Post by headbanger for Christ on May 24, 2006 15:16:54 GMT -5
Disclaimer: here's the link to the guy's page who wrote this. all rights go to him. surf.to/theMFJpage#
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Christian Rock - Friend Or Foe?
Is Christian Rock a blessing or is it a blasphemy? Is it a friend or is it a foe? In this section I tackle this by some so controversial topic. First I would like to say some words to all sceptics...
7 Reasons Why It's OK To ROCK FOR JESUS!
You can't limit God to only work thru worship and gospel music. GOD IS much BIGGER THAN YOUR MUSICTASTE and He can use anyone and anything to spread his Word. The Bible tells us that God even spoke thru a Donkey!! <Numeri 22> And if He can speak thru a donkey He can surely speak thru Christian Metal!
Cause there is no limitations to God. He works thru any musicstyle and anyone that are submitted to Him.<Luke 1:37, Jer 32:27> And who are you that try to take God's place and say that He doesn't like this or that musicstyle just because you don't?? Do you really know???
Music is like a knief, in itself it is neutral but it can be used either for good or evil things. A doctor can save someone's life with a knife, but the same knief can also be used to kill someone. The knief in itself is totally neutral, but it can be used either for good or evil purposes, depending of the motive behind the one who use it. It's the same with music, it's the motive behind the one who plays it, that decides if it will be used for good or evil purposes.
The Devil has misused Hardrock/Metal so long for his evil purposes but that doesn't make the music wrong, it's great music if you like it. And now GOD is taking back lost ground by using this music to help more people to Christ so they won't get lost in the flames of Hell. So, don't try to put God in a box, he can use any music and works in the most extraordinary ways to spread his wonderful message. Don't try to limit Him, He is much much bigger than your musictaste.
God wants EVERYONE to be saved not just the ones who wear three-piece-suits! <1 Tim 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9> Therefore He speaks and works in different ways to spread His kingdom. We are all different therefore God use us in different ways. And you can't win these Heavy Metal dudes with gospelmusic! They would just laugh at you and walk away. Therefore there need to be Christian bands that play Heavy Metal so these dudes can have something to relate to and then be able to get the message in a way and language they understand.
You know music is like languages, and you can't win people in China for Christ if you speak swahili to them. They need to get the message in a language they can relate to. It's the same thing with music, if we speak the wrong language to wrong people they won't listen to the music and then they won't grab the message either. Therefore there have to be Christian Metal bands that play Heavy Metal so the metalheads can relate to it and get the message and come to know Jesus.
<1 Cor 9:19-23> saids that we should be all to all men to at least win some for Jesus! There we got it. God wants us to go the extra mile for these people so they can get the message and go to heaven instead of hell. Therefore the Christian Metal bands dress like the audience so they can get their ear so they can relate to them and then understand that Jesus is something for them too!
And you know what, God doesn't care about our outer look but HE LOOKS AT OUR HEARTS! <1 Zamuel 16:7> That's what important to God not if you look Heavy Metal or wear a three-piece-suit. But as you know Jesus went to those who the religous people didn't care for. And that's exactly what I and other Metal Missionaries do. We go to these people that most Christians just look down upon and tell them the message of Jesus.
The lyrics in Christian Rock/Metal are usually very straightforward and Christ-centered. Some people however don't like the names of the musicstyles that some Christian Metal bands play, like death, doom and black metal. But it isn't the name of the musicstyle that's important but what YOU FILL IT WITH! The Christian Metal bands lyrics are filled with Biblical truths and talk about the importance of getting saved and how to get saved. And that's what counts not the name of the musicstyle! The names are just names, it's the content that matters.
The BIBLE SUPPORTS HEAVY MUSIC! Yeah, I'm not joking, read for yourselves in <Psalms 150> and you will see. In this Psalm we are told to praise God with cymbals(in our days that would be drums) and harps(in our days that would be guitars). And that's exactly what we do when we worship the Lord thru Heavy Metal!! So here we see that God supports Heavy Metal!
And let me tell you something more. All those instruments that are mentioned in this psalm is the forefathers of every instrument there is. The harp is the forefather to all instruments with strings (including the electric guitar!!), the cymbal is the forefather to all drums and so forth. So here we see biblically that God wants us to worship Him with every instrument.
The Bible also tells us to worship God with LOUD cymbals! <Psalms 150:5> Another verse also tells us to make a joyful noise unto God <Psalms 66:1> Since Metal music uses loud cymbals and also is one of the loudest and most "noisy" forms of music that exist, it's definately biblical. Just read the scriptures below and you will clearly see that God doesn't mind but rather endorses us to praise him with a loud noise.
PSALMS 33:1-5
Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a LOUD NOISE.
For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
PSALMS 95:1
O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
PSALMS 66:1
1 Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
PSALMS 98:4
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
PSALM 150
Let All Things Praise the LORD
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!
I think these scriptures speak for themselves.
As you can see God supports Heavy Metal to bring the message out. And the Bible tells us that if you are going against something God supports you are actually going against God!! <Book of Acts 5:38-39> So if you are condemning christian rock/metal you really need to think about what you are doing. I can't understand why some christians condemn christian rock. Christian rockers are a part of the body of Christ just like them. Christian Rock is a friend to the church and not its foe. Then why on earth are these rock critics wasting their time and energy to go against something God supports? Why are they fighting against their own christian brothers instead of using their time and energy to fight against our Enemy, the Devil?? They surely need to repent!
Christian Rock/Metal bears good fruit. The Bible tells us that we should judge the tree by it's fruit. <Luke 6:43-44> On my page I have a section where you can READ TESTIMONIES from people that have come to know Christ thru the ministry God is doing thru Christian Metal. So you see, Christian Metal ministry bears fruit, good fruit and God supports it. What more can you ask for?
So the conclusion of all this is that Christian Rock/Metal is indeed something God supports and it is definately a blessing and not a blasphemy.
If you wanna know more about this topic I can highly recommend that you visit the websites below:
Christian Rock Apologetics (Great resource for Christian Rock Defense!)
Christian Rock Defense sites
There is also a book called Christian Rock - Friend or Foe by Angelo De Simone where he very thoroughly talks about what the Bible saids about Christian Rock. You can read a review of this book below...
Christian Rock - Friend Or Foe? by Angelo De Simone
Amen! Finally a book on this issue that I can recommend! A book that doesn't condemn Christian Rock but instead supports it. The book is written by Angelo De Simone, a Christian musician with a lot of insight in this issue. The cool thing with him is that he in the beginning was negative to Christian Rock but then he started to study this subject in the Bible. And after he very thoroughly had studied this issue he found out that Christian Rock is totally biblical!
Christians all around the USA have provided the author with over fifty reasons for rejecting Christian Rock as an acceptable ministry from God. The author examines each of these issues from a logical, musical and most important scriptural standpoint. He comes to the conclusion after examining all these issues that Christian Rock indeed is a acceptable ministry for God and something God really uses to help many metalheads to Christ.
One important point he makes in this book is that it's about time that we Christians stop to devour satans lies about musicstyles and start to fight against satan instead of fighting against each others!! And I totally agree with him. It's definately about time!
The book is written with a lot of insight from a man who knows what he is talking about and contains over 250 pages, so there is a lot of interesting things to read.
This is a book I highly can recommend to both critics and supporters of Christian Rock!
The book can be ordered from
SELAH PRODUCTION AGENCY
P.O. Box 9055
New Haven, CT 06532-0055
USA
selahproductionagency@yahoo.com
People living in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark can also get it from Metal Community
STRYPER - Loud 'n' Clear - Dale Erickson & Jesse Sturdevant
This is the official biography of Stryper! It's written by Dale Erickson & Jesse Sturdevant and contains the band's history, from the very beginning of the band to this present day. The book is based on interviews with the bandmembers and people around the band. The authors have really gone the extra mile to give the true picture about Stryper. For example they speak loud'n'clear about the band's hard period during the Against the Law-era.
But what hits you most when you read this book is the enormous success Stryper achieved! The key to their success must have been that they let God be the fifth member of the band. That's why God took them to the top and used them in such a mighty way to reach metalheads with the great message of Christ. The book is full of plenty of interesting details and it's really an interesting read. There are also plenty of cool photos included. This is a book I highly can recommend not only to Stryperfans but to all that want to know more about this legendary band who put christian metal on the map. This book also shows that there are no limitations to what God can do if you put him first and are devoted to serve Him.
Rubber Meets The Road - Paul Doty
This is a book written by the soundman for Barren Cross and Bloodgood. It gives a lot of insight abouth how it is to tour as a christian metal band. It's not as glamourous as some may think, in fact it sometimes is very hard! But it's well worth it to see people be touched by God and come to know Christ. This book deals with a lot of situations that Barren Cross and Bloodgood had to face during their tours and it's a very interesting read. The book also includes over 30 rare photos.
Paul Doty shares a lot of wise words in this book and I can highly recommend it especially to all who plays in a Christian Metal band or feel called to do in the future. Anyone interested in christian metal will also find this book inspiring and insightful about the reality many christian bands have to face.
Available worldwide from www.hmmag.com/store/other.php People living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland can also get it from Metal Community
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christian Rock - Friend Or Foe?
Is Christian Rock a blessing or is it a blasphemy? Is it a friend or is it a foe? In this section I tackle this by some so controversial topic. First I would like to say some words to all sceptics...
7 Reasons Why It's OK To ROCK FOR JESUS!
You can't limit God to only work thru worship and gospel music. GOD IS much BIGGER THAN YOUR MUSICTASTE and He can use anyone and anything to spread his Word. The Bible tells us that God even spoke thru a Donkey!! <Numeri 22> And if He can speak thru a donkey He can surely speak thru Christian Metal!
Cause there is no limitations to God. He works thru any musicstyle and anyone that are submitted to Him.<Luke 1:37, Jer 32:27> And who are you that try to take God's place and say that He doesn't like this or that musicstyle just because you don't?? Do you really know???
Music is like a knief, in itself it is neutral but it can be used either for good or evil things. A doctor can save someone's life with a knife, but the same knief can also be used to kill someone. The knief in itself is totally neutral, but it can be used either for good or evil purposes, depending of the motive behind the one who use it. It's the same with music, it's the motive behind the one who plays it, that decides if it will be used for good or evil purposes.
The Devil has misused Hardrock/Metal so long for his evil purposes but that doesn't make the music wrong, it's great music if you like it. And now GOD is taking back lost ground by using this music to help more people to Christ so they won't get lost in the flames of Hell. So, don't try to put God in a box, he can use any music and works in the most extraordinary ways to spread his wonderful message. Don't try to limit Him, He is much much bigger than your musictaste.
God wants EVERYONE to be saved not just the ones who wear three-piece-suits! <1 Tim 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9> Therefore He speaks and works in different ways to spread His kingdom. We are all different therefore God use us in different ways. And you can't win these Heavy Metal dudes with gospelmusic! They would just laugh at you and walk away. Therefore there need to be Christian bands that play Heavy Metal so these dudes can have something to relate to and then be able to get the message in a way and language they understand.
You know music is like languages, and you can't win people in China for Christ if you speak swahili to them. They need to get the message in a language they can relate to. It's the same thing with music, if we speak the wrong language to wrong people they won't listen to the music and then they won't grab the message either. Therefore there have to be Christian Metal bands that play Heavy Metal so the metalheads can relate to it and get the message and come to know Jesus.
<1 Cor 9:19-23> saids that we should be all to all men to at least win some for Jesus! There we got it. God wants us to go the extra mile for these people so they can get the message and go to heaven instead of hell. Therefore the Christian Metal bands dress like the audience so they can get their ear so they can relate to them and then understand that Jesus is something for them too!
And you know what, God doesn't care about our outer look but HE LOOKS AT OUR HEARTS! <1 Zamuel 16:7> That's what important to God not if you look Heavy Metal or wear a three-piece-suit. But as you know Jesus went to those who the religous people didn't care for. And that's exactly what I and other Metal Missionaries do. We go to these people that most Christians just look down upon and tell them the message of Jesus.
The lyrics in Christian Rock/Metal are usually very straightforward and Christ-centered. Some people however don't like the names of the musicstyles that some Christian Metal bands play, like death, doom and black metal. But it isn't the name of the musicstyle that's important but what YOU FILL IT WITH! The Christian Metal bands lyrics are filled with Biblical truths and talk about the importance of getting saved and how to get saved. And that's what counts not the name of the musicstyle! The names are just names, it's the content that matters.
The BIBLE SUPPORTS HEAVY MUSIC! Yeah, I'm not joking, read for yourselves in <Psalms 150> and you will see. In this Psalm we are told to praise God with cymbals(in our days that would be drums) and harps(in our days that would be guitars). And that's exactly what we do when we worship the Lord thru Heavy Metal!! So here we see that God supports Heavy Metal!
And let me tell you something more. All those instruments that are mentioned in this psalm is the forefathers of every instrument there is. The harp is the forefather to all instruments with strings (including the electric guitar!!), the cymbal is the forefather to all drums and so forth. So here we see biblically that God wants us to worship Him with every instrument.
The Bible also tells us to worship God with LOUD cymbals! <Psalms 150:5> Another verse also tells us to make a joyful noise unto God <Psalms 66:1> Since Metal music uses loud cymbals and also is one of the loudest and most "noisy" forms of music that exist, it's definately biblical. Just read the scriptures below and you will clearly see that God doesn't mind but rather endorses us to praise him with a loud noise.
PSALMS 33:1-5
Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a LOUD NOISE.
For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
PSALMS 95:1
O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
PSALMS 66:1
1 Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
PSALMS 98:4
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
PSALM 150
Let All Things Praise the LORD
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!
I think these scriptures speak for themselves.
As you can see God supports Heavy Metal to bring the message out. And the Bible tells us that if you are going against something God supports you are actually going against God!! <Book of Acts 5:38-39> So if you are condemning christian rock/metal you really need to think about what you are doing. I can't understand why some christians condemn christian rock. Christian rockers are a part of the body of Christ just like them. Christian Rock is a friend to the church and not its foe. Then why on earth are these rock critics wasting their time and energy to go against something God supports? Why are they fighting against their own christian brothers instead of using their time and energy to fight against our Enemy, the Devil?? They surely need to repent!
Christian Rock/Metal bears good fruit. The Bible tells us that we should judge the tree by it's fruit. <Luke 6:43-44> On my page I have a section where you can READ TESTIMONIES from people that have come to know Christ thru the ministry God is doing thru Christian Metal. So you see, Christian Metal ministry bears fruit, good fruit and God supports it. What more can you ask for?
So the conclusion of all this is that Christian Rock/Metal is indeed something God supports and it is definately a blessing and not a blasphemy.
If you wanna know more about this topic I can highly recommend that you visit the websites below:
Christian Rock Apologetics (Great resource for Christian Rock Defense!)
Christian Rock Defense sites
There is also a book called Christian Rock - Friend or Foe by Angelo De Simone where he very thoroughly talks about what the Bible saids about Christian Rock. You can read a review of this book below...
Christian Rock - Friend Or Foe? by Angelo De Simone
Amen! Finally a book on this issue that I can recommend! A book that doesn't condemn Christian Rock but instead supports it. The book is written by Angelo De Simone, a Christian musician with a lot of insight in this issue. The cool thing with him is that he in the beginning was negative to Christian Rock but then he started to study this subject in the Bible. And after he very thoroughly had studied this issue he found out that Christian Rock is totally biblical!
Christians all around the USA have provided the author with over fifty reasons for rejecting Christian Rock as an acceptable ministry from God. The author examines each of these issues from a logical, musical and most important scriptural standpoint. He comes to the conclusion after examining all these issues that Christian Rock indeed is a acceptable ministry for God and something God really uses to help many metalheads to Christ.
One important point he makes in this book is that it's about time that we Christians stop to devour satans lies about musicstyles and start to fight against satan instead of fighting against each others!! And I totally agree with him. It's definately about time!
The book is written with a lot of insight from a man who knows what he is talking about and contains over 250 pages, so there is a lot of interesting things to read.
This is a book I highly can recommend to both critics and supporters of Christian Rock!
The book can be ordered from
SELAH PRODUCTION AGENCY
P.O. Box 9055
New Haven, CT 06532-0055
USA
selahproductionagency@yahoo.com
People living in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark can also get it from Metal Community
STRYPER - Loud 'n' Clear - Dale Erickson & Jesse Sturdevant
This is the official biography of Stryper! It's written by Dale Erickson & Jesse Sturdevant and contains the band's history, from the very beginning of the band to this present day. The book is based on interviews with the bandmembers and people around the band. The authors have really gone the extra mile to give the true picture about Stryper. For example they speak loud'n'clear about the band's hard period during the Against the Law-era.
But what hits you most when you read this book is the enormous success Stryper achieved! The key to their success must have been that they let God be the fifth member of the band. That's why God took them to the top and used them in such a mighty way to reach metalheads with the great message of Christ. The book is full of plenty of interesting details and it's really an interesting read. There are also plenty of cool photos included. This is a book I highly can recommend not only to Stryperfans but to all that want to know more about this legendary band who put christian metal on the map. This book also shows that there are no limitations to what God can do if you put him first and are devoted to serve Him.
Rubber Meets The Road - Paul Doty
This is a book written by the soundman for Barren Cross and Bloodgood. It gives a lot of insight abouth how it is to tour as a christian metal band. It's not as glamourous as some may think, in fact it sometimes is very hard! But it's well worth it to see people be touched by God and come to know Christ. This book deals with a lot of situations that Barren Cross and Bloodgood had to face during their tours and it's a very interesting read. The book also includes over 30 rare photos.
Paul Doty shares a lot of wise words in this book and I can highly recommend it especially to all who plays in a Christian Metal band or feel called to do in the future. Anyone interested in christian metal will also find this book inspiring and insightful about the reality many christian bands have to face.
Available worldwide from www.hmmag.com/store/other.php People living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland can also get it from Metal Community
