Communicating the Gospel Cannot be Done with Garbage

Can Christians communicate a consistently Christian message through art forms that have adopted the aesthetic and stylistic canons of Dada or Surrealism?  More specifically, should Christians be allowed to imitate any artistic, literary, or musical style that expresses absurdity, nihilism, and chaos, for the purpose of communicating the gospel? I think most Christians would agree that neither of these questions should be answered in the affirmative.

John Makujina, Measuring the Music, pg.173

The Reason Behind the Music of CCM—It’s Not to Glorify God

With specific reference to the baby boomers, secular and Christian, Michael S. Hamilton observes:

Once this oversized generation [baby boomers] decided that music would be the primary carrier of its symbols and values, music quickly became, in the words of George Steiner, “the new literacy of Western culture.” When one chooses a musical style today, one is making a statement about whom one identifies with, what one’s values are, and ultimately, who one is.  As a result, music has become a divisive and fractionalizing force, Balkanizing Western culture into an ever-expanding array of subcultures—each with its own national anthem.

 …For better or for worse, the kind of music a church offers increasingly defines the kind of person who will attend, because for this generation music is at the very center of self-understanding.  Music for baby boomers is the mediator of emotions, the carrier of dreams, and the marker of social location.

John Makujina, Measuring the Music, pg. 138

Trite Worship Songs

What is it with music leaders and their love affair with the trite songs of Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman?  Songs by these are rife in the assemblies, and they have come to replace solid, meat-filled hymns while manufacturing emotion.  

A perfect example of this happened in our assembly this past Sunday.  Our worship service opened with Redman’s “Let Everything That Has Breath” followed by Tomlin’s “Forever.”  Let’s take a look at the lyrics (and although the overhead stated that these men are the writers, I see on the Internet that others are stated to be so).

Let Everything That Has Breath

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Praise You in the morning, praise You in the evening

Praise You when I'm young and when I'm old

Praise You when I'm laughing, praise You with I'm grieving

Praise You ev'ry season of the soul

If we could see how much You're worth

Your power, Your might, Your endless love

Then surely we would never cease to praise

Praise You in the heavens, joining with the angels

Praising You forever and a day

Praise You on the earth now, joining with creation

Calling all the nations to Your praise

If we could see how much You're worth

Your power, Your might, Your endless love

Then surely we would never cease to praise

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Some mindless repetition here.  Give me Charles Wesley’s “Oh, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” any day of the week over Redman’s drivel.  The music for this one is certainly not good for congregational singing.

Forever

Give thanks to the Lord our God and King,

His love endures forever.

For He is good He is above all things,

His love endures forever.

Sing Praise, Sing Praise.

With a mighty hand and outstretched arm,

His love endures forever.

For the life that's been reborn,

His love endure forever.

Sing Praise, Sing Praise.

Forever God is faithful,

Forever God is strong.

Forever God is with us,

Forever

From the rising to the setting sun,

His love endures forever.

And by the grace of God we will carry on,

His love endures forever.

Sing Praise, Sing Praise

Forever You are faithful,

Forever You are strong.

Forever You are with us,

Forever and ever, forever.

His love endures forever,

His love endures forever,

His love endures forever.

Again, look at how much repletion there is at the end.  Of course there was also an obligatory bridge for the musicians to “strut their stuff.”  At least the music for this one was a bit easier for congregational singing.

As the service continued we later sang the hymn “Sing Praise to God,” by Johann Schutz, and then before the sermon we sang “Ancient Words” by Michael W. Smith.  After the sermon we again went into high gear repetition with the band, singing “I Will Celebrate,” by Rita Baloche, another emotion-driven piece:

I Will Celebrate

I will celebrate

Sing unto the Lord

Sing to the Lord a new song

With my heart rejoicing within

With my mind focused on Him

With my hands raised to the heavens

All I am worshiping Him

I will celebrate

Sing unto the Lord

Sing to the Lord a new song

With my heart rejoicing within

With my mind focused on Him

With my hands raised to the heavens

All I am worshiping Him

I will celebrate

Sing unto the Lord

Sing to the Lord a new song

With my heart rejoicing within

With my mind focused on Him

With my hands raised to the heavens

All I am worshiping Him

Three times around is enough to make anyone dizzy!  Of course Rita is married to Paul Baloche, the guy who mangles old hymns so he can make money off of someone else’s talent.  He also writes repetitious drivel lacking substance but which manufactures emotion.

The Church continues to sound more like the world as it leaves doctrine-filled worship and praise songs/hymns in the dust so as to appeal to the world.

Be Careful of What Music is Used for Christian Purposes

Who could picture Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols trying to convey their message of nihilism and lawlessness to the melodious but exciting tune of “I’ll Fly Away” (without significant modification)? Why then should we consider it acceptable for Christians to sing of the joy of salvation, which brings order and dignity, to the anarchic beat of punk rock, “a frenzied noise made up of the monotonous screeching sound of guitars played in parallel and drums being flogged mercilessly”?

John Makujina, Measuring the Music, pg. 133-134

Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Good:

An excellent compilation of the basic beliefs of Mormonism.

Why Atheism?  The main reason is accountability.

You’ve seen me post a lot about people of the New Apostolic Reformation, but if you have no idea what the NAR is, here is an article for you.

The 5 Tests of False Doctrine

The Church did NOT replace Israel.  Period.

Fred DeRuvo tells a bit about his time in the Charismatic Movement, and then he does an excellent examination of this movement, including the NAR, demonstrating that the whole idea of “signs and wonders” is from man and not from God.  I recommend perusing Fred’s blog as he continues his series.

The Bad:

Carl Lentz has decided that those who criticize him must “know a different Jesus,” and from his teachings I’d say he is correct — those who criticize him are the ones who know the TRUE Jesus!

A book I’d say was well-worth AVOIDING.

Hank Hanegraaff has been in the apologetics news because he recently became a member of the Orthodox Church.  However, previous to that I’ve had many problems with the theology of this “Bible Answer Man,” including his soft stance on Romanism, and his abuse of Walter Martin’s ministry.  This article exposes a lot more about this man, proving he is someone we should not hold in any esteem, but rather we should avoid all his teachings.

Another example of why Matt Chandler is unqualified to be a pastor due to his lack of discernment.  And here’s a good summation of why he is so problematic.

An excellent examination of why Lou Giglio should be considered a false teacher and a dangerous wolf.

From where did the Seventh-day Adventists get their “healthy eating” ideas?

Shawn Bolz PROVES he is a false teacher/prophet, and this poor woman is going to really disappointed when her debts are still needing paid.

Andy Stanley—sigh!

Beth Moore!

The Ugly:

Any discerning person who knows anything about Rodney Howard-Browne would know that this sign might ward of would be killers of the body, but the teachings of Howard-Browne kill the soul.

A woman “pastor” who is really bizarre.  I don’t understand why anyone would ever listen to this sort of tripe.

More information about Bethel and Bill Johnson.  This place is really bad news.

Todd White:  While wearing a symbol of the pagan religion Rastafarianism (his dreadlocks), he spends a lot of time bragging about himself.  He is a true narcissist, preaching a false gospel.  Oh, and you’d be surprised just how much he’s been fleecing his flock for!  Todd also teaches the heresy that Jesus descended into hell and spent three days being punished there (video evidence is on the Facebook site, “Bethel Church and Christianity” where Bill Johnson also teaches that heresy.)

The humorous 

Oh how I wish this could happen.

Thankfulness for Thanksgiving

My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who bore my pain;

Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace

And gave me life again;

Who crushed my curse of sinfulness

And clothed me in His light

And wrote His law of righteousness

With pow’r upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who walks beside;

Who floods my weaknesses with strength

And causes fears to fly;

Whose ev’ry promise is enough

For ev’ry step I take,

Sustaining me with arms of love

And crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To him who reigns above,

Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,

Whose ev’ry thought is love.

For ev’ry day I have on earth

Is given by the King;

So I will give my life, my all,

To love and follow him.

— WORDS AND MUSIC BY KEITH GETTY & STUART TOWNEND

Culture and Carnality

We need to be aware that just because mannerisms become socialized and characteristic of a culture, they are not, therefore, immune to biblical critique. Culture should never serve as an excuse for carnality.

John Makujina, Measuring the Music, pg.45

Music Evangelism Is WRONG

Although I do feel there may be some place for reverent music in an evangelistic setting, as an act of worship by believers, any dedication of a service or meeting to musical evangelism (whatever the style) falls under Paul’s condemnation of persuasive methods that drain the cross of its power (1 Corinthians 1-2).

Further, since music can be a powerful emotional catalyst, it has the tendency to underemphasize or neglect the cognitive involvement that is vital in making a decision for Christ.  Music has powers of its own, powers of persuasion and sentimentality that often counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit.  Even some CCM promoters like J. Nathan Corbitt have acknowledged this:

Because of its power to motivate, music has a tremendous appeal. For this reason, music is often used as an attractive part of proclamation events. Crusades, evangelistic rallies, and revivals often feature a soloist or music group who will appeal to the musical tastes of an audience.  At the same time, music can also be manipulative. The power of music to affect the emotions can create an atmosphere in which people respond solely out of emotion without cognitive understanding. Like people who may be motivated by advertising to change brands because the tune is catchy, people may be motivated to change religions because they like the music—and they never understand the meaning of their decision.

John Makujina, Measuring the Music, pg.29

The Gospel Should Not Be Via an Appeal to Masses

Nowhere in [1 Cor. 9] or in the New Testament does Paul advocate communicating the gospel by means that appeal to the masses.  Becoming “all things to all men” does not refer to an offensive strategy of inventiveness, creativity, persuasiveness, or accommodation to new modes of evangelism that key in on the latest public novelty. Paul’s references here are purely preventative. He simply wished to eliminate any nonessential barriers that would hinder his proclamation of the gospel.

John Makujina, Measuring the Music, pg.23-24

CCM Changes the Gospel

Though the acceptance of popular culture (and in the case of music, pop music) within the Christian church is now an established fact, its very normality across the face of virtually every variety of Christian theological persuasion is telling.  In a climate of extreme multiculturalism, pluralism, and relativism satiated with the notion that music is value-neutral and worldview-free, church music has been cut off from history, tradition, theology, aesthetic norms, and ultimately the Word.  The result has been a breakdown of church music standards along with a collateral weakening in other areas of life as well.  The problem with Christian pop music is that pop changes the gospel!  The musical medium remakes the message into a reflection of pop’s own music.

Calvin M. Johansson, Evangel University.  Forward to “Measuring the Music: Another look at the Contemporary Christian Music Debate,” by John Makujina

Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Good:

Some interesting history of the Lutheran Church’s changes from Roman Catholicism.

Why do people interpret the Bible differently?

Sincerity does not equal fidelity.

God’s blessing is not for sale, and tithing is not for the Christian.

Most Charismatics are Closet Cessationists

When was Jesus born?  Four years ago I did my own post about the possibilities.

The Bad:

All that is wrong about Russell Moore.  Why is he not yet booted out of the Southern Baptist Convention?

You just have to love those Methodists; they’ve been permitted all sorts of unbiblical, heretical acts (women in the pulpit, homosexuals in the pulpit, homosexuality supported, social gospel, sanctioning of abortion, etc) yet unless the full denomination permits the “marriage” of two members of the same sex, then this assembly won’t perform real marriages.

An example of why you should avoid Paula White.

Another reason to dislike Chris Tomlin’s music.

The Anglican Church should quit calling itself “Christian.”  Especially when you have this sort of leadership!

The Ugly:

More about the false “Passion Translation” of the Bible.  Seriously, run from this translation.

Proof that Todd White and Kenneth Copeland are NOT Christians, but they are minions of Satan.

Perry Noble and the guy defending him are both blaspheming the name of God. Noble is really a dangerous wolf, and horribly arrogant as well.

The humorous 

Christians Mingle Inspector.