Actions speak louder that words.

Now I’m not going to claim that every CCB (Contemporary, Christian, Band) it just out to make money and be famous, I don’t believe they are, but they don’t seem to be any different then the secular bands. The only difference is there lyrics, thats about it.

I see it like this: say you were telling someone to go get some ice cream, only you did so using the same tone of voice as a enraged person set on smashing his key board because he lost some game! Do you think that would be effective? How do you think the person would react to your message? I believe that this is essentially what CCBs are doing, they have the right message (some/most of them), but they are sending it through the wrong carrier.

C@RL

PS. Oh and I liked the comic, I thought is was funny, and yet enlightening/thought provoking.

I don’t listen to music to hear what I want to hear, I listen to get what I can out of a piece of art. If you get a “feeling” from a song without even hearing it all the way through, chances are you are in the group of people that believe Led Zeppelin IV was created by Satan because Stairway to Heaven sounds creepy if you play it backwards at a certain speed. Sometimes people write music just to express themselves and connect with an audience, rarely with bad intent. It’s the people that have to judge the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and CCR and Black Sabbath because the music seems threatening, that are missing out. Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne seems to be particularly frightening, even when all the man sings about is love and peace while ridding the world of hate, greed, and corruption. John Lennon says one wildly misinterpreted statement in the mid-60’s and the Beatles end up having to flee a country at gunpoint because everyone jumped to unreasonable conclusions. Led Zeppelin was called Satanic because Jimmy Page is weird and Robert Plant’s octive range can be interpreted as anything when played backwards. CCR somehow still draws anger for “Fortunate Son,” decades after the Vietnam War wasted thousands of American lives.

If people just listened to the music and thought about what they heard without prejudgement, there wouldn’t be a market for “Christian Bands,” nor any conflict over just how Christian a band needs to be to be called “Christian,” Christians could simply be artists that don’t have to emulate other bands to gain acceptance.

I had no idea my senior paster (Joshua Harris) was such a good cartoonist. Way to Go Mr. Harris. Anyway, i noticed some coments on Rock music and disorderly music on this article. Well music is something i study a lot, as a musician who wants to make it my profession (Lord willing) it’s neccessary to be keen on theory and styles. I see most rock music (or any style, whether i like it or not) to be very orderly. Anyone who has studyed music theory for ten minutes+ and knows what a ‘musical key’ is, they know that no music that carries a melody/rythm/harmony is disorderly (unless played out of a musical key/mode). All music styles are pieces of art and are creative. God is the ultmate creater and He made us in His image so we glorify God when we use creativity for His glory(Genesis 1:1, 1:26-27, Col. 1:15-16, read these for Biblical reference). He wants us to cultivate creativity because it reflects His attributes of creativity and brings Him Glory.
Also, one thing must be made clear. Rock/Rap/Country/Techno/Blues/Jazz/etc. styles are not in any way the devil’s music. No style of music is unbiblical, and i mean it. I do NOT agree that Satan “has all the good music”! Thats undermining God’s creativity. God Loves music and loves new songs and commands skill and creativity (Psalm 147:1,7/148:1-14/149:1-9/150:1-6}for skill-{Ex. 36:1, 1 Chr. 25:7, Ps. 33:3, Romans 12:6-8}) but God commands upright speach and NO corrupt speech (Eph. 4:29, Psalm 17:3, Psalm 19:14, 39:1, Prov. 12:14, 16:23, 17:27, Jeremiah 15:19, Eph 5:6, Col 3:17, James 3:3-6) The devil uses good music to make evil/immoral/unbiblical lyrics attractive. Music (Spiritual or secular) should never, ever be judged souley by the “music”(rythm/melody/etc.) but most importantly by the lyrical message and content. At our church (CLC www.covlife.org) our pastoral team, when choosing CDs to put in our bookstore, reads the lyric booklet before they listen to the songs. That way they are not swayed by the catchy beat or stuck-in-your-head tunes. This should, in my humble opinion, should be the practice of not just a pastoral team but of parents. Parents NEED to be involved in what thier children are involved with, what thier influences are (and music is a huge influence and ‘friend’), and who thier friends are. I could go on, but that is something that requires much more biblical references and time than i am able to give right now. just to clarify, i am a teen, who thinks like a teen, but i am a transformed teen, ive been transformed by grace and have a biblical world view, not a rose colored-glasses view. I believe all that i have said, and will standbye it all the way. I believe that God’s word has a LOT to say about music. He even devoted the longest book in the Bible to it, Psalms. Please read the references i have provided, and thank you so much Brett and Alex for the spiritually chalanging and enriching articles/posts on rebelution. You guys ROCK & ROLL. Oh and it does not take long at all to search the web and find great bands with good theological standings and awesome music. I found Whitecross that way and man they speak the truth like no other band ive heard and they rock hard.(Whitecross is from the late eighties/early nineties and they are very skillful and give all the Glory to God!). Well, i think i just completed a seminar on Music and the Bible so, thanks for reading. Peace,

Always in Christ,

Philip W. R
From G-Burg MD,
A youth of Covanent Life Church