Thanks for the info and encouragement. Yes, Enoch pointed out the same thing to me. In the West “Allah” obviously has a different connotation than in the East. Very helpful to know.

On worshipping Allah, do you know that Arab Christians and indigenous people groups in Asia actually do worship the triune God with the generic name “Allah”? And we had to contend with the authorities for the right to do so

You may like to check out the history of the term here:
http://krisispraxis.ath.cx/

On to Trinitarian worship and balance. I once had someone approach me and say we don’t give equal time singing to the Holy Spirit. I was launched back to Dr. Kirkpatrick’s, my systematic prof, who said, “The Spirit is the shy member of the Trinity. He always points to Jesus.” Of course, I shared the quote with the member.

You wrote, “especially among the younger generations, the energy and volume of the music is paramount, rather than the theological soundness of content.”

The same could be said of the United States. Or probably anywhere, for that matter. I’m hoping this blog, and others like it, can contribute in some way to reversing that trend. But change is most likely to come when pastors and worship leaders in local churches look more to Scripture than rock concerts for their model of corporate worship.

haha it might not. There are always plenty of cross-cultural issues in theology which sometimes touch on very sensitive matters.

Unfortunately sometimes these cross-cultural issues even permeate into matters of worship (how we should worship, what instruments we are allowed and not allowed to use) and that sometimes creates a schism between Christians and even churches, especially in the east where sometimes being too “western” is frowned upon.

One of the main worries is that sometimes the songs we use here may present wrong or shaky theology, which is a worry because especially among the younger generations, the energy and volume of the music is paramount, rather than the theological soundness of content.

Let me start by saying that your last line was very encouraging.

Is “Unitarian” the word you want to use? Unitarians typically don’t believe in the deity of Christ. There are groups like Phillips, Craig, and Dean who are Oneness Pentecostals. They teach a form of modalism, that is, the teaching that God has manifested himself to us in three different ways (Father, Son, and Spirit).

In any case, I’ll use any song that proclaims biblical truth clearly unless I think the negative associations, personally or corporately, make it too distracting to use it. So, I’d use a song that Phillips, Craig, and Dean sing, despite their errant theology. I don’t think most people in my church would associate a particular song with the group, since I don’t believe they write their own music. And even if people did make a connection, most of them wouldn’t know that PC&D doesn’t believe in the Trinity.

I’m more concerned about doing songs from churches or ministries that put out a lot of music but tend to be shaky or confusing in their theology. In that case, singing one of their songs might lead someone to buy more of the group’s music or being exposed to their theology.

Bottom line, if I think singing a song has a strong potential of exposing people to bad doctrine through association, I won’t use it. But if we’re faithfully proclaiming God’s Word and teaching people to be discerning, the chances of that happening are minimized.

Is that helpful? Feel free to follow up.

Thank You for your passion and your voice. It has helped me be a student of God

Ryan Hawk

That’s fascinating. So I guess it’s safe to assume that this post won’t translate well into some languages…

Bob

In Him,

Trill.

keep up the good work, Bob! I appreciate your ministry and all that you do for the cause of the Gospel