I love the "Gaither Gospel Hour."  The old songs touch me.  We just don't hear them anymore, and some of you--and I--grew up on them.   They had real words with real messages.  And more importantly, they had four part harmony.  The younger generation doesn't share my feelings.  They have a new kind of church music that they are growing up on.  Saturday, the Gaither Hour featured Tennessee Ernie Ford. (Sixteen Tons, and whatta you get...")  I heard songs that I hadn't heard in fifty years.  He had such a beautiful voice.

Ernie was a big name back then and was asked to do a TV show.  He said he would--if he could do a hymn at the end each night.  They balked.  So he refused, and was willing to give it up.  But the producers relented--and Ernie sang his hymns.  They became the feature of his show.  America loved it.  I remember watching him with my family every week.

Four part harmony is a thing of the past in our churches.  I miss it terribly.  Now when we sing a song, the words are on the overhead screen--with no notes.  I am not a soprano, and can't follow along because it is too high.  I'm an alto.  I wish for songbooks.  That I can hold in my hands.  With four parts.  I like to sing.  I like to hear someone singing basso.  And tenor.

I call the new music "Blah, blah, blah" music.  There is very little message.  Ken called them "7/11 songs.  Seven words, eleven repeats.  However:  the younger generation will someday remember these songs just like I remember the ones I grew up hearing.  Things change.  We have to change with them.  The thing we need to do is not complain.  It doesn't help, and it doesn't glorify God.

A friend gave me an old, old songbook.  I opened it to play some of the hymns on my piano, and was surprised to find that I had never heard most of them.  I bet my great-grandmother was just as
nostalgic about the "new music" in her day as I am about the "new music" today.   I guess we just need to "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord..." Psalms 100:1