Worship by iPhone

[The Rogue Tomato]

A local church runs an ad on the radio about how you can tune into their "worship service" on your iPhone.  The only thing more annoying to me than that is the sappy piano music they play in the background.  It's the same kind of random piano music you normally hear when the Pastor is saying "with eyes closed and heads bowed...raise your hand if...and so on."  It's so annoying I change the station now whenever the commercial airs.

To their credit, they do invite people to actually attend the church, too.  They refer to it as "we worship on..." etc, which is not the purpose of a church assembly.  But we've been over that before.   

Would you "attend" a "worship service" via iPhone or some other device?  (They promised an Android app eventually but I never listen to the whole ad now, so I don't know if one is available yet.) 

 

[Norefund]

I listen to several sermons every week via podcasts. It doesn't replace actually attending my church unless I am out of town.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

I listen to several sermons every week via podcasts. It doesn't replace actually attending my church unless I am out of town.

I used to listen to a great Christian radio station (I'm not in the area anymore) that hosted good sermons and good teaching (and some poor quality stuff, too).  But that's not what this is about, as far as I can tell.  I'm pretty sure this is church attendance by iPhone. 

 

[prophet]

'Go to meeting dot com' has a new commission.  The Lord's Supper can be messy, I'm sure.
It wouldn't be hard to sing so loud, that you can't hear the broadcast.
Baptism would lose something in the execution.
You really don't know if Bro. Joe is paying attention, since you can't see him reload while he tunes in.  Asking him to close in prayer would be an act of faith, since only he would know if he did.
Where would the greeting line form, to shake speaker's hand?
The collection would be easier, it would be e-posited instantly. 
Pot luck Sunday would turn into BYOF, and could be combined with the rest of the meeting. 
Coffee would no longer be consigned to the lobby.
Momma could stay in her pj's.
Your brat wouldn't tear up anything or disturb anyone except you and yours.


Anishinaabe

 

[qwerty]

As long as it will count on an activity report.

 

[Izdaari]

I listen to the Sunday Compline Service from St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, when I remember. It's streaming audio from the KING-FM radio website, so I'm sure I could get on an iPhone if I had one. But I practice the virtue of thrift by not buying one. I'm against the combination of expensive and proprietary on principle, and even if not for that, I'm against big monthly subscription fees.

 

[ALAYMAN]

The nature of corporate worship is steeped in the notion of community.  Listening to services remotely may do in a pinch, but should not replace real organic corporate worship.

 

[Izdaari]

The nature of corporate worship is steeped in the notion of community.  Listening to services remotely may do in a pinch, but should not replace real organic corporate worship.

Agreed. Catching the live streaming Compline service from St. Mark's is a beautiful liturgy, but it doesn't replace actually being in church.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

The nature of corporate worship is steeped in the notion of community.  Listening to services remotely may do in a pinch, but should not replace real organic corporate worship.

The theater church is not organic or even communal.  It is listening to services passively and remotely.  You're just sitting closer to the pulpit. 

 

[rsc2a]

The nature of corporate worship is steeped in the notion of community...

...except that you are explicitly calling for the removal of children from that community...

...just the reason I'm vehemently opposed to such a practice.

 

[Timothy]

The nature of corporate worship is steeped in the notion of community...

...except that you are explicitly calling for the removal of children from that community...

...just the reason I'm vehemently opposed to such a practice.

Goodness! Any man calling for the removal of children clearly forgets what Jesus said ...

"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

 

[ALAYMAN]

The theater church is not organic or even communal.  It is listening to services passively and remotely.  You're just sitting closer to the pulpit.

But watching all by yourself in your BVDs whilst munching on some chips via the digital monster, that's all communal and stuff.

The nature of corporate worship is steeped in the notion of community...

...except that you are explicitly calling for the removal of children from that community...

...just the reason I'm vehemently opposed to such a practice.

So don't do it then.

But since you're merely antagonistically and ignorantly pot-stirring, if it makes you feel better, just count the removal of such sinners for a time as a real evidence of church discipline in action.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

The theater church is not organic or even communal.  It is listening to services passively and remotely.  You're just sitting closer to the pulpit.

But watching all by yourself in your BVDs whilst munching on some chips via the digital monster, that's all communal and stuff.

I have no idea what you're talking about.  I don't recall saying I was in favor of watching a service on a phone. 

 

[ALAYMAN]

I have no idea what you're talking about.  I don't recall saying I was in favor of watching a service on a phone.

Well quit your obsessing with all that is wrong and start your own house church since you know it's the right model.  You're worse than a fundy incessently droning on about all the evils of big-screens and technology in the church house.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

I have no idea what you're talking about.  I don't recall saying I was in favor of watching a service on a phone.

Well quit your obsessing with all that is wrong and start your own house church since you know it's the right model.  You're worse than a fundy incessently droning on about all the evils of big-screens and technology in the church house.

Everyone has a right to express his views here, including me. 

If you don't want to see my posts, use the ignore feature.

 

[Timothy]

I have no idea what you're talking about.  I don't recall saying I was in favor of watching a service on a phone.

Well quit your obsessing with all that is wrong and start your own house church since you know it's the right model.  You're worse than a fundy incessently droning on about all the evils of big-screens and technology in the church house.

Everyone has a right to express his views here, including me. 

If you don't want to see my posts, use the ignore feature.

Everyone? I doubt that.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

I have no idea what you're talking about.  I don't recall saying I was in favor of watching a service on a phone.

Well quit your obsessing with all that is wrong and start your own house church since you know it's the right model.  You're worse than a fundy incessently droning on about all the evils of big-screens and technology in the church house.

Everyone has a right to express his views here, including me. 

If you don't want to see my posts, use the ignore feature.

Everyone? I doubt that.

Everyone the admin allows.  How's that? 

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

A local church runs an ad on the radio about how you can tune into their "worship service" on your iPhone.  The only thing more annoying to me than that is the sappy piano music they play in the background.  It's the same kind of random piano music you normally hear when the Pastor is saying "with eyes closed and heads bowed...raise your hand if...and so on."  It's so annoying I change the station now whenever the commercial airs.

To their credit, they do invite people to actually attend the church, too.  They refer to it as "we worship on..." etc, which is not the purpose of a church assembly.  But we've been over that before.   

Would you "attend" a "worship service" via iPhone or some other device?  (They promised an Android app eventually but I never listen to the whole ad now, so I don't know if one is available yet.)

Here is my original post.  I said, "To their credit, they do invite people to actually attend the church."  My question was whether or not you'd attend by iPhone (or other phone or tablet).  So the premise of this thread actually assumed church attendance was superior to watching the service on a phone. 

The similarity between watching from a phone and watching from a pew didn't even occur to me until ALAYMAN made his comment about "organic and communal" worship.  Once he stated that, I realized that there is very little difference between the two, because the theater church is neither communal nor organic. 

It's no secret that I believe the theater church is a failure at serving the true purpose of the assembly of believers.  If the admin deems that view heretical, then let me be banned.  Otherwise, if you don't like my views, please feel free to use the ignore feature to block them. 

Before anyone starts mocking the book "Pagan Christianity" and its authors as if they're responsible for my views, be aware that these were my views before I read that book, and they aren't likely to change now.  The only reason I read the book was to find out how the theater church came to be.  I had already concluded it was a failure.  Even if anyone could prove that the history recorded in the book is incorrect, my views wouldn't change.  While I find it interesting how the church model was perverted, the issue isn't HOW it became that way, the issue is that it IS that way. 

 

[ALAYMAN]

I don't want to see dissenting voices squelched, so that is a misrepresentation of my point.  You have the liberty to obsess all day long if you want, just like a KJVoer can't think of anything else to talk about.  My point was that you haven't done very much to try to follow the Lord by seeking to fulfill His will in starting one of those proper house-churches.  Seriously, by His moral imperative and right to command, get to it.

 

[Timothy]

I have no idea what you're talking about.  I don't recall saying I was in favor of watching a service on a phone.

Well quit your obsessing with all that is wrong and start your own house church since you know it's the right model.  You're worse than a fundy incessently droning on about all the evils of big-screens and technology in the church house.

Everyone has a right to express his views here, including me. 

If you don't want to see my posts, use the ignore feature.

Everyone? I doubt that.

Everyone the admin allows.  How's that?

Well. If a Catholic or Mormon or Jehovah Witness joined ... well ... I doubt they get far ...