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Anyone heard this?

bapmom

New Member
My word Elnora! Where are you getting this?!

YOU are the one who says you like this sort of music.....that is a more liberal point of view.

I havent changed the subject, I was merely trying to illustrate my point!

I haven't made ANY accusations towards you, AT ALL. And YES, now Im closer to YELLING!

You seem to have a huge problem with me, and Im not sure why! I haven't accused you of anything! I was merely stating what I thought was your real position!

Look, having "lower" music standards is a part of modern-day liberalism, in its broadest sense. I don't know anything about your doctrinal beliefs, but the modern-day trend towards standards is to be more "liberal". That includes the whole "Christian Contemporary music" thing, and the more lax view of whether music can be made right simply by changing its lyrics.

And no, the rest is not just to sidetrack you! Havent you had a conversation in which people give you multiple examples in order to fully illustrate their point?
I really do not understand why you insist on being offended.

If Ive misread you, then Im sorry, but I really do think that you and I have simply gotten off on the wrong foot and we need to start over.

I meant no offense, but you also seem to just TAKE offense at everything I say! Even when its an inocuous remark!

I really wish we could be friends, but it is hard when you are so suspicious of every comment I make. Disagreeing with you on a point is not an accusation, nor is it showing any sort of unrighteous judgemental attitude.
 

El_Guero

New Member
Did I spell that right?

No matter, a big Book will still bite.

Get that girl a bigger Book.

Then I might take a second look.
 

Eric B

Active Member
Site Supporter
WOW! Did this take off!
Rachel, please, I did not intimate that other people are not sinful!

I work among inner city kids RIGHT NOW, every week. I am telling you, these days they ARE more cruel than the kids you grew up with. It is not just some kids playing kickball in the street. In MY city they play kickball with people in the street.
The kids we encounter (who we bring to Sunday School every week, love, and minister to them, teach them the gospel, EVERY WEEK) THESE kids are hardened, bitter and angry.

The inner city is not just poor, it has become neglected by God's people and so the kids ARE becoming more heathen than many other groups.

Rachel, perhaps you need to look at more cultures before you decide there is no merit in any one over another. There are drug cultures, would you say they are just as good as the church culture? Probably not.

But please, do not take what I said as my being holier than thou. I work with these kids and I know who they are. Do you? We are trying to take them from where they are (without God) to where God wants them (saved and walking WITH God).

That last is a challenge to make you think, not an accusation.

Not all "cultures" in our country are good, and not all forms of music are good. There is Godly music and there is unGodly music.
Rachel? I think this is me you were answering.

The problem here, is, you're ignoring the STANDARD that we are to follow. People talk a lot about "standards", but in practice, it is "premodern Christian culture" is that has been set up as the standard that all others are judged by. Elnora answerd this well:
You did claim that urban kids are more heathen, and you are wrong. Yes I do know all about them, yes we do work with them. Yes I have lived there as well as in predominately upper class white neighborhoods. The difference is the white "heathens" have the means to hide their sins better. No "culture is "good" without Christ as the center, not even "suburban or upper class".
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[or past Western civilization; past "christian" culture, or whatever else. Sin was hidden more in the pre-60's, pre electronic media age past, not less existant. It was also oriented a bit differently. Just ask any black or Jew how "not as cruel" society was back then. And that includes your "church culture". Once again, this is like asking "There are pagan idol worshipping cultures, would you say they are just as good as the Nation of Israel culture? Probably not". This is the way they thought, and what good did it do them, when they ended up crucifying the Messiah, and suffered God's wrath?
NO culture is "good". All are fallen, and God calls people OUT of them, whatever style of music it uses!
Let's get to what music really is, and the study of it will show you (hopefully, if you are willing to take it to heart), that there are unGodly forms of music just as there are Godly forms.

First of all, strictly looking at music....forgetting lyrics for now......there are three basic parts to music.

Melody
Harmony
Rhythm

All three are a valid part of music. Our God is a balanced God....."Let all things be done decently and in order", He is not the author of chaos, etc.....
So, let's agree that God would want balance and order in His music, as well. Anything, when out of balance or out of the natural order that GOD has ordained, has thus been perverted by the world and no longer qualifies as godly. This would then apply to music as well.

Ok, music speaks to us as human beings, on levels that not all of us understand, and no one understands completely. Howver, basically the Melody speaks to our spirit, the Harmony speaks to our soul(emotions, intellect, will) the Rhythm speaks to our body(the flesh)

It is not Godly to totally deny the body and all physical things, correct? Is there a music that does this?
Yes.
There is a music that is ALL Harmony. Basically no melody and absolutely no rhythm. It has no direction, no body to it, very ethereal. Out of balance. This is the music that the New Agers have made so popular. Emotion leads this music, and God tells us that our emotions are not supposed to lead us. While emotions are important they should not be first.

Now, is there a music that is ALL Rhythm?
Yes, that would be rap....the "music" that is being discussed here. It is ALL body, no melody and no harmony at all. It puts the body first, and the Bible tells us that we are to put our bodies into subjection. The body is not supposed to be leading us (carnal Christianity has this problem, we all have a problem in this area.) While the body is important it is not supposed to be first, not even second, it is to be last in line.
Actually, rap is not "ALL rhythm". It is WORDS that rhyme to the rhythm, and you may claim that the rhythm dominates, or whatever, but clearly, it would not be rap without the words. Even the other forms criticized for "rhythm" still do usually have a lot of melody and harmony. People focus on a few extreme styles, to paint the whole genre with a single brush stroke.
Lastly, there is music that is melody led. It speaks to our spirit, the part of us that is supposed to be in charge, under the control of the Holy Spirit.

When judging music, each individual song, we should keep these things in mind. There are variations of unbalance, but the spirit should always be in control, the emotions providing color and "harmony" to our life, and our body in subjection but providing an underlying support system that is used for good.
So what is this rightly "balanced", but "led by the spirit" style then? The old hymns? Perhaps many of these, the way they are played in conservative, old time Churches, rather than being the "balance", are simply the third counterpart to the other two extremes you mentioned. All "melody", with rhythm and harmony deliberately minimized, somethies almost to nothing, for fear that those two things lead to too much "pleasure ("the flesh"). Perhaps this is what led people to rebel and go to the opposite extreme in the first place.
That is what has fired me up in this issue. Much of the old Church music is NOT balanced, at all. It is based on an unbiblical means of trying to control "the flesh", or man's devising, and not really of "the spirit" at all! Much of CCM has the balance, but people reject it because it may fall under the category of what is called "rock", or have something in common with jazz.
You can get into lyrics after all this is in balance. Lyrics can take an in-balance tune and turn it into an unGodly venture. BUT, lyrics are really secondary. They canNOT take and OUT OF BALANCE song and turn it into a GODLY song. You canNOT have one thing balanced and the other UNbalanced and still have it be pleasing to God. This would apply in all areas of our life.
I can't say that Im living a Godly life if I cuss and drink and do drugs while Im at home, but I still go to church on the weekends. "Hey, I go to church!" is not going to excuse the parts of my life that are wrong.
In the same way, if a tune (song) has good lyrics but it speaks solely to the body and ignores all the other parts than itis out of balance and is not pleasing to God.
But the claim that all of the styles that are being condemned crosses the line and "appeals to the flesh" to the sense that is it comparable to drinking and cursing, and being "unpleasing" to God, has not been proven. It is argued from taking the "testimonials" of some, and then projecting it onto everyone else, whether we have experienced it or not.
Picking up on this point:
Keep posting, bapmom! Eric has been told exactly what you've said many times. Music is judged by it's appeal, which really is the ultimate meaning of music, and he agrees. He just doesn't understand the differences between the spirit and the flesh.
No, it is you (Aaron) who doesn't know what "spirit" and "flesh" are. In four years, you have never been able to prove what they are to any of us who have debated with you. Once again, we only go around the cycle. (and welcome to The Cycle, bapmom!)
Trying to control the "the flesh" with some unbiblical rules is just as much "the flesh" as totally indulging. Just look at Paul's testimony in Colossians, Philippians, and elsewhere!
Bapmom: //Again, please do not call me a legalist when you don't really understand what the word means. "legalism" means that the person is claiming that one must live a holy life in order to
a)get saved
or
b)remain saved
This is a heresy, of course.//

OF course, it is a heresy. It isn't what we
usually mean here by 'legalism'; it is only the worse form.
A less worse form is to give to much effort toward rules and forgetting our relationship to Christ and to one another.
People who take issues like this (where they are basically denouncing their bretheren as doing something "offensive to God", whether they force or "push" them or not) ALWAYS omit that last definition of "legalism"!

http://members.aol.com/etb700/ccm.html
 

Aaron

Member
Site Supporter
Originally posted by Elnora:
It is extra biblical man made rules that one Christian tries to impose on another through manipulation or a false sense of guilt.

...

Pushing those standards on others is legalism.
If anyone is guilty of manipulation and imposition, the CCM crowd takes the cake. From the beginning, they have horned in on traditional worshippers forcing their preferences and beating down any who would object. Traditional worshippers are maligned as manipulative, judgmental, legalistic, man-centered, pharisaical, and the list goes on.

So let me ask you a question. Is it God's will that the church use the style of music that Elnora prefers in Christian worship?
 

El_Guero

New Member
if your name ain't on your Book

Then you won't get a second chance

You had best take one last look

'cause you won't do that dance

in heaven dude

where you will be will be so rude ...

Copyright El_Guero 2005
 

Eric B

Active Member
Site Supporter
If anyone is guilty of manipulation and imposition, the CCM crowd takes the cake. From the beginning, they have horned in on traditional worshippers forcing their preferences and beating down any who would object. Traditional worshippers are maligned as manipulative, judgmental, legalistic, man-centered, pharisaical, and the list goes on.
Yes, both have been guilty of the same thing, to some extent. (No, you cannot flip it over and ignore the guilt manipulation and forcing the traditionalists have done, using their "seniority" to boot!)
As I say on my page:
The Biblical way to resolve this would have been to all sit down and discuss it prayerfully as brethren, but the problem was that those favoring the old ways were usually totally unreasonable, and did not even believe in discussing or debating, so actually, the brunt of the blame for this discord would fall more on the traditionalists! If leaders and others on the conservative side were supposedly more mature, and truly God's appointed leaders, and knew scripture so well, then they should have been the ones to have handled this scripturally from the beginning! Instead, they allowed emotion to take completely over, thus setting the stage for one of the very things they criticize CCM fans for— choosing music based on emotion and feelings! This is what set the tone of this debate. And once the youngsters went out and started their own churches, the traditionalists should have had no problem, as they would not have to hear what was sung in those churches. But instead, they continued to denounce the entire contemporary Church just for using the styles, period (whether people were trying to bring it into their congregations or not).

(At press time, your link to the other thread is being answerd, as well).
 

El_Guero

New Member
Less meaning ... Is great!

Shear noncense with No Gospel message.

And people get rich off of it!

Why do I preach God's message ...

Why when I think of it ...

It is God's message ...

© El_G 2005

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Ed Edwards

<img src=/Ed.gif>
Your God is too small, if you limit Him
to one and only one music type.

What does CCM mean?
I guess it means Corny Country Music

I'm agin' it. But if God can use it,
i ain't fightin' it.

Bapmom: //My word Elnora! Where are you getting this?!

YOU are the one who says you like this sort of music.....that is a more liberal point of view.

I havent changed the subject, I was merely trying to illustrate my point!

I haven't made ANY accusations towards you, AT ALL. //

your post introduction is self-contradictory.

I know where i come from, it is a put-down to
call some one 'liberal'. In fact, 'liberal' is a curse
word. You have accused Sister Elnora of it :(

Aaron: "Is it God's will that the church use the style of music that Elnora prefers in Christian worship?"

I've read this whole thread and really don't
know what music Sister Elnora prefers.
I prefer Southern Quartet Gospel. But
Negro Spiritual and classic Broms/Martin-Luther
stuff like :"A Mighty Fortress is our God!"
is really good.
 

El_Guero

New Member
CCM Is a sect

I forget the definition, but is a new feel good light Gospel - it is not health and wealth - but it is not a more traditional "crucified with Jesus".

CCM Is a sect ... unless it is "classical country music" like "Playing chicken with a train"
 

Thankful

<img src=/BettyE.gif>
If anyone is guilty of manipulation and imposition, the CCM crowd takes the cake. From the beginning, they have horned in on traditional worshippers forcing their preferences and beating down any who would object. Traditional worshippers are maligned as manipulative, judgmental, legalistic, man-centered, pharisaical, and the list goes on.

So let me ask you a question. Is it God's will that the church use the style of music that Elnora prefers in Christian worship?
Where did anyone in this thread say that they prefer the music in the opening post of this thread in Christian worship?

You are really jumping to conclusions. I liked the music, but I am one of the most traditional Church musicians You will find. I am the church organist. I play traditional hymns. I have also played Bach and other classical music. I prefer the hymns in the Baptist Hymnal which have all been reviewed by a committee to be sure of their true scriptural basis.

Now, I can enjoy the services that are led by the praise and worship team. I can worship my God in both kind of services.

I really think that one should be careful about grouping anyone who disagrees with them into a "liberal" group.
 

El_Guero

New Member
Then you must really love

"I Play chicken with the train"

Beautiful noncense music will reach the masses.

And it doesn't have cheap theology ...
 

Elnora

New Member
Wow! Since trying to repost I see you all are having a heyday. I go back and now Aaron says, quoting me, that this is typical of the CCM whatever crowd horning in on traditional Christian music.

babpmom say I said I like rap therefore liberal when I said way back that I PERSONALLY DON'T!!

Do you all talk just to hear yourselves? Because you certainly have not paid attention to a thing I said. Now you are ready to get mad and START YELLING!!!

You have done that from the start, obviously with such lack of listening skills, it is a waste of time to try to rationally discuss this.

I am done on this one, bapmom I hold no ill will toward you nor you El_Guero or anyone else here.

I do, in parting this thread beg you, when you can calm down re-read this thread. Then maybe you can understand what I was saying.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ rest on you all. God bless.
 

Rachel

New Member
Originally posted by Elnora:
Wow! Since trying to repost I see you all are having a heyday. I go back and now Aaron says, quoting me, that this is typical of the CCM whatever crowd horning in on traditional Christian music.

babpmom say I said I like rap therefore liberal when I said way back that I PERSONALLY DON'T!!

Do you all talk just to hear yourselves? Because you certainly have not paid attention to a thing I said. Now you are ready to get mad and START YELLING!!!

You have done that from the start, obviously with such lack of listening skills, it is a waste of time to try to rationally discuss this.
Told you....that you were just spittin in the wind here.
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:cool:
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Dr. Bob

Administrator
Administrator
Just letting you all know that I've been asked to monitor the posts here. Some very unchristian attitudes showing here and we will stop that in its tracks.
 

Aaron

Member
Site Supporter
Thankful, my post has to be understood as a reply to Elnora's allegations.

Ed, my question was to Elnora.
 
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