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DiM | Expanding the Concept for 2016

Faithful Stewardship 6 Comments

trebleclefIn reviewing the blog stats, feedback we’ve received throughout 2015, and the limited polling we did over the Christmas break, it was abundantly clear that we need to focus more on expanding our Discernment in Music (DiM) coverage. The problem of poor theology in music is far bigger than what we can cover in our small blog, but we can try to do more by God’s Grace. We will be expanding in two directions, first we will be looking to address Evangelical Worship Songs… songs that are being heavily marketed to church worship leaders for inclusion in their services. We’ll also be shifting our attention over to what is being purchased on iTunes, since this has become the predominant metric for music popularity and penetration.

Evangelical Worship Songs

For now, we’ll be dedicating our Thursday posts to DiM work reviewing the most popular/promoted Evangelical Worship Songs. Our primary source for song selection will be WorshipTogether.com. They have been in the business for a very long time… since I was a keyboardist in the praise and worship band of an NAR church. They are partnered with CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International), Hillsong, Passion, and Jesus Culture. What a winning collection of questionable theology we have driving the evangelical music-for-contemporary-church-worship train, eh? If you search through the page, you’ll find that this is likely a go-to site for every “contemporary worship service” leader in the country… regardless of denomination.

In doing some preliminary research for today’s post, I was worried that I would be starting completely fresh. I’m not sure why, but the fear was there. I found a top new songs for 2015 list on the website, and to my surprise, we have already covered one of the songs on the list, and at least two others I saw pop up on the top 20 charts last month. I didn’t realize churches were playing so many CCM Radio songs in their church services. Let’s look at the list from 2015:

Touch The Sky (DiM Post)
Good Good Father (DiM Post)
O Praise The Name (Anastasis) (DiM Post)
He Shall Reign Forevermore (DiM Post)
This Is Living (DiM worship edition) (DiM CCM edition)
It Is Well With My Soul (DiM Post)
One Thing (DiM Post)
Unbroken Praise (DiM Post)
Heart Like Heaven (DiM Post)
Shout Hosanna (DiM Post)

What this means for our DiM posts is that for the most part very little will change in our format for covering these songs. I will need to be more explicit in the evaluation of these songs within the context of corporate worship, so I’ll have to work out how we go about that. We will work through chart over the next week in an attempt to play a bit of “catch-up” on the new year and to work out how we might distinguish the corporate worship context to that of individual listening that has been our paradigm.

iTunes Top 100 Gospel & Christian Songs

The other area in which we’d like to expand is that of the top iTunes songs being purchased and downloaded. This is the metric that drives the industry because this connects the questionable theology to real dollars for the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) Industry. There will undoubtedly be some overlap between what is the most popular music on the radio and the most played music in “contemporary worship services”, but keeping an eye on these charts is important for understanding not only what “those who should know better” are pushing onto the public, but for seeing what the public has bought into, both literally and figuratively. This approach will also expose us to cross-musical-genre metrics that we don’t get when we track pop station lists alone. We won’t be going to iTunes directly, we’ll be using a site called popvortex for their Top 100 Gospel & Christian Songs chart. Let’s take a look at the top 40 songs on the list to see how much of it we’ve covered thus far:

1. Good Good Father – Chris Tomlin (DiM Post)
Release Date: October 2, 2015

2. The River – Jordan Feliz (DiM Post)
Release Date: October 2, 2015

3. Just Be Held – Casting Crowns (DiM Post)
Release Date: January 24, 2014

4. How Can It Be – Lauren Daigle (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 14, 2015

5. First – Lauren Daigle (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 14, 2015

6. This Is Amazing Grace – Phil Wickham
Release Date: September 24, 2013

7. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) – Hillsong UNITED (DiM Post)
Release Date: February 26, 2013

8. Holy Spirit – Francesca Battistelli (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 22, 2014

9. Trust In You – Lauren Daigle
Release Date: April 14, 2015

10. Same Power – Jeremy Camp (DiM Post)
Release Date: February 3, 2015

11. My Story – Big Daddy Weave (DiM Post)
Release Date: September 18, 2015

12. Alone (feat. TRU) – Hollyn (DiM Post)
Release Date: October 16, 2015

13. Flawless – MercyMe (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 8, 2014

14. Touch the Sky – Hillsong UNITED (DiM Post)
Release Date: May 26, 2015

15. Come As You Are – Crowder (DiM Post)
Release Date: May 27, 2014

16. Tell Your Heart to Beat Again – Danny Gokey
Release Date: June 23, 2014

17. Fix My Eyes – for KING & COUNTRY (DiM Post)
Release Date: September 16, 2014

18. Wanna Be Happy? – Kirk Franklin (DiM Post)
Release Date: November 13, 2015

19. He Knows My Name – Francesca Battistelli (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 22, 2014

20. We Believe – Newsboys (DiM Post)
Release Date: May 27, 2014

21. Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains) – Crowder (DiM Post)
Release Date: May 27, 2014

22. Feel It (feat. Mr. Talkbox) – tobyMac (DiM Post)
Release Date: August 7, 2015

23. No Longer Slaves (Live) – Bethel Music, Jonathan David & Melissa Helser
Release Date: January 26, 2015

24. I Can Only Imagine – MercyMe
Release Date: December 31, 2000

25. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) – Hillsong UNITED (DiM Post)
Release Date: September 10, 2013

26. Salvation’s Tide (feat. Kristian Stanfill) – Passion
Release Date: January 1, 2016

27. Soul On Fire (feat. All Sons & Daughters) – Third Day (DiM Post)
Release Date: February 27, 2015

28. 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) [Live] – Matt Redman
Release Date: December 31, 2010

29. Redeemed – Big Daddy Weave
Release Date: April 17, 2012

30. Guilty – Newsboys
Release Date: September 25, 2015

31. Grace Wins – Matthew West (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 28, 2015

32. Live On Forever – The Afters
Release Date: August 28, 2015

33. At the Cross (Love Ran Red) – Chris Tomlin (DiM Post)
Release Date: October 27, 2014

34. Even So Come (feat. Kristian Stanfill) [Radio Version/Live] – Passion (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 28, 2015

35. Call It Grace – Unspoken
Release Date: April 1, 2014

36. It’s Not Over Yet – for KING & COUNTRY
Release Date: September 16, 2014

37. Worth (Full Version) – Anthony Brown & group therAPy (DiM Post)
Genre: Gospel

38. God’s Not Dead (Like a Lion) – Newsboys
Release Date: November 11, 2011

39. Greater – MercyMe (DiM Post)
Release Date: April 8, 2014

40. Broken Together – Casting Crowns (DiM Post)
Release Date: January 24, 2014

Conclusion

Looking back, we’ve covered a lot of ground… but as I look ahead I see there is a lot more work left to be done. It is my sincere prayer that this work will be a blessing to the Body of Christ, not in simply following our recommendations here, but in employing the methodologies demonstrated. Practicing biblical discernment in reviewing a song you already love is probably the most difficult thing to do fairly. I don’t recommend starting there. It is best to start with an unfamiliar song by an unfamiliar artist. Listen to the song, then read the words, then listen while reading the words and then open up your bible to see if what the song says falls inline with what is written in Scripture. Pray for us as we look to focus our efforts more on the DiM work here at FaithfulStewardship. As I indicated before, we’ll be posting updates as they are completed, and we’ll probably need to update the DiM Archive page and Resources page as well.

Romans 15:8-13 (ESV) | Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

CTT | Train Up a Child in Gender Roles

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

With all of the craziness in the news and crawling across social media, it is tough to keep steady and steadfast without getting completely frustrated. Maranatha! Today, we will be addressing a relatively new cultural phenomenon and how Christian parents need to respond to the culture in a way that we haven’t had to in a long time. We need to teach our children, in plain language, Biblical gender roles and Biblical sexual identity. God created us male and female. The gender binary is Biblical, it is God’s design, and man cannot change it.

Let us begin by looking at Proverbs 22.

Proverbs 22 (ESV)

22 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
    and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together;
    the Lord is the maker of them all.
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
    but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
    is riches and honor and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
    whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
    even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rules over the poor,
    and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
    and the rod of his fury will fail.
9 Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
    for he shares his bread with the poor.
10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
    and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11 He who loves purity of heart,
    and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
    but he overthrows the words of the traitor.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
    I shall be killed in the streets!”
14 The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;
    he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
    but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
    or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
    and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
    if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the Lord,
    I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
    of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
    that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
    or crush the afflicted at the gate,
23 for the Lord will plead their cause
    and rob of life those who rob them.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
    nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Be not one of those who give pledges,
    who put up security for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
    why should your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
    that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work?
    He will stand before kings;
    he will not stand before obscure men.

Society Used to Promote Gender Roles

American Society used to promote gender roles as healthy and desirable qualities in men and women. Though the picture of a “man’s man” or a “fine lady” have gone through trends and fads, they were always there. Since WWII, however, things started changing on that front, and several progressives have pushed throughout the past 3 decades an agenda of dissolving gender roles, to the point where society is even unwilling to accept biological limitations on gender. The goal is (and always has been) to dissolve the family unit, so that there is only the State and a collective of individuals who obey it. The currency for this obedience from the individual is “empowerment” to do “what feels right for the individual”. Scholarly dissertations could be written mapping out the progressive movement’s assault on the family throughout the 20th century, but for our purposes we need only acknowledge society’s current state.

When I was growing up, my parents didn’t have to go out of their way to teach gender roles. Society accepted (at least in general) the fundamental differences between men and women. Our clothing was distinct (except for women’s jackets getting shoulder pads in the 80s… that, was odd) and for the most part men were expected to be a certain way and women another, and it was what we looked for in the opposite sex. Now, that is not to say that the gender roles within the family were right… culturally we had abandoned the notion of a single-income family, and latch-key kids were being raised by the public school system and television. The visible church was in the televangelist boom with Oral Roberts and the like promoting egalitarian views to keep in step with the feminist movement, and it was during this time also that Rick Warren and Bill Hybels were starting their movements. The family was on shifting sands at this point, but the fruit of such compromise wouldn’t manifest until the mid 90s. One such bad fruit would become apparent in the Columbine massacre. Society had abandoned teaching its kids right from wrong, had put down the rod of discipline in favor of more self-esteem psycho-babble, and we left our children to be brought up by the world. Fast forward a couple of decades and we have large swaths of evangelicalism abandoning the inerrancy of Scripture, the Biblically prescribed gender roles within the church, and even on the applicability of sexual immorality as sin. We are left with full-on rebellion against God’s design in cases like Bruce Jenner and Stephonknee Walschtt (Warning: both links are NSFL or Not Safe For Lunch) being tolerated and even celebrated.

Romans 1:22-32 (ESV)

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Christian Parents Now Must Teach Gender Roles Properly

I can remember a time while growing up when the cool fads in accessories for men were considered feminine in nature, such as bracelets and earrings. My parents didn’t need to point to any scripture to enforce the gender distinction, they simply had to hold the line at “those are for women, not men”. Whenever we bought a button-down shirt, we needed to know which side the buttons were on so that we wouldn’t be wearing a “woman’s shirt”. My point being that my parents’ role regarding training us up in gender roles was one of discipline and reinforcement of societal norms. Was this right? No, because we ended up allowing the world to push us into an egalitarian mindset, but it was the norm, and that’s what is new for our day as parents… it is no longer the norm. Insanity is the norm. Full-on post-modern, post-christian, delusion is now the norm. We now have to teach explicitly what most of us never thought would ever have been questioned. We have to teach our kids that their gender is bound to their biology and that it was all carefully and wonderfully made by God before they were even born. Sin has corrupted our flesh, and allowed death to enter into the Earth, but God’s design for sex, procreation, gender roles, sexual purity, and marriage remain. We now have to teach these things to our children plainly and without relying on society to enforce it. In fact, we must accept the truth that the world seeks to destroy our children’s minds and teach them to hate God’s plan for the family and even hate their own bodies that were given to them by God.

Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV) | Children and Parents

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Matthew 19:3-6 (ESV)

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said,‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Genesis 5:1-2 (ESV) | Adam’s Descendants to Noah

This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.

I decided to walk this progression backwards, from Paul’s writing, to a quote of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees all the way back to Genesis. God created man, and He did so with a binary gender, not a fluid one. Our gender is bound to our bodies, and designed to become one flesh in marriage. That is by design, and man cannot simply annul a marriage covenant much less is he qualified to redefine gender or sexuality. Teach your kids to love their gender, their God-appointed gender, a gender that is bound to their biology and cannot be changed by man. Remember what we saw in Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Children must be taught in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 

Titus 2 (ESV)

Teach Sound Doctrine

2 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Conclusion

My children are still very young… and we already have to teach God’s plan for men and women. We’ve taken the homeschooling route, and I’ve been working through Luther’s small catechism with them. We’ve not yet explained procreation, but we’ve already had to address cross-dressers, and the fact that my son will always be a boy and my daughter will always be a girl and that their differences will always be there, and that those differences are a good thing even if they don’t see it yet. We have to teach what is appropriate conduct for boys and girls, and my wife and I weep when we think of how much malice the world harbors for our children and their innocence. While in our flesh we are troubled, and we worry, and we so desperately want to protect them from the hate of the world, we are comforted knowing that we serve a Living God who is not unfamiliar with our struggles. We find rest in Him, and we pray the same for you.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Gospel” Grammy Nominations 2016

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trebleclefDecember 8, 2015. With yesterday’s Billboard release of the Grammy Nominations for 2016, I thought we might take a look at the songs being nominated under the “Gospel” category. We’ll be taking a break on the DiM posts for the rest of the year. We’ll jump back into our DiM posts in January, 2016. I’m sure there will be lots of new songs on the top charts.

Billboard Grammy Nominations 2016 (link)

Billboard Grammy Results 2016 (link)

Best Gospel Performance/Song

Okay, so in this first category of Grammy Nominations, I only recognize one artist, Kirk Franklin. We haven’t covered any of these songs in our DiM posts, and I think that is because I don’t really follow the “Gospel” genre that is more of a style of music completely divorced from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God unto Salvation.

Worth [Live]
Anthony Brown & Group Therapy
Anthony Brown & Group Therapy; Anthony Brown, songwriter
Track from: Everyday Jesus [Live]
[Tyscot Records; Publisher(s): Key Of A Music/Tyscot Music]

Video / Lyrics. DiM Comments: The focus of the title and the song is on our worth. The song begins with the idea that everything God did for us was based on what He thought we were Worth. We believe that sort of philosophy to be inconsistent with what the Bible teaches, and it flies in the face of Soli Deo Gloria (to the Glory of God alone). The “power” of this song (and the genre of “Gospel Music”) is in how it’s sung/performed, not really in its lyric… though self-esteem boosting is a common lyrical theme.
DiM Verdict: Disapprove.

grammy-statueWanna Be Happy?
Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter
[RCA Records/Fo Yo Soul Recordings; Publisher(s): Aunt Gertrude Music Publishing admin. by Universal Music-Brentwood Benson Songs and Irving Music, Inc. admin. by Universal Music Publishing]

Video / Lyrics. DiM Comments: This song dilutes the message of the Gospel down to an Osteen-like question of happiness. The question the listener is told to ask themselves is “do you wanna be happy”. The listener is told to let Jesus take the wheel… and at some points told to just say “yes” to Jesus… but nothing clearly stated. Apparently the listener isn’t happy, but that’s because they are in the way and apparently haven’t been asking themselves the question, or something. The song is worthless.
DiM Verdict: Disapprove.

Intentional
Travis Greene
Travis Greene; Travis Greene, songwriter
[RCA Inspiration; Publisher(s): Greenlight InternationalVNavidavi Music]

Video / Lyrics. DiM Comments: Okay, so at least this song is slightly better than the other two. But seriously, the whole song consists of 2 Christian ideas: Be anxious for nothing (Phil 4:6a); God works all things for good (Rom 8:28). There is a third idea (seriously, the whole song is repetition of 3 thoughts) that God is Intentional. This is odd wording and its goal is to allude to the Sovereignty and Goodness of God while suggesting that whatever is going on it’s because God is doing something good for you in it. That concept can lose traction and flip sideways very quickly. One plus in the song is that it acknowledged that sometimes the hard times are indeed allowed by and even sent by God. That’s a good truth to hold onto, but it isn’t always for your good… it’s ALWAYS for His Glory, and there is not greater good than God’s Glory. The repetition in this song is absolutely mind-numbing.
DiM Verdict: Listen with Discerning ears, hearts, and minds.

How Awesome Is Our God [Live]
Israel & Newbreed Featuring Yolanda Adams
Israel & Newbreed Featuring Yolanda Adams; Neville Diedericks, Israel Houghton & Meleasa Houghton, songwriters
Track from: Covered: Alive In Asia [Live] (Deluxe)
[RGM Newbreed/RCA Inspiration; Publisher(s): Integrity’s Praise! Music, RGM-Newbreed Publishing, Sound Of The New Breed, Aaron Lindsey Publishing, CCMG Publishing, Neville D. Publishing]

Video / Lyrics. DiM Comments: As far as what is in the lyric, if you can get beyond the repetition, (… I mean… it’s bad… which goes to show that “gospel music” is all about the singing and musical crescendo and frills… the lyrics are just a means for hearing the voice) the song is a legitimate song of praise and thanksgiving from the regenerate Christian to the God who Saved them. If sung/performed within the context of faithful believers, I believe this song could serve as fitting worship and thanks to God when sung by each believer, regardless of their musical ability.
DiM Verdict: Listen with Discerning ears, hearts, and minds.

Worth Fighting For [Live]
Brian Courtney Wilson
Brian Courtney Wilson; Aaron Lindsey & Brian Courtney Wilson, songwriters
Track from: Worth Fighting For [Live]
[Motown Gospel; Publisher(s): ACER/Aaron Lindsey Music/Capitol Christian Music Publishing admin. by Capitol CMG]

Video / Lyrics. DiM Comments: Okay, have you ever heard of a “humble brag”? It’s when someone goes on and on about how humble/meek/undeserving they are in such a way that actually serves to brag about their accomplishments. That’s this song. It’s all about the singer’s worth, potential, destiny, purpose… but it’s cloaked in a sort of pious deference to God’s acknowledgement of the singer’s worth. It was so bad I stopped the audio after the first verse and just read the lyric without music. Nope.
DiM Verdict: Disapprove.

So, if there has to be a winner in this category, my vote would be for How Awesome is Our God by Israel & Newbreed Feat. Yolanda Adams.

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

Okay, so this category we are well acquainted with. In fact, I’m happy to report that we’ve already covered each of the songs nominated for a Grammy. None of these songs are DiM Approved, so as long as one of the flat-out disapproved songs doesn’t win, I’d consider that a small victory.

grammy-statueHoly Spirit
Francesca Battistelli
Francesca Battistelli
Track from: If We’re Honest (Deluxe Edition)
[Fervent/Curb/Word]

DiM | “Holy Spirit” by Francesca Battistelli
DiM Verdict: Disapprove

Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains)
Crowder
Crowder; Ed Cash, David Crowder & Seth Philpott, songwriters
Track from: Neon Steeple (Deluxe Edition)
[sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records; Publisher(s): sixsteps Music/worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Songs/Worship Together Music admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com/Alletrop Music]

DiM | “Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains)” by Crowder
DiM Verdict: Listen with Discerning ears, hearts, and minds.

Because He Lives (Amen)
Matt Maher
Matt Maher
Track from: Saints And Sinners
[Essential Records/Provident Label Group]

DiM | “Because He Lives (Amen)” by Matt Maher
DiM Verdict: Listen with Discerning ears, hearts, and minds.

Soul On Fire
Third Day Featuring All Sons & Daughters
Third Day Featuring All Sons & Daughters; Tai Anderson, Brenton Brown, David Carr, Mark Lee, Matt Maher & Mac Powell, songwriters
Track from: Lead Us Back: Songs Of Worship (Deluxe)
[Essential Records/Provident Label Group; Publisher(s): DATAMAMA MUSIC, Thankyou Music, Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, I Am A Pilgrim Songs]

DiM | “Soul On Fire” by Third Day
DiM Verdict: Listen with Discerning ears, hearts, and minds.

Feel It
Tobymac Featuring Mr. Talkbox
Tobymac Featuring Mr. Talkbox; Cary Barlowe, David Arthur Garcia & Toby McKeehan, songwriters
[ForeFront Records; Publisher(s): Achtober Songs/Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing/D Soul Music admin. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com/Castle Bound Music, Inc./We Be Pawtying]

DiM | “Feel It (feat. Mr Talkbox)” by Tobymac
DiM Verdict: Disapprove.

Conclusion

I had hoped to work through the remaining Album categories, but that’s a lot more work than I have time for at this point. We really don’t do much in the way of Albums because they fit a different context from what concerns us. These days I think it is rare that folks listen through a whole album in a sitting. I could be wrong, but I think most folks just buy the songs they like on iTunes and throw them into their mixes. I’m not happy with the current state of Contemporary Christian Music, and pray every week for a reformation to take place. We need to wake up and acknowledge the importance of discernment in what we hear repeatedly and set to a tune. Most Christians spend far more time listening to this music than reading their Bibles… that’s also something that should change.

Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV) | Prayer for Spiritual Strength

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Amen, indeed.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

 

Friday Sermon | “The Hope That Overcomes the World” by John MacArthur

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spriteToday’s sermon comes from John MacArthur via Grace To You. The sermon was given on November 29, 2015. John MacArthur takes a look at Jesus promise to send the Holy Spirit so that He would remind His Apostles of all that Jesus had taught them, and indeed to guide them (and us by means of the Written Word) into all Truth. There is some good stuff in this sermon, I pray you find it a blessing.

Sermon Audio

Sermon Text

 

John 16 (ESV)

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine;therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Grace To You Website

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

Friday Sermon | Three Stages of Jihad by David Wood

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frisermonIt’s Friday, and we’ve had quite the tumultuous week involving global terrorism, US foreign policy, the upcoming elections, and Christians sloppily slinging around references to “the gospel” as they try to out-moral-high-road each other in a social media piety-contest. Now some of it has been from well-intentioned Christians looking at the situation from different perspectives while agreeing on the teaching of Scripture (we’ll disregard those who’ve twisted Scripture to feed their attacks on Christians). What has been sorely lacking, however, is an understanding of Islam and its doctrine. Most notably, the misconception of what is often described as a “moderate Islam” or the “moderate Muslims”. While what folks are trying to describe does exist, calling it “moderate Islam” or them “moderate Muslims” is a misnomer. There is no “moderate Islam”. There are Muslims in name only who don’t know Islam any better than Joel Osteen knows the Christianity, and then there are Muslims in various stages of Jihad. Today, we’ll be watching an older video by David Wood of Acts17 Apologetics. If you’d like to know more about Islam, I recommend his website Answering Muslims.

Three Stages of Jihad

 

The Qu’ran and the Siege of Paris

Conclusion

One does not need to master all false religions to rightly understand the True Law and Gospel. We don’t need to become experts in Islam or Mormonism to know the One True God of the Bible. However, when we do speak of the false religions like Islam or Mormonism, we shouldn’t do so in ignorance, and we should treat them and their doctrines as we want others to treat ours. It doesn’t happen often, and life isn’t fair, and we Jesus already warned us that we will be hated for His Name sake. Still, we are called to preach the Truth, and since we have the Truth fully revealed to us in Scripture, we have nothing to fear. So, learn to expose inconsistent hermeneutics being applied to the Bible as well as to the Quran or the Book of Mormon. I hope these videos were helpful to you in some way. Pray for the Church, pray for our leaders in government, and pray for strength in these dark and perilous times.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) | Doxology

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge