does ANYBODY like....

That's what I'm trying to get out of you and Brice, and your answer seems to be, "Anything I want it to be."

 

Don't be ridiculous. Then "all things" are decent and in order? (1 Cor. 14:40)

People really bug me when applying principles of the OT. They say David danced but offered sacrifices. Yet if I wanted to get an earring they would quote strait from Leviticus.

I don't care about the earring as much as why you'd want one. Men with earrings look girly to me anyway. Why not just put a bow in your hair?

The point is people such as yourself only use the OT to pick and choose what will be accepted and what will be done away with. Please come up with some sort of guidline.

I've provided enough information to demonstrate that there is a guideline, and your methods are incompatible with it. I won't do your homework for you.

To sum up the conversation so far, you and Brice and lizard-boy have stated that rap and hip-hop are compatible with Christian worship. All I did was say, "Prove it." And when you can't, it's suddenly my fault?

 

I think people should worry more about doing what God tells THEM to do in their personal life and less about calling other people "sinful" for listening to different music or dressing differently.

Rap is not my kind of music, though I have actually enjoyed some of Will Smith's rap. I like soul sometimes. My taste is music varies greatly. I tend to prefer soundtracks.

 

gekko,

Im sorry to have gotten it off track. I saw a question asked and I tried to answer it as best I could.

and Aaron,
come on....lizard-boy? That doesn't help, does it?

 

I only meant it in fun. If gekko is offended, I apologize.

 

Bapmom,

Although I may not agree with your conclusion, I do appreciate your sincere answer. You make some valid points.

 

Thanks Brice!

Back to the trenches.........

 

And getting back to the original question...

Why many people cannot stand the sound of rap,

Reason #2. Listeners of rap music drive around with their stereo turned up, with their windows rolled down, and you can hear them coming 200 yards away. They install massive speakers in the trunk for just this purpose. It's as if they were intentionally trying to get on everyones nerves.

 

So maybe it's to everyone's advantage that you can't afford a better system...Heeyyy Just Kidding)

 

One of the greatest lyricists of all time.

</font>[/QUOTE]Here, here! Not only lyricist, composer also. It is ashamed about his lifestyle.

 

All three are part of what makes up music, but all three are not "necessary." A mother singing a lullaby to her child has rhythm and melody but not harmony. So is this not music?

Do I personally like the rap/hip-hop style? No. There is too much emphasis on the rhythmic aspect (this also happens in much Southern Gospel).

A major point gekko and Brice are trying to make is that there is sub-culture that this musical style will reach, whereas more traditional styles that speak to you and me will not.

Would I use this style in the churhc where I Minister of Music -- absolutely not! (I love my job!) Really, it's not appropriate to my church setting.

I love the songs of Cole Porter and George Gershwin. Will I use them in worship - no!

 

Tenor,

You're right on .

 

Please do not take offense to this post. I just wish folks would not call something bad just because they dislike it. You see lyrics are VERY important to this discussion because they make up the content of the music. Content is crucial because that determines whether a song is good or not. You see I can sing a song acappella, but I am not sinning. You assume the Spirit is not in control when a Christian decides to rap. That is wrong and you have no support for that conclusion. I don’t believe the spirit is only in control when a hymn is playing! Why can’t the Holy Spirit use a rapper as a vessel to reach a cultural group? The fact is he can! I personally do NOT like rap. It does nothing for me, but it reaches a great deal of people. Your post gave no support for calling this genre a sin. Rap has melody, harmony and rhythm and as Tenor pointed out it really doesn’t matter if all three are in sync or are present. You say rap goes nowhere, but for many it does. Please define what you see as an acceptable form of music. Please give examples. Thanks and I hope you know the spirit of this post is not an angry one. God bless.

 

All three are part of what makes up music, but all three are not "necessary." A mother singing a lullaby to her child has rhythm and melody but not harmony. So is this not music?</font>[/QUOTE]That's a good point and actually supports bapmom's premise. Remove the melody, you don't have a lullaby. think her emphasis was more that each element has its place. Melody is predominant and implies harmony and rhythm.

Rap turns this order upside down.

 

Puh-leeeze! If there is melody, it is only in an emaciated form suffering the pangs of death, not even qualified to be called "melody."

You protest that folks call rap evil because they don't like it (though I have yet to see one offer any such argument), yet you counter by asserting that rap has qualities that it doesn't? If rap had a melody, it wouldn't be rap.

Tenor's whole point was that music didn't require melody to be called music, a wholly arbitrary assumption, yet you would support his premise by denying it!

 

The problem with what tenor and Brice are saying is first of all....when a mother sings a lullaby to her baby she IS singing melody. The melody is to be the leader, the dominant aspect. So she is still using that part, and of course as she sings she is using rhythm automatically. (not all music does, btw.)

Rap however, is the exact opposite of what we see in the Bible. The rhythm has taken over and is now the ONLY part present. There is no melody in rap, its all rhythm. And the Bible is crystal clear that the body is never to be in control or dominant in the Christian's life. This is VERY difficult for us, I know, but it is what we are to be striving for. A diet of rap music will in no way help us in our attempt to keep the body under subjection.

I want to point out too, that there is too much emphasis these days on using music in and of itself as an evangelistic tool. That is never its function in the Bible....look it up. If unsaved kids are coming to a music concert they are coming to hear the music. If its out of balance music, and they DO happen to get saved, (because God's word never comes back void), then they are being "convinced" of Christ from pretty shallow ground.

Where is the need to change? Saved kids I know who continue to listen to "out of balance" music never are doing much for Christ. Their life exhibits a shallowness. (I cannot speak for their hearts, but their LIFE gives us a clue.)

Kids are being fooled into thinking they can "accept Christ" like its fire insurance, and still live exactly how they were before. There's a problem here.