Jack Reese, The Christian
Chronicle Worship Forum Review
Kenneth Sublett, Piney.com, Hohenwald,
Tennessee
See Jack Reese on Taize Worship
Jack Reese in The Christian Chronicle : Are
women in
public worship, fermented wine, praise
services
with instrumental music, solos and choruses not fundamental
issues? An issue such as instrumental attempts to worship God is
never an issue for debate until people use huge machinery such as the
Jubilee and sister-religious festivals around the country to
deliberately try praxis as a way to acclimate people to women's worship teams,
instrumental music, raising holy hands, laying on of hands,
ridiculing the legalists and trying to wash away baptism. Then, when
people refuse to navigate the winds of change but resist them as Paul
taught in Ephesians 4 and plow straight ahead or get out of the wind,
they are charged with "sowing discord" and with attempting to destroy
the brotherhood (being fratricidal.)
If
you get nothing else please grasp that not among the Jews nor in the
most vile pagan temples did the musicians enter into the Holy Places.
Among the Jews, the Holy Place is a carnal type of the spiritual body
of Christ. No Levitical musician could enter into this type of the
church of Christ even to clean out the garbage.
The temple musicians in a
"religious sense" (grouped with prostitutes in pagan religions) were
in the court making a loud mocking noise during the sacrifice and
burning of animals. Their service, under the KING and COMMANDERS of
the ARMY is defined as HARD BONDAGE: a word much like Abaddon in the
book of Revelation.
In fulfilment of the
prophetic type in Psalm 41 and fulfilled in the Dead Sea Scroll
translation, Judas and the military musicians would attempt to turn
Jesus into a coward. Click for
some examples.
When people see "Godliness as a means of
financial gain" they see "ministry" as an occupation like plumber or
psychologist. Lindy Adams interviews Jeanene Reese and we can see that when
"schools" are set up to manufacture preachers it inevitably falls
under the charm of the world to see ministry as "office on the good
Ship Synagogue" or church. While we believe that the "doctors of the
law" can be sincere, Jesus fired them out of the church because it is
virtually impossible to "Seminary" an honest Bible Student without
turning him away from that which you charge too much to train him
for.
Why Males in the Post-Biblical Effeminate Church are
Disguised as Empty Pews or Hostile Masculines: it Will Get Worse! "Of the Effeminate Willow-Creek "Holy Entertainment"
System: "The cost of this approach is hard work and loads of strife with
church
insiders."
Christianity Today
Giving Heed to the Word was
the principle "act" of worship in the Christian Synagogue.
"Preaching" Narrative Theology of cut-N-paste sermons was never an
act of worship. Thomas
Campbell and most older
scholars define how the Word is the "Truth" of worship "in spirit" or
in the mind which is the only kind and place God even bothers to look
for. Outrageious Biblical
illiteracy "among the scholars" is explained by Paul's teaching that "fools love to
be fooled." Read how two people had to abandon churches built around
pagan
entertainment in order to
discover the Word. Click and go down to where The Devil is Laughing to see how he and the watching world is not laughing
WITH the new for-hire Bible Repudiators but
laughing AT them and their followers just as the
Israelites became a LAUGHINGSTOCK with their musical idolatry at
Mount Sinai (Now the SCHOLAR'S pattern for worship and
community.)
We have added some notes
BELOW to FERMENTED WINE as an optional issue: Click
Here.
And slandering Jesus by
accusing Him of being a wine drinker and wholesale
manufacturer: Rubel
Shelly.
The brotherhood has been so tenderized that I
cannot even make that statement of opinion without being a
legalist
and sowing discord. If they sowed thistles in my
garden and I came along and picked up the seed and planted turnips I
would be sowing the seed of discord. So, get used to it until the
Yo-yos swing like a pendulum having run out their string. This, too,
will pass.
As children, we always just hated it when we
had a master plan for capturing "Flat top" and the other kids
wouldn't let us be Dick Tracy. However, as grown ups we understand
that those who try to combine the wrong elements from our chemistry
set are responsible for the explosion. And yet, we get
charged with guilt because we kept yelling, Stop.
The Christian Chronicle recently cast doubt
upon our clinging to the name church of
Christ. However, a reader responded
with some history 101aaa and we have added it (without authority) to
our research for a Catholic or universal meaning. Click
Here to see that this is the historical name of the
church.
Clifton Yeager, Huber Heights, Ohio
responded to the Christian Chronicle "Restoration 21"
series. But don't look for any of the
conservative crowd here.
"Over the last several years, many
people in our congregations are choosing one of two different paths.
On one hand, more and more of our
children, and not a few of their
parents, are leaving Churches of
Christ and the values and practices of
the Stone-Campbell heritage, a development that troubles us.
Since many of us no longer believe that
only members of Churches of Christ can be saved, exclusive loyalty to our own fellowship is in decline.
With that, of course, comes the loss of some unique things that our
churches have long stood for."
We suggest that the old dividers who decided
that others could not go to heaven have now used the same
judgmentalism to declare that they can go to heaven. By what right
does this God-like interrogation begin in the first place? Didn't
Jesus demand that those needing support "go into all the world and
preach the gospel" and not stir up stinks about issues which seem to
insist that the church of Christ is a "big ugly denomination" needing
the medical attention of doctors of the law.
We suggest that judgmentalism begins with
professional religionists feeling some need to protect turf and not form
the lowly members.
We also uggest also that members have not left
but been driven away by people who take the pay but do not believe
what they are preaching. Thus, in my memory of the last 30 years,
there has been a drum
beat by expansive preachers and book
sellers and lecuture peddlers to belittle the church of Christ. It is
sectarian, mean spirited and Pharisaical, they say, because we
continue
to believe that instrumental music is wrong when the
Denominationally-educated pastors don't have a clue about the
Biblical teaching against music or the 2,000 year anti-music or other
mechanical efforts to worship God. They leave because the same
ignorance declares that baptism is no
longer required.
They leave because "the lecture is the least
effective way to communicate" and they just refuse to support fill in
the blanks sermons which will leave a 20 year audience brain-drained
and biblically illiterate. They can now, free of charge, get the
resources not even available to the doctors of the law. TV is much
better entertainment than theatrically performed sermons or the slap
in the face of musical worship teams pretending to mediate for the
audience.
Now, they are like the mechanic who broke my
wife's Jeep's heater: "I will fix it for $300.00." That which the
"scholars" have wrecked they now presume to fix. How about just
butting out and finding another "profession" rather than "seeing
godliness as a means of financial gain."
The article also suggests, as usual, that
churches of Christ caused the split. Our article shows that prior
Disciple census effort alerted the Census Bureau to the fact that
they were counting non-society and non-instrumental churches as their
own. The division had taken place long
before.
The Christian Chronicle for 20 December 2000
shows the distribution of churches of
Christ. It absolutely suggests that
church growth ceased because the church coming under the dominant
pastor system refused to obey the Great Commission. Therefore, it
feeds on itself and totally explains the division as fight over
Leming-like panic when the turf gets too crowded. Preachers coming
out of demoninational colleges will, without a doubt, reflect the
teaching of those colleges.
Jack Reese will be in RED, our
review is primarily in BLACK and BLUE
reflects many other comments.
Related Material: Dan
Dozier: We need to be filled up, to be
comforted, to be
overwhelmed with
wonder,
and to be lifted
up in the exhilaration of
praise. Sorry, but God is pure or Holy
Spirit and if you try to get too intimate you will be burned to a
crisp.
Amos meant what God told him to
say:
All of the doctors of the law, even A Cappells,
love to pretend that God would have been perfectly delighted with the
worship of the golden calves in Israel if only they had a good mental
attitude. This flies in the face of the text and numerous parallel
passages and in the face of ancient and modern scholars. This is
purely a preacher fallacy. Why? Perhaps because when ministries fail,
music is always there to fall back on. Or perhaps they do not believe
what their employers think that they believe about music.
We have added Amos notes to let heavy-weight
scholars refute Jack Reese and all of those who trivialize the
addition of instrumental music and
choirs. This has the effect of
declaring that opposition to those adding non scriptural practices is
being trivial when they should be about more important things. If
only the wind navigators will quit blowing hot air this might be
possible.
The primary new Amos notes may be found by
clicking
here.
And
an article on Amos Five to show that the MUSICAL
WORSHIP in Israel and also Judah
was the worship of Molech or Chiun (Saturn 666). Stephen says that
God "turned them over to worship the STARRY HOST because of this
mortal idolatry which was MUSICAL. Note that the diagram proves that
the MUSICIANS for animal sacrifices were NOT in the Holy Place as a
TYPE of the Church of Christ or Body of Christ. It was not to be
POLLUTED by ever by either SINGERS or MUSICIANS entering. The SERVICE
of the Levitical musicians "under the king and commanders of the
army" was called HARD BONDAGE and they served the Priests. The
priests in turn sacrificed all of those thousands of INNOCENT
ANIMALS. This was a TYPE of the musical mocking the Levites would try
on Jesus as they SACRIFICED him as the ONE-TIME offering which
stopped all of the music which was called NOISE.
Not even in the VILEST PAGAN TEMPLE did the
singers or musicians enter into the Holy Places. One exception was
the Abomination of Deslolation in the Jerusalem temple where Zeus and
Dionysus were worshiped with MUSIC and its eternal CO-PARTRNER:
Sexuality and perverted sexuality. See Second
Macc.
Online: Part 1 of a 3-part Series on Worship
- Article in The Christian Chronicle:
- Jack Reese: Dean, College of Biblical
Studies
- Abilene Christian University
- Abilene, Texas
It is not fair to blame non-instrumental, Bible
believers for the problems the colleges have created by training
PREACHERS to man secular institutions rather than to train TEACHERS
to help lead the assembly. No, Jesus promised to BUILD MY EKKLESIA or
SYNAGOGUE so training CHURCH administrators equips for the worship of
CIRCE or KIRKE whom we worship every time we say "church" this or
"church" that. Circe was the model of the holy whore who uses
"phramacy" or sorcery and music to seduce members sexually. The drug
high turned them into "beasts" often pigs. Circe then spent her
ministry time making DUNK CAKES to feed those who had been seduced.
DUNG was a very important "food" in many ancient religions. For
instance, the Levitical Sounders (not musicians) were to serve the
priests and not God. The priests had to endure the slaughter of
innocent animals as if they were slaughtering Jesus Christ. Their
world was filled with screaming animals, blood, dung and burning
flesh. Because Israel's elders wanted a KING LIKE THE NATIONS God
understood that it was so that they could WORSHIP LIKE THE NATIONS.
Therefore, He abandoned them to kings who would destroy them.
Jesus said: "I will build my
ekklesia or synagogue." The Qahal or Synagogue or church in the
wilderness met only for instructions and "blowing instruments and
'making a joyful noise before the Lord'" was outlawed because it was
the warrior's panic alarm (Numbers 10).
The concensus makers (now
Thought
Leaders) always seem
surprised when the changes they have actively sought through
"naviging the winds of change" actually take place. They simply
cannot grasp why people who are taught about "the big ugly
denomination" suddenly follow the destructive leaders. For instance,
in the First Great American Awakening:
"In New England,
the Great Awakening sounded the death knell for the comprehensive Puritan conception of the
world.
Its immediate
impact was to divide the Puritan churches into four more or less distinct groups.
However, their new-style
worship was exactly like old style paganism which overwhelmed
Jerusalem so that it was called "Egypt and Sodom." When the Musical
Worship Team tried to conduct "funeral" for the dead girl as they
would conduct weddings or religious rituals, Jesus cast them out
"more or less violently" as one casts out dung.
Aristotle, Athenian Constitution
These then are the matters
administered by the Council. Also ten men are elected by lot as
Restorers of Temples, who draw 30 minae1 from the Receivers and
repair the temples that most require it; and TEN CITY Controllers,
[2]
[five of whom hold office in
Peiraeus (REPLICATE city) and five in the city;
"it is they who
SUPERVIZE the
FLUTE-girls and HARP-girls and LYRE-girls to prevent their receiving fees of more than two
drachmas,
"and if several
persons want to take the SAME GIRL these officials cast lots between
them and hire her out to the winner.
"And they keep watch to prevent
any scavenger from DEPOSITING ODURE (dung)
within a mile and a quarter of the wall;
"and they prevent
the construction of buildings encroaching on and balconies
overhanging the roads, of overhead conduits with an overflow into the
road, and of windows opening outward on to the road;
"and they remove for BURIAL the
bodies of persons who DIE on the roads, having public slaves for this
service.
Skubalon (g4657) skoo'-bal-on; neut. of a presumed der. of
1519 and 2965
and 906; what is thrown to the dogs, i.e. refuse (ordure): - dung.
Kuon (g2965) koo'-ohn; a prim. word; a dog
["hound"] (lit. or fig.): - dog.
Give not that which
is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Mt.7:6
The work of the clergy who
LADED the people down with BURDENS laded them with "spiritual anxiety
created by religious rituals." This is related to the word DUNG. The
rhetoricians, sophists, singers, musicians, technicians or craftsmen
were members of the HYPOCRITE sect of the Jews. The are all
identified in the Greek world as parasites.
Proponents of revival were known as "New
Lights,"
but this broad
designation covered at least two
distinct
groups
Jonathan
Edwards represented the
moderate New
Lights who wished to
remain within estalished
Congregationalism, but
who did not mute their evangelistic zeal, their renewed Calvinism, and their belief in pure churches.
"A new desire to
see the churches purified of all but the elect was an ecclesiastical reflection of
this more intense piety."
"To the left of these Edwardseans was a more radical camp. Many who had been quickened by revival found the established church sterile
and oppressive. Such people ohen broke away to form
"Separate" churches.
It is a fact that charismatics
identified by "musical worship teams" leading you into the presence
of God (mediators) and turning to HOLY THEATER (by and for the
effeminate) have as their first task the building of a new theater as
"venue for Rock and Roll" then get it paid for. The next task is to
drive off the old folks or hope they die so we can get the "girls"
busy performing their new "worship" to attract those brain and soul
damaged by music.
Revivalistic or charismatic
practices includes
music. And
music induces
endorphins meaning
morhphin-like. When you wheel off into the realm of drug-induced
"worship" there is not end in sight. Those who added Cowboy Dan with
his guitar will want pipes and drums, changs and booms.
And so, those who have led the
church off into musical (meaning charismatic) rituals will get their
due reward when some new turk leads his sheep from being skinned or
fleeced to being slaughtered. As a result of the first Great
Awakening:
Historian
C. C. Goen has
painstakingly identified 321 separations of one kind or another by these New Lights.
Some of these splits
were healed rapidly. Others led to the continuation of "Separate
Congregational', churches. But most eventually became Baptist
congregations.
Someone has tabulated at
least 146 different Baptist groups still in existence and growing.
And, would you believe it, among musical-charismatic churches the
whine is "how do we keep our young people?"
When we substitute human
poetry, often silly, sometimes heretical, and always sentimental and
effeminizing, the people are, as Amos warned in chapters 5, 6 and 8
"hungering and thirsting for the Word of God." We wander from sea to sea trying to find it and cannot. As a
result someone comes along with a fish hook and leads us into
captivity and spiritual death.
In very undeveloped areas
people eat dirt quite naturally because they do not know that they
are starving for some unknown mineral. In the same way, people who
are malnourished because they are not fed on the Word go looking for
something without knowing why. Rather than feeding them on dirt or
junk food it would be better to hand out mineral tablets and teach
them the Word.
However, Jesus
warned that the doctors
of the law take away
the key to knowledge and therefore demanded that He is our Shepherd to lead us to tall grass and the
Water of the Word. At the same time, He observes silence to allow the
process work.
Perhaps the young man
needs to be fed from the Hand of Jesus with
the Bread of
Life and given the
Water of the
Word. However, when you
feed people a "wine-like gospel" you destroy their internal "organs"
and they die spiritually. God often condemns the elders of Israel
because they just muddied
the water after taking what they wanted.
The style of harmonizing which
we do more radically than most irritates before it begins to feel spiritual. The
music-induced endorphins are created to heal the wound from music and
give a bit over to give us the drug high. However, in time the "fix"
needs to be bigger and bigger until we cannot see or hear the word
like the clergy whom Jesus dismissed by speaking parables which they
couldn't grasp. Our music has been called "low level glossalalia" or
just speaking in tongues and it has the same effect of creating
ecstasy like mescaline or peyote.
Without knowing it, the wish
for more
excitement could also
be satisfied if there was just one teacher who had turned to Christ
and had a clear-conscience (or consciousness) or the ability to
co-perceive the Mind of Christ, the Spirit of God, the words of
Christ (John 6:63).
Highly charismatic and musical
denominations voice the same plea on the web: "What can we do to keep
our kids." The high from music cannot compete with stolen CDS as a
bigger fix than most churches are willing to provide the needle for.
The problem in both extremes is the same: ignoring the command to
"preach or teach" with the Biblical text and hallucinating that
singing is translated in the New Testament as "music." It is
not.
See our notes
on those who clap at Clapp.html
Maybe it takes a Phd to NOT grasp that Paul said
nothing about MUSIC. He difined "glorifying God with one mind and one
voice" using "that which is WRITTEN" (Rom 15), The Spirit or Word of
christ (Jn 6:63) in Ephesians 5 to TEACH and "the Word of Christ" to
teach and admonish in Galatians 3. The MUSIC word is never used in
the Bible of spiritual worship.
The battle lines are arranged
by Satan himself: on the right we have singing secular songs and
making harmony with the voice. On the left, we have instruments,
clapping, raising hands, lament services, choruses and other forms of
ritualistic ceremonial legalism.
- In Justin's Dialog with
Trypho the Jew he translates Amos:
Who applaud at the sound of the musical instruments;
- they reckon them as
stable, and not as fleeting.
- Who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with
the chief ointments,
- but they are not grieved
for the affliction of Joseph.
-
- We do know that Jesus read the Septuagint which
reads:
-
- who excel in the sound of musical instruments;
- they have regarded them
as abiding, not as
fleeting pleasure." Amos 6:5 LXX
The truth lies between the
extremes and our Unity Forums and Thought Leaders don't have a clue
to the fact that when God is in His Holy Temple (naos) He dwells in
my spirit or mind (nous). Worship in spirit does not mean "lets's see
how sexy we can make this theatrical performance without exceeding
prayerful brinkmanship." The pagans always knew that as the only way
to pay for temples.
However, "outside the camp" is
lonely Jesus who did not prescribe any of these rituals. Worship is
"in spirit" or in the mind or human spirit and not in the
drug-induced high producing "fight, flight or sex." The church was
ekklesia only in the sense of being an assembly. However, the
function throughout the New Testament including with Jesus was not
"pagan worship center" but synagogue. There was no ritualistic, pagan
praise service in the synagogue. They met to read the Word and
pray.
If anyone needed
a musical, sexual fix everyone knew that they ran to the pagan
temples where the musical prophesiers could fix you up jiffy quick.
That is why all women in religious circles were known as "the harem
of the gods."
By grouping hand clapping (contempt for the losers) and choirs
(organic organ) with a modern version of the Overhead Projector this seems to be errecting a straw man. Never heard of anyone objecting to a
TV set or computer as teaching aid. Wow!
However, this would seem to put those who object to instruments and
choirs in the same category as those who object to computers. And in
similar articles, rejecting instruments is even compared to
racism. That surely is phsychological violence. Clapping hands in the Bible and in
history was the universal way to ridicule the loosers.
Both extremes have fallen for
Abaddon's end-time Babylon Harlot system: women, commerce and music
(Rev. 18). However, Jesus sent a coded message to His tiny group but
never revealed to the multitudes so that they could catch His
meaning: prayer or seeking God is "in the prayer closet" representing
the "spirit." And the operative "worship" word is not SING. The word
is teach or preach. The melody is in the heart because external
melody, even with instruments, meant to grind people into a fine
powder (sop) in order to defeat them. See the
Twanging meaning of external harmony. This was the meaning of David "singing to the
Gentiles." Playing instruments and "making a joyful noise before the
Lord was a war chant to panic the enemy into cowardice or cringe
(worship) in defeat. David played to the Gentiles with his foot upon
their necks and David shed the blood OF the
Gentiles. However, Jesus is Prince of Peace and He "sings in the
Heart" when His Word is taught one to another. Jesus shed His blood
FOR the Gentiles. See the
difference?
See Dr. Rubel Shelly on Clapping Hands
Most of the superstitious
"praise craze" comes out of the Vineyard movement. The explicit goal
is that the New Style Music must bring on a climactic event
(reaching a climax). The next logical
step is called THE GIVING OF SUBSTANCE ACT OF WORSHIP.
These crazy teams claim that
they are priests and "mediators between man and God." In Rubel
Shelly's words the music helps "bring them into the presence of God."
Praise songs are selfish and sentimental and often erotic and the
teams, especially the women, don't hesitate to say that they are
inviting the Holy Spirit to COME. This was always implicit and
explicit among the pagan prophesiers (male or female) who were male
and female prostitutes. The "musical team" was always know as "the
harem of the gods."
Arnobius wrote and we ask: "Why would any of these be
acceptable in the Synagogue of Christ?"
35. But is it only poets whom you have thought proper to allow to invent unseemly
tales about the
gods, and to turn them shamefully into
sport?
What do your
pantomimists, the actors,
that crowd of mimics
and adulterers? Do they
not abuse your gods to make to themselves gain,
and do not the
others find
enticing
pleasures in the wrongs
and insults
offered to the gods?
At the public games, too, the
colleges of all the priests
and magistrates take their places, the chief Pontiffs, and the chief priests of the curiae;
the Quindecemviri take their places, crowned
with wreaths of laurel,
and the flamines diales with their mitres; the augurs take their places,
who disclose the divine mind and will
and the chaste maidens also, who cherish and guard the ever-burning
fire;
36. But this crime is not enough: the persons of the most sacred gods
are mixed up with farces
also, and scurrilous plays.
And that the idle
onlookers may be excited
to laughter and jollity,
the deities are hit at in
jocular quips, the spectators shout and rise up, the whole pit
resounds with the clapping of
hands and applause.
Thomas Aquinas: "It seemed to some that this argument
about the allurements of
music as God"s
temporary device to arouse a dull and unresponsive people would apply equally against the
continued use of singing
in the church. This objection is considered in an anonymous work, of
uncertain date,"called "Questions and Answers to the Orthodox":
[Note: We believe that this is from Thomas Aquinas on LIPS and SONG. ksl]
"Question: If songs were invented by unbelievers to
seduce
men, but were allowed
to those under the law on account of their childish state, why do those who have received the
perfect teaching of grace in their churches still use songs, just
like the children under the law?
"Answer: It is not simple singing that belongs to
the childish
state, but singing with
lifeless
instruments, with
dancing, and with clappers. Hence the use of such instruments and the others
that belong to the childish state is excluded from the singing in the churches,
and simple
singing is left.
For it awakens the soul to a fervent desire for that which is described in the songs, it quiets the passions that arise from the flesh,
it removes the evil thoughts that are implanted in us by invisible
foes, it waters the
soul to make it
fruitful in the good things of God, it makes the soldiers of piety
strong to endure hardships, it becomes for the pious a medicine to
cure all the pains of life.
Paul calls this "the sword of the spirit," with
which he arms the soldiers of piety against their unseen foes.
for it is the word of
God, and when it is pondered and sung and
proclaimed
it has the power to drive out demons."
But then
there is no relationship is there? How can what we do one hour a week
radically change how we think of the worldwide AIDS epidemic? Why is
there such an emphasis upon AIDS ministry and no AIDS prevention? I probably cannot "save" a
single AIDS victim. One might be able to point out a connection
between AIDS and theatrical performance.
Some believed that these self-composed hymns violated
the principle established by Jesus as the "Son" who earned that title
because He spoke only what He heard from the "Father" or
Authoratative Teacher. Are
self-composed hymns Idols? Yes. Why? Why, because we "give attendance or heed" to
the hymn, the writer and the performer: that means that we worship
the hymn as idol..
Some believe that "preaching
Jesus" is preaching or singing Jesus. Paul modeled the Jesus
principle by speaking only what He heard from Jesus of Nazareth, the
Spirit Lord. Paul instructed the churches a dozen times to teach (or
sing) the Word which is Spirit which is what has been delivered in
person or by letter from an inspired person.
Worship is directed to the one we "give heed
to." If we give
heed to Fanny Crosby then we are worshiping Fanny Crosby. If we give
attention to (with claims of awesomness sounding like lust) to the
"team" then we are worshiping the team. That is why "in spirit"
worship is in the mind or spirit and the ONLY RESOURCE is the Word of
Christ.
SINGING IS NOT AN ACT OF
WORSHIP. Therefore, if we sing Twila Paris then we are not worshiping
in spirit because the ACT does not make the worship
automatic.
Well, we do know,
or don't
we, that this battle
involved a commercial battle between two publishers (Scribes) and has
nothing to do with instrumental music. A church can be wrong about
every thing that it practices but still hold the Biblical view about
music as a carnal, sense stimulus. These "parallels" are always drawn
to try to make the non-instrumentalist look silly. However, we should
note that the music issue was fought outside of the normal "church of
Christ territory."
However, Alexander Campbell
also understood that "music" was not a word associated with the
worship of God at any time or any place. Nope! Having the Levitical
Overseers (not musicians) strum all of the harps, beat on brass, make
a loud shouting sound as the priests blow 120 shophars tuned to the
same note could hardly be classified with Music. When David "praised"
with the harp the word means to "make self vile or to put on a show."
Because David was never a spiritual person but a king we suggest that
like in all of the naitons Israel imitated He was boasting.
However, when David
worshiped he "sought the Lord."
For thus saith the
Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: Am.5:4
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so
the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Amos 5:14
Darash
(h1875) daw-rash'; a prim. root; prop. to tread or frequent; usually
to follow (for pursuit or search); by impl. to seek or ask; spec. to
worship ...
Hate the evil, and love the
good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God
of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:15
Take thou away from
me the noise
of thy songs;
for I will not hear the melody
of thy viols.
Amos 5:23
Dr. Rubel Shelly claims that
the Exodus event is a pattern for Christian worship and community.
But, we know, don't we, that the musical idolatry the Israelites
"prayed" for was the musical worship of the devil under Osiris and
the golden calf. This, at its heart was S.U.N. worship which is
suggested can replace S.O.N. worship.
- The Exodus Pattern For Worship and
Community
Rubel Shelly / John
York: The Exodus Pattern for Worship and Community:
Retrospective
Rubel Shelly / John York: Rising Up To Play in Musical Idolatry Made The
Exodus a Failure
- Praise And Thanksgiving
- Psalm 106 as a Paradigm for
Praise
When Israel rose up to play
they engaged in musical idolatry. For that, God "turned them over to
worship the starry hosts." This was Saturn, Molech, Chiun or any one
of the idols representing the "wandering stars" or planets, the sun
and the moon.
LUCIFER BROUGHT Wind, String
and percussion instruments to BLEED OFF worship due to God by GIVING
HEED to His words to TEACH (as Paul makes clear). Throughout the
Bible and other writings the MUSICAL IDOLATRY is the MARK.
Chrysostom of the Musical Idolatry at Mount
Sinai:
Prior to that, he tells of
"living oracles," life-giving precepts:
after it, and as its
consequence, sacrifices, etc., those statutes which were not good, and ordinances by which a man shall not live,
as God says by Ezekiel.
- Not a word of sacrifice
till then:
- and the first mention is,
of the sacrifices
offered to the calf.
In like manner, "they
rejoiced," "the people ate and drank, and
rose up
to play:" and in consequence of this,
the feasts were
prescribed: kai
eufrainonto, fhsin: dia touto kai eortai.-'Epishmainetai might be
rendered,
"he marks," "puts
a mark upon it"
(so the innovator, who substitutes, we take it passively, "there is a mark set over it-it is emphatically denoted."
In the active, the verb taken
intransitively means
"to betoken or announce
itself," "make its
first
appearance."-In the
Treatise adv. Judaeos, iv. §6. tom. i. 624. C.
Let us then ever obey the voice
of the divine
word . For the to-day
signifies eternity. And day is the symbol of light; and the light of men is the Word, by whom we behold God.
Rightly, then, to
those that have believed and obey,
grace will superabound; while with those that have been unbelieving, and
err in heart, and have not known the Lord's ways, which John
commanded to make straight and to prepare, God is incensed, and those
He threatens.
And, indeed, the
old Hebrew
wanderers in the desert
received typically the end of the threatening;
for they are said
not to have entered into the rest, because of
unbelief,
till, having followed
the successor of Moses,
they learned by experience, though late, that they could not be saved otherwise than by
believing on Jesus.
But the Lord, in His love to
man, invites all men to the knowledge of the truth, and for this end sends the
Paraclete . What, then, is this knowledge? Godliness; and "godliness," according to
Paul, "is profitable for all things, having
the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. {1
Tim. iv. 8.}
Arnobius, Against Heresies.
XV. A
Psalm. Of Solomon. With a Song.
- 1 When I was in distress I called upon the name of the
Lord,
- I hoped for the help of
the God of Jacob and was saved;
- 2 For the hope and refuge
of the poor art Thou, O God.
- 3 For who, O God, is strong
except to give thanks unto Thee in truth?
- 4 And wherein is a man
powerful except in giving thanks to Thy name?
- 5 A new psalm with song in gladness of heart,
- The fruit of the lips with the
- well-tuned
instrument of the tongue,
- The firstfruits of the lips from a pious and righteous heart
- 6 He that offereth these
things shall never be
shaken by evil;
- The flame of fire and the wrath against the unrighteous shall not touch
him,
-
- Of the
unrighteous:
- 10 For the mark of destruction is upon their forehead.
- 11 And the inheritance of
sinners is destruction and darkness,
- And their iniquities
shall pursue them
unto Sheol beneath.
And of the king of Babylon
as an AGENT of Lucifer:
Thy pomp is brought
down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread
under thee, and the worms cover thee. Is.14:11
Contrary to what every preacher or scholar will tell
you Amos was not condemning a case of everything approved but just a
bad mental attitude. He was condemning "musical worship" because it
took away devotion to God by giving it to the "musical team" which
stands where Satan stood when, equipped with flutes and tambourines,
He tried to take honor from God.
But ye have borne
the tabernacle of your Moloch
and Chiun your
images, the
star of your god, which ye made to
yourselves. Am.5:26
When the leaders refused to
teach:
And the
songs of the
temple shall be
howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there
shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth
with silence. Am.8:3
I will turn your
religious
feasts into mourning
and all your singing
into weeping. I will
make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that
time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter
day. Am.8:10
Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: Amos 8:11
And they shall
wander from sea to
sea, and from the north
even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the
Lord, and shall
not find it. Amos 8:12
Can anyone dispute that the
NEW STYLE WORSHIP of
the Wimbers where the end of singing erotic praise songs is reaching a CLIMAX with God has deliberately fostered the
idea of the CORE GOSPEL and the rejection of the Words of Christ
through inspiration as having any value for "faith and
doctrine." Throughout
the pagan systems, singing "praise songs" was to make the gods "land
on the team as platform." I Gnosticism the goal was always to
make the Holy Spirit
COME. From Source showing the sexual, voodoo roots of "revival"
music.
This was what Paul commanded
as "teaching" rather than singing with "music" so that the Christians
would not hunger, thirst, go into captivity and die
spiritually.
However, the Worship of the
"Stars" with music will be the end-time Babylon Harlot religion where
in all paganism "women singers were the harem of the god."
Musicologists are aware of the
black, oppressed music of Voodoo and
"anti-master" coded songs which had infiltrated and had a huge impact
on the Second American Awakening. Until the First Awakening everyone
understood the Biblical mandate to teach the Word as not remotely
related to "music." However, revivalist preachers competing with one
another were validated by the number of charismatic fits they could
produce.
Therefore, the modern American
Hymody is distinctly a blend of "folk, gospel and Voodoo."
Michael Horton writes: "I'll Do The Best That I Can" was a popular hymn written by the
Stamps
Quartet. In
"Climbing The Stairway of Love," we read, "I now am
climbing the
stairway that leads to
heav'n above. Each step is guided by God's great hand of love. I'm
moving
higher and
nearer that home up in the sky, and if by
faith I keep climbing
I'll reach it by and by." Here are some other examples: "Higher yet and
higher, out of clouds and night, nearer yet and nearer
rising to the light,-Light serene and holy,
where my soul may rest, purified and lowly,
sanctified and blest."
They reflect the
shift from Reformation
categories (God, sin
and grace, Christ's saving work, the Word, church, sacraments, etc.)
to Romantic
individualism.
(translate romantic "erotic.")
We sing, "I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear,
singing in my ear,
the voice of God is calling. And he walks with me and he talks with me, and
he tells me
I am his
own."
Or, "He touched me." The number of 19th century hymns that
talk about the objective truth
of Scripture, and that
which God has done outside of my personal experience,
is overwhelmed by the number of hymns that focus on my personal experience. It is my
heart, not God and his saving work, that receives top billing.
If that was true of the
19th
century, the 20th
century only exacerbated this emphasis, and the style of the
commercial Broadway
musical was imitated in
songs that elevated personal experience and happiness above God and his glory.
Today, the vast majority of
entries in the Maranatha, Vineyard, and related praise song
books (Howard
Publishing) are not only
burdened with this
self-centered and Gnostic
tendency,
but often contain
outright
heresy--probably not
intentionally (?), but as a result of sloppy theology.
The famous "Spirit Song,"
written by John
Wimber, reads, "Oh let
the Son of God enfold
you with His Spirit and His love." Now, how would that first line be
rewritten in a more classical Christian vein? "Oh trust the Son of
God to redeem you by His flesh and His blood." It even rhymes with
the original version.
The "Inside God" is proclaimed throughout the Promise Keepers album, A Life That Shows. For example, in the
song, "I Want To Be Just
Like You," a father
prays for his son: "Help me be a living Bible, Lord that my little boy can read..." turning from the external Word to "the
self." The song then
continues, "...I know that he'll learn from the things that
he sees, And the Jesus he finds will be the Jesus in me."
So not only are we
missing an "external
Word," now we're not
even left with an "external Christ.
AS Dr. Horton notes, this is
pure Gnosticism.
Someone has said that "song
books have less to do with proper singing than with the interest of
the publishing houses." Wasn't this the same commercial interest
which fired warfare over the Received Text which Erasmus hustled into
print and still raging because of commercial promotion of something
other than KJV.
The king of Tyre,
the king of Babylon and the end-time Babylonian Whore religion
creates great problems because it attempts to marry religion commerce.
The church fought the same
battle over secular songs long before Alexander Campbell added them
under the stimulus of the Great American Awakenings -- a charismatic mental
breakdown. These were
"Revivalistic" hymns because they had the magical effect honed over
the years to do mind altering and even Voodoo which could be sold as "spiritual" feelings or even
"dancing in the arms of Jesus."
Because there is no hint of
"music" (symphony) in the early church, most people understood that
"notations" had no place in "singing" because the command was to
teach or preach.
Chanting was not singing. And everyone knew that the command was to
honor Christ by speaking His
revealed Word:
"But considerable
prominence was given to the hymns by the Gnostic, Bardesans, who composed a psalter of 150 psalms.
However, the 59th canon of the Synod of Laodicea, 360 A. D., enjoined
that 'No psalm composed by private individuals nor any uncanonical
books may be read in the Church, but only... the Canonical Books of
the OT and NT." Int Std Ency., p. 2494
"In competition with pagan musical art, congregational singing began to
wane. Basil states that he had 'the Psalms
rendered by skillful
presentors after the
manner of the triumphal Odes of Pindar, the congregation joining at
the closing verse, with the accompaniment of lyres." Int Std Bible
Ency., p. 2494A
"The McClintock and
Strong Cyclopedia not only speaks, in general terms, of
'heresy largely pervading the church and making
rapid headway' at that very time, but it specifies 'the appointment of singers as a
distinct class of
officers in the church' with 'the consequent introduction of
profane music'; and why should not instrumental
music have been introduced if the carnal wishes of the people called
for it" (Kurfees, p. 123)
This urge to use
professional
art to compete with
others quite naturally led to the use of professional presenters. It is important to note the earlier statement that
the use of music was often in the
professionals.
"Psalmody thus came
to be increasingly the monopoly of trained singers, and the 15th canon of the Council of
Laodicea, 360 AD, proscribed that 'no others shall sing in the church
save only the canonical
singers...who go up
into the ambo and sing
with a book." (Int Std
Bible Ency, Psalms, p. 2494a)
So, it won't do much good to
try to pin every "besetting sin" on some ole Restoration Movement
leader. They didn't invent these divisive issues, you know. How oh
how are our doctors of the law gonna know anything from
nothing?
So those who remain faithful to
churches of Christ (needing more restoring) should not be put off.
What we believe about music is the almost universal view. And our
view of "command, example and inference" is well established by
direct command in the Bible and acknowledged by most historical
theologians.
Nevertheless, most
of the historical practices of churches of Christ are billed as
latter-day and out of touch with Scripture and history is less than
the truth (on my charitable days). Click to
see what God and men said long before Alexander
Campbell.
