Quote for the Day

Quote for the Day

2 Samuel 23:16 “And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.”

 

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 4

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 4

          Why all the philosophical fuss over the sacrificial system of the Old Testament?  If a minister of music is going to refer to worship music as musical offerings presented to God, then it stands to reason that that musician should believe in the concept of presenting God the best and most appropriate musical offering that he or she and the worshiping body of believers are capable of offering.  Therefore, the notion that all music is created equal is not congruent with the philosophical concept of our sacred musicing being musical offerings presented to God.  Every honest minister of music minister or music educator who is knowledgeable of music composition and music theory will have to admit that all the creative efforts of composers and arrangers are not on the same level of musical quality and profundity and therefore not of the same appropriateness and value as musical offerings.

          As I mentioned earlier, references to the Old Testament sacrificial system appear in the New Testament in Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (For more references to the sacrificial system, also see Romans 12:1, Philippians 4:18 and 1Peter 2:5.)  So, since there are references to the concept of sacrifices made unto God in the NT without any reference to this concept not being compatible with Christian worship, I see no philosophical problem with worship leaders referring to their worshiping by musicing unto God as musical offerings.  I am simply contending that there is no logical philosophical reasoning behind the notion that these musical offerings should not be the very best and most appropriate offerings that a Christian is capable of presenting.  If one accepts the concept of musical offerings presented in the Bible, then it stands to reason that all musical offerings, regardless of what they represent; how they are presented; and what they contain, are not necessarily equal in their nature or value.

 

Quote for the Day

Quote for the Day 

The Artist made us artists so that we might reflect the Beauty of His character and the wonder of His story.  Worship Leaders We are not Rock Stars, by Stephen Miller, p. 109

 

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 3

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 3

           Other references to the sacrificial system include: Le 7:12; 1Ch 16:8, 34; 2Ch 5:12-13; 7:3-6; Ezra 3:11; Ps 107:22; 116:17; 136:1; Isa 12:4; Jer 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; and 33:7  From these and other Scriptures we get our understanding of the sacrificial system and its connection to the presentation of our musical offerings unto God.  There were many reasons why sacrifices were presented unto God—among them was the sacrifice of praise. Jesus became our permanent sacrifice for sin and therefore superseded the need for the shedding of the blood of animals.  I see no place in the New Testament where Christ’s sacrificial death did away with the need for Christians to present God with musical sacrifices of praise and I have no philosophical objection to calling our sacred musicing  sacrificial musical offerings.

          This sacrificial system mentioned in the Old Testament was very prescriptive in nature.  For instance, Leviticus 4:2 states, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:  If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.”  Notice that this offering was prescribed by YHVH to be a lamb “without blemish”.  The sacrificial system instituted in in Ancient Israel was quite involved and included various acceptable sacrifices for different occasions and under different circumstances.   A careful study of the requirements for these sacrifices reveals that every sacrifice had the prescriptive requirement of being the best sacrifice the worshiper had to offer.

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

Try conceptualizing a time when there was no music, no melodies, no harmony, no instruments or sounds produced by instruments and no one praising God with these wonderful results of God taking nothing and turning this condition into something-- music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 2

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 2

          Also, every college or university that has a quality music degree program takes a prescriptive approach to music.  They prescribe which music is appropriate for study and performance.  They decide which music is of a poor quality, good quality, or fine quality.  However, when it comes to sacred music, some Christian musicians have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a quality musical offering to be presented to God, or worse yet, they follow the notion that all music offerings are equal in their nature and value.  Although we hear much about worship music being a musical offering that is explicitly performed as an offering unto God, it appears that some of these Christian musicians do not understand the biblical concept of the sacrificial system.

         What we do not  often hear about is where Christian musicians get the concept of musical offerings presented to God. This concept is taken from the Old Testament (it is also mentioned in the New Testament), This sacrificial system is mentioned in Jeremiah 33:11, “The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.”

 

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

The problem with the belief that all music is OK when it comes to using it to worship God is that this belief is just not OK.

 

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 1

Is All Music Created Equal? Part 1

             Writers like Greg Scheer claim that they are not interested in the musical style debate, but every musician whom I have had the privilege or knowing or reading their books or articles about music who mention music styles have taken a position on styles of music. Even the writers who have decided not to decide have in reality taken a position on musical style because they have come to the faulty pluralistic conclusion that everyone’s music is equal.  So, when Scheer made the statement, “I take the position that ‘all musics are created equal’” The Art of Worship, by Greg Scheer, pp. 11-12 it stands to reason that he definitely, by that statement, chose to enter the style debate.  As a musician, surely he does not really believe that all creative music efforts are equal.  If one were to ask him if the music of J.S. Bach was equal to my compositions that I wrote for my undergraduate music theory class, I am sure that he would vote for Bach.  What he was doubtlessly meaning at the time he wrote his book was that when one is referring to religious music, the music part of the music does not matter.  

             I am well aware that if a writer does not take a cosmopolitan view that is a liberal pluralistic view of music style, he or she runs the risk of being considered to be “out of touch”, “musically bigoted”, or at least to have been “hiding under a rock” philosophically.  It seems a bit strange that at the same time a writer may believe in a prescriptive approach to secular music without receiving the same labels and accusations. Various writers who have addressed secular music in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries have devoted much of their writings to the belief that the music part of all music matters without being accused of stifling creative efforts

Quote for the Day

Quote for the Day

“The role of the worship team vocalists is to support confident congregational singing.”  The Art of Worship, by Greg Scheer, p. 125

 

What the Music Leader Does part 3

What the Music Leader Does part 3

            I have absolutely no philosophical problem with the use of a praise team as long as they are function as music worship leaders, are dressed modestly, and do not usurp the role of the chief musician.  I also want to make it clear that I am not intimating that leading music worship is not extremely important to public worship because it most certainly is.  At the same time I wish to make it also very clear that the use of music in public worship, although vitally important to the work and responsibility of every public ministry, is only part of the work of that organization’s music ministry. Because of the time and space it would take, I will not discuss thoroughly the other very important aspects of public worship at this point in our discussion.  For a more thorough discussion of this topic, I suggest that you read chapter two (pp. 28-37) of the book Church Music Matters. 

            Church leaders, educational administrations, and the musicians involved must realize that the music educator and the minister of music has many more philosophical responsibilities than those worship service leadership.  I fear that many Christian organizations are trying to travel first class but only pay coach fare.  Christin elementary and secondary schools as well as Christian colleges are not preparing their students to enter adulthood with the necessary musical literacy i.e. being able to read, write, and perform, and evaluate music.  Churches have also abdicated their historic and biblical responsibility to musically and philosophically educate their own.  (Read I Chronicles chapter twenty five)  In ancient Israel the church historically trained its own musicians.  So, public music worship leadership is vitally important, but it is only the part of the music iceberg that one can readily see.  However, it is the part beneath the surface which one cannot readily see that gives the music ministry its real substance.