Do you ever have the problem of hearing a new song that you really like and listening to it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over until you really don’t care for it anymore, and that whole process only lasts about a day and a half? Is that some kind of addictive behavior that I should be concerned about? I would like to know. And if so, where does that recovery group meet?
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I am really enjoying the Dallas Cowboys this year. They are exciting to watch, though a bit nerve-wracking this past game. Holy plummeting-quarterback-rating, Batman. For them to get that win says something special about them and their quarterback, even though Buffalo isn’t that good. Can’t wait for Sunday against the Pats.
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I don’t feel sorry for Marion Jones.
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The Christian Chronicle advertisement on acappella music, paid for by those associated with the group ForAcappella.org , is not about promoting acappella music. It is about drawing lines of fellowship. Sign the paper, you are in and a faithful brother. Refuse to sign, you are a heretic. I’ve heard from several who were invited to sign the list, being told it was only about promoting acappella music in our churches. That would be well and good. But it turned into something completely different. It turned into an opportunity for some to condemn the instrument’s use as sin and a means to condemn those who use it.
A group tried that same thing a while back in our community. The full page article in the newspaper was about salvation, denominationalism, etc. At the bottom was a list of all the “faithful” churches who supported the article. The preview of the article anonymously appeared in our men’s business meeting one Sunday, and those who were behind it (they still haven’t revealed themselves) wanted our signature. We said no. We got labeled.
The neat thing about that whole story is we got an incredible amount of positive feedback from the community for not having our name at the bottom.
The ForAcappella.org people need to realize that we’ve heard their arguments, for years and years we’ve heard their arguments, we know what they believe and it is void of foundation, scholarship, and reason. We don’t buy it. They are making rules where rules were never made. They are speaking for God where He has not spoken. Promote acappella music if you wish as a beautiful way to honor God in our singing and leave it at that. I could sign something like that. But stay out of the realm of making it a salvation issue. You have no right.
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On a lighter note, I am proud of my children for who they are and who they are becoming.
And I would like to add my applause to all of you for not adding us to the “faithful” list. Your objective reasoning and leadership is admirable.
I have had experience with some of that thinking and it gets bizarre. Their demands transcend worship and go on to songs on the radio.i.e. If a gospel song happens to play as you drive along, you have the same responsibility to turn it off as you would if pornography came on your TV.
I never got an answer to, “What about songs with no lyrics?”
Kudos on your comments regarding the FORACAPELLA group. Couldn’t agree with you more.
In regard to your remarks on Mike’s blog………what is the “debating trick” D’Souza was using? You lost me on that one.
email me at dunderwood@harding.edu if you wish.
thanks brother!
DU
Hey Brad,
First of all, I agree that people should not be condemmed, it is not our place to judge anyone. I love acapella and did not know how to sing until I sang acapella for the past 18 years, but I would never walk up to anyone and say your going to Hell because you have a piano. I love the purity of the acapella music. But anyways I am not Judge Kassie.
I have a question for you, was or is there a guy that is thought to be possessed coming to Bypass? There is a person here in DeKalb that says there is and it was on the website. I could not find such a thing. If there is I will tell you who said and what he said. I just want to prove him wrong.
Thanks,
Kassie
Oh by the way pray for Craig and I. We are going to go through the process of adopting a foster kid. We have one picked out and hope we get matched up to him. We dont know if we can have our own kids or not, I dont care if we do, I just really do not want to be pregnant at my age and babies scare me. Dont laugh at me. I can hear you. But anyway we start our sessions next Saturday. Did you know that there are 17,000 kids in TX in foster care and around 4000 can be adopted. I think it is so sad.
my email address is lionketch@yahoo.com
Hugs to all of you!
Kassie
Mr. Brad,
First I would like to quote brother James in his letter to the 1st Century church. The Bible says “But the wisdom that is from above is first PURE, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). With this in mind, I would like to turn your attention to brother Paul’s letters; the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians specifically. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the LORD” (Ephesians 5:19). Breaking this passage down we can see that we teach one another through the songs (”speaking to yourselves…in spiritual songs…”). Next we see that we sing and make melody in our hearts to GOD! It is clear from the English and the original Greek manuscripts what this says. It says to sing and make melody in our hearts to the LORD, just as it reads. The word “Psallo” means to pluck the strings and GOD told us what strings we should pluck–those strings of our hearts!
Colossians 3:16 teaches this same concept straight from the mind of GOD!
Now I would like to turn your attention to an incident involving the sons of Aaron. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He commanded them not (notice that GOD didn’t tell them not to do it this way, but never commanded that they could do it this way either). And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Leviticus 10:1-2). Nadab and Abihu were not told never to offer this fire the way they did; but they were told how to offer the fire and doing it contrary to that way brought GOD’S wrath.
Sir, I have never met you and would not presume to be the RIGHTEOUS JUDGE as JESUS the CHRIST is, but JESUS did say “by their fruits ye shall know them” when He told us to watch out for false teachers (Matthew 6:20). It is not a matter of holding to “man-made traditions” of the “Church of CHRIST”, but it is a matter of holding to GOD’S commands. JESUS said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), and so anyone not keeping His commandments is showing that they do not love Him! JESUS said it; I merely point it out! It is my hope that you will turn from your false teachings and repent of your sins! I come to you as a concerned Christian, and I have only spoken as an oracle of GOD (1 Peter 4:11). Please email me if you have any questions or would like to discuss this further.
I would also like to comment on the idea of listening to “gospel songs” as a form of entertainment. Pondering said he/she never received an answer to the question about music without lyrics. I would like to address his/her questions as I understand them with Bible Logic (as GOD and His Bible are logical).
My first question would be, are you listening to these songs on the radio for entertainment or for a “personal worship?” If you are listening to them for entertainment value then ask yourself if you are being irreverent to GOD! If you can answer no to this question in light of GOD’S Word then no you are not sinning. If you answer yes, then it would be a sin. Also, if you are listening to this as a form of worship, then the same rules I’ve mentioned already would apply to this. You would be adding to your worship what GOD has not authorized and therefore bringing His wrath!
As far as instrumentals (Songs with no lyrics) they would not be sinful as entertainment because they have no words by which to influence thinking or offer worship to GOD (Again turn to Ephesians 5:19)!
Kenny,
Sorry, I just don’t have any answer for your logic. I think I will stick with my false teaching. I guess thanks for commenting…….?
Yeah, me too. Mr. Kenny is a little scary.
I have been enjoying reading your website and have written a response to the foracappella.org group. If I could have your mailing address, I would be happy to send you a hard copy. Thanks!
Henry Brigman
All of your comments are very interesting and thought-provoking. This topic of instrumental music always used to seem like such a shut and closed case until I came to the realization that Col 3:16 and Eph 5:19 are instructions on how to live holy lives, not instructions on how to worship. Read Col 2:6-23 if you want some perspective on Col 3:16, and Ephesians 5:1-18 if you want some perspective on Eph 5:19. Seems kind of obvious now, but even being raised in the church, the real meaning of these verses slipped past me for years.
I prefer vocal music in worship even though I play many instruments at home.
I know to beware when people use the term “I feel”… but I feel “right” in singing acappella in worship, however, I don’t see that we are commanded to sing one way or another as long as we are worshiping in spirit and in truth. I cannot say that someone is condemned in the New Testament for singing with an instrument. Seems like if God really cared about it, He would have included instrumental music in any of the lists of sins that will send someone to hell.
As for music outside of worship, are we really supposed to believe that we are only allowed to listen or sing-a-long with songs that talk about grandma’s feather bed, dancing in the kitchen, one eyed dogs, sweethearts, and whatever else non-sensical things we can find to listen to….. while refusing to allow religion, church, our heavenly Father, or His Son into our “outside-of-church” lives?
Can we sing about peer pressure, love, and morality only if Deity is not mentioned. Or can we sing about the Bible, church, creation, family, and morals only if Deity is not mentioned? Are we allowed to sing about God as long as we don’t sing to God, or is neither acceptable?
Are we supposed to shut-out our own Creator from every part of our lives except for the part that takes place during the corporate worship times? After all, do we really have authority to praise God while we work or play? (The Bible says yes).
A few asides if I may: In general churches of Christ only use one songleader at a time. However, the Bible authorizes three, four, five, or whatever number of songleaders as much as it authorizes one.
We allow women and men to pass communion trays side to side, but only men can pass from front to back. And so far, we only allow men to operate the sound booth and do announcements.
We allow musical instruments at holiday church parties as long as the fellowship hall isn’t connected to the main building.
Also, I hope this isn’t a sin, but when our women pray and prophesy in worship or anywhere else, to my knowledge they don’t usually wear head coverings (1 Cor. 11:5).
Also, when we speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, we tend to sing all at the same time all of the time instead of letting a brother or sister sing a solo to you and at some point you sing back. Wouldn’t that be more like what would take place in a normal conversation or teaching situation.
I am still sorting through how I feel about much of this topic, but it appears to me so far that in dealing with the Pharisees and others, Jesus seems to take a much more logical and freedom-based approach to serving God, serving others, worship, eating and drinking, and whose house to enter, and who it is acceptable to visit with. Think about it.
By the way, we have more authority to fast and to serve others than we do to sing acappella in worship, and to only take communion on the first day of the week. How is your fasting and serving coming along these days?
All the talk about “a cappella” music being the way it was done in 33 A.D. is without foundation. The word, “cappella” means a physical building and never occurs one single time in the New Testament. The church, which is people, is from the word “ecclesia.” A cappella music originated in the Renaissance Period. It described how a choir of monks sang in the chapel of their monastery for the pleasure of a listening audience. This type of music was often doubled with an instrument. A resurgence of interest in polyponic music in the 1800’s, and an ignorance of those facts, has caused people now to think it originally meant without instruments, but that is incorrect. And, they surely did not sing “a cappella” in the first century.
The Amish reject zippers from their clothing and electricity for their homes. They also believe they have biblical grounds for this strange, cultish behavior.