I get asked now and then about preaching. As some who ask me wish to hear a sermon of mine, I thought I would post one. This was recorded on April 2, 2004 at Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, TX. The pastor, Larry Parks, was out of town and asked me to cover for him. I did this a few times over the years. A friend opens in prayer and introduces me. The intro music and songs have been cut out.
Sadly this church does not exist anymore, but many who have gone there will remember the preaching it was known for. I have many old tapes to convert, but never seem to find the time. Not all of mine were recorded, but I have many of Pastor Park's messages.
It is just shy of 47 minutes and is called "Farsighted". This posting is an experiment, and I think you all can listen to it via streaming. Here you go!
https://soundcloud.com/user-979975633/farsighted/s-3rlzr
Friday, May 26, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Witnessing - Ray Comfort's Parachute Illustration
And the tragedy of modern evangelism is because around the turn of the century when it forsook the law in its capacity to convert the soul, to drive sinners to Christ, modern evangelism had to, therefore, find another reason for sinners to respond to the gospel. And the issue that modern evangelism chose to attract sinners was the issue of “life enhancement”. The gospel degenerated into “Jesus Christ will give you peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and lasting happiness.” Now to illustrate the unscriptural nature of this very popular teaching, I’d like you to listen very carefully to this following anecdote, because the essence of what I’m saying pivots on this particular illustration; so please listen carefully.
Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put is on as it would improve his flight. He’s a little skeptical at first because he can’t see how wearing a parachute in a plane could possibly improve the flight. After a time he decides to experiment and see if the claim is true. As he puts it on he notices the weight of it upon his shoulders and he finds that he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the fact that he was told the parachute would improve the flight. So, he decides to give the thing a little time. As he waits he notices that some of the other passengers are laughing at him, because he’s wearing a parachute in a plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him and he can stand it no longer, he slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because, as far as he was concerned, he was told an outright lie.
The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he’s told. He’s told to put it on because at any moment he’d be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane. He gratefully puts the parachute on; he doesn’t notice the weight of it upon his shoulders, nor that he can’t sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without that parachute.
Let’s analyze the motive and the result of each passenger’s experience. The first man’s motive for putting the parachute on was solely to improve his flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the passengers; he was disillusioned and somewhat embittered against those who gave him the parachute. As far as he’s concerned it’ll be a long time before anyone gets one of those things on his back again. The second man put the parachute on solely to escape the jump to come, and because of his knowledge of what would happen to him without it, he has a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart knowing that he’s saved from sure death. This knowledge gives him the ability to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude towards those who gave him the parachute is one of heart-felt gratitude.
Now listen to what the modern gospel says. It says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness.” In other words, “Jesus will improve your flight.” So the sinner responds, and in an experimental fashion, puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get? The promised temptation, tribulation, and persecution. The other passengers mock him. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s offended for the word’s sake (Mark 4:17), he’s disillusioned and somewhat embittered, and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and lasting happiness, and all he got were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed toward those who gave him the so-called “good news”. His latter end becomes worse than the first: another inoculated and bitter backslider.
Saints, instead of preaching that Jesus improves the flight, we should be warning the passengers they’re going have to jump out of the plane. That it’s “appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And when a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking God’s law, then he will flee to the Savior solely to escape the wrath that’s to come. And if we’re true and faithful witnesses, that’s what we’ll be preaching. That there is wrath to come; that God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Why? “Because He has appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness” (vs. 31). You see, the issue isn’t one of happiness, but one of righteousness. It doesn’t matter how happy a sinner is, how much he’s enjoying “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25). Without the righteousness of Christ, he’ll perish on the day of wrath. “Riches profit not on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4). Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation, but it’s not legitimate to use these fruits as a draw card for salvation. If we continue to do so, sinners will respond with an impure motive lacking repentance.
Now, can you remember why the second passenger had joy and peace in his heart? It was because he knew that parachute was going to save him from sure death. And as a believer, I have, as Paul says, “joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13), because I know that the righteousness of Christ is going to deliver me from the wrath that’s to come.
Now with that thought in mind, let’s take a close look at an incident on board the plane. We have a brand new stewardess. She’s carrying a tray of boiling hot coffee. It’s her first day; she wants to leave an impression on the passengers, and she certainly does. Because as she’s walking down the aisle, she trips over someone’s foot and slops that boiling hot coffee all over the lap of our second passenger. Now what’s his reaction as that boiling liquid hits his tender flesh? Does he go, “Ssssfffff! Man that hurt”? Mmm-hhh. He feels the pain. But then does he rip the parachute from his shoulders, throw it to the floor and say, “The stupid parachute!”? No. Why should he? He didn’t put the parachute on for a better flight. He put it on to save him from the jump to come. If anything, the hot coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump.
Now if you and I have put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive, to flee from the wrath that’s to come, when tribulation strikes, when the flight gets bumpy, we won’t get angry at God; we won’t lose our joy and peace. Why should we? We didn’t come to Jesus for a happy lifestyle: we came to flee from the wrath that’s to come. And if anything, tribulation drives the true believer closer to the Savior. And sadly we have literally multitudes of professing Christians who lose their joy and peace when the flight gets bumpy. Why? They’re the product of a man-centered gospel. They came lacking repentance, without which you can’t be saved.
You can see the video of the whole sermon here:
Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put is on as it would improve his flight. He’s a little skeptical at first because he can’t see how wearing a parachute in a plane could possibly improve the flight. After a time he decides to experiment and see if the claim is true. As he puts it on he notices the weight of it upon his shoulders and he finds that he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the fact that he was told the parachute would improve the flight. So, he decides to give the thing a little time. As he waits he notices that some of the other passengers are laughing at him, because he’s wearing a parachute in a plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him and he can stand it no longer, he slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because, as far as he was concerned, he was told an outright lie.
The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he’s told. He’s told to put it on because at any moment he’d be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane. He gratefully puts the parachute on; he doesn’t notice the weight of it upon his shoulders, nor that he can’t sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without that parachute.
Let’s analyze the motive and the result of each passenger’s experience. The first man’s motive for putting the parachute on was solely to improve his flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the passengers; he was disillusioned and somewhat embittered against those who gave him the parachute. As far as he’s concerned it’ll be a long time before anyone gets one of those things on his back again. The second man put the parachute on solely to escape the jump to come, and because of his knowledge of what would happen to him without it, he has a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart knowing that he’s saved from sure death. This knowledge gives him the ability to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude towards those who gave him the parachute is one of heart-felt gratitude.
Now listen to what the modern gospel says. It says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness.” In other words, “Jesus will improve your flight.” So the sinner responds, and in an experimental fashion, puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get? The promised temptation, tribulation, and persecution. The other passengers mock him. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s offended for the word’s sake (Mark 4:17), he’s disillusioned and somewhat embittered, and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and lasting happiness, and all he got were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed toward those who gave him the so-called “good news”. His latter end becomes worse than the first: another inoculated and bitter backslider.
Saints, instead of preaching that Jesus improves the flight, we should be warning the passengers they’re going have to jump out of the plane. That it’s “appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And when a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking God’s law, then he will flee to the Savior solely to escape the wrath that’s to come. And if we’re true and faithful witnesses, that’s what we’ll be preaching. That there is wrath to come; that God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Why? “Because He has appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness” (vs. 31). You see, the issue isn’t one of happiness, but one of righteousness. It doesn’t matter how happy a sinner is, how much he’s enjoying “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25). Without the righteousness of Christ, he’ll perish on the day of wrath. “Riches profit not on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4). Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation, but it’s not legitimate to use these fruits as a draw card for salvation. If we continue to do so, sinners will respond with an impure motive lacking repentance.
Now, can you remember why the second passenger had joy and peace in his heart? It was because he knew that parachute was going to save him from sure death. And as a believer, I have, as Paul says, “joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13), because I know that the righteousness of Christ is going to deliver me from the wrath that’s to come.
Now with that thought in mind, let’s take a close look at an incident on board the plane. We have a brand new stewardess. She’s carrying a tray of boiling hot coffee. It’s her first day; she wants to leave an impression on the passengers, and she certainly does. Because as she’s walking down the aisle, she trips over someone’s foot and slops that boiling hot coffee all over the lap of our second passenger. Now what’s his reaction as that boiling liquid hits his tender flesh? Does he go, “Ssssfffff! Man that hurt”? Mmm-hhh. He feels the pain. But then does he rip the parachute from his shoulders, throw it to the floor and say, “The stupid parachute!”? No. Why should he? He didn’t put the parachute on for a better flight. He put it on to save him from the jump to come. If anything, the hot coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump.
Now if you and I have put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive, to flee from the wrath that’s to come, when tribulation strikes, when the flight gets bumpy, we won’t get angry at God; we won’t lose our joy and peace. Why should we? We didn’t come to Jesus for a happy lifestyle: we came to flee from the wrath that’s to come. And if anything, tribulation drives the true believer closer to the Savior. And sadly we have literally multitudes of professing Christians who lose their joy and peace when the flight gets bumpy. Why? They’re the product of a man-centered gospel. They came lacking repentance, without which you can’t be saved.
You can see the video of the whole sermon here:
Can Rock Music Be Sacred?
I get hit with questions about this all the time, so I am putting up an interesting article from Dr. Frank Garlock on the subject. I think it is interesting in that it was written at the beginning of the movement to bring rock into the church (this was written early 70's). If you want to skip the old music references (you youngsters), go to just past half-way for the Biblical perspective. There is also an interesting quote from Spurgeon at the end on compromise. Enjoy!!!
There is a growing trend, even in our "evangelical" churches today, not only to accept rock music, but to try to use it as a means of communicating spiritual truth. The first reason that those who use rock in their churches give for employing what has obviously been the tool of Satan is that it "communicates to the teenagers. "
No one denies that rock music communicates. But the question that should be asked is, "WHAT IS BE¬ING COMMUNICATED?" First, what are the words that are being set to the big beat; and second, what does the music itself actually say?
To find the answers to these questions, we will go first to the rock culture in general, and then to the folk-rock musicals and songs that are so popular among those who claim they are winning teenagers to Christ by using this music.
"AND ROCK FINDS GOD" is the title of a full-page article in the LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER, Sunday, June 13, 1971. This article is trying to show how rock music has finally reached out and found God. Listen to what it says in the introduction, "In a new day, for a new age, for the children of the media, the answers are not to be found in sophisticated dissertations. Indeed not, the Children at the Gate have found the answers in their own language; they have found the answers in rock music."
And what answers have they found? "In the beginning Man created God; and in the image of Man created he him," is a quotation from one of the two main albums that are mentioned in this article. This is from the back cover of the perverted album, "Aqualung," by Jethro Tull As the book ROCK BEYOND WOODSTOCK says, "Rock became a religion . . . . a way to God, a direct, honest, personal God shaped by the music and the demands of your own head." If a person only has a God who is shaped by rock music and the demands of his own head, a figment of his imagination, then that person doesn't have any God at all, especially not the God of the Bible. The second album that this article mentions is the famous JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Does "SUPERSTAR" reach out and find God? Let's ask
Tim Rice, the man who wrote the words to this rock opera. What about it, Tim? "Basically, the idea of the whole opera is to have Christ seen through the eyes of Judas, and Christ as a man, not as a god. And the fact that Christ himself is just as mixed up and unaware of exactly what he is, as Judas is." But do the actual words of the opera get this message across? Let's look at the words and see. Here are the first lines that are sung by Judas, "My mind is clearer now-at last all too well-I can see where we all soon will be-If you strip away the myth from the man-you will see where we all soon will be." What myth is he talking about? What myth is there which we need to know about Jesus?
I had the opportunity not long ago of "debating," on television, one of the heads of the religion department at a large state university. This man very clearly explained the "myths" for which he said SUPERSTAR is a "corrective." He mentioned five myths in particular:
1) the virgin birth of Christ-he said this was a "post-Easter" idea which was advanced after Christ died; 2) the sinless life of our Saviour-"in looking back, people tend to overlook the bad things and just remember the good," 3) the miracles-"the disciples made these things up to make it look good," 4) the resurrection-"the leaving out of the resurrection in SUPERSTAR was no accident." and 5) Christ's divinity-" Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, and never showed any consciousness that he was." And this is exactly what SUPERSTAR is doing. It is an attempt of the devil to discredit God and His Word by explaining away all of the supernatural as being only "myths." Is this how rock music finds God? It is obvious that these folks have not only not found God, but they have been deluded into believing a lie. Let me share a true story with you that I think will clear up much of the confusion about this trend toward Jesus rock music. A medical missionary to Africa said that when a group of missionaries went into the interior, they found a village which had never seen a white man, had never heard anyone preach the gospel, and had never seen or read a Bible. And yet, when the missionaries arrived, they found that these people were already worshipping Jesus. So the missionaries took their Bibles and began to preach about the Jesus Christ Whom they thought these people were ignorantly worshipping. To the missionaries' surprise, they found out very quickly that the Jesus these were worshipping was NOT the Christ of the Bible. He was a demon that one of the witch doctors had conjured up in a séance and had presented to these people to worship. The missionaries said that it was almost impossible to reach these people with the Gospel of Salvation because they already had their own Jesus.
I believe this is what is happening on a large scale right here in America today. Thousands of people are flocking after someone named "Jesus," but he is not the Christ of the Bible. He is a superstar, a myth, a sinner, a revolutionary, a criminal, a good man, a reformer, a son of God but not God the Son, a hippie, or some other figment of man's depraved imagination, but he is not the spotless Son of God Who died to take away the sin of the world.
"GODSPELL," another religious rock opera supposedly about Jesus Christ presents him as a clown.
In the stage performance of this "sweet-rock" opera, the disciples fondle the bodies of the girls, John baptizes Jesus with a sponge, Jesus suggestively pats Mary Magdalene who is dressed as a harlot, and Jesus is "crucified" clinging to wire and screaming, "I am dead!" Is this the Christ of the Bible? Absolutely not!
"My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, a former Beatle, has fooled many Christians. When the song says, "My Lord, I want to know you, but it takes so long," it is actually praying for three Hindu gods, Krishna, Vishnu, and Rama to reincarnate themselves in the person singing the song. Sheer delusion!
I suppose the most blatant blasphemy that could be imagined is the song, "Jesus Is a Soul Man." According to Lawrence Reynolds, (the fellow who wrote the song,) Janis Joplin, Arthur Brown of the Negro rock culture, and many others, the term soul as it is used in the rock culture is not the traditional use. What it really means, they say, is "sex." It is difficult to imagine how far down these people have stooped in their blasphemy, but they are not alone. Some gay clergymen have recently tried to claim that Jesus was a homosexual. NONSENSE. They are not talking about the Christ of the Bible! They are referring to some other Jesus whom their depraved minds have conjured up.
We have a great reluctance to attribute things that happen to the work of the devil or to demons. When I make the statement that rock music is "Satan's tool " spiritually ignorant young people laugh at someone who would make such a foolish statement. But if the truth were known, and Christians were more sensitive to spiritual things, much more would be attributed to the work of the devil than is now done. There is a spiritual battle going on right now! Satan is the "father of lies," and he still believes the first one he ever told: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God …I will be like the most High." The devil believed his own first lie, AND HE STILL BELIEVES IT! That is why he is doing all he can, to thwart the plan of God, and to gain converts to himself. He still thinks he can overthrow God, and as the time for the "showdown" approaches he is increasing the intensity of his attack.
The strange thing is that his disciples don't try to hide what they are doing. Perhaps it is because they know they have so many people on their side and that those on the side of righteousness are so full of apathy and laziness that it won't make any difference but listen to some of the things they say. Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention claims to be the devil's advocate, going so far as to say that he and his cohorts have worshippers. He says their worshippers are called "groupies,” girls who give their bodies to the musicians.
When Jim Morrison, found dead in Paris at 27, was through with one of his most indecent performances, he was asked why he did those lewd acts in front of twelve and thirteen-year-old kids. He said, "I feel spiritual up there." Sure he's spiritual, but it's the SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS that God warns us about in Ephesians 6:12, and the Bible tells us that we are to fight against it. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
THE GREENING OF AMERICA is a book which has been the number one best seller. It is written by Charles Reich, a professor at Yale University, and is being hailed by all the liberals (Justice William
Douglas, Senator George McGovern, Justice Hugo Black, William McPherson of THE WASHINGTON POST, etc.) as "a gripping, penetrating analysis of American society," and "a brilliant synthesis of contemporary ideas." In other words, this is not a criticism of what is happening in the United States today, but a liberal's impression of the sequence of events which has led up to the current situation and his ideas as to the direction in which "the revolution" is headed.
Mr. Reich defines the state of things by using the term "consciousness" which he defines as being "a total configuration in any given individual, which makes up his whole perception of reality, his whole world view….It is the whole man; his 'head'; his way of life. It is that by which he creates his own life and thus creates the society in which he lives." Mr. Reich's "Consciousness III" is "the new generation," or "the revolution" that is going on in America, especially among young people. I have said all this to point up the import of what Mr. Reich says about the music of the now generation.
Listen to this:
When we turn to the music of Consciousness III, we come to the chief medium of expression, the chief means by which feelings are communicated. Music has become the deepest means of communication and expression for an entire culture. The dominant means of communication in our society – words – has been so abused, distorted and preempted that at present it does not seem adequate for people of the new consciousness. Music, on the other hand, says all the things they want to say or feel. It expresses raunchy, sweaty sex. It is a repository of fantastic energy-as anyone who has watched a rock band knows. The older music was essentially intellectual; it was located in the mind and in the feelings known to the mind; the new music rocks the whole body, and penetrates the soul. The new music is a music of unrestrained creativity and self-expression.
Thus, the liberals show how rock music is being used to capture the hearts, minds, bodies and even the souls of the "younger generation." It is not a vehicle for anything spiritual, but something to brainwash a whole generation into thinking that self-expression and permissiveness are the answers to life's problems, and as Mr. Reich says, rock music has become the "deepest means of communication and expression" for the disciples of rebellion.
This, I believe, is just another evidence that the devil is using every means possible and is attacking from every angle possible, and he has centered his attack on the young people of this generation, especially those in their teenage years. He has used communism, drugs, alcohol, illicit sex and rock music as his prime weapons. The problem is that rock music is his most subtle weapon, and therefore, the most dangerous. It can work on the hearts and minds of its listeners without their ever having been aware that it has done what it set out to do.
Knowing this makes it a little easier to understand why the world is often aware of problems and dangers to which Christians are oblivious. For instance, listen to what one secular reporter, Norman Nadel of the Scripps-Howard staff, says about the most famous rock opera:
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is a tasteless, morally offensive, carnival-type show that exploits one of the most elevating episodes in man's history for the purpose of making a lot of money. Pious pronouncements by the producers and the authors ring as false as the rock opera itself….The words are shallow and frequently silly (the Bible says it all better), and the music, apart from occasional original devices, is essentially mundane rock ... One does not have to be a Christian to have respect and reverence for the life and teachings of Jesus. So for any one of sensibility, regardless of his religious upbringing, the spectacle of an insipid, neurotic Jesus….bleating into a hand microphone entwined with rope so it will look properly New Testament is depressing to say the least.
It has been argued that JESUS CHRIST SUPER· STAR should be forgiven its transgressions in that it interests young people who otherwise wouldn't pay much attention to the Christian message. This is a modem application of the early Jesuit philosophy that the end justifies the means.
I don't buy that. A "Christian" fervor generated by this carnival probably would be as spurious as the show itself. Jesus of Nazareth deserves far better. It certainly is a strange day when worldly people have more insight into spiritual things than Christians do. Here are the words of another secular reporter, Alan Rich, writing for NEW YORK magazine: "Rice and Webber (retell) a biblical story in words and music drawn from the vernacular. What is decadent is the result they have achieved in this particular work, which is cheap, shoddy, vulgar and, worst of all, cynical….They loved that sort of thing in Sodom, and they love it here…the cheap, slangy doggerel of the text ….(and) the music…. of like quality." In talking further about the music, he says: "Its dullness….stems most of all form the composer's total failure to grasp the essentials of rhythm and movement. Nothing in the score moves, ever. Instead, there are a few external tricks….Once these patterns are set up they, too, stick and REPAT and blend into the over-all pattern of tedium. Yes, it is LOUD, and portentously scored." He then closes his article by saying: "It is being condemned by religious leaders of all faiths…. And it will succeed because, I am very much afraid, WE DESERVE IT." Here again is a case of an "outsider " recognizing spiritual wickedness that many Christians cannot even see.
Even TIME magazine in its February 28, 1972 issue shows an insight into the degradation of sacred music that has eluded many "fundamental Christians." In commenting about the new rock version of Handel's MESSIAH, it states: "Rarely has so much conceit, commercial cynicism, bad taste, musical ignorance and all-round incompetence been brought together within the grooves of a single LP…. The RCA MESSIAH has something to offend everyone." The article then discusses some of the new religious rock operas: "Not all of the religious rock LPs-the sons of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR-are blatant rip-offs. Indeed, a few display genuine sincerity, even talent. But all of them, the best and the worst, demonstrate that SUPERSTAR authors Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice do seem to have something of a monopoly on skill and taste in the field." If Rice and Webber are an example of "skill and taste," especially in the light of what we have just quoted above, how degrading and cheap the others must be!
Listen to what TIME magazine says about some of them:
TRUTH OF TRUTHS-"Ghastly"
ROCK REQUIEM-"Lacking snap and originality"
DIVINE HAIR-MASS IN F-"Lackluster settings"
ROCK MASS FOR LOVE-"Blend of hot licks and liturgy"
THE SURVIVAL OF ST. JOAN-"Hardly an orthodox look at Joan"
HARD JOB BEING GOD-"A self-styled, self-conscious rock opera"
If TIME thinks they are this bad, what should Christians be saying! Isn't it about time we rejected things that even the world rejects because they are irreverent and in such bad taste? Christians should have much higher standards than the world ever thought of. We don't need the devil's help to reach our children.
Now we come to the second, and more crucial part of the question, "Can Rock Music Be Sacred?" Here we are dealing with rock musicals, folk musicals, quests in folk-rock, young-world songs, up songs, turned-on and tuned-in music that is being written and performed with the idea of winning the world to Christ.
This area is much more difficult to expose because it comes so close to the truth, but if we take a good close look at what these musicals contain, what is happening and what they are teaching will be obvious to any Christian who really knows his Bible.
In the March, 1971 issue of SEVENTEEN magazine, discussing what prompted him and Tim Rice to write JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Andrew Lloyd Webber said that this music which is being written to get kids into church is "awful, so terrifyingly awful, that it defies description." He recognizes that this music and material is not worthy of sacred themes, and in his own spiritually ignorant way was trying to show how it should be done.
I have been told by some of the composers writing these now-sound musicals that there is good and bad rock music, and that since the whole world has accepted rock as a legitimate form of communication, we should try to write it well and use it for God's work_ The April, 1972 issue of HIGH FIDELITY magazine refutes that argument with one quick blow.
In an article entitled, "The Coming Generation of Musicians," Joan Peyser of the SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES staff discusses this question: "Has the 'rock revolution' of the '60s influenced the direction of music students?" In other words, has rock music become an accepted musical form in the serious musical world of today? Listen to these quotes direct from the article: "In the calm that has followed the storm, HIGH FIDELITY asked me to assess the role rock played for this generation of music students. The one generalization I can make is this: IT HARDLY TOUCHED THE MOST SPECIALIZED STUDENTS AT ALL….Rock never became the great important music some thought it would .... In any event-as it stands-it never moved beyond the initial forecasts of the engulfed adult critics….In Columbia's graduate school of music, in conservatories such as Julliard, Mannes, or Manhattan, in the training orchestras of
New York, ROCK MADE VIRTUALLY NO DENT AT ALL." (emphasis mine throughout this article)
At the Julliard School of Music, for instance, Miss Peyser found only ONE STUDENT interested in rock. The conversation between MISS Peyser and this one student is very enlightening: "I told Marty that in my week of interviews I had not found a single student who had come to 'serious' music from rock. He offered this explanation:
The problem with rock is that its defining limits are visceral rather than cerebral. It's a visceral form of self-expression, and volume is often used to cover up a lack of technique."
Remember, this is the one student who likes rock music speaking. Joan Peyser then went to an L & M class (Literature and Materials) where she asked the students a few questions; "How many had come from rock or jazz? None. How many had ever played rock or jazz? None. How many planned to play rock or jazz? None. What would they like to do? Be great performers. Class dismissed."
Those who believe that rock music is THE accepted way to communicate with people have been completely brainwashed by the devil because this just simply is not true. Even serious minded non-Christian musicians reject this as a legitimate form of music.
What then, can be the philosophy under which people operate who have accepted rock as a legitimate way of reaching teens? First, because of a lack of genuine spiritual power, many of these folks believe that this is the only way you can communicate with teenagers today. My own personal experience of working with teens tells me that the very opposite is true. I don't see how teenagers can ever be reached on a spiritual level with a style of music, which has been established over 'and over, even by the secular world, as a medium of sensuality. Appealing to a young person's sinful, sensual nature does not enable the Christian worker to communicate with him on a spiritual level. In fact, I believe it gets in the way and becomes a stumbling block to ever doing him any real spiritual good.
It has been interesting to me, in talking to hippies and other rebellious teenagers, to note that these folks laugh up their sleeves at these hip-Christians who are trying to reach the hippies by becoming like them. When Christians present the claims of Christ to these folks, that want to see that the faith which we claim to have has made a difference in our lives. If we have become just like them, they see no need of trusting our Saviour. "Look here, man," they say, "you look like we do, dress like we do, talk like we do, and you even use our music. Why should I take your Christ?" Christianity is not "adding a new dimension" to your life, it's a brand new life with different philosophies, life styles and desires. What we Christians need to show these folks is that we have something which they will never know nor experience outside of the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ. My observations as I travel all over the United States is that the only people who are really communicating with and reaching teenagers with a genuine spiritual message are those whose lives and testimonies reveal a way of life contrary to what unsaved teenagers are experiencing.
A second aspect of this philosophy was expressed by Bill Pearce in the August, 1971 issue of CHRISTIAN LIFE magazine. In answering the question, "Can rock music really be used effectively to communicate sacred truth?" Mr. Pearce said: "Yes….I don 't think the rock idiom, as such, is detrimental to the message of the Gospel of Christ. I think there are other musical styles in sacred music every bit as 'worldly.' IT'S A MATTER OF HEART ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATlON."
Now, I agree wholeheartedly with Bill that there are other styles of sacred music which are just as worldly. I have been saying for a long time that his trombone playing sounds like it comes straight from a nightclub and is just as worldly as rock. Just this morning, driving home from the airport, I turned on my car radio hoping to find some good sacred music to soothe my mind and body after an all-night trip home. I was very disappointed to hear some worldly sounding music coming over the airwaves and was ready to change the station when I realized that this was not intended to be worldly music, it was a song from Bill Pearce's latest trombone album. Anything
THAT worldly should not pretend to be Christian.
But when Mr. Pearce goes on and says that it's an attitude of heart and motivation that makes the difference, he has unwittingly accepted the philosophy that the end justifies tile means. On that basis, some so-called "evangelical" churches are using girls to perform dances in church to portray spiritual truth because, they say, the girls' minds are pure. And some liberal churches have even allowed teens to strip off their clothes in "worship services" because, as one minister said, "(They) came very respectfully. My feeling was that (they) were very devout." To any perceptive Christian, this blasphemy and heresy is perfectly obvious.
This is the same philosophy which led Bill Pearce in the same article to say about JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: "People say it is antichrist in spirit and approach and contains a mixture of truth and error. That may be so. But I think SUPERSTAR opens the door if it does nothing more than speak of Christ's humanity. This IS an aspect of his life. This can be a stepping stone to more dialogue." Thank you, Bill for clarifying your version of the end justifies the means.
This is the same philosophy that led Ron Hutchcraft of WMBI in Chicago on September 28, 1971 to say about SUPERSTAR, "It is in fact turning the attention of thousands and thousands of kids to
Jesus Christ….Many kids are still listening to it, and the concepts of it are still alive in the lives of many kids and will be for some time." Now, having accepted and promoted this Jesuit philosophy, watch
Mr. Hutchcraft's next step downward: "We would have a hard time finding a lot of places where it (Superstar) deviates from the actual account of the last days of Jesus Christ. I t may even have portrayed Judas pretty accurately," (as the hero of the story?) "Its portrayal of the disciples is to say the least, thought provoking. And perhaps even biblical," (as bumbling drunkards at the last supper?). "Its portrayal of Mary Magdalene goes beyond what Scripture says, but not against it. It could well have been an accurate portrayal of Mary Magdalene," (as a former harlot who has a physical relationship with Jesus Christ?). The promulgation of this kind of philosophy by an "evangelical" radio station, and the defense of these words by the president of a well-known bible institute, is an almost unbelievable acceptance of Jesuit philosophy. Here is what that institute said in its letter of defense: " Mr. Hutchcraft suggested on the program that a discussion of Superstar might be an opportunity for Christians to introduce the Superstar listeners to the Jesus Christ who is far more than Superstar." Read back over Mr. Hutchcraft's words. Do you think that is what he was doing? When Christians compromise with the devil, they end up promoting the devil's philosophy.
But now, I would like for us to see how far down the road of spiritual bankruptcy these philosophies have led the promoters of "sacred rock music" as a means of reaching teens for Christ. The devil's music will eventually be accompanied by the devil's ideas and words. The first requisite of Christian music should be that the words must be based on Scriptural ideas and principles. Since Christian songs "preach" and communicate ideas that teens will remember long after they have forgotten many sermons, the words of the songs should reflect Scriptural truth. Let's look at some of the most popular musicals and songs of 1972 and see what they are "preaching". I do not mean in this next analysis to say that these musical do not quote some Scripture. They do, but so does Herbert
W. Armstrong (and he's as phony as a three-dollar bill), so does Mormonism, and so does the devil himself. What I want us to see is the vast amount of error that is being presented as spiritual truth.
Here are some words from a variety of these musicals and songs:
NATURAL HIGH, by Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser-"It's my world and it's your world, too-But there’s an awful lot that we both can do,-if we try, really try, if we try.-There's so much hate, hate and despair,-If you'll look around, it's everywhere;-But why, tell me why, won't you tell me why, please tell me why.-I'II tell you-There once lived a Man with' a plan that showed us how to live together.-It takes love, more than we've got,-And He only can provide love, can provide love, can provide love."
"Life Can Be Changed," by Otis Skillings-"You see a world full of misery, War and hate are everywhere:- But what is worse, people just don't care. The ghettos cry tears of poverty: Morals low and crime is so high: -The need to love and the fear to die. You see a world in sin, in a spin, But that world can all be changed. It's up to you; it's up to me." Etc.
GOOD NEWS, by Bob Oldenburg-"We're gonna change this land! We'd have you understand that there is much that must be done.-We're gonna wake the town and bring the barriers down, and work until the setting sun.-We're in a race that must be run; We've heard the challenge from God's own Son. " (It' s almost blasphemous at this point.) "He said to all men 'Come with Me, and I will give you God's liberty! – 'We took Him at His word and this is what we heard:
You are the ones who can change this land!' "
"A Quiet Place," by Ralph Carmichael-(We will quote only the final words of this nice, little sentimental song to show the trend) "Then from my quiet place.-I go prepared to face A new day,-With love for all mankind."
The big question about these words is obvious: WHERE CAN YOU FIND SCRIPTURE TO BACK UP ANY OF THESE TEXTS? They certainly are not part of the Gospel. These writers, in order not to offend the people they are trying to reach, have left out the Gospel and Scriptural truth. Instead, they have substituted what our fathers in the faith rejected 50 years ago. It's the SOCIAL GOSPEL! And they are proclaiming it clear and plain. This "gospel" which the devil has not been able to push off on evangelicalism for years, is now coming into "Bible-believing churches" like a flood. And what is the devil using as his vehicle for this heresy? These rock musicals and songs.
Let's look at just one more of these musicals to show how innocuous, anemic and hypocritical these things are.
LIFE, by Otis Skillings-The first section of this one is titled, "Life", and here are some of the words:
"LIFE" pa pa pa pa-pa pa pa pa LIFE! pa pa pa pa (etc.) I'm talking 'bout real LIFE that's turned on, Talkin' 'bout the kind that's really great. ..." This is really all this section says. Now the second section, called "Contagious." "When you hear the beat, (00) Well, it sounds so neat. You hear a happy sound; You want to gather 'round. It's CONTAGIOUS. Makes you want to get involved." The rest of this song just seems to keep repeating the same thing. Then there is a "reprise" of "U F E", and we come to section four called "Born Again." You want to know how to be born again? Here it is according to UFE: (we will quote the whole song) "like a flow'r in ground so dry. Scorched by heat, it starts to die -'Til the clouds begin to rain; then the flower blooms again.-like a bird with broken wing, Once it had a song to sing. Yet one day that bird will fly Far away up in the sky. So our lives once came to be. We can think and we can see;-Yet beyond there's even more If we'll just unlock the door.-There's a new world to be found, And a great life to abound.-like the flow'r beneath the rain, So can we be BORN AGAIN, again, again. "
Anyone who thinks this is salvation doesn't know first-grade truth about the Word of God and the way to eternal life. After a number of other silly songs with music to match (one song is a "steal" from "The Isle of Capri "), and a few scriptural words, we come to invitation song of this musical. Here it is: RIGHT NOW. RIGHT NOW. Commit your life RIGHT NOW. Decide to live your life for Him RIGHT
NOW, RIGHT NOW."
That's it! In its entirety.
Do you think that teenagers who come forward after this kind of gibberish know what it means to trust Christ and be born again? But these people tell us that they are "winning thousands to Christ" this way. If the decisions are no deeper than the message, and it's difficult to see how they could be, then there are a lot of false decisions being made, and many people who think they are saved are still in their sins.
This anemic, insipid, flabby and spiritually bankrupt approach to Christianity also shows itself in the kind of performers that are being promoted by such magazines as CHRISTIAN LIFE as today's top sacred musicians. Included in an ad for the Christian Record Club of America are such groups as the Chuck Wagon Gang and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Has the scope of Bible Christianity encompassed this heresy? Then, listed among the top performers are such folks as Joe Wise who is quoted as saying: "I believe a Christian is a man who attempts to span that bridge" (between childhood and old age) "with love-decisions during the 'middle' years-one who commits himself day after day to a priority of people over things." This is a Christian?
In an article entitled "Today's Top Musicians Ex-press Their Faith," CHRISTIAN LIFE lists John McCarthy, choral director of the Ambrosian Singers, as expressing his faith this way: "Communication of music in churches is particularly difficult because of the enormous cross-section of the different types of individuals in the congregations. I try therefore, to make all the music as varied as possible….If I do anything considered 'corny' by the purists, I do it with the greatest sincerity and with as much care as I would any great work." This is Christian faith? Listed on the same page is a husband-wife team named Steve and Maria. CHRISTIAN LIFE says their latest album "won for them the following tribute from
BILLBOARD magazine….'It takes a special talent for a folk duo to sing religious music and convey a subtle message. This duo has the talent and demonstrates it well' . ..." Why must the message of Christianity be SUBTLE? Are we trying to sneak up on the world and inject them with Christianity while they are not looking? God deliver us from this kind of talent.
We could go on and on quoting this kind of nonsense, but one quote from the "musical patriarch" of the sacred rock music field will codify their non-scriptural thinking processes. Ralph Carmichael says:
"A song is like a sermon….You tend to predicate your evaluation on WHAT IT DOES, not on WHAT IT IS….My musical tastes have nothing to do with the kind of music I write." How much clearer can he make it? He believes that the end justifies the means, and that if the results are good, you can't criticize the method of achieving the results. In other words, if the end result of rock music is good, don't criticize the rock. And there is a whole school of composers and arrangers who follow Mr. Carmichael's leadership. He is the intellect of the field. (The quotes in the paragraphs above are from CHRISTIAN LI FE, August, 1971 and May, 1972.)
Let me say again that I do not question the sincerity of the people involved, not do I question their motives. But sincerity and motivation have never been a test of real spirituality or even Christianity for that matter. These people have made communication with the world and the "winning of souls" more important than anything else, and are willing to swallow and excuse anything that portends to have these goals in mind. But the WORD OF GOD is that which will abide forever, and it is upon His Word that God hinges all of spiritual truth. It is not right to ignore the Bible, to become worldly in philosophy and practice, to call things Christian which are not, nor to disobey the Word of God, even to try to win people to Christ. God will not excuse disobedience, compromise and worldliness, no matter how lofty the motivation and goal. God demands that His message remain pure (Galatians 1:8-9). But God also demands that the surroundings and associations of His Word must be pure (II Corinthians 2: 17 - For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.). "Christian rock" musicians have ignored this scriptural fact.
Romans 1: 18 begins an enumeration of man's downward steps away from God: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, WHO HOLD THE
TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Notice that man's first wayward step is holding the truth, or more literally holding down the truth, in unrighteousness. Even if the words that go with this worldly music are the actual words of Scripture, the message of sensuality which the music conveys will hold down and even annul the message of the words. To clothe God's eternal truth in a garment of sensuality is as gross an error as proclaiming a lie.
He who would do God's work must do it in God's way (II Corinthians 4:2 - But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.). Many people today profess that Christ is their Master, but in matters of practice, they do not even care what His Word declares. So long as their hearts are right toward His person, they believe they can ignore His Word. This is mere subterfuge. To love Christ is to obey Him (John 14:15 - If ye love me, keep my commandments.). Too often the world can look at those who are repeating the words of Scripture and say, "What you are speaks so loud that I can't hear what you say." Nowhere is this more blatant than in rock music that is attempting to be sacred. It is virtually impossible for sensual music to carry a spiritual message that is not perverted. Sensuality and spirituality are diametrically opposed to each other (Galatians 5: 17 - For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.).
Just how do Christians get themselves into a position of proclaiming the devil's philosophy and lies? By failing to declare "all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27- For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.). In rock and folk musicals, there is not enough about sin to bring repentance, and not enough about the cross and the blood to bring salvation. When the holiness of God is ignored, as it is in every musical which I have seen, (I examined more than twenty musicals in preparation for this article,) then there is no need for repentance from sin. Through an over· emphasis on "love," these people have completely forgotten that God's love is predicated upon His holiness. The same book of the Bible which says that "God is love" prefaces that statement with the truth that "God is light" (I John 1:5 - This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. and 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.). The neglect of the "love of God" by some people is not license for the neglect of the "light of God" by others.
Obedience to the Word of God is placed above any sacrifice that men may make for God. The purpose of winning teens to Christ will not justify the use of rock music. Those who compromise with the devil eventually become a vehicle for expressing his philosophy and error. The sensual, worldly music being used in "evangelical" circles today can lead to no other place than spiritual corruption and poverty.
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Reprinted from "THE PROJECTOR"
"This is the suggestion of the present hour: if the world will not come to Jesus ... shall not the church go down to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from them, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us. Let us have a Christian world....
Certain ministers ... are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretense of adapting it to this present age. The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world.... By semi-dramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theatre; they turn their services into musical displays ... in fact, they exchange the temple for the theatre, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men....This, then is the proposal. In order to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform himself, his people, and His Word to the world. I will not dwell on so loathsome a proposal.
My dear hearers, how much I long to see you saved! But I would not belie my Lord, even to win your souls, if they could be so won. The true servant of God is responsible for diligence and faithfulness, but he is not responsible for success or non-success. Results are in God's hands."
From "No Compromise," a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon-1888
Can ROCK Music Be SACRED?
By
Dr. Frank Garlock
There is a growing trend, even in our "evangelical" churches today, not only to accept rock music, but to try to use it as a means of communicating spiritual truth. The first reason that those who use rock in their churches give for employing what has obviously been the tool of Satan is that it "communicates to the teenagers. "
No one denies that rock music communicates. But the question that should be asked is, "WHAT IS BE¬ING COMMUNICATED?" First, what are the words that are being set to the big beat; and second, what does the music itself actually say?
To find the answers to these questions, we will go first to the rock culture in general, and then to the folk-rock musicals and songs that are so popular among those who claim they are winning teenagers to Christ by using this music.
"AND ROCK FINDS GOD" is the title of a full-page article in the LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER, Sunday, June 13, 1971. This article is trying to show how rock music has finally reached out and found God. Listen to what it says in the introduction, "In a new day, for a new age, for the children of the media, the answers are not to be found in sophisticated dissertations. Indeed not, the Children at the Gate have found the answers in their own language; they have found the answers in rock music."
And what answers have they found? "In the beginning Man created God; and in the image of Man created he him," is a quotation from one of the two main albums that are mentioned in this article. This is from the back cover of the perverted album, "Aqualung," by Jethro Tull As the book ROCK BEYOND WOODSTOCK says, "Rock became a religion . . . . a way to God, a direct, honest, personal God shaped by the music and the demands of your own head." If a person only has a God who is shaped by rock music and the demands of his own head, a figment of his imagination, then that person doesn't have any God at all, especially not the God of the Bible. The second album that this article mentions is the famous JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Does "SUPERSTAR" reach out and find God? Let's ask
Tim Rice, the man who wrote the words to this rock opera. What about it, Tim? "Basically, the idea of the whole opera is to have Christ seen through the eyes of Judas, and Christ as a man, not as a god. And the fact that Christ himself is just as mixed up and unaware of exactly what he is, as Judas is." But do the actual words of the opera get this message across? Let's look at the words and see. Here are the first lines that are sung by Judas, "My mind is clearer now-at last all too well-I can see where we all soon will be-If you strip away the myth from the man-you will see where we all soon will be." What myth is he talking about? What myth is there which we need to know about Jesus?
I had the opportunity not long ago of "debating," on television, one of the heads of the religion department at a large state university. This man very clearly explained the "myths" for which he said SUPERSTAR is a "corrective." He mentioned five myths in particular:
1) the virgin birth of Christ-he said this was a "post-Easter" idea which was advanced after Christ died; 2) the sinless life of our Saviour-"in looking back, people tend to overlook the bad things and just remember the good," 3) the miracles-"the disciples made these things up to make it look good," 4) the resurrection-"the leaving out of the resurrection in SUPERSTAR was no accident." and 5) Christ's divinity-" Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, and never showed any consciousness that he was." And this is exactly what SUPERSTAR is doing. It is an attempt of the devil to discredit God and His Word by explaining away all of the supernatural as being only "myths." Is this how rock music finds God? It is obvious that these folks have not only not found God, but they have been deluded into believing a lie. Let me share a true story with you that I think will clear up much of the confusion about this trend toward Jesus rock music. A medical missionary to Africa said that when a group of missionaries went into the interior, they found a village which had never seen a white man, had never heard anyone preach the gospel, and had never seen or read a Bible. And yet, when the missionaries arrived, they found that these people were already worshipping Jesus. So the missionaries took their Bibles and began to preach about the Jesus Christ Whom they thought these people were ignorantly worshipping. To the missionaries' surprise, they found out very quickly that the Jesus these were worshipping was NOT the Christ of the Bible. He was a demon that one of the witch doctors had conjured up in a séance and had presented to these people to worship. The missionaries said that it was almost impossible to reach these people with the Gospel of Salvation because they already had their own Jesus.
I believe this is what is happening on a large scale right here in America today. Thousands of people are flocking after someone named "Jesus," but he is not the Christ of the Bible. He is a superstar, a myth, a sinner, a revolutionary, a criminal, a good man, a reformer, a son of God but not God the Son, a hippie, or some other figment of man's depraved imagination, but he is not the spotless Son of God Who died to take away the sin of the world.
"GODSPELL," another religious rock opera supposedly about Jesus Christ presents him as a clown.
In the stage performance of this "sweet-rock" opera, the disciples fondle the bodies of the girls, John baptizes Jesus with a sponge, Jesus suggestively pats Mary Magdalene who is dressed as a harlot, and Jesus is "crucified" clinging to wire and screaming, "I am dead!" Is this the Christ of the Bible? Absolutely not!
"My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, a former Beatle, has fooled many Christians. When the song says, "My Lord, I want to know you, but it takes so long," it is actually praying for three Hindu gods, Krishna, Vishnu, and Rama to reincarnate themselves in the person singing the song. Sheer delusion!
I suppose the most blatant blasphemy that could be imagined is the song, "Jesus Is a Soul Man." According to Lawrence Reynolds, (the fellow who wrote the song,) Janis Joplin, Arthur Brown of the Negro rock culture, and many others, the term soul as it is used in the rock culture is not the traditional use. What it really means, they say, is "sex." It is difficult to imagine how far down these people have stooped in their blasphemy, but they are not alone. Some gay clergymen have recently tried to claim that Jesus was a homosexual. NONSENSE. They are not talking about the Christ of the Bible! They are referring to some other Jesus whom their depraved minds have conjured up.
We have a great reluctance to attribute things that happen to the work of the devil or to demons. When I make the statement that rock music is "Satan's tool " spiritually ignorant young people laugh at someone who would make such a foolish statement. But if the truth were known, and Christians were more sensitive to spiritual things, much more would be attributed to the work of the devil than is now done. There is a spiritual battle going on right now! Satan is the "father of lies," and he still believes the first one he ever told: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God …I will be like the most High." The devil believed his own first lie, AND HE STILL BELIEVES IT! That is why he is doing all he can, to thwart the plan of God, and to gain converts to himself. He still thinks he can overthrow God, and as the time for the "showdown" approaches he is increasing the intensity of his attack.
The strange thing is that his disciples don't try to hide what they are doing. Perhaps it is because they know they have so many people on their side and that those on the side of righteousness are so full of apathy and laziness that it won't make any difference but listen to some of the things they say. Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention claims to be the devil's advocate, going so far as to say that he and his cohorts have worshippers. He says their worshippers are called "groupies,” girls who give their bodies to the musicians.
When Jim Morrison, found dead in Paris at 27, was through with one of his most indecent performances, he was asked why he did those lewd acts in front of twelve and thirteen-year-old kids. He said, "I feel spiritual up there." Sure he's spiritual, but it's the SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS that God warns us about in Ephesians 6:12, and the Bible tells us that we are to fight against it. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
THE GREENING OF AMERICA is a book which has been the number one best seller. It is written by Charles Reich, a professor at Yale University, and is being hailed by all the liberals (Justice William
Douglas, Senator George McGovern, Justice Hugo Black, William McPherson of THE WASHINGTON POST, etc.) as "a gripping, penetrating analysis of American society," and "a brilliant synthesis of contemporary ideas." In other words, this is not a criticism of what is happening in the United States today, but a liberal's impression of the sequence of events which has led up to the current situation and his ideas as to the direction in which "the revolution" is headed.
Mr. Reich defines the state of things by using the term "consciousness" which he defines as being "a total configuration in any given individual, which makes up his whole perception of reality, his whole world view….It is the whole man; his 'head'; his way of life. It is that by which he creates his own life and thus creates the society in which he lives." Mr. Reich's "Consciousness III" is "the new generation," or "the revolution" that is going on in America, especially among young people. I have said all this to point up the import of what Mr. Reich says about the music of the now generation.
Listen to this:
When we turn to the music of Consciousness III, we come to the chief medium of expression, the chief means by which feelings are communicated. Music has become the deepest means of communication and expression for an entire culture. The dominant means of communication in our society – words – has been so abused, distorted and preempted that at present it does not seem adequate for people of the new consciousness. Music, on the other hand, says all the things they want to say or feel. It expresses raunchy, sweaty sex. It is a repository of fantastic energy-as anyone who has watched a rock band knows. The older music was essentially intellectual; it was located in the mind and in the feelings known to the mind; the new music rocks the whole body, and penetrates the soul. The new music is a music of unrestrained creativity and self-expression.
Thus, the liberals show how rock music is being used to capture the hearts, minds, bodies and even the souls of the "younger generation." It is not a vehicle for anything spiritual, but something to brainwash a whole generation into thinking that self-expression and permissiveness are the answers to life's problems, and as Mr. Reich says, rock music has become the "deepest means of communication and expression" for the disciples of rebellion.
This, I believe, is just another evidence that the devil is using every means possible and is attacking from every angle possible, and he has centered his attack on the young people of this generation, especially those in their teenage years. He has used communism, drugs, alcohol, illicit sex and rock music as his prime weapons. The problem is that rock music is his most subtle weapon, and therefore, the most dangerous. It can work on the hearts and minds of its listeners without their ever having been aware that it has done what it set out to do.
Knowing this makes it a little easier to understand why the world is often aware of problems and dangers to which Christians are oblivious. For instance, listen to what one secular reporter, Norman Nadel of the Scripps-Howard staff, says about the most famous rock opera:
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is a tasteless, morally offensive, carnival-type show that exploits one of the most elevating episodes in man's history for the purpose of making a lot of money. Pious pronouncements by the producers and the authors ring as false as the rock opera itself….The words are shallow and frequently silly (the Bible says it all better), and the music, apart from occasional original devices, is essentially mundane rock ... One does not have to be a Christian to have respect and reverence for the life and teachings of Jesus. So for any one of sensibility, regardless of his religious upbringing, the spectacle of an insipid, neurotic Jesus….bleating into a hand microphone entwined with rope so it will look properly New Testament is depressing to say the least.
It has been argued that JESUS CHRIST SUPER· STAR should be forgiven its transgressions in that it interests young people who otherwise wouldn't pay much attention to the Christian message. This is a modem application of the early Jesuit philosophy that the end justifies the means.
I don't buy that. A "Christian" fervor generated by this carnival probably would be as spurious as the show itself. Jesus of Nazareth deserves far better. It certainly is a strange day when worldly people have more insight into spiritual things than Christians do. Here are the words of another secular reporter, Alan Rich, writing for NEW YORK magazine: "Rice and Webber (retell) a biblical story in words and music drawn from the vernacular. What is decadent is the result they have achieved in this particular work, which is cheap, shoddy, vulgar and, worst of all, cynical….They loved that sort of thing in Sodom, and they love it here…the cheap, slangy doggerel of the text ….(and) the music…. of like quality." In talking further about the music, he says: "Its dullness….stems most of all form the composer's total failure to grasp the essentials of rhythm and movement. Nothing in the score moves, ever. Instead, there are a few external tricks….Once these patterns are set up they, too, stick and REPAT and blend into the over-all pattern of tedium. Yes, it is LOUD, and portentously scored." He then closes his article by saying: "It is being condemned by religious leaders of all faiths…. And it will succeed because, I am very much afraid, WE DESERVE IT." Here again is a case of an "outsider " recognizing spiritual wickedness that many Christians cannot even see.
Even TIME magazine in its February 28, 1972 issue shows an insight into the degradation of sacred music that has eluded many "fundamental Christians." In commenting about the new rock version of Handel's MESSIAH, it states: "Rarely has so much conceit, commercial cynicism, bad taste, musical ignorance and all-round incompetence been brought together within the grooves of a single LP…. The RCA MESSIAH has something to offend everyone." The article then discusses some of the new religious rock operas: "Not all of the religious rock LPs-the sons of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR-are blatant rip-offs. Indeed, a few display genuine sincerity, even talent. But all of them, the best and the worst, demonstrate that SUPERSTAR authors Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice do seem to have something of a monopoly on skill and taste in the field." If Rice and Webber are an example of "skill and taste," especially in the light of what we have just quoted above, how degrading and cheap the others must be!
Listen to what TIME magazine says about some of them:
TRUTH OF TRUTHS-"Ghastly"
ROCK REQUIEM-"Lacking snap and originality"
DIVINE HAIR-MASS IN F-"Lackluster settings"
ROCK MASS FOR LOVE-"Blend of hot licks and liturgy"
THE SURVIVAL OF ST. JOAN-"Hardly an orthodox look at Joan"
HARD JOB BEING GOD-"A self-styled, self-conscious rock opera"
If TIME thinks they are this bad, what should Christians be saying! Isn't it about time we rejected things that even the world rejects because they are irreverent and in such bad taste? Christians should have much higher standards than the world ever thought of. We don't need the devil's help to reach our children.
Now we come to the second, and more crucial part of the question, "Can Rock Music Be Sacred?" Here we are dealing with rock musicals, folk musicals, quests in folk-rock, young-world songs, up songs, turned-on and tuned-in music that is being written and performed with the idea of winning the world to Christ.
This area is much more difficult to expose because it comes so close to the truth, but if we take a good close look at what these musicals contain, what is happening and what they are teaching will be obvious to any Christian who really knows his Bible.
In the March, 1971 issue of SEVENTEEN magazine, discussing what prompted him and Tim Rice to write JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Andrew Lloyd Webber said that this music which is being written to get kids into church is "awful, so terrifyingly awful, that it defies description." He recognizes that this music and material is not worthy of sacred themes, and in his own spiritually ignorant way was trying to show how it should be done.
I have been told by some of the composers writing these now-sound musicals that there is good and bad rock music, and that since the whole world has accepted rock as a legitimate form of communication, we should try to write it well and use it for God's work_ The April, 1972 issue of HIGH FIDELITY magazine refutes that argument with one quick blow.
In an article entitled, "The Coming Generation of Musicians," Joan Peyser of the SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES staff discusses this question: "Has the 'rock revolution' of the '60s influenced the direction of music students?" In other words, has rock music become an accepted musical form in the serious musical world of today? Listen to these quotes direct from the article: "In the calm that has followed the storm, HIGH FIDELITY asked me to assess the role rock played for this generation of music students. The one generalization I can make is this: IT HARDLY TOUCHED THE MOST SPECIALIZED STUDENTS AT ALL….Rock never became the great important music some thought it would .... In any event-as it stands-it never moved beyond the initial forecasts of the engulfed adult critics….In Columbia's graduate school of music, in conservatories such as Julliard, Mannes, or Manhattan, in the training orchestras of
New York, ROCK MADE VIRTUALLY NO DENT AT ALL." (emphasis mine throughout this article)
At the Julliard School of Music, for instance, Miss Peyser found only ONE STUDENT interested in rock. The conversation between MISS Peyser and this one student is very enlightening: "I told Marty that in my week of interviews I had not found a single student who had come to 'serious' music from rock. He offered this explanation:
The problem with rock is that its defining limits are visceral rather than cerebral. It's a visceral form of self-expression, and volume is often used to cover up a lack of technique."
Remember, this is the one student who likes rock music speaking. Joan Peyser then went to an L & M class (Literature and Materials) where she asked the students a few questions; "How many had come from rock or jazz? None. How many had ever played rock or jazz? None. How many planned to play rock or jazz? None. What would they like to do? Be great performers. Class dismissed."
Those who believe that rock music is THE accepted way to communicate with people have been completely brainwashed by the devil because this just simply is not true. Even serious minded non-Christian musicians reject this as a legitimate form of music.
What then, can be the philosophy under which people operate who have accepted rock as a legitimate way of reaching teens? First, because of a lack of genuine spiritual power, many of these folks believe that this is the only way you can communicate with teenagers today. My own personal experience of working with teens tells me that the very opposite is true. I don't see how teenagers can ever be reached on a spiritual level with a style of music, which has been established over 'and over, even by the secular world, as a medium of sensuality. Appealing to a young person's sinful, sensual nature does not enable the Christian worker to communicate with him on a spiritual level. In fact, I believe it gets in the way and becomes a stumbling block to ever doing him any real spiritual good.
It has been interesting to me, in talking to hippies and other rebellious teenagers, to note that these folks laugh up their sleeves at these hip-Christians who are trying to reach the hippies by becoming like them. When Christians present the claims of Christ to these folks, that want to see that the faith which we claim to have has made a difference in our lives. If we have become just like them, they see no need of trusting our Saviour. "Look here, man," they say, "you look like we do, dress like we do, talk like we do, and you even use our music. Why should I take your Christ?" Christianity is not "adding a new dimension" to your life, it's a brand new life with different philosophies, life styles and desires. What we Christians need to show these folks is that we have something which they will never know nor experience outside of the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ. My observations as I travel all over the United States is that the only people who are really communicating with and reaching teenagers with a genuine spiritual message are those whose lives and testimonies reveal a way of life contrary to what unsaved teenagers are experiencing.
A second aspect of this philosophy was expressed by Bill Pearce in the August, 1971 issue of CHRISTIAN LIFE magazine. In answering the question, "Can rock music really be used effectively to communicate sacred truth?" Mr. Pearce said: "Yes….I don 't think the rock idiom, as such, is detrimental to the message of the Gospel of Christ. I think there are other musical styles in sacred music every bit as 'worldly.' IT'S A MATTER OF HEART ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATlON."
Now, I agree wholeheartedly with Bill that there are other styles of sacred music which are just as worldly. I have been saying for a long time that his trombone playing sounds like it comes straight from a nightclub and is just as worldly as rock. Just this morning, driving home from the airport, I turned on my car radio hoping to find some good sacred music to soothe my mind and body after an all-night trip home. I was very disappointed to hear some worldly sounding music coming over the airwaves and was ready to change the station when I realized that this was not intended to be worldly music, it was a song from Bill Pearce's latest trombone album. Anything
THAT worldly should not pretend to be Christian.
But when Mr. Pearce goes on and says that it's an attitude of heart and motivation that makes the difference, he has unwittingly accepted the philosophy that the end justifies tile means. On that basis, some so-called "evangelical" churches are using girls to perform dances in church to portray spiritual truth because, they say, the girls' minds are pure. And some liberal churches have even allowed teens to strip off their clothes in "worship services" because, as one minister said, "(They) came very respectfully. My feeling was that (they) were very devout." To any perceptive Christian, this blasphemy and heresy is perfectly obvious.
This is the same philosophy which led Bill Pearce in the same article to say about JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: "People say it is antichrist in spirit and approach and contains a mixture of truth and error. That may be so. But I think SUPERSTAR opens the door if it does nothing more than speak of Christ's humanity. This IS an aspect of his life. This can be a stepping stone to more dialogue." Thank you, Bill for clarifying your version of the end justifies the means.
This is the same philosophy that led Ron Hutchcraft of WMBI in Chicago on September 28, 1971 to say about SUPERSTAR, "It is in fact turning the attention of thousands and thousands of kids to
Jesus Christ….Many kids are still listening to it, and the concepts of it are still alive in the lives of many kids and will be for some time." Now, having accepted and promoted this Jesuit philosophy, watch
Mr. Hutchcraft's next step downward: "We would have a hard time finding a lot of places where it (Superstar) deviates from the actual account of the last days of Jesus Christ. I t may even have portrayed Judas pretty accurately," (as the hero of the story?) "Its portrayal of the disciples is to say the least, thought provoking. And perhaps even biblical," (as bumbling drunkards at the last supper?). "Its portrayal of Mary Magdalene goes beyond what Scripture says, but not against it. It could well have been an accurate portrayal of Mary Magdalene," (as a former harlot who has a physical relationship with Jesus Christ?). The promulgation of this kind of philosophy by an "evangelical" radio station, and the defense of these words by the president of a well-known bible institute, is an almost unbelievable acceptance of Jesuit philosophy. Here is what that institute said in its letter of defense: " Mr. Hutchcraft suggested on the program that a discussion of Superstar might be an opportunity for Christians to introduce the Superstar listeners to the Jesus Christ who is far more than Superstar." Read back over Mr. Hutchcraft's words. Do you think that is what he was doing? When Christians compromise with the devil, they end up promoting the devil's philosophy.
But now, I would like for us to see how far down the road of spiritual bankruptcy these philosophies have led the promoters of "sacred rock music" as a means of reaching teens for Christ. The devil's music will eventually be accompanied by the devil's ideas and words. The first requisite of Christian music should be that the words must be based on Scriptural ideas and principles. Since Christian songs "preach" and communicate ideas that teens will remember long after they have forgotten many sermons, the words of the songs should reflect Scriptural truth. Let's look at some of the most popular musicals and songs of 1972 and see what they are "preaching". I do not mean in this next analysis to say that these musical do not quote some Scripture. They do, but so does Herbert
W. Armstrong (and he's as phony as a three-dollar bill), so does Mormonism, and so does the devil himself. What I want us to see is the vast amount of error that is being presented as spiritual truth.
Here are some words from a variety of these musicals and songs:
NATURAL HIGH, by Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser-"It's my world and it's your world, too-But there’s an awful lot that we both can do,-if we try, really try, if we try.-There's so much hate, hate and despair,-If you'll look around, it's everywhere;-But why, tell me why, won't you tell me why, please tell me why.-I'II tell you-There once lived a Man with' a plan that showed us how to live together.-It takes love, more than we've got,-And He only can provide love, can provide love, can provide love."
"Life Can Be Changed," by Otis Skillings-"You see a world full of misery, War and hate are everywhere:- But what is worse, people just don't care. The ghettos cry tears of poverty: Morals low and crime is so high: -The need to love and the fear to die. You see a world in sin, in a spin, But that world can all be changed. It's up to you; it's up to me." Etc.
GOOD NEWS, by Bob Oldenburg-"We're gonna change this land! We'd have you understand that there is much that must be done.-We're gonna wake the town and bring the barriers down, and work until the setting sun.-We're in a race that must be run; We've heard the challenge from God's own Son. " (It' s almost blasphemous at this point.) "He said to all men 'Come with Me, and I will give you God's liberty! – 'We took Him at His word and this is what we heard:
You are the ones who can change this land!' "
"A Quiet Place," by Ralph Carmichael-(We will quote only the final words of this nice, little sentimental song to show the trend) "Then from my quiet place.-I go prepared to face A new day,-With love for all mankind."
The big question about these words is obvious: WHERE CAN YOU FIND SCRIPTURE TO BACK UP ANY OF THESE TEXTS? They certainly are not part of the Gospel. These writers, in order not to offend the people they are trying to reach, have left out the Gospel and Scriptural truth. Instead, they have substituted what our fathers in the faith rejected 50 years ago. It's the SOCIAL GOSPEL! And they are proclaiming it clear and plain. This "gospel" which the devil has not been able to push off on evangelicalism for years, is now coming into "Bible-believing churches" like a flood. And what is the devil using as his vehicle for this heresy? These rock musicals and songs.
Let's look at just one more of these musicals to show how innocuous, anemic and hypocritical these things are.
LIFE, by Otis Skillings-The first section of this one is titled, "Life", and here are some of the words:
"LIFE" pa pa pa pa-pa pa pa pa LIFE! pa pa pa pa (etc.) I'm talking 'bout real LIFE that's turned on, Talkin' 'bout the kind that's really great. ..." This is really all this section says. Now the second section, called "Contagious." "When you hear the beat, (00) Well, it sounds so neat. You hear a happy sound; You want to gather 'round. It's CONTAGIOUS. Makes you want to get involved." The rest of this song just seems to keep repeating the same thing. Then there is a "reprise" of "U F E", and we come to section four called "Born Again." You want to know how to be born again? Here it is according to UFE: (we will quote the whole song) "like a flow'r in ground so dry. Scorched by heat, it starts to die -'Til the clouds begin to rain; then the flower blooms again.-like a bird with broken wing, Once it had a song to sing. Yet one day that bird will fly Far away up in the sky. So our lives once came to be. We can think and we can see;-Yet beyond there's even more If we'll just unlock the door.-There's a new world to be found, And a great life to abound.-like the flow'r beneath the rain, So can we be BORN AGAIN, again, again. "
Anyone who thinks this is salvation doesn't know first-grade truth about the Word of God and the way to eternal life. After a number of other silly songs with music to match (one song is a "steal" from "The Isle of Capri "), and a few scriptural words, we come to invitation song of this musical. Here it is: RIGHT NOW. RIGHT NOW. Commit your life RIGHT NOW. Decide to live your life for Him RIGHT
NOW, RIGHT NOW."
That's it! In its entirety.
Do you think that teenagers who come forward after this kind of gibberish know what it means to trust Christ and be born again? But these people tell us that they are "winning thousands to Christ" this way. If the decisions are no deeper than the message, and it's difficult to see how they could be, then there are a lot of false decisions being made, and many people who think they are saved are still in their sins.
This anemic, insipid, flabby and spiritually bankrupt approach to Christianity also shows itself in the kind of performers that are being promoted by such magazines as CHRISTIAN LIFE as today's top sacred musicians. Included in an ad for the Christian Record Club of America are such groups as the Chuck Wagon Gang and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Has the scope of Bible Christianity encompassed this heresy? Then, listed among the top performers are such folks as Joe Wise who is quoted as saying: "I believe a Christian is a man who attempts to span that bridge" (between childhood and old age) "with love-decisions during the 'middle' years-one who commits himself day after day to a priority of people over things." This is a Christian?
In an article entitled "Today's Top Musicians Ex-press Their Faith," CHRISTIAN LIFE lists John McCarthy, choral director of the Ambrosian Singers, as expressing his faith this way: "Communication of music in churches is particularly difficult because of the enormous cross-section of the different types of individuals in the congregations. I try therefore, to make all the music as varied as possible….If I do anything considered 'corny' by the purists, I do it with the greatest sincerity and with as much care as I would any great work." This is Christian faith? Listed on the same page is a husband-wife team named Steve and Maria. CHRISTIAN LIFE says their latest album "won for them the following tribute from
BILLBOARD magazine….'It takes a special talent for a folk duo to sing religious music and convey a subtle message. This duo has the talent and demonstrates it well' . ..." Why must the message of Christianity be SUBTLE? Are we trying to sneak up on the world and inject them with Christianity while they are not looking? God deliver us from this kind of talent.
We could go on and on quoting this kind of nonsense, but one quote from the "musical patriarch" of the sacred rock music field will codify their non-scriptural thinking processes. Ralph Carmichael says:
"A song is like a sermon….You tend to predicate your evaluation on WHAT IT DOES, not on WHAT IT IS….My musical tastes have nothing to do with the kind of music I write." How much clearer can he make it? He believes that the end justifies the means, and that if the results are good, you can't criticize the method of achieving the results. In other words, if the end result of rock music is good, don't criticize the rock. And there is a whole school of composers and arrangers who follow Mr. Carmichael's leadership. He is the intellect of the field. (The quotes in the paragraphs above are from CHRISTIAN LI FE, August, 1971 and May, 1972.)
Let me say again that I do not question the sincerity of the people involved, not do I question their motives. But sincerity and motivation have never been a test of real spirituality or even Christianity for that matter. These people have made communication with the world and the "winning of souls" more important than anything else, and are willing to swallow and excuse anything that portends to have these goals in mind. But the WORD OF GOD is that which will abide forever, and it is upon His Word that God hinges all of spiritual truth. It is not right to ignore the Bible, to become worldly in philosophy and practice, to call things Christian which are not, nor to disobey the Word of God, even to try to win people to Christ. God will not excuse disobedience, compromise and worldliness, no matter how lofty the motivation and goal. God demands that His message remain pure (Galatians 1:8-9). But God also demands that the surroundings and associations of His Word must be pure (II Corinthians 2: 17 - For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.). "Christian rock" musicians have ignored this scriptural fact.
Romans 1: 18 begins an enumeration of man's downward steps away from God: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, WHO HOLD THE
TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Notice that man's first wayward step is holding the truth, or more literally holding down the truth, in unrighteousness. Even if the words that go with this worldly music are the actual words of Scripture, the message of sensuality which the music conveys will hold down and even annul the message of the words. To clothe God's eternal truth in a garment of sensuality is as gross an error as proclaiming a lie.
He who would do God's work must do it in God's way (II Corinthians 4:2 - But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.). Many people today profess that Christ is their Master, but in matters of practice, they do not even care what His Word declares. So long as their hearts are right toward His person, they believe they can ignore His Word. This is mere subterfuge. To love Christ is to obey Him (John 14:15 - If ye love me, keep my commandments.). Too often the world can look at those who are repeating the words of Scripture and say, "What you are speaks so loud that I can't hear what you say." Nowhere is this more blatant than in rock music that is attempting to be sacred. It is virtually impossible for sensual music to carry a spiritual message that is not perverted. Sensuality and spirituality are diametrically opposed to each other (Galatians 5: 17 - For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.).
Just how do Christians get themselves into a position of proclaiming the devil's philosophy and lies? By failing to declare "all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27- For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.). In rock and folk musicals, there is not enough about sin to bring repentance, and not enough about the cross and the blood to bring salvation. When the holiness of God is ignored, as it is in every musical which I have seen, (I examined more than twenty musicals in preparation for this article,) then there is no need for repentance from sin. Through an over· emphasis on "love," these people have completely forgotten that God's love is predicated upon His holiness. The same book of the Bible which says that "God is love" prefaces that statement with the truth that "God is light" (I John 1:5 - This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. and 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.). The neglect of the "love of God" by some people is not license for the neglect of the "light of God" by others.
Obedience to the Word of God is placed above any sacrifice that men may make for God. The purpose of winning teens to Christ will not justify the use of rock music. Those who compromise with the devil eventually become a vehicle for expressing his philosophy and error. The sensual, worldly music being used in "evangelical" circles today can lead to no other place than spiritual corruption and poverty.
*********************
Reprinted from "THE PROJECTOR"
NO COMPROMISE
"This is the suggestion of the present hour: if the world will not come to Jesus ... shall not the church go down to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from them, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us. Let us have a Christian world....
Certain ministers ... are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretense of adapting it to this present age. The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world.... By semi-dramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theatre; they turn their services into musical displays ... in fact, they exchange the temple for the theatre, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men....This, then is the proposal. In order to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform himself, his people, and His Word to the world. I will not dwell on so loathsome a proposal.
My dear hearers, how much I long to see you saved! But I would not belie my Lord, even to win your souls, if they could be so won. The true servant of God is responsible for diligence and faithfulness, but he is not responsible for success or non-success. Results are in God's hands."
From "No Compromise," a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon-1888
Monday, May 1, 2017
Women Pastors
I have been asked many questions about the scriptural backing for a woman being in the position of a pastor or evangelist. As a result, this lesson on Bible scriptures should help those seeking Biblical answers to this issue.
Before beginning, a little background. As a young man still attending a Christian University I sat down with my cousin, a lady preacher. She had written several books, one explaining her call. I and a friend walked her through the verses you will see below, and all she said was, "God told me to preach" and ignored the Bible verses. This bothered me as I did respect her, and I have had many years to ponder this response. Recently I met a young lady in college studying to be a lady pastor. When I asked her about some verses in the New Testament, her odd response was "I have never seen those verses before". So, in case you are like her, here is what God's word says about the subject.
1 Timothy 2:11-12, "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."
1 Timothy 3:2, "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach."
Since this is a controversial subject, those wanting truth need to accept the fact that as a Christian we believe the Bible as truth, and accept what God says. Man's constant effort to change it has escalated through time, so this is one of those issues we need to read the clear messages.
Pastors are to be men.
Women are never to teach men.
I could go on and get into depth on the debate, but in the end these two facts cannot be distorted or ignored. Anyone trying to explain them away using other gray verses shows how they do not believe the word of God, but want to twist it to their beliefs.
As an example, I have chatted with many lady Pentecostals who ignore this verse. They want to be seen of man and speak in tongues rather than follow this verse:
1 Corinthians 14:34, "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."
In the end you can find how easily people ignore the Bible to push their own belief or agenda. From this we can see where Paul's warning to the Corinthians comes in:
2 Corinthians 3,4, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
If your pastor steps away from Biblical teaching and follows another belief, prayerfully examine the fact God may be leading you to a more Biblically-sound church.
Before beginning, a little background. As a young man still attending a Christian University I sat down with my cousin, a lady preacher. She had written several books, one explaining her call. I and a friend walked her through the verses you will see below, and all she said was, "God told me to preach" and ignored the Bible verses. This bothered me as I did respect her, and I have had many years to ponder this response. Recently I met a young lady in college studying to be a lady pastor. When I asked her about some verses in the New Testament, her odd response was "I have never seen those verses before". So, in case you are like her, here is what God's word says about the subject.
1 Timothy 2:11-12, "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."
1 Timothy 3:2, "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach."
Since this is a controversial subject, those wanting truth need to accept the fact that as a Christian we believe the Bible as truth, and accept what God says. Man's constant effort to change it has escalated through time, so this is one of those issues we need to read the clear messages.
Pastors are to be men.
Women are never to teach men.
I could go on and get into depth on the debate, but in the end these two facts cannot be distorted or ignored. Anyone trying to explain them away using other gray verses shows how they do not believe the word of God, but want to twist it to their beliefs.
As an example, I have chatted with many lady Pentecostals who ignore this verse. They want to be seen of man and speak in tongues rather than follow this verse:
1 Corinthians 14:34, "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."
In the end you can find how easily people ignore the Bible to push their own belief or agenda. From this we can see where Paul's warning to the Corinthians comes in:
2 Corinthians 3,4, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
If your pastor steps away from Biblical teaching and follows another belief, prayerfully examine the fact God may be leading you to a more Biblically-sound church.
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