"MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA RAISES QUESTIONS"

   Extravaganza has a rather worldly ring to it, we know.  But it 
appears to be the proper word to describe a recent song-and-dance 
production that was staged in Houston.

   In the production company were 150 choir members, 33 musicans, 40 
banner bearers, 22 liturgical dancers, and 26 women in bridal gowns.  
This  company formed a "Christian" musical called "Worship from the 
Heart." The  cost of the production was about $100, 000.00 according to 
a Houston newspaper.

   The major church sponsors, according to the paper, were charismatic 
and Assemblies of God congregations.

   When the name "ICHABOD, " meaning "the glory of the Lord hath 
departed," is inscribed over the door, something has to be substituted 
to replace the "glory." Choreographed dancing is the answer.

   When one thinks of the Assemblies of God churches that have probably 
known collectively, the greatest move of God the world has ever known, 
reduced to the level of "Broadway hoofing, " and all of that in the 
"Name of God, " one experiences a sick, cold feeling in the pit of 
the stomach.

   We hear much in the church world today about restoration and 
renewal,  but we need revival. And revival must be accompanied by 
repentance.

   If there is spiritual heaviness in Houston, as the newspaper account 
related, this activity could only add to it.

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