Just out of curiosity, where does that belief come from? Is there anything in the Bible that says that?

So, as Christians, we should not approach music as different types; worship, love, Christian or non-Christian; because there is no non-Christian music. There are only non-Christian words.

Take any song of any style from anywhere in the world and remove the lyrics and it is impossible to label it as Christian and non-Christian. It is impossible to tell from just the music if the author follows Christ. Christians aren’t that good at doing this because our preferences come into play. Church history has erroneously embodied certain styles of music as Godly. The danger in allowing our preferences to get in the way is that we allow a particular style of music to get in between us and God-that is where there is danger.

Back up a little to when I was younger. I sat in church and sang hymns-some I liked and some i did not and as I got older I like hymns less and less because they did not really speak to me. I didn’t understand the words-some of which were so old and outdated that our English language didn’t even use them any more. Words like Ebenezer (Come Thou Fount)…most people think this is a Dickens character and I was wondering why the Scrooge was in my church hymn! Lord help me.
But, where my church fell short was in instructing me as to what these words meant and why we were singing them. And, they shunned any glimpse of contemporary music because they said it had no place in church. They placed a Godly attribute to certain styles of music-ignoring that God created all music-verging on idolatry. So much for “spirit and truth”. I learned the lesson to, as a worship leader, inspect the songs we use and explain a few things – just in case people are lost with the poetic nature of some writers.

As humans we love to categorize music. We have to because we have to categorize everything-and marketing makes us create labels. But that’s not the way it was originally meant to be. I’m talking about pre-fall days. In the beginning. Back in the garden. And truly, isn’t that where we want to be? Don’t we want to be back in full communion with God? Walking with him and being with him 24/7?
There’s only one way to get there. Jesus Christ is the remedy for the fall and every day that we follow him more we return back from our fallen state and into His likeness. Kinda cool, huh? Read A.D. Bauer’s “In The Beginning” by Square Halo Books. Alan goes through this process and it will shed light on the topic in a whole new way.

So, back to music. Our attitude is the missing ingredient. How we approach music and how our heart is prepared to honor God with the music is the key to “worship music” (I don’t like that label). Look at it this way….music is powerful. And it’s that way because God created it to be powerful. Music can arouse memories and emotions like almost nothing else. I find music to be more powerful than pictures, sight and smells. And I truly believe that that amazing element of music is God in the music. Our minds are wired for music. Think of how many songs you can sing by memory and now think of how many books you can recite by memory. It’s a drastic difference. That’s one example of the power of music.

When we approach music in a worldly way we place labels on it and limit it. That’s not saying that all music is useful to worship God with. The world has tainted music with lyrics that do just the opposite. A quick review of MTV or any local radio station will quickly reveal a lack of God in many authors’ lives and influence. And this is a shame. We should pray for these people and be ready to lead them to Christ when the opportunity arises.

I personally use all types of music as worship music and work not to label music. I don’t care what the human author intended-I care about what God intended. And I don’t let a worldly label get in between God and me. I look for God working in music-even the music that man says is non-Christian. Man cannot put a label on God even though he may try.

A little background on me-I am a worship leader, having been raised in a Christian home I can say that I’ve been a Christian for most of my 38 years-technically I’ve been a Christian for 32 years, I guess.
The DCB CD, A Collision….David is doing something sort of new here. He’s combining a musical art form that the world has used many times. Call it a “concept album” like Tommy, Dark Side of the Moon or whatever. But, Christians don’t typically do this sort of thing with their music (again, labels that I don’t like). Crowder is branching out and trying to get our minds to open up a bit. Maybe let our minds find God in the sound. He’s allowing our own personal imaginations fill in the blanks-creating the story line. He gives some clues in the titles but not all the details. So many artists spoon feed us-they tell us exactly how great God is, exactly how magnificent He is, spoon feeding. I think Crowder is trying to lead us to God in a way that is not so prescribed. Allowing each listener to figure it out-if they give the disk a chance.

Like the last 2 tracks-the interview. I love those two tracks. They are my favorite on the whole disk. The interviewer just does not get it-even tho he thinks he does. He’s so quick to want to know what the hidden things are-instead of being patient and thinking about it. He wants to be spoon fed. I know the interview is fake but I think Crowder is doing something cool here by using his own symbolism in his songs when compared to the Lark-by saying he doesn’t always get it either. The Lark’s author tried to spoon feed David but David didn’t feel the same way. Maybe someday David will-obviously he’s trying.

And isn’t that really “spirit and truth”? Isn’t that really what God wants? He gave us free will-he wants us to choose. Does he want us to just blindly follow some worship leader? Doesn’t God see our hearts? Doesn’t man see our bodies?
I hope I’m making sense. Sorry for the long blog.

It’s a journey and I’m having the time of my life.

Chris Webb

While I play alot of worship music, I don’t particularly enjoy listening to Passion or Hillsongs on my Ipod. I have a much richer worship time when I listen to Crowder or Switchfoot or Webb.

But I also think amazing worship happens when I read a solid Christian book.

PS- I think the federal government should impose a ban on covering “Shout to the Lord.”