Should Christians Listen to Contemporary “Christian” Music?

Contemporary worship band

Contemporary “Christian” music has grown in acceptance and popularity over the last several decades. During this time, artists in more and more genres – including rock and hip hop – have been writing songs with lyrics that are more spiritual than secular. For many religious people, this is seen as an unquestionably positive development.

Before we consider whether these songs are ones that Christians should listen to, let us start with a definition of what we mean by Contemporary “Christian” music.

“Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and stylistically rooted in Christian music. …the term is typically used to refer to pop, but also includes rock, alternative rock, hip hop, metal, contemporary worship, punk, hardcore punk, Latin, electronic dance music, R&B-influenced gospel, and country styles.” (Wikipedia)

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Answering Basic Questions (Part 9): What Is Worship?

Answering Basic Questions

Many people equate being religious with worship, and for good reason. Worship may not be all that we do in service to God, but it must be a necessary and fundamental part of it.

What is worship? Let us consider four points about this subject.Continue Reading

Joy in the Assembly

Psalm 122:1

I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).

This is a familiar verse to many of us (and for good reason). In this psalm, David described the attitude that God’s people should have toward worship – particularly the opportunities to assemble for worship. The psalmist described going to Jerusalem and worshiping in the temple (“the house of the Lord”). The parallel for us today is in our gathering with the church as we assemble for worship.

This psalm is a “Song of Ascents” – part of a collection of fifteen psalms (120-134) which are generally recognized as songs that would be sung by those ascending the road to Jerusalem to worship. This would happen three times a year (Deuteronomy 16:16) – at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. This psalm began with an exclamation of joy over the mere mention of the journey to the place where the people of God would be gathered to worship Him.

Today, worship is not something that is confined to Jerusalem (John 4:21); it can be done anywhere. Yet wherever we gather to worship, we need to have the same attitude expressed by the psalmist.Continue Reading

Growing in Wisdom, Stature, and Favor

Jesus as a Boy in the Temple

The four gospels focus primarily on the public ministry of Jesus leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection – a period of approximately three years. In addition to this, Matthew and Luke include some information about His birth and infancy. Luke also briefly records one event in Jesus’ childhood – the time when He was “lost” in the temple at twelve years old (Luke 2:41-51).

We may be curious about what happened as Jesus grew up, but the Scriptures are mostly silent about this. However, the Holy Spirit did see fit to include a statement about the growth of Jesus:

And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52).

This may seem somewhat obvious and, therefore, almost insignificant. Yet this statement was given for a reason. If Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor, then it should be expected for us to do the same. In this article, we are going to consider how we can grow in each of these areas.Continue Reading

Shout Joyfully to the Lord

Man under the Northern Lights

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5).

This psalm begins with a universal call to praise God. It gives us some insight into how we offer praise to Him and describes some of the reasons why He is worthy of such praise.

Let us notice some of the things this psalm tells us about how and why we are to praise the Lord.Continue Reading

Church Asks Judge to Strike No Instrumental Music Clause in Land Deed (11.04.21)

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Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

This week we’re discussing a church in Tennessee filing a lawsuit to determine whether the property deed prohibiting instrumental music is binding. The Otter Creek church of Christ acquired the property from the West End church of Christ last year and this prohibition was written into the deed. Now they want a judge to determine whether this is binding.Continue Reading

God’s Plan for Worship

Family in Church

‘Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’” (John 4:20-24).

In this chapter, Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman by a well. The discussion covered several topics, one of which was the issue of worship. After she “perceived” Jesus to be “a prophet” (John 4:19), she brought up a question about worship. In Jesus’ answer, He explained to her some basic principles about worship. These instructions are helpful for us as well.

In this article, we are going to look at what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman and what He teaches about God’s plan for worship. There are four basic points we can take from His instruction on this occasion.Continue Reading