeping and coming to Christ without him speaking word.

Worship God through music, reading and studying of the Word and a surrendered life. A true worshipper worships in Spirit and in Truth.

You sound like you are the judger of revival. Why don't you let the Holy Spirit meet people where they are. Music brought me back to the Lord. Becareful in your judgements.

Absolutely necessary elements: Law/Grace, Conviction /REPENTANCE! 🙋🏼‍♂️📖

Perhaps the rock music and the flashing lights is an attempt to hide their spiritual deadness. Your soul can be thrilled by sitting in your recliner reading the Bible, driving down the road and meditating upon what my Lord has done for me. I weep and shout and praise God without any coercion or music.

I hate loud music at church. The instruments are so loud it hurts my ears.

As a church musician I have always regarded my role as being akin to the artillery in an army. My job is to prepare the way for the infantry (the preaching) because artillery never wins the battle, only the infantry can do that.

Is it really fair to include "The case for Christ" Amongst all those other books?

I quit playing on worship teams after 20yrs, it became almost repulsive to me some of the songs we had to play. Its been over two years and i have had zero desire to play on a team. Fortunately, we have excellent preaching so it far exceeds any sappy worship songs we have to endure.

The case for Christ?? CS Lewis?

Proverbs 21 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

My college-aged son was at the Asbury outpouring. My wife and two more of our kids also attended for 24 hours. It began from preaching in Romans, just as you point out is required. And the response was public confession of and repentance from sin. The singing was joyful response for what God was doing in and through people. One such recipient, my (at the time) 11-year old son who after only being in the auditorium 15 minutes was compelled by the Spirit to repent…and he wept for 45 minutes not because of the music, which was sub-par from a musicality perspective, but from grief and subsequent freedom. It is sad when Reformed theology demands God remain in His box, as if He never sent worship ahead in battle. Maybe salvation only counts when the proper words are spoken from a career pastor; I don’t read that anywhere. Maybe when people rejoice in song over Gods miraculous salvation work it retroactively undoes His work; I don’t read that in the Bible either. Or maybe we can celebrate ecstatically, for even weeks, when we encounter His presence and see His handiwork firsthand. I know I did, and I will continue to testify of His outpouring upon thousands, even as the music played.

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a Mighty One, who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will renew you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” ‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭30‬ “At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬ “and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will acknowledge You among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to Your name.”” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭9‬ “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬ “Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬ ‭ “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:16 “saying: “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to You.”” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms.” ‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ “Like he who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on a wound, so is he who sings songs to a heavy heart.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭25‬:‭20‬ “Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the harp and lyre! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flute! Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭150‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ “When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests unto our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ “And I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of a great thunder. I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭14‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ “And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed.”” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ “He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭3‬ “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, psaltery and harp! I will awaken the dawn.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭57‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭ “Also with the harp will I praise You for Your faithfulness, O my God; to You will I sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭71‬:‭22‬ ‭ “O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation! Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭95‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭33‬ “I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings will I sing praises to You,” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭144‬:‭9‬ “Let them praise His name in the dance; let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭149‬:‭3‬ ‭ “It happened that when the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David would take the lyre in his hand and play. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16‬:‭23‬ ‭ “it happened, when the trumpet players and singers made one sound to praise and give thanks to the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and all the instruments of music and praised the Lord saying, “For He is good and His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud.” ‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭ “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea!” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬ ‭ “Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. Miriam answered them, “Sing to the Lord, for He triumphed gloriously! The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭15‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭ “On that day, Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang: “When the leaders in Israel lead, when the people freely volunteer, bless the Lord!” ‭‭Judges‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ “Hannah prayed, saying: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is bold against my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.” ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭ “and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He has regarded the low estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭47‬-‭48 “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with singing.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭1‬-‭2‬

I wouldn't say all the things you displayed at the start were "fads" or bad but just a product of their time.

It’s passed time for the church in America to repent of its worldliness and way of doing things and instead get back to preaching the gospel to lost souls and the full counsel of Gods perfect Word to the glory of Christ. I’m tired of the charlatans, wordsmiths, preaching devoid of Scripture, whole “sermons” that don’t mention the name of Jesus or His work on the cross, entire “sermons” that don’t mention repentance or sin. It’s passed time to put the worldly, attractional, and purely emotional American ecclesiology aside- and reject it for good to the glory of God and His glorious gospel.

This guy didn't quote a single word of scripture. And I'm almost positive that 90% of the songs that were shown were singing verses straight from the Bible. The Roman Empire was annoyed by the boisterous worship of the early church as well... "Praise him with the timbrel and dance: Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath Praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." Psalms 150:3-6 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:16

All hymns were once contemporary.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of life and blessings to me and my family $14,120.47 weekly profit Our lord Jesus have lifted up my Life!!!🙏❤️❤️

David. As a young man, he was gifted in playing the harp. After King Saul fell away from God, an evil spirit frequently troubled him. Wanting to be freed from this oppressing spirit, Saul would call for David to come and play the harp for him, and we are told, “David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.”

My thoughts too. My church went from our beautiful pipe organ to a guitar and tambourine. I was skeptical. However, rather than being on a stage, the musicians and singers were in the pews with us, and we learned the songs of worship. It was a wonderful enhancement rather than something drug like to stir up the people only to wear off later. No solos. No show. Just singing joy to God as a congregation.

I had visited a church that appeared to be biblical, offering solid preaching and a welcoming congregation. Increasingly, there appeared to be more focus on the talent of the musicians and worship team. There lead "front person" was relocating and a new worship leader was in the process of recruitment. My last visit was after the service where the pastor thanked the lead singer for all their efforts, and this leader exited the altar (stage?) with a "woo hoo" and while giving a high leg kick.😐 I believe they were all good people but it was a wake-up call for me to examine how I chose to adore God. .

I feel like the Holy Spirit kept me out of both the shack and purpose driven life

He left off a big one : YOGA.

The pipes lamp along the brick wall - that's trendy.

I don't think some of the things you showed were fads. They were products targeted at a specific audience. As long as the GOSPEL is preached at these Gatherings it isn't a. fad

Anne of Green Gables ? I love that story. Why is that book included?

There’s more worship in heaven than preaching. Preaching is for the lost or those that need change. Worship is ministry unto the Lord, not for man. What those new converts were missing is “discipleship”. When converted, you have to be taught how to follow Someone you’re just getting to know (Jesus). People can also idolize preaching. Character is missing in most the church which is why idols get exalted. It’s the “Israel wilderness syndrome”. Just saying, prayer gets God’s ear, worship gets His presence.

The constant evangelical preoccupation with the current new thing is partly why so many evangelical young men are leaving for the more liturgical denominations.

My dad -he was in the nineties-was the first to bring it to my attention-did not like the rock bands at church. He and mom changed churches and he was happier. He always wore his ‘Sunday Best’ clothes because of the respect and others in the new church started dressing wearing their Sunday Best also. It’s not in the Bible but I think it goes back to attitude and reverence of God. Thanks Dad!

I deeply pray that your life be filled with wealth, health and happiness

So, is posting RU-vid videos a fad?

God can use anything to draw people to Him…preaching, music, our lives falling apart, blessings…anything. He is that good because He knows what will work for each person and He doesn’t hold back what is best for that individual.

This guy would criticize Wesley because his brother, Charles's music was prominent in his meetings.

Can’t God use music?

Contemporary "Christian" music is the Golden Calf of modern evangelicals.

Guard your emotions/heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is crooked above all, and desperately sick - who shall know it?"

You are right! A lot of what people are calling revival is based on emotions and music.

Be careful in this hour Sir... Gods ways are way higher than yours and your understanding of how He moves. He is working in ways none of us really understand. The point is Jesus is capturing our hearts again. Of course there is going to be mixture as past revivals have shown. Any move of God is going to be messy. Just be careful your not on the wrong side of the line criticizing what God is actually doing and get in trouble for it. Yes, discernment is crucial in this hour. Jesus works with the humble and hungry. Go for gold everyone...Jesus be glorified in His people so that disciples of Jesus may demonstrate to the world the love of Jesus through the cross.

Roman Catholics are misunderstanding Matthew 16:18. The confession that "Jesus is the Christ the Son of God" is the only foundational truth that Christ builds His church on. Peter’s confession is the rock.

Essential oils lol!

Following 911, I lost respect for just about all of the Evangelical leaders who went "Total Bushbot" Preaching a false gospel of bombs and bullets. Dusting off the old Crusader talking points "God wills it!" Recently, I overheard a Christian radio station I stopped listening to to since 911, in only a minute and a half: "Pray for Ukraine! Pray for the utter destruction of Moscow!" I hit the switch as quickly as I could

When the Asbury revival started,I didn't watch it on line at first,then one day I did and then another day..I was really getting into it.. crying for the lost souls.. the one night I was wondering if God wanted me to watch it and , so I asked Him before I went to bed .. Well I had a dream and in that dream, my husband and I were walking down a street I felt as we were coming back from a concert and laughing but as we walked I saw to the left of us a building with this artificial light shining out from the front of the building pointing at street level.. it was big and bright hurting my eyes.. but it was artificial,I new this, and suddenly I felt this evil lion or growling around us .. and the it went black the darkest black ever and this growling felt like all around us.. I could feel my husband trying to protect me by covering me.. and I looked up and said this is the time we need to call on Jesus,and in that every moment I woke up !! And had peace in my soul.. well I never turned that back on and went and told my Pastor and he really didn't trust what was happening there either..so as God the Holy Spirit.. before jumping on a bandwagon..

I agree. True revival is not boastful. The hallmark of true revival if REPENTANCE. One who truly repents doesn't normally go around singing and dancing.

It’s not even just revivals…. We need to be honest and ask it music was gone from your Sunday service, what would your attendance look like after a month? Too many churches use melody to mediate

What is the difference? NO church will take the time to truly accept someone they haven't known 20 years or so....They don't have time for anyone else to join their lives. Too bad, we don't have time for you, we don't care as long as we got what we need, go elsewhere. THIS is the so-called church of Today.

Most of us grew up in churches that did it the “right” way. There was preaching, prayer, confession and some hymns and a cantata in between. Every word of those hymns preached and reinforced doctrine. It wasn’t all about me, me, me. It was about sin, and Jesus, and repentance, and a call to Christian life. We lost that with “Jesus is my boyfriend” music. I no longer find contemporary church services satisfying at all.

I think you are exactly right. At least, at a minimum, save the singing for last.

Charles Finney was not a heretic. The early church considered anyone who didn’t believe we have free will a heretic so every Calvinist preacher today would be considered heretics by the early church.

What’s wrong with “The case for Christ?” Was an awesome movie and based on true events A man’s wife who turned to Jesus and he was a journalist and wanted to prove her wrong, but in the end, he just couldn’t and gave His life to Jesus and became an evangelist and goes around telling his story and his son became a Pastor and his daughter married a pastor

I would rather see the kids today having an emotional musical experience in a peaceful worship service than some of the protests and craziness going on in the mess of the world we live in today. So maybe music only isn't enough, but maybe on down the line they'll think back on it, and think of it as a positive time in their life and want to seek a church or perhaps buy a bible and come to know the Lord and His Word. I'm trying to look for the positives here. But who am I?🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️😂 Much LOVE to you all.❤🙏🏻

This is the best named website I have seen. It is very Wretched.

i would say the purpose of worship music is not to bring people to Christ, its for those whose hearts already belong to christ to express that love.

I was saved at 17yrs old in the military. I had ZERO roots. I fellowshipped at Calvery Chapel in Costa Mesa (I think) Calif. I read the Living Bible & listened to "Christian Rock." But when I started putting down roots (Eventually going to Bible college & then grad school) I put away these things which I would NEVER recommend to anyone. Just saying, at the time it helped me to start to put down tiny roots & the Holy Spirit drew me into deeper Biblical theology. Never dogmatically state what these kids are doing. You have NO info on their (true) conversion. You seem to poo-poo on everything.

We meet in fellowship groups and don't do music. Not that we're against beautiful Christian music but we prefer to focus on edification, the Word and evangelism. Thank you for this clip.

So what if kids like loud music? The important thing is that they are invited to a bible study after the revival so they can actually learn about their new found faith while the lights and music are off. That's actually the test. I would suggest that we stop fussing and look where this revival thing leads, instead. Perhaps you prefer they only sing hymns because only hymns are spiritual? That's just your taste in music. Your taste in music isn't the most important thing.

As a mature Christian of over 50 years who has taught through nearly every book of the Bible, what concerns me way more is the plethora of internet-based self-appointed 'arbiters of discernment' like Todd Friel who think it their 'ministry' to criticize every other ministry that does don't agree with them, especially on minor matters of importance. They do so with demeaning videos, such as this one, to pander to those of like mind while ignoring verses like Ephesians 4:15 "but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" This passage in Ephesians is talking about how to handle false doctrines that have crept into the church. They do so with primarily philosophical arguments with scant, if any, contextually relevant Biblical support. When they do use scripture, more often than not, it is out of context and framed in such a way to deceive the minds of those who are listening. There is no such thing as a 'ministry of discernment' in the Bible! In fact, it is the duty of each and every Christian to discern for themselves if a preacher is telling them the truth according to the Bible. Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.' Even the name of Friel's channel 'Wretched' emphasizes the wrong side of salvation, namely that before we are saved we are, indeed wretched. After salvation, however we have an answer for our wretchedness! Romans 7:24-25 '24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. ' Before salvation we were 'lost', after we are 'found. Before we were 'blind', now we 'see' 'Ministries' such as this do far more harm to the Body of Christ than they do good. They present to the world a house divided against itself and weaken the impact that the Church is to have in the world. Mark 3:25 'And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.' This passage in Mark was a rebuke to the scribes who were criticizing the ministry of Jesus. The Todd Friel's of the Christian world would do well to hear the rebuke that Jesus gave his own disciples when they complained about another group doing miracles Mark 9:38-41 38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part. 41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Don't forget about every Church buying buses after Dallas started a Bus Ministry.

The problem with REVIVAL is the idea of REVIVAL itself (basically saying the Gospel is old and uninteresting and needs to be revived). The Bible does not need our help to make it relatable as it is timeless, it is people who need the gospel's help to save them. Or as Charles Spurgeon said: "I would no more defend the Bible than I would defend a lion. Let the lion loose and he'll defend himself."

If we want to do things biblically, we shouldn't be having revivalist events where preaching is central. Instead, we should be equipping the saints to go out and preach the Gospel.

I may not agree with everything in this video but I certainly agree with your main point. I am a Christian recording artist & a songwriter. I actually do believe that music can help to usher us into the presence of God. But yes, I am quite leery of how the modern church views the modern "praise band" mentality and how they believe that it is bringing people to the church and to faith in Christ. If they believe that people are coming to their church for the modern praise music then by all means - SHUT THE CHURCH DOWN IMMEDIATELY!! People should be coming for the preaching of the Word and for that alone. I am also actually a bit perturbed with churches who do only one style of music all service, every week because they think that it is all people want and it is SO important. Again - The preaching of The Word is what is important. The Word of God is what changes lives and saves souls. Even though the "youth is the future" the church should try to reach out to other demographics as well. I think even entitled youth should be able to appreciate that.

Preaching and agonizing prayer. My favorite Arminian Leonard Ravenhill would correctly set us straight on that.

I agree. My pastors wife will come and sing the whole service. I have been praying on this because it feels non biblical and wrong. Thank you for your video. I have been asking the Lord for clarity. I love my church and pastor, but I need to follow Jesus and biblical righteousness. She is very defensive also when she does this… saying that it’s our heart of worship that God looks for and there is a message in worship.

@ 0:37 I don't know why the book, "The Case for Christ" was included in that trendy lineup. I just found out about a week ago that my nephew who was formerly a police officer bought that book and had his wife read it and it resulted in her conversion to Christ. I don't know how many have been brought to saving faith because of that book, but I dead sure know of one.

❤ thank you Todd I'm with you no music more WORD 🙏🙏🙏🙏 Even Billy Graham did a crusade one time not sure if it was China or Russia the press said same thing to him believe it or not about playing ( just as I am ) they were saying that song was the reason people were going to the front 😮 however I would believe this in this generation of feel good 3 hour concert with no preaching 😢😢 praying for America 👆💖🙏

How about focusing on how to steward revival instead of downplaying it? Local churches need to get on board and help the traveling ministries so there is follow up. Using music and helping people connect with their emotions helps them realize their need for God so they are more receptive. Also there is nothing wrong with extended times of praise and prayer. The revival ministry I am partnered with does everything on a local level and there has been amazing results. Hour of music, hour of teaching, weekly Bible study and prayer services. Sure there’s people who come up front at an event and then go back to the bar the next day, that happens anywhere. Our job is to be obedient to the great commission.

I think he is right to warn against entertainment. I have attended churches where the music was the first 45 minutes to an hour. It would be refreshing to have the sermon first followed by singing for those who want to.

What happened to the evangelicals of 40 years ago? Now it's a clown show.

There needs to be a serious conversation within Protestant Christianity/Evangelicalism about worship. What it IS, what it isn’t, and whether or not what we’re doing in the USA/North America is a genuine reflection of historical Christianity.

Jesus is the deviding line. If they say Jesus and depict Him in the right way, I am all in. People depend on preaching on Sunday morning too much. Those people need to "study to show yourself approved". Not come to a service on Sunday and expect a preacher to feed your hungry soul that you have not fed all week. I agree music shouldn't be the main focus. Jesus should be.

As a church musician, I don’t think you can dismiss all contemporary worship music. We have pretty good mix of music and musical ministry in our worship services.