by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr.<\/p>\n
In recent years, we have developed a thrill-seeking culture – a culture moved more by emotional stimuli than careful thought – that affects many facets of our lives. I have not been to a movie in years, but I have seen trailers on TV and digital video and heard people talk about them. I have noticed many become more enamored with the thrilling “special effects” while having only a sketchy memory of the plot or story behind the effects. At musical concerts, for the most part, the primary attention is given to special effects to create an emotional atmosphere rather than to thoughtful lyrics that convey real messages.<\/p>\n
I fear this culture is affecting public worship. People are “going to church” – not to be challenged to think about spiritual things – but to be thrilled by the “special effects” generated by preachers and “worship leaders.” Rather than songs, clearly worded and sung to praise God and to teach each other – words primarily appealing to the head rather than to the arms and feet – the order of the day is for “special effects” designed to give worshipers an emotional high. Sermons must be jazzed up with verbal and electronic special effects so that the audience can be thrilled rather than informed or convicted in their minds. I am not speaking of using visual aids, computer-generated or otherwise. Visual aids are great tools when they truly “aid” the listener’s understanding, but when used for emotional, thrill, and awe value, they are questionable, to say the least. I saw a video a while back of a congregation partaking in the Lord’s Supper while an electronically produced large cross was “floating” around the auditorium. A little too much – me thinks.<\/p>\n
As I read the New Testament, I get the idea public worship is to be done from the heart solemnly, glorifying God and seriously reflecting on the words uttered in the songs, prayers, and discourses.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. In recent years, we have developed a thrill-seeking culture – a culture moved more by emotional stimuli than careful thought – that affects many facets of our lives. I have not been to a movie in years, but I have seen trailers on TV and digital video and heard people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[759,609],"class_list":["post-85948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-entertainment","tag-worldliness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86646,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/culture-wars-and-spiritual-battles\/","url_meta":{"origin":85948,"position":0},"title":"Culture Wars and Spiritual Battles","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer It is possible to win the culture war, as it is called, and lose the spiritual battle. They are not the same. Culturally, Christians want to stand up for the right and oppose the wrong. We want to keep evil influences from being so pervasive, so we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27325,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pride-in-our-culture\/","url_meta":{"origin":85948,"position":1},"title":"Pride in Our Culture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garry Floyd \"And the LORD said to me, 'Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, \"Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/culture-300x69.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dealing-with-the-effects-of-pre-marital-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":85948,"position":2},"title":"Dealing with the Effects of Pre-Marital Sex","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by David and Flora Tant This is an important subject \u2014 especially today. Young people (and older folks, too) are bombarded with the world's (Satan's) standards of morality, or immorality. The values and moral standards that were endorsed by most Americans in years past are now ridiculed and\/or ignored by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/cattle-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christ-versus-culture\/","url_meta":{"origin":85948,"position":3},"title":"Christ versus Culture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ed Harrell via Christianity Magazine, June 1988, p. 11 Reinhold Neibuhr, along with others, argued that all religion tends to be captured by its culture. Rather than standing in judgment of the world around them, most religious people find ways to give divine sanction to their society. I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-everything-is-personal-now-and-why-disagreement-is-treated-like-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":85948,"position":4},"title":"Why Everything Is Personal Now\u2014and Why Disagreement Is Treated Like Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. We are living in an age when disagreement is no longer viewed as a difference of thought-it is treated as a moral failure. If you don't hold my position, you are not just wrong\u2026you are evil, unloving, or sinful. Every discussion is personal. Every debate is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68891,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christians-and-culture\/","url_meta":{"origin":85948,"position":5},"title":"Christians and Culture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect\" (Romans 12:2). \"Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}