Holy Hell, what a great topic! Peter, if you don't comment in this, I will start praying now for God to raise an Ebeneezer and drop it on you, and hither by, thoust grace will not come. Okay so I give a hundred votes to "The Happy Song" by Deleriou5?. This song falls into several of your categories Sara, but also one you failed to mention... one which is my biggest pet peeve of all. Songs that don't freakin rhyme! Does the writer think that because it's a worship song, it has the freedom to break the most basic rules of song? If this were any other type of music (i.e. not worship music), the sheet music wouldn't be worth sheet (as in the paper it's written on, wink wink). Ugh! Just looking at those lyrics... I hate this song for so many reasons. How is it not on your list?? What kind of band makes their name a question anyway? Attention worship leaders: for the love of God, and I mean that, don't ever play this song again! -Jared

Are we going to open this up to hymns, too? If so, I would have to mention Night With Ebon Pinion. To this day I do not know what the first line/title means.

Romans 16:19 says...

Beth- I dont know you, but i feel like I should give you a big kiss on the cheek. We sang that song at BSU one week and I kid you not the piano player stopped playing in the middle of the song because he was laughing so hard. It's like a cheer/scripture memorization/yell. WOW i hate that song. Another one to add is Peaceful Easy Feeling mixed with Amazing Grace. Both great song when played by themselves. Makes me want to poke my eyes out when i hear them together

I've also heard Amazing Grace to the tune of "Theme from Gilligan's Island."

yea, the peaceful easy feeling thing drives me crazy. i think we should just all chant and yell and play hand drums! :)

Jared, It's a top 5 list. Get it? If I put on all the songs I hated, you'd be reading for a week. But that song is definitely in the top 10. Since you brought up more categories, how about worship songs that sound exactly like 'real' songs. Every time I hear "Every Move I Make", I think "Centerfold" by the J. Guiles band. (Our lead guitarist plays the solo to "Centerfold" everytime we sing it, just to annoy me. Thank you, Bufe.)

Great topic Sara! I would like to add a category of songs with the word Shout in the title. Both "Shout to the Lord" and "Shout to the North" would probably make my top 5 list on the worst worship songs ever. Everytime I sing "Shout to the North" I feel as if I should turn my entire body that direction causing me to begin laughing hysterically at how stupid that would look. I would also like to mention my least favorite lyric from the song- "rise up church with broken wings"..what does that even mean?

lord i lift your name on high... i. cannot. stand. it. no. longer.

I Want to Know You (In The Secret) because lines like "I want to touch you, I want to see your face, I want to know You more," sound more like something I would sing to my girlfriend and not God. And last time those who saw the face of God died. (Ex 33:18-23)

These lists just make me feel old. I don't know any of these songs (except the Peaceful easy Grace one). They just don't write lyrics to Jesus songs like they did back in my day. Matt "Give me gas in my Ford, keep me truckin' for the Lord, truckin' til the break of day!" Sears

Dittos on "I could sing of your love forever." Actually, it's quite impossible to sing this song forever because nothing matches up in this song musically (too many words in the verses). "Lord i lift your name on high." Very annoying song, especially since you can play the bass line from The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" to it... Lord I lift your name on high... Lord I love to sing your praises... I'm so glad you're in my life WREET-WROW!!

I'm still amused by the fact that I think I effectively killed the song "Your Will" after mocking in a Spring Break devotion. For those that don't remember, its the songs with lyrics that go: Your will (x 9) Oh lord, we long to do, your will. Doug

Good work. One more comment on "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever". As a friend of mine pointed out one time: "oh, I feel like dancin'... but the music in this song won't let me!" It's too slow, too soft; a gentle sway is about the best you could get - if you're going to talk about dancing, at least give us music with a rhythm that encourages dancing! I could think of some other songs to nominate, but as someone else wrote in a comment, if they were all up here we'd be reading forever.

Night With Ebon Pinion ebon pinion is "black wing" referring to the darkness that fell on the earth at the time of jesus death. brooded o'er the vale=it came over the valley.

Wow, thanks for the explanation. But Jesus died in the afternoon (the darkness at his death was from noon until 3) and the song says NIGHT with ebon pinion. What gives?

I thought ebon pinion was Latin. "Ebon" - Pretty "Pinion" - Weird But I'm no expert...

You forgot: We will dance on the streets that are golden. - I'm sorry that song sounds so feminate and Gay. Hop on The Bus Mercy is Falling Great God Any Third Day song sung in praise and worship. Worship leaders can't sing the song, they have to imitate the 'drunken and slurred' voice of Third Day's lead singer. And amen on the 'river songs' they value experiences over Scriptures. BTW, Amazing Grace does sound really cool when sung to the music of Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix.

My peeve is any song that makes not sense biblically... "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Singing about "dancing in a river while hugging the creator of the universe that sings over me because I'm so special that Jesus will hug me forever while I imagine that angels' wings are brushing my tears away with a la la hoo yah peaceful easy feeling" seems to me to make a mockery of worship. We ought not worship for our own pleasure, but rather for His. Anything else is idolotry.

True. Then of course worship isn't just singing at all. Biblically, we should be singing to God to praise him, yes, but also to build each other up (cf. Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16). Songs which don't have good theology, make no sense, or are just plain difficult don't allow us to do either. Experiential songs just work up people with emotions that come from the music rather than from what they feel about God. It just leads to people thinking they're "experiencing" God when they're singing, when theologically that's nonsense. That said there's no accounting for different tastes. I like "Lord I lift your name on high" :)

I hate any worship song that uses instruments... :)

It was nearly 10 years ago when Kelly Jackson & Rob Siemer wrote and distributed among the folks at Truman State (then Northeast Missouri State) a hotly debated list of the top 10 worst worship songs that were sung at CCF at the time. I always hoped that list would be revived with newer songs and a forum for dissing them--but after the stir the first list caused, Rob & Kelly were both a bit gun shy. So thank you, Sara, for making a dream nearly 10 years in the making for me a reality. My top 5 hated worship song categories: 1. Songs sung among white people that mention dancing: These songs almost universally induce that wacky bob & sway that says, "I'm singing that I'm dancing, but I'm not actually dancing, so to remedy the situation I will awkwardly alternate the bending of my knees to generate body movement." (The bridge of "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" is an example.) 2. Songs that, for continuity's sake, should be split into two or more songs: In these songs, the various components of the song are so unrelated in subject, rhythm, meter, and/or melody that when listening to the finished song I can't help but think the writer had a notebook where he/she jotted down song ideas and one day decided that none of the songs would ever get finished so he/she just slapped them all together under the convenient titles of verse, chorus, and bridge. ("Trading My Sorrows" is the classic example.) 3. Songs where only the worship leader can follow the rhythm and/or melody because the songs are more conducive to performance than to corporate worship experience: These songs can be great songs of themselves, so it's more a criticism of their choice as worship songs than a criticism of the actual songs. (Most Third Day & Waterdeep songs fall into this category for me.) 4. Songs sung as worship that are written in first person from the perspective of God: Again, many of these songs are songs I like, but I don't like singing them in worship primarily because I am not God and feel rather awkward singing in worship to Him "as" Him. (Rich Mullins "That Where I Am"--if that's the official title of the song--is a good example of this: a song I like to sing in my car or walking down the street to remind me of God's presence & promises, but not one I like to sing in corporate worship.) 5. Songs that make sweeping generalizations about the state of those singing: When I get to a line in a song that makes a statement about how I'm feeling or supposed to be feeling, but does not correspond with reality, I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do with that. I guess this is part of a broader category that I don't feel should be banned altogether, but do feel should be quite limited in the worship experience, and that is songs about us in general. I'm no worship expert, but I'm pretty sure that worship is supposed to be about God and maybe slightly about how we relate to God, but definitely not about us. And my biggest pet peeve in this category is songs that claim to be about God, but are primarily about us. ("Heart of Worship" is probably my most hated song in this category because I don't like singing "I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it" when I don't generally feel this way and additionally, who's this song about? Oh yeah, it's about me and about how I'm coming back and about how sorry I am.) 6 (bonus) Songs that replace one word and create a whole new verse: I hate these songs because oftentimes, especially if I'm in another room listening, I have no idea what they're actually singing. ("Holiness" is the best example because almost every time I hear a group of people singing that song, it pretty much sounds like, "Nana-ness, Nana-ness is what I long for/ Nana-ness is what I need..."; and on that song, what's with the key change on "brokenness"? Is that the high point?) I could go on and on but I really should be working. Beth "skittles" Siemer

I'd like to see Rob's list. I may not know all of the songs (I was in junior high when he wrote it), but it would still be fun. I agree with most of what you said, but I wouldn't put 'I'm trading my sorrows' into category 2. I think it holds together thematically pretty well. I might place it in the bad song category: songs that repeat 2 words 40 times and call it a chorus. Doug's favorite, 'Your will' would also fit in there. In number four, I hate singing "For I am the Lord your God" in the song "Isaiah 43".

The worship song I always hated the most was "as the deer panteth for the water." yes, I know that's right out of the bible, but it always gave me the mental image of a stupid cartoon deer panting after God. What kind of word is panteth anyway? The rest of the song is pretty weak, too.

Well i have found my home. I didnt realise this level of cynicism existed out of my own head. Three further thoughts - what is it with the nondescript Guitar chord at the start of most Redman and Hughes songs is it the signpost for the opening of a bland track. And what about this lyric 'my lovers breath is sweetest wine' - now that may be scripture (I dont know to be honest) and it prob makes sense in bible but that does not make any sense its mixed metaphors, weak imagery and just awful. And if you are ever at heaton baptist church, newcastle at harvest time then you have to go to hear the Harvest Rap. A middleaged man will get up and to some phat bass rap about harvest time (Praise him for the corn, praise him for the wheat, praise him for the frass that grows beneath my feet). I collapsed with laughter - people thought it was the holy spirit coming upon me. They were laying hands and everything. And we wonder why we cant fill the pews - comedy like that should be publicised. Still kepp up the good work, its admirable - controversial one but I wish Delirious would stop shouting to the darned North im sick of it. And im spent.

Oh and I forgot the bastard fusing of the tune to Auld Lang Syne's tune to the lords prayer. For his next trick Cliff Richard is gluing the front end of a cow to the arse of a rat.

Ah a place to vent! In no certain order 1) "You Alone" by David Crowder, the supposed "future" of CCM-praise. If so, I'm scrambling to the nearest Fundy Baptist church in no time. The lyrics "I bow all of my down at your feet" and "You Alone are God" are fine, I guess (but some we've heard a thousand times before). However, stuck in the middle like an unsightly birthmark is the key-change and the chanting of "I'm alive!" no less than 16 times (or more if your ring...I mean praise leader has a death wish). It has no bearing of what happened before or happens next (which is just a repeat of the chorus), and it seems to exist simply for pure emotional manipulation. When the band plays it, I usually take my pulse and show to my friend to prove I am, indeed, alive. 2) Whatever that "Yes Lord" song is. Shoot me before they do it again on the radio or in concert...I mean church. 3) "In the Secret" by whoever, made famous by the band formerly known as Sonicflood. You can sing "Semi-charmed Life" to the chorus. I highly recommend it during one of the final times it is being repeated. 4) "Breate" by Michael W Smith. Not only for it's "I'm desparate for you" line repeated over and over, but for every band that used the "The Air I breate" line and the "I'm desparate for you" lines. Quit being desparate, He's with you already! 5) I think it's Newsong, but there's a song on the radio that simply has the chorus of "Yay, God!" I'm fearing the first time it graces the overheads.

Yikes! Sara, you've created a monster! You've gone from reluctantly admitting some cynicism on your part to drawing some hard core cynics, including the latest morbid post by one David "Allen" Poe, who in a post on worship songs he does not like, somehow manages to make 2--count them, 2--references to DYING. When I was your age, worship song criticism was pure, heartfelt, and constructive. I think. That was a long time ago. But who can forget when "A Mighty Fortress" first came out? You should have read the postings then! People were clamoring left and right: "Why no mention of indulgences?" "Isn't the pope our fortress?" "Lots of words rhyme with 'purgatory'--he could have used it if he really wanted to." Ah, yes. Those were the days. But if there's one thing Christians of all denominations can agree upon, it's that "Trading My Sorrows" is the worst worship song written of all years ending in "A.D." About a half a dozen different rules for writing bad worship songs can be formulated from that song alone. If "Trading My Sorrows" were Gospel scholarship, it would be the Q hypothesis. It's that foundational to the topic. When I first heard the song, I thought it would be fun to have a group of sopranos singing in the background of the chorus, "A - firm - a - tive," all drawn out and such. Well, before I got that far in thinking about the song, I had a different thought that was something like this: "Is this a real song? Get outta here! Really? This is an actual song? This isn't a joke?" My thought patterns continued like that for about the first 6 times through the song. See, it takes about 13 times to get the so-called "melody" of the chorus. I imagine the composer wrote the chorus as a way of compensating for the bridge, or vice versa. Note to worship song writers: Instead of writing a bridge that is virtually impossible to sing with any sort of rhythm AND writing the chorus with such a simplistic rhythm that many non-human living creatures could do a pretty good job on it, try just aiming for the fat middle part of the bell curve of singability for both the verse, chorus, and--ocassionally--the bridge. All that said, there were a few songs that I think got a bad rap in some of the previous posts. E.g., is it really that bad to be desparate for God? It's just a way of talking about longing for more of God, eh? And dismissing outright all songs with "Shout" in the title? Again, seems a little extreme. And "river" seems like a pretty good image for God's love or Jesus' healing or a number of things. It is biblical, and perhaps the ambiguity of the image is what makes it work (for those of us for whom it does). AND, I admit "Lord, I Life Your Name On High" has been sung, well, a lot. But it was once a new song, and a powerful and effective one in its day. Probably still is to a lot of people. So "age" should not automatically bring a song down. Which is why "Trading My Sorrows" is such a great bad song. I found it to be quite dreadful the very first time I heard it. Same was true for "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever." I learned that around a campfire w/ no lyric sheets. The guitarists were like, "Oh, there's this great new song. Does anyone know it?" No one did. "OK, well it's easy..." They then proceeded to speak the verses to us. "Got it?" Uh, yeah, I guess so. So then they played. Boom. 2.37 seconds later, they're done. I'm sitting there thinking, "Did they really just sing all of those words in that short of a time period?" I was still on "mountain" when they hit the chorus. Oh, I see. This is a FAST song. Yeah, those are easier with overheards. If there was another verse to that song, it might be OK. Anyway, figured this was more productive than most things I could be doing at 1:00 in the morning when I can't sleep. That's my 2 cents for now. I might write more later. Bye! -Rob

Good grief, you should hear me when our church goes instrumental. We've got handbells, and it's quite wonderful. The Bells. From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells-- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. Er..um...anyway. The "desparation" thing is just an oddly weird thing. One guy does it, and it's the latest fad. I guess I likened it to being "Desparate" for a meal with everything laid out for you while you continue the lament. Ever eat while saying you were desparate to eat? I guess that's the way I see it. Now I've got a reputation to keep up. I should just sing some Southern Gospel songs. Most of them seem about death as well...but more in an escapist way. -DP

(Rob, great to hear from you. Congratulations on the job.) I agree with David that 'desparate' songs are some sort of fad that doesn't always work. I don't agree with David when he suggests that desparation isn't something we should express because it's so easy . . . easy to what? To experience God? To be confident of his grace and presence? Not for me. Sometimes desparation is what I feel (which is better than my characteristic indifference). David, first of all, welcome. Please feel free to say what you think and what you believe, even if it comes out as a rant. I'm happy to think that you feel comfortable here. I would like to hear you elaborate a bit more on why you don't feel desparate. Maybe I'm missing something.

I like ambiguous secular songs that get turned into worship songs. Recall, for example, Vertical Horizon: "He's everything you want/need/etc..." And Creed too. Creed should just release their old stuff as worship music and sell another 500,000 copies easy. Since Kelly Jackson apparently has some past with this, I'm going to see if she'll join in. Rob, Beth... just give in and start a blog together. We need to hear from you more! -Jared

I can't say that I've read one thing written here that I disagree with. It seems that "worship" songwriters are putting out shallow, emotional, and doctrineless songs that are running rampant around the world. Some songs touch me very deeply like "Famous One", a simple idea that is focused on Him. The thing that REALLY is starting to make me sick is all of the remakes of songs that are already out. I mean, how many times are we going to hear different renditions of "I Could Sing Of Your Love", or "Let My Words Be Few", etc. (The list is a mile long.) I don't know if anyone agrees with me, but I really feel like the Christian music industry is stealing money from the "flock" by putting out remakes of already used up worship songs. And yet, people still buy this stuff. Is anyone inspired to write new music anymore? If I hear one more Michael W. Smith "worship" album... I better stop now.

often i would rather hear an old "re-used" song than a new worship song. new music does not equal good.

What about the abysmally bad Come now is the time to worship. A veil of dullness drops over worship leaders and they choose that dreadful song to open with - hmmm how irrelevent is the church.

Great topic... and it's way up there on Google. ;-) It's unfortunate that so many people shy away from honestly critiquing things in the church, especially Christian music. Has anyone ever read a negative review of a Christian CD in a publication? I sure haven't. Isn't it good to spur each other on towards worship that is more meaningful, more profound, and richer? Aren't we to speak the TRUTH in love? Another point I'd like to propose: these songs, like almost any piece of music written in popular styles, aren't meant to last very long. Maybe a few should endure...but the whole point is for them to catch the mood of the day, to be instantly appealing. That's pop music. It's only natural that worship songs written in this style should wear out. It's too bad so many churches have a hard time retiring the ones they use so much. My personal nomination is (and I know this is a favorite for a LOT of people), "Shout to the Lord." The chorus just doesn't seem to have any continuity of thought in it. And can someone please tell me what "Forever I'll stand" means? Besides that it seems like an eternity when we sing the chorus over and over again? For a good example of the problem with rivers: "Shine Jesus Shine... Blaze, Spirit, blaze... Flow, river, flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy.." A new trinity: the River, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Huh?? As a general comment, I try very hard, when I get the opportunity to choose worship music, to pick songs that speak in corporate terms: "We, Our, Us." The whole reason we come together to sing is because there is something more meaningful about community. For this reason, I dislike worship songs the more individualistic they are. The songwriter's instinct is to write things that are very personal, and many people want to sing songs that express emotions, which are by nature very personal. So it's a very difficult balance.

I googled on this topic because I was talking to my son who is a pop/folk musician and he was reminiscing about bad worship songs from when he was living at home attending our church. (He mentioned "Oh, I believe in Jesus, I believe he is the son of God, I believe he died and rose again, I believe he paid for us all..." his comment being that the depth of the theology ought to be mirrored in the melody, whereas the melody here is extremely sing-songy and trivial.) When he's not on the road he now attends a church with a classical music/organist/hymn focus for worship. I was trying to tell him that the current crop are worse than the ones he was bringing up--at least they had some theological content. But I suddenly blanked out on the ones that make me squirm and writhe every week, so today I'm googling, thinking someone has surely made some kind of "Worst Worship Songs Ever" list. Your list is fantastic and contains some of the ones that really make me squirm, musically and/or lyrically speaking. Totally agree about songs where the lyrics suppose that we are dancing. I just don't get it. I never knew "Trading My Sorrows" had actions. Oh my goodness. Thank God for that mercy. Our worship leader brought that song in frequently right when I was going through very debilitating pain from a sudden, severe onset of a disease that for all I knew at the time was going to leave me crippled for life. The bouncy little, 'I'm trading my sorrow-ows, I'm trading my pai-ai-ain, I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord" was demoralizing to me at the time, and if I could have walked out, I would have. I felt whole thing trivialized the difficulty of responding to suffering with faith. Right when coming to church was the hardest because I scarcely could move and my faith was being challenged...and I couldn't believe that others going through suffering of various kinds in the congregation didn't have the same reaction. Another nominee: "Coming Back to the Heart of Worship". Couldn't the writer dig down and lyricize better than "I'm sorry Lord for the _thing_ I've made it, when it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus" Is that lyric-writing? And while it might have meaning to worship leaders, I think the rank and file worshiper might be going, "huh?" during this song. I just went back and read everyone's comments. Wow, it is so good to know that I'm not writhing in agony in the pew alone, and that my reaction to these songs is shared. So how do you cope? How do you worship when part of your brain is going, "this can't be happening!!!"

To Kathy and everyone else: Thanks for your honesty. It has been really refreshing (to use a cliche and, let's face it, an over-used worship song word) to hear your similar complaints about worship music. Nate's comment, "It's only natural that worship songs written in this style should wear out. It's too bad so many churches have a hard time retiring the ones they use so much" made a lot of sense to me. Good insight. As for Kathy's question, "How do you cope?" I don't know if I have a legitimate answer. I only know that cynicism has its place, i.e, here, and the days when I am feeling particularly cynical in church are the days I feel most bad about myself. I usually just focus on the fact that the majority of people in my congregation don't analyze things to death, and they are getting closer to God through these songs. Their collective seeking after God motivates me to do the same, even if I can never fully get over my hangups in a worship service. And, at times, I think God finds my cynicism moderately amusing. He did make my brain, after all.

Now I have a few minutes, I wanted to probe the "desparate" issue in a nutshell, and why I recommend the song to be banishined to the land of wind and ghosts. "Desparate" is a form of the word "dispair," having lost all hope or showing a recklessness due to depair (i.e. "A Desparate attempt") I guess I don't exactly see this as an accurate description of my relationship with Christ. I am no longer in desparation or despair; The Lord has promised to never leave or foresake. If this were the song of a sinner first believing ... maybe. But why would there be a desparation now? Here's here with us already! Maybe "I Need Thee Every Hour" would be more relevant. Or, maybe, a reminder that he already IS with us, no matter how far away we feel from him. And I don't remember suggesting anything about things being "easy," unless suggesting it was easy to just copy the latest worship catch-phrase (I've heard the "I'm desparate for you" line in a few songs now). I'm lost on how that got credited to me.

A quick trip to dictionary.com showed me that your were right. I think the song uses the word to mean "I have no hope without God and I need him badly," but desperate is probably poor word choice. I was assuming this meaning when I interpreted you to mean that faith was easy. I'm sorry about that. Generally, I also try to be fairly precise with word meanings, but I was ignorant on this one. You make a good point.

I have three words: "Dancing on Injustice." I love Delirious?, but I feel that Injustice would be better dealt with by a brute squad than some can-can dancers. My dad and I were brainstorming about the type of dancing the song was talking about, and we came up with some of these: 1. Moshing on injustice 2. Rhumba on injustice 3. Waltz on injustice 4. Square dance on injustice 5. Breakdance on injustice

"You're my all, you're the best You're my joy, my righteousness And I love you, Lord." This song should be sung in a medley with the "My buddy and me" theme song. Seriously, "you're the best"? I can't say anything that would make that funnier. I generally avoid singing songs that proclaim emotions I never feel, even though I secretly wish to sing them wholeheartedly. I sing the 'desperate' lines only because I know it's true. Etymology aside, I use words how I want to, as does everyone. I am sure 'desperate' meant something different in Old English, and in Old French, and in Latin, Indoeuropean, etc. Usage dictates grammar, not dictionaries. To keep the discontinuity of this post going (I hope no one turns what I'm writing into a worship song)-- New category: Essays set to music. These are the songs that try to make up for thirty years of theological superficiality in a three minute sweep through the table of contents of a handy systematic theology textbook. There's a difference between depth and rambling, and don't write a worship song until you know what that difference is. Side note: I led the song "Your Will" at a Wed night CCF service about a week after Doug's tirade against it, just for spite. And people cried tears of spite as they sang. After the service, we shot Doug's ferret out of a cannon into Thousand Hills Lake. Which brings me to Caedmon's Call: Their songs sound cool, but as with all songs with obscure imagery, I have to pray for a sort of "interpretation of tongues." Metaphor: I love ambiguity and imagery, but when you ask people what 'river' means in a particular song and get 27 different answers pulled out of butts of varying theological persuasions, you begin to say, "This is a bunch of crap." [Pause for groan.] Part of singing as a community has to mean that we have some cohesion of meaning. Solos: Cohesion is also threatened when 4 mediocre singers spread around the room half sing the tricky "solo" part to the repeat of the verse on "Shout to the Lord." I sometimes sing it just to see what sort of personal benefit a person receives. According to my research, the comedic benefit is not enough to counteract the numbing effect of almost ten years of momentum behind this juggernaut. We either all need to agree take this song down in a coordinated assault, or assent to the masses and sing as we try to remember if we left the stove on. (If I did, my house might blow up. But then there would be a valid reason to run from the church screaming.) Finally: Isn't it ironic that if God really answered me when I sang "Trading My Sorrows," we would never sing that song again? Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Yes, yes, Lord. Amen.

Interesting...I didn't have time to read all the comments, but last night I was thinking to myself at a worship service this song may be self defeating. Before I tell why, let me disclaim that I like this song, but none-the-less it has its huge flaws. I don't remember the name but the lyrics state that there aren't enough words to tell how much we love you God, so check our hearts. I was wondering if God really checked out hearts, would he find much love at all, let alone a love that our words cannot express? The other observation, and quickly I note again I didn't read all of the posts, it seems that we have a bunch of cynics (myself included) holing up here on this board, and being one I find that the songs generally brought up are "favorites" in the evangelical world. I wonder how much dissatisfaction with song comes from its popularity and a cynic's natural tendency to rebel. How many of us (because I am surely one) used to love singing these songs and belt out "oh I feel like dancing". Maybe none of you...but something to think about. Just remember the time is of worship and should be done in community. Romance songs don't make sense most of the time either (and we could probably turn most of these songs to a significant other rather than God), but we should at least have a heart of worship rather than disgust at our own humanity (i.e. the lack of talent in our worship writers). The last comment is if we worship Biblically (i.e. like a whole book of worship is outlined, the Psalms) we should have a ton more songs of lament and even of question, but most if not all resolve with a continued trust in God and a desire to continue to love him.

Sara, you're famous: http://ardententhusiast.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_ardententhusiast_archive.html The movement has begun!

I have to agree with most of what was posted, but want to add to the list. First, the ones that most annoy me are ones where I have to ask if the singer actually knows what they are asking for. "Um... You do realize that to 'see God high and lifted up' is enough to make a priest ministering in the temple say 'I am a man of unclean lips', right? Why do we want to do that?" Or my personal favorite, "Fall on this room like you did on the temple in Solomon's day." Am I the only one who remembers that the priests couldn't offer sacrifices in the temple because God's glory was there. Second, the low lyrical quality of most of what we sing in church irritates me. If I would be embarassed to write verse of similar quality for a girl, then it definitely is not fit for the Creator of the Universe. Finally, to answer the question on Ebon Pinion. It does refer to black wing as someone mentioned. But the song is actually a discussion of the Garden of Gethsemane which happened at night.

Does anyone agree that Chrisitans like a song and then play it to death - My Jesus my Shelter - they ruin it for all.

great site! my two cents: 1. songs with "la la" or "na na" or other filler words. i end up just staring at the ground. it cracks up my wife. 2. "jesus is my girlfriend" songs. already alluded to earlier. in these songs, you substitute your significant other's name and it makes for a great make-out song. just get barry white to sing it. 3. for the 70 x 7th time, how can anyone be honest in worship when they sing "oh i feel like dancing"? no one feels like dancing! the whole worship team just mellowed out for this part of the song. of course everone knows "it's foolishness". isn't it great God has blessed people with the gift of humor? i laughed for a while reading some of these comments.

Greetings, Sara and company. Sara, I've been wanting to post again, but I had to time it just right so that I can either claim part of the credit or disclaim part of the blame depending on how this turns out. If your fame increases, and you get to make the rounds on Christian talk shows and people write nice books about you, I want you to be able to say that I was one of the foundational posters. But if things take a turn for the worse, like if you get excommunicated or worse, I want to be able to tell powerful church leaders--and perhaps even God himself, if it comes to that--that I never knew you. This seemed like a good time to post in order to have it both ways like that. I've actually been wanting to post for a while, because I think I might have something somewhat constructive to say. I'll get to that in a minute. But first, a couple of personal notes: Jared, I will never start a blog, no matter how much you, my one fan, clammor for it. Danny, I looked for my nearly 10 year old list of worst worship songs, and can't find it. It might be hiding somewhere. We're moving soon, so maybe it will turn up. Maybe it's under the microwave, or someplace like that. I think some of the songs on it were fairly unique to CCF, so I'm not sure how many people will say things like, "Oh, yeah, I know that one." I can remember a couple that may have had wider usage, though. For example, there was "Knit Our Hearts Together." It goes like this: Knit our hearts together / like Jonathon and David / Knit our hearts together / like Ruth and Naomi / Make us one, make us one / like the Father and the Son / There is no division in love. Repeat until nausea sets in. One clear rule from this song is apparent: Not all Scripture references make for good worship songs. Sorry, it's just true. If I were at all musical myself, I would write a worship song to the words of Leviticus 11, i.e. the OT food prohibitions. Wouldn't that be a hoot? Can anyone come up with a melody to "The coney (that is, the hyrax or rock badger), though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you." Yeah, so, just because Ruth and Naomi had their hearts knit together just like we would like to have our hearts knit together (not literally, of course), doesn't mean that either the name "Ruth" or "Naomi" is especially evocative or poetic sounding in a worship song--even though it's Scriptural. Another one on that old list was "Holy, Holy, Holy." Not the classic hymn. This "Holy, Holy, Holy" was a veerrrry slllloooooow song. It went something like this: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord / Holy is the Lord, God almighty / Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord / Holy is the Lord, God almighty / Who was, and is, and is to come / Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord" Now replace "Holy" with "Worthy" and sing it all again. Now replace "Holy is" with "Glory to"--I think. It might have been something else. Now sing the first verse again, as a dramatic closer of sorts. Did I mention that this is a slllooowww song? Obviously, I can't sing it in a post, but I can tell you that I just sang a verse, and it took a full minute. It seemed like 10. As I think back to the day, I distinctly remember 2 thoughts coming to mind every time we sang it. The first one would hit me about half way through the first verse, and it was "I can't believe we still have 2 more verses of this." (I usually forgot the repeating of the first verse.) The second was, "Could this possibly be the melody of the creatures in Revelation 4?" Maybe if they get sleepy or bored, I guess. This is a long shot, I know, but if anyone knows the Catholic lullaby--I mean "hymn"--"Peace Is Flowing Like A River" then you've got some idea of what "Holy, Holy, Holy" is like. Of course, what would a "Worst Worship Songs" list be without "Ha la la la la la le lu jah"? This, I now know, is a kids song, supposedly fun for those type of people. So it's hard to be too harsh about it. But we sang it at our college ministry! "Bump another rump, bump a rump next to ya"????? Yup. I like to think of that as our little way of convincing seekers that we were, in fact, a cult. Those three were all on the old list. One that would have made it was "All You Works of God." I don't remember too well how it goes, but the verses are calls to worship directed at--you guessed it--all the works of God. For example, "sun and moon, bless your maker." Every time we sing it, I can't help but picture the worship leader holding the mike out towards the congregation and saying, "Just the leaves now! OK, now the grass! That's right, that's right! Now let's hear the dew!" On to more recent material to which I can respond. I'd like to start off on an agreeable note--you know, to build up our little community of cynics here. So, I will state, once again, the one thing that all Christians can agree upon: "Trading My Sorrows" is the crappiest piece of crap ever crapped in the name of worship songs. Moving on, but remaining agreeable: Peter, good move pulling out the "You're the best" line. I can't help but do that weird fist-pumping motion every time I get to that line. Imagine a slowed-down right hook to the body of no one in particular, timed perfectly with the singing of "best." Remaining agreable: Peter, you wrote, "I generally avoid singing songs that proclaim emotions I never feel, even though I secretly wish to sing them wholeheartedly." I agree. You do do that. Remaining agreable: I agree with Beth's categories, and would add a couple, some of which have been mentioned, some only described or alluded to. 1. Secular Songs or Melodies Turned Into Worship Songs. I know this is how it used to be. Pub songs would get re-lyricized and turn up in the church. That day has passed, I'm afraid, and now it just rings of unoriginality. It is the musical version of tweaking secular logos and turning them into Christian t-shirts. Combining "Amazing Grace" w/ "Peaceful Easy Feeling"? Isn't he talking about having sex in the second one? How did this happen? What worship leader was thinking, "You know, amazing grace is good and all, but I wish I could come up with a better way of describing how I feel about God's grace. I know! It's like I feel after I've fornicated! Isn't there an Eagles song about that?" Or the Gilligan's Island fiaso? Again, it's fun to play, "What Were They Thinking?" Can we even imagine? "I sure do like those words to Amazing Grace. I just wish I could find a melody that was more timeless and reverent. (flips to Gilligan's Island) Hey, wait a second..." I have heard "What's Up?" by Four Non-Blondes used as a worship song. The lyrics were slightly altered (recall the t-shirt comparison). Is this the best that Christians could come up with? I mean, I know it's a classic and all (I think it even made it onto "Four Non-Blondes Greatest Hits") but does that song capture something that no Christian could at least re-create? Maybe if the artist at least professes to be Christian there are a couple of songs that could make the transition ("40" by U2 comes to mind). But how would Christians feel if secular bands started taking classic worship songs and changing the words to make them about sex? 2. La La or Na Na Songs. Thanks for mentioning it, person who's name I can't read right now because my computer is blocking out that line of text for some reason. I would add "oh oh" songs, as well. We used to sing "Praise Song" by Third Day with an "oh oh" verse, or maybe it was a bridge. Either way, it never seemed very worshipful. I'll never forget turning around and seeing two of my best friends creating their own hand motions: large "O's" with their arms, either overhand or underhand, but intentionally trembling as they were doing it, a la Hans and Frans from SNL. Amazingly, I kept a straight face long enough to walk up to them and pretend to rebuke them, saying, "Hey, I'm trying to worship here," but then I lost it, and all three of us busted up. 3. Songs with "Ruth" and "Naomi" in Them. Well, enough of being agreable. Here is my list of "Categories of Songs Wrongly Considered to Be Indicators of Bad Worship Songs." 1. River songs. Peter, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're out to sea with this river hang up of yours. Don't get me wrong: I still think you're a Christian, and I still want to meet for coffee tomorrow, but you're up the creek on this one. There just aren't THAT many possibilities for what "river" can mean. In any given river song, 90% percent of the congregation would probably say that it means "healing," "power," "love," or "forgiveness." These are all pretty close. They're all "Christian things." It's not like this guy thinks it symbolizes lust, and this guy the inner healing of Buddha, and that guy is thinking about a river of beer. I'd say that most people are on the same general page, and I'd say that's enough. In fact--and this is radical--the ambiguity is what makes it work. Maybe I'm thinking the river is God's forgiveness of a particular sin. Maybe you're thinking it's God's empowering you to glorify him. Fine. The notions of river are different enough to be intensely personal, but similar enough to be intensely communal (especially given we're all singing the same song). Long live river songs! 2. Songs that Have Been Overplayed. People, it's not the song's fault. I agree with Ed Lawrence, here. Some songs just get played to death. But as responsible critics, we need to be able to step back and ask ourselves, "Is it really the song?" I've already defended "Lord, I Life Your Name On High," and I'm prepared to defend a handful of others, if need be. 3. Songs that Are Allegedly Over-Individualistic. OK, I'm stepping into a minefield here, I know. But a couple of people have said as though it is a given that worship is all about community. Everyone grab a paper bag and get ready to breathe into it if needed, but I'm going to suggest here that it is not ONLY about community. There is an individual aspect to worship. I do not believe that there is anything inherently wrong or unbiblical about singing a song with a singular first person pronoun. Furthermore, the "worship is all about community" mentality is an overreaction, an overswinging of the pendulum away from wrong view that worship is ONLY about the individual. Here's the deal: we (by this I mean westerners, Americans especially) live in what is generally an overly-individualistic culture. This has been reflected in the often exclusive singing of individualistic songs. But I am not prepared to just toss out all those songs. Now, there are songs that are a little too personally detailed. Beth mentioned her problem with singing "I'm sorry for the thing I've made it." But that's not the same thing. All I'm saying is let's not overcompensate the other way. Let's shoot for the middle. 1-2 "I" songs for every 2-4 "we" songs seems like a pretty good ratio. I think the Psalms are a good example of a mixture of these--they are not all "we". Some are "I", and are we sure that the Hebrews never used any of the "I" Psalms for corporate worship? Related to this, I would not go so far to say that worship is not about us. It's not ONLY about us, of course, and I would say it's not chiefly about us, but if it's ONLY about God, and NOT AT ALL about us, then what the heck are we doing there? Why don't we just play a worship CD and call it a day? A better, more challenging approach would be to ask, "In what way is worship about us? In what way is it about God?" The same could be asked about individual songs. But I don't know of any songs that are so much about "us" that they are not at all about "God." Even "I'm sorry for the thing I've made it," though not a great worship song, in my opinion, is still about God to a large degree. Allow me to end on what may be the most constructive thing I have to say. My biggest problem with a lot of worship songs is that the writers don't seem to have an idea of good lyrics as being an objective state. They do for other people's songs. But not for what they write. Let me explain. I dabble in poetry and lyrics a bit. If someone came up behind me while I was writing and said, "Hey, that line kind of sucks. You should change it." I'd probably be like, "It's really none of your business." Well, actually, I'd probably listen to what they said and consider it. But if I disagreed, I'd be like, "It's none of your business." I usually write poems for my own expression. If I let someone read them, I'm hoping that they connect on some level, and can relate. But if I'm writing a worship song, the whole point is FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO CONNECT. It's not supposed to be about, "Hey, here's some insight into my walk with God." That's what poems are for. Worship songs can start with that. But the writer, in this setting, must be humble enough to submit his writing to others before taking up valuable community worship time with what may essentially be nothing more than a journal entry. I get the feeling that a lot of worship writers are like, "This is mine, it's personal and heartfelt. Who are you to critique it?" That's fine if it's a poem. You can be subjective about a poem. But you have to be objective about worship songs. You have to let people say, "That just doesn't work for me." If the community is going to sing it, then the community should shape it. Sometimes a worship leader introduces a song by saying, essentially, "This is meaningful to me, so I hope it is to you." And I want to say, "Maybe you should have checked that out a bit, eh? Maybe asked around? And not just your keyboardist or your yes-man on the drums." There are a whole bunch of worship songs that I've sung about which I've thought, "If they had just handed that to a high school English teacher for a read over, it could have been 10x better." The worst worship songs? "Could Have Been Songs." Songs that could have been great worship songs if the worship writer had allowed himself to step out of his subjective attachment for a few minutes, even just to ask, "Hey, are there any lines or images in here that just don't work for you?" But then we probably wouldn't have this fun website. And I wouldn't be able to say, in closing, "God does all things well. Just look at my life." -Rob

I don't think that's a very nice way to talk about high school English teachers, Rob. The idea of a secular artist stealing a Christian artist's song seems hilarious to me, especially a worship song. Very funny. This is only minorly related, but my father one time helped write a hymn. He was a worship leader and I believe it was the pastor who also co-wrote this song... anyway, they wrote it and submitted it to some hymnal publisher. Here are the lyrics, imagine them accompanied by a very brutal combination of three consecutive simple notes: Judgement! Death! Destruction! (x3) Fire! Famine! And war! Plunder! Rape! Pillage! (x3) Fire! Famine! And war! Plagues of lice and boils! (x3) Fire! Famine! And war! As you can see, this is further proof that not all things Biblical make for a great worship song. The publishing company wrote a very nice letter back encouraging them in their obedience to Christ and thanking them for the song, but that they were unable to find a place for it in any of their upcoming projects. While it completely avoids the mess of using pronouns (notably, 1st or 3rd person), I think its major flaw is how hard it would be to make hand motions accordingly. -Jared

I went to my first catholic mass today at the school where i teach at - they did a third of the service in LATIN. O my word - how irrelevent and inaccesible are you!!

Rob, you can add my name to the list of people who would like to see a Siemer family blog. Here's a song that mentions a river and, imagine this, explains the metaphor right in the lyrics. Beautiful Mystery by Caedmon's Call: The truth is a river Where the strong can swim down deep The weak and the broken Can walk across so easily But I should say that this isn't a worship song.

Well, after laughing heartily over the last several comments (Jared-I'm going to use your Dad's hymn with my middle schoolers on Sunday, except I'm going to whisper it scarily into the microphone while my nature sounds CD play in the background. It will be a corporate "experience" to say the least.) I have the perfect way around having any bad worship songs...(this is actually what I do.) Just grab the nearest wall, sit down, face the wall, and rock back and forth. That way, you can sing whatever song you want, and it's a "corporate" worship service because everyone's got a bit of wall. However, we've got our "individual" component covered because you can't get much more personal with your Creater than through rocking in a corner. I personally think Rainman was a visionary in the so-called "post-modern worship craze"...

Brian McLaren is a pastor and author (most famously, A New Kind Of Christian) that travels around a lot and noticed trends in worship leaders all over the country. He wrote a letter to worship leaders and, specifically, worship songwriters based on the that trend. Here's a link to the article: http://www.emergentvillage.com/index.cfm?PAGE_ID=419 - (opens in new window) An unfairly quick summary: Worship music is too much about the individual worshipper. He urged 5 new trends to write about. 1. about a hopeful future 2. about Christ's mission for the church 3. lyrics inspired by (Christian) spirituality from throughout history 4. about God's character, but not neccessarily what it does for "me" 5. songs of pain and lament (as opposed to, ahem, dancing) Also, you worship leaders should at least read the last several (shorter) paragraphs, they apply to more than just song*writers*. Being in a church where the pastor regularly prays ancient Celtic prayers right off the page, I can say that McLaren is certainly onto something with this letter... the imagery of scripture, ancient prayers, and creeds is absolutely something not found in the songs mentioned in this discussion so far (save for knitting together the hearts of Ruth and Naomi). :o)

And what about the absurd crapurdity of Higher, Higher

I agree, some worship songs don't really cut it for me. But I do question the motives of those who print out the top five worship songs that they hate. Look into it then, try and understand, not just in your own head, but actually understand, search for Biblical reference, for meaning that is possibly there beyond what you can see. It's true, some songs just don't seem to have much to them, or they don't really make sense, but I had a professor at Bible college who challenged us on one particular worship song that people generally dislike because it seemed to be meaningless, he then went on to give us Biblical references for this song and the imagery used in it. It didn't really change my opinion of the song, but it did give insight into an otherwise misunderstood song. What's with Christians and complaining anyway?

Whats with chrisitans and accepting things because thats the way in which it always has been done. Its so illogical and irritating. Tradition is the bane of the evangelism. Ivory Twer chrisitanity is also absurd. People who do not engage at all with the reality of the world and think it can be fixed with a lunch bar and a 30 min talk. It makes me so angry to see the complacency of chrisitans as a whole feeling what they do is enough but still dong the same piecemeal change. Jesus call us to be radical and revolutionary. At this moment in time we are not we are happy to sit back and accept it.

For the love of God (literally) would you all get a grip!

James: You're funny (I think). Rob: A river song killed my uncle. I just didn't know how to say it before. Troy: It's fine that you were able to make sense out of a worship song once a trained theologian systematically exegeted the words and related them to scripture. But shouldn't a worship song make easier sense than that? Don't get me wrong, at the church I go to now there are concordances, dictionaries of biblical imagery, and commentaries in every row so that people can figure out what it is they're being asked to sing to God. It's a Christian utopia! Oh, and no one ever complains. We just smile and say, "Yes, I was blessed by the line in the song you wrote that said, 'When my dog, Sparky, died trying to save me from drowning in a river, I realized the true nature of love.'" Rob (II): The problem with river songs, other than the unfortunate side effect of reminding us of Poor Sparky's demise, is not really that the song has no meaning, but that the audience has to supply all of the meaning for the song to have any kind of coherence. Sitting down two years after singing the song and trying to make sense of what you sang is kind of like rationalizing sin; you can make it sound reasonable afterward, but that doesn't change the fact that you were doing something mindless at the time. Is it really good writing to string together vague images in the hope that one of the possible meanings (or two or three) will be worshipful? That's just shooting in the dark and hoping you hit something. It's not really about ambiguity (which I have already supported). It's about setting a range of possible interpretations. In my opinion, the line "Let the river flow" in itself sets no range of determinacy for the meanings that people could make. Troy (II): If the exercise that your professor led you through didn't change your opinion of the song, how about I just keep my opinion without researching lame songs? Jared: Are there hand motions that go along with your dad's song? Peter: You're a jerk. Seriously, leave Troy alone. You're not mad at him. It's God. God's mad at him. Troy (III): Cynical Christian rule number one--there are no cynical Christians. Rule number two--don't take anything too seriously that you read here. -peter

James, when you say, "Would you ALL just get a grip?" do you mean even me? -Rob

WOW!! I was searching Google to see if "Dance in the River" was from Scripture and I found this place... I sing in a Christian rock band. We do originals and covers. Prior to a couple of years ago, I didn't listen to CCM (except for my wife's Point of Grace- involuntarily). Now, my band mates have me on a steady diet of lots of good (and not so good) music including Praise and Worship. My observation- people respond more favorably to our originals than the covers... Maybe people are getting a little worn out by the repetitive nature of some songs; read Every Move...(na na na nana na na)... and the fact that a lot of the recent stuff sounds as generic as boy bands. Cookie cutter music...it's time people sat down and wrote something that doesn't sound like everything else. (I have the "advantage" of not having listened to all of these a thousand times). Also, a worship service is only as meaningful as you allow it to be- leave worldly problems outside or better yet, at Jesus' feet.

Well, I stumbled upon this thread fairly randomly, and don't know any of y'all so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but all that being said, I was fairly disheartened by reading through this thread. I'm a bit of a cynic too, but I don't HATE these songs, I just think they are ridiculous. My roommates and I were having a conversation the other day about God listening to worship music... He's not sitting there going "ooh, they're singing my favorite! yeah!" or "good grief, not this one AGAIN; I'm rethinking this whole free will thing, I should never have allowed Trading my Sorrows to be written." If we allow God to be this kind of listener (which, we really can't, but for the sake of humor, work with me here) we have to admit that more likely than not, God's not even listening to USA mass-market CCM stuff and is more interested in whoever in the world is truly worshipping in spirit and in truth. Remember, it's not about US! Yes, certain songs are difficult for me to sing in a spirit of reverence, but I don't think God is any less glorified by my being filled with joy in His presence! So, all that being said, Susi and I have created our own list of worship songs that make us laugh: 1. Salvation belongs to our God- I've tried and tried, because there is so much great (biblical) stuff in this song, but at some point we eventually get to the chorus, and realizing that we're singing about the praise and glory and wisdom and all the rest doesn't diminish the fact that we're *singing* a sentence fragment repeatedly... be to our God... 2. Along the lines of the aforementioned secular songs turned into worship songs: "Can you Feel His Love Tonight?" and "He Will, He Will Save You" I personally took great delight in destroying the overhead sheets to this songs, thus sparing future generations of youth group attendees the difficult task of trying to maintain a spirit of worship when really your cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. 3. Any song from Amy Grant's "Songs from the Loft" album. This is probably due more to the fact that I had a youth group leader who consistently butchered these songs.. 4. Any song that fades out on the album. It's had to fade out live on an acoustic worship set. It's even harder to coordinate the corporate fading out of all the people folowwing the worship leader. At some point, you're just done. Susi, feel free to post the rest when you see this! I know I'm forgetting some. Everyone else, next time you hear a song that you "hate" or "can't worship to", instead please reflect on God's goodness in creating a funny world for us to live in, and his delight in (and I firmly believe, humor in) us, his children!

Well, I've been reading things being said here and it has definitely been discouraging to hear other Christians bashing songs that are suppposed to bring glory to God. As much as you say that these comments are not to be taken seriously, much of them are said out of your hearts and to see them posted for everyone to see is not the most edifying comments for anyone and especially to God. And if you don't try to find out what the meaning behind songs are, then what's the point for you to even sing any worship songs? You say that there's no point to finding out the meaning behind the lyrics cuz it's too tedious, but when you read your bibles, you don't understand everything either. That doesn't mean you don't try to figure what the meaning is behind Scripture does it? i hope not. If we're worshipping and singing songs and we don't mean it, we're pretty much lying to God. Everything we do is a worship to God, so why does this site even exist? I don't think this pleases Him at all.

Have you ever heard "The Dance SOng" sung by foundation red? They play it as a worship song, and it features such poignant lyrics as: "This is the song we call the dance song God loves it when we sing the dance song Doesn't have no deep deep meaning We just dance dance dance dance" Sigh... John

you made that song up

anonymous - as chrisitans we are to make the church as relevent as possible to all. Now abysmally cheesy and bad songs dont help that end. Bottom line. Ed

We do have a responsibility as Christians not to be cynical like the rest of the world...so Anonymous really has a valid point. On the other hand, some songs aren't so great. The main thing IS to worship God in spirit and in truth. Finding an outlet for that is the most important aspect. Listen to your favorites while driving- cuts road rage by 95%, I promise. If the worship leader picks a dud from time to time, so be it. People that post here know in their own hearts whether they are just being funny or if they're feeling a little contempt. As a lyricist, I've become a little paranoid from reading this thread (maybe that ain't a bad thing).

It is often the case that worship leaders pick duds all the time. Thechurch is a living being, not a victirian relic. While we are at it, churches with the King James bible in their pews are also guilty of this stagnation.

Stagnancy doesn't come from what songs you sing or what version of the Bible you have in your pews, it comes from leaders who don't know how to lead, who have no vision or direction.

a. Worship songs are not sacred. I seriously don't imagine God has a problem with us taking a critical look at them, or even laughing about them. Thankfully He blessed most of us with a sense of humor. b. I know the word "Cynic" is used many times in this thread, but I prefer to think of myself as a "Critic," but not in the sense of the continually condemned critical spirit in the church. I think this site is a perfect place to take a step back and express some criticisms we have of songs currently being played in Christian worship services. I think if we read people's comments, we will find some legitimate criticisms of some songs that a wise worship leader or song writer could apply to make worship better for everyone. c. If I had to guess, I would say just about everyone who has posted here has posted because we really LOVE WORSHIP and LOVE GOD and LOVE to see our WORSHIP OF GOD not tripped up by silly lyrics, melodies, or, heaven forbid, hand motions. d. Kelly & Rob followed their famed list of so many years ago with a list of their 10 favorite worship songs--I'm guessing any of us would just as easily be able to praise the songs we love as diss the songs we can't stand. So because this happens to be a forum where we're doing the latter is, in my mind, part of the balance we need in our Christian lives. And, anonymous, I totally appreciate your post and am glad you feel comfortable expressing a counter opinion, but I really hope the anonymity of your posting was an accident because it seems pretty uncool to post on a site criticizing other posters and the site itself and not back it up with your name. -Beth