Madison Church of Christ, Sowing Discord Musically

For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Revelation 16:14

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (for the gymnasium), and they see his shame. Revelation 16:15

Defining the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Rom 1:27

And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16:16

Armageddon means here a place for "pouring out a great flood of misinformation." The second part of the word meand to "hold all around or to astonish people."

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12: 9

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:10

The accuser is part of the "market place" religion of the Seeker System. He is:

Accuser: Kategoros (g2725) kat-ay'-gor-os; from 2596 and 58; against one in the assembly, i.e. a complainant at law; spec. Satan: - accuser.

The second part of the word is:

Agora (g58) ag-or-ah'; from ageiro , (to gather; prob. akin to 1453); prop. the town-square (as a place of public resort); by impl. a market or thoroughfare: - marketplace, stree

Therefore, the accuser is "according to the marketplace."

This is where the Jews "accused" Jesus trying to force Him into the UNSEEMLY or naked dance of Dionysus and singing the songs of defeat by the effeminate. Click to see the picture. If you cannot grasp this then don't worry about it:

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matt 11:15

But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto [beaten] children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows (clan), Matt 11:16

And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. Matt 11:17

Music manipulates; musicians are knowingly manipulating; they are trying to attract goats from the market place; and they are ANTI-CHRISTS.

As if by magic, those "taking away the key to knowledge" with musical performance had been content to rest on "the law of silence" or their authority as a "high church" to change the meaning of New Testament worship. Rarely did one attempt to define "Holy Entertainment" by the Bible although the Guilt Clause had always been used to blame the "dead person for spurting blood on his killer."

However, suddenly, in the mid 90'a as if rallied into action by some supernatural power, men suddenly turned like wolves on the sheep who had refused to dance when they piped.

The mantra is absolutely the same as if being poured out of one mouth: The non-instrumental churches of Christ are guilty of all of the woes in Christendom for not playing instruments as "worship." Here are some of the messengers we have reviewed:

Some reviews of those writing against the non-instrumental practice-- Olan Hicks: Guilt Clause and The Law of Silence--Pharisees and Hypocrites-- Passing The Guilt Clause-- Al Maxey--Robert Beasley--Dallas Burdette--Joe Beam--Edward Fudge--Paul Woodhouse--Grace Centered Magazine--Bill Swetmon at Freed Hardeman --Fred Peatross on Clapping--Fred Peatross on Spectacle Worship--Jeff Walling Sister Singers--Jeff Walling Index Plus on Dancing Jack Reese Trivializes--Dan Dozier--Al Maxey--Table of Dunning-Downen

However, the blood of the lamb and the WORD is the only thing which will save you from the most outrageous notion in the history of the Bible: that contrary to many statements otherwise, God insists that He wants to be worshiped with "music" or "the works of human hands."

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12: 11

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Revelation 12: 12

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted (pursued) the woman which brought forth the man child. Rev 12:13

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [3 ¹/₂ years], from the face of the serpent. Rev 12:14

And the serpent [artful, sly, cunning, malicious person] cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Rev 12:15

And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. Revelation 16:17

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. Revelation 16:18

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Revelation 16:19

THOSE WHO DELIBERATELY DIVERT TO DIVIDE ARE AGENTS OF ANTI-CHRIST.

God Said (1 Kings 19:11) that His voice is not in the strong winds, earthquakes or fires. Rather, Karen Armstrong wrote that God speakes "in the voice of a whispered silence." (v. 12) or a gentle whisper.

If you are not sittting down, shutting up and listening to the "word as it has been delivered to you" then your shepherts are anti-christs selling you the lust of the eyes, ears and flesh. If they are USING (their common term) "women in our services" in a non-sedentary role they they are USING authentia or unlawful sexual authority to rule over you.

But,

And the fruits that thy soul lusted [makes you breath hard] after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly [limp, soft, bright] are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Rev 18:14

The merchants [selling CDs] of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, Rev 18:15

And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls Rev 18:16

For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, Rev 18:17

The eternal fires are reserved for you at Topheth, once king Solomon's music grove:

King/queen of Babylon: All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. Isa 14:11

King/queen of Tyre: Take up a harp, walk through the city, O prostitute forgotten; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered [a a male]." Isa 23:16

The End Time Babylon Whore church: And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone [grinders were concubines or prostitutes] shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22

Then these anti-Christian forces have the nerve to declare that "we are failing" but if you will buy our program we will tell you how to regenerate souls through external means. This is the oldest scam known to ancient history. Click to read the Genun story someday.

Perhaps, as in Europe, the sooner Satan turns the mega-churches into museums, dance halls or theaters the sooner those "outside the walls" can get on with the only task the church has: to go, teach, baptize and teach. It needs no Babylonian ministry team to do that.

Here are a few more details of some of the highly-mobilized schemes (Yes, there is a conspiracy! Why else would you tell us there is no consipiracy?)

The Post-Modern (post-biblical) Paradigm (that's a pattern, you know)

Click to see a table of the meaning of Post Modern as Post Biblical, Rubel Shelly etal.

Narrative theology says that there is no absolute truth even in the Bible, except perhaps "seven facts about Jesus." There are story lines which are just "Jewish Legends." However, we may, according to Henry Blackaby, get our "assignment" directly from God just as Moses or Jesus got theirs. Furthermore, we can do greater things as the Jesus for our church or family or a 13th apostle.

Narrative Theolgy as it flows from pop literature into the Nashville pulpits is detailed here.

Rubel Shelly and John York did a series on the Exodus. In the retrospective they claim to have taken liberties with the Biblical record and recommend that others do the same thing. In our version as validated by all of the scholars we have ever consulted, God gave Israel a Covenant of Grace at Mount Sinai. Israel returned to their Egyptian, musical idolatry. God then "turned them over to worship the starry host" (Acts 7). When they fired God and demanded a human "pastor" God further turned Israel loose for the kings to destroy and lead them into destruction.

Those on the "team" of the Starry Host further insist that David's music was a pattern for spiritual worship.

Amos 5 and 6 details the modern "theatrical" or "entertainment" model of the worship of the stars with wine, women, instruments and worse. In Judah this included loud instrumental music as they burned babies in the red hot arms of an iron or bronze idol. The screams made a joyful noise before their gods. There is nothing which has probably "burned more babies" than the false ethics created by the "musical performers."

Rubel Shelly and John york interpret this fall beyond redemption as a "pattern for Christian worship and community."

"Paul goes on to describe the wilderness not as a horrible, God-forsaken, God-absent event, but as a God-surrounded event. God was active everywhere in everything. His language of baptism in the cloud and in the sea correspond with the Corinthians' baptism in water and the Holy Spirit.

They ate and drank spiritual food and spiritual drink, just like the Corinthians were eating and drinking the Lord's Supper.

But, Paul said that they were not even meeting to eat the Lord's Supper. In 11:5 after condemning the uncovered prophesying by the women which was "singing, playing instruments, and speaking in tongues" just as they had in the pagan oracles.

In 1 Cor 11:17 Paul said first about the Lord's Supper: "Your assemblies do more harm than good."

And the Corinthians also "rose up to play" and Paul never advanced beyond calling them carnal. This was the reason Paul resolved to "just preach Jesus over and over until some got the point."

So, who are you going to believe?

Now, the heavy hand of Narrative Theology comes crashing down:

"Paul even uses a Jewish legend about the water actually following the people around in the desert to say that Christ himself was present with those people just like he is with the Corinthians. They were hemmed in on all sides by God and God-activity.

But, perhaps Paul got the idea from reading Exodus and knowing a bit about the fact that Jesus was the Rock, the Manna, the Pillar. If this is just Jewish Legend according to Shelly and York then the Bible is is not true.

God 'wandered them' in the wilderness for another 37 years until the Egypt-Polluted idolaters died out. Some hemming in!

Sorry, but the publication of this series of sermons has been cut off from access for review and critique.

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Anti-Traditionalist Coalition. The Heglian Dialectic defines a sorcerer's method of navigating the winds of change. It is the method of Machiavelli showing how a Prince can make himself into a dictator. It is the method of Adolf Hitler.

The first thing they have to do is keep up a drum-beat of equating members of the non-instrumental churches of Christ to fire bombers of restaurants, bombers of clinics, brother killers, racists, and on and on.

This follows the teachings of the master propagandist Goebels, of Nazi fame, who taught that
'if you repeat a lie often enough, the public will believe it'.
Some reviews of those writing against the non-instrumental practice-- Olan Hicks: Guilt Clause and The Law of Silence--Pharisees and Hypocrites-- Passing The Guilt Clause-- Al Maxey--Robert Beasley--Dallas Burdette--Joe Beam--Edward Fudge--Paul Woodhouse--Grace Centered Magazine--Bill Swetmon at Freed Hardeman --Fred Peatross on Clapping--Fred Peatross on Spectacle Worship--Jeff Walling Sister Singers--Jeff Walling Index Plus on Dancing Jack Reese Trivializes--Dan Dozier--Al Maxey--Table of Dunning-Downen

Rubel Shelly's Views of Instruments:

Suddenly, those on the payroll of non-instrument churches of Christ have magically banded together to flood the college lectureships, "christian" journals, book stores, sermonizing and the Internet to make the same false charge using the same sentence structure. It reminds you of political spin agents.

This is the guilt clause: Adam used it and it was used on Jesus, Paul, Luther, Calvin, Campbell and the modern church of Christ: "You shoot me in the heart with a 357 magnum, I squirt blood on your tutu, you do a clever ballet kick to a soft spot on my way down and scream that I have upset your theatrical performance."

The Babylonian tablets associate instrumental worship as a gift from the deamons. The Bible universally shows instrumental music (yes, even in the temple) as a sign that people had not and would not listen to His quiet Word. The Bible associates instrumental music with the "prostitute" religion of the king of Tyre, the king of Babylon and the end-time Babylonian Whore.

Scholars until about 1878 among some enlightened Disciples agreed that the Bible associates instrumental music and exciting singing with the prostitute or prostitute religion of paganism.

When the American Restoration came out of the Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians all of these groups rejected instrumental music.

The Disciples sowed discord and took over churches in order to help "pay off the debt" and be a theater.

Churches of Christ continued the 1900 Biblical practice of teaching through song.

Therefore, to claim that churches of Christ are divisive is to use the same logic which makes God's abandoning Israel to idolatry into a 'pattern for Christian worship and community.' Nonesense.

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Becoming All Things To All People

Part of the scam is that in order to reach the world we have to quite being so "Christian" and therefore "despised and rejected by men" and BECOME AS MUCH LIKE THE WORLD AS POSSIBLE.

Dr. Rubel Shelly has addressed this at length claiming that Paul actually worshiped like the Jews in the temple.

By honoring only the seven facts about Christ as the core gospel, it is easy to "take liberties" with the exodus and John's story about Jesus and make them say whatever we want them to say.

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Worship and Consensus Facilitators. When you get into trouble the trouble makers suggest a Change Agent trained to facilitate the direction the charismatics want to go. Musical facilitator means "manipulator." Read Paul Procter's story of how the Willow Creek or Saddleback facilitates and don't hesitate to use threats.

Perhaps the first "Musical Worship Facilitator" was at Woodmont in Nashville. The advertising was that as a trained theatrical and music major he could help "lead the worshipers into the presence of God." That means that the facilitator (manipulator) and the team become the mediators between man and God.

The "old decadent and deleterious" (that means rotten and destructive) church of Christ is not unique. Anytime a Willow Creek or Saddleback socialist organization begin,s the first step is to claim that "Southern Baptist" or other group name "stands in our way." Machiavelli and Marx are gone but not forgotten in a power play which has nothing spiritual as motivation.

Hitler's change processes relied heavily upon musical and theatrical performance and were consequently infiltrated with homosexuality. They thus attracted the "human material" to their sect.

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The New Wineskin: The coded message is that Jesus put the gospel and the kingdom into a new wineskin. Because the kingdom and gospel did not begin with Jesus or end with Jesus it is still bubbling, changing and developing. Therefore, the "old church of Christ" is a rotten and destructive wineskin. To solve the problem, a few latter-day apostles have been appointed "by the sovereign grace of God" to "burn down" the old and renew it. Dr. Rubel Shelly and Randy Harris use the image of the Aztec's jubilee. This will allow the kingdom and gospel Jesus couldn't complete (the meaning of premillenialism) to continue to bubble like new, intoxicating wine. The new wineskin, in the Catholic model, must be large enough for all of the "lost children" to return to the "mother church. The Book of Jubilees sees Messiah's kingdom beginning before Jesus was born.

A schoolboy would know what any housewife knows: you don't can grape juice in last year's old, dirty fruit jars. First, you sterialize the juice, clean and steralize the jars and then seal the jar and you have fresh grape juice (fruit of the vine) all year long, even for Passover.

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The Core Gospel is not just new theology: it is something which Christ as the Spirit knew nothing about. The Pharisees defended the "core" of the Old Testament but they were post-modern in the sense that their TRADITIONS were replacing their own "apple" to the stripped-bare "apple core" of God's Word. They did this to meet the needs of the times. They also made long prayers or sermons and stole widow's houses either through "pledges" or by deceptively-negotiated wills.

Paul directed his "just Jesus and Him crucified" core gospel to the Corinthians when he discovered that they were--lock, stock and barrel--all carnal people. The "just Jesus" core gospel, lifted without the brain, is the preacher telling you that "you are still carnal, you are still not Christians, you are unable to eat the meat of the Word, so I will keep on feeding you milk until you get on your knees as God did to take on a body doomed to be despised and rejected and ultimately murdered." See that the Core Gospel was Paul's insulting condemnation of Corinth.

This is the fallacy of turning over the teaching role to pseudo-Christian institutions which have never failed to become the collectors of the world's polluted theology and polluters.

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The Jubilee Movement of the Pope. This was the Pope's call in 1987 for a grand Jubilee 2000 when they hoped that everyone would be brought back under the "mother church." That is why it is important for the supporters to accept any religious view as long as it isn't against one great, world-wide "fellowship."

Jubilee sends the coded word that you still need "an atonement" which mother church will give you. Furthermore Jubilee meant to restore all of the "private property" (denominations or congregations) back to the tribe (mother church). The "Aztec" image of their 52 year and 52 week Jubilee was called upon by Rubel Shelly and Randy Harris to justify "burning down the old structures and rebuilding." They did not know that up to 20,000 people died to "facilitate" the priests in "holding up the sky for one more year."

The Pre-Christian Period Book of Jubilees Notes:

The Book of Jubilees:

Jubilee picks up this eternal theme:
And they will forget all My law and all My commandments and all My judgments,
and will go Jubilees 1:14
astray as to new moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances. Jubilees 1: 15
And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will seek me, so

The book of Jubilees is closely related to the Book of Enoch and other versions which declare that "God will come with ten thousands of His host to execute vengeance." Upon whom? The primary sin was seducing peoples minds off God's word through the use of instrumental music and choirs.

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Musical Worship. The word music is from the Greek "symphonia." While not true harmony, "music" is related in the entire Bible only to a secular party where music implied singing and dancing. The other rare use of the word "music" is to say that the musicians and instruments of the end time Babylonian whore religion

Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.'" Rev 18:20

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. Rev 18:21

The music (artificial tone) of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone (Heb. "grinders" were prostitutes) will never be heard in you again. Re.18:22

The light (truth of Jesus) of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. Rev 18:23

This is the finest oxymoron ever invented by Satan. The word "music" does not appear in the Hebrew or Greek except in a secular sense of singing and dancing or the end-time Babylonian Whore musical teams who did not serve God but the commercial seeker sensuality of Rome and her latter-day sisters. The "musicians" were overseers or straw bosses and their "worship" was hard labor, bondage which Christ died to remove.

As a result, a very illiterate and hostile 20th century effort has been to take away all Biblical and historical knowledge about so-called "music" in the Bible.

However, the word "music" is a secular or pagan practice which most often, in the classics, included dancing and reveling. Among the Greeks "singing" was clearly secular and "joining the voice to instrument" was considered so crude that only illiterate, slave prostitutes "performed." Even the goddess Athene threw away the flute.

Would Yahweh rejoice in what made the "goddess" Athene blush!

In Acts 1:20 psalmos is the book of Psalms and in Rom. 15: sing is psallo.

"Psallo is best translated by chant, (Paul uses the word "speak" in order to make melody in the heart)
        not sing.

The Greeks sharply distinguish chanting (psalmodia)
        from singing (tragoudi).
The first is a sacred activity;
        the second (singing), a secular one. In English, unfortunately,
        the distinction is not sharp.. Constantine Cavarnos

Not many (How many? Not many) of our preachers and elders are aware that music in religion is what Smith's Bible Dictionary calls idolatry. It sealed the doom of Israel already virtually pronounced on them before they left Egypt.

"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but
the employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous,
is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).

The temple "music" is not called "music" but noise or sounding: during the slaughter and burning of huge quantities of dead animals the Levites made a loud crashing noise to hide the horrors of sin and to keep the people's "congregation" away.

The instruments of David were always associated with that part of the temple-state animal sacrifice which involved king or Commanders of the Army or temple and are never called "the instruments of God."

There was no music or "praise service" in the synagogue which was the approved model for the church. The Greek word for synagogue is ekklesia erroneously translated as "church."

Truly, in fulfillment of Isaiah 5 when the "dominant pastors" deliberately and gleefully "broke down the walls" to God's vineyard while they engaged in musical, new wineskins religious festivals. God finished the work so that the BEASTS could come in and trample down the vineyard.

The Israelite people's congregation never "sang congregationally with instrumental music." The loud instruments were for animal burning or boasting (prophesying) for the civil temple but the common people were quarantined from this because it was a "like the nations" ceremony.

The people synagogued (verb moÇwýeÇd) during all of Israel's history when they assembled. During this time, trumpets and making a joyful noise was prohibited. Music is strikingly absent during the intertestament period except for warfare, temple purification or some other national ceremony. There was no praise service in the Synagogue during the time of Jesus nor until AD 1815 in a liberal synagogue which sowed discord and brought about a lawsuit. See also Jewish Liturgical Music.

People always praised God but there was no legalistic "praise service" in the early church. However, they obeyed Jesus' practice and Paul's command to "teach" rather than "sing" as the important word in teaching ONLY the Words of Christ or Spirit. Conservative churches which sing "Twila Paris" (the new Fanny Crosby) also violate that direct command and give tacit permission to "go all the way." Like the musical idolatry at Mount and in many passages, this says to God: "We don't want to hear your words, we had rather listen to our words interpreting your words." Or more likely, perverting the words of Jesus and teaching false doctrine and emasculating the body.

Jesus' best "proof text" against music is that the Temple would again be destroyed and animal sacrifices cease. When animal sacrifices ceased and the Jews exited Jerusalem they understood that the music of the sacrificial system was dead. And so it was until AD 1815 in a liberal synagogue which also had to go to court to steal the synagogue property. (see the synagogue link above).

Modern Jews are still looking for all of those tens of thousands of harps which will be required, and legal, only when the temple is rebuilt as surely it will be someday just in time to get torn down again.

Like the Lucifer (ZOE) agent as King of Babylon, we suggest that the harps all probably burned up on an eternal fire on a bed of maggots just like the original king/queen of Babylon and the end-time king/queen of religion promised in Revelation 18.

Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the maggots cover thee. Is.14:11

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Hand Clapping

See Dr. Rubel Shelly promoting the Hand Clap.
See Fred Peatross on clapping

Clapping has historically been to show contempt for the looser. Did you know that the theater and even some churches used "professional clappers?" They were the ones who induced artificial feelings for the decreed winners. Those left out are "loosers" and don't ever forget it. When God shows contempt he claps His "hands." It would be expected that where theatrical performers have kicked Christ out and made "church" into their "worship entertainment center" would also have their tag-alongs stragetically located to applaud or to "beef up" the weak singers. These are professional clappers.

In Justin's Dialog with Trypho the Jew he translates Amos:

The professional Singer was more important than the lay singers because they had a greater memory and therefore greater status. Ceremonials were often signs of "conspicious consumption" in which the "patient" was summoned and guests invited to the "cure" to show that the family had "arrived" at respectability and honor. The Singer gets good results because his illness is often psychological and the Singer doesn't cost as much as a trained counselor. In addition, s/he has the power to move the worshiper into the presence of the gods. Amazingly, "I brought you into the presence of God and He is Me!!"

Speaking directly to the Willow Creek and their "children" as well as Saddleback, the new competition,

"he is more than a mortal and at times becomes
        identified with the supernaturals,
        speaking in their voices and telling the hearers that all is well.
The prestige, mysticism, and power of the ceremonial itself are active,
        coming directly from the supernatural powers that build up the growing earth in spring,
        drench it with rain, or tear it apart with lightening.

In the height of the chant the patient himself becomes one of the Holy People,
        puts his feet in their moccasins, and breathes in the strength of the sun.
        He comes into complete harmony with the universe and must of course be free of all ills and evil...
        there will be an upswing of reawakened memories,
        like old melodies bearing him on emotional waves to feelings of security."
        (Goldschmidt, Walter, Exploring the Ways of Mankind, p. 515, Holt, Rinehart and Winston)

"For such are the begging priests of Cybele. Hence Antisthenes replies appropriately to their request for alms:

I do not maintain the mother of the gods,
For the gods maintain her."

"Again, the same writer of comedy, expressing his dissatisfaction with the common usages, tries to expose the impious arrogance of the prevailing error in the drama of the Priestess, sagely declaring: --

If a man drags the Deity
Whither he will by the sound of cymbals,

He that does this is greater than the Deity;

"But these are the instruments of audacity and means of living Invented by men. --(Clement, Exhortation to the Heathen, Ante-Nicene, II, p. 193).

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Dramatic or Theatrical Art

Lynn Anderson wrote about Dancing on the Rim:

"Aldous Huxley once wrote that human beings are "multiple amphibians"--creatures designed to make our way through many worlds at once: social, spiritual, emotional, cerebral, aesthetic, sexual, psychological, and so forth. But, he added, since the industrial revolution harnessed our energies to production and the technological revolution turned us into information manipulators, we tend to live primarily in the two logical worlds: those of data and productivity. These worlds are crowding out our "other worlds," which are thus atrophying. As a result, we are losing touch with what it means to be human.

Aldous Huxley is used as "proof-master" for worshiping the "god of newness" but Huxley also said:

Abused as we abuse it at present, dramatic art is in no sense cathartic; it is merely a form of emotional masturbation. It is the rarest thing to find a player who has not had his character affected for the worse by the practice of his profession.

Nobody can make a habit of self-exhibition, nobody can exploit his personality for the sake of exercising a kind of hypnotic power over others, and remain untouched by the process. From Source
A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls. Bertolt Brecht
The actor searches vainly for the sound of a vanished tradition, and critic and audience follow suit.
We have lost all sense of ritual and ceremony -- whether it be connected with Christmas, birthdays or funerals -- but the words remain with us and old impulses stir in the marrow.

We feel we should have rituals, we should do something about getting them and we blame the artists for not finding them for us.

So the artist sometimes attempts to find new rituals with only his imagination as his source: he imitates the outer form of ceremonies, pagan or baroque, unfortunately adding his own trapping -- the result is rarely convincing. And after the years and years of weaker and waterer imitations we now find ourselves rejecting the very notion of a holy stage.

It is not the fault of the holy that it has become a middle-class weapon to keep the children good. Peter (Stephen Paul) Brook

See our collection of notes on Drama as Satan's Weapon.

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Getting rid of the song books: The old "church" is literally replaced by a theater. The congregation is silenced. One way to do that is to get rid of the old song books which do some little teaching and replacing them with a large screen version of the songs which many of the older people cannot read.

While large-screen TVs or Projection computers and PowerPoint and other great inventions could be turned into a powerful way to teach the Word, history, archeology and other topics, the avowed purpose of some of the Seeker forms of church-turned-theater is to ultimately silence all but the performers. While this would be the most attractive, exciting and entertaining form of "ritual" it sees the magical word "MUSIC" where the Holy Spirit has not hinted at its use for spiritual worship.

People will tell you that getting rid of anything in the hands of the "audience" is to make them spectators of the pagentry. This "rising up to play" has no teaching or correction of the soul in mind. Rather, the goal of Saddleback or Willow Creek is to make everyone feel good about themselves ala Robert Schuler.

This was Satan's first line of attack inherent in the story of Jubal and in all of he extra-Biblical material beginning right off the ark at the Towers of Babylon.

Rather, worship means reverence. It means awe. It also means dread because God has agreed to meet us in the Holy Place of our spirit in confrontation with Him as pure or Holy Spirit. And yet, this act is still dangerous. When we go even boldly into the Holy Place we should understand that we there submit our spirit to His Spirit for teaching, correction and even pretty hard discipline because we are sons and not bastards.

The worship of the Jews while the civil leaders was conducting the national animal sacrifices was to fall on the face and pray.

In the Christian system, we "fall on our face" in a spiritual sense. That is, the only truly worship word in either the Old or New Testament is to "give heed" to the Word or to "seek" God who is pure Spirit. Jesus said that God only seeks those who are seeking Him in Spirit as it is devoted to truth which is His Word. Paul makes that point over and over but only rarely uses the words "sing" and "melody" to define the inward teaching and discipline of spiritual worship.

That simply cannot be accomplished when others are making noise: yes, God never identified it as "music" but as noise or sounding.

This doesn't matter because they will be silenced and made "spectators" to witness the "team" as idols performing to make them happy. The Spirit is silenced and demonic spirits are allowed to do their satyr dance before your appreciative eyes.

They don't want the song books because the focus is supposed to be on the team.

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The Praise Leader was the Precentor in the Catholic church which McClintock and Strong identify as the "first heresy largely pervading the church." The praise leader or praise team performed in the belief that they had a magical effect to enable the gods to do their work. In Nashville the first Musical Worship Facilitator (manipulator) was hired as a professional to help "lead the worshipers into the presence of God." Then why should not the praise and dance teams claim that "we are priests" or "we are mediators between man and God" or "we are the platform upon which God lands." They are literally "standing in the holy place claiming to be God."

The ancient and modern superstition of "praise rituals" was that they "SUSTAINED and ENHANCED the god's power to do such deeds." There is no command, example or remote inference that God ever commanded, commended or needs the Body of Christ or Assembly to assist Him by supplying extra human power by converting synagogue (school) to "PRAISE RITUAL" (the most ancient pagan superstition). This is saying "Lord, Lord" without doing what Christ commands: yea, denying that He has any commands: Saying (not asking) hast God really said thou shalt not." But taking minor liberties with Paul: "fools love to be fooled."

Jesus called the Jewish clergy children playing their pipes hoping to get Him into the Dionysic, effeminate song and dance which plagued Jerusalem and all ancient and modern priesthoods.

This Background to the Vineyard-like commercial "Mediating Worship Teams" and the Babylonian Encomiast as Praise Leader to empower the gods has been provided by request along with the requested review of the frequently-present bad press for churches of Christ in the latest Tennessean article.

Synonymns for Flatterer. -- N. flatterer, adulator; eulogist, euphemist; optimist, encomiast, laudator[Lat], whitewasher. toady, toadeater [obs]; sycophant, courtier, Sir Pertinax MacSycophant; flaneur[Fr], proneur[Fr]; puffer, touter[obs], claqueur[Fr]; clawback[obs], earwig, doer of dirty work; parasite, hanger-on &c. (servility) 886. yes-man, suckup, ass-kisser [vulgar], brown-noser [vulgar], teacher's pet.

Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'--when the LORD has not spoken. Eze.22:28 [Is that the law of silence?]

Taphel (h8602) taw-fale'; from an unused root mean. to smear; plaster (as gummy) or slime; (fig.) frivolity: - foolish things, unsavoury, untempered.

Tophel (h8603) to'-fel; from the same as 8602; quagmire; Tophel, a place near the Desert: - Tophel. (hell itself where the king/queen of Babylon will go with his/her musicians)

The Praise Leader From The Core of Babylon

In order to corrupt a church you first have to "take away the keys to knowledge." This is done by a modern invention called "preaching."

Preaching cares little for the Biblical Text as the Spirit of Christ delivered it. Rather, by taking the "somewhat-useless" words of Christ, preaching constructs a modern Narrative Theology Pattern. This is supposed to have the magical power of making people conform to the preacher's view of Christ. But there are "gods many and Christs many."

In Israel, musical worship starved the people for hunger and thirst for the Word but the "elders" did not know the Word, did not care about the Word, did not care about the flock and therefore did not care about God.

The second method of taking away the key to knowledge is to take away the revealed words of the Spirit Christ (1 Peter 1:11) through the prophets and apostles in singing. This is done by making "songs" or "hymns" into a "musical" form or Narrative Theology. Even Alexander Campbell seemed convinced that singing was a magical act while the message was less important.

But, we "worship" whatever we "give attention to." If it is theatrical performers then we are worshiping the actors (hypocrites in Greek). If we are listening to Twila Paris in "praise songs" teaching false doctrine then we are worshiping Twila Paris. Therefore, one writer asks: "are contemporary hymns idols?" We suggest, yes.

Robertson has called theatrical performance in song and sermon "the idolatry of talent." And now they are "standing in the holy places."

"There is, in our day, a marvelous idolatry of talent; it is strange and a grievous thing to see how men bow down before genius and success.

Draw the distinction sharp and firm between these two things--goodness is one thing, talent is another. It is an instructive fact that the son of Man came not as a scribe, but as a poor working man. He was a teacher, but not a Rabbi. When once the idolatry of talent enters the Church, then farewell to spirituality; when men ask their teachers, not for that which will make them more humble and God-like, but for the excitement of an intellectual banquet, then farewell to Christian progress.' (F. W. Robertson, Hastings on 1 Cor. p. 10).

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The Zoe Movement is a movement which believes, like the Saddleback group, that it trains singers, dancers and theatrical performance to be the worship ministers. At Saddleback, the church has been disbanded, and the theatrical performers and rock, rap, hip hop, and other instrumental band