What is this? Who are you? How did I get here??!?!

I grew up in the 80s, but didn’t grow up on 80s music.  My father listened to Oldies, and my mother to CCM – Contemporary Christian Music.  My first introduction into more modern music was DC Talk, and when I went to see them in concert, I discovered a little-known band (at the time) called the Newsboys.  My first four CDs ever were DC Talk, Newsboys, the Beatles, and the Monkees.  This is what I was listening to.

All the music I listened to until High School was either Oldies or Christian.  This is the stuff I grew up on.  But it never occurred to be to actually test what was being taught in these songs.

By the way, this is exactly what we are expected to do.  The Bereans tested Paul’s teaching and they were commended for it.  Keep in mind what I just said – they were testing Paul’s teaching.  Paul the Apostle.  The guy who was writing the Bible.  If they are commended for testing Paul, then we should doubly be testing modern musicians and writers.

In High School, I got into the grudge and post-grudge styles and got away from Christian music for a while.  Funnily, it was after college that I actually became a Christian.  I’ve learned a lot since then, and I’m sometimes finding myself cringing while listening to my old CDs.  It’s the same thing with Christian movies, which often are worse.  As Christians, we need to face the facts that our artists are terribly trained as theologians.

It has not been that historically.  The Psalms are just masterfully filled with good theology.  Our hymns are loaded with it.  But now, we are content with insipid and repetitive lyrics.

Several years ago, I was helping lead congregational singing, and one of the people with us brought up some iffy theology in the lyrics.  Our leader said that the lyrics didn’t matter, it was the mood of the tune.  That’s not Christianity.  That has never been the position of the Scriptures or the Church.  We are being fed falsehoods about God and we are singing along.

It seems to me that 1) this needs correction and 2) this is a good learning opportunity.  We need to look at what we are singing to make sure we should be singing it, and also to study for better understanding of what we should be believing.

“But,” you may ask, “does God really care if we mess up a little here and there regarding theology?  I mean, it’s the heart that counts, right?”

It is the heart that counts.  And it’s also the theology that counts.  Good intentions are not enough.  Just ask Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10.  Theirs hearts were in the right place, but the worship they offered was wrong, and they died for it.  God takes His name seriously, and when we attribute things to Him that are wrong, or if we are misrepresenting Him, His names, or attributes, then the Bible calls that blasphemy.

I don’t think that our Christian artists are trying to blaspheme the name of God.  I don’t think that’s what they want.  And yet they are, and we need to lovingly correct them and also inform people singing along or watching the movies or reading the books that this is happening.

Last thing – why me?  Because I was the one that the Christian musicians were trying to reach.  I was the one who was listening and could have heard the Gospel there.  I was paying attention, I was memorizing lyrics, I was going to concerts, and I could have learned something about God.  I did actually learn a lot of good stuff from that music, and we will address some of that good stuff here.  But in general, the Christian musicians missed their opportunity with me because their theology was watered down and weak.

The Lord was pleased to save me later and under different circumstances, and I am eternally thankful for that.  But my concern here is the Gospel, and if we can learn from the successes and mistakes of “Christian” “artists” so far, we can move forward with Good News for the world.

I do not plan to spend money on this project.  You’ll see a lot of music from the 90s in here, because that’s the Christian music I have.  I’ll also try to give each band a fair change by reviewing the album, not just the song.  It will take me several posts for each album, but I’ll walk through it track by track and let the artist have a full say.

Movies I review will mostly be from Netflix.  Because I can watch them for free.

I have a few Christian novels too, so hopefully I can throw those in the mix as well.  Again, if I already have them, they are fair game.  If I don’t, I probably won’t.

The Bible will be the final arbiter in any dispute.  I’m not interested in what you or the musician feels / thinks / knows unless it is from Scripture, and you shouldn’t care about my feelings either.

If you want me to review something in particular, let me know.  If I don’t own it or can’t get it free, I probably won’t review it.  If, in this case, you would like to buy it for me, let me know and maybe we can do that.  Don’t send me bootlegs though.  We don’t steal music here.  We are Christians, after all!

Hope you enjoy, and I pray that God’s name will be glorified here!