What is happening to our churches today?

[RoosterNZ]

Here's a question to throw in the pile and I am sure I can get something from this.

Question: What is happening to our churches today? why? and where did we go wrong?
Lets see if I can put this without offended anyone. I have noticed over the years going to church that we have really changed on how we do things. If I recall correctly we wore suits and dress shoes to church, our children behave properly in church, and we sang hymns that were written before our times but they were still good enough for us, as we learned to understand the words. Is it me Old Fashion.. or what??
Ok I be honest I stop wearing suits to church, cause wearing a tie to me was like end of a rope lol, but to be honest its hard to find a suit that fits me well with all my crooks and bends lol anyway back to the subject, what are your opinions on this?

1. Clothes you wear to church.

2. Music you hear at church.

3. Kids in church

and other things you think that has changed over the years

[Sara]

#1 The absence of the Gospel has changed in a great many churches, and is being replaced with a type of social hour to tickle the ears and enchant the emotions. The Bible makes it clear that there is only one Gospel.

#2 The absence of Biblically qualified men to over see the church. Many churches have totally forgotten or rejected the fact that there are Biblical qualifications.

For now those are my two top picks.

~Sara

[RoosterNZ]

Thank you Sara and I totally agree.

[Umve]

You are not old fashioned because even my mom tries to still get me look nice going to church and i do dress in a church fashion at least to play a role model while i do it mainly cause i want to look good before the Lord on His Holy day.
as for many churches adopting seeker friendly techniques, this is true and i believe that the united states is coming under judgement because the church is going apostate. churches that forget biblical qualifications and then have pastors claim that to be strict is to be legalistic is not only creating a schism but is bringing a bad name upon the church. unless the church starts standing up and doing what its told to do it will be spanked and the nation will be judged.

[Robert W]

1. CLothes you wear at church? I wear my best. Began years ago in a country church-back then most men wore overalls. And today - no I do not own a suit. Going buying one would that kind of a show off ones wealth or somethin.
2. Music you hear. We use the trinity Hymnal.
3. Kids in Our Church? A little giddy at times, mostly very respectful. They are a delight.

Other Changes: we have become more Liturgical.

[Stephen Hatch]

I go to a church (Reformed Baptist) where most dress up, men in suits or shirts and ties and the women in dresses etc., (I wear black jeans and a three button shirt and am one of the most informally dressed there), we use solid old hymns, and most of the children are well mannered and behaved. I think the bigger question is how have churches changed in what they teach and believe. David Well's wrote five book (No Place for Truth, or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology; God in the Wasteland; Losing Our Virtue; Above All Earthly Pow'rs; and The Courage to Be Protestant) that addresses this. He makes many excellent points but some important ones are that we have gone from God and Christ centeredness with biblical and reformational doctrine (which includes God's holiness and transcendence, sin and God's wrath, and Christ's atonement as our only hope) being paramount and truth being all important, to man centeredness that caters to felt needs and techniques that seem to work, or from sola Scriptura to sola cultura, this change shows up in seeker friendly and emergent type churches. It is what we teach and believe that leads to changes in other things(what we wear, what we sing, and how our children behave).

[RoosterNZ]

Will have to check them out sometimes, thanks :)

[Stephen Hatch]

You're welcome.

[Beth]

In both my church back home and the church we attend here people pretty much dress how they want. Most older people dress more in their "Sunday best" but usually people look nicer than they would for work or school.

Here in Lebanon modesty is considered rather passe (not to mention something for Muslims) so you can see some rather, um, interesting, outfits. (Bright yellow halter formal for your daughter's baptism? Ugh!)

The music at our church here is more to my liking. Traditional hymns whose tunes I recognize but sung in Arabic. A big improvement to the grating praise and worship songs sung at our church in Kuwait.

Children are welcome in church but Sunday school is during the service. It annoyed me a bit in Kuwait but here it's probably better for my kids. Church is in Arabic but Sunday school is in English. Unfortunately it's full of praise and worship music that's even worse than what we used to sing in Kuwait (Shout Your Fame?) but I'm withholding judgment until I see what exactly they're learning.