Influences of Rock Music

[kat8585]

Make no mistake, the beat can be as bad as the lyrics. It may not be "Satanic", but it can lure you into listening. That's its purpose.

I speak from experience. That's one thing that makes it hard to break free from it.

[Vickilynn]

Make no mistake, the beat can be as bad as the lyrics. It may not be "Satanic", but it can lure you into listening. That's its purpose.

I speak from experience. That's one thing that makes it hard to break free from it.

Shalom Kat,

How can a "beat" lure you into anything?

Music without lyrics is from G-d. Therefore, music in it pure form is good. When man perverts something, it doesn't make the original evil.

Also, can you show any Scriptural support that a "beat" of music is wrong?

[Guest lnj]

[How can a "beat" lure you into anything?

I think she is saying if a song has a catchy beat that's fine but if the lyrics to the song are about porn, murder etc then the beat to it is - the lure. The rythm of the song has the enticing effect to make you want to listen to it. Whether the song actually lures you into a sinful act is another thing .

[Gerioke]

Dylan...his "christianity" lasted long enough to record two albums. He died claiming to be a humanist who made a deal with the devil.

Dylan's dead? When did that happen?

Phil Keaggy does secular music. You should be ashamed of yourself supporting such an evil product.

Hmmm...the last photo I saw of Dylan...he certainly looked dead

Regarding Phil Keaggy... A) He's a Christian, who has written some VERY beautiful music. As a Christian I am not supporting secualr musicians by supporting Phil Keaggy, I am supporting a Christian artist. B) If Phil Keaggy does secular music I wouldn't know it because I don't buy or listen to secular music. You'll have to enlighten me on this so called "worldly" music that Keaggy is involved with.

Wouldn't be the first time that somebody duped me with the "I'm a Christian musician" claim. I can only be responsible for my intentions, and my intentions are good...even when I buy Phil Keaggy's music.

1) When was the last time you read a newspaper or watched the news. These are primarily secular mediums.

2) Phil Keaggy appeared on an album that paid tribute to the evil and satanic Beatles and performed the evil and satanic"We Can Work it Out" written by the evil and satanic Paul Mccartney

3)If you do not associate with non-Christians, and you are such a booster for Jesus, how do you fulfill the commandment to go and preach the good news? How does one see the light without entering the darkness?

[georgesbluegirl]

Axx, I think one of the places I'm having trouble with your argument is when you say that all non-Christians are in "enmity" with God. Can you elaborate on this? This is certainly not anything that I have ever heard or been taught, or concluded myself.

[Vickilynn]

[How can a "beat" lure you into anything?

I think she is saying if a song has a catchy beat that's fine but if the lyrics to the song are about porn, murder etc then the beat to it is - the lure. The rythm of the song has the enticing effect to make you want to listen to it. Whether the song actually lures you into a sinful act is another thing .

Shalom Inj,

Thank you for reply.

I still would like to hear Kat's reply and see what she's thinking.

I do not believe a "beat" can lure anyone into anything, even listening to a "bad" song. We all have a choice.

[kat8585]

[How can a "beat" lure you into anything?

I think she is saying if a song has a catchy beat that's fine but if the lyrics to the song are about porn, murder etc then the beat to it is - the lure. The rythm of the song has the enticing effect to make you want to listen to it. Whether the song actually lures you into a sinful act is another thing .

Shalom Inj,

Thank you for reply.

I still would like to hear Kat's reply and see what she's thinking.

I do not believe a "beat" can lure anyone into anything, even listening to a "bad" song. We all have a choice.

If you hear a catchy beat, you want to listen to the song. Right? Sure, you have a choice, but Satan is out to get you to make the wrong choice, same as he does with every temptation. You become what you behold.

Like I said, I speak from experience. I firmly believe the wrong music can be as addicting as a drug. When I got rid of rock and started listening to Christian music, I could tell a big difference. It is edifying, makes you think about God. What does today's music make you think of? What does it talk about?

[Oh Hamburgers!]

If you hear a catchy beat, you want to listen to the song. Right? Sure, you have a choice, but Satan is out to get you to make the wrong choice, same as he does with every temptation. You become what you behold.

Like I said, I speak from experience. I firmly believe the wrong music can be as addicting as a drug. When I got rid of rock and started listening to Christian music, I could tell a big difference. It is edifying, makes you think about God. What does today's music make you think of? What does it talk about?

Satan may be out to get you, but satan isn't producing records, people are, people of all different backgrounds and religious beliefs. A catchy beat to me just means good music, regardless of the message it is bringing through the lyrics. Again, if the lyrics are overboard satanic I would have a problem with the song, but there are tons of relatively innocent secular songs.

The thing that confuses me is that Christian today has its own "genre". What makes Christian music Christian by nature? I would throw out there that it is the lyrical quality of the music. However today Christian music has it's own "beat", usually a light rock/poppy beat to it. But the way I see it, that doesn't necessarily have to be the case, there could be heavy metal christian music, and there could be christian rap, and there could be christian punk rock, as long as the lyrics fall in line with christian themes.

Now, I don't like light rock/poppy music, so I don't like the majority of Christian music out there. But it isn't because of the lyrical qualities, it is because of the beat. If you replaced one of my favorite secular rock songs with christian lyrics, I would probably like it just as much.

Frankly, while a lot of non-christian music sings about love and sex, a vast amount of it speaks no real discernable message. I'm listening to a song right now who's refrain is "shut your eyes and sing to me". What does that mean? I have no idea, but I like the music! I don't dwell on the lyrics of most of my songs, to be quite honest if you asked me to give you the full lyrics of my favorite song, I don't think I could do it. Even though I have listened to Amsterdam by Coldplay about 10000 times, I don't even know a full verse of its lyrics!

[Vickilynn]

If you hear a catchy beat, you want to listen to the song. Right? Sure, you have a choice, but Satan is out to get you to make the wrong choice, same as he does with every temptation. You become what you behold.

Like I said, I speak from experience. I firmly believe the wrong music can be as addicting as a drug. When I got rid of rock and started listening to Christian music, I could tell a big difference. It is edifying, makes you think about God. What does today's music make you think of? What does it talk about?

Shalom Kat,

Just so you know, I speak from experience as well.

I do not believe a beat can lure anyone into listening to what they choose not to.

Music in itself is pure, created by G-d. Man perverts it, but the music is not evil.

I agree that Christian lyrics are much more edifying than secular lyrics.

The lyrics are the issue, not the beat. That is my point.

You said the beat can lure us and I speak from my own experience in saying that is not the case.

Edited February 18, 2007 by Vickilynn

[Axxman]

1) When was the last time you read a newspaper or watched the news. These are primarily secular mediums.

2) Phil Keaggy appeared on an album that paid tribute to the evil and satanic Beatles and performed the evil and satanic"We Can Work it Out" written by the evil and satanic Paul Mccartney

3)If you do not associate with non-Christians, and you are such a booster for Jesus, how do you fulfill the commandment to go and preach the good news? How does one see the light without entering the darkness?

1) The "news" is difficult, as are other topics. There is the "news" then there is "opinion." I try to catch the news, but when the news becomes opinion, I tune out. I rarely watch the news channels because they are all about opinions of the news and rarely actually try to put out an un-bias view of the news. Newspapers are okay as long as I don't linger in the op-ed pages cuz again those are mostly opinions of the news. Usually, if its not a headline on the opening page of the internet, I'll not know about it until later.

2) I wouldn't support Phil Keaggy by buying his "tribute" to the Beatles. That is very disappointing to me, BUT it doesn't make him a non-christian. I would hope that he makes better decisions in the future regarding the type of music he "tributes." Of course, now I've had to do some looking into Keaggy because I need to know what I'm supporting. I was disappointed to find this..."When I think of gospel music, I think of spreading the Good News with words. But maybe it's just because I was heralded once upon a time as one of theirs. I guess if he's not "one of us" anymore he can forget about getting "some of mine"...no matter how talented he is. What a bummer!

3) This should probably be discussed in a different topic. I don't have to be friends, or hang out, with unbelievers to fulfill the Great Commission. In fact, I've found that the more I "preach the good news" and put myself out as a "booster for Jesus"...the less they want to have to do with me. I am not unpleasant to them, its just amutual acknowledgement that there is no common ground between us. In my opinion, that alone is how I show the light. For example, a guy at work told me "its too bad you don't party cuz a few of us are going out this weekend and it would be cool if you came with us." I politely declined and told him if they wanted to hang out I'd be going to church that weekend and it would be cool to see them there. A polite chuckle between us...and done. I've been to the "darkness." In fact, I was rescued from it. I don't plan on going back there for a second.

georgesbluegirl asked: Axx, I think one of the places I'm having trouble with your argument is when you say that all non-Christians are in "enmity" with God. Can you elaborate on this? This is certainly not anything that I have ever heard or been taught, or concluded myself.

Romans 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so]

That hostility towards God is also called enmity. Enmity is defined as "a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism." This is the state of the carnal mind (i.e. non-believers) towards God.

The bible also teaches that ANYONE who wishes to have friendship with those who are in enmity with God...are also enemies of God. "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

Again, this is a topic that should probably take place somewhere else, but since I brought it up I feel required to answer. My biggest issue when coming to this topic was that people understand that we should be supporting our Brothers and Sisters in ministry more than we support non-christians. I was taken aback by the VERY insulting statements on the provided links about Christian musicians.