In 1 Th 5:21-22, God commands,
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
Naturally this would include music, one of the most powerful mediums of communication in the world. Everything must be governed by the Word of God. Music must be proven by the Word of God, and then rejected if it has the appearance of evil (1 Th 5:21-22). "Christian" Contemporary Music (CCM) in general fits this profile, but so does the manner of style in what the contemporary musicians and singers, whether "professional" or not, vocalize the singing.
The culture of the world’s music has long employed singing techniques that add a strong sensual or fleshly element to its deployment. It is physical, appealing to the body, and emotional, stirring up sensual emotions. It is sexual in nature and it is on purpose. The world readily acknowledges this, and unsaved man loves these styles because of the sensual, sexual effect, but for some important reason contemporary professing Christians cannot understand this easily discernible issue. This corresponds with a similar issue of the pants on women controversy, which the world gets (the world knows what pants mean, as demonstrated by Dockers in its "Wear the Pants" campaign, 2009), while the only people who deny that pants mean anything are so-called professing Christians. News flash: pants are the male symbol, just like the skirt or dress is female; Psalter and traditional hymns sang humbly and straight without any back beat or sensual singing element, is Biblical, while CCM with its carnal methods and manners and unscriptural or watered-down lyrics (for the most part), is unBiblical.
Deeply compromised and heretical churches many years ago adapted the same philosophies and the result was "Christian" Contemporary Music (CCM), and other music like it, such as southern gospel. "Christian" artists borrowed from the world’s music and also borrowed the world’s singing techniques and methods, noted in both CCM and Southern Gospel, which is unwise and ungodly. Southern Gospel wasn't always completely ungodly and carnal as it is today; there was a time when some didn’t use the world’s vocal and backbeat styles.
Many, many millions of people in evangelical, protestant, reformed, charismatic and other professing Christian groups, but especially evangelical (which most of these other groups fall under as well in our day), have been utterly deceived by Satan to believe that their sensual-sounding syncopating, scooping and sliding singing voices steam rolled into a microphone ice cream style, which is typically, but not always, associated with sensual swaying at the hip to the background beat, tapping the foot and eyes closed and arms raised, is somehow honouring to God, such as, for instance, noted in a Christmas concert performance (starting at minute 12:00ff.) at the apostate EBMC denomination, presenting strange fire to God for an offering, akin to the vegetable offering of Cain. (It also doesn't escape us that the women and girls of this church attack Biblical modesty and God's ordered gender distinction in their attire, a subject we cover here). A number of decades ago, vast majority of Mennonites adopted Southern Gospel music into their genre, and today thats evolved into CCM because a little leaven leaventh the whole lump (1 Cor 5:6; Gal 5:9), and by now the whole lump has leavened over. This type of worship is an offence to the Holy Spirit and offers counterfeit worship to God (in reality, worship of self), and its changing and uniting churches into worldly, emergent bastions of unscriptural, woke heresy, filled with unregenerate worldly charlatans, from the pulpit down. In churches like EBMC the transition from “traditional” to "Christian" rock (CCM) along the contemporary path is currently in progress (typically bridge songs are used such as “How Deep the Father's Love for Us” by Stuart Townend and “In Christ Alone” by Townend and Keith Getty—both very dangerous heretics, like all CCM artists are— and sensual singing styles are incorporated for most songs in general), while over at the Apostate Shipwreck of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference (EMC), that transformation has already been complete, and for many years now. The singers are not innocent. CCM movers and shakers know that their music is transformative. The adaptation of contemporary "worship" music is certainly not the only factor in these transformations, but it is at the very heart and soul of the changes. These change agents despise those that are of the truth and that hold to true, godly, holy and traditional Christian principles and standards. They are of the ones that follow "false teachers" (2 Pet 2:1) being deceived by their "good words and fair speeches" (Rom 16:18), but their ways are "pernicious" (precisely noted in neo-evangelical contemporary "Christianity"), "by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." (2 Pet 2:2). What I don't get is why groups like EBMC don't just join completely in partnership and denomination with other similar heretical Mennonite "Evangelical" groups such as the EMC, since, after all, they are already bedfellows, preaching in each others churches, marrying each others children, all barriers of protection broken down equally, united in essentially everything that contradicts Biblical Christianity, already disregarding biblical teaching to maintain a coalition. After all, isn't "unity" essential in their "universal church" philosophy, even if it is fake? Rather than believe and practice the truth, they reduce it to the least common denominator for fake unity.
There is singing that is godly and honouring to the Lord Jesus Christ, and professing Christians have historically practiced for thousands of years. But there is also a style of singing that is sensual and ungodly and reflective of sounding brass and tinkling cymbals (1 Cor 13). Contemporary professing Christian’s, especially those of the evangelical brand, speak much about love. What they have and allegedly show towards God and people, is love. They reference 1 Cor 13, the so-called love chapter. The trouble is, their love is divorced from Scripture, from the truth, so is it actually "love"? It's at best a form of sentimentalism, of the type noted in this chapter, v. 1, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." It is ironic that the same people that advocate for the ungodly raucous of sounding brass and tinkling cymbals exposed in this report claim to have the monopoly on "love," and of course what we are doing is "unloving," but the truth of the matter is what they offer isn't even brotherly love but something between sentimentalism and erotic (sensual) love. Their unity isn’t unity and their love isn’t love. They offend the God, the only God, the God of truth, who created godly music and the sexes and sound doctrine, and the regulation of these things.
True godly love is based upon the truth. It "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; (1 Cor 13:6)," while CCM music as a whole and its sensual style of singing is iniquity, falsehood and thus not worshipping God in spirit or in truth (Jn 4:23-24). Speaking also incorporates singing. What Paul is bringing across here in 1 Cor 13:1 incorporates singing, since poetic speech and singing is enshrined in human language and in the Word of God, much of Scripture inspired of God through the faculty of poetic lingual. When God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence (Gen 1 and 2), He actually sang creation into existence for He is a musical God creating a musical creation and we are musical creatures. The Hebrew verb and the noun have accents that could be put to music. All of the OT has musical accents and all of the OT can be put to music. All the OT words are musical words and they are foundational. Hebrew was the original language and it is musical. In that sense, when Scripture speaks of speaking, it is indirectly referring to singing as well, two major components of human language.
Music is a Language, Essentially Either Godly or Ungodly, While Contemporary Christianity Mixes the Two
There is neutral music, such as classical, neither godly or ungodly, and not part of the conversation. Evangelicalism's admixture of godly and ungodly, sacred and profane is like jello running into the mashed potatoes and gravy turning into a soupy matrix. Its leaders either can’t or won’t draw necessary lines between the holy, the good, the true, and the beautiful with the profane, the bad, the false, and the ugly. Because of the confusion arising from association and toleration, most of these, like the Samaritans of Jesus day, think they really are worshiping God.
The Scriptures record that there is a singing style of a harlot (Is 23:15), like there is a dress style of a harlot (Pr 7:10). The Scripture records that there are competing voices of wisdom and strangeness (Pr 9:1-6, 13-18). So clear are these truths, and self-evident (where nature even teaches us this), that the Word of God does not need to go into any great detail. We see this sensual style exhibited in the immodest attired worship bands who sensually croon into the microphones using the name of our Lord. With a standard rock guitar jamming look and typical rock trap set too, and bodies grooving like in a night club, we see the "worshippers" grimace, bending backwards some, swaying side to side, head bobbing, all to the groove of the audience with their hands typically lifted high (lest they be clutching the microphone ice cream cone style) and eyes closed, bodies swaying sensually to the carnal beat, appearing like demonic, trance-inducing music. Many times it's almost impossible to tell whether some of them are men or women. Men have long hair, women have short hair and wearing men's garments (yes pants), but look androgynous. Though these receive total acceptance of their “worship,” the Bible portrays them as unsaved people (Jam 4:4; Eph 5:5-11). This is the music of CCM and it originates from Hellsong, Bethel, Elevation, Maverick City music, etc, and neo-evangelicals, Protestants, reformed Calvinists, Catholics and many others drink long and deep at these corrupted fountains of Baal. The world knows the power of music to stir the emotions in certain ways – hence the billions spent on composing the right kind of advertisement and movie music. Music in these contexts is arranged with a deliberate agenda to move people in a specific way.
It is obvious that music speaks a very strong language. The wrong music can cause people to worship a false "god," a false "christ," and embrace a false "gospel." It can ‘persuade’ many to engage in activities they would never otherwise get involved in. A simple illustration to consider, why don't nightclubs play godly gospel music or militant march music? The reason is very obvious. One is very dishonest and greatly deceived when they take the seductive, syncopated sound of the world, and sing the songs of Zion to those melodies and tones, while claiming that all music is neutral or such music can be Christianized.
Producing experiences with the flesh and then calling it spiritual or Biblical or godly, is deception and manipulation. But you can’t manipulate or fool God and He doesn’t glorify in sensual singing techniques. Compromise usually begins with small things, what the Bible calls leaven, a sprinkle of dust, but the Bible twice warns that “a LITTLE leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9).
Most evangelical Churches freely use the name “Jesus,” but it isn’t the same Jesus that Scripture reflects. When lust and Jesus are syncretized, it shapes a different Jesus in their imagination. Churches today are responsible for doing this through their worship, which is false worship. The Jesus of the Bible would not be represented by what its adherents say is their worship. People are worshipping a different Jesus and in a short time have a different Jesus than who can and will save them. This is how false worship changes the gospel. If you are a professing Christian, who keeps the world’s music in your life or represents the music by its style, and then think God accepts it in worship, you have a different God than what the Bible presents. We are not worshiping the same God, and a different God than the true and Holy God isn’t the one who can and will save from sin and death.
False worship occurs in two ways: (1) We worship the wrong God, and (2) We worship God the wrong way. Wrong music offered to God is at least worshiping God the wrong way. If someone thinks that God wants that kind of music, then he might also be worshiping the wrong God.
Ps 19:14,
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."
If it’s not acceptable to God, I suppose it is sinful. Indeed it is.
Sensual Singing Styles
When we look outside the unBiblical and ungodly beat, melody and lyrics of worldly music like CCM and southern gospel, we also note that its long employed singing techniques that add a strong sensual or fleshly element, appealing to the body and sensual emotions through the distortion of the human voice. Sensual vocal techniques is in fact a major element of contemporary "worship," which has been borrowed from the morally corrupt pop music field. Vocal sliding, vocal scooping, flipping, improvisation, breathiness, and vocal fry, are some of the sundry styles utilized in sensual singing. The world readily acknowledges this, and loves these styles because of the sensual, fleshly, emotional effect. These carnal singing techniques are very very common today, and largely present in the singing of evangelicals and protestant churches and CCM music in general, not just in the use of CCM.
But firstly, some examples from Way of Life Ministry that demonstrate godly rhythm and vocalizing, both of which are straight and non-syncopating, meaning the notes were hit in a simple, clean manner. There is no sensual element to the singing.
Syncopation refers to the practice of displacing the beats or accents in music or a rhythm so that strong beats or vocal tones become weak and vice versa. Its a beat anticipation or other forms of swing rhythm or pop syncopation. Soft or mild syncopation is what produces the transition from "traditional" sacred music to contemporary "worship" music, as noted in the Christmas concert video linked in the introduction of this report, where traditional and contemporary music is intermixed, with syncopation and backbeat majorly present.
Vocal sliding, vocal scooping, flipping, improvisation, breathiness, and vocal fry, are some of the various styles utilized in sensual singing, while sliding and scooping are two of the more common techniques employed.
Vocal sliding is slipping and sliding the voice between notes. It is also called glissando, which refers to a continuous slide upward or downward between two notes.
Vocal scooping is attacking a note sensually from above or below its true pitch instead of hitting the note cleanly and directly. It is employing unnecessary pitches below the first note or below the second one in the singing. It is also called flipping. In this sensual technique, where instead of notes being hit cleanly and directly, there is a slide from above or below its true pitch. It's a swing effect that works with the syncopated rhythm to create the sensual atmosphere that dancers and night clubs desire.
Here is an example of Lancaster Baptist Church scooping and sliding, a church that professes to allegedly be Biblical and Baptist, but is really not (not only because of the unBiblical sensual singing, but for many other reasons including the compromise, false gospel, man-centredness, plenty of corrupt doctrine and Scripture perversion and other spiritual adultery). Here is an example of the Star Spangled Banner scooping and sliding by the a cappella group Pentatonix.
Improvisation is closely associated with scooping and sliding and flipping. The vocalist or instrumentalist uses his or her voice or instrument to improvise, often spontaneously, on the melody to enhance the rhythm and the sensuality of the music. This is the same “swing effect” as the other sacrilegious styles, and also has its roots in blues, jazz, and other forms of licentious music that birthed rock & roll in the 1950's. It's all about rebellion against God and His authority (and parental authority), which is also why they reject the Lordship of Christ in many of these circles.
Here is an absolute preposterous example of improvisation by the queen of it, Aretha Franklin, which borders on retardedness, but happens to be extremely common in pop music, CCM, and especially among black people. It took her literally five minutes to sing the Star Spangled Banner because of the extreme improvisation! Aretha Franklin Sings the National Anthem.
Breathiness style, is using a sensual tone of voice exactly as it sounds, breathy, especially on onset, in which the microphone is typically used like an ice cream cone, held extremely close to the singer’s mouth, giving off a soft, breathy style and tone frequently down to a whisper, which provides a feeling of intimacy and sensuality, since feelings are very important in the neo-evangelical world. Males, soy boys, sing with their falsetto effeminate voice into the microphone also ice cream cone style by syncopated breathy and sensual tones. Elvis Presley, Backstreet Sodomites, and other pop sex god “crooners” used this technique to great effect, and CCM musicians and wannabe musicians follow this pattern, everywhere.
Vocal fry, closely associated with the breathiness sensual style, is also very popular and goes further than simple breathiness into the realm of a sexy raspy voice meant to heighten one's emotional senses. It adds the vocal elements described as creaking, vocal rasp, pop-corning, glottal scrape or rattle which produces throaty, rasping, creaking, croaking, and distorted vocals, particularly used at the beginning or ending of a musical phrase or stanza or chorus. It departs from a clear distinct sound into the realm of wavering inside the lowest range of a vocal sound. Of course this is very sensual and should be found nowhere near Christian music, but that is not the case. Both CCM and southern gospel incorporate this ungodly style into their "worship."
All the sensual singing styles noted above: sliding, scooping, improvisation, breathiness, and vocal fry can be heard in this song by Joy Williams, “Do They See Jesus in Me?”
In majority of CCM concerts, church services, etc, most, if not all, of these sensual singing styles that come from the ungodly and sexualized world of pop music will be incorporated adding powerful sensuality to the music. It's done on purpose to add a sensual attraction to the music, to get you attached to the singer and what she's selling, to draw attention to the singers "beauty" and "greatness." He or she salivates for the glory and man-worship, which is a major element of not only secular pop music but also CCM. Though they may vehemently protest this fact, it's true nonetheless. This is in fact worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator. The Creator Himself contradicts the lust. Everyone guilty of adoring this form of music and style and/or guilty of employing the same in their own so-called worship, knows exactly what we are talking about here. You do it with your voice, whether ignorantly or rebelliously, but know that it's not of God or for God when you do it. You are worshipping man, whether yourself or the adulation and praise of others. This is no minor issue. It's idolatry and false worship and has NO place in true God-honouring Christian worship music. True salvation delivers from selfish glory and the spotlight. Further, these singers contort their voices and slip and slide around the notes because they have rejected absolute truth. Their singing style reflects the philosophy of moral relativism which permeates modern pop music.
Neo-evangelicalism and others that employ these sensual singing styles are mixing the profane with the sacred, the unclean with the clean, while God's Word declares that true believers differentiate "between the holy and profane," and "discern between the unclean and the clean.” (Ezk 44:23). The terribleness of this admixture could be likened to the heathen people of the land where God led the Israelites as described by Ezra as follows: ". . . The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness" (Ez 9:11). CCM music and their styles are taking the abominations of the Gentiles and using them to allegedly worship God, but oh boy are they ever deceived. In the world of sane true Christianity, Christian vocalists would want to get as far from “sexual utterances” as possible!
Its worth noting that not absolutely every form of syncopation is in error, because there are ways to use syncopation properly to liven up music, such as in the children’s tune “Somewhere in Outer Space.” What is referred to above, rather, is the constant, unresolving, dancey syncopation through sensual singing styles used in rock/pop rhythm, the type we see being used habitually in CCM music, and that is always wrong, carnal and ungodly.
False worship is idolatry. A worship of idols. That is what you are guilty of when you engage in this carnality, or tolerate and condone it.
They do the very opposite of Eph 5:11, among many similar passages of Scripture:
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
The Sensual Distortion of the Human Voice in Singing Technique — Fleshly Lusts and a Major Element of Contemporary Worship
"Christian" Contemporary Praise and Worship Music has the seductive soft rock rhythm, the sensual scooping and sliding voice technique, and the non-resolving chord cadence. It has a sensuous effect, stylistic intimacy with such techniques as sliding, flipping, crooning, scooping, delayed vibrato, and intimate use of the microphone (as if it's their spouse). It has the rock beat, achieved by beat syncopation, a rock feel with a highly syncopated rhythmic pattern, which promotes sensual body movements. It brings a compulsion to move the body. It is the boogie and the blues rhythm, jazzy, dance rhythm. Some of these elements are noted in the video linked above, and again here for your convenience: Christmas concert performance (starting at minute 12:00ff.). It is not difficult to hear in the video what I am describing here, merely one example among a jukebox load that these evangelical denominations and churches put out, but not only them, essentially all protestant churches and very many Baptist. They are singing to Jesus like if He is their boyfriend. It does not represent God. It violates the lust passages. It is fleshly lust and it is sinful and it is almost entirely reflective of unregenerate people playing at Christianity.
Lust for professing Christians surfaces in their music and entertainment with their infatuation with pop culture. A lust after personal beauty, attention, and selfish glory. Carnal is a proper adjective to describe either the music or entertainment, when it is characterized by fleshly lust, sensuality, and breathiness. Carnal music violates the lust passages of scripture. It is not abstaining from fleshly lust. It uses ecstatic experiences as a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. It gets orthodoxy (right doctrine), orthopraxy (right practice) and orthopathy (right love for God) all wrong in worship, and by extension, or maybe proceeding from, the professing Christian life.
What I’m describing is popular music and style of performing music, the music and style of which the world approves. It is worldly. It is carnal. It is fleshly. It is profane. It is rock, rap, blues, jazz, hip-hop, and country western, only with a change of words, and using the techniques of that music. It isn’t for a Christian, because Christians are to abstain from fleshly lust. It is sin of itself and it will lead to further sin, leaven that leaveneth the whole lump. “Fleshly lust” isn’t synonymous with a particular sin, but it is in itself sin. Someone should abstain from fleshly lust itself as sin, but also abstain for the sake of other sins. Sanctification, the practical outworking of actual salvation, which surely proceeds from justification, is characterized by Paul in Rom 6:12:
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."
People make a choice. They either choose the Lord Jesus Christ or they choose lust. To say that those do not contradict is now fashionable in a majority of professing Christianity. They can have both Jesus and their lusts. It isn’t true though. It's a lie.
Many of these people are drunk on their lusts. The excitement and feelings generated from their lusts are confused with the workings of the Holy Spirit. A feeling proceeding from lust is considered to be an interaction with the Holy Spirit. Churches offer lust through the music and what people feel, they think is God. This could be likened to what occurred in the Babylonian mysticism of the false worship in Ephesus and Corinth. They think they have an intimacy with God, but it’s actually just their lust. These people are not applying scripture and, therefore, they are disobeying scripture. At the same time, they profess to be a Christian. Many, if not most of them, are not Christians. The two can’t coexist.
Someone walking in the Spirit will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Rom 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” In v. 1, same chapter, Paul said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Those with no condemnation, in Christ Jesus, walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and thus don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. Again, saved people don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. They don't need to. They have the Holy Spirit. Unsaved people however do, because their "fruit of the Spirit" is drummed up from the workings of their flesh, fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, which is why they rage and mock and scorn after someone like us who expose their fakeness and hypocrisy.
You Cannot Apply the Bible to Music?
But where does the Bible speak against this music and style, cries the scoffer (cf. 2 Pet 3:3)? They really really want to keep indulging in their lusts, while pretending to follow Jesus. We have liberty man.
Sure, the Bible doesn’t say “no” to rock, country, hip-hop, CCM, over syncopation, sliding, scooping, and everything else used and described that is anything like that. Scriptural passages must be applied, especially the texts on lust. We are applying them because that is what knowing and understanding the truth and having spiritual discernment does. It is actually not difficult to do, but it does require a desire to do what God says, and in a large way requires the Holy Spirit to be indwelling the individual so as to provide a love for the truth and the ability to understand, and the regenerate volition to fulfil God's will. James declared that the true believer will seek "to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jam 1:27), thus a believer can know what the spots of the world are. Peter commands “abstain from fleshly lust” in 1 Pet 2:11, thus a believer can know what “fleshly lust” is. Someone can’t abstain from something he can’t ascertain. God doesn’t have a word that is indecipherable. God wants us to know it and do it. The Bible assumes we know, because we do know. They are intended to be applied, like most of the rest of scripture.“Fleshly lust” therefore must be identified and applied. Not applying those passages isn’t acceptable, it is disobedience to scripture. The command to abstain from fleshly lusts must be applied. Many can't because they are simply unsaved but some aren't applying the passages not because they can’t, but because they won’t — it is deliberate, convenient ineptitude at applying passages of scripture, especially the ones on lusts. Not knowing is either blindness or feigning ignorance. Blindness or feigned ignorance won’t work in the end with God. He knows we know. People can understand and apply the passages on lust. They don’t want to give up their lust. Worldliness and ungodliness is a very serious issue, including in worship. in fact, Paul describes those who walk after the lusts of their flesh as unsaved people, what the born again believer did prior to his conversion:
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Eph 2:2-3)
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Eph 4:17-19)
As does James, indicating that the false believer is one that befriends and loves the world (cf. 1 Jn 2:15-17), and thus an enemy of God, a title largely reserved for Satan:
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (Jam 4:4).
We find it somewhat amusing with the many evangelicals and reformers today allegedly obsessed with “the Glory of God,” while going out of their way to defend many things diametrically opposed to His glory, including this ungodly and diabolical CCM and its sensual singing styles. When Moses met the Lord he had to remove his shoes from his feet and when David went into the tabernacle after the death of his son we are told he, “washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped” (2 Sam 12:20). When the Apostle John met the risen Christ He fell at His feet as dead (cf. 1 Pet 2.17; Rev 19.5). But these compromised charlatans bleed their mouth and pen about “the Glory of God” and “the graces of God” and “the sovereignty of God” while worshiping the golden calf at the alter aromatized by the incense of Eli’s sons, while perpetuating the false and heretical doctrine that the outward form of the music is irrelevant. Apparently only the inward experience of the heart matters to Neo-Evangelicals, Charismatics, Reformed Calvinists, and the like, further reflecting their utter spiritual reprobate estate (2 Tim 3:8-9).
Typical of the argument is John Piper who states,
“What we find in the New Testament, perhaps to our amazement, is an utterly stunning degree of indifference to worship as an outward ritual, and an utterly radical intensification of worship as an inward experience of the heart. . . . The very epistles that are written to help the church be what it ought to be in this age are almost totally devoid of . . . explicit teaching on the specifics of corporate worship.” (source)
If it's all just “inward” why did Uzzah lose his life because of the failure of David to observe the outward prescribed order of worship? The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that God is very concerned about both the outward and the inward aspects of worship, for all elements of worship must be in spirit and in truth, while CCM and its vulgar styles are done in "another spirit" and falsehood by the subtlety of Satan (2 Cor 11:4). Most church music today deceives the listener about the character of God, making Him into a worldly goody miester that approves of all our sins and disobedience.
Majority of neo-evangelicals don’t actually care that they live in perpetual disobedience to God's Word, including the lust and love of the world passages of scripture. The convenience is that these people who call themselves Christians, want to keep their pet lusts and worldly affections. They want to be a Christian, they want to go to heaven, but they also want their fleshly lusts and worldliness. You should then wonder no longer why you are considered to be unregenerate, unsaved, the fingers and reports pointed at you, because you very likely are and you should be concerned about that. Wilful violation of Scripture including the passages on fleshly lusts differentiates fake Christianity from true Christianity. Peter deals with this in his second epistle, himself concerned about false professions related to lust, to help give assurance to true Christians and not false ones. The chief differentiating factor is lust, the false ones operating on lust and not true faith, and this we see everywhere in neo-evangelicalism (including EMC and EBMC), protestantism, reformed Calvinism and much of Baptists.
The music of a Thrice holy God should contain no aspect of the world’s sensual ways. It is unholy confusion. It is sin. It is a reflection of end-times living “after their own lusts” apostasy (2 Tim 4:3-4). "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Pet 1:13-15).
Of course we can apply Biblical principles to the judging and discerning of music! We can know exactly what God wants us to do regarding music, using the Bible. This is actually where wisdom and Scriptural discernment come in. To make every principle of the Bible amoral or a liberty issue takes away almost any need for discernment. No one needs wisdom or discernment if obedience to God relates only to explicit statements of Scripture. This continues the attack of Satan on Scripture, his assault on discernment and the ability to apply the Bible to a believer’s life.
Music communicates. Ps 92:3 speaks of a “solemn sound,” Ps 89:15 a “joyful sound,” and 1 Cor 14:8 an “uncertain sound.” Those are by no means the only sounds music can communicate. As a means of communication, just like speech, it can be filthy, corrupt, proud, sensual, fleshly, and blasphemous. If we don’t know what corrupt communication is, which requires discernment, then we can’t even judge words, let alone music. Music can exalt God or degrade Him. Words can be wrong. Music can be wrong. Both need to be judged. Both need discernment, and the Holy Spirit through the Word of God will give that kind of understanding to a genuine believer.
People who keep lusting and don’t want to stop won’t like the application, but that doesn’t mean the application isn’t true. Born again believers that apply those passages need to keep doing it, despite the opposition. God is the judge, not the pandering churches and the people to whom they pander.
Contemporary Worship Music (CCM) is Ungodly in General With or Without the Sensual Singing Styles
Almost 100% of the music being sung and played today in evangelical, charismatic, reformed, and most other mainstream “Christian” churches, is not Biblical but contemporary, unsound watered-down lyrics, unBiblical melody, with the sensual singing styles described herein. This may include taking good, sound Biblical hymns and singing them sensually, like a pop star.
Nothing about CCM is Biblical. Not its lyrics, not its musicians, not its melody, not its beat, not its attraction, not its flaunting sensual style, and nor its syncopating voice tones. Why not just sing in a normal voice, without syncopating the tone, which only draws attention to you, NOT God? A love for this music reflects the great apostasy in this generation of apostates. CCM has a worldly, non-judgmental, doctrinally unsound, anti-separatist, ecumenical and anti-godly philosophy that is most definitely contrary to the sound apostolic doctrine and faith found in God’s Word (Rom. 16:17; Eph. 5:6-11). It is these things even when the CCM lyrics are allegedly Christian (they are mostly not, but extremely watered-down, vague, and applicable to any false god). The rock medium is very anti-Christian in its ethos: its libertarian, anti-authoritarian, equates infatuation and sexual attraction with love. You cannot Christianize ungodly, worldly, rock and roll music. Yet this is what is being attempted by churches with worldly, ungodly CCM, which itself attempts to intermix the Thrice Holy God with the unholy world which is spiritual adultery and must always be treated as a symptom of a lost person, since the truly saved do not love the world anymore (1 Jn. 2:15-17; Jam. 4:4; 1 Cor. 2:12), and those who commit spiritual adultery are friends of the world and thus enemies of God (Jam. 4:4), the strongest language possible to describe a false believer, since "enemy" in Jam 4:4 is the lingual most descriptive of Satan, and none of God's children are His enemies.
The music that evangelicals, charismatics, reformers, and such, love and listen to, most, if not all, of which is of the CCM genre (i.e. "Christian" Rock), greatly dishonours and disobeys God, thus sinful behaviour, because of what it illustrates or produces: fleshly lusts (1 Pet. 2:11), worldly lusts (Ti. 2:12), conformity to this world (Rom. 12:2), provision to the flesh (Rom. 13:14), profanes the Name of God (Lev. 18:21), fashions according to former lusts (1 Pet. 1:14), ecstasy (1 Cor. 12:1-3), sensuality (Jam. 3:15) and Satanic (Mk 8:33; Jam 3:15; 1 Pet 5:8). Not only does this music demonstrate these unscriptural attributes, it also greatly dishonours and disobeys God in what it doesn't produce and demonstrate, which includes showing God reverence (Lev. 19:30, many others), true spirituality (Jn. 4:23-24), beauty and loveliness (Phil. 4:8 — the opposite is unlovely or ugly), holiness (Rom. 12:1), gender distinctiveness (1 Cor. 6:9), godliness (Ti 2:11-14; 1 Tim 6:11), solemnity (Lev. 23:36, many others) — the opposite of reverent and solemn are superficial, foolish, thoughtless, vapid, flippant, trivial, and more, excellent overall descriptions of contemporary "worship" music.
Godly Singing and Music by Regenerate Saints that Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth
The word “new” is used to characterize the born again believers life and song more than any other feature of our salvation — new as in “different.” When someone is born again and his life changes, His song also changes. "And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." (Ps 40:3). That is the testimony of true conversion, and not what we see anywhere in evangelical or protestant or reformed calvinist churches. The new song most definitely includes the manner in which the song is sang or played. The song is entirely new. not new mixed with the old. Only other true born again believers can really understand it. Everything changes for the repentant sinner at the new birth. What the world once offered holds no more pleasure for the redeemed saint. They forsook worldliness at conversion, for they overcame the world through the new birth (1 Jn. 5:3-4; 2:15-17; Jn. 6:24). There is a markedly different life of every born again believer, because he is “in Christ,” which translates into “he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17). Notice ALL things are become new and that old things are passed away. It’s not new added to the old, like a new patch of cloth added to an old garment, but new in its entirety (Mk. 2:17, 21-22), with all old things passed away,
As a consequence of the character of God, and as we are offering our music to Him, it is necessary to offer Him the very best we can do, governed by what He has said in His Word. Ps 33:3 tells us to “Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.” 1 Chronicles 15 describes the order and and excellence of God-honouring music. Musicians selected for the worship of the Temple (2 Ch 5:11-14) were mature (>30) and clearly very talented, which obviously mattered, with the concept of musical skills mentioned several times in the Bible (1 Sam 16:18; 2 Ch 34:12; Ps 137:5). They were well dressed in “fine linen” and had order and excellence with Levitical music directors, a trained orchestra (trumpeters), and choir (Levitical singers) joining together to praise the Lord. The performance of the ministry of music was subordinate to the priests (1 Ch 23:28), which was subordinate to the Word of God. The Levites did not sing whatsoever or however they wished but from the God-inspired God-centred hymnbook of the Psalms “praising and thanking the LORD,” in a clear, straight, simple and humble manner. They were headed up by a theologically mature Levite (Chenaniah), who taught them the theology as he “instructed about the song” (1 Ch 15:22).
This is exemplifying the clear truth that we are to serve and worship the LORD “with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:28-29; Ps 2:11). We get an insight in Rev 5:11-14 of the style of worship that God enjoys continuously in Heaven, which resembles the reverential fear we see in Isa 6. This means that we need to avoid frivolity and frenzied worship that draws attention to self. Disorderly worship was a characteristics of the worship of the Corinthians which is why Paul had to remind them that orderliness was next to godliness, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:40). Disorderly singing is like disorderly speech and both dishonour God. As Paul reminds, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33) and “Let all things be done unto edifying” (1 Cor 14:26). The Lord forbids his people to imitate pagan ways of worship (De 12:2-4). We are commanded “Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jer 10:2) and not to pour new wine into old wineskins, or put old cloth onto new garments (Ps 137; Mk 2:21-22). Lev 10 sets forth a telling reminder of God’s displeasure with mixing “strange fire” not “commanded” by God. In a solemn warning of the need for holiness in worship, “the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified” (Lev 10:3). Good intentions is not an excuse for worship which God has not sanctioned (1 Sam 13:13-14). Erroneous worship is built upon the convenience and personal desires of the worshipper (1 Ki 12:28b-29).
The hymn lyrics and music genres accepted by majority of professing Christians are borne out of relativism. If music is neutral why does the world call it “the universal language?” Also, if we cannot objectively determine what is good music, then what shall we sing in heaven? If we deny there is music that is bad, we have completely abandoned any thought of good music which denies the nature of God as a God of beauty. Music, as an art, is an expression that forms the culture. Today, we have music as a dominant indicator of an apostate culture, in which the trend is truly downward, spiralling from tonality to mere brute noise, but taking the culture with it. The great hymns and tunes of the past were composed under the purview and authority of the church, they were not taken from the world.
Holiness is not a lottery, where you choose the numbers and hope for the best. We must note that the hymn writers we sing are teachers to our people also and, indeed, are arguably more so as their words are heard repeatedly and are memorized by our children. If we fail in maintaining the highest standard in corporate worship, then we will allow the next generation to be taught their theology from those least able to instruct such as sodomites, Unitarians, and charismatics. Aside from the insult to Almighty God of offering anaemic worship, the didactic failure will have tragic consequences for the future.
CCM is bad, and unscriptural, including historically. CCM as we know it, with its unBiblical melody, sliding, scooping, syncopation, lyrics (mostly unscriptural and extremely vague so as to apply to God or man, or any other religion), etc, started around the 1960’s. This didn’t exist prior to that. CCM music dishonours and disobeys God because of its fleshly lusts (1 Pet 2:11), worldly lusts (Ti 2:12), conformity to the world (Rom 12:2), provision for the flesh (Rom 13:14), profaning God’s Name (Lev 18:21), fashioning to former lusts (1 Pet 1:14), ecstatic nature (1 Cor 12:1-3), sensualness (Jam 3:15). It, or any other music for that matter whether good or bad, is not to be a means of reaching people. The means whereby we reach people is the ends we win them to. If someone is “won” by worldly measures, then it’s to the world that they are won. But that is spiritual adultery, and not the nature of a saved person. God’s ways must be done according to God’s Word. Always and without exception. And saved people are always able to judge and discern whether something is Biblical or not, through direct Scriptural command or application of Biblical principle, the indwelling Spirit teaching them. The one vehicle of reaching people is gospel preaching: “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (1 Cor 1:21; see also Rom 10:14-17; 1 Pet 1:23-25). The local church is actually for saved people only, not the unsaved (Eph 4:11-16) which unfortunately is another huge error today in evangelicalism and other groups, who invite non-Christians to church. The saints are “edified” and “perfected” “for the work of the ministry” which is to go and preach the gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15).
Worldly music, which includes CCM is leaven that will leaven the whole lump. Individually, familial, and ecclesiastically, the lump will be leavened. And this is precisely what is noted everywhere in Christendom today, among Evangelicalism, Protestantism, Calvinism, and Fundamentalism.
Conclusion
God expects us to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” and to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Th 5:21-22). In other words, He wants us to have wisdom and understanding, that is, discernment. When God says “be not conformed to the world” (Rom. 12:2), He means that we have to discern the spirit of the age and not be like it. When He commands us to “abstain from fleshly lusts” (1 Pet. 2:11), He expects us to discern what fleshly lusts are. When God exhorts us “not [to be] brought under the power of any” (1 Cor. 6:12); it isn’t optional. We are required by Scripture to practice discernment. Since music is obviously a worship issue, hardly anything is more important than our discernment concerning music. Tolerating all styles as adequate or acceptable for worship not only lacks discernment but destroys it as well. Worst of all, God isn’t praised. God expects us to learn what is good and bad music, and test all of it, especially that used in worship of Him.
Contemporary "worship' music with or without its sensual singing styles is an offence to the Holy Spirit and it is counterfeit worship. It is strange fire and golden calf worship. The influences on this profane music is secular, godless, and pagan, just the opposite of what God accepts in worship. When churches start using CCM, they will eventually lose all other standards. We are fully convinced that it is carnality and a love for the world that allows the CCM to enter in the first place, but that comes about because of something even worse: the product of unregeneracy. These are almost entirely unsaved people attempting to worship God with their flesh.
Paul ends the first epistle to the Corinthians saying this:
“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” (1 Cor 16:22)
Can you love Jesus by singing to Him like He’s your boyfriend or girlfriend? You have to know what love is to love. Neo-Evangelicalism, and contemporary Christendom in general, for the most part doesn't know what Biblical love is. If love is actually lust, so someone isn’t loving the Lord Jesus Christ, then that’s Anathema Maranatha. A curse is on that person. Churches are full of a lack of affection for Jesus Christ. They have passion produced by ecstatic experiences, choreographed by rhythm and syncopation, other atmospherics and instrumentation and suggestion. It isn’t reverence and sobriety required by God from those who worship Him and love Him. It isn'f fulfilling what God the Son stated in Jn 4:23,
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
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