Featured Does CCM belong in the church

They're on the fence. They won't sing "Days of Elijah" but they have been known to sway a little and tap their toes while others sing it.

 

Personally, I don't care for the expression "Contemporary Christian Music."

While most of us would probably consider most Christian songs written about 50 years or sooner as CCM, the word "contemporary" simply means "of the current day, or of the current era."

If you take that dictionary definition and apply it to "Christian" music, then one would have to say that, for example, when Isaac Watts wrote his many hymns, they were "Contemporary" Christian Music for his day.

You could also apply such classical "Christian" music as Handel's Messiah as CCM if you lived back in the 1740's - 1750's.

This could also apply to Haydn's Creation & Mendelsohn's Reformation Symphony #5 in the middle 1800's.

I wish there were a different word than CONTEMPORARY Christian Music, but, alas, I guess were stuck with it.

 

One of the things I do not like about CCM is the way or maybe the key it is written and played. I have sung for 80 years and have seen "Church Music" change drastically over this period. It is difficult for me to sing for this reason, it is written with only the G clef and usually one line. It is usually too high for me to reach the high notes and if I go down an octave I can't sing the low ones. So I just smile and move my lip.

 

Someone else mentioned corporate singability and it is a biggie. Hate it when the musicians and praise team are having a great time showing off but everyone else just stands there looking confused or bored.

No matter the music style or age, a real good test to see if a church has a performance problem is simply to move all singers and musicians to the back for 6 months. The ones still serving at the end of that time are ministering. The ones getting their egos stroked performing will be elsewhere

 

This comment reminds me of a time in a revival series locally by Bill Glass w/music by Ron & Carolyn Patty - (Sandy's mom & dad).
I was in the bass section of the "revival choir" led by Ron. No physical music of any sort, so all was rote!
Ron would take a few measures and teach the lyrics & music to each section of the choir till they had it down pat.
He also gave a few hand signals and described the desired reaction to each.
So when we performed, all was going fine & according to his leading, when right in the midst of a tremendous crescendo section --- he gave the signal to cut it. Now this would have been fine except not once did we practice this in rehearsal!!!

He either had a fantastic confidence in his "leading" ability or a fantastic faith in God, or both, because the entire choir (75-100 members) followed his lead w/o a hitch.

This was back in the mid 70s, but I still get goose bumps from thinking that I could have been the ONE that was not looking at him at that precise instance (and that was a real possibility) and had my bellowing "solo" reverberate through the auditorium.

As I frequently say, "Thank God for small favors!"

 

My preceding post(s) will tell you most of my views in this CCM vs. so-called Traditional-type (i.e., earlier than c.1950 A.D.) Hymns, so I won't bore y'all to death by beating a dead horse to death again---after all, I don't THINK y'all can make a dead horse "deader," "deadest," etc.!!

As was mentioned before, one's musical-style PREFERENCES are just that---personal PREFERNCES----not to be confused with CONVICTIONS (i.e., Something for which y'all would actually, physically DIE!!)

IMHO, the Word of God does give some very broad, general guidelines in Philippians 4:8----the "whatsoever things are ...----, but even then there's a whole lot of variation in, e.g., What exactly IS lovely, or, or What exactly IS of good report, etc.

Much of this man-made controversy depends on each individual's lives' experiences and/or how they perceive "their music" cf. "your music," etc.

For instance way back in the dark ages of the c. middle to late A. D. 1950's when yours truly was a teenager (60 years, or 2/3'ds of a century, ago!! ) I enjoyed guys like Ricky Nelson, Danny & the Juniors, etc., of course back then I was a lost person whose parents had to drag me to this ultra-ultra-ultra liberal "church"----the pastor was an honor graduate from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA---to be bored to listen to his weekly diatribes, many of which were his revisions of Dr. H. E. Fosdick's orations of two decades prior.

Then, a couple years later the "Doo-Whoop's" were replaced with either the "surfer sounds" of Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys, or the Italian / Jersey Tough Hoods such as Franki Valli & The 4 Seasons.

By that time, I began to be "turned off" with the beat-driven tunes of both of them and settled for the easy-listening, tight vocal harmonies of The Lettermen----which I still occasionally listen to.

Then came April, 1966, when I trusted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.

Yes, 2 Corinthians 5:17 does say that now ALL things are become NEW, but, in my case, they didn't instantaneously become NEW the micro-second I received Christ as my Savior. Part of that reality may be because I was about mid-way in my 4-year enlistment with the USAF and living in a two-roomed, "One room fits 25 dirty, GI's which individual privacy (even for showering!) was a totally unknown concept."

I'm not blaming them, they're doing what any lost late teen, early 20's single guy who's away from home would probably be doing, but having one's quiet times alone with your Father where one could deeply meditate on the beauty of sacred holiness was, shall we say, a wee bit challenging---especially after often spending several hours working at the Tucson, AZ, flight line where one could literally fry eggs on the wings of our F-4C's fighter-bomber, mach-2 capable, Phantom II's.

Anyway, after going through my complete DEROS from the REGAF's USAFE base at Ramstien Air Base near K-town West Germany on 15 Apr 69, and having to listen AFN-E's steady diet of acid-rock, my preferences were even more changed to that of J.S. Bach's music---but not played by your usual Baroque - style chamber orchestra, but by the newer, fad-der Moog !! Digital Electronic Synthesizer by Dr. Wendy Carlos's Switch-On Bach Album. If you've never heard Bach's "Overture marked Sinfonia to Cantata #29----which has an organ obbligato that challenges even some of today's finest symphonically-trained organists---well, needless to say, I fell in love with Herr Bach.

Then when I read the English translations of some of his sacred cantatas, the 2'nd honeymoon began. Yes, I don't think Bach had a perfectly sketched-out way that all good 21st century IFB's have, but when you read lyrics such as, "Weeping, Wailing, Pleading are the Christians' lot in Depending on God ["Gott," in German] to Help Us In Victorious Battle Over The Prince of the Power of the Air, We Can Take To Heart That 'Cross and Crown Are Tied Together,' and He Who Bore That Cross Will Some Day Give Us a Crown of VIctory For Abiding In Him," you kind of get a little better picture of this composer who was born almost 370 years ago, and who probably preached behind a Baptist pulpit [He was at least a nominal Lutheran.], speaks to us through his music----and, IMHO, probably would come in first, or near it anyway, than some of these so-called Bible thumping, tie ripping, coat tossing ....... , etc., that receives a passle [That's the scientific expression that roughly translates into, "A whole bunch!"] of, shall we say, "tremendously vocal encouragement" from "Momma's 'Amen' Corner!!"

Anyway, IMHO at least, is that if, say, "Blue Grass 'Gospel'" floats your boat, fine, but please don't use that boat as a launching platform to torpedo the S.S. J.S. Bach's, etc., Boat----Okay??!!??

---- 73's & DX, WPE3BQL / formerly KTN4EG

 

AMEN! I love the Old School Hymnals. PBs sing acapella and take the song service very seriously, it teaches us spiritual truths and praises God at the same time. It is an integral part of the worship service.

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...and hymnals DO INDEED TEACH MUSIC! I've two daughters that grew up singing from hymnals and those two harmonize and sing like angels together to this day, whether religious or secular music. They're renowned locally for their musical/singing talent and the foundation of their skill was participation in the song service in childhood. Both play acoustic guitar.

 

Yuck.

 

I also was raised in the PB Church and a song leader for 35 years and there is nothing more beautiful than to hear PB brother and sister singing the sweet songs of Zion... Sing them over 35 years you get to know those beloved songs and some by heart... I've been known to belt out a few in my daily activities... Just me singing to the Lord... Sounds better in harmony!

Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord... That is what I try to do everyday!... Brother Glen

 

Amen Brother Glen! Almost everyday, especially when I'm doing chores, I'll catch myself humming/singing within, 'the sweet songs of Zion'. They're precious possessions to have internalized.

 

Now that I know the truth, I don't like it. God opened my eyes to CCM not being of God. I think a lot of people have good intentions with it, but it's not necessary at all and God convicted me of it. I love basic hymns. Most mega churches use CCM to attract people instead of actual worship. It's about meshing with the world to conform and entertain. Like Leonard Ravenhill once said, the less power a church has, the more entertainment it produces. Also, one time I was playing 91.1 K LOVE Christian radio and they play a lot of music that has the same rythms and beats as worldly music. And my unsaved husband said "this music sounds just like any other pop song out there". So even the ungodly world of sinners know that Christian music is supposed to sound different! That says a LOT!

 

RE: Hymnals

I've got two observations about hymnals & I'll let y'all decide whether or not either one is good or bad.

1) Do you know of ANY church that has sung EACH & EVERY hymn in their hymnal?

I don't know of ANY church that can make that claim! If that's the case, why do churches spend $$$$ on hymnals if they only use. say, 50% of the hymns contained within the front and back covers??? Seems like a rather questionable example of the proper stewardship of the Lord's money to me. To put it another way, if a church were to spend, say, $40,000 dollars in a car for general usage of her staff personnel, but then the car only gets used 50% of the time, there would probably be an uproar over that, don't you think?

2) Some people have posted that one reason they don't care for CCM is because none of the CCM songs are in their hymnbooks.

Well, there are hymnbooks available that have a fairly good number of CCM songs in them. Why not buy these newer hymn books that have these CCM songs in them?

"But that costs money!!" some would complain.

Well so do a lot of wide-screen TV's that have a lot of desirable features built in them, Of course they cost money, but, if you really like these features that some of the newer digital TV sets have, guess what? You're going to have to spend money to buy one that has all these features.

Bottom line here is that sometimes you're going to have to spend some money if you want something that's newer---and possibly better.

BTW, just how old are your church's hymnals? They may be older than you are because I've been to some churches whose hymn books are about to fall apart, or have pages missing, or have scribblings in them, some of which aren't very flattering, and really do need to be replaced, but they won't be replaced because newer ones cost money. Well, duh!!

As I said earlier, these are just two observations I've made regarding hymn books. I'll leave it up to my BB friends to decide whether or not either or both of them are good or not-so-good observations.

Comments? Observations?

 

Is not the best God inspired hymnal the one you carry to church?.. The book of Psalms 150 Chapters... Wasn't King David called the singer of Israel?... That just came to my mind!... Brother Glen

 

Unfortunately, this whole thing about CCM vs. so-called "Traditional Christian Music" has been probably one of the most divisive factors that has divided the ranks of what I guess one would call "Conservative, Evangelical Christianity"---at least here in the US anyway.

Some 30 or so years ago when I first joined the TN ANG while I was still living in Clarksville, TN, which is about 50 miles NW of Nashville, I would sometimes visit the church located fairly close to the Nashville airport (a/k/a "Berry Field" [BNA]) for her Sunday Evening services since after spending the entire weekend dealing with the challenges of being a only a 3-Level DSG with the rank of E-4 ("Sgt." back then) at age of 42, Little did I know that 6 years later this same church would become the one that accepted me into her membership ranks, and in a couple of hours will again be the church to which I'll thankfully attend to learn from God's Word whatever the HS has chosen to be the continuing expose of Acts in my SS class, and the continuing expose of Exodus in our corporate worship services.

God's been so good to me for allowing me to identify with such a loving congregation as the one to which He led me. Yes, you might say I'm bragging just a little bit, but you who are reading this post ought to be able to brag about your own local church too---if for no other reason than she's YOUR local church! [You men who are married ought to be thankful enough for the wife she decided to spend her life with you ought to brag on your Mrs., because she's still with you, and, in most cases, is the mother of how many it may be of your children if, again, for no other reason than she's YOUR wife! {Left off postin' and done gone off to meddlin' now!!}].

ANYWAY, when a couple of people started asking me why I started visiting "THAT" church in Nashville every drill weekend, I told them basically that I was just too beat to drive that 50 or so miles back to Clarksville right after doing my DSG chores, and, besides, even if I did try to race back to Clarksville (under the watchful eyes of the Metro Nashville PD and/or the highly trained radar operators of the TN Highway Patrol while I'm sort of maintaining the approximate [i.e., give or take an additional 20 mph] posted speed limit(s)], by the time I would have pulled into the church's parking lot, y'all would be just finishing your Sunday PM services---which started at 1800 local time.

After they figured out that it'd be almost impossible for me to get back in sufficient time, one or two of these people would remind me of the theological disaster that was bound to befall me if I continued down this slippery slope of impending doom if I continued attending said church once a month on my ANG drill weekends. Why was that so, I'd ask them. Their unanimous reply was: "Well, well, well they sing a couple songs that are newer than 50 YO ones, and, don'tcha know that that apostate church doesn't even have---get this---AN ORGAN!!!"

I still haven't found where the NT tells us that those two items should be the opening statements of a local church's "Statement of Faith," but to those folks, it's probably in the preamble of their so-called "Statement of Faith and Practice."

This church's preaching was as Biblical as all the other church's of which I held my membership in the previous 22+ years of my being saved, but the fact that there wasn't any organ accompanying the "Solid Hymns of the Faith," of which, oddly enough, the 3rd verse was seldom sung, didn't always happen at said Nashville church, in their HO, any one who dared to darken that church's worship services would most likely find themselves seated next to one of those Demas fellows who forsook the apostle Paul's missionary efforts.

Look, some folks have the song "Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goal Posts of Life" as their anthem, while others it's "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty" as theirs, and others may have "God Will Make a Way, When There Seems to be No Way" as theirs. The Apostle Paul---the missionary whom Demas forsook---did mention the concept of "Christian Liberty" in the NT, but I guess that should NEVER apply to the styles of music that an otherwise Biblical NT local church opts to use.

Where that taboo is found in the NT, I haven't located, but maybe I'm looking in a dynamic equivalent post-1611 versions I guess. I was taught in my Ecclesiology classes that an autonomous local church was just that----AUTONOMOUS---IOW, those who haven't been accepted into the membership rolls of said church have no inherent right to dictate the styles of music of any other local BC than their own.

I'm more than willing to be shown from the pages of Holy Writ where it is that I've erred in this position that I've maintained these past 30 or so years on this.....Not some extra-Biblical opinion, mind you, but a definite "Thus Saith the LORD"!

Your comments---and even your Biblical-based condemnation(s)---are more than welcomed here at WPE3BQL's shack!!

---- 73's & DX, WPE3BQL, formerly KTN4EG

 

I don't see anything wrong with playing music in church. Music makes me feel alive and is a passion of mine. It makes people happy and allows us to worship God in such a unique way. I don't see anything wrong with that at all.