Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: lu@druhi.att.com (david lu) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Christian contemporary music (was amy grant) Message-ID: Date: 10 Nov 89 07:35:28 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO Lines: 107 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu I'm intrigued by the discussion on the net about Christian Contemporary artists. I became interested in CCM when I was a freshman in high school (2nd Chapter of Acts' Easter Song was the start) and still find myself sitting around the tape player at Christian bookstores listening to demo tapes. Though I've never been much of an Amy Grant fan (not that I don't like her music, I just never got around to geting any of her records), I do have some thoughts on the situation with Christian artists. Since I'm not much of an Amy Grant listener, I don't have much to say about her, but I might use her in comparison with another group. I tend to break up Christian contemporary artists (CCA's) into different categories when it comes to their ministry. My first category includes artists and groups who do not outwardly profess to be Christians or claim that their music is for the Lord, but have songs that tend to have Christian conotations and themes. Artists include the group early Kansas (check out the album Vinyl Confessions), The Alarm, early U2, etc... Some of the members of these bands do profess to be Christians and some of the lyrics have Christian themes. I have to admire many of these musicians since they are trying to infiltrate a secular recording studio with music that could get listeners to think about God. However, I won't grant them too many accolades since much of the music does not directly speak of their belief and it is up to the listener to find the meaning. A good book to read about a secular band that had to deal with Christianity is called _Seeds_Of_Change_. It is about Kerry Livegreen (sp?) and the group Kansas. Category II: Artists who profess to be Christian, sing of their belief, and are still in the secular studios. There aren't many of them and the only one that comes to mind is Stryper. Since I'm not into heavy metal, I again have not heard much of their music, but from my metal friends, I believe that they are adamant about bringing the Word to the secular music industry. Talk about being sheep among wolves! They are Christians and don't try to cover it up on stage or in the studio. I've got to give high marks to a group that throws out Bibles out to kids at concerts and tries to witness to groups such as Motley Crew or Judas Priest. An aside: Though I am not a metaler, nor really get into hard rock, I do believe that there is value in using the style to spread the Word. It is just another medium and does speak to a group of people. Though I can't always understand what is being sung, there is power in music for the Lord. I've heard accounts of hundreds of kids committing their lives to the Lord after concerts with said type of music. Maybe this defense is not needed, but I thought I'd throw it in anyway. Sorry if you think I just wasted bandwidth. Category III: Artists who profess to be Christian, sing of their belief, are on Christian recording labels, and live out what they preach. I'll include artists like Keith Green, Resurrection Band, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Petra (I'm not familiar with anything after Volz left), Undercover, etc... These are the artists (in my opinion) that have music that has a clear message and the artists themselves do as they preach. When I go to a CCM concert, I hope to be ministered to, listen to some good music, and hear the artist speak to the audience about salvation and the Christian walk. I saw Keith Green in concert and he would always speak to the audience about how critical a relationship with Jesus was, not just let them figure it out from his music. The concerts I saw with Petra and 2nd Chapter of Acts were similar. I tend to see concerts as an opportunity to bring non-Christian friends to a non-threatening place where they can hear the good news. When an artist doesn't have an altar call or doesn't take time out to share God's Word from the heart, I get disappointed. Of this group, I believe that Rez. Band is really on top of things. Again, I don't get into their style of music, but I did have the opportunity to visit Cornerstone ministries (their "headquarters"). This place was where the rubber hit the road. It is located in inner-city Chicago and let me tell you, it is not the most pleasant, nor safe part of any town. Yet, they have converted an old hotel into a place where they are able to feed over 900 meals a day to whoever shows up at their doorstep. There are places for the homeless to stay and they go out in the winter to bring in those who couldn't find a better place to sleep than a gutter. On top of that, it is the musicians themselves that you find living and working in the kitchen. From what I could see, these folks really practice what they preach. Category IV: Artists who profess to be Christians, are on Christian recording labels, but have ministries that I'm not too sure about. The artist that immediately comes to mind is Michael W. Smith (my applogies to those who disagree). When I was in college, I had the opportunity to see him in concert. I was really disappointed. For starters, I paid $22 for a ticket compared to the free (w/ love offerings) 2nd Chapter and Keith Green concerts. I know that isn't something to really get upset over, but I thought the price was a bit high. Anyway, the sound system had some dis- tortion that made the lyrics difficult to understand. Compound that with lots of teenagers who were screaming in the aisles and I got a concert that did not minister to me through the music very well. Now, maybe others (excluding those who already knew the lyrics to the songs) did understand the lyrics and heard the Word (as I aluded to earlier, some people can understand heavy metal), but there was no open opportunity to accept Christ. Not even counselors after the concert. In terms of spoken message, he did not do anything substantial (said a short prayer that sounded rehersed). The local Christian radio station concurred by giving the musical talent a 10, while giving the spritual content a 2. I'm sorry if I seem hard on Mr. Smith (he's my only concrete example; maybe his concerts have changed in format), but I do get a bit unsettled when I see Amy Grant on the Tonight Show, talking about everything but spiritual things, while members of the Rez. Band are living and working in rundown neighborhoods. These are just my opinions and I appologize if I have offended you. I hope I haven't sounded too judgemental and I welcome your opposing/supporting views. -David Lu lu@druhi.att.com att!druhi!lu Psalms 33:1-3