One of the main reasons why wordly pop music has infiltrated the churches is because they are told that it is a way to worship God. It is not! Jessus said,

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

“in spirit” means that only the truly saved can worship God the way it pleases Him because they are indwelt by his Holy Spirit. “In truth” is self-evident. Most churches that love to make a lot of noise and say they are worshiping God, do not proclaim the truth but outright heresy.

Hi Lila :hi:

You said “Should we pray and have fellowship with Christians who are okay with such worship?”

The answer to this question is no and a possible maybe. Why do I say this. We have to test the spirits (1 John 4:1-6) of each Christian we become friends with. Some are not Christian and others are Christian just deceived. Those who are not Christian you will find will argue with you regarding contemporary Christian music and that it’s of God and then those who are just deceived will take the time to pray and think about it after you have explained to them that it’s not of God. The Christian ‘maybes’ will be convicted by the Holy Spirit that it is indeed totally of this world and not of God. The false convert will be convinced it is of God and that you are not Christian and reject Jesus because of it.

You will find 9/10 time that the person who loves this type of music is involved in some kind of Purpose Driven or ‘seeker friendly’ movement where the so called Christian messages preached are based on secular popular culture, such as popular music styles. The emphasis on appealing to the unchurched (through seeker friendly means) automatically turns the church’s focus toward a consumer mentality. If the goal is providing something to make the “consumer” a happy customer, then the church changes from its important role as God’s pillar of truth (1 Timothy 3:15) to another business based on human principles.

There are many born again Christians out there who are baby Christians like yourself, who are still deceived in a few areas of their life. But when they hear the gospel truth, the Holy Spirit lets them know and, and the Christian is quick to realise the error, repent and through the power of Jesus Christ and Him alone change their ways.

So, the conclusion to this answer is that sometimes we meet people and it takes a bit time to find out what they REALLY believe. The Word of God is a litmus test for everything in life and the people we meet. So don’t turn you back on someone just because they listen to this music. Tell them the truth and see what happens after that. But whatever you do, don’t let them change your mind on the matter. Satan is very cunning that way.

Dear Kathleen

You said “Yes, there are some obvious evil bad metal bands out there”

Right let’s break this down. You agree that there are some obviously evil metal bands out there…and then there are some metal songs that are written by evil people/bands but are not obviously evil, they sound pretty great don’t they, in other words it’s difficult to tell. Now tell me, how do you tell the difference between a genuinely Christian song vs. one that sounds Christian but actually isn’t?

Let me show you something…now keep in mind this is a hymn that is very very old, and very beautiful. I Know That My Redeemer Lives Composer: John Hatton, (c. 1710-1793) Author: Samuel Medley, (1738-1799)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkLuZxqPPzE

Tell me,

1) What church denominations have this song included in their hymn books?
2) Are these church’s Christian churches?

Now I am not saying the hymn was composed by an evil person to lure people to another Christ with another gospel, what I am trying to point out is this; that it’s difficult to tell if the church you are attending is non Christian when they have songs like this in their hymn books. Now, if you can’t tell off hand if a 280 year old hymn is Christian or not, how on earth can you tell if a song written 2 years ago with a metal rhythm is Christian at all and the church that allows such music is Christian and not some other strange denomination that preaches strange doctrines that actually oppose Jesus Christ?

Josh said “i don’t think is wrong if it helps you get closer to God” and you agree with this statement…

1) Is your litmus test for “holiness” how a song makes you feel i.e, how much the musical rhythm appeals to you, how melodic the song is, how many goosebumps you get, how the words appeal to your spirit or how it emotional the song makes you feel?
2) Can you show me one verse in the bible where it states that music helps us get closer to God?
3) In your own words please tell me what does keep us close to Jesus Christ?

I like what you are trying to do but some of this articles you guys are seeing stuff that is not there. Yes some people worship the artists and the music but other people worship God with the music what i don’t think is wrong if it helps you get closer to God why not. And i do not believe there has to be something in a song about the cross or the blood. Paul says sing christian songs and then David’s psalms is also wrong. And to sing about God’s love and grace is good. It does not have to have something about the cross or the blood

I agree with Josh. Yes, there are some obvious evil bad metal bands out there. Does that mean churches should only play music that is 250 years old? Is it not holy to share in sacred worship in a song that is let’s say 2 years old? There are a lot of musical rhythms and I suppose if one feels heavy beats are not holy then that leaves a myriad of other types of rhythms that might considered. Or is holier just to use 3/4 time? It just doesn’t make sense to me. There is purity and there is holiness in sacred modern music.

Dear Amy

You said: What about “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30)

This is NOT “So come and empty me So that it’s you I breath in”

When we are born again the Holy Spirit comes to LIVE IN US PERMANENTLY and there after we are continuously FILLED with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis, Jesus Christ does not EMPTY US so we can then BREATH in the Holy Spirit, this is New Age occult teaching.

Young people are coming to a false Christ through all this rebellious rock music with band members wearing black covered with tattoos.

Hi Linda

I went to search Jeremy Camp and the first video I came across was this video:

Minutes 3:36 onward he says

So come and empty me
So that it’s you I breath in
I want my life to be
Only Christ in me

Sounds great doesn’t it. He mentions Christ so why worry. Firstly when we are born again Jesus Christ does not empty us. He makes us a new creation as described in 2 Corinthians 5:117: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”

In Contemplative Spirituality or Eastern Religions you need to empty your mind and then through breath exercises you are to BREATH GOD IN. This breath is called Pranayama and is the formal practice of controlling the breath, which is the source of our prana, or vital life force.

Now when he says “I want my life to be, Only Christ in me” we can now understand because of the lyrics above that he means ‘the Christ Within’ – ‘the Divine Self’, not Jesus Christ.

Please read Tom’s article https://www.discerningtheworld.com/2016/07/31/soaking-lost-art-now-newly-found-idol/ Soaking is just one form of meditation.

Here’s a question; do you listen to this type of music because you are emotionally entertained by the music? Do you feel more alive, more spiritual? Does listening to this music get you through the day? Do you feel better when listening to this music?

What about “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30)? I think this conversation is nuts! So many young people have come to Christ and now listen to K-Love (right from the Bible) and Christians are still complaining. Makes me very sad!!!

Thank you for your postings! I briefly looked into and bookmarked the link you gave. All very helpful, Thank you!

I agree with all you say here about this, and I like your suggestion about writing my own love songs to Jesus Christ (I kind of do that a little bit throughout the day – I sometimes hum a little made up tune every now and then as I am going about the day). However, it is for my adult son and a couple of grandson’s that I am looking for some good Christian music for them (I don’t think they would listen to grammy’s tunes and singing, hehe).

My son and grandsons are into this kind of music BUT worse I am sorry to say – it’s not Christian … and they like rap mostly more-so than rock, (ugghhh … it concerns me terribly which is why I am looking for something they might listen to instead) and I was trying to think of some possible Christian musicians to possibly get them interested in that would point to Jesus instead.

For myself, I tend to like soft ballad sounds and/or cheerful sounds for melody, but what is most important to me are the words … and I did think the two I mentioned that I sometimes listen to myself were okay in that area until you pointed out some very important concerns; and as I mentioned, I did have some apprehension about and is why I also decided to ask a few other Christian’s about it. So thanks again! 🙂

So I’ve decided not to buy my son and grandsons those CD’s because I agree with what you say about 1% poison can kill, and the rest of what you mention here (and it is repetitive sometimes, so yes, I agree with you); AND I will be more careful also of what I listen to!

I’ve been trying to find something for my son and grandsons that they would listen to, but I guess all I can do is continue to pray for them and remember that the Holy Spirit changes hearts and minds … not grammy 🙂

I’m just very concerned for them of course. I see them getting bombarded from every direction (me too) with the things of this world (school, movies, and video games even that they are in to as well), and how it is taking hold in their lives bit by bit; and I have trouble not being discouraged about it. We would have “little” talks about it (my grandsons are more receptive than my son, and they ask a lot of questions still … and they are getting all kinds of different “advice”/guidance from adults – parents, teachers, etc.).

My grandsons have professed to have received Jesus as their Savior at Vacation Bible School last year, but other than VBS which is only one week in a year, the only time I know of that they are around other Christians and hear the Word of God is when they come over. They are coming up with all kinds of beliefs (mostly of the humanistic and New Age variety). I am the grandmother so I have to be careful to not overstep my boundries as I am not their parent. The boy’s mother and father (my son) are not together. My son professed Christ as his Savior some years back and was attending a gospel preaching church for awhile, but is no longer. The boys say their mom doesn’t want or like to talk about “religion” because it causes controversy, and it sounds like their mom is going along with the whole “tolerance” theme that is going on these days; although they boys have mentioned a lot of other beliefs (all humanistic and New Age types) they are hearing from somewhere.

I have been asking the Lord to show me ways I might be able to help combat against the huge tide in their lives that seems so consuming. Prayer, the Love of Christ, and just being as good an example as am able to in my walk with Christ (also not easy as I am daily being tested and sanctified yet still), are what I doing. I guess I was trying to find something to make it a little easier … and it doesn’t always, not even usually I suppose, work that way.