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Just to throw this in, I found this blog, written by a praise and worship team leader who travels to different churches. It opened my eyes to even applauding singers and musicians. Excuse me, but WHY are we clapping? I won't reprint the whole thing, but here are some interesting observations from this person. The last church visit we did really opened my eyes about something the church has gotten into the habit of doing and I truly believe it does not please the Lord. The music was led by your standard praise and worship team. After the last song ended, absolutely no one in that entire congregation began clapping. My fleshly man wanted to really give it a good round of applause (!) but not one soul in there did a thing. They just remained standing, some heads bowed, but just stood — silently. The hair stood up on the back of my neck! I felt the Lord's presence as never before. And no, we're not talking about "feelings" here. We're talking about the Lord's presence. It suddenly hit me: People in churches are not clapping in thanksgiving to the Lord when they do. They/WE are actually telling the 'performers up front' thank you for entertaining me! Immediately I knew the Lord was showing me that real worship requires no outward signs of approval from men. It wasn't a Broadway show, it was a service of Worship to our God and King. Would somebody please tell me why we applaud singers at church? We don't applaud people when they pray. We don't applaud the preacher when he preaches or the teacher when he teaches or the ushers when they pass around the plate. Does anyone applaud the greeters or the nursery workers for their performance each week? How about the folks that mow the grass on Saturday or clean the restrooms on Monday; does anybody clap for them? I'll bet your church secretary has never received a round of applause – unless she's in the choir, of course. No, the reality is, we applaud singers almost exclusively. Why? Because that's what our entertainment-oriented world has taught us to do. There is more to the article, but this is the main jist of it. I found it thought-provoking.

Max Lucado This is a quote from the daily devotional, "This Day's thought." Max Lucado is a hero to me because he lives the Christianity I read about in the Bible, in my opinion. He has a book "Dad Time," which tells how the world looks to a loving father who loves his wife and has raised two precious daughters. I also have experienced this change, having watched my son Paul grow to love his daughter Emma, who he would rather die than yell at. (And Paul's dad was a master yeller.) Just saying that the shepherd doesn't yell at sheep he wants to call home, only when he wants to scatter them for some reason. And a loving father a loving husband a loving wife a loving friend does not yell. There is no record of Jesus yelling. Not when he SAID to the moneychangers in the temple, "You have made my father's house a den of thieves." He cried from the cross, but that is understandable, I think, given the agony of the moment. And no stress of having run into a microphone because of one's own stupidity ranks to that category, in my opinion. And Emma at 3 1/2 draws a picture of her dad. Paul did not rant that it wasn't a true likeness, but cherished it (and sent it to me) and he and Rachel cherish anything she draws (or sings or writes, or says, etc. etc.)