And how did Hilliard get the money to do give CeCe that Rolls? By fleecing his flock. The same way he managed to raise enough cash to pay the taxes so that Junie B (Juanita Bynum) wouldn’t lose her modest 30,000 square foot home.

GCMW: Not to pile on CeCe, but I had my own reasons for letting go of her music. At least not purchasing it.

I also want to let you know that I agree with you 100%! Praise God for giving you that word and for proclaiming it like you did. I’m sure a lot of Christians do truly love God, but we need to learn how to serve Him and worship Him correctly. God is a holy god. If He instructed the OT Israelites on how he wanted them to worship Him, how much more does He require from us that have the Spirit within us! The examples you gave above were plain and true. I also remember on of Min. Craige’s messages on Hip Hop when he gave the example of David playing the music and how it soothed Saul. No lyrics there, either.

Satan was God’s minister of music. He was the one that ushered in the presence of God with music. He still has that gift, but is certainly being used for evil now. I was reading HP’s comment above about the swearing, drinking, smoking in lyrics. If that is the only way we judge music as secular, the devil surely has us where he wants us! It doesn’t take discernment to recognize that this kind of music is ungodly. We’re talking about the music that he has so skillfully and wickedly disguised. The kind of music that can get you to praise him and you not even know it! (Ooh, that gives me chills!) The kind that only God can reveal to us. His word says that he can come as an angel of light!

I have a website you all can check out
http://www.goodfight.org. Be prayerful before you enter the site and watch the expose’s. Continue the good fight. God bless!

I am in total agreement with your insightful explanation on the secular vs spiritual songs. You hit the nail on the head when illustrating the noise Moses heard when he came from the mountain top. What accompanied this music as noise was the worshipping of the “golden calf”. AMAZING the truth God reveals in His word.

MUSIC is more than lyrics, despite with all these praise and worship leaders tell us and do. Simply put in “Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; ” The “melody” is the emphasis here.

Many put a lot of the emphasis on the “lyrics”. And really, if you listen to the lyrics in many of these songs (sung by artists like Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, the Winans with their pop and R&B flavor), much of the lyrics leans more to the praise of men and his goodness and his acceptance to the call of God. The words are tilted to be made personal for men, rather that the reverence in worship for God and who He is and what He does.

Believe it or not, there are many psalms and the thousands of the proven hymns and spiritual songs that are being produced today by godly men and women and groups where the reverence for God and His work are emphasized. It’s sad though that many are ignorant to the simple meaning of the verse in
Col 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ”

I had to respond to thank you for your insight and discernment. The devil has deceived many into believing that as long as the lyrics are okay, the music must be from God. I contend (like you) this to be a BIG LIE!!! Keep believing the truth as you do.