I am beginning to think that one of the first things we need to do is to convert the musicians of the Christian world. The Christian churches spend so much time singing their lyrics, which in general reinforce a foolish variety of Christianity. Oh it is the dominate view no doubt but it is filled with meaningless trivialities and downright contradictory statements. Consider the following which I recently saw while visiting a church.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGlx11BxF24



Notice this quote towards the end at 2:30 min:

"I came to save you from so many sins
But they have a cost
Someone has to die
You...or Me
So I took on your sin
And traded in my life for yours
And I died in your place
Because I love you"


Over all the message is fairly good. But it makes so little sense to say that "Someone has to die You or me". We all still die by the way...And who says that someone has to die because of sin? God? Why did He make that rule in the first place if it is a rule and why not tell us about this rule in the Bible? (you say surely die is a consequence of sin not an act of God). How did Jesus take my sin? I still sin don't I, I bet you do too. So He hardly took my sin as I still am busy committing it. Who did He trade His life for mine? Is God not in control? Is God doing the trading...because he says you sin and you must die...I have to kill someone because of sin!? So then Jesus comes along and shows us forgiveness...something that God would not do because God demands somebody die.

The conclusion is:
"I am the way, the truth and the life
I am Jesus
I am not here to condemn you
I came to bring you back to life
Rely on me
I will forgive you
And give you eternal life
I love you 
And I did all of this for you
To have a relationship with you
Will you follow me?"

Would not the more appropriate method be to express the love of God revealed through Jesus that He would come and show us what love is, what forgiveness is and to what length love goes in that greater love hath no man then to lay down their life. That even though evil kills and destroys it is no match for God who raises and gives life. That is the message of the cross. Not a trade, not a God that demands someone has to die. 

Yet when I saw this video at church I had just sat through the singing of 3 songs, which held that Christ paid out penalty or as the lyrics from "In Christ Alone" say:  

"Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live"

Or this from the "Scandal of Grace" from Hillsong united:

"Too much to make sense of it all

I know that Your love breaks my fall

The scandal of grace, You died in my place 

So my soul will live"

 

The "wrath" of God was satisfied because Jesus is killed on the cross? Really is that the gospel?
It is not too much to make sense of if you simply remove the tradition of Penal substitutionary atonement. Which was never even part of the Bible or the early church but a church tradition built upon a misrepresentation of God.

Catchy tunes carry on a message that is contrary to the gospel. It is contrary to the nature of God and is completely foreign to the message of Jesus. And we keep it alive because we don't take time to think about what our religion is saying. It is time to reclaim the God of love and leave the god of paganism behind.

Some Free Music

Many of you are probably saying to yourself, sure Ron sometimes reviews music but he never gives us any links to free music. Well talk to yourselves no more today I am going to give you two free CD’s worth of good music.

The first is Ross King’s latest CD brought to you by Noisetrade.com. Here you can find many artists who you can buy their music for whatever you want to pay or get free downloads for simply referring 5 email names.

https://www.noisetrade.com/rossking

I have liked Ross King for a while sort of a story teller singer with a voice similar to Chris Tomlin a nice album that I am sure many of you will like.

The second artist is a group called Ambright. They are a more rock and roll and aggressive sound than Ross King. But their music is very interesting and really quite good. You can hear samples on their myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/ambrightmusic and you can download their latest CD for free at http://www.volummonster.com/ simply type or paste the code "flicker" (without the quote marks)

I have used both these sites and they do not really spam you and both have a lot of good independent artists. Of course I only mention the best, the ones I really like but there is quite a bit for other tastes also. Give these two a try and let me know what you think or if you find any others you like.

The 5000 Music Group

I received some promotional Material from The 5000 Music Group a few months ago but had not found the time to present anything on them on this blog and then I found the following article from the Mid-America Union Outlook paper April 2008. The article is entitled Discipling Musical Missionaries by Van Hurst Here is the first part of the article:

Local churches throughout Mid-America are blessed with musicians whose ministry is of such a spirit and quality that Adventists everywhere could be blessed by them. But how would they record and market their music?

Chris McConnell has a plan. He and his wife, Candice, have founded the 5000 Music Group—a new kind of music company to locate, develop, record and promote Adventist musicians. Making this possible is the wonder of digital music, downloaded and marketed over the Internet.

The need is great for what Chris and Candice offer. Until now, no matter how skilled a musician, it has been difficult to get the music out to those who would appreciate it. Record companies are understandably reluctant to take a chance on an artist and commit to a contract for recording, producing, marketing and distribution. Frustrated with the process, some musicians mortgage their homes to self-record and produce a CD, then try to book concerts to promote and sell their product. Often they end up stuck with thousands of CDs that nobody wants to buy and no store will sell. Not because the music isn’t good, but because it isn’t known.

That’s where the McConnells can help. Their 5000 Music Group offers Christian musicians and fans a variety of resources and opportunities: Directly • presenting the teachings of Jesus Christ through music • Embracing new technologies and revenue streams • Being inclusive and supportive of developing artists • Fair profit sharing between the company and artists • Sharing profits with other worthy causes • Being and promoting Christ-like role models The McConnells’ Web site, the-5000music.com, features a variety of professional and independent music and is looking for more.

I wish him success as it is difficult to start any new business and probably doubly difficult in the music business. Visiting the website I was hoping to find some groups from our Adventist Colleges but unfortunately their were none. I wish I could have found someone on the site that I could say I liked a lot but most did not seem ready for prime time. Which is kind of the problem Christian bands have today as they need to perform to build up their abilities and finding that experience is often difficult. It is solved by larger churches with worship bands who have given us some of the best music of recent years from England’s Delirious? and David Crowder and Chris Tomlin and even one of my Northwest favorite Telecast (who I see is releasing their third Album on the 29^th of this month)

If you know a Christian band give them your local congregation support, host a community picnic and give your local artists a chance to perform. I have no doubt that the talent is out there and hopefully the 5000 Music Group can help them record and offer downloads and more. Myspace is great to hear music artists but sometimes they need a little more help on the road to success, even if success is not measured in record sells but in spreading their enjoyment of music.

Robbie Seay Band on American Idol Promo

Recently I saw some American Idol commercials which had a familiar song in the Background. Interestingly it is a Christian song and Artist. The Robbie Seay Band song “Rise” is the catchy song in the background. Click the above link to hear the song from their Myspace page. I had intended to write a review of their latest CD entitled “Give Yourself Away” so I will take the time now to write a short review.

I would give this CD a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Most of the material is more modern worship oriented. The opening Song “Rise” is where the title for the CD comes from:

“If you choose to love / To know that the call / Is to give all you are / To give love away, away / Rise, rise, people of love rise / People of love rise, give yourself away.”

Robbie Seay’s voice is expressive and the lyrics are thoughtful and joyful at the same time. It is not filled with trite religiosity which is refreshing in a modern worship CD. Take the time to go to their myspace account and listen to 4 songs there. I think most of you will enjoy this CD as well.