Father in secret I have requested two million dollars, strange I am still waiting for this reward, must try again.

My favorite Philosopher and Artist had this to say about the performance of Sacred Art:
"True Art is a sacred performance, and act of love. And sacred performance can only occur in a sacred setting, a sacred culture, a sacred society. Ultimately, the artist must associate people with the sacred, must invoke in them that capacity to participate in Reality which is about ego-transcendence, love, Divine Communion.
You should dance. You should sing. You should become ecstatic. You should go beyond yourself. Participate in art. Don't just know it is there.
Art should change you. That is the purpose of it."

By the way he was very eclectic in his appreciation of sacred music. One of his favorite Western Gospel groups was the Swan Silvertones. Why? Because the lead singer would oft-times cross-over into a state of ecstasy during their performances.
He was also very much appreciative of Islamic Qawwali music because of its capacity to draw people into states of individual and collective ecstasy. One noteworthy CD is Shahbaaaz by Nusrat Fatah Ali Kha

'Runner "music itself is not sacred" I am sure a vast majority of people would be uplifted by music, on your terms "not a God's gift" isn' t everything God's gift, '

Ojnab

I am sure that you are right that most are uplifted by music. It is a gift that can be used for good or evil depending upon the message being delivered. Singing I'm on the highway to hell while drowning in your vomit is probably one extreme example of being used for evil.

The vehicle or gift is not sacred in itself. It is something that has been created unlike God.

Sells,

I am not sure whether your sentiments are those of the majority of Christians, but they concur with mine. Some 20 years ago I, a Catholic, wrote:

“I am aware I am in the minority, nevertheless pray that more opportunities be given for us to have Sunday Masses celebrated in the dignified Catholic tradition of our ancestors, when the Eucharist, not the celebrant, was in the centre of attention (not the Tridentine Mass the aesthetic appreciation of which had already been successfully killed in the younger generation). As opposed to the style where the celebrant acts more like a TV evangelist, or even entertainer. A liturgy that often resembles more an Oprah Winfrey Show than a traditional Catholic Mass with its solemn dignity.

The sermons might be to the liking of some and not to others, but this bias should not affect the liturgy. In the past, one priest might have preferred Santamaria, another Calwell, but at the end of the Mass they both said the same 'Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus ... ' and their ideological preferences became immediately irrelevant.”

The best Christian worship is the imitation of Christ.

Matthew 18:20

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

But I think a little bit less spectacle and little less celebrity worship would be a generally good thing. Worship should be about reflecting on God, not about having a good-old-knees-up with a few token biblical references thrown in. It should not be a stadium rock affair: easily led people get confused by the loud noise and the bright lights and the excitement of the crowd and start to worship the spectacle instead of the inspiration: they practice idolatry, and that is frowned upon under traditional Christian teachings.

A young, good-looking, charimastic preacher should not be any more highly revered than a short-sighted geriatric who umms and ahhs a lot. Christian worship should be about the message being delivered, not the style in which it is delivered.