The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1973

• • UStC tn by Mike Coyle his I a da ' in \Vhich "truth 0 ccr11" cloL1dcd \Vith hun,an rca, on and per. onal pinion; e. pecially in tl1c r a1n, of n1tt ic in the church. It cen1. a if never before have so many pastor, and church 1eader been giv– ing opinion, on n1u. ic - a field in ,, hich the va t n1ajority have had no pr fe . ional acqua intance or quali– fi d in truction. I , hall attempt to put do,vn general guidelines for your– con ideration. Music: What is it? The 1no t general definition i "an international language." A language of what? A language of emotion. Therefore, music is a language of ubjecti,,e emotionalism. Emotional– ism - because general emotional re- ponse i all that music can accom– pli h - ubjective, because all emo– tional response is dependent upon in– dividual participation. ''Rock Music'' - What is it? There must be three things present in order to qualify as "Acid Rock." 1. Intensity: Rock music uses volume to relay its message. Most authorities agree that nerve control of the body ceases after the threshold of pain is reached ( 130 decibels). Through the manipulated use of intensity, it is possible to make an indi– vidual do things he would or– dinarily be inhibited from do- . 1ng. 2. Beat: Igor Stravinsky - this century's greatest composer has stated that rock music does not possess rhythm, but a beat. In order to have rhythm existent in music, the rhythmic line must have tension and relaxation. In Geared toward re– vival and edification of the sa ints, with an emphasis on evan– gelism. MIKE COYLE Musical Ministries Utd1z1ng a tenor voice and playing the French horn - Mike Coyle uses power– ful sound equipment with taped accom– pan iment to minister the word of God, through the med ium of music. A Christ centered and God honoring ministry God has used for His glory. 2731 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, Fla. Phone : (813) 828-7911 NOW AVAILABLE 10 APRIL, 1973 the heat of rock music - this is not the case. It i all tension - however ubt)e it may seem. All rock is written to duple rhy– thms, and the empha i is on the "off-beat ,,, rather than the prin– ciple beats. In other words, in " legi timate music," in a duple, or 4/ 4, measure - the pulse of the measure would come on the 1st and 3rd beats of the measure. In rock music - the pulse would come on the second and fourth beats. It is a well known fact that rhythm is a powerful influence on the psy– che. Hitler used it to drive audi– ences to hysteria with his ''Sieg Heil' ' ; Alexander the Great used it to march his troops impos– sible distances, and hypnotists basically use rhythm as a means of inducing hypnotic trances. 3. Repetition: the third basic in– gredient of rock is repetition. Acid rock or hard rock will use musical phrases and similar chord structures over and over again , combining this with the volume and beat to drive its hearers into a fantasy land . All of the "biggies" of rock agree that a " high," similar to drugs can be experienced by listening to rock music. Many of our pastors condemn rock because they don 't like it. Some have never li stened to a number all the way through , and very few have ex– amined lyrics. If they had, they would find that some of the lyrics are rela– tively l1armless, but the vast majority condone disobedience, lawlessness, di srespect , and all kinds of immoral– ity. To use this medium to reach people for Christ i unthinkable. While most are quick to condemn rock and offshoots, it is because they are personall y offended at listening to it. What about other types of mu ic that have crept into the church and have been accepted? Jazz, country western, hillbilly, popular. What about these? We find them less offensive than rock - but, again, our judg– ment is because of personal prejudice and not knowledge according to the Word of God. What emotional re– sponse would be engendered, for ex– ample , by listening to "He Touched Me,' ' '·o Happy Day," or "Standing on the Promises" if you had never been aware of the lyrics. What about the excessive rhythm of a choru like "He Holds My Hand,' or of the average (ugh) O\Jthern (,o~pel quar– tet . Wc ltld the mltsic by itself. and with no help from the Jyrics, direct our thought~ toward God? We are told in Psalm 33: 3 to sing a new ~ong. In 2 Cor. 5: 17 that we are new creatures. In phe ians 5: 8 that we are children of 1ight. In John 15 :7, 8 that we do His will so the Father may be glorified. In Romans 12 :2 not to be conformed to this word. And in 2 Thess . 1: 11 , 12 that if we are walking worthy of Hi s call– ing - the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified. Rock mu ic is, of course, the-most obvious and most recent example of conforn1ity to the world's philosophy. But that doesn't say that other types are good - just that they are less un– desirable. A BASIC GUIDELINE: 1. Could the music stand by it– self as glorifying God? 2. Is the performance done in in the dignity that God, through His Word demands? "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where– on thou standest is holy ground', (Ex. 3: 5). 3. Are the lyrics Scripture, a paraphrase of Scripture, or do they teach Scriptural truth? If you could as a pastor, or leader in your church, examine the music you allow and enjoy, with an open and unbiased mind - and judge what· you 1 isten to and perform by the above guidelines I'm sure worthwhile and God honoring changes would be made in your church music programs. Much of our contemporary "re– ligious music" is written to consider personal experience or to use general ~ truth in such a way that would make even n1oderni sts comfortable. Most lack dignity, honor, and are not di– rected towards God, but are horizon– tally oriented. My prayer is that God will raise up qualified Christians to write and per– form Christ centered and God honor– ing music - that He will convict ex– i ting mir1ister of music and church musicians to sharpen their skill - and that the churches interested in doing His ,,viii and in honoring Him will u e renewed di cretion in their use and ministry of music. TEST YOURSELF What did you do today that only a Ch ri tian would do? What did you ay today that was Chri t peaking through you? What do the people ee who on your pathway fall? Do they see you alone, or Chri t as your all in all? THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST