Original Purpose Changes

During the 1980's a few high progressive churches began to experiment with a new approach to song leading. Instead of having a single man to lead singing, a team of people came together to serve as song leaders or support for song leaders. These people came to be known as praise teams.

 

Small rural churches used to have one or two ladies who were good alto singers. Girls would sit close to that lady and learn how to sing alto. The same church had one or two men who were good bass singers and tenor singers. Young men could listen to those men and learn to sing bass or tenor.

 

In the urban church the good alto, tenor, and bass singers can no longer be heard. So, the praise team replaced those people. Praise team singers have their voices amplified over the church amplification system so everyone can hear them sing. Praise teams have become a new way to help people to learn to sing voice parts and learn new songs quickly.

 

Some churches have a four voice praise team. A single group of four people will not be able to be present at every assembly over the course of a year. So, churches quickly learned they need at least 12 singers in order to have a four voice praise team to consistently be present every Sunday of the year.

 

In the average church only 3% of the members are quality candidates for a high quality praise team. This means that the church will need about 400 members to maintain a staff of 12 quality singers.

 

If a church wants eight voices in their praise team, then they will need at leas a staff of sixteen singers to maintain a level of eight singers every Sunday. If that church has only 3% of its members that can serve on this team, then the church will need nearly 550 members to maintain the praise team.

 

70% of all Churches of Christ have 100 members or less. Only 20% of all Churches of Christ have more than 100 but less than 200 members. Only 5% of all Churches of Christ have more than 200 but less than 300 members. And only 5% of all churches have more than 300 members. This means that only 5% of all churches have the human resources need to maintain a praise team on an every day basis. So, praise teams do not work for most churches.

 

A little research shows that the purpose of the Praise Team has changed from its inception.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team Ministry is to charge and set the atmosphere of each service with the presence of the Lord, through praise and worship in song, so that it makes giving and receiving the Word of God easy.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to lead the congregation to praise God together during the worship service.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to engage the hearts of people who sit in the sanctuary and to lead them into a time where they can connect and communicate with God. 

 

·          The sole purpose of the Praise Team is to lead the congregation into the presence of God.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team at Florence Christian Church is to provide music and musical leadership for the 9:45 worship celebration each Sunday

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to provide worship leadership to our worship services.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to praise and worship God through song.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to lead God's people into meaningful and Spirit-filled praise and worship during the Contemporary Service

 

·          The primary purpose of any praise team is to give glory to our Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

 

As the church has been affected and changed by 40 years of unsupervised Youth Ministers in seems to me that we are on the verge of changes brought on by unsupervised Worship Leaders.

Praise Team Trend

Hi Joe Ed,

 

Remember me? Dottie and I attended your school for, I believe, 3 years. We enjoyed the school and miss not attending.  I hope things are going well for you and for the school.

 

The purpose of this note is to ask for your reaction.

 

Recently Dottie and I attended the church where our son and his family attend, Campus Church in Norcross, GA. They are on the campus of Greater Atlanta Christian Schools, where our grandchildren are in the 6th and 8th grades. The church has the standard traditional and contemporary services. The primary difference between the two services are the selection of songs, the Praise Team and random hand-raisings and a clap or two. 

 

The school has recently completed the construction of The Forum which is large enough to hold the entire school and staff etc (3,500 or so). They also play basketball in the Forum. For services they put chairs out on the court add a stage and sound system. People sit in the chairs on the court or in the theater seats surrounding the court. Great facilities. 

 

This week their praise team's amplification was turned up much like the organ in the Catholic churches. So loud you cannot hear yourself think. It got me to thinking about the original purpose of the Praise Team. So, when I returned home, I read what you said about the praise team in the Worship Development course materials.

 

I found a little research shows that the purpose of the Praise Team has changed from its inception.

 

·        The purpose of the Praise Team Ministry is to charge and set the atmosphere of each service with the presence of the Lord, through praise and worship in song, so that it makes giving and receiving the Word of God easy.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to lead the congregation to praise God together during the worship service.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to engage the hearts of people who sit in the sanctuary and to lead them into a time where they can connect and communicate with God. 

 

·          The sole purpose of the Praise Team is to lead the congregation into the presence of God.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team at Florence Christian Church is to provide music and musical leadership for the 9:45 worship celebration each Sunday

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to provide worship leadership to our worship services.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to praise and worship God through song.

 

·          The purpose of the Praise Team is to lead God's people into meaningful and Spirit-filled praise and worship during the Contemporary Service

 

·          The primary purpose of any praise team is to give glory to our Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

 

As the church has been affected and changed by 40 years of unsupervised Youth Ministers in seems to me that we are on the verge of changes brought on by unsupervised Worship Leaders and am wondering if you have views on the subject.  

 
--
Thank you for your time,

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN

Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/

An apple a day, still leaves you 2-4 servings short of your daily fruit recommendations.

Gospel Advocate March 2009 - Worship

Reference your articles on the subject of worship in Gospel Advocate March, 2009 You mention the church's responsibility is to worship. There is a prayer Catholics say asking that God not look on their sins but on the faith of the church. I do not see bible support to believe the 3,000 on Pentecost assumed any group responsibilities. If the Great Commission was given to the Apostles as a group didn't the responsibility die with the death of the last apostle? If given to them as saved individuals the responsibility would pass to saved individuals. If the local congregation as a group has a responsibility it encourages the belief that "work out your own salvation" can mean that cutting the church grass is a soul saving work. When a group is responsible, no one is responsible. The Christian Chronicle recently reported the numbers of members and adherents of the Church of Christ have declined. In the corporate business world insanity has been defined as doing the same thing while expecting different results. Maybe we need to consider something different. The word Gospel comes from a word meaning "good tidings" and later "story concerning God." In the New Testament the word is always used to mean the good tidings which Jesus and the apostles announced. It was not until A.D. 150 that the word was applied to the writings concerning the message of Jesus. (The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Merrill C. Tenney). That being correct preaching about the message of Jesus is not preaching "The Gospel." We use the term "Gospel Preacher" to refer to an individual who preaches to a congregation of people believing themselves to be saved. Those men are not preaching the gospel; those in their audience have already heard the good tidings and believed it. Now they need to be instructed to observe all the things that Jesus commanded the apostles, i.e. Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 as well as other records. They need to be strengthened, edified, built up, and encouraged. We should remember the advice flight attendants give: "Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." There is nothing unscriptural for Christians to take time for themselves: to edify each other: to encourage each other without the unsaved being the primary focus and I believe the Bible teaches us to take such time. We are losing the war it is time we change our battle plan. As Sesame Street changed the way teachers teach; the same reading, writing and arithmetic but teaching in a different way. Christians should look into what that means for the saved and how they can relate to the not saved. The church huddled together on Sundays, offering "the invitation" to people who are not there does nothing to help its members. How is praying for the sick worship, or listening to the preacher worship (edification, hopefully) or how is singing to each other worship? How is contributing for our own comfort and ease, worship? Jesus told his followers to eat and drink in remembrance of Him. Remembering and worship are different functions, aren't they? We attend memorial services and do not consider that worshiping the deceased. Is telling someone to praise God, praising God? When we praise our children to we say "praise, fill-in-the-name?" Or do we praise them by rehearsing what they did? Over time, the Pharisees among us have altered the meeting to suit their purposes and have changed the meeting to one where we go to church. Due to our carelessness our assemblies can be boring, nonproductive and frustratingly make those who have other things to do feel guilty because they want to leave when they are finished going to church. I see nothing in the New Testament that commands or even suggests we worship (other than Paul's instruction "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."). Jesus told the woman at the well, "... true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth ... God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Most Christians have no idea what that means and do care enough to find out. In the Old Testament we read that Moses or Joshua or others read the entire law to the people. Some places we are told that men, women, children were present. Paul told the church in Colossae that when his letter had been read among them, they were to have it read in the church of the Laodiceans; and they were to be sure to read the letter from Laodicea. Paul told the church in Thessalonica that he put them under oath before the Lord to have the letter read to all the brothers. How can we contend for the faith when we go months if not years in our assemblies without reading significant portions of the Bible? We talk a lot about the Bible but that is not what Moses and Joshua did nor was it what early Christians did. They read. If the churches in Colossae and Thessalonica read their letters like we do, do you suppose they ever finished them? Did they take six months or more to understand what Paul was trying to teach them? The average reader can read Colossians in less than 20 minutes and both letters to the Thessalonians in less than 25 minutes. Both letters to the Corinthians can be read in less that 2 ½ hours. Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" can be read in less than 15 minutes. The Bible has taken a backseat. In a continuing effort to limit the amount of time spent in the assembly there is no time for the Bible. One result is the church is shrinking. A second result is an increased Bible illiteracy of the church. God does not need our worship but he needs our "going into all the world." We can and must worship everyday. We do not need each other to worship. We need each other's strengthening, edification, building up, and encouragement. People do not like to think that an omnipotent God can be caught between a rock and a hard place but he just might be. Unless he is to do away with free choice he is limited by our willingness or unwillingness to obey him and to tell others, to spread the good-tidings. God wanting something to happen does not make it happen. We know that. He wants everyone to be saved and they will not be. There are people who either will not be saved or will be saved other than by what the New Testament teaches because "We Will Not Do As He Wills." Saying Lord, Lord, does not accomplish anything. The saved have concentrated more on getting Sunday "worship" right and as the Pharisees have neglected what is truly important.

Change the Battle Plan

The Christian Chronicle recently reported the numbers of members and adherents of the Church of Christ have declined. Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing while expecting different results. Maybe we need to consider something different.

What is the Gospel? The word comes from a word meaning “good tidings” and later “story concerning God.” In the New Testament the word is always used to mean the good tidings which Jesus and the apostles announced. It was not until A.D. 150 that the word was applied to the writings concerning the message of Jesus. (The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Merrill C. Tenney).

That being correct preaching about the message of Jesus is not preaching "The Gospel."

We use the term “Gospel Preacher” to refer to a preacher who preaches to a congregation of people believing themselves to be Christian and saved. Those men are not preaching the gospel; those in their audience have already heard the good tidings and believed it. Now they need to be instructed to observe all the things that Jesus commanded the apostles, i.e. Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 as well as other records. They need to be strengthened, edified, built up, and encouraged.

What if instead of preaching to the saved “about” the message of Jesus these preachers go out and preach “the message” to the unsaved and let the elders, deacons, teachers, etc instruct the saved? That might result in the saved building each other up and encouraging each other to “do” something.

What if those preachers, with the support of the congregation paying them, would hold public events where the good tidings Jesus and the apostles announced would be announced? The current building could be used for those events but at times other than when the saved are meeting to edify each other and to encourage each other to love and good works.

We have to remember the advice that comes from the flight attendants: “Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” There is nothing unscriptural for Christians to take time for themselves: to edify each other: to encourage each other without the unsaved being the primary focus.

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We are losing the war it is time we change our battle plan.

Back to the Bible

In the Old Testament we read that Moses or Joshua or others read the entire law to the people. Some places we are told that men, women, children were present.

 

Paul told the church in Colossae that when his letter had been read among them, they were to have it read in the church of the Laodiceans; and they were to be sure to read the letter from Laodicea. 

 

Paul told the church in Thessalonica that he put them under oath before the Lord to have the letter read to all the brothers.

 

 How can we contend for the faith when we go months if not years in our assemblies without reading significant portions of the Bible? We talk a lot about the Bible but that is not what Moses and Joshua did nor was it what early Christians did. They read it.

 

If the churches in Colossae and Thessalonica read their letters like we do, do you suppose they ever finished them? Did they take six months or more to understand what Paul was trying to teach them? The average reader can read Colossians in less than 20 minutes and both letters to the Thessalonians in less than 25 minutes. Both letters to the Corinthians can be read in less that 2 ½ hours. Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" can be read in less than 15 minutes.

 

When we read manuals associated with our jobs, or novels, or letters from friends and family, text books in school, tabloid magazines, paperbacks, newspapers, etc we are not in a hurry we are discovering what the authors' were writing.

 

The Bible has taken a backseat. In a continuing effort to limit the amount of time spent in the assembly there is no time for the Bible. One result is the church is shrinking. A second result is an increased Bible illiteracy of the church.

 

Our lack of reading the Bible can be explained in part by a lack of interest in reading anything. The last statistic I remember about reading habits stated that women with college education read about 10 books a year whereas most educated men read one or two books a year. Many adults never read a book after school years.

 

In an effort to encourage their members to become reacquainted with the Bible, some congregations have given their members a One Year Bible or The Daily Bible. The members read the daily assignments and the sermons and Bible Classes focus on the text from the previous week.

Getting Back to the Bible

Hi Guys,   I wrote this with the idea of sending it to the attendees of the Men's meeting but then had second thoughts. No reason to upset the entire world at the same time. If you think it is worth forwarding to others or worth discussing at the Men's meeting please do so but for me I will stop with you two..   We read various accounts in the Old Testament where Moses or Joshua or others read the entire law to the people. Some places we are told that men, women, children were present.   Paul told the church in Colossae that when his letter had been read among them, they were to have it read in the church of the Laodiceans; and they were to be sure to read the letter from Laodicea.    Paul told the church in Thessalonica that he put them under oath before the Lord to have the letter read to all the brothers.   Last night in Rick's class "contending for the faith" was mentioned.   How can we contend for the faith when we go months if not years in our assemblies without reading significant portions of the Bible? We talk a lot about the Bible but that is not what Moses and Joshua did nor was it what early Christians did. They read it.   If the churches in Colossae and Thessalonica read their letters like we do, do you suppose they ever finished them? Did they take six months or more to understand what Paul was trying to teach them? The average reader can read Colossians in less than 20 minutes and both letters to the Thessalonians in less than 25 minutes. Both letters to the Corinthians can be read in less that 2 ½ hours. Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" can be read in less than 15 minutes. If you disagree with those numbers increase them by 50%.   When we read manuals associated with our jobs, or novels, or letters from friends and family, text books in school, tabloid magazines, paperbacks, newspapers, etc we are not in a hurry we are discovering what the authors' were writing.   This is not only a problem with Great Smoky Mountains Church of Christ but with the church in general. The Bible has taken a backseat. In our continuing effort to get the assembly over with there is no time for the Bible. One result is the church is shrinking.   I have been criticized for taking to long reading the Bible at the Lord's Supper. Imagine that too much time spent reading the prayer of the one who died for us.   Our lack of interest in the Bible might explain, in part, our failing to contend for the faith. Again in Rick's class last night, when Al asked how we contend for the faith the entire class had no comment. Did that indicate that we did not want to say anything or we had nothing to say?    We claim to follow the practices of early Christians but when it comes to treatment of the Bible we do not. We don't even match what Israel was told to do when they got up in the morning and when they went to bed in the evening or when they walked along. Recognizing there is a place for topical subjects, how about we make time to read and study the Bible at a pace similar to that of the early Christians? Maybe then we might have something to say to people we meet each day. Maybe then we can contend for the faith. If this is not a great idea why isn't it?   Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Symbolism over Substance

President Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union Address on January 23, 1996 said:   "But we are bound by a faith more powerful than any doctrines that divide us---by our belief in progress, our love of liberty and our relentless search for common ground."   This statement spotlights the motivation which binds the political liberal to his religious counterpart---the change agent: an irrational fixation on unity. The liberal bases his desire for unity upon sentimental allegiance to a vague ideal. To achieve his goal of unity, he will sacrifice any doctrine, passing it off as "progress." Those views that do not fit into his restructured system are branded as "tradition." Behind his actions is a quest for liberty and freedom---i.e., freedom to alter doctrine and relax restraint. This is quintessential liberalism: symbolism over substance. ---Dave Miller

Laptop Computers

I am looking to buy a new laptop computer. I want one that has lots of RAM, large screen and that will run Windows applications. MAC or IBM compatible is fine. Do you have any suggestions you would be willing to share? Thanks.....

Re: Fw: A black woman's view on the election

Hi Ray,   Interesting point of view. Obama was not as elected as much as a Republican was not elected. Quiet similar to when Reagan defeated Carter. Reagan was not as much elected as Carter was not elected. That year a pumpkin could have defeated a democrat. This year a pumpkin could have defeated a Republican and he just might have. Only time will tell.   Reagan was a good speaker so is Obama. Reagan was a nice looking man, so is Obama. Reagan kept smiling, so does Obama. Reagan blamed the Democrats for the problems the country was experiencing, Obama blames Republicans. Reagan attacked Granada. Time will tell what Obama attacks. Reagan sold guns and drugs to finance operations that violated our Constitution. Reagan did not "recall." We can be assured Obama will "not recall." Both the National Budget and the National Deficit were larger when Reagan left office than when he entered. As they will be with Obama after one or two terms. The country survived Reagan and it will survive Obama.   We either believe God raises up nations and takes nations down and that he raises up leaders and takes leaders down or we don't.   Job 12:23     He makes nations great, and he destroys them;         he enlarges nations, and leads them away.   Daniel 2:21     He changes times and seasons;         he removes kings and sets up kings;     he gives wisdom to the wise         and knowledge to those who have understanding;   There were good people in Israel when they went into captivity. Our job is to be Daniels and Mishaels and Hananiahs and  Azariahs.   The church has fallen on its face. It just might be time for us to standup, shake off the dust and get busy. We are told to pray for our leaders that we might live peaceful lives BECAUSE God wants everyone to be saved. We have prayed for our leaders so that we can live peaceful lives so that we can collect money, go on vacations and store up treasures on earth. It just might be a good time to rethink what we really believe.   Regards, John Jenkins  865-803-8179  cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money. ---Everett Dirksen --- On Mon, 3/2/09, Ray & Martha <arandm@charter.net> wrote: From: Ray & Martha <arandm@charter.net> Subject: Fw: A black woman's view on the election To: "Alta & George Rowell" <garowell@frontiernet.net> Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 8:07 PM           The truth is the truth,  no matter   what you believe.... this is excellent.... Finally----an incredibly intelligent black woman speaks out about our new President.                REFRESHING READ!      A Black Woman's View on the Election      ANNE WORTHAM      Anne Wortham is Associate Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and continuing Visiting Scholar at Stanford University 's Hoover Institution. She is a member of the American Sociological  Association and the American Philosophical  Association.      She has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, and honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.      In fall 1988 she was one of a select group of intellectuals who were featured in Bill Moyer's television series, "A World of Ideas." The transcript of her conversation with Moyers has been published in his book, A World of Ideas.        Dr. Wortham is author of "The Other Side of Racism:  A Philosophical Study of Black Race Consciousness" which analyzes how race consciousness is transformed into political strategies and policy issues.      She has published numerous articles on the implications of individual rights for civil rights policy, and is currently writing a book on theories of social and cultural marginality.    Recently, she has published articles on the significance of multiculturalism and Afrocentricism in education, the politics of  victimization and the social and political impact of political correctness.  Shortly after an interview in 2004, she was  awarded tenure.    This article by her is something.  **************************************************************************** *    Fellow Americans,    Please know: I am Black; I grew up in the segregated South. I did not vote for Barack Obama; I wrote in Ron Paul's name as my choice for president. Most importantly, I am not race conscious. I do not require a Black president to know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living. I do not require a Black president to love the ideal of America .    I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no  smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human flourishing and survival - all that I know about the history of the United States of America , all  that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack  Obama as a politician. I would have to deny the nature of the "change" that  Obama asserts has come to America ..    Most importantly, I would have to abnegate my certain understanding that  you have chosen to sprint down the road to serfdom that we have been on for  over a century. I would have to pretend that individual liberty has no value  for the success of a human life. I would have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million Blacks in this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that Blacks  are permitted to play the race card), and that they were joined by  self-declared "progressive" whites who voted for him because he doesn't look like them.    I would have to wipe my mind clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his administration - political intellectuals like my former colleagues at the Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government.    I would have to believe that "fairness" is equivalent of justice. I would have to believe that man who asks me to "go forward in a new spirit of service, in a new service of sacrifice" is speaking in my interest. I  would have to accept the premise of a man that economic prosperity comes from  the "bottom up," and who arrogantly believes that he can will it into  existence by the use of government force. I would have to admire a man who thinks  the standard of living of the masses can be improved by destroying the most productive and the generators of wealth.    Finally, Americans, I would have to erase from my consciousness the scene  of 125,000 screaming, crying, cheering people in Grant Park, Chicago irrationally chanting "Yes We Can!" Finally, I would have to wipe all  memory of all the times I have heard politicians, pundits, journalists, editorialists, bloggers and intellectuals declare that capitalism is  dead - and no one, including especially Alan Greenspan, objected to their assumption that the particular version of the anti-capitalistic mentality that they want to replace with their own version of anti-capitalism is anything remotely equivalent to capitalism.    So you have made history, Americans. You and your children have elected a Black man to the office of the president of the United States , the wounded giant of the world. The battle between John Wayne and Jane Fonda is over - and that Fonda won. Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern must be very happy men. Jimmie Carter, too. And the Kennedys have at last gotten their  Kennedy look-a-like. The self-righteous welfare statists in the suburbs can feel warm moments of satisfaction for having elected a Black person.    So, toast yourselves: 60s countercultural radicals, 80s yuppies and 90s bourgeois bohemians. Toast yourselves, Black America. Shout your glee Harvard, Princeton , Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Berkeley. You have elected  not an individual who is qualified to be president, but a Black man who, like the pragmatist Franklin Roosevelt, promises to - Do Something!  You  now have someone who has picked up the baton of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.   But you have also foolishly traded your freedom and  mine - what little there is left - for the chance to feel good.    There is nothing in me that can share your happy obliviousness.     A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

Reasons to question the commonly accepted in religion or science.

If we wonder why people do not readily accept what we believe to be truth we need only to look at history. Questioning and doubting are good.   Telegony is the theory that men leave behind an imprint on women after having sex with them, thus tainting any children those ladies might have with other men. Telegony was once widely accepted as fact across Europe. To keep bloodlines pure European kings insisted their queens be virgins, not widows or divorcees. The belief in telegony had largely died out by the 1900s but Nazis gave it new life. According to Nazi dogma, an Aryan woman who had sex with a non-Aryan man could no longer have a child of pure blood.   Before modern science confirmed that men and women contribute equally to the genetic makeup of their children, there was the concept of homunculus. A fully formed person living inside each sperm cell, the homunculus came from the father and needed only a woman's womb to grow. Alchemists tried to raise homunculi outside the womb, but never succeeded. One famous recipe called for incubating sperm inside a pumpkin in a culture of horse dung.   From the time of Aristotle, philosophers agreed that air carried an élan vital, a spirit that could breathe life into inanimate objects. The driving force behind spontaneous generation élan vital was responsible for (among other things) transforming rotten meat into small creatures, such as maggots. French chemist Louis Pasteur disproved this principle in the 1800s, but in doing so, he put scientists in an awkward position. Unless they appealed to super natural forces, scientists had to admit that for life to being on Earth, spontaneous generation had to have happened at least once.   And then there are those centuries when the church killed and imprisoned those who did not follow the company line. Kind of like today except we disfellowship and excommunicate those who do not see things the way we do. Sometimes doubt is very good.. Regards, John Jenkins  865-803-8179  cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money. ---Everett Dirksen