adminAlthough different people may have their own forms of leisure time or entertainment, I believe Christian live music in a concert can be a more useful remedy against stress, loneliness, depression and other problems.
Hence, for this reason, joining with friends or family members to attend a gospel concert once in a while could actually be a good idea since apart from the opportunity to meet with other concert goers, one can even re-ignite his or her Christian walk because of the music.
Last Saturday, I had an opportunity to attend a concert at the 7 Arts Theatre, which in my own estimation had characteristics of an ideal show for the family, relatives and friends.
To support this idea, a mixed audience from different church denominations – both young and old – attended the concert, and by the time it started many of the seats in the main auditorium were already occupied as people sat to enjoy live praise music.
Despite technical hitches here and there the concert venue glowed with singing, music and applause from the audience; but there was more to the concert than just the sound of music.
The stage performances by performing groups, and in other cases, their coming together to sing selected songs accompanied by soft playing music in the background, and the audience singing along projected a Christian spirit of praise, and unity which is vital in any worship experience among believers.
The stage design itself, lighting and costumes by performing groups showed order and decency which in my view are characteristic of a good gospel concert.
Since the Bible in 1 Corinthians 14:40 teaches about need for decency and order, I believe that alone conveyed a message which blended well with all the meaningful songs sung during the night of the concert by the different performing groups.
Having enjoyed last Saturday’s Festival of Praise 5 concert, and many other similar concerts before it, I have confidence in recommending people to at least find time to attend a gospel concert with their peers or family members.
Gospel concerts should, however, be understood in their own context, and cannot be compared with church worship where certain programmes of events are strictly followed and less time is allocated to music.
Gospel concerts are, in fact, not entirely the same, and depending with concert organisers, you may actually find that there may be periodic breaks where there can be speeches, testimonials or a few moments when people can actually pray during a concert.
Despite this, concerts cannot be used as a substitute for church worship, although they are good for Christian leisure time, where people can hang out in a relaxed environment to refresh, relax, reflect and celebrate the Lord’s goodness.
There are cases, however, where you may find a few elements among audiences shouting obscenities or behaving improperly, probably because they had taken intoxicating substances prior to attending a concert.
Such people cannot be allowed to tarnish the spirit of worship in a concert, and as such it may be wiser for concert organisers to consider employing security personnel to keep audiences under control or even weed out any such rowdy elements from the audience.
Overall, gospel concerts are good and healthy for all, because it is through such music shows that many get to have a new appreciation of the Christian faith, refocus as Christians, or relax as individuals and even make new friends.
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Online Reporter