Merry Christmas!

I can’t believe that Christmas Day is almost upon us.  This month of December has been a whirlwind of activity.  We have had guest speakers, various youth choir presentations, a preschool presentation, special events, an outdoor drama and an adult choir Christmas cantata and of course our regular worship services.  I have been very busy to say the least.  I have also enjoyed every minute of it all.  It has been hard work with no pay but so rewarding it its own way.  I will probably write a review and lessons learned on the outdoor drama and the cantata after the New Year has begun.  I need a break from everything right now.

I have also been doing a lot of work on preparing to step out in faith and present myself for full time technical ministry soon.  I know what the Lord wants me to serve in but I do not know where or when or how.  The fiery darts of doubt, lack of confidence and stress are coming on me but that is why I have my shield of faith.  Pray for me as I battle and also pray for my discernment as I seek the specifics of the Lord’s will.

This year there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Christmas from churches deciding not to have services on Christmas Day to the ever increasing normalcy of commercialism to the political correctness debate.  There was a song that was performed at our Christmas cantata titled I Choose Jesus.  In that song it talks about making decisions and what turn to take at a crossroad.  I feel that as a society we are at a crossroad.  Whether or not a church is having services on Sunday doesn’t matter.  All the sales and shopping for gifts doesn’t matter.  Although you usually know where their heart is by what terms they use, whether someone says Christmas or holiday doesn’t matter.  What matters is if someone chooses Jesus or not.  I want my focus to be solely on Jesus, not just for Christmas but for life.  I pray that you will also choose Jesus.

I wish all of you a very, merry Christmas!  

Christian vs. Secular Genre

A thought that came to my mind during our worship conference is the increasingly common trend of using secular songs in worship services. I can understand the use of the songs to reach the lost and/or unchurched by being relevant but I also think that the lost and unchurched are looking for something new, something different than the lives they have now. They need their minds renewed and so do we. I want to be in a constant frame of mind and attitude of giving thanks and praise to God. I can’t do that with most secular songs.

Now, I’m not saying that all of those songs are bad and “are of the devil”. I still listen to secular songs from time to time but I most certainly listen to them in a different way than I did in the past. I now listen to make sure that the songs I listen to are not in opposition to the way I want to live my life before a holy, sovereign God. I do not want to fill my mind with garbage just like I would not view pornography for the same reason. Let’s face it; there are some songs out there that Christians should not listen to and they most certainly should not be used to reach the lost. Also make note that throughout I have not said music. I do not believe there is secular music; just secular lyrics.

I know many churches use secular songs every service but I have to wonder just how many secular songs bring us to a heart of worship. I would think not many if any. I pray that churches are not using secular songs just to say “Hey look at us, we are not that much different from you.” I believe that we are to be different. That is what makes people take at look at us and say, “What is up with you?” The answer is Jesus!

Another trend is the increasing popularity of bands under the banner of the Christian genre. I really enjoy listening to some of these groups but there is something that bothers me and that is the absence of God and/or Jesus from their vocabulary. Unfortunately I don’t make it out much so I have never seen these bands live. I hope and pray that they are at least presenting the gospel message at their concerts. I mean that is why we are here, right? We are to bring glory to God with our gifts and to go and make disciples. Like I said I have not attended any concerts of the bands I’m speaking of but recent appearances on several late night shows and shopping for CDs as gifts for Christmas got me to taking a deeper look. The only source I have is album reviews and the groups own web sites. A look at those web site home pages seemingly shows what is important and that would be chart ratings, albums sold, television appearances and where their videos are getting airtime. It looks and reads just like any other band that is out there for themselves.

P.O.D. (Payable On Death) web site has no mention of God, Jesus or their faith.

Switchfoot has vague references to scripture when they write;

It was another jewish man who said something like this a while back. "All is meaningless," Declares the teacher. "Meaningless, meaningless, Everything is meaningless"

And also,

There’s this moment in Jewish scripture, in Ecclesiastes, where it says, ‘Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.’ That’s the place where our new record starts.”

These references are to Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV which is in the Bible and not just Jewish scripture.

Another place on the web site has this;

It was another jewish man who said something like this, "If you seek to gain your soul you will lose it."

This other Jewish man was Jesus and what He said was;

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

Matthew 16:25-26 NIV

Jon Foreman the frontman for Switchfoot writes:

So at the end of our time as a band perhaps we will have only one song to sing- just one very long, rambling, eclectic song that touches on life, death, pain, sex, anger, joy, peace, politics, God and the other elements of a searching soul in the twenty first century. Maybe at the end of my life I will sing only one song, a song that has been refined and purified. A lonely group of notes that will be a sweet, sweet sound for an audience of one. Or maybe I'm still trying to figure out this broken, beautiful planet-
writing songs as a way of therapy in the hopes of a better understanding of this existence that we call life. Either way, the bitter struggle for meaning and truth in the postmodern world is a subject matter that I don't think I could ever exhaust.

I gather from this web site that this band is not comfortable with even mentioning the name of Jesus but are trying hard to be politically correct. I wonder if they are saying “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”? It appears that God is just one element in their search for meaning. At the least they are still searching. I pray that they discover that the answer is Jesus and only Jesus.

Thousand Foot Krutch is another completely commercial site with no mention of the bands values only their tour dates and where they rank in the world.

Relient K website looks a lot like what I have already mentioned. Although there is a biography page which did give some insight. On the description of a song off their new CD says;

“Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” launches with a reflective piano arrangement that builds up with intensity to address life’s moments when everything seems to be failing, while reminding all that God provides second chances.

That is so true. Our God is most certainly full of grace and mercy.

A couple of paragraphs later Matthew Theissen says;

“We’re not trying to hide anything with the songs on this record, just to get what we feel out there,” Thiessen summarizes. “We’ve also found it to be the hardest thing in the world to say ‘Jesus’ in a song and not be cheesy, so we definitely have our own way of singing about spirituality. But in the end that’s who we are and what we believe in. We hope between that and the music, it connects with someone out there.”

Singing the name of who should be Lord of your life is cheesy? The Son of God who died for our sins sounds cheesy? That is absolute nonsense. I really believe that the members of Relient K are Christians but they need to assess who they are really glorifying.

Kutless home page is fairly simple with a couple of tour dates and a news snippet. But when you dig deeper into the site, wow, what a departure from the previous bands and groups that I have mentioned. There is no doubt what these guys purpose is and that is worship of God. There is testimony and actual scripture references throughout. I guess I now know why this band has been sounding much better to me that the others here lately. This is a band that truly belongs in the genre of Christian.

I know that there are many, many more bands out there but these are the ones that people, the kids, are listening to and watching. If they are going to put out in market place as Christian then they have an awesome responsibility for showing Jesus to those that so desperately need Him. I pray that all of the bands that have at some point professed to be Christians, otherwise they wouldn’t be place in the music genre, to remember the scripture passage of

2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.