Over the 13 years that I’ve been attending a Pentecostal church, I’ve been able to observe the routine of church services. It’s seems that up until a few years ago, I’d just accepted the happenings of church. I never really questioned what was going on around me enough to disagree.
Often there’ll be music, prayers, singing and shouting praise onto God. All the service activities seem to be centred around emotion and getting you to feel a certain way. Musicians would choose specific songs to play. For example, very slow songs that create a mood, or really up beat ones to get everyone excited. Everything is planned to be a particular way to pull on your heart strings.
The emotions you feel can sometimes mask your ability to think. In church I find that the phrase, “Feel, don’t think” really does come into play. When pastors are preaching, they make you feel afraid, excited, etc particularly on the topic of hell. They’ll make you think “I don’t want to burn for all eternity in hell fire. So I’ve got to become a Christian then!”
When I was a Christian and I was worshipping in church, I often forgot why I was worshipping. It seemed that I was just being caught up in the emotion and atmosphere, not praising God. If that's the way church can make a person feel, well, their not making God the centre of their worship are they?
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