When Calvinist Ideology Changes Lyrics

One of my favorite hymns is “And Can It Be?” —It’s a wonderful statement of the Gospel. But what happens in a Calvinist hymnal?

Here is the third verse as written by Charles Wesley:

He left His Father’s throne above—

So free, so infinite His grace—

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race:

’Tis mercy all, immense and free,

For, O my God, it found out me!

Now see a Calvinist version:

He left His Father’s throne above—

So free, so infinite His grace—

Humbled Himself, so great his love!

And bled for all his chosen race:

’Tis mercy all, immense and free,

For, O my God, it found out me!

Charles Wesley is spinning in his grave.

Here We Go Again!

Sunday, as the Pastor ended his teaching, he said we would now sing a great hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. I noticed on the bulletin for the day that it was the closing hymn, but I wondered why there was no hymn number as usual; after all, it is in our hymnal. I soon found out!

The band started a musical introduction that had nothing to do with the hymn, which had me really confused until the overhead noted that Matt Boswell was listed as one of the authors.  Oh brother! Another person without much imagination stole a song and added a bridge/chorus with a whole different tune, which was added after verses three and four, with that last time repeated. And don’t forget the obligatory instrumental bridges between verses.

Since you know the real song, let me show you the bridge/chorus, and you can listen to it here.

A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing

The King of Glory forever amen

For endless ages enthroned in praises

The King of Glory forever amen

For this tiny addition Matt is probably earning thousands of dollars with his theft.  The whole point is to get excitement going — manufactured enthusiasm — with increase in octave and band action.

This piece was meant for recording and selling — what I call a “radio song.” It should not have been brought into the assembly.  No one, who hadn’t heard the recording previously, would have any idea of the tune and lyrics of the fraudulent addition to the stolen song. 

Were the added lyrics okay? Yes. Was the added tune fairly easy to learn? Yes. However, I’m really tired of the Church pandering to these lazy artists who steal to enrich themselves, and pandering to the younger generations who can’t handle a hymn sung with dignity.

The Wonderful Cross — Theft of Isaac Watts’ Song

This was addressed somewhat in a post back on 1/25/11, but since we sang this song in church yesterday, I’m going to address it again, with a wee bit more commentary.

Isaac Watts had a great hymn (and I like it best to “Hamburg” rather than “Waly, Waly”) titled, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”  Here are the lyrics you will find in most hymn books:

When I survey the wondrous cross 

on which the Prince of Glory died; 

my richest gain I count but loss, 

and pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 

save in the death of Christ, my God; 

all the vain things that charm me most, 

I sacrifice them to his blood. 

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, 

sorrow and love flow mingled down. 

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, 

or thorns compose so rich a crown. 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

that were an offering far too small; 

love so amazing, so divine, 

demands my soul, my life, my all.

Several years ago I discovered there was another verse, which would be between the 3rd and 4th verses in the above, and here it is:

His dying crimson, like a robe,

Spreads o'er His body on the tree;

Then I am dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

Notice that the hymn has a theme with an overall progression to the climax of the song, even if we remove the verse which is normally left out.

Ah, but what if you are a modern musician whose imagination isn’t as good as that of Watts’ and you want to make some easy money?  Well, just steal his song and add a chorus to it!  And what does Chris Tomlin get? More money and popularity!

Let’s look at what Tomlin did with his “The Wonderful Cross”:

When I survey the wondrous Cross

On which the Prince of Glory died

My richest gain, I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

See from His head, His hands, His feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down

Did ever such love and sorrow meet?

Or thorns compose, so rich a crown

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross

All who gather here by grace, draw near and bless Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross

All who gather here by grace, draw near and bless Your name

Well, his performance version adds some more repetitive lines, which aren’t normally sung in church (and so not included here), but look at what he did by dropping out that important 2nd verse — he disturbed the flow of the theme in Watts’ song.  Oh, but his chorus is where the “praise band” gets to really show their stuff as the people sway too and fro!  Oh, and see the part I put in bold?  Well right there the music leader had to up his volume and raise the octave — probably because that is the performance way it was done (I’ve never listened to it — and I refuse to sing that perverting chorus!).

Really, just what was added to the theme of Watts’ song with that chorus?  Absolutely nothing, and, in fact I think it disturbs the original theme and adds a wee bit more self-focus!

I really, really wish church music leaders would get rid of all these “radio song” versions that really aren’t meant for congregational singing — I mean, who knew you were supposed to increase volume and pitch on that last verse?!?!?

One last thing: I have absolutely no respect for such lyric writers who steal from old authors just so they can add a chorus and enrich themselves unethically.  Besides, when music leaders use this stuff, aren’t they fostering the theft of intellectual property?

Some Good Stuff — No Bad or Ugly

We’ve been doing a lot of traveling this past week or so, with band practice, visiting friends, and a 600-mile round trip to an aviation museum.  And we have a parade tomorrow.

I’ve been getting rid of more books, as some of you know by being the first claimants.  When you see a post for a book giveaway, be sure to look at the comments section where I respond to comments not posted — that’s how I communicate with the recipient if they don’t email me.  With this past one I wasn’t able to take it down for over 24 hrs due to the trip, but I had already posted a comment to the “winner” and another comment to the second in line letting them know they missed it, yet many hours later someone requested the book.  So be sure to look at the comments first.  Of course there may be a few requests in my inbox which I haven’t gotten to because I’m away from home, so then the post will be still up without comments.  Just have patience.  And be watching — I have five more already selected but since I won’t be able to respond and/or mail for a couple days, I’ll wait for posting.

Okay, let’s look at the good stuff I’ve been reading:

What’s Natural for You

Fake news about early Christianity.

The compromised church and spiritual blindness.

About that “slain in the spirit” nonsense.

Protecting your assembly from false teaching.

An evaluation of Muslim dreams and visions of Isa (Jesus):  Part 1 and Part 2

How did the canon of Scripture come to be?

Chris Tomlin — we don’t need your new choruses for old hymns.  I’ve pointed this out many times.

Thus Saith Rome — an excellent article about Roman Catholicism.  From a 2007 Midwest Christian Outreach Journal now available on the ‘net.

Sex should be spiritual

And finally, a great quote!

A worship leader serves his congregation best when he chooses songs they can sing and sing well. He is highly attuned to their ability. He prioritizes the singability of songs over their newness or oldness or author or theological density. He gauges his success not by his own worship, but by theirs. His question is not “how did the band feel?” but “how did the congregation sing?” When he steps back and hears his church singing—really singing—, his joy is complete.  Tim Challies

SIGH!

When it comes to Christmas, you’d think the traditional carols would be the standard music for the worship service.  There are so very many of them to choose from, and just about everyone knows them (and if they don’t know them, they are usually very easy to learn!).  Ah, but in today’s world, we must have more excitement, with lots of band (too much drumbeat for my taste), especially when you have the band playing a bridge while the congregation waits to sing.  And that is what happened at our Christmas worship.

Before I get to the song we opened with, I’ll tell you what other music we had.  First there was “special music” with karaoke  — okay, she sung with recorded accompaniment (either CD or downloaded on the computer), but I really dislike this fad.  The song was “Be Born In Me,” which I’ll let you look up for the lyrics.  My problem is that I don’t like songs which are supposedly what some person is thinking; in this case it is supposedly Mary’s thoughts.  I think it is presumptuous.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want someone writing lyrics and claiming the lyrics are what I’m thinking — or was thinking a couple thousand years ago!  Other than that, it was okay, I guess. 

The three other songs we sang as a congregation:

What Child Is This?

Good Christian Men Rejoice

While By Our sheep

Normal good stuff, right?  Okay, now here is what we opened our worship with:

"Joy To The World / Shout For Joy"

by Paul Baloche (the same guy who couldn’t leave “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” alone)

Joy to the world the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and heaven and nature sing

Shout for joy

For the Son of God is the Saving One

He's the Saving One

Shout for joy

See what love has done

He has come for us

He's the Saving One

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods

Rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

Shout for joy

For the Son of God is the Saving One

He's the Saving One

Shout for joy

See what love has done

He has come for us

He's the Saving One

Jesus, Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Jesus, Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Jesus, Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Shout for joy

For the Son of God is the Saving One

He's the Saving One

Shout for joy

See what love has done

He has come for us

He's the Saving One

Shout for joy

For the Son of God is the Saving One

He's the Saving One

Shout for joy

See what love has done

He has come for us

He's the Saving One

Jesus, Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Jesus, Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Jesus, Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Again we have a musician who has to use an old song to be able to get his new “chorus” marketed.  Notice how much repetition there is in the chorus — which shows me the limited imagination of the writer.  

But what really, really irritated me was that we dropped off half of the song just to fit in Paul Baloche’s repetitive manufacturing of emotionalism!  Look at the important lyrics tossed out:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove 

The glories of 

His righteousness

And wonders of His love 

And wonders of His love 

And wonder wonders of His love

And the churches using this stuff are enriching writers who have little imagination and no real talent for writing! Oh, but they manufacture the emotions and give the band something to do besides just being accompaniment, so let’s bring them in!

SIGH!

ARGH!!!!

Musicians just can’t leave traditional Christian hymns alone.  They just have to abuse them to make their own money off of them!  And why oh why do church music leaders kow-tow to them by using their stuff?!?!?!  (Oh, that’s right — with the abused version you can manufacture more emotion and get more sound out of the band!)

The latest case in point is one we sang yesterday (I saw the copyright so I know it’s a few years old but it was a first for me).  While the the traditional hymn is great for congregational singing, the added chorus was not easy for congregational singing, and the repetition of the last line at the end, and the “oh oh oh” demonstrates that it is just a “radio song” and should stay there on the radio! (I’d prefer it stayed nowhere!)

Here’s the song my “rant” is about.

"Hark The Herald Angels Sing / King Of Heaven"

Hark the herald angels sing 

Glory to the newborn King 

Peace on earth and mercy mild 

God and sinners reconciled 

Joyful, all ye nations rise 

Join the triumph of the skies 

With angelic host proclaim 

Christ is born in Bethlehem 

Hark the herald angels sing 

Glory to the newborn King 

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace 

Hail the Son of Righteousness 

Light and life to all He brings 

Risen with healing in His wings 

Mild He lays His glory by 

Born that man no more may die 

Born to raise the sons of earth 

Born to give them second birth 

Hark the herald angels sing 

Glory to the newborn King 

King of heaven come down 

King of heaven come now 

Let Your glory reign 

Shining like the day 

King of heaven come 

King of heaven rise up 

Who can stand against us 

You are strong to save 

In Your mighty name 

King of heaven come 

Oh oh oh 

Christ by highest heav'n adored 

Christ the everlasting Lord 

Late in time behold Him come 

Offspring of a virgin's womb 

Mild He lays His glory by 

Born that man no more may die 

Born to raise the sons of earth 

Born to give them second birth 

Hark the herald angels sing 

Glory to the newborn King 

King of heaven come 

King of heaven come 

King of heaven come 

King of heaven come

by Paul Baloche

Discernment isn’t just about watching for doctrinal problems or abuse of Scripture.  It should also be about protecting from emotional manipulation of the congregation, and about not spending church money to support a musician who had no imagination of his own so he has to steal from old authors and “juice them up.”  Why are we supporting these musicians with royalties when the original is free!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE music/song leaders — don’t do this to your congregations!

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

One of my favorite hymns is Isaac Watts’ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross when sung to Lowell Mason’s tune “Hamburg.”  But as with other great old hymns, such as Amazing Grace twisted into Grace Like Rain, this wonderful hymn is being used for a song called The Wonderful Cross.

One thing both these new uses of old hymns do is remove very important verses with their solid doctrinal statements and replace them with trite choruses to be sung over and over.  I don’t understand why contemporary “artists” can’t just come up with their own songs instead of mangling old ones, except for perhaps it’s an easy way to make another buck without having any talent for hymn-writing.

I have to admit that, unlike Grace Like Rain which removes the very memorable tune of Amazing Grace and replaces it with a horrible, tuneless dirge, The Wonderful Cross at least keeps “Hamburg” as the tune for the verses.

Unfortunately, these gross misuses of old hymns don’t stay on the CDs or radio - the church has decided to adopt them as part of their worship services.  It seems to be all about pleasing the rock and roll crowd with their emotional need for 7/24 choruses (7 words sung 24 times).

Well, here is Isaac Watts’ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross as normally printed in hymnals, with that second verse which is deleted from the contemporary model.  Let’s go back to this in our worship services, and leave The Wonderful Cross version for the kids and their iPods.

When I survey the wondrous cross 

on which the Prince of Glory died; 

my richest gain I count but loss, 

and pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 

save in the death of Christ, my God; 

all the vain things that charm me most, 

I sacrifice them to his blood. 

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, 

sorrow and love flow mingled down. 

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, 

or thorns compose so rich a crown. 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

that were an offering far too small; 

love so amazing, so divine, 

demands my soul, my life, my all. 

[For the purists, there is a 4th stanza before the last one which I have never seen in a hymnal, although it wouldn’t hurt to add it:

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o'er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me]