There is an old saying that goes like this: “Be careful that you don’t throw the
baby out with the bath water”.  Back in the days when not everyone had indoor
plumbing, the mother would fill a large tub with hot water.  The children then
bathed, one at a time, beginning with the oldest. As you can imagine, by the time
the youngest got in the water, it could be fairly dirty.  So, when mom poured out
the filthy water, she could possibly not see the baby in it. While I doubt that ever
actually happened, it was a good thing to remember:  Be careful when you do
things, that you don’t mess up other things you didn’t intend to.
I think that’s what a lot of churches did when they decided to sing only “praise”
songs.  The intention, I believe, was to attract more of a younger generation who
wanted something new and refreshing… it appealed to their style and culture. 
Now there is nothing wrong with every praise song or chorus.  Many are beautiful
and meaningful.  Many aren’t.  I found this chorus in a popular praise song:
“C'mon let me see that dance, put a dance on it tonight (Yeah) if you're grateful,
c'mon. Hey, hey, yeah”.
But to ditch the hymns entirely robs a generation of some precious and
doctrinally sound worship.   The music may not move us as much, but neither
does it manipulate us.  The lyrics may not use some newer wordage, but there
isn’t any “hey, hey, yeah!” in there.  In fact, to a lot of people, there is more true
praise and worship in hymns than in most contemporary songs. So, keep the
hymnals and let the younger folk experience the richness of the hymns.  Who
knows…it may just catch on!
But don’t combine them. I can’t imagine singing “Amazing Grace how sweet the
sound, c’mon let me see that dance, that saved a wretch like me, put a dance on
it tonight! Yeah!
Say good things about your Savior and His church on this bluff.
Bro. Tony