INSTRUMENTS IN WORSHIP?
One of the most debated issues in today’s church is instruments in worship. There have been many arguments for the use of instruments, but none of which are accurate. The one debating for instruments must ignore biblical silence and add on to what God has ordained. The two most widely used arguments for instruments are: there is no condemnation of the use of instruments and that instruments are used in the same manner as a visual aid is in preaching.
One can argue that there is no condemnation of worshipping with instruments. This is true. There is no text in the bible that says, “thou shalt not use instruments.” This argument is obviously faulty because of the parallels of this in the bible. Moses was told by God to speak to the rock and water would come out. God did not say for Moses not to strike the rock. Moses struck it and he was not allowed to see the promise land but was to die in the wilderness (Numbers 20:8-11).
“While they were eating, He took some bread and after He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ’Take it; this is my body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ’This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many’” (Mark 14: 22-24). We are commanded to use the fruit of the vine and unleavened bread for the Lord’s supper. We aren’t told not to use Pork and water, but that would not be the Lord’s supper. Mark 16:16 says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe is already condemned.” It doesn’t say that he who is not baptized is unsaved, but it is deducted from the statement that the one who is not baptized is unsaved.
It is not hard to see that this is a very week argument. “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). If we are told to sing and not told to use instruments, then we are not allowed to use instruments. Biblical parallels prove this.
Another argument, and perhaps the best argument, states that using instruments is simply to assist one’s
“For over one thousand years the official music of the Roman Catholic church had been Gregorian Chant, which consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment” (Kamien 67). The credit for developing Gregorian chant music, also known as plain...
Dylan was born with a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord, which was successfully removed however resulted in him becoming paraplegic. The first fourteen years of his life, Dylan defined himself by his disability. He felt ‘weird and different’ because of his disability and this was why he was excluded from his peers. It was not until Grade 9 that Dylan began to see that his disability did not have the power to dictate his life or set a limit to which he could achieve. Since then, Dylan has moved on to achieve phenomenal feats, namely, winning a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics to becoming the world’s number one paraplegic tennis player. Dylan can be found wheelchair crowd surfing at concerts, advocating for people with disabilities and training for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Dylan is on a mission to ‘mainstream disabilities’ and shatter negative
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
More specifically, imaginative play is very important during this stage of development because it serves as a means of understanding the world. For example, imaginative play allows the child to comment and try to understand reality via an imaginary world that the child can control and manipulate. This in turn, allows the child to express their feelings in a pretend scenario without receiving the same responses if expressed in reality. As a result, this assists the child in the understanding of emotions and perspective thinking because during imaginative play, the child expresses strong emotions and must empathize with each other’s ideas and feeling (Davies,
...er instrument. A guitar requires the right way to strum it, the drums requires hand –eye coordination and the organ requires you to use your foot and hands to play. The piano through its own transformation – transformed music, and it will never be the same.
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
An Article by Dr. Leong and Dr. Bodrova (2016) stated that play is beneficial to children’s learning especially when it reaches a certain degree of complexity. When they engage in play activities most of their early years, they learn to delay gratification and to prioritize their goals and actions. They also learn to consider the perspectives and needs of other people and to represent things significantly to regulate their behavior and actions in a cautious, intentional way.
Music has been relevant in Christianity since its beginnings. Some of the first music was written in Latin and they were called Hymns. “Hymn is a song of praise” (Van Camp) and were sung only by catholic churches. When Martin Luther led the Protestant Reformation and helped create Protestant Christianity, he began translating hymns into German. All around Europe people were translating hymns into different languages. These translations were brought over by European settlers coming to America and were used frequently in both Catholic and Protestant churches.
Play is such an important part of the learning and growing, especially for children. Children engage in many different types of play, but the play I saw the most when I observe the children of my daycare is sociodramatic play. The book Understanding Dramatic Play by Judith Kase-Polisini defines sociodramatic play as “both players must tacitly or openly agree to act out the same drama” (Kase-Polisini 40). This shows that children play with each other and make their worlds together as equal creators. Children also work together without argument. There is also some personal play involved in their sociodramatic play. The children involved in the play worked to make a family having dinner, which is great example of how this will prepare them for
In life, no action is absent of a reaction. Every effect is linked to a cause, whether seen or unseen and play is no exception. As adults, play is not a foreign concept to us, we just chose not to engage in it and have diminutive space for it reserved in our day-to-day schedules. However, it is essential in the lives of young children.
One of the very first things taught in this class was the concept of the Qur'anic recitation. It is a practice reciting different passages in the Quran. Much to the frustration of those who take part in this practice, it is often mistaken for music by those who are not very familiar with the idea. Music in this culture, however, is considered a nonreligious thing and is thought to be “secular” and “profane”. I found this extremely different from music in Africa, for example, where music plays a huge role in religion. Praise dances are very common in West African cultures where music and religion go hand in hand. Music is most often present in worship and passage rites, as well.
As children develop cognitively the types of play they engage in mirrors this development. This research can be helpful for adults because it gives them insight into how children learn through play (Tsao, 2002). For example, in order to help a child develop their ability to understand the difference between reality and fantasy, pretend games should be encouraged. Parents and teachers can help by giving children toys that require the use of imagination. This includes dress up clothes, play kitchens, and
Play is necessary for normal cognitive development. When looking at the stages developed by Jean Piaget, it is not difficult to understand how his theory influenced the concept of play therapy. His four stages are greatly influenced by play. In the first stage (sensorimotor) the child learns about object permanence as well as how to master his or her own bodies and external objects. The child does so through practiced play, he or she learns to manipulate objects and the effects of play on their environment. During the second stage (preoperational) the child’s language is at its peak learning, and the child does so through role playing and make-believe games. By the end of this stage, the child starts to become more interested in games with rules, structure and social interaction. The third stage (operational), the rules of play are more focused on the social aspects and are connected with acceptance by the group. During the last stage, (formal operations) the child’s play becomes more competitive and games with codes of rules begin to
Everyone knows that Music is played an important role in human lives. Music Instruments are also created for people to play and compose songs for them. The Instrument that I want to mention in this paragraph is one of the traditional keyboard Instruments. That is Pipe Organ. This Organ earns a Great reputation as the King of Instruments. The console includes stops, the pedals and there are one to seven manuals or keyboards for a Pipe Organ. This Organ creates sounds by pumping the air through the hundreds of tubes which is controlled by the keyboard. Pipe Organ is inspired by the water Organ in the third century B.C which is invented by the Greek engineer in Egypt. His name is Ktesibios or Tesibius, he is also known as a
I am at my best when I help others and enjoy engaging others, as they grow closer to Christ, through my work as a music minister. I minister to numerous people of different cultural background. Currently, I minister to two specific cultures. At Holy Family and St. Denis Catholic Churches of Versailles, Ohio, I minister to a predominantly rural community of Catholic farmers. Additionally, I minister to the Latino community of La Parroquia de San Gabriel here in Indianapolis. I began working in Versailles at the age of 13 and have continued to the present. Through this ministry, I built up the existing music ministry program through both musical and pastoral formation. However, I was first fostered in these disciplines. I attended conferences, workshops, scripture studies and prayer groups to form myself spiritually, and I took piano and theory lessons and voice lessons to further form myself as a musician. As a result I was able to share my knowledge with fellow music ministers, namely the choir and cantors under my direction, and also with my congregation. My formation was challenged during the implementation of the newest General Instruction of the Roman Missal in late 2011. I attended additional conferences and trainings to further develop my understanding of the new translation and what it meant for music ministry, as well as teaching the theology behind the changes to a frustrated choir, composed of members who remember the pre-Vatican II Church. Now, here at Marian University-Indianapolis and especially at La Parroquia de San Gabriel, I have been challenge in many new ways.