Thought for the Day-Music Matters Part 3

Thought for the Day-Music Matters Part 3

We should remember that musical direction determines musical destiny, and the end does not justify the means.

Music Matters to Pastors-Part 3

Music Matters To Pastors Part 3
             Church music has great power!  It can prepare the people’s hearts for preaching or it can make it almost impossible to preach.  If music becomes the “main thing”, it will upstage preaching so completely that the preaching of Christ crucified will be greatly dwarfed in the minds of the people.  Music can also become the war department of the church!  Music style has separated congregations of worshipers to a greater extent in the past 25 years than any other single issue including theology and worship style of evangelical churches. 
             If our goal is to entertain or to get the people’s attention, i.e. especially the un-churched, then there should be no complaint when church music takes over and dwarfs or takes the place of the preaching of Christ crucified.  Certainly the un-churched church attendee does not necessarily want to hear about the fact that sin separates him or her from God.  To them it is not fun or entertaining to hear “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23.” Although it is the best news the sinner will ever hear on this earth, it is no fun to find out that your sin sent Christ to the cross.

             There is no doubt about it, religious rock music about love and happy things is much less offensive than hearing the about the wrath of God in Getty’s “In Christ Alone”.  It is shocking to the sinner to find out that “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law (I Corinthians 15:56).”  Sinners must be catechized first by preaching and second by solid quality church music that, because of their sin the law was given, and that the law brings eternal dearth. They must be instructed only God’s grace brings eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

             Furthermore, it is deceitful to feed sinners with the same diet of music they hear in a bar or night club and then slip Jesus on their musical plate when they are not looking.   It is no joke that an un-believer must be catechized by the preaching of Christ crucified because I Corinthians 2:14 instructs us, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of God: for they are spiritually discerned.”

Thought for the Day-Music Matters Part 2

Thought for the Day Part 2

A senior pastor who shows continuing positive interest in the music of the church will build bridges instead of walls.

Music Matters to Pastors-Part 2

Music Matters to Pastors Part 2
            Yesterday we started a series of posts which will consider how much church music should matter toa senior pastor, and what the music related responsibilities of a senior pastor should be.  If you are new to this blog you should know that each day’s post will be a continuation of a series of thoughts being presented.  Therefore, the reader will need to read any posts that he or she has missed in the series.

              Every pastor knows that there is a multiplicity of legitimate claims on the pastor’s time.  The list of responsibilities is long and varied according to the specifics of each individual pastorate.  Pastors are constantly made aware of how important prioritizing time and delegating authority is to the success and sanity of a public ministry. 

            As you have already guessed, I’m heading somewhere with this discussion.  The purpose of this discourse is not to merely acknowledge that all pastors are busy.  What I am trying to say is that along with the many things that pastors do, they must pastor the staff of musicians who minister in the regular services.

            I know that a good shepherd pastors, in a general way, everyone who attends church, or is in some way affiliated or connection to the church by being on its ministry list.  I also know that depending on the church size, much of the “pastoring” must be done by associates who help with ministering responsibilities.  I am aware that pastor’s must delegate proper amounts of the church’s ministry to others.  However, pastoring the music minister and his staff should be done personally by the senior pastor.  No other aspect of public worship will affect the success or failure of the pastor’s ministry than the music in all church services.

Thought for the Day-Music Matters-Part 1

Thought for the Day

A senior pastor cannot escape from the fact that he or she is the philosophical leader of everything that happens in public services in the church he or she pastors.  This philosophical responsibility certainly includes music.

Music Matters to Pastors Part 1

Music Matters to Pastors Part 1 

       Last year we took several posts to consider what the Minister of Music i.e. the Chief Musician should be like.  I thought it would be appropriate to start the second year of this philosophical blog considering what the senior pastor should be like.  If you find these posts helpful, please share them with your pastoral friends. 

        I know that there are many helps published for pastors but these works often say little or nothing about the responsibilities of a senior pastor when it comes to music in the church.  This is a puzzling phenomenon to me, since music has proven many times during the last half of the twentieth century to be what I call “the war department”.  Those who know much about the dynamics of church music in the late twentieth century know that church music was the cause of mire church splits than theology or lifestyle.  So with this in mind we will consider, in the next few posts, what the responsibilities of senior pastors are.  Those who are new to this philosophical blog should be advised that we are beginning a series of posts and that we make no attempt to bring each post to definite conclusions.  Therefore the reader should read any posts that he or she has missed before continuing with the thoughts presented in the daily posts.  

      Being the senior pastor of a church is an awesome privilege and a wonderful opportunity to personally pastor those who minister through music.  God has placed the senior pastor at the head of the church for many reasons.  As has been thoroughly discussed in this book, preaching Christ crucified is the “main thing”.  Certainly every senior pastor should spend much time preparing to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, I will not be suggesting that senior pastors do the work of the minister of music.  Also, I will in no way suggest that the senior pastor take a controlling approach to the every-day responsibility of church music.

Prayer, Song, and Thought for the Day

Prayer for the Day     

Lord, help me as a Christian to teach your people the difference between the sacred and the profane when it comes to musicing unto you.  Give me love, kindness, wisdom, and strength to stand for musicing that will honor You and not profane Your name.  Help me to teach others to music in such a way that their musicing will represent the moral nature of the Trinity in a positive and correct way.  Thank You in advance for Your help. These things I pray in Your strong name because I am no match for Satan and the music styles that he has influenced so greatly.  I must have God’s help or our people will dry up for lack of knowledge. 

Song for the Day   “If My people Will Pray”   (biblical text) music by J. Owens 

Thought for the Day

When it comes to your musicing, does God consider you an honorable person?

 

Honorable Musicians Misicing Honorably

Honorable Musicians Musicing Honorably   

Isaiah 5:12-13 states, “And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the works of the LORD, neither consider the operation of thy hands.  Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried with thirst.”  

       Chapter five begins with the song of the vineyard.  This parable tells of Israel producing the wrong kind of fruit.  Verse eleven tells the story of a nation that had made several spiritual mistakes.  One was that they didn’t regard the work of then LORD and another was that they had failed to consider the works of the mighty “hands’ of Jehovah.  The result was that the knowledgeable men had been worn out, no doubt, trying to teach the people the knowledge of the LORD.  When those honorable men could no longer proclaim the way and will of the LORD, the people no longer had “knowledge’ so the multitude was dried up from spiritual thirst. 

       Now, in verse twenty the prophet declares, “woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”  This whole scenario sounds familiar doesn’t it?  We are now in an age that considers all traditional musicing to be non-productive and that only non- traditional music is capable of being efficacious.

       Chief musician do not be weary in well doing.  If you are conservative in your musical views, and if you fear the Lord when you music unto Him, you will not be popular.  Do not give up or very soon the song in the Holy place will only be “wild grapes’ and  God honoring music will be called evil and the music of the matrix of Satan will be called light. 

Prayer for this blog in January

                                                                  Prayer for this blog in January

Lord, please allow this Music philosophy blog to be a blessing during the month of December.  Please let this blog go around the world to places where I cannot go.  Help me as I prepare a post for each day to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Only you know Lord who is out there ministering musically that needs a fresh anointing for musical ministry.  Help me to know which philosophical and devotional topics are important and will be a blessing.  Please anoint the blog and the blogger.  These things I ask in your name.  Amen.

Thank you for a great month of December.

 

       Thank you for a great month of December.
  Last month was the twelfth month of my blog which contains devotional and philosophical thoughts for Christian musicians.  It is my sincere prayer that this year of musical posts have stimulated your thinking and that they have brought honor to our heavenly Father.   On the 27^th of January I will be starting a series of posts on”Musical sounds communicate meaning”.  It will consist of 20 blog posts and will run until February 16^th.

       Since we began on January 2 we have received a total of over 20,150 page views with about 1,500 views in December.  The page views have come from 65 different countries.  These views have come from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands,  China, Congo [DRC],Croatia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hong Kong,  India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Porto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA.   Please pray with me that God will allow this Music Philosophy Blog to go places where I will never have the opportunity to minister physically.

       Again I want to thank all you busy pastors and musicians who have taken the time to view my music philosophy blog during the month of November.  Please continue to pray that God will guide each post and allow it to reach those who need encouragement to keep ministering for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

       The main reason that I started this Music Philosophy blog is that although there is much music philosophy information on the net, not very much of it is from a biblical perspective.  Please share the blog address with your friends.   If you have an area of music or fine arts philosophy that troubles you, please feel free to let me know and I will include it in our discussions.  My email address is Garenlwolf@gmail.com.