Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Importance of Theology in Music

"Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You."--Psalm 67:3

Recently, I've noticed myself drawn in to music which isn't normally considered in the same music store, let alone the same genre.

I've really enjoyed listening to some hymns lately. Most of them are popular hymns, I haven't gotten around to listening to the obscure ones yet. One in particular has struck me profoundly. It's name is "It Is Well With My Soul".

Listen to the words of this amazing hymn (or at least read them, since this is a text post):


When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Did you notice the amazing comprehension of God's sovereignty in there?

How about the gloriousness of the cross of Christ?

Do you see how God-centered this song is, even in its simplicity?

Hymns, for the most part, are an amazing way to get your worship focused on God--though I know they're not very "relevant" today (which I don't really understand).

The other music that I have been listening to has been Hip-Hop. I know I might have just lost you, but stick with me here.

I've been listening to a rapper by the name of Shai Linne, and also a rapper by the name of Lecrae.

Take a look at some of the lyrics from Lecrae's song "Don't Waste Your Life":

"Your money your singleness marriage talent and time
They were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine
That's why it's Christ in my rhymes
That's why it's Christ all the time
My whole world is built around him
He's the life in my lines
I refused to waste my life
He's too true ta chase
That ice
Heres my gifts and time cause I'm constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ
If he's truly raised to life
Then this news should change your life
And by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules your days and nights."

Do you see the God-centeredness of this song too?

He obviously understands the nature of stewardship and servanthood to Christ.

This is an amazing thing, that despite the vast majority of rappers making their songs about sex and drugs, these men are writing music that is not only God-centered, but doctrinal.

So, from two completely different aspects musically, the clear teachings of Scripture are being communicated.

Notice the God-centeredness.

They sing of God's amazing, unchanging nature, not their ever-changing feelings for God at a moment in time.

This is what makes for truly God-honoring worship. Focusing our praise upon our eternal God, not ourselves and our feelings for God at the moment.

This is true worship, and I am glad that there are men willing to communicate clearly the Word of God through music! Amen!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Problem with the Gospel in America

Ok, I know I just got your attention with that title, whether you're a liberal or a conservative Christian.

Conservatives are thinking, "Great! Another one of those emergent fellows who questions the Bible."

Liberals are thinking, "Great! Another one of those emergent fellows who questions the Bible."

Well, whichever side you fall on, you're wrong.

This is not going to be some sort of "We need to help others, cause that's the Gospel, and that's what's missing in America today."

No, No, that's not the problem with the Gospel in America. There are plenty of soup kitchens and backpack programs (nothing wrong with those) to go around.

No, I suppose I should have titled this post "Things that are ruining church youngsters."

I could have titled it that, but it's not as provocative, and I have to stay relevant or else no one will read this.

Anyway, I have noticed a couple things that are going to contend majorly against a Biblical worldview and have begun to creep into the church.

I intend to put a few of these down today, or over the next few days, just so that people can get a feel for them and so that they will see the error in these various "worldly wise" philosophies.

I'll try to keep them short enough to maintain the American attention span, although I'm sure I've already lost half of the readers with the length of this one.

So, for the 2 of you who are still reading, you have something to look forward to, I hope.

Things That Are Ruining Church Youngsters, Part 1

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."--Philippians 2:3

I think the first contributor to the downfall spiritually of many in the younger generation today is the "self-esteem" movement.

This is the movement where your kids are made out to be fragile glass ornaments who just might shatter at any moment and then blame you when they are on a therapist's couch in 20 years.

This movement includes the following measures to ensure our children's "safety":

  1. They cannot lose a sports game, so we just won't keep score. That way they figure out that life always ends up fair and balanced, and everybody's a winner.
  2. They cannot EVER, ever have their feelings hurt, (note the couch scene above) so you must shield them from hearing any sort of corrective words, whether from you, or from any other adult that thinks he "knows better" than your child
  3. They cannot EVER, EVER, ever be told that they are doing somethings wrong in their schoolwork, or else they will never want to learn anything again and they might drop out of high school later in life. Therefore, we've allowed for "creative spelling" in which the child can spell words the way he or she feels best. 2 +2 doesn't always have to equal 4, does it?

If you've detected a hint of sarcasm in the beginning of this post, congratulations. I apologize if I've stepped on toes with my workboots here, but we have to see this for what it is: Foolishness.

It's as if we've become scared of our children.

Scared that they will suffer the slightest bit of damage and hold us responsible for it later on in life.

So, we've resorted to letting the world revolve around children and their pleasure, when Proverbs 22:15 tells us that, "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child".

Do we really want to be led by someone whose heart is "bound up" with foolishness?

This is not only foolishness, but it is completely un-Biblical.

This brings us to the verse above, Philippians 2:3.

This seems to go counter to self-esteem.

"Consider others better than yourselves"?

That's not me-centered!

That's exactly the point!

We are not supposed to live me-centered lives focused on whatever's best for me.

Neither are our children. Their lives should be about glorifying God, not glorifying themselves.

They should be far more concerned with whether their brothers and sisters and friends are well-pleased than whether they are pleased.

Guys, I'm speaking this from experience.

We have a seven year old who we bought the "self-esteem" lie in raising.

So far, it has produced a child with a lack of respect for others and who's only concern (most of the time) is how someone else can entertain him.

I love my son, and I'm not trying to convey any other message, but this "emotional trauma" myth that we bought has led to a child who is self-centered rather than God-centered.

It has been a struggle to try to change that heart orientation.

If you are struggling with the same problems, I would highly recommend a book by Tedd Tripp entitled "Shepherding a Child's Heart".

It is the most Biblically-centered, God-honoring parenting book that I think I've ever read.

So, if you're a parent who has bought the self-esteem program, please think hard about whether it is Biblically correct or not.

And, if you are a child reading this, you ARE NOT the center of the universe.

Things That Are Ruining Church Youngsters, Part 2

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."--John 17:17

The second thing that I think is ruining youngsters in the church today is the philosophy of postmodernism.

Postmodernism is the philosophy which espouses, among other things that "truth is relative".

This means that truth is defined by each individual, not by a set standard of truth.

Nevermind the fact that this is one of the most illogical propositions in every area of life.

Take business for example. Say I walk into a department store, and the shirt I want has a tag on it that says "$10". I take the shirt up to the counter. I plop down the shirt and a $5 bill and wait for the girl to ring me up.

What's she going to do?

She will, if she's sensible, tell me that I still owe her $5 more.

How illogical would it be of me to say, "Well, to you that is only a $5 bill, but to me, it's a $100 bill, and you owe me some change little missy!"

That would be ridiculous!

Yet, this is what is being passed off as acceptable philosophy today.

As I stated in my last post, this is foolishness.

John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'"

That sounds pretty exclusive, doesn't it?

So, we are left to determine between these two claims.

Either Jesus is true, and everybody else is false; or everybody else is true and Jesus is false.

This is the choice; there is no other option.

Good Hindus will not be reincarnated just because that's what they believe. Good Buddhists will not turn into nothing just because that's what they believe.

Yet, this is what many young people believe and endorse today.

This is completely unbiblical, and i think it plays somewhat off of the "self-esteem" issue I posted about earlier.

We are scared to tell other people they are wrong.

But if they are wrong, their belief doesn't make up for it.

The object of belief is what matters, not the intensity of belief.

If it is true, it is true. If not, it is not.

The definition of truth must be established, or else the world will all blend together into one belief system with no absolute standard.

Things That Are Ruining Church Youngsters, Part 3

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."--Genesis 1:1

I struggled with the order I should post this topic. I thought maybe I should post it first, because it is the grandfather of the other two forms of foolishness mentioned.

However, I decided I would save it until now so that we could start with the issues of today and work back to the issues which they EVOLVED from. Get the picture?

Ah, yes, we've come to the brilliance of the theory of evolution.

Evolution: The Atheist's Greatest Weapon against Christianity.

Too bad nobody ever told them it's got a big self-destruct button.

The theory of evolution stands in stark contrast to the theory of origins stated in the Bible: Creation.

It stands at odds, claiming that we've all "evolved" from one single cell organism which crawled from a slime pit millions of years ago. Or was it 100,000 years ago? Eh, I don't know, check back with me next week, it'll have changed by then.

Anyways, this theory is completely opposite of the theory of Creation.

The theory of creation states what Genesis 1:1 says above: that God created the world and everything in it.

This, however, is apparently unintelligent. The reason has yet to be determined any more than "because it involves the supernatural".

Nevermind the fact that some of the leading evolutionists believe that life was started here when aliens brought single celled organisms their backs. Boy, they will do anything they can to avoid admitting the obvious.

Yet, despite its foolishness, many in churches, and even many churches, try to squeeze the theory of evolution into the Biblical account of evolution.

This is completely impossible, however, because the Hebrew terms for "day" as in "on the first day," mean a literal, 24 hour day.

No smooshing allowed!

So, we come back to the matter of truth.

Is Genesis true, or is evolution true.

If one claims to be a Christian, they should believe that the Genesis account is the truth.

Remember, Jesus said in John 17:17, "Thy word is truth."

So, God's Word is truth. Whatever God says is the truth. God defines truth.

And God said that He created the world in 6, literal, 24 hour periods.

Take it or leave it.