We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Monday, March 20, 2017

Again, Think About What You Sing!!


I had hoped after my letter to our music leader that he would no longer use Vineyard songs.  Alas, it isn’t so.  We sang five songs during our worship service and the rest were okay (except I thought one was a bit juvenile when the lyrics had “banners fling” to rhyme with “king” and I wonder how one flings banners), but this one just blew it for me.

Oh, I’ve seen this song at two of our previous churches and never did like it, and I wish everyone would just leave it alone!  Here’s the full song as we sung it:

Lord, Reign In Me
by Brenton Brown

Over all the earth
You reign on high
Every mountain stream
Every sunset sky
But my one request
Lord, my only aim
Is that you reign in me again

Chorus:
Lord, reign in me
Reign in your power
Over all my dreams
In my darkest hour
You are the Lord of all I am
So won't you reign in me again?

Over every thought
Over every word
May my life reflect
The beauty of my Lord
'Cause you mean more to me
Than any earthly thing
So won't you reign in me again?

Chorus

Over all the earth
You reign on high
Every mountain stream
Every sunset sky
But my one request
Lord, my only aim
Is that you reign in me again

Chorus, twice

Won't you reign?
Won't you reign in me again?
Come and praise the Lord
Won't you reign in me again?

Okay, now let’s look at the lyrics and think about what they are saying.

Lord, my only aim
Is that you reign in me again

I hate to be the one to bust your bubble, but God reigns in everyone!  Not that everyone obeys Him, but God reigns everywhere.  I think what the author is wanting is to turn His life over in obedience to God, to allow the Holy Spirit’s work in him.  But that isn’t what he is saying.

'Cause you mean more to me
Than any earthly thing
So won't you reign in me again?

I don’t know what it is about song-writers that they always have to use poor grammar—what is so wrong about using the word “because”?!?  What are we teaching our children about language with songs like this?  

Now, if God means more “than any earthly thing,” shouldn’t the song say something more like, “Help me live my life in obedience to you”?

The we go back and repeat the first verse, followed by twice repeating the chorus.  What—did the author think it wasn’t heard the first time?  Endless repetitions of modern songs, used just for building emotions and dancing around, irritates me a lot.

Won't you reign?
Won't you reign in me again?
Come and praise the Lord
Won't you reign in me again?

ARGH! the repetition!  But I’m curious about that third line here: who is being told to “come and praise the Lord”?  Is he saying this to the Holy Spirit, sort of:  Holy Spirit come and praise the Lord and won’t you reign in me again”? 
Or is he saying this to his audience as a break from his imploring the Lord to reign in him?
Just what does it mean?

As long as we’ve left meaty hims behind and replaced them with juvenile emotional nonsensical lyrics, the Church will continued to spiral to destruction.

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