Conforming To The World

Rom 12:2-3 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. And Tozer couldn’t have been more correct than when he said: Christians habitually weep and pray over beautiful truth, only to draw back from that same truth when it comes to the difficult job of putting it into practice! Actually, the average church simply does not dare to check its practices against biblical precepts. It tolerates things that are diametrically opposed to the will of God, and if the matter is pointed out to its leaders, they will defend its unscriptural practices with a casuistry equal to the verbal dodgings of the Roman moralists… Since Christ makes His appeal directly to the will, are we justified in wondering whether or not these divided souls have ever made a true commitment to the Lord? Or whether they have been inwardly renewed? It does appear that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right! Jesus Himself left a warning – I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. [Rev. 3:1b] (Renewed Day by Day, May 2, emphasis The above comment by A.W. Tozer could not be more relevant today with so many members in Church more concerned with relationships, than the integrity of the men running the church. Most people in church are more concerned with what they see and perceive because it is how they act in the world. Most modern preachers put forth a message tailored to the senses and will not preach the doctrines of Christ. The reason pastors do this is to attract membership in the church. The message of salvation is a hard saying to the natural man. John 6:60 The natural man would prefer to not be under any law, and certainly not the Law of God. Rom 1:21 When the leaders of a church lose faith that God will provide all their needs, then they will use the methods of this world to provide for the church. When that happens then the church becomes a business and the message of Christ slowly begins to change to a new message. Then evangelism is seen as not important to church growth. If a church is run by the standards of this world, then it will be marketed like a business. The music in the church will slowly conform to the music of this world, and the people will not notice or be concerned. The purpose is to attract more kids to church. Rock the River is the proud brainchild of

BGEA president/CEO Franklin Graham, who also briefly preached the Graham gospel several

times during each of the six to seven hour “Christian” rock concerts. Mr. Graham was very open about his reason for making use of head-banging rock, hip-hop, and even a mosh pit set up by BGEA. “We’re just changing the lure. Kids today love rock music. We’re giving them the music they like and understand” (Quad City Times, Aug. 9, 2009). continued: And then there was the mosh pit which BGEA, at Grahams direction, set up in front of the stage at each Rock the River concert. Young people who wanted to mosh to the frenzied music were invited into the pit to enjoy themselves. Simply put, people mosh by physically slamming themselves into each other and trying to throw each other to the ground. A dictionary definition puts it this way: “to engage in a form of frenzied, violent dancing; slam-dance.”1 Instead of preaching the word of God we attract young people with rock music. What has just been described sounds more like idolatry than worship to God. “ In Jeremiah 7:31 we find the prophet chiding the nation by pointing out “they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart”. Then in chapter nineteen verse six he warns, “behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter”. What was so significant about the name “Tophet” that the Holy Ghost would specifically call for the vanquishing of it from this valley? A quick look into most Bible dictionaries and a concordance will reveal the answer. The root word “Toph” simply means to “smite, hit, or to drum”. According to the Unger’s Bible Dictionary and other commentaries, Tophet was known as the “place or garden of the drum”. The loud pulsating beat could be heard throughout the valley and was used to manipulate the emotion of the people and drown out the screams of burning children. While the people were whipped into an uncontrolled frenzy, all inhibitions were quickly laid aside in order to fully satisfy the brutal demands of this false worship.”2 The words can be different but it is the beat and

repetition that is the difference between the music that glorifies God and music which is evil. When I was young I went to the Hollywood Sportatorium to see the “ head-banging rock” that Franklin Graham seems to think glorifies God. Have we become so desensitized to this world that we can not tell the difference between the music of this world and music which glorifies God.? A simple test: when you hear a piece of music and then later the beat keeps repeating in your mind then you ask yourself does this bring glory to God.? ( 2Th 3:6-7 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; ) If we allow our children to listen to music of this type and think that this is Christian then we might as well close down the church. The truth of Salvation is more than saying a few words and then anything goes. We are not saved by works that is true, but we are also His disciples. Eph 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: for it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. And what is the fruit of the Spirit.? Eph 5:9-11 For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. The above picture from the “rock the river” concert put on by BGEA is more like the world than a group of Christian young people. A Quote by Duane D Miller:”When I personally listen to Christ based music, it

lifts me up and makes me feel one with God in the spirit. Somehow I get the feeling of God’s grace, mercy, joy and peace flowing through me as I worship God in song. I certainly know the difference between the “goose bump” felling of awe and the “happy feeling” response in worship. But something to note is I never get teary eyed over what God has done for me when I am listening to Christian contemporary music that is Rock-n-Roll oriented.”1 Another comment: the music people use and play will either be “beat driven” or “melody driven.” This is where the Holy Spirit begins to

separate the light from the darkness. 3 The music played in a worship service sets the tone for the preachers message. Does the music exhibit the Attributes of God.? Does the music state the plan of Salvation.? Does the music point out the penalty of sin.? Or does the music center purely on the emotions of the listener.? When rock music in its variety of styles was without the church, many easily detected its evil and abhorred its culture. Since it has become entrenched and established its idols and altars within the sanctuary, most are unaware of the serpent that is manifesting in their midst. From the adulterous affairs of Sandi Patty to the infidelity of Michael English, it is obvious that the “contemporary” has not produced a “Christian” or “Christ-like” effect. The “contemporary” Christian music culture seems more reminiscent to that of the “groves” than the worship of the early church. The Satanic symbols clearly visible on the CD covers of “Third Day” and the albums of Michael W. Smith are staring the church in the face, while the preachers of our day offer the unfounded promise that “love and grace will cover it all”. 4

The reason the church has lost its effectiveness in recent years has occurred because of a change in preaching, music, and teaching in many churches away from the time tested methods used by such great preachers as Charles Spurgeon, A,W Tozier. The church lost its relevance to the culture when it drifted away from sound doctrine. Where there are no absolutes whether in preaching or music the church tends compromise. It is not compromise to the culture that will lead men to Christ, but the preaching of sound doctrine.{Westminster Confession of Faith) Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Let us never compromise truth. Let us stand for the cause of Christ, and spread the message of Salvation. The lost are not just in the world, they are also in our church. There are only two roads in Life. One road is the all inclusive road which never offends anyone, The other road is narrow and very exclusive and offends the natural man. Rom 1:21. The narrow road will lead to heaven. The broad Road leads to Hell. And Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. John 14:6 And without true confession and repentance of sin there is no salvation. 1John 1:9

God Bless You, Arnold F, Silva Rom 1:16-17