Mind Your Music!

I'm not sure when this excellent article was written, but it is still relevant! -Editor

Author: Rev (Dr) Tow Siang Hwa from Calvary-Pandan BP Church, Singapore

Ps 104: 24-35Col 3: 16-17

One of the most effective ways of polluting the mind is through music. Our adversary (that wily and crafty customer) uses it to maximum advantage. Last generation it was through swing and jazz. Now, it is pop and rock. With the media explosion of TV, Hi-fi, tapes and video, the air waves are bombarded round the clock with a torrent of filth and mental garbage, available to anybody anywhere at the touch of a switch.

Believing parents and children, we go to great lengths to safeguard our physical well being with every sort of health protective, inoculations, immunizations. Pause a moment and think: What protective measures have we taken to safeguard our mental and spiritual well being? The famous latin proverb says “Mens sana in corpore sano,” meaning to say, “A sound mind in a sound body.” This is so important for us to understand for an Olympic strong man or athlete can be reduced to a physical wreck by drug abuse in a matter of weeks. Similarly, sex abuse can rapidly destroy a morally healthy young person.

Music today has taken on sinister and subversive overtones. A multi-billion dollar industry is churning out red hot top tunes, charged with immoral, suggestive and seductive messages, souped-up with booming soul-stimulating decibels and big drum beats. The target: millions of unwary, pleasure-seeking young people looking for excitement and kicks, drugs and sex. Exposed to the overwhelming barrage of sensuous sounds, many a young person are hooked, and taken as lambs to the slaughter.

Even more noxious, certain rock tapes have hidden occult messages and Satanic signals which come through when played in reverse – an eerie and spine-chilling experience. The devil is running to and fro seeking victims for his kingdom of bondage and death.
It is high time for Christian young people and parents to take stern action against the wiles of the devil. Let us employ the strictest censorship of all musical programmes and tapes, to exclude doubtful or harmful material. Those in our homes, personal libraries, and private collections should be destroyed by fire, to put an end to Satanic mind-washing. Out with immoral pop and rock!

Let our homes be filled with God-honouring music and songs of the Heavenly Kingdom. A Christian’s music should bring glory to God’s name.

Keynote: Sing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Prayer: Lord, teach me the songs of Heaven which honour Thee.

Hezekiah's Revival

Hezekiah became king in Judah when he was twenty-five years old. Hezekiah was a good king, who tried very hard to obey the Lord and to restore his land to the worship of the one true God. And, as had been promised in Deuteronomy 11, following God in humble obedience brought Hezekiah God's blessing.

"He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth." (2 Kings 18:5-7a)

"And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered." (2 Chronicles 31:20-21)

As Hezekiah worked to reinstate the worship of God in the temple, we find that he placed great importance on restoring the music program. It is interesting to note that it was his concern to obey God that prompted his actions. Hezekiah realized that the command to perform music, both vocal and instrumental, as part of the worship ceremony, was originally given by God Himself.

"And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped." (2 Chronicles 29:25-30)

As Hezekiah led the people of Judah in this great revival, music played an important role in expressing the condition of their hearts. Notice that the singers "sang praises with gladness." A right relationship with God produces joy, as well as humility.

A humble, joyous, walk with God that produces a song of praise and an attitude of worship is certainly a great indication of revival in the heart!

When Morning Gilds The Skies

When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
may Jesus Christ be praised!

When you begin the day, O never fail to say,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
And at your work rejoice, to sing with heart and voice,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Whene'er the sweet church bell peals over hill and dell,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
O hark to what it sings, as joyously it rings,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

My tongue shall never tire of chanting with the choir,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
This song of sacred joy, it never seems to cloy,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

To God, the Word, on high, the host of angels cry,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals, too, upraise their voice in hymns of praise,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this at meals your grace, in every time and place;
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, when day is past, of all your thoughts the last
may Jesus Christ be praised!

When mirth for music longs, this is my song of songs:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
When evening shadows fall, this rings my curfew call,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

When sleep her balm denies, my silent spirit sighs,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
When evil thoughts molest, with this I shield my breast,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

The night becomes as day when from the heart we say:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear:
may Jesus Christ be praised!

No lovelier antiphon in all high heaven is known than,
Jesus Christ be praised!
There to the eternal Word the eternal psalm is heard:
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
In heaven's eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this:
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Sing, suns and stars of space, sing, ye that see his face,
sing, Jesus Christ be praised!
God's whole creation o'er, for aye and evermore shall
Jesus Christ be praised!

In heaven's eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Let earth, and sea and sky from depth to height reply,
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing this eternal song through all the ages long:
may Jesus Christ be praised!

Take My Life, and Let It Be

Take My Life and Let It Be

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love;

Take my feet, and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;

Take my lips, and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold:
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use

Ev'ry pow'r as Thou shalt choose.

Ev'ry pow'r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine;

Take my heart, it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;

Take myself, and I will be,

Ever, only, all for Thee.

Ever, only, all for Thee.

1874.

Text: Frances R. Havergal, 1836-1879 Music: Louis J.F. Herold; arr. by George Kingsley

Who is on the Lords Side?

Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers, other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for Him will go?
By Thy call of mercy, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Not for weight of glory, nor for crown and palm,
Enter we the army, raise the warrior psalm;
But for love that claimeth lives for whom He died:
He whom Jesus nameth must be on His side.
By Thy love constraining, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Jesus, Thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem,
But with Thine own life blood, for Thy diadem;
With Thy blessing filling each who comes to Thee,
Thou hast made us willing, Thou hast made us free.
By Thy grand redemption, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe,
But the King’s own army none can overthrow;
’Round His standard ranging, victory is secure,
For His truth unchanging makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Chosen to be soldiers, in an alien land,
Chosen, called, and faithful, for our Captain’s band,
In the service royal, let us not grow cold;
Let us be right loyal, noble, true and bold.
Master, Thou wilt keep us, by Thy grace divine,
Always on the Lord’s side—Savior, always Thine!

The Importance of Music or The Power of Hymns

A transcript of a discussion on hymns taken from Back To The Bible's program Gateway To Joy. ~Editor

Lisa Barry: Elisabeth, let's start with you. I know that music was an important part of your home life growing up. Can you give us a bird's-eye view of what that was like?

Elisabeth Elliot: We had family prayers every morning and the first thing was to be herded into the living room where either my father or my mother would sit down at the piano and would play usually the next hymn in the book. We went through hymnbooks. It was just taken for granted that all of us would sing. So, whether the children knew how to read the words, it didn't make any difference, because little children can learn the words just by hearing them. So, we would generally sing one hymn, but we didn't skip any of the stanzas as many churches do (we'll sing stanzas 1, 2 and 5 or something). We had all the verses.

Neither of my parents was a virtuoso on the piano, by any means. But they both knew how to play plain, ordinary hymns. I can remember my older brother, Phil, taking piano lessons and about as far as he got was Hop up, hop up, o grasshopper spry (or something like that); and he gave up. I am number two in the family so I had a variety of piano teachers one after another and never really got very far other than just to be able to play hymns. And to this day, I love to sit down to the piano and play hymns by myself. I do it frequently after supper when Lars is upstairs and I've finished the dishes.

Lisa Barry: I think I remember a story of your mother when she was nearing the end of her life and she was having difficulty remembering things. And yet she was always able to play the piano, wasn't she? And you were surprised by that.

Elisabeth Elliot: Yes, she was staying in a retirement home in Pennsylvania and when I visited her, we were just walking through the place and there was a piano there and I said, "Mother, why don't you sit down there and play the piano?"

And she said, "Oh, I can't play the piano."

And I said, "What do you mean you can't? You've always played the piano."

So she said, "All right, I'll try." And she sat down and she didn't have any trouble at all. It was all in her head. She didn't need a book. So, each time I would go there to visit, I would always make sure that she sat down at the piano and played.

Lisa Barry: Elisabeth, what are some of your favorite hymns?

Elisabeth Elliot: I have a long list right here in my book on my favorite quotations, my favorite hymns. And it is a long list. I won't read them all but I can show it to you. Nobody that is listening can see it, but it is in alphabetical order so I started with "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," "And Can It Be?" "Beneath the Cross of Jesus," "Be Still My Soul," "Crown Him With Many Crowns"...how far do you want me to go?

Lisa Barry: Hearing that "Be Still My Soul," you've heard the story probably of Eric Liddle who as he was dying of a brain tumor in a Chinese prison camp, he loved hymns as well--had grown up in a family that loved hymns--and apparently, as I understand the story, he sent a nurse out to the front of the hospital where there was a Salvation Army band that had gathered together in that prison camp (a makeshift band) and asked if they would play for him "Be Still, My Soul." And apparently just days, perhaps weeks, before he went to be with the Lord, that was the hymn that they played so he could hear it inside the hospital.

Elisabeth Elliot: I hadn't heard that story.

Lisa Barry: I can remember going through a very difficult time in my life around age 20. I would take my hymnbook, sit in front of the fire, and just read the words. I didn't know a lot of the tunes; I just read the words. And they are so powerful. Hymns can minister to us in so many ways. Can you think of a time when a particular hymn really ministered to you, Nancy?

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Why, hymns have ministered deeply to me my whole life. I came actually from a family that was musical on one side much more than on the other. My mother was a wonderful musician, had a great gift with the piano, but also as an accomplished singer. None of us inherited her vocal ability.

But my dad, who really had no ear for music at all, but a great love for praising and worshiping the Lord, had it in his mind that somehow we should be a musical family. He would ask us to sing a table grace for guests that we would have in the home. Or even I can remember taking part of our family on a vacation--a ministry vacation to Korea--and my dad making us little girls sing and play for soldiers on a military base there where he was preaching but he wanted us to sing for them. We could be as off-key as possible and he would not know the difference.

I can remember my parents marching us to what seemed like it was always the front row of church and lining us up and we would sing songs, some of my dad's favorites. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Hear him kind of clapping his hands together, this is not because the audience was clapping, but just because he was so caught up in the wonder of what God had done for him.

So we grew up hearing my mother sing beautifully and then my dad having a great appreciation for it. In fact, my mother many years ago recorded two--they were called "albums" in those days--one an Easter collection and one a Thanksgiving collection with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Paul Mickelson orchestrating the arrangements. And to this day one of the traditions in my own walk is on Thanksgiving and on Easter, I pull those tapes out (we've transferred them to cassette tape). And as old as they are, and not great--certainly not broadcast--quality today, but I listen to those and am so reminded of those songs and hymns and texts that were so much a part of our learning doctrine and theology and the ways of God as children.

Lisa Barry: Which brings us to the present. Not too many people are singing the hymns the way they used to.

Elisabeth Elliot: Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get people to recognize the tremendous blessing that there is in the theology of the old hymns! It doesn't bother me that people sing praise songs, but it bothers me if that's all they sing. The praise songs generally have a lot of repetition and very thin theology. Whereas as I look at this list that I have, I wonder how many people in today's churches would know "God Moves In A Mysterious Way," "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," "It Is Well With My Soul," "Jesus Thou Joy of Loving Hearts," "Loved With Everlasting Love," "A Mighty Fortress," and on and on.

I've got probably 40 or 50 hymns here in this little booklet. We learned them by heart and children learn them without any effort whatsoever. You don't have to sit down and memorize, you just sing. And so we learned them and we learned all the stanzas. In my dark times, of which I have had many, I haven't had this little book along with me by any means, but I can sing them in my head if I'm in a place where I don't want to be bothering other people. But I know virtually every line of every hymn.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Just outside the studio here, moments ago we were on a break and I heard the instrumental music playing over the sound system "He Hideth My Soul." And even in the midst of this day of recording sessions, the thought of the words that go with that just so ministered grace and assurance and confidence to my heart. And I think that for those who have not grown up experiencing and learning and singing these hymns, there is a real loss.

I have made a habit, over many years, of traveling with a hymnal. I travel a great deal but one of the things I manage to slip into my suitcase is a hymnal. I enjoy singing through a hymnal and often dating when I have sung that hymn (of course, all stanzas). There are so many of those we miss when we do sing hymns in our churches today. But then I can go back and have, in a sense, in those hymnals a record of God's dealing with me and how He has ministered to my life with those truths over many years.

Elisabeth Elliot: When I was speaking at a church someplace where I've forgotten, they were singing praise songs and choruses. I said something to the lady that was sitting next to me on the platform, I said, "Do they sing hymns here?"

And she said, "I don't think so. What is a hymn?"

And so I told her what I thought a hymn was. So she went to somebody else and said, "You know, Elisabeth can play the piano. She can play these hymns. Why don't you ask her to do this?"

So they did ask me and those people were just swept away. They gave me a standing ovation and wanted me to teach them a hymn right then and there before I even had a chance to get up to give the talk on whatever it was I was supposed to give. My heart just went out to them. I thought, surely somebody must know something about hymns. But it appeared that nobody had until then, and they just were swept away. They were just delighted. So it's a great loss in so many places

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: I think people who are not comfortable with hymns and singing to the Lord generally are probably not going to be as comfortable in Heaven, because we know that hymns and praise will be the language--part of the language--of Heaven. You go back to the Old Testament and you have the hymn of Moses. And you come to the book of Revelation and you have the hymn of Moses. How many times through the Scripture we are told to "sing to the Lord." I really believe not just for our public worship as we gather corporately, but that individually there is something very restorative and healing and deepening in our walk with the Lord through singing.

I have women frequently today who talk with me about the area of depression and living with these emotions controlling their lives. And the two things I have said practically to women--two questions I ask are--Are you memorizing Scripture? and Are you singing to the Lord?

I find that in those times of sorrow or confusion or difficulty in my own life, that to quote Scripture back to the Lord and to sing to the Lord--and sometimes it is just sing until the cloud lifts, however long it takes. There is something, I believe very...as we lift our hearts up to the Lord by faith, and singing praise to the Lord sometimes is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, that faith pleases God. And I believe He comes and meets with us; He inhabits the praises of His people. So it's not really an optional thing in the Christian life. We might quibble about what style, but to sing to the Lord is really the heart of what we are talking about.

Some Initial Considerations of Music and its Relationship to Christian Culture

This is an excellent article written by David Ledgerwood Chair of Department of Fine Arts at Maranatha Baptist Bible College. I encourage you to click the link above, print it, and prayerfully ponder this timely article.

He makes these eight propositions concerning music and cultural expression:

1. Every culture has aspects of its art that reflect sensuality, rebellion, and false worship.
2. Music both reflects and affects culture.
3. Musical meaning can be intrinsic, associative or both.
4. The meaning of music is strongest within its own culture, but there is a move to a "world culture" or "world music" that communicates throughout the world.
5. Cultural values can and should be evaluated upon biblical absolutes.
6. Musical styles within a culture are fluid; musical meaning is often contextual.
7. Since musical styles are fluid, churches that build their music programs on what is popular are shooting at a moving target.
8. Music can be very addicting.
   

His concluding paragraph asks some very poignant questions worthy of reflection by discerning believers today.

• Does music have a hold on you?
  
• Do you turn to it to soothe yourself, to help you escape from reality?
  
• Do you listen to music so that you don't have to listen to the voice of your conscience?
  
• Do you listen to it to help "put you in the mood" of something that is not right?
  
• Are we so far away from God as to believe that we can somehow offer our sensual worship to God and that He is obligated to accept it?

Cantus Firmus

I have always appreciated the terminology employed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he described life to his friend. He spoke in musical terms, and in so doing ushered in the idea that life cannot be reduced to one note or a monotone. The cantus firmus, which means "fixed song," is a pre-existing melody that forms the basis of a polyphonic composition. Though the song introduces twists in pitch and style, counterpoint and refrain, the cantus firmus is the enduring melody not always in the forefront, but always playing somewhere within the composition. For Dietrich Bonhoeffer, life was a great work of sounds and symphonic directions, and the cantus firmus was the essence, the soul of the concerto.

With these terms, he wrote: "God wants us to love him eternally with our whole hearts, not in such a way as to injure or weaken earthly life, but to provide a kind of cantus firmus to which the other melodies of life provide the counterpoint... Where the cantus firmus is clear and plain, the counterpoint can be developed to its limits."(1)

As he penned these lines, Bonhoeffer, who was facing execution and the looming end of his life, confessed life to be an awe-inspiring symphony, a melody to behold with attention and appreciation for a great array of intricate choruses. In this intricacy, there is no better song composed than one that finds as its ground bass a wholehearted love of God. Where the enduring melody of life itself is a tune written and played for God, the composition can resound unto the heavens. It is this type of melody that endures even beyond the chorister who sang it.

When Jesus spoke of life, he, too, spoke of multiple realms, of life as it is on earth and in heaven. Like a great composition, there are layers to faith and belief, Communion and the Kingdom, story and song. There is a sense in which all of our stories are the same, written by the great composer of music and sound. And yet, each song is also uniquely our own. For me, as no doubt for you, there have been minor sounds when God seems absent or life seems removed from any chorus of hope. Then again, there have also been moments when the cantus firmus of truth and love resounds in major tones and God comes near in the doxology.

So how do we tell the story of a human life? How do we put into words counterpoints and melodies and tempos? Like the one after God's own heart, perhaps we start with the song at the center of our own souls, as we listen for the arrangement in our neighbors':

"By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me-
a prayer to the God of my life" (Psalm 42:8).

God's presence is the cantus firmus, set in the deepest center of a life, discovered and embraced over a lifetime. God's love is the enduring melody that puts our stories to song.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), 303.

Dan Lucarini -- Why I Left The Contemporary Christian Music Movement

A former Worship leader tells his story why he left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement.

Dedication by Dan Lucarini This book is dedicated to the authors, pastors, music ministers and others who came before me. They never ceased to warn us about the dangers of rock music to a Christian; but we did not take heed. They had the courage to confront others in the church who defended every controversial and sensual music style; but in return we heaped scorn upon them. When they dared to oppose the contemporary music invasion into the church service itself, we called them legalists and worse. Many have sacrificed popularity and seen their ministry opportunities limited, because their consciences dictated they must take a stand.

Forward

Music has often been a "hot potato" in the life of the Christian church, and the subject may never have been more controversial than duringthe past fifty years. At one end of the spectrum, there are those who tell us that the only words that should be sung in the church are those forming the Old Testament Psalms -- and that they should be sung without any musical accompaniment. At the other end, there are those who say that any kind of music -- rock, pop, jazz, punk, country and western, rap, or whatever 'turns people on' is perfectly legitimate for use in worshipand evangelism. Dan Lucarini never approached the first of these extremes, but he came within touching distance of the second, and it is from his deeply involved experience of the modern music scene, secular and otherwise, that this book is written. The author's honest sharing of his own spiritual and musical journey prepares the way for his assessment of what he sees to be a major problem in today's church -- and makes it more difficult to deny that he in on to something. This book will undoubtedly raise many hackles, but Lucarini's direct and uncompromising style is harnessed to a gracious spirit concerned with nothing else but God's glory. This is nowhere more evident than in his warm and wise treatment of the subject of worship and ministry. John Calvin once wrote, "We know by experience that music has a secret and almost incredible power to move hearts." The reformer was right -- and we should therefore give its use in the life of the church serious and God-centered attention. I pray that this book will help us to do so. John Blanchard

Amazing Grace ~ Original Lyrics ~

Faith's Review and Expectation by John Newton
Based on 1 Chronicles 17.16-17
As it appears in Olney Hymns, 1779

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)

That sav’d a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears reliev’d;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease;

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who call’d me here below,

Will be forever mine.

[The following verse was added in E.O. Excell's Coronation Hymns, 1910]

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.

Newton's text was first set to the tune NEW BRITAIN in William Walker's Southern Harmony, 1835.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace"

Message Churches are not immune to the subtle infiltration of the wrong kind of music...

Click here

for the original article

published October 2000 in Believers International News.

The Problem With Scoops and Slides

The Problem with Scoops and Slides
[print version] [audio version ]

How do we determine whether or not a particular performance technique is good or bad? What is the ultimate standard whether or not a vocal or instrumental variation is appropriate for Christian music?I believe that we must determine the purpose behind using a particular performance technique, and compare that purpose with our definition of Christian music. Here is a short summary of what I believe Christian music is:

Christian music consists of a clear, distraction-free message that is Biblical in content and delivery, Holy Spirit-filled, that is directed to the Lord, is performed as a means of edifying, teaching and admonishing fellow believers, and is testimony to the lost.

How then does this compare with the purposes of various vocal techniques that are used by contemporary musicians, such as scoops, slides, excessive syncopation, trills, ornamentation, straight tones, riffs, portamento, etc.?

I see several reasons why a singer would utilize these techniques.

1. To draw attention to the vocal prowess of the performer
2. To manipulate the emotions of the listener
3. To imitate another singer
4. To communicate sensuality
5. To create a particular atmosphere
6. To fit into a particular style or genre of music
7. To relate to a certain group of people

I believe that these techniques tend to violate at least three clear Biblical principles:

• Do not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16)
• Do not exhibit pride (Pro. 8:13)
• Abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22)

Christian music should never be mistaken for negative styles of music, such as the music of immorality or rebellion.

Properly used performance techniques are like spices. When used discreetly, they may be helpful in certain rare applications. All aspects of musical performance should be analyzed to see if they meet the following criteria: they should

• Enhance
• Beautify
• Illustrate
• Support
• Clarify
• Intensify
• Strengthen
• Reinforce

the message of the text.

In other words, if a particular performance technique is a help in communicating a godly message, it is perfectly acceptable to use it. If it is a distraction from the message of the song, for whatever reason, that performance technique should be avoided.

The problem with most vocal ornamentations is that they are almost exclusively used for the wrong reasons. Scooping and sliding and riffing are mostly manipulative, sensual, and self-promotional in nature and should not be used.

Music that clearly communicates a strong, positive, Biblical message will emphasize the text by using proper emphasis, word color, effective phrasing, and appropriate dynamic and tempo changes. Our music needs to be passionate, heartfelt and excellent, not manipulative, showy, or sleazy, in order to reach the intended audience.

Keep Me In Your Will

Keep Me In Your Will

Sometimes I think I'm in control

And I act so foolishly

Facing problems on my own

I don't know what's best for me

My mistakes at times disturb

All the plans you have made

Lord, keep me in your will

So, I won't be in your way

And, put me where you want to

Not where I want to be

If I should ask, for things I want

Just give me what I need

When I complain from time to time

Forgive me Lord I pray

Lord keep me in your will

So I won't be in your way

Remind me Lord, I'm just a glove

In which you place your hand

Not my will, but your's be done

Though I don't understand

The best laid plans I've made

Somehow always go astray

Lord keep me in your will

So I won't be in your way

And put me where you want to

Not where I want to be

If I should ask for things I wantJust give me what I need

When I complain from time to time

Forgive me Lord I pray

Lord keep me in your will

So I won't be in your way

I need you dear Lord

I need you each and every day

Lord keep me in your will

So I won't be in your way

Just keep me in your will

So I won't be in your way

Music videos - don't pattern after those things! We need spontaneous worship.

We've got a bookshop around there. It's quite a popular bible bookshop. They sell all these videos - music videos. You know brothers and sisters, everything today is super-duper; the music is super-duper, the singing is super-duper, the praise and the worship super-duper. You know it's not like real simple. You've got those videos, and sometimes we try to pattern after that. Don't pattern after those things! We must have spontaneous worship, because of the revelation, because of what God has done in your life, because of His saving Grace. We should praise Him - spontaneous worship. Not something we have to work up. You watch these people... well sometimes they try to imitate them. There they're standing, hands raised to the heavens, tears running down their eyes, singing like you never heard. Praising the lord, praising the lord, praising Jesus. I love you Jesus ... short skirts, pants, lipstick, cut-off hair. You want to tell me they are not sincere. They are sincere. They love Him just like you love Him. Emotionally they love Him just the same. We've got emotions, we love Him. Don't you love Him? Hallelujah! Well they love Him just the same. What is the difference then? What is the difference? We love the Word! We don't serve an imaginary God. We love The living Jesus Christ. He's living in me. Hallelujah! And we say we love you Lord. We love you!

~ Rev. Ivan Reynolds from near Cape Town South Africa

taken from his sermon "The Trumpet Voice of God"

The Prosperity Drug - Margaret Manning

The following post is a slight departure from my typical postings, but only because it so clearly identifies one of the inspirations behind rock, pop, and secular christian music today. After reading this article go here http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?loc_id=639,617&act=nav_loc to read some of the lyrics to John and Charles Wesley's hymns. - Editor


The catchy beat was disarming. Driving down the highway with my hands tapping out the rhythm on my steering wheel, I thought this was just another clever pop tune with bubblegum lyrics. Then the words to the chorus caught my attention:

“I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When we think it will all become clearI’m being taken over by The Fear.”(1)

This song sung by the young British pop star, Lily Allen, was not just another slickly produced tune without substance. Allen sings of the destructive impact of materialism:

“I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I want loads of clothes and loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

Life’s about film stars and less about mothers
It’s all about fast cars and passing each other
But it doesn’t matter because I’m packing plastic
and that’s what makes my life so fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumptionand
it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
Cause I’m being taken over by fear.”

Among other things, the song laments the vacuity of mindless consumption and its pervasiveness in our society. Consumption, as Allen points out, can be like any other form of addiction, providing an initial high that hooks us, but never again delivers what it promises. Instead, it leads us down the path toward diminishing returns and never ultimately calms our fear.

Over 200 years before Ms. Allen stepped onto the pop music scene in the United Kingdom, John Wesley articulated the dangers of materialism. “I fear, wherever riches have increased,” he wrote, “the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of religion to continue long....[A]s riches increase, so will pride, anger and love of the world in all its branches."(2) Even as thousands and thousands were joining his ranks, he spoke prophetically about the inevitable decline and dissolution of this revival as a result of the increase of wealth arising from Christian diligence and frugality.

Indeed, it is well known to students of human societies that an increase in prosperity often brings with it a precipitous decline in religious involvement. After all, why would anyone need God when there is Master Card and Visa? The declining numbers in churches in the Western World seem to affirm that Wesley’s fears were warranted. Christian leaders speculate that if current trends continue in England, for example, Methodists will cease to exist in that country in thirty years.(3) Of course, long before Wesley uttered his fears, Jesus warned his disciples: “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches” (Luke 16:13). Jesus warns of the idolatry that so easily entraps us, luring us away from faithful allegiance.

We might be tempted to avoid these difficult warnings in times of economic “slow down.” How can we be tempted to serve “the master” of money, after all, when we have so much less of it? Yet even in its absence, we can find our hearts soothed more by money than by God and behold the signs of a dangerous dependence. When our hearts find salvation and security in having more and more material gain--whether we actually hold it or not--we are reminded of “the deceitfulness of riches” and the narcotic effects of material success.

Thus clearly, the abolition of wealth or production is not the answer to materialism! Rather, the answer lies in the proper use of wealth in our world: as a blessing for others and not just for our own use. Jesus instructed disciples to “sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven....For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34).

John Wesley understood this, too, and in the spirit of Jesus reiterates the same idea: “We ought not to forbid people to be diligent and frugal: we must exhort all Christians, to gain all they can, and to save all they can... What way then (I ask again) can we take that our money may not sink us to the nethermost hell? There is one way, and there is no other under heaven. If those who gain all they can, and save all they can, will likewise give all they can, then the more they gain, the more they will grow in grace, and the more treasure they will lay up in heaven.”(4)

In difficult economic times, this is far from unnecessary counsel. It may be, in fact, the very idea that finally breaks the chains of addiction and reveals a far better treasure.

Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington. (1) Lily Allen, “The Fear” from It’s Not Me, It’s You, Regal Records, United Kingdom, January 26, 2009.(2) Cited in an article by Philip Yancey, "Traveling with Wesley" Christianity Today, November 2007, vol. 51, No. 11.(3)Ibid.(4) Cited from The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, vol. XV (London: Thomas Cordeux, 1786).

© 2008 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.