Imagine My Surprise…

Every once in awhile I will “google” my name just to see what turns up.  Last week I was very shocked to see that one of my posts from this blog was quoted in a couple of different articles and blogs!  To be honest, I thought that no one was ever reading (except for maybe Mom and Dad, because, you know, they HAVE to!).

Here’s where I first saw the quote: http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3984&Itemid=53

It’s nice to see that there are others just as concerned as I am about where church music (and the church in general) is right now.  So it’s time to step it up notch!  I’ve tried to be very general in my criticisms; not naming names or specific songs.  But I’m going to change that.  I’m going to start critiquing specific songs and songwriters on this blog, and putting it all out there about how I believe they are damaging and neutering the church.  My intention will not be to offend people, but it will happen, since I will undoubtedly go after some “sacred cows.”  But I do this for the sake of the church.

But before I start hacking away, let me recommend some names of GOOD songwriters for the church today:  Stuart Townend, Keith Getty, Bob Kauflin, Steve and Vicki Cook, Mark Altrogge, Stephen Altrogge.  Find them, and find good and thought provoking music that is well-written.  O yeah, there might be some Scripture in there, too.

Christmas Music

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”  This is a phrase that starts to get tossed around every December.  Holidays, vacations, snow, hot chocolate; so many things that make people love this ‘most wonderful time of the year.’  

For me, it’s Christmas music.  I LOVE Christmas music.  Sacred and non-sacred, I love it all!  Whether it’s Nat King Cole’s version of “The Christmas Song,” or Sir David Willcocks setting of “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” I look forward to the beginning of every winter so I can hear the holiday music.

Here are some of my other Christmas favorites:

John Rutter’s settings of “Silent Night” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Hodie”

Vince Guaraldi’s Jazz Trio in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

Alfred Reed’s setting of “Greensleeves”

Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”

Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker”

Simple 4-part a capella singing of Christmas carols

…..I could go on…..

From a Christian/church perspective, I am always happy when Christmas time rolls around because all the churches that have forsaken great music (and the arts in general) will also dust off the hymnal.  Even if it’s just once a year, it’s a good thing.

The great and memorable music is part of what makes this ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’  I encourage everyone to soak it up while we have it.  Let it help you remember good times with family and friends.  Let it remind you of the simpler times, when, as children, we waited the whole year for Christmas.  And, if you’re willing, let it tell you about the child born in Bethlehem.

Church Music and Biblical Literacy

Many theologians/bible scholars will tell you that Biblical literacy among Christians is at an historic low point.  Ironically, there has never been a time when Christians were so into so-called ‘worship.’  How can these two events, biblical illiteracy and a great passion for worship, be happening at the same time?  Simple answer: THEY CAN’T.  In fact, they DON’T.  Think about this logically: if biblical literacy is so low at this point in western history, then the God of the Bible is not the god that is being worshipped, but rather a shallow and incomplete version of Him.  Or coming from the other perspective, if worship today is really so profound and life altering, then the knowledge of that which is being worshipped would have to be at an incredibly high and accurate level.  These two ideas, high biblical illiteracy and a worship renewal/revival movement, can not be happening at the same time.

 

So which one is occurring now?  I’ll let you think about it…..

Maybe this is part of the problem…

In my quest to find new and good church music, I made my regular visit to the CCLI website.  This weeks theme for our worship service is “Walking in Maturity.”  A few hymns immediately came to mind: BE THOU MY VISION, MAY THE MIND OF CHRIST MY SAVIOR, I WANT TO BE LIKE JESUS, NEARER MY GOD TO THEE.  Unfortunately I could not think of any contemporary songs that address this idea of spiritual maturity.  So, I went to the CCLI site to try to find some.  I set up the search, clicked ’search,’ and this happened….NOTHING!!!  Nothing, there were NO songs that came up!  So, I tried an ‘advanced search,’ and the same thing!  I tried ‘maturity,’ and I tried ’spiritual maturity.’  Nothing.  ‘No songs were found with your search criteria.’  I found this to be profoundly discouraging and depressing. 

 So then I thought I would try a similar search with different wording.  Perhaps I just need to change my wording!  So, I tried ‘be like Christ;’ nothing.  ‘Imitate Christ;’ nothing.  ‘Live like Christ;’ nothing.  Finally I tried something very simple: ‘growth.’  FINALLY, several pages were available, but only a few songs actually had the music available for viewing and download.  The texts that I found were more about ‘give me more of your power’ then ‘help me love my God and my neighbor.’  As frustrated and disappointed I was, I can’t say I was surprised.

I have maintained for a long time that church music today is extremely shallow and having almost no teaching value.  If there are no songs coming out that talk about becoming more like the God we supposedly worship, how can we possibly be on the right track?  Kyrie Eleison….

Some Great Contemporary Church Music…

Today I was browsing through some contemporary church music resources, looking for new songs that I can introduce and use at my church.  This is almost always a very discouraging process, since I usually find lackluster texts with even more lackluster music.  The ‘hottest’ ‘worship leaders’ out there (I don’t want to name any names, but we know who they are…) write the same song over and over again, and no one seems to notice.  There isn’t anything ‘un-true’ about most of these songs (though I would consider many to have questionable theology at best), but there isn’t anything really good either; and I stand by the argument that an absence of heresy does not equal the presence of quality!

 But then I remembered a very reliable website that I’ve checked into before and have always found great stuff.  Here it is, folks:  www.sovereigngraceministries.com.  If you’re looking for new, well-written, theologically sound contemporary music I suggest you visit this site often.  To be blunt, the music I’ve found on this website really puts the ‘popular’ and well-known contemporary music to shame.  A lot of thought goes into the texts and music for these songs, and they are more than just ‘general praise,’ which is where most of todays songs haphazardly fall into.  Plus, this website makes many lead sheets available for FREE!  Yep, that’s right, free.  It actually seems like the people who run this site actually care about ministry!  (I hope you noticed the sarcasm dripping from that last sentence)  I have found dozens of songs here that I have used, and will continue to use, for corporate worship as well as special music. 

So, if you’re looking for some contemporary music for your church that actually has some ‘meat on the bones,’ I strongly encourage you to visit the good folks at Sovereign Grace Ministries.  I’ve never been disappointed with what I find there.

The Current State of Church Music

When I say ‘church music,’ I’m referring to the evangelical Christian subculture. This may seem limited in a way, but it’s the background that I come from and have experience in.

Nothing makes me more angry or discourages me more than the current state of church music. Value is determined by emotional manipulation, record sales, and quick returns. These factors seem to contradict the very Gospel that the music is supposed to be about. I have a friend who told me the phrase “Jesus is my girlfriend” songs; those which you could easily substitute the word “girl” for Jesus, and instantly change the song from a cheesy love song to a cheesy ‘worship’ song.

Where the gospel demands a life of sacrifice, discipline and commitment, many new songs today promote instant gratification, ease of consumption, and ’short shelf life.’ While these two mindsets clearly contradict each other there are those in the church who try to reconcile the two. Why? Because it’s easier to consume music than it is to let it challenge you and possibly bring you to a deeper understanding of life. Where the great songwriters for the church years ago wrote poignant songs about faith in the midst of trials, joy in the midst of suffering, and poetic reflections on the scriptures and the world, todays writers are just trying to churn out the next ‘hit.’ Seriously, what popular songs will we be singing 50 years from now? Or even 10? Not that there is something morally wrong about a song with a short ’shelf-life,’ but shouldn’t the goal be to write songs that are going to be just as meaningful and profound to today’s church AND tomorrow’s?

We are at a very dangerous time in church history; not because ‘the democrats might take office again,’ or because ‘a movie about gay cowboys’ was released and did well financially; but rather because the faith today is preaching a quasi-gospel about how to make this life easier and more comfortable. It takes very little effort to be a Christian today, in fact, there isn’t a demand for any effort at all. The easier, the better. Spirtual ‘rationalization’ occurs when not wanting to concentrate on anything above a 3rd grade reading level becomes ‘I just want to praise my Jesus.’ Similarly, vain repetition which numbs the mind is said to ‘allow the words to REALLY penetrate the heart.’

If we believe that the God we worship is the Creator and Redeemer of all, then we NEED to put a little more effort into the image we give of Him. Instead of buying the latest CD by our favorite ‘worship leader,’ giving money to the already rich televangelist, or boycotting the latest rated-R movie, let’s create and encourage art that will reflect the timeless truths of the gospel and the God from whom it originates.