I wholeheartedly agree with all of this. My wife (also a cradle CoC, with an "Elder" father) and I also much prefer a Capella singing...... though we much prefer the rest of the contemporary services. There truly is almost nothing like good a Capella (not the tired, dead stuff, though.)
We haven't been to a CoC (except for funerals and when we visit old friends in Tennessee.) since 1988, or so, and to this day, we still maintain we have yet to know real "family" like we experienced there.
And, of course, serious Bible Study is, by comparison, almost non existent anywhere else we have attended.
Wow, there's some revealing things here regarding the church, the body of Christ, and it's got me wondering, (maybe a new thread should be started, I don't mean to go off topic here),
but in this post, it makes me wonder WHY so many cults and 'christian offshoots' seem to take bible study so much more seriously than a lot of us regular old Jesus loving Christians?
And so many study deeply but never seem to get any closer to the simple saving grace and knowledge of God's 'Paid in Full' redeeming love.
There is a scripture that mentions 'ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth', but I don't know if that's a good reference here, and don't want to take it out of context, (I'll have to look it up and study, lol),
but it seems they 'Study study study' and then get
'Worship like this, don't worship like that,
get dunked or get damned, obey this but not that,
Jesus said this so you better do that,
go speak your reality into existence while I go buy a wig or a toupee (with your 'seed of faith love gift'),
Jesus isn't God (but some of us can become God) etc.,
and yet a lot of us are less diligent in study, (I refer to Myself especially, I Really need to do more) but we bop along happy in our salvation, as well we should.
Maybe it's because many of us came out of legalistic backgrounds, in church or even just in life, relationships, employment, etc. and bible study seems like another task, or a reminder of struggling in school and homework.
There's also a degree of laziness, rebellion, or even just the honest busy-ness of the days distractions, but whatever the reason, it IS the Word of our Savior, and He probably wants us to know it at least as much as some of the cultists out there.
Your post was a bit of a wake-up call how lacking I am in proper study and application. Thanks. There's warfare going on, and His Word is our Sword and Shield.