Planetshakers... not for the timid.

[caramelmudcake]

I went to Planet Shakers in Perth 2 nights ago,I loved it,everyone chooses to worchip differently,personally I have no problem with getting my praise for God on! But each to there own...

 

[LivingWorship]

Worship is LIFE. In my sig is the chorus to a song which talks about the LIVING WORSHIP He requires of us by giving everything we have. It's not about jumping, it's not about singing. In fact, it's not even about prayer... although every Christian needs to do it... worship goes beyond that realm. It's about a life lived in surrender to the will of Jesus - which will encompass many things raise, prayer, singing, evangelism, ministry, discipling others, OBEDIENCE. It's these things we need to focus on COLLECTIVELY, not one or another but together.

That said, I am a Pentecostal, and yeah I am ok with the jumping around and all. I like getting into that but I understand people having difficulty coming to terms with taht... and it must be re-iterated it's not all about that... I guess the reason we clap and jump and all is because we are free... and we celebrate that freedom.. I don't know that's my take on it. BUT I do not begrudge anyone for feeling a bit scared of it... but just to lay off criticising... and for those in the "jumping" camp to accordingly lay off hacking into others for not jumping or clapping... after all man looks to the outside. God looks at the heart.

Let me say one thing about the 'Shakers. Well two things. I don't like all their music but we sing a few of their songs, there is power in those words. Secondly, they visited the Hillsong Conference last year, and God touched me in a way i never thought possible. Coupled with an awesome sermon on worship, there would been 4000 in the Sports Center that morning (this was just the worship stream, none of the others were there) the worship team from PS had such an anointing on them, and for one of the few times in my life I felt like I didn't know what to do and all I could do was shout praise upon praise. The tears flowed, I was weeping before God... it was an amazing time that day... so I know the guys from Planet Shakers are not about a concert but about leading people to Jesus' feet... and I thank God for what they do. Yeah I'm not their biggest fan but nor am I Hillsongs... but God is using both mightily in this nation and abroad.

 

[marduke]

Worship is LIFE. In my sig is the chorus to a song which talks about the LIVING WORSHIP He requires of us by giving everything we have. It's not about jumping, it's not about singing. In fact, it's not even about prayer... although every Christian needs to do it... worship goes beyond that realm. It's about a life lived in surrender to the will of Jesus - which will encompass many things raise, prayer, singing, evangelism, ministry, discipling others, OBEDIENCE. It's these things we need to focus on COLLECTIVELY, not one or another but together.

That said, I am a Pentecostal, and yeah I am ok with the jumping around and all. I like getting into that but I understand people having difficulty coming to terms with taht... and it must be re-iterated it's not all about that... I guess the reason we clap and jump and all is because we are free... and we celebrate that freedom.. I don't know that's my take on it. BUT I do not begrudge anyone for feeling a bit scared of it... but just to lay off criticising... and for those in the "jumping" camp to accordingly lay off hacking into others for not jumping or clapping... after all man looks to the outside. God looks at the heart.

Let me say one thing about the 'Shakers. Well two things. I don't like all their music but we sing a few of their songs, there is power in those words. Secondly, they visited the Hillsong Conference last year, and God touched me in a way i never thought possible. Coupled with an awesome sermon on worship, there would been 4000 in the Sports Center that morning (this was just the worship stream, none of the others were there) the worship team from PS had such an anointing on them, and for one of the few times in my life I felt like I didn't know what to do and all I could do was shout praise upon praise. The tears flowed, I was weeping before God... it was an amazing time that day... so I know the guys from Planet Shakers are not about a concert but about leading people to Jesus' feet... and I thank God for what they do. Yeah I'm not their biggest fan but nor am I Hillsongs... but God is using both mightily in this nation and abroad.

excellent post, and very true.

 

[Green Egg]

I think that we are all going to find something we like about Planet Shakers and things that we don't agree with.

I have not personally been to one of the PS meetings, concerts or rallies, but feel that the music is not something that should be the main focus of our critisism. While the music is something that the PS team, I believe that our main concern should be, are they taking the gospel to unsaved people?

For me, the lyrics that are used by PS are far better than what any teenager (Christian or not) will hear at school, on the television, on the radio or downloaded from the net!!

Music that is used by PS for their concerts, does have an underlying Christian message and these lyrics are something that we, as the guides for young people should monitor. However, to remove a child from hearing the Message because the lyrics are "not Christian enough" doesn't seem right.

My question to others that critisise these events for their lyrical content is, Why does the music at these concerts have to be considered strictly "Praise" or "Worship" music? Can it not be simply for the entertainment vaule in order to draw young people to a place where they might be given the oppurtunity to hear the gospel when the music stops??

As someone that has been involved in Youth groups. The biggest stuggle that I found was giving teenagers a reason to attend in the first place. If you were to approach a non-christian teenager and say "Hey, come to this concert where we can praise and worship God" you will get a very unenthusiastic response. You need the WOW factor of a concert and music they can relate to and not be intimidated by.

This is, of course only my opinion and belief. The fact that we can all get to gether to mentally chew on others opinions will hopefully give us a better understanding in the end.

For me, I personally think that the prices that PS charges for any teenager to attend one of these rallies is ridiculusly high. But that is another post altogether!

 

[marduke]

For me, I personally think that the prices that PS charges for any teenager to attend one of these rallies is ridiculusly high. But that is another post altogether!

umm $40 is extremely cheap for the PS conference, and thats online early bird, even after that its only $70. (i paid $25 for next years conference), and i am on a very low income. hillsong is 4-5x that much (early bird price of $135, after the early bird is over it costs nearly $200!! now that is expensive). considering how much it costs PS to put the conference on it is very very cheap.

 

[Bevlina]

umm $40 is extremely cheap for the PS conference, and thats online early bird, even after that its only $70. (i paid $25 for next years conference), and i am on a very low income. hillsong is 4-5x that much (early bird price of $135, after the early bird is over it costs nearly $200!! now that is expensive). considering how much it costs PS to put the conference on it is very very cheap.

Hang on ....Rob .... how does it cost them money to put these things on?
Now please remember, I went to a Catholic Convent Hogh School. Catholics have Cathedrals. They also had alot of entertainment. And, it never cost me a cent.
But, that was many years ago now. Things have changed.
As I see it, Hillsong and PS own their buildings right? They would own their equipment. So ... can you explain this business to me and WHY they would charge such a ridiculous high fee for people to go tp these events.

 

[marduke]

Hang on ....Rob .... how does it cost them money to put these things on?
Now please remember, I went to a Catholic Convent Hogh School. Catholics have Cathedrals. They also had alot of entertainment. And, it never cost me a cent.
But, that was many years ago now. Things have changed.
As I see it, Hillsong and PS own their buildings right? They would own their equipment. So ... can you explain this business to me and WHY they would charge such a ridiculous high fee for people to go tp these events.

no they have their own buildings but they are nowhere near big enough, PS have to hire a venue big enough to hold between 4000-10,000 people in 5 different cities (in hillsongs case over 25,000 people), and PS was at the brisbane exhibition centre this year, hillsong have to hire out the sydney superdome and surrounding buildings.
and yes they have their own equipment, but they still have to hire some things as they cant use everything from their church otherwise they couldnt have church. lighting would be something theyd most likely hire. it all adds up. things arent as cheap as they used to be Bev.

and i still stand on my opinion that $40 is not alot of money for the PS conference.

 

[Green Egg]

$40 is extremely cheap for the PS conference, and thats online early bird, even after that its only $70.

For a teenager that more than likely does not have a part time job and has un-churched parents, this is a huge amount of money. I can understand a family who attends a church or has Christian values may not find this unreasonable. But who are these events targeted towards?

Not that I am a parent, but to me, especially at this time of year when budgets are already stretched and kids are on holidays this is too much to ask for from such a huge organisation that is trying to take the gospel to the people.

But as I said before this is only my opinion.

 

[KristianJ]

Worship is LIFE. In my sig is the chorus to a song which talks about the LIVING WORSHIP He requires of us by giving everything we have. It's not about jumping, it's not about singing. In fact, it's not even about prayer... although every Christian needs to do it... worship goes beyond that realm. It's about a life lived in surrender to the will of Jesus - which will encompass many things raise, prayer, singing, evangelism, ministry, discipling others, OBEDIENCE. It's these things we need to focus on COLLECTIVELY, not one or another but together.

That said, I am a Pentecostal, and yeah I am ok with the jumping around and all. I like getting into that but I understand people having difficulty coming to terms with taht... and it must be re-iterated it's not all about that... I guess the reason we clap and jump and all is because we are free... and we celebrate that freedom.. I don't know that's my take on it. BUT I do not begrudge anyone for feeling a bit scared of it... but just to lay off criticising... and for those in the "jumping" camp to accordingly lay off hacking into others for not jumping or clapping... after all man looks to the outside. God looks at the heart.

Let me say one thing about the 'Shakers. Well two things. I don't like all their music but we sing a few of their songs, there is power in those words. Secondly, they visited the Hillsong Conference last year, and God touched me in a way i never thought possible. Coupled with an awesome sermon on worship, there would been 4000 in the Sports Center that morning (this was just the worship stream, none of the others were there) the worship team from PS had such an anointing on them, and for one of the few times in my life I felt like I didn't know what to do and all I could do was shout praise upon praise. The tears flowed, I was weeping before God... it was an amazing time that day... so I know the guys from Planet Shakers are not about a concert but about leading people to Jesus' feet... and I thank God for what they do. Yeah I'm not their biggest fan but nor am I Hillsongs... but God is using both mightily in this nation and abroad.

Well said, Drew!!

 

[Bevlina]

no they have their own buildings but they are nowhere near big enough, PS have to hire a venue big enough to hold between 4000-10,000 people in 5 different cities (in hillsongs case over 25,000 people), and PS was at the brisbane exhibition centre this year, hillsong have to hire out the sydney superdome and surrounding buildings.
and yes they have their own equipment, but they still have to hire some things as they cant use everything from their church otherwise they couldnt have church. lighting would be something theyd most likely hire. it all adds up. things arent as cheap as they used to be Bev.

and i still stand on my opinion that $40 is not alot of money for the PS conference.

I see, thanks for that Rob.

 

[marduke]

For a teenager that more than likely does not have a part time job and has un-churched parents, this is a huge amount of money. I can understand a family who attends a church or has Christian values may not find this unreasonable. But who are these events targeted towards?

Not that I am a parent, but to me, especially at this time of year when budgets are already stretched and kids are on holidays this is too much to ask for from such a huge organisation that is trying to take the gospel to the people.

But as I said before this is only my opinion.

ok i understand what your saying in that respect (my church likes to sponsor youth in that situation, but i do understand where your coming from). but yeah there are youth that may find it hard to come up with the funds i agree.

but when you think about it most of the registered people were registered long before christmas (80% of the brisbane deligates were registered before november). so for most its all paid for before the christmas spending spree hits.

 

[marduke]

I see, thanks for that Rob.

no worries Bev, its good to clear things up

off topic a bit: but i just thought id add that at the brisbane PS they raised over $20,000 for the tsunami disaster in one night, and from mainly youth that is fantastic

 

[Bevlina]

Very good indeed Rob!
One other thing ... what about the young ones and parents who can't afford to allow their children to go?

 

[marduke]

Very good indeed Rob!
One other thing ... what about the young ones and parents who can't afford to allow their children to go?

well really like most things if you cant afford to go then you dont go, but as you know God works in mysterious ways and can make ways for some people to go.

as i stated before my church takes up an offering to sponsor some youth that cant afford to go. (we do it for youth alive rallies aswell) and im sure some other churches do this too.
and the night sessions at PS are free so even if you cant afford to make it along to the day sessions then you can still get in on the night session (if its not already full) some of our youth wanted to come along to the night sessions and got in no worries

 

[Bevlina]

Yep ... I see what you mean. It's tough for parents today with young ones though. Especially if they have 3 teenagers who want to go to something like that. They have to eat and drink as well as pay to go in, then I suppose there are things they want to buy.
It's become a tough world in many ways for some I guess. That's what I'm getting at.
If a church sponsors some of those who can't afford it to go, that's not too bad.
I recall being a Mum with 2 teenage daughters and I could never have afforded to allow them to attend anything like that back in those days had they been on. However, we did go to oe amazing event which cost nothing!

 

[Sascha Fitzpatrick]

I must admit I'm a bit like Amy here.

I grew up pentecostal - and for the most part, I loved it. I do however feel 'uneasy' (probably the best word I have right now) at the changes I see in lyrical style. Sometimes I feel that in the 'personalising' of Jesus Christ, it's become a 'me me me' frame of worship. I'm tired of seeing it change from 'How Great Thou Art' to 'Rain on me'. I don't think I have to ask for that - God does it anyway!

'Heart of Worship', I believe, is one of the greatest songs to hit the music part of church services in a long while (I have issues with calling it 'praise and worship' - worship is more than a slow song!). I finally felt like the shift was going in the right way - that all this jumping around and begging God for a revival meant nothing - God was looking at our hearts, and what our HEART's (and not our legs) were doing during worship.

I have been to MANY concerts like PS, HS, YA, etc etc - and seen many forms of 'one upmanship' in the music time. My heart feels heavy after this. I've seen cliques form over 'who jumps the most and got into the mosh' during worship - and I have to wonder what God thinks. I'm sure there are MANY there who are worshipping with God forefront in their minds, but I haven't seen it for a long time amongst the younger youth - I've seen it turn into a peer pressure event, and it really makes my heart bleed.

I wish that ONCE I would go to a concert such as these and get to hear someone speak about what God wants out of our worship - he doesn't want the showing off, the mosh, the dances, the 'hallelujah choruses' - he wants OUR HEARTS.

I don't want to hear one more song asking God for revival to fall down on ME - I want to hear more about how HOLY and WORTHY and AMAZING my Lord Jesus Christ is...

But that's just me

Sasch.

 

[KristianJ]

Great post, Sasch! I want to hear about our Saviour as well and what He did for us more too!!

 

[Bevlina]

From what I can see there is far too much jumping around and whatever. And, I can't fathom out the reason for all that!
God looks upon the heart. I can't help but remember the screaming, jumping hyped teenagers of the 60's when they saw the Beatles whenever I see Planet Shakers. To be truthful, it scares me! I definitely would not recommend my Grandchildren attend any Planer Shakers functions. They have been brought up to act in humility to God, not jump around screaming their lungs out.
It scared me when I saw that one had jumped around so much he/she broke an ankle!
Would God approve of this self inflicted pain?
Jumping to exhaustion? No way! God seeks those who worship in Spirit, and in truth.
Maybe they will grow out of it though and start to worship in Spirit and in truth and listen to some really good sermons on Jesus, and out Father in Heaven without all that noise.

 

[Gentileone]

From what I can see there is far too much jumping around and whatever. And, I can't fathom out the reason for all that!
God looks upon the heart. I can't help but remember the screaming, jumping hyped teenagers of the 60's when they saw the Beatles whenever I see Planet Shakers. To be truthful, it scares me! I definitely would not recommend my Grandchildren attend any Planer Shakers functions. They have been brought up to act in humility to God, not jump around screaming their lungs out.
It scared me when I saw that one had jumped around so much he/she broke an ankle!
Would God approve of this self inflicted pain?
Jumping to exhaustion? No way! God seeks those who worship in Spirit, and in truth.
Maybe they will grow out of it though and start to worship in Spirit and in truth and listen to some really good sermons on Jesus, and out Father in Heaven without all that noise.

I tend to agree

I think its from the heart, also expressing themselves in a orderly fashion.
Its sound like a craze more then worship, but if it is saving ppl then why should we stop them.

reminds of Jesus said in Luke 9:50
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid [him] not: for he that is not against us is for us.

So one has to wonder is it seed thats been planted ??
Im not sure how long PS has been around for but time allways tells.

But its definitly not my way of worshipping God.
Each to there own!

God Bless

Ps, Can someone tell me how long they have been around what church they originated from. Sorry if thats allready been posted as i have not read them all.
Thanks

 

[LivingWorship]

Bev i take your point on board but I still believe you can worship in Spirit and truth in both the quiet, reflective moments... and the louder, more vibrant songs. I don't see how jumping and dancing before the Lord CAN'T be Spirit and Truth... mind you I know for some it's no more than an emotional thing but for many others - myself included - it is still worship... I hate to use this analogy as it's so used but when David danced before the Lord it wasn't the most orderly thing and it made other well-meaning people think.... the point is I think that whichever you choose, quiet or loud, you are going to have people who have a more emotional than spiritual experience... but all the same and more importantly I believe God can gain glory from either. As per usual my 2 cents worth