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posted by Robert on 06/26/10

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posted by Esther on 05/25/10

People started gathering around the baggage claim. More suitcases started their trip around the conveyer belt. I waited. Some people with brief cases, some with children, but only one with, yes! a violin! That’s Jonathan!  I eagerly made my way over for a grand reunion. I had come into Dallas the day before on the train and jumped on the ride to the airport to pick up Jonathan Monday morning. The two of us have joined a class of 27 eager violinists and violists in developing our technique.

Today was the first full day. A lesson, assisted practice and group practice sessions, observing others’ lessons and a few hours on our own to refine what we have been taught, made for a very full first day.

We topped it off with a fun call home on skype, a game of volley ball (Jonathan and my team won, of course, but it was close! ), and a Bible Study as a class on John Piper’s book “Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die”. But the icing on the cake was when the maintenance crew announced that progress was being made on the air conditioning! It’s been in the 80s and 90s here without air conditioning working in our bedrooms and practice rooms, so we were very grateful for the news!

Please be praying that we would make the most of each lesson and be an encouragement to the rest of the team. Thank you all!

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posted by Robert on 04/20/10

Aunt Vickie has always been an encouragement to me in my piano playing. The other day she asked if we would post a video of me playing something so I found this little clip of “Life’s Railway to Heaven.” Jonathan took it while we were staying at the McEntires house on our recent Florida trip. (The sneaky fellow didn’t tell me I was on camera!) I was rather out of practice after a long trip but it was fun nonetheless. I love these good “mountain hymns!” Here’s the first verse and chorus:

Life is like a mountain railway,
With an engineer that’s brave;
We must make the run successful,
From the cradle to the grave;
Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels;
Never falter, never quail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

Chorus:
Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore,
When the Angels wait to join us
In Thy praise for evermore.

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posted by Michael on 09/15/09

Part 1: How music communicates a moral or immoral message

Part 2: The importance of rejecting wrong music

Part 3: Rejoice in the Lord ye righteous!

I was excited to discover why I had been hindered from getting these posts posted for so long: the opportunity to experience and comment on the singing of the house churches in China! After hearing a couple years ago about the supernatural explosion of God’s light, life, and love in China and the fervency of their worship, I had always wondered what kind of singing and music resulted from the influence of the Holy Spirit with very little interference from western culture. When our family watched a documentary about Christianity in China, it showed a lot of their house Church worship and singing. I was nothing short of astounded. It was just what Christian singing should be. It was beautiful! They sang with all their hearts. They sang with all their emotion. They sang with all their might! They clapped their hands (Ps. 47:1) – always on the down-beat and not on the back-beat by the way – all in perfect order and decency without the slightest hint of any chaotic, rebellious or sensual feeling. There was no syncopation and no sensual body movement. It was the new song of a transformed life; not only of transformed actions, but of transformed character. God had indeed heard their cry, brought them out of a horrible pit, set their feet on a rock, and put a new song in their mouths, “even praise unto God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-3

I was even more amazed when the final episode of the documentary detailed the story of how God had given them the “Canaan Hymns“. There was indeed no western influence, yet their sound was unmistakably hymn-like! Rather than gathering together to be pumped up with an emotional high, their singing was more like a bubbling spring of pure water that overflowed from their dynamic and continuing relationship with their Redeemer.

Once in the documentary there was a short clip of a (more modern-looking) worship service where the people were singing with music that accented the off-beat. I also noticed that the singing in a village that did not experience persecution had less fervency and more of an entertainment atmosphere. This is a sign of vulnerability. I offer an urgent warning to my brothers and sisters in China: you will face an attack from Satan to infect and corrupt your music with “new techniques”. It always starts very slight, and will be hard to reject, but it never stays still. It always gets more and more augmented and overt. Remember, there is no relationship between entertainment and praise to God, and when God’s people fail to strive for holiness “in all manner of conversation” (1 Peter 1:15-16), the first thing to go will be the music.

In the early 1970s two sisters brought the new Christian music, which was the “in thing” in America, to Kalimantan in Karat, Indonesia where their parents were missionaries. One evening an older, converted national who had left the heathen practices of calling on evil spirits, heard the “Christian music” they were listening to. He came to the door and immediately asked, “Why are you playing the witch doctors’ music and calling on Satan?” So even though the rhythms of rebellion (“rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” – 1 Sam. 15:23) had moved from demon worship in Africa to the jazz and blues of New Orleans to rock ‘n’ roll and on to “Christian rock” – they were still easily identified by the tribal people of Indonesia. So the evil one gives his sounds to his people in unrelated cultures around the world and they are independently alike. And the Holy Spirit gives His sounds to His people in unrelated cultures around the world, and they are independently alike. So why would we want to be “mingled among the heathen and learn their works”? Psalm 106:35-37

So let us be zealous for the holiness of God’s house (John 2:13-17 and Neh. 13). Let us walk in the Spirit. Let us abide in Christ so that the music that flows from our lips is beautiful in His sight: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual [vs. carnal] songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Eph. 5:15-19

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises [or, "virtues" - get that!] of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2:9. Hallelujah! Let us sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation. …Let the high praises of God be in our mouth, and a two-edged sword in our hand; to execute vengeance… (Psalm 149) “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil… rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.” (Ps. 97:10-12) Not only in song “on Sunday” but in all of our lives, with music or without, let us praise the Lord with our “whole heart” (Ps. 9:1-2 and 111:1) “from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same” (Ps. 113:3)! “Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise [burst out, shout] unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp withe the psaltery.” (Ps. 81:1-2) “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High: to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.” (Ps. 92:1-4) While we live, let us praise the Lord (Ps. 146:2). Let us sing forth the honor of His name and make His praise glorious! (Ps. 66:2)

For those who love music, let us make it our priority to cater to the Spirit rather than the flesh, encouraging propriety of conduct as God has directed, for “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

If you are looking for music, here is some that immediately stands out in my mind as being true to a high standard:

Recordings by Billy Ray Hearn and Tom Fettke, Linda McKechnie, Tracy Ann Collins, Melinda K. Wickam, and Rudy Atwood

On the radio you might be able to find In Balance Music.

…And the best music you could have is what you sing yourself, all day long. Get to know the melodies and get a good hymnal to learn the words. Or memorize and sing or quote the Psalms! Don’t worry about how you sound to people; after all, everyone is instructed to praise our God (Ps. 148:11-12 and 150:6) and out of the mouth of babes and sucklings God has perfected praise! – Mat. 21:16

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posted by Michael on 09/8/09

Based on the foundation explained in Part 1 we will now look at the importance of purity in music used for Christian worship. There is a raging battle in the Christian life between the Spirit and the flesh (Romans 6-8). Paul stressed that Christian liberty is no license to gratify the flesh (Gal. 5:13) and made it clear that “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Gal. 5:24) Wrong music is centered on the fulfillment of carnal passions (through techniques described in Part 1) and gives the emotional message of “do whatever you want to do” rather than helping to “put off concerning the former conversation… which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:22-23). It is no accident that certain styles of music originated in certain cultures for the purpose of cultivating the depraved nature. According to Little Richard, “My true belief about Rock ‘n’ Roll – and there have been a lot of phrases attributed to me over the years – is this: I believe this kind of music is demonic…. A lot of the beats in music today are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo drums. If you study music in rhythms, like I have, you’ll see that is true.” (Little Richard; Quoted in Jeff Goodwin, Dancing with Demons, pp 126-128.) To take the disordered beats and sensual vocal techniques that we enjoyed in the flesh, and change the words so we can justify it as “Christian”, is to “turn the grace of God into lasciviousness” (Jude 1:4) and imply that the character, or name of Christ Himself is violent or erotic. An assault on the name of God is serious, “for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7 and Deut. 5:11) Quite simply, music is a form of communication, just like language and art, which can essentially be used for both good and bad. “Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Cor. 15:33 According to William Kilpatrick, Professor of Education, Boston College, “Rock can’t be made respectable…. The music will simply subvert the words…. No matter how many reforms are attempted, rock and rap will always gravitate in the direction of violence and uncommitted sex. The beat says ‘Do what you want to do’” (from Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong, pp. 178, 182). The more counter-rhythm and syncopation there is, the stronger the impulsive feelings of the “flesh” become. The amount of disorder is a minor issue because “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Leaven represents moral compromise in 1 Cor. 5:6-8 and failure to focus on circumcision of the heart in Gal. 5:5-9/Rom. 2:29.

As Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) said, “Sometimes I need to reject the music proposed for my songs because the musicians misunderstand that the Fanny Crosby who once wrote for the people in the saloons has merely changed the lyrics. Oh my no. The church must never sing it’s songs to the melodies of the world.”

I am quite sure that the melodies she rejected would be considered the mildest of worldly music by today’s standards. What fits in a saloon does not fit in the sanctuary of God. That’s why the sanctuary exists – a place set apart only for holiness. Obviously, it is a shame for immoral music to be included on otherwise good recordings just because “that’s what makes it sell”.

And that brings me to my original motivation for writing this whole post. It occurred to me while I was working in the garden not long ago that if my motivation for performing music is to please people, I am doomed to eventually perform music that is displeasing to God because “if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” Gal. 1:10. The nature of God and the godless nature of people are irreconcilable (Rom. 8:5-8). If music is beautiful in the eyes of God, those who love what He loves will love it, while those who dislike what He likes will dislike it. Since we cannot solidly base anything on the ever-changing preferences of people, we would do better to walk as children of light in the fruit of the Spirit, “proving what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Eph. 5:8-11. What really matters to me in an artistic message is how well it helps me to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts (Gal. 5:16-25) while putting on the “new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” Eph. 4:24.

I suppose one reason, among others, that religious leaders are sometimes afraid to reject carnal musical styles is for fear of seeming to be too pious and “holier-than-thou” (click there to read why this is actually a self-contradictory concept). Also unfounded is the fear that music will be boring if it’s not “livened up with a little beat”. Just as there is infinite room for dynamic expression of God’s love within the bounds of holiness, there is also infinite room for Godly expression in music within the bounds of order. In fact, you cannot express God’s love outside of His holiness, and you cannot express God’s holy name in music without “decency and order” (1 Cor. 14:40). The goal is to display the powerful, dynamic love of God without mixing it with anything counterfeit. Love is not lust. Joy is not foolishness. Peace is not depression. Longsuffering is not compromise. Knowing God makes the distinction clear.

“…for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? …And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1.

This post has focused on the wrong kind of music and the importance of separation from the evil of the world for the sake of sanctification and holiness (John 17:15-17). Part 3 will focus more on the right kind of music.

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