Get Back, Get Back Get Back To Where You Once Belonged

Bob Couchenour

Music and Spiritual Dimension the Search for the Lost Chord
What is music? The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. Vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony. There is background music, chamber music, country music, elevator music, and hillbilly music. Folk music, instrumental music, a copula music, classical, symphonic, choral, rock, ethnic, aboriginal, traditional, contemporary, world, jazz, blues, hip hop, rap, New Age, Christian and on and on and on, genre after genre, sub-genre of sub-genre. Theres something for everybody. The drone of a didgeridoo in the outback of Australia, or Celtic bagpipes of Scottish highlands, or repetitious fiddling and twang of Appalachian mountain dulcimers or a master and a Stradivarius or a master and a strat, what ever form or tradition or level of complexity, all are modes of musical expression and apparatus to convey in our cultures the depths and reality of spiritual truth, often too deep and incommunicable by mere verbal rational logical means. Music is the product of mechanics and heart. But which comes first? Why do I need music? Why is it that in every culture of man since before the beginning of recorded history, there has been music? Simplistic as it may have been, still, always there. This is not a Bible study per se, plenty of that is already out there that proves the point, but the Bible is filled with passage after passage either implying or explicitly stating the use of music as a vehicle of heart expression. For a joyful send-off, to express national victories, at the coronation of a king, to express sorrow at someones death, to accompany banqueting, to rejoice at the return of a prodigal, for worship, revealed through Gods prophets, given to Israel as Gods ordinance, to celebrate, worship, praise and thank the Lord, to express joy, to obey the Lord, to accompany offering of sacrifices, to express confession of sin. Concluding the Last Supper While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, Take it; this is My body. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sang.

The New Testament goes on to validate, endorse and command singing with the spirit and the mind, singing through the filling of the Spirit, singing with a thankful heart. The Old Testament gives reference to numerous instruments by name and implies the invention of hundreds to the invention of David. David organized musicians and set standards of skill and craft. He set leaders in place to train, develop and prepare for the Tabernacle worship and eventually Temple worship. Hebrews 2:12, Speaking of Jesus and quoting Psalm 22 says I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise Why would Jesus PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN and I will sing Your praise. Was it because it was a command or because it was a messianic prophesy from Scripture and doing so would be a substantiation of who He was. NO- Not at all. Singing Your praise was as natural as breathing. It was not a validation of the person of Christ, it was the overflowing expression of the human heart of Jesus the Christ the Son of Man. This abundance of musical expression was not to authenticate who He was, it was the result of who He was and the spiritual life inside venting itself in boundless joy. We, in the Christian community, too often seem to work at things backwards. We read the Bible and seek to emulate the form, and invent social constructs to fit our perception of what constitutes a Biblical first century Christianity. We seek to imitate methods and we take measurements and set benchmarks and apply ourselves to the command to fit into our subjective outline of doing it right. Our approach to applying Biblical principles in the sense of law and command would rival the most ardent of Pharisees. speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, Eph 5:19. How do we receive this? Is it a law set down and commands to bind us and establish a benchmark of Christian normalcy? Or is it permission, an endorsement and encouragement to do that which comes naturally to the one infused and enlivened by the life of the Spirit without condemnation and so effect all in your company. singing and making melody with your heart. As a command, my heart does not have to be involved at all. A command, and obedience to a command, will not change the state of my heart. With your heart can only suggest doing that which is already there. As you are infused, filled, let it overflow. See Romans 8. Music whether in song expressed with words and vocal harmonies or played on instruments expressed in notes and chords and skilled craftsman control and understanding of their instrument, is more than the mechanics and technique of

arrangement and technical abilities. Music is the outpouring of the human heart, intended by God to give expression to feeling and emotion, in ways often beyond reason and logic. Sometimes the intellect and the heart connect, but music is not dependant upon that connection. Music can be a purely mechanical and bound system of technical rules and academic exercise. When it becomes this, divorced from the spirit of man, we have become the machine, just a cog in the wheel of the nihilistic meaninglessness. Music apart from the human spirit isnt music. It may be a cousin of computer generated artificial intelligence, a product of man assimilated by the Borg, muzak, but not music. There is a pre-eminence of the spirit and the expression of the human spirit that must be fore front in our expression as artists. As Christians, the Holy Spirit manifests through our spirits. As human beings, not Christians, music and art expressed as a work of mechanics alone is not necessarily devoid of spiritual significance, but are a mirror or window into the spiritual void that is post-modern human. As we allow our spirits to act on the unction of the Holy Spirit, we may express ourselves as complete human beings. That doesnt mean we become cookie cutter Christian nambie pambies. But we can be real. Our art can connect with real people. I am an artist, a musician. I play, and create, not because I am commanded too. It is who I am. As a Christian, realizing spiritual facts and truths, I listen, I wait, I sense, I perceive spiritual, emotional, heart felt direction and I act, applying technical knowledge and craftsmanship to express that which is in my being. The drive to create is not a compulsion to be great, or recognized as a great musician. The drive to create is a mandate to express what otherwise cannot be expressed. What am I in the eyes of most people--a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person--somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then--even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum. Vincent Van Gogh

Music Rational Magic? Psychological and Spiritual Therapy? Muse on It

Our knowledge of musical practice before 200 A.D. is extremely limited because few attempts were made by ancient cultures to preserve music using notation systems. Historical records of Chinese music history date back to the Shang dynasty circa 16001000 B.C. Chinese philosophers like Confucius (551-479 B.C.) regarded music as essential in maintaining order in the universe and in human society. Emperor Han Wudi, who reigned from 140 to 87 B.C., went so far as to create an Imperial Office of Music. The ancient Chinese were the first to develop a science of acoustics and placed a high value on the accurate tuning of instruments. clay tablets with cuneiform characters in the ancient Hurrian language The tablets date back to approximately 1400 B.C. the tablets also contain detailed performance instructions for a singer accompanied by a harpist as well as instructions on how to tune the harp evidenceof the hymn performed in harmony with thirds, sixths, fourths, and fifths. This rare example of polyphony in ancient music appears to shatter the long held belief that harmony did not evolve in human musical expression until the middle ages. The importance of music in the lives of the Hebrew peoples is well documented in the Old Testament in call-response antiphonally small markings appear above the text of the psalmsa system of music notation called "ta'amim". This system of marking the text with symbols denoting melodic outlines is strikingly similar to the earliest neumatic systems of notation used in Christian plainchant. .. early Greeks considered music to be of mathematical and cosmic significance Greek Mathematician, Philosopher and Religious leader Pythagoras of Samos (circa 500 B.C.) observed and theorized extensively the structure, frequency, intervals and cosmic metaphysical and psychological relations of music. music came to be revered as the highest of intellectual and artistic pursuits. Although the Greeks used a system of modes that are similar to our modern scales, notation as we use it today did not exist. Greeks developed a system using Greek letters to notate melodic contour and rhythmic proportions. Ancient Greek music was monophonic or heterophonic (simultaneous versions of the same melody). Greek philosophers considered music to have great psychological and even supernatural powersand effectson human behavior The Doctrine of ethos maintained that different types of music could affect human behavior. For example, music in the Dorian mode would cause persons to become reasonable and contemplative. Conversely, music in the Phrygian mode would cause persons to become passionate and belligerent

The Ancient Romans contributed little to music history. Cicero, Quintilian, and others document the use of music for purely entertainment purposes at large festivals with choruses and instrumental ensemblesWhen the Roman empire was permanently divided in 395 A.D., Christianity became the only major cultural force unifying the still vital eastern empire in Byzantium with the rapidly dissolving western empire in Europe...The music of the Christian church was for centuries the only cultivated art music in existence in Europe. Early Christian music, largely monophonic chant influenced by the Jewish cantorial tradition, was entirely vocal as the church attempted to purge the masses of the instrumental music associated with competing religions Latin translationsof Greek literature on music theory also contributed to the theoretical foundations of early Christian chant. It is from these origins that the history of western art music properly begins. Quotes from Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers Having laid the foundation of the abridged abridged ancient history of music I will skip the history of Music of Western Civilization (which is documented well enough if you really want it) to simply posit a few observations. The dictionaries in France do not include music among the Fine Arts. This is not merely a linguistic anomaly but the expression of an actual state of affairs in the early Middle Ages, Music was taught along with Arithmetic, Geometry and Astronomy In the 13th Century the earliest Universities gave it a place in the quadrivium, the higher division of the 'liberal Arts' Today we see that it has sunk to the level of an art of entertainment -- a superfluous luxury which an honest man can dispense with without incurring the stigma of stupidity But, great changes are taking place music of all kinds occupies an increasingly important place in our lives. And if for certain listeners its role is merely to supply a background of sound to which they need pay no particular attention, for others, on the contrary, whose numbers are increasing every day, music is becoming a necessity for the mind and heart. An Illustrated History of Music - by Georges Bernier, Rosamond Bernier, Rollo Myers, Marc Pincherle. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and troubled him. Sauls servants said to him, Behold, an evil spirit from God torments you. Let our lord now command your servants here before you to find a man who plays skillfully on the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well. Saul told his servants, Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me. One of the young men said, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who plays skillfully, a valiant man, a man of war, prudent in speech and eloquent, an attractive person; and the Lord is with him. So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep And David came to Saul and served him. Saul became very fond of him, and he became his armor-bearer And when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took a lyre and played it; so Saul was refreshed and became well, and the evil spirit left him. 1 Samuel 16:13-23

The ancient Pythagoreans and Greeks used music as a means of curing and caring for the soul special melodies were used at night to calm their minds and to ensure peaceful sleep and good dreams, and others were used in the morning to bring alertnessIn general they used enchanting music whenever they needed to alter the state of their own or others' souls. To the Greeks, Music, and its cosmic relations was part science and part occult ritual. They believed that the proportions deduced from their analysis of the natural divisions that create the harmonic and musical structure were the keys to cosmic, spiritual and psychological harmony. This is observed in their construction of the Heptagram, the star of seven points. Around the points are letters corresponding to the note of a major scale. boxes beside each note give a number of correspondences: on the top line we have a planetary symbol and a Greek vowel, on the second line a day of the week, and on the third line either one or two Zodiacal signs. The inner Heptagram represents the cycle of the days of the week and the corresponding planets. An outer Octagon represents the eight modes. Each mode has a corresponding planet and Zodiacal signs, and each sign has a divine guardian. The signs are also associated with parts of the body, as can be learned from any astrology text. In later times an eighth mode was added, giving two for each element, which means that we can increase or decrease each of the four humors. Each mode is under the patronage of a Muse Apollo governs all nine Muses, their spheres, and the modes together with Silence. Each mode has a different Form, or pattern of tones and semitones, which determines the character of the mode and is of central importance in applying music to therapeia (cure and care) for the soul. This pattern is defined by the Roman numeral at the beginning of the line under the modes name, which defines the degree of a major scale at which this pattern begins. According to the Pythagorean-Greek belief there are four humors. four humors, the subtle fluids that influence our psychical and bodily state, and which must be in harmony for proper mental, spiritual, and bodily health. The state of balance of these humors determines one's temperament. The humors correspond to the four elements, and are called Phlegm or Phlegmatic humor (water), (Yellow) Bile or Choleric humor (fire),

Blood or Sanguine humor (air), and Black Bile or Melancholic humor (earth). Music in a particular mode amplifies or weakens a humor. Its not my purpose to give a detailed expose of Pythagorean music therapy. I have tried to provide a sufficient foundation to establish the fact that the ancients, be they Greek, Chinese or Hebrew recognized a value and power intrinsic in the use of music that transcends a pure mechanical approach of producing pleasing tones. We understand more of the Greek theory as it is the foundation upon which Western music and civilization evolved. It would be safe to speculate that David did not study Pythagorean music theory. But David was a young man, who plays skillfullya lyreso Saul was refreshed and became well, and the evil spirit left him. The Greeks practiced the use of music as an esoteric secret knowledge presumably inspired and governed by muses and celestial forces and as a means to bring alignment and harmonious relation between man and the cosmic order. To the Greek mind that revered logic and reason, music was an act of magical invocation of spiritual forces to influence and bring order. We, in the Western Church, have inherited the love of logical analysis and proudly tout our zeal for rightly dividing the word of truth. We have rightly rejected the occultist theology and myth that permeated so much of what was our Greek heritage. But is there something that the Greeks may have perceived as real even though they got it wrong? And is there something that ancient Israelites may have recognized as a valid spiritual practice, even though all the particulars may not have been passed down to us? In contemporary society music has sunk to the level of an art of entertainment -- a superfluous luxury which an honest man can dispense with

Economics
Western civilization and more probably now current world civilization since the end of World War II and the demise of the Soviet block are market driven. In capitalistic free market systems and in particular the United States (I can speak as an American since I am one and this is the society I live in and inherit) mass marketing and learning to manipulate, maneuver and influence the market to your advantage are essentials for success and even survival. Everything is categorized and analyzed to see where it fits in the free market economic system. We have generation X, Baby Boomers, the Greatest Generation, and now generation Y. Every one and everything can be broken down and sub-divided cataloged and filed. Theres a niche for everybody, all you have to do is find it. I can go on EBay and find virtually anything anywhere. I am a world class consumer and for that matter a world class marketer. The ability to produce a product is not dependant upon my limited ability to manufacture a thing. An idea can be conceived and typed into my computer and sent out into cyber never-never land, where someone or something can process it and produce the tangible expression of my intellectual property on demand. The necessity to stock-pile and store rooms or store houses full of stuff is becoming a fading dinosaur to the joy of businessmen everywhere. The freedom to do is catching up with the freedom to think. But with all this freedom, am I really free. Or am I dissected and psycho-analyzed, processed, manipulated and squeezed into whatever insect sized niche will accommodate me in the evolution of this mega corporate conglomerate controlled and $$$$$ driven system. I am always a bit skeptical of interpretations and explanations of prophetic unfolding as described in the Book of Revelations. There are some warnings or red flags that I do find worth considering. Revelations 17 and 18 describe the rise and fall of Babylon. Babylon is generally accepted as the great religious system that rides on the back of the political beast with seven heads. Rev 18 1 THEN I saw another angel descending from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his radiance and splendor. 2 And he shouted with a mighty voice, She is fallen! Mighty Babylon is fallen! She has become a resort and dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every loathsome spirit, an abode for every filthy and detestable bird. 3 For all nations have drunk the wine of her passionate unchastity, and the rulers and leaders of the earth have joined with her in committing fornication (idolatry), and the businessmen of the earth have become rich with the wealth of her excessive luxury and wantonness.

11 And earths businessmen will weep and grieve over her because no one buys their freight (cargo) any more. 12 Their merchandise is of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet [stuffs]; all kinds of scented wood, all sorts of articles of ivory, all varieties of objects of costly woods, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 Of cinnamon, spices, incense, ointment and perfume, and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, fine flour and wheat; of cattle and sheep, horses and conveyances; and of slaves (the bodies) and souls of men! 14 The ripe fruits and delicacies for which your soul longed have gone from you, and all your luxuries and dainties, your elegance and splendor are lost to you, never again to be recovered or experienced! 15 The dealers who handled these articles, who grew wealthy through their business with her, will stand a long way off, in terror of her doom and torment, weeping and grieving aloud, and saying, 16 Alas, alas for the great city that was robed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked and glittering with gold, with precious stones, and with pearls! 17 Because in one [single] hour all the vast wealth has been destroyed (wiped out). And all ship captains and pilots, navigators and all who live by seafaring, the crews and all who ply their trade on the sea, stood a long way off, 18 And exclaimed as they watched the smoke of her burning, What city could be compared to the great city! 19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and grieved, exclaiming, Woe and alas, for the great city, where all who had ships on the sea grew rich [through her extravagance] from her great wealth! In one single hour she has been destroyed and has become a desert 20 Rejoice (celebrate) over her, O heaven! O saints (people of God) and apostles and prophets, because God has executed vengeance for you upon her. 21 Then a single powerful angel took up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, With such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and shall never again be found. 22 And the sound of harpists and minstrels and flute players and trumpeters shall never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft shall ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone shall never again be heard in you. 23 And never again shall the light of a lamp shine in you, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall never be heard in you again; for your businessmen were the great and prominent men of the earth, and by your magic spells and poisonous charm all nations were led astray (seduced and deluded). 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all those who have been slain (slaughtered) on earth. The amplified Bible, containing the amplified Old Testament and the amplified New Testament. 1987 . The Lockman Foundation: La Habra, CA I do not presume to unequivocally explain the events described here in Revelations 18. There are some things to note and relationships to consider, the triumvirate association of the political system, the religious system and the economic system.

As the political consumes and over throws the religious the economic crumbles. Too many interpretations of Revelations have tried to pin the characterization of Babylon, the great whore on denominational structures and in particular the Roman Catholic Church. I, personally, am not convinced that is an accurate interpretation and will not argue the point. I do think there is a broader reality to the Babylon of Revelation which we in evangelical spheres may be closer too than we think. The fact is I dont know. The point that I believe needs consideration here is the economic system, and whether Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, Muslim or whatever other cultic and religious system we may espouse, we are all tied together via a great world economic system. Even Chinese Communists are integral to this system whether or not internally freedom of the governed is a reality. World Corporations contract with Communist Chinese as with any other free enterprise corporation to manufacture products to be distributed world wide as economically as possible. The Chinese will do cheaper what free market corporations and manufacturers can not or will not (insufficient profit). So ultimately, the free market system survives by compromising its own free market principles. Wasnt there a similar situation in pre-Civil War United States? Artists regardless of their medium have always struggled. Sure, we hear and read about the ones that make it within the system and seek to copy their business approaches and methods, even adapting their artistic styles because it seems to be what is selling. We attend conferences and seminars, buy books off the Internet to pick up whatever we can to give us an edge over who ever else it may be trying to acquire those discretionary dollars spent on CDs, T-Shirts, Baseball caps, Stickers and whatever else we can put our logo on and call ours. Merchandising- How would you like a lunch box with my official licensed image? Not your cup of tea? Well, how about a coffee mug? Or a mouse pad? Oh, by the way, I do have a CD. Not to worry- you can download it now on demand. All this is undeniably tongue in cheek. I am poking fun at myself as much as I am criticizing the reality of the system. The reality is, Merchandising and marketing your name, your image, your persona is an integral part of selling music in our free economic system. Whether I like it or not, it is one of the realities of market driven economics. And part of the process seems to be to learn how to drive the market. The market can be approached passively or actively. Passively, I may do absolutely nothing, except sit in my bedroom and tinker on my guitar. No plans, No effort - except what it takes to pick up my guitar, No contacts. Just me and God. Actively, I may actively pursue every possible opportunity to play possible regardless of financial return, I get my web site up and on the net somebodys always at home here, I subscribe to mucho bocu email lists, get my MP3s listed for streaming, buy those books, contact those DJs, become a regular pest, Develop my contact network., Suck Up to who ever needs sucked up too, brown that nose. Maaaaybeee a little extreme? No doubt. I guess reality is someplace in between, and I am no judge of what constitutes a balance for any one else.

The point to be gleaned is that we as artists are subject to the economic realities and how the system has evolved in our time. Yet as artists, we have a responsibility to express a creative nature that may well transcend if not out right contradict the institutional economic system we find ourselves bound too. In so expressing our hearts, and reflecting the hearts of others, and as Christians, the heart of God, we may find ourselves in a situation of cutting our own throats and alienating the economic powers that be. I believe that this is a potential dilemma to anyone who would be true to their own convictions, artistic integrity and ultimately to God. To be less than true to any of these is to cease to be or fail as an artist, although it may be counted as an economic success or necessity. We are bound to the system, but the reality is the system is bound to other values ($$$$$). Much of what constitutes our culture, and in particular what is known as Pop culture, is driven by other economic realities. Our songs must fit a particular time frame, three minutes as a typical benchmark, songs must be categorized in the proper genre, I must present my self as to represent the fans associated with my music style. Our music is driven by the insatiable desire to get radio air play, to be heard and hopefully sell some CDs, Pick up a gig, sell some more stuff, get a recording contract, sell some more CDs, make it to the top, and Glorify God doing it. And what is that supposed to mean? Does it mean that my message is expressed as to evangelize within the context of my particular sub-culture? Does it mean that I as a Christian am able to succeed in a secular market and give my 30 second blurb at the Grammies? Or could it mean something altogether different? Contemporary music (Secular or Christian) is driven by economic realities of a system that is bound to values ($$$$$) other than those taught and commanded by our Lord (Mat 6:24-34). 1 Tim 6 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content (satisfied). 9 But those who crave to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish (useless, godless) and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction and miserable perishing. 10 For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many macute [mental] pangs. The amplified Bible, containing the amplified Old Testament and the amplified New Testament. 1987 . The Lockman Foundation: La Habra, CA Music, specifically that which we call Christian music, that is driven by the demands of the economic system is at best subject to the compromising effects of the economic system and more probably the product of and created as a matter of marketing to a particular niche. I.e. How can I as a business person best reach this particular market? How much of our art has become that of creating the most marketable product?

Is the 3 minute format and tooling ourselves to create within this framework a God initiated and intended application of our gifting and skills or is it a market driven reality that we must live with, or succumb to in order to work within the system? The real question will always come down to, are we doing music as God created and intended it. Are we creating as inspired by God or are we creating as inspired by other drives and sources? 3 minutes or longer, doesnt matter, God or not does. By capitulating to the demands of the economic market is there something that is lost in our music and what God created music for? If we are amiss in our creative enterprise as artist musicians, how do we get back on track? How do we know when we are on track? Has my music sunk to the level of an art of entertainment -- a superfluous luxury which an honest man can dispense with

What's It all about?

What's that all about? What's it all about, Mr. and Mrs. John Q Smith from Anytown, USA? Well, it's about this long, And about that wide, And it's about this country, About which we're singin' about! From Firesign Theatre How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All? 1968 After about an hour (or less) of searching, to my shock, surprise and delight, I found a web page that contained the entire script of Firesign Theaters How Can You Be In Two Places I wanted this quote to begin this section and I remembered a scrambled idea of it from my youth, but I wanted to get it right. To my surprise, Firesign Theater maintains a vibrant healthy afterlife on the Internet though they ceased recording and performing in 1985. They have been called the American Monty Pythons. In 1993 Sony/Columbia Records released Shoes For Industry, a "Best Of" double-CD package of their work. Their latest album, The Bride of Firesign, was released by Rhino Records in September, 2001. Bob Dylan through out the sixties communicated a generations values as well or better than any one since. I realize in his recent auto biography he expresses his discomfort being labeled spokes person for a generation and the accompanying intrusions he endured. But that does not change the fact that he put words and music together that caught the hearts and minds of his peers. Regardless of misinterpretations and misapplications, and even unauthorized exploitation, he delivered a message that still influences us. The times they are a changin We are in a perpetual state of change. I do not live in the same world that I grew up in and was educated in. The rules of doing business and producing and delivering music are not the same as in the sixties or seventies. Being Christianized or more properly inducted and fortified in the church during the eighties and nineties, I almost feel out of the musical loop. The most positive thing about my 80s and 90s experience would undoubtedly be I became computer and Internet savvy. I began playing with computers in 1983. Commodore VIC 20, then a step up to the Commodore 64, eventually an SX64 and finally graduated to Commodore PC clone. Its been PCs since then. Taught myself, Basic, dabbled with Assembly and machine

language and came to the conclusion programming was not my forte, but the logic was good to understand. In 1988-89 I had one of the first Computer Bulletin Boards in the region. Having moved relatively recently to the Frederick County area, there werent very many computers locally. I remember some guy in Buckeystown, about 20 miles away, who would get online occasionally I found one. He uploaded a copy of the King James Bible for me. About 9 Megs if I remember correctly. I think it took about 18 hours. Snail mail was faster. In 1995 I became aware of the Internet. Whats this? I can lease cyber property?!?! What a concept. I began www.fredweb.com in 1996. Its been up and running since. Not always as it is now, but continuous. Through all this, music has always been there. An illusive dream, stuck on a back burner, a hope unrealized. But God. That has got to be one of the most profound statements in Christian rhetoric. I classify it as rhetoric because on its own it is empty. But once filled with subsequent content it becomes a rock, Immovable. Upon which faith can move and build and work toward the realization of deferred hopes, dreams, visions and things not seen (Heb 11). Into 2000 the Lord began moving me in directions I had all but given up on. A new church, new pastors, vision and theological compatibility that paralleled an internal personal longing of twelve or more years. The composite effects of all my years of seeking the Lords face and direction were beginning to gel. This was not Utopia, but it was something commonly shared and at the same time seemingly deeper than what may be referred to as common. The implied and often explicit permission to listen, to hear, and to trust God was received and taken to heart in a way I could never hear it before. Whether it was (is) this church fellowship, the pastors, or whether it was something I was deaf to in other settings and gatherings I will not try to dissect too deeply. It remains that God began to revive and move in my life and the support to not only pursue God, but to pursue the vision I had been cultivating was getting the attention and interest of those who became closest to me. Pastoral interest and encouragement was solid. All this and I wasnt trying to sell a vision or idea, I was just being me and expressing what was in me. There is a song with the line Its all about You. One of the commonalities shared in the association of believers I fellowship with is the idea that it is all about Jesus. Not Theology, or denominations or form or activity or projects or Pastors and personalities or any of the other stuff that encapsulates our religious experience, and certainly not about me, but Jesus Christ, the risen, living and coming Son of God. Anything else is just stuff. But yet for each and every one of us that works itself out a little differently. Maybe even a lot differently. The freedom to pursue the different gifting and callings is encouraged. The conviction is that it is not the corporate church body and leadership that dictate vision, calling and direction, but these are received by, initiated and acted upon, with pastoral oversight, by the individual called by God. The responsibility is not ultimately the corporate body and leadership to establish programs to fit every one into,

the responsibility is the individuals, to hear the voice of God, act accordingly, and as may be suitable recognized in that calling by the Church. Does that mean we have escaped the traditional trappings of what contemporary church has manifested itself as in this generation? Well no, but for some yes. That which may be conceived as a traditional out working of the church in a traditional yet contemporary setting is not necessarily a law of function for everyone. My calling in Christ is not bound by anothers need or desire or comfort to work within a more conventional arrangement. Neither is my freedom a license to reject or despise another less comfortable with my liberty of activity. For me as an artist, it is about Christ. And that works itself out functionally in my music. Beside that which would be considered the normal manifestations of Christian Spirit and fruits thereof, the Lord made me an artist and music is my medium. As musicians, working out our calling as musician artists, it can be concluded and worked out in a tangible way, and stated in answer to the question Whats it all about? Its all about the music. Yes IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, but that means working it out in different ways for different people. I am not called to work in a nursery, there are those who are, DO IT. To simply say Its all about Jesus and provide no context or content upon which the words acquire definition is to say virtually nothing. Jesus and seeking Him works itself out for different individuals in a plethora of ways. My calling as an artist can not be dictated by others not so gifted and prompted by the Holy Spirit. Other musicians and artists may be able to empathize with the predicament that artists share, and provide advice, guidance, encouragement and even constructive criticism, but ultimately my calling, and the calling of any one to any ministry, is the responsibility of the one called and ordained by God to that task. I will assume for the moment that we all worship the same Jesus. That in actuality may not in fact be the truth. There are denominational structures and theological issues that would preclude this, and even within the same denomination this can be a problem. But for the moment, assume with me, we all worship the same Jesus. We agree that Its All about Jesus. Now, what does that mean? Who or what is the Jesus we all equally worship? How is this actually realized in all of our lives? Can we all say that our particular perspective is the balanced perspective and is the law to bind us all together? Is Jesus the end product of our academic investigations into the Scriptures and a logically deduced system of theological guidelines or even more ridged law? Is Jesus the ethereal other brought to us by the Spirit and discerned in our conscience, feeling, emotions and imagination, only subjectively realized and often imperceptible to those uninitiated to the mysterious secret knowledge? I have presented two extremes. And I think that when looking at each other, each side essentially sees and thinks of the other, basically in these terms and extremes and seldom other than extreme. Too often within the church we are divided and subdivided into denominations and their out growths, division upon division, split without end, Amen. You hear and approach Christ different than I am comfortable with. You go your way and

Ill go mine, and Ill pray that you get right with the Lord and Ill welcome you back. God Bless You, Good riddance. My calling is not to solve the divisive problems within the church. I am speaking to musician artists. I really have my doubts that we, collectively as a church will ever really grow up and the Lord will have to take us like we are. But, its not my calling to worry about that. But to the musicians I do have something to say and to this I am responsible. Whats it all about? Dont hand me some theological empty rhetoric that Its all about Jesus. Were not talking about subjective theological multi-definable perceptions. We are talking about you as a Christian artist and musician. Whats it all about? What is your purpose as a musician? Are you called as a musician or even a musical artist or are you just enjoying a casual past time? Too may musicians who like to think of themselves as serious musicians and called of God to be a blessing within the church and reaching out of the church into secular environs, in reality do little to nothing to apply themselves to mastering their craft beyond what may be considered the level of a high school rock band. As a musician, I would like to think of myself and present myself, even at this late stage of life, as a professional. A professional invests hours and hours and years and years mastering their discipline. There is substantial investment of time and money. What is the real value of a surgeon with only a high school diploma or an illiterate lawyer representing you in court? The reality is the consequences of screwing up a musical composition are undoubtedly not as substantial as these examples, but the subject matter is none the less equally complex. It is probably because of the lack of consequences for shoddy playing that so many wanna bes have so crowded the musical markets to give it a shot and maybe get lucky, that serious musicians often take years before their music is recognized for the art it is. Now back to the question. Whats it all about? What is your purpose as a musician? Are you taking your shot, maybe get real blessed real quickly or are you serious? Are you in it for the long haul? Are you in it for the recognition and right to puff your chest out and be recognized as somebody? Or are you in it for the music? Is the music in you and you are willing to train and practice and hoe that craft to grow that fruit, until the Lord lifts you up and says Well done, good and faithful servant ? The times they are a changin We are living in times that provide greater opportunities for independent musicians than have ever existed. We can be world class marketers, the world is our audience. That does not mean it is easy, and the more wanna bes flooding the Internet network, there will still be a weeding process and time to prove the value of the real thing. But now we independents are no longer bound by the power structures of the big boys and an independent can establish a viable presence in the market. But it still comes down to Its all about the music. Jesus is a given. Being about the music is the working out of our calling as musician artists.

Power or Props
Today we see that it (music) has sunk to the level of an art of entertainment -- a superfluous luxury which an honest man can dispense with An Illustrated History of Music Prop: A- something that props or sustains: support, B- 1 a: to support by placing something under or against- often used with up b: to support by placing against something, 2: sustain, strengthen Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary If there is a place to be misunderstood, misinterpreted and otherwise alienate fellow musicians, church leadership and associated ministries, it will be this chapter. I am hesitant to enter into it knowing the subject matter needs to be approached thoughtfully and even reverently and I have a tendency to come across as insensitive and abrupt. Realizing this, I will proceed in my attempt to slaughter the sacred cow. We musicians, when it comes to our music, are a very insecure lot. This is not just true of Christian musicians, it is equally if not more so, of non-Christian musicians. The general overall concept of the value of music in modern societies is that of a dispensable luxury. Not inherently of any substantive value. It is not a precious metal, gold or silver or other product of the earth of limited resource and hence as you would expect valued as such. It is not a grown or manufactured commodity, and although replenish able, valued as a necessity for human existence, comfort and overall well being of society. We need food, we need clothing, we need housing, we need the sensible practicalities that maintain and advance that well being (in the most matter-of-fact sense) of mankind. Music is an elusive subjective product and by its nature an indefinable commodity in the sense that not all music is of value or necessity to all peoples everywhere. In multicultural societies the plethora of genre makes it impossible to identify that which would be a universal musical expression within the general culture. So what is the value of music? How many motion pictures have you been to that have not utilized a musical score? Not just a song playing in the background, but a musical interpretation of the sense of atmosphere, the thoughts of a character, their emotional state, the excitement of a chase, the suspense of a mystery, the eeriness in a horror film before the culmination and execution of a violent act.. How many commercials have you seen that have not utilized music as a means to gather and focus your attention, to make sure you get the message. Not many. Music is used to set the stage, draw you in, and bring you to a place of receptivity. The motion picture and television industries and the advertising and marketing industry recognize a fundamental power that is exercised with the thoughtful and skillful application of music.

Revelation 18:21 With such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and shall never again be found. 22 And the sound of harpists and minstrels and flute players and trumpeters shall never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft shall ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone shall never again be heard in you. 23 And never again shall the light of a lamp shine in you, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall never be heard in you again; for your businessmen were the great and prominent men of the earth, and by your magic spells and poisonous charm all nations were led astray (seduced and deluded). Music is powerful. It is not just the product of vibrations and skillful manipulations of auditory elements. That may explain the mechanics, but the fundamental purpose and effects and responsible use transcends that which is a purely naturalistic assessment of what constitutes music. Music is a spiritual and psychological medium implemented and exercised with tools and invention designed to communicate in dimensions and language inexpressible by pure verbal resources. Music has the power to move where words only have the power to explain. That does not mean words cannot move us. It means music communicates on a level of human existence too often neglected and/or imperceptible to the logic of the mind. Too many of us as musicians fail to understand this power that is extended to us and even fewer realize the responsibility that accompanies this power. It is not entirely our fault, although we do bare responsibility. We are the product (at least to some extent) of our culture and what we inherit from prior generations the cumulative knowledge and perspectives as handed down to us. And this reality only reinforces the greatness and value of the inexhaustible grace of God. Its not my fault, but I am responsible Romans 7 AMP 24 O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? 25 O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! Romans 8 AMP 1 THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. Remember the movie Hook? Robin Williams stars as a grown up Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as the infamous Captain Hook. Granny Wendy Darling must convince the middle-aged lawyer Peter Banning that he was once the legendary Peter Pan. Peter is off to Neverland to save his children from Captain Hook. Along the way he rediscovers the power of imagination, of friendship and of magic. We, in the church, and on a broader scale as contemporary society, are like Peter Banning. Our values and world view are built on the foundation of naturalistic evolution based predation. Our political, economic and even religious nature of the church are the out workings of humanistic and rationalistic, spiritually divorced means and resources. I

am not saying we are in actuality a bunch of pagans. Although there may be circumstances that I am not pointing to that this may actually be the case. I am saying that as products of humanistic systems of education and the state the church entered into as a reaction to and response to the Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, we have become more like them, than they becoming more like us. The church is struggling to recoup. I do believe there were religious superstition and excess that needed purged from the church during this period, but we have in some respects tossed the baby out with the bath water. There is now a new superstition we must take issue with, the superstition that we can do it. Like Peter Banning, we, the church, have forgotten. We as a general culture, have rejected the notion that spiritual dimensions exist. We are left with rational devises and the limited recourses of logic. That which I can conceive and justify, is. I think, therefore I am. I Am. I-----Am. I-------We, as a society, and more specifically the church, live in denial that there is a significant power and value to music. It is recognized as a supplemental resource in association with motion pictures, and television. We, for all practical purposes pay little or no attention to it in the advertising we are bombarded with. In a way we have chosen to remain joyously ignorant to the idea that we can be manipulated and have our thoughts and emotions influenced by any thing out of our own direct control. It may be theorized as relates to Pop Culture; I dont think They Do They Are. I am what they say I am. We, Christian musicians, are not confident in our music and there may be substantial justification for this lack of confidence. How much of it is in actuality the creation of or a response to secular art and music driven by economic values rather than born out of the heart of God and utilized to influence and communicate spiritual depths either in association with logical means or by justification of the intrinsic value and power of the music itself. As a very close side note when all is said and done (be honest now) How good is our music? How creative is it? And when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took a lyre and played it; so Saul was refreshed and became well, and the evil spirit left him. 1 Samuel 16:13-23 Is this the quality and regular nature of our music? If not, why not? Its not a question of Hard or Soft Rock, or Acoustic verses Amplified, or even any particular style or genre. The question really relates to the matter of music as the ministry of the Holy Spirit and communing spirit to spirit, heart to heart. There has been a tendency over the years, as there has been a perceived need to out do the acts of prior years and produce a greater spectacle that will be remembered to surround music with props. Laser light shows, Fire and smoke, combinations of these and others. Christian music seems to follow a bit behind secular artists in the implementation of these devises, but we do seem to manage to stay in the wake.

We as Christian artists implement another prop that surpasses the secular artists though. We package our events and surround them with noble causes. Of course this is a practice with secular music promotion too, although secular events seem fewer but bigger. Put on a concert to support a noteworthy ministry. That is not a bad thing. It is a good and noble gesture. The question we need to face as Christian artists is this. To what extent is our alliance and association with whatever justifiably worthy ministry a means to prop up and support our music and live in a symbiotic relationship with these beneficiaries? I am not condemning the association and support of such ministries. I am raising the question of the real economic value to the supported ministry as opposed to the return received by artists gaining public exposure. My observations would hardly call these events economic successes. Insanity may be described as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Its time to get out of the box. As an artist, success can not be measured by the economic return realized in the life of the artist. Art is often not realized for the value it contains until many years subsequent to the life of the artist. This is not always true but there is enough historic precedence to substantiate the observation. We need to realize that we have the ability to soar with eagles. Its not rational or logical. And probably will never be done the same way twice in a row. But there is a creative resource we can call on and tap into, listen to, hear and manifest. Often, people wont know what to think, or just how to receive it. Art is always new, and challenges the status quo. What has God called you to? Play it safe, or Play by faith. Come on Peter, you can fly. Its not magic, but it is Spiritual.

No Other Gods or Moses Friend of God Rock Star

THEN GOD spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before or besides Me. You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, [Isa. 42:8; 48:11.] But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Exodus 20:1-7 AMP If there is a book for me to write in the future I believe it may probably be titled How to Alienate and Piss Off All Those You Desire to Work With and Grow Closer To. Open, honest and transparent dialog always risks the possibility of frustrating and offending addressees because of a tendency in human nature to listen and hear selectively, or the imperfect and incomplete presentation of pertinent essential material. As a result of the fear of offending there is in our culture and most definitely the church a shallowness of communication and a reliance on Christianese rhetoric that everyone can quote and spew, paint on our signs and give us a sense of unity because we all speak and say the same things. Little matter that there is in actuality little real experience to our life to substantiate the words we speak. Our knowledge of God is the academics of words. We talk about God with us, going through the fire, but few have come to Know God in the fire. Our confidence is in our quoting the Word rather than in our being the Word. This is not a condition specific to a particular denomination or movement; it is a state of human nature that, if not initially apparent in new moves of God, will manifest as the movement develops its own unique particulars and language that defines what it is. The heart and experiential knowing of the originators becomes the empty shallow parroting of knowledge and truth experienced by someone else, yet seldom realized in an empirical way by those spouting the rhetoric. This in no way negates the value of the truth expressed. It simply means that the majority of the propagators of what is espoused as true knowledge is not really known, but is rather hoped. Human nature causes us to run from the fire. We are afraid of being burned. We will resist, and try to keep our distance. We dont want to get hurt. Its better to play it safe. So we build our safe places, say the right things, manage our comfort zones, say Amen at the right time. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. How ya doin? Fine thanks. Wasnt that great?

AWESOME. As long as we maintain an acceptable level of social interaction and dont move too far outside the box, fellowship and unity can be alleged as genuine and authentic, the real thing. There is a depth and knowledge of God that the church fears and runs from. This transcends denominations or expressions of different movements. It is the nature of fallen man. Coming into relation with Christ does not eliminate this nature. Being filled with the Spirit does not eliminate this nature. Accepting Christ as Savior places us in a position of right standing before God. My intention is not to present a theological proof but only to state a generally accepted understanding. It can be debated elsewhere by those who wish to argue theology. Here and now, that is not my intent. Accepting Christ- right standing before God. Being filled with the Spirit sets us on a path of growing in relation and intimacy with Christ, coming to know Him as Lord, not essentially by our own devises and effort, but as led, prompted and empowered by the Spirit. This is manifested in the fruit of the Spirit, the character traits of Christ. This may mean the empowerment and realization of Spiritual gifts not of human devise or origin but given by the Spirit as God wills. None of this negates the fact that we still carry with us a fallen human nature that resists and fights and in every conceivable way seeks to stifle the out working of our new Spiritual nature. Often our human nature, and sin being what it is, deceives us into believing that our most revered religious works are Spiritual works, and left to our own devises we are helpless to discern otherwise. All this is preliminary to get to the issue to be faced. I am not pointing the finger at any person or ministry. The issue to be faced here is not that of ministers or personalities or any one that God has called to lead and minister to His people. I may speak of some as examples, but I am not talking about them as negative examples. To be safe, and in an attempt to avoid misunderstanding, IF I use particular examples, I will only speak by name of men I respect for what God has done and is doing through them. The problem is not them. The problem is us. The failure is not theirs, it is ours. Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people, Fear not; for God has come to prove you, so that the [reverential] fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin. And the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shall you say to the Israelites, You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make [gods to share] with Me [My glory and your worship]; gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. An altar of earth you shall make to Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name and cause it to be

remembered I will come to you and bless you. And if you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you lift up a tool upon it you have polluted it. Neither shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness be not exposed upon it. Exodus 20:18-26 AMP Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they feared to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and [he] talked with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near and he gave them in commandment all the Lord had said to him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out and told the Israelites what he was commanded. The Israelites saw the face of Moses, how the skin of it shone; and Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God. Exodus 34:29-35 AMP There are men, of Gods choosing, and for His purpose, that God gives a certain privy intimacy, sometimes perceived as a mystical relation and beyond the normal comprehension of the common man. These men come to us with truths not acquired through a regular academic exercise and scholastic toil, but as revelations of truths clearly observable yet hidden until disclosed through the giftedness of one Spiritually endowed by God to make us aware of them. These men may move under the mantle of a Prophet. Not knowing all, but knowing what God reveals to them. Some of these men may function as Teachers and open up the hidden mysteries of God in a way and to a degree imperceptible to even the most ardent scholastic. There is no denying the truth when it is revealed. Not just spoken or taught, but revealed. As it were the eyes of our understanding are enlightened. At this point we, the ones being enlightened, whose understanding is now known or knowledgeable, become accountable. The teacher, the Prophet have moved and acted as God intended, their job or function is fulfilled. We now bear the responsibility for the Word taught and proclaimed. But, we too often are not willing to bear the burden of that Word received. And why do we back off from acting in accordance to such revealed truth. We are too much like the Israelites who hear the voice of God and back away. Its a great word, but its better if you hear it Moses. A common theme has been emerging of late that I have heard expressed time after time, in divers and unique and yet clear ways by men of God known for their prophetic and teaching acuteness. That theme being that God is not wishing to speak to His people through the Prophets and Teachers, but God desires to speak to His people. But His people desire rock stars.

Acting in accordance with the revealed Word of God means something is going to change, and it isnt going to be God. It isnt necessarily any of my surrounding circumstances. When I speak of the revealed Word of God, to what am I referring? The vast majority of the church would interpret this as the Bible, the Scriptures, and to be sure, that is part of it. But more precisely I refer to the communication of God to his people in the now. Yes the Bible substantiates that Word, but the Bible and Scripture alone are dead letters until that Word is acted upon and infused into the hearts and lives of men and women as a function of the Holy Spirit and becomes living and currently active. Rock Stars Idols, it used to be so simple to point the finger at a long haired rebellious youth with a guitar strapped around him and shake our heads in disgust at situations that raised such amoral degenerates to a place of influence in our civilized society. Then God gave us Larry Norman and in time Keith Green. Now the musical markets are packed with Christian talent and Contemporary Christian Music is as viable an economic institution as any other modern music genre. Young, and aging, musicians serving Christ in a music industry that has to a great degree managed to confine the music within the framework of CCM, with virtually no crossover, much in the same way that contemporary culture has confined our Christian experience and life within the walls of our Church buildings. Another theme that is emerging is that God wants us out of our buildings and into the market places. This poses a real problem. The world doesnt want anything to do with our religion. You know how it is, separation of Church and State and all that secular verses religion compartmentalization crap that says you can serve God on Sunday in your church but keep Him out of the voting booth. Keep your religion and your politics to yourself. So we form our Political Action Committees (PAC), we unify under the banner or the coalition of the religious right, we align ourselves with whatever political party will support and include on its platform whatever current issue we find to be most unifying and representative of us, the Christian progeny of the founding fathers, and keepers and defenders of the Constitution. In God we trust and the voting booth, as long as we can organize and get them out better than the pointed head liberal perverts. Praise God for raising and keeping a devoted believer in office but dont become too enamored at a 51% mandate. 2% is pretty darn shallow. But weve learned to play the political game. And its really to our advantage. Were on the side that has all the money, or at least the lions share of it. And God bless em, maybe we can divert some of it in our direction. gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. What constitutes an idol? An idol is any thing that comes between you and God.

We in the Evangelical Christian Church are not immune from this possibility and in a vast percentage of the church, a reality. The Israelites did not want to meet with God in personal intimate relationship. They preferred that Moses be their intermediary. Moses was the friend of God, Moses was the prophet of God, Moses was faithful to the calling of God, but it was Gods preference to have relation with His chosen people face-to-face, but this was rejected by the people of Israel. In the place of relationship they chose religion. They chose a man to speak for God and to petition for them before God. In essence, and to the succeeding generations of the people of Israel, Moses became an idol. You shall have no other gods before or besides Me. You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me. Moses, Friend of God, Rock Star. To the succeeding generations of Israel religion became their most notable characteristic. Yes God remained faithful to the promise to the patriarchs, but this had little to do with the faith of the people. Gods promises are to be counted on because God is true. Human deficiency notwithstanding, God is true. The Law, as handed down to Moses and delivered to the people became an idol. The Law was good, God given. But the Law alone is not a substitute for the intimacy of relationship with the living God. The Law was the system, The Law was religion. The Law sought to manage the flesh with the flesh. With out an influx of and influence of the Spirit in man in personal intimate relation with God, the Law was sinful flesh trying to control sinful flesh, the blind leading the blind. Flesh- the carnal sinful nature of man divorced of relation with God. This is the essence of religion, trying to please God, or appearing to please God, without relationship with God. We in the Western Evangelical Christian community are subject to much the same condition. It is not a Jewish or Gentile or Pagan problem, it is a problem of sinful human nature. The carnal nature of man resists and contends with Spiritual influences. The Flesh does not want relationship with God. The fleshly, carnal nature does not want to relinquish control. The flesh has its own agenda and that agenda is not compatible with the Spirit of God. But religious systems that can be established, controlled and even manipulated are convenient devises to harness carnal passions and legally maintain an appearance of godliness. Religion does not need the Spirit of God. Religion does not need God. In segments of the Worldwide Christian community God has sent men and women proclaiming His word in power and evidenced with signs, wonders and subsequent building up of the body of Christ. The Kingdom is being proclaimed. Some look at these events and happenings and focus on the faults of the messengers, and imply certain charlatanism. I have no doubts charlatans exist and have moved and move within virtually any movement God has been in the midst of. But charlatans do not invalidate true servants of God in the performance of their calling.

There are men and women of God who come to us, as servants and messengers proclaiming the voice of the living God that in many cases offends our religious nature. Oh come now, face the facts, we all have a religious nature, even the most spiritual amongst us. We all try to make sense of what God is working in us and this we manage as a personal system of ordering our thoughts. Some are more complex than others. Some contain vast amounts of facts and figures, but we all try to make sense of it. The problem arises when I, or any one else, decide too impose my more spiritual religious system on some one else because my system has been determined to be of some greater value, whether academic or metaphysically mystical. Even on personal levels, our personal religious systems become idols. We receive from God. Then construct an altar around what we have received. And God is soon replaced by what He has manifested to us. Men and women sent by God come to us, faces shining from intimacy and relationship in the presence of God, proclaiming His word, the Word of the Kingdom, and God moves amongst us. We hear the Word, It is a good Word, It is for Now. God wants intimate relationship with His people, with His Church. God wants us to move into the marketplaces. And we go to our homes, work and our jobs. And in six months or maybe a year, the Rock Star will come back. And maybe, give us another word. The problem is not the messenger. But there is a problem. How can we move into the market places when we prefer the voice of the prophet and teacher rather than personally communing with God? The prophet and teacher are pointing us to relationship and intimacy with God but we prefer the security of the religious system of the prophet and the teacher in relationship with God. We are satisfied with someone elses personal system rather than meeting God, one on one. There is a warning in this lesson that the messenger does need to heed; the tendency to play into the Rock Star syndrome, to become a part of a new religious system. And so institutionalize and immortalize ones own place in the history of the Christian religion.

Copy or Create
In the last chapter I stated, The heart and experiential knowing of the originators becomes the empty shallow parroting of knowledge and truth experienced by someone else, yet seldom realized in an empirical way by those spouting the rhetoric... majority of the propagators of what is espoused as true knowledge is not really known, but is rather hoped... Its better to play it safe. In stating this I was focusing on the tendency for spiritual truth, revelation, to regress and unknowingly degenerate into a state of religious occupation devoid of Spiritual relation. That is not discounting the value of the spiritual truth but realizes the human tendency to parrot and pretend rather than experience the real thing. We make exceptional copy cat religionists. This tendency is also true of us as artists. Remember, this is a human condition. The nature of spiritually disconnected personalities, ferreting and clawing for any trace of the divine creative character, and in our inability to find it within, we latch onto whatever system of expression is currently fashionable or established as the way to do it and gain the greatest financial success. I am not contending that this is all bad or that artistic endeavors that apply contemporary standards of dong it are artistically void. The point is that we, secular, and even more so within contemporary Christian music are formula obsessed over and above being inspirationally driven. That which can be made most marketable within the system is the determinative benchmark guiding our creative instincts and artistic expression. We continually end up becoming more Pop than Art. Let me define some terms here or explain the unique differences between these two, Pop and Art. Pop is just that. The underlying intent and purpose is to entertain, to reach the broadest possible audience and sell the maximum number of units. Pop seeks to be popular. Whatever applicative musical formula happens to accomplish this, will work. Within all the major genre categories, you will find that there is a Pop sub-genre which captures the lions share of the market within that genre. Innovative creativity is not a common quality within Pop sub-genres. Appealing to the listening tastes of the greatest numbers is the most common quality within Pop. This does not mean that artistic innovation can not happen, but it is not the usual. People in general tend to like and gravitate to, listen to and prefer music that they have become comfortable with. If something is too much out of the usual, their sense security is violated and whatever it is that is violating that sense of normalcy is rejected, regardless of the artistic quality that is in fact presented. Pop caters to the lowest common denominator within the particular genre. The purpose is to sell. To sell the most, become popular. Stay within the lines. Find the right formula and work with it. Pop is constantly changing but the changes manifest themselves gradually as people are exposed to other forms of music and grow comfortable with the new forms. As art, Pop is art that lags behind. Art regardless of the genre is constantly stretching the limits and boundaries. Sometimes an artist may wish to throw off all boundaries and rules and claim an artistic

license for whatever is thrown out as an artistic creation. This does not necessarily constitute a work of art. Recent concepts of music as the hap hazard random selection of notes without the ordering and arrangement and thought of a creative mind, the recordings of periods of empty silence and shoved at us as the work of the mind of a genius is charlatanism within the arts that surpasses anything presumed as charlatan within religious spheres. I have had a recording presented to me of a single chord that was played, or should I say the keyboard was programmed to play that lasted for about an hour. There is a certain spiritual value that is alleged in listening to this chord recording. My friend who gave this to me expresses how he hears melodies and derivative chords in his minds ear when listening to this. This I do not doubt, but the music and the creativity, the art if you will, is not in the vibrations of playing this single chord. The Art and creativity is not in the chord, it is in the mind of my friend. Until these melodies and derivative sounds are worked at and manifested in audible form on instruments of music which may require years of commitment, it does not constitute art. For myself I would have to say that the spiritual value of this is questionable and would not warrant the hour, much less the cost of the CD. There are three principles that are always applied when judging or critiquing a work of art. (1) Music, as an art, is subject to aesthetic rules of order and form. (2) There are no rules. (3) The role of the artist musician (or any true artist regardless of their medium) is to learn how to best apply Principle Number Two in relation to Principle Number One. Rules of order and form may be relative to the character of the particular genre, culture or other recognized norms, but are the guidelines that distinguish and provide a sense of cultural aesthetic appreciation that is unique to the particular genre or culture. These rules of order or aesthetic appreciation are innumerable, but, although innumerable, the rules of order and aesthetic appreciation are quantitative. They can be measured and objectively accessed. In a multicultural society, living in relatively close proximity to one another, having the means of mass communications to witness instantaneously events worldwide, the mingling and homogenization of cultural forms becomes as natural as breathing, or eating Mexican food today, Chinese food tomorrow and Italian food the day after. As distinctive cultural aesthetics are likewise consumed and appreciated, one form laid beside another and superimposed on the other, form upon form, a new aesthetic is born broadening the field of permissible and appreciable artistic value. The rules become blurred. As the new aesthetic becomes established, the old becomes relegated to the status of the "classic". Cutting Edge genres currently have an extremely limited life span as "cutting edge". To stay cutting edge, quantitative new rules of order and aesthetic appreciation must constantly be explored and experimented with. The role of the artist musician (or any true artist regardless of their medium) is to learn how to best apply Principle Number Two in relation to Principle Number One. This requires a lifetime of learning the distinctive aesthetic rules and mastering the same as may be necessary, and then working out that which is distinctive to itself and reflective of the artists own cultural context and experience. Submitting this creation to the judgment,

acceptance or rejection of ones social and artistic peers is the curse and blessing of being an artist. I recently listened to a (rebroadcast) commentary by Charles Kuralt, former correspondent and talk show travel host. In this particular commentary he was criticizing some of the artsy abstract statues and monoliths popping up in public areas and expressing his disconnection and inability to relate to the message or purpose or any other redeemable value of these offensive monstrosities. He proceeded to compare these things to the works of Picasso. To the untrained eye, at a quick unthinking glance, Picassos later works may appear disconnected from reality, a collection of junk and colors tossed together with no thought or reason. But this was not Picasso. Picasso spent his early years applying himself to mastering his craft, to learning and understanding line, and color and form. Picassos early works would be found to be quite conventional for the time. As he grew as an artist, incorporating new ideas and vision, applying foundational laws of artistic aesthetic value, and the expressing a world view and philosophy of reality in his art, he created the masterpieces he is known for today. Many would still find his works to be little more than abstract junk, but to an educated mind there is a communication and value expressed that far surpasses the ability and superficial character of language and words. Picasso had stepped into the dimension of art and creativity and experienced the realization of quantitative new rules of order and aesthetic appreciation. What Picasso created could be quantified and qualified. New rules where established, they could be taught and explained and passed on. His art communicated, and although I may not accept the world view communicated or the apparent nihilistic premise, I can understand the message being conveyed in language of my contemporary culture. For Charles Kuralt, a creation of Picassos was just fine with Him. Picasso could do what he wanted. Picasso had proved himself and as he grew, in his own abstract way, educated others along the way. We Christians have a very distinct advantage over the non-believing world. But we do not know how to tap into it, or even have confidence that it exists. As much as our religion has been reduced to a superficial matter of fitting into the form of what it is to be Christian, so our ability to tap into the divine resource and fountain of creativity has been reduced to copying whatever method and madness happens to be making the biggest splash at the time. Every man has become like a brute, irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God]; every goldsmith is brought to shame by his graven idols; for his molten images are frauds and falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are devoid of worth, usefulness, or truth, a work of delusion and mockery; in their time of trial and punishment they shall [helplessly] perish. JEREMIAH 10:14-15 AMP without knowledge [of God]. What is being said here? Is it just an indictment of pagan practices or is there a depth to the message that transcends the spatial time period of Jeremiah. What are these graven idols that are frauds and falsehood and no breath in them? To what degree have we become like a brute, irrational and stupid?

How much of our creation is the creation of our natural minds? How much of it is a manifestation of Spiritual directive? (Rom 8:6-8, 1 Cor 2:14-15). A graven idol can be anything we create. Its not just a little chubby Buddha someone places on a mantle or builds an altar around. As artists, anything that can be an artistic creation, a work of our minds and hands, and not manifested as a creation through the mind and power of the Spirit can be a graven image. That doesnt mean we worship it. It means we created it, made it, and lift it up and declare it to be expressive of the mind and heart of God when in truth it expresses our conception and perception of the divine mind. In reality it is the product of the brute, irrational and stupid. Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols? ...Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored? [Because Zion no longer enjoyed the presence of the Great Physician!] Jer 8:19b,22b We have looked to secular methods and examples of how to do it. Our confidence is in recording companies and labels and GMA and CCM. Our faith is in our ability to network, build up our database, and in some creative way bring some sort of connectivity to this alienated dysfunctional family we call the church. We are infected with the contemporary modern superstition that We can do it. Our songs and music are little more than parodies of accepted secular chart toppers. So we analyze and make our excuses why we think the numbers dont seem to add up. We have carved our foreign idols. And the idols are delivering. Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols? The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over, yet we are not saved Jer 8:20 Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored? Because Zion no longer enjoyed the presence of the Great Physician! Where is the power in our creativity? How many of us even expect there to be any power? Authoritative tradition can in fact hinder the understanding of the Bible. The church does not have the last wordwhether the most prestigious ecumenical body in the city or the most isolated independent assembly across the waybut the Spirit-breathed Scripture does. Henry, C. F. H. 1999. God, Revelation, and Authority. Carl Henry in this quote is referring to the Bibles own authority to interpret itself. We in the church have become too enamored and reliant on the traditions of men, both religious and as concerns other facets of life and being. We consult experts for everything. I am not diminishing the knowledge and necessity of experts; I am challenging the notion that everything requires an expert. We as a society have become social hypochondriacs, needing to consult an expert or authority concerning every facet of life, where if faced reasonably and in faith, the fact that God has provided the direction and means through life would make itself evident. We, human beings, do not trust God, because He has not made everything clear to us. So, not knowing, we seek out our expert. What is my next step? Somebody tell me what to do. What is the best music for me to make? How do I do it? What are the ten easy steps to success? What will guaranty to get my song air play?

What do you think of this song? How can I change it to make it more marketable? When it comes to Spirit directed creativity, artistic traditions are not necessarily the final word. As Christians, the Scripture is the one objective authority as relates to measuring the Spiritual value or lack, and that not necessarily as pertains to any one artistic piece. Art, and works of art of a particular artist must be judged as a body of work. One work may express values inherently counter to Scriptural truth, but in time, other works may well demonstrate a growing relation and intimacy in Spiritual matters, yet all may express true human condition. The Holy Spirits inspiration of the chosen writers involves a special confluence of the divine and human. The simultaneous agency of God and man in one and the same event,. Henry, C. F. H. 1999. God, Revelation, and Authority. Many Evangelical Theologians will no doubt claim I am reading more into these statements of Carl Henry than what he intended. That is probably true that it may be more than what he intended, but I also believe that the statement applies to the truth broader than what he even conceived at the time he penned the statements. Carl Henry wrote about Biblical inspiration, albeit the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the original authors of the Scriptures. I write concerning the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on men prompted to create in the power of the Holy Spirit. I will not argue the splitting of hairs. We are still partakers of the divine confluence of God and man in one and the same event. The Spirit did not go away with the last Biblical author. Hes here. Hes real. He aint (necessarily) restricted to that silver tongued showman of an evangelist who makes it his business to stir your emotions and squeeze every last dollar out of you he can. Yes, even supposed, Spirit filled ministers can be caught up in the infomercial, sell the Lord craze and whop it up and pass the plate. Showman, Barnum and Bailey, is not the perception of Jesus, or Peter, or Paul, or John, or any of the other Biblical examples of men of God that I find presented in Scripture. But men of God were moved as the Spirit moved them. There are plenty of bad examples of Spirit Filled men in contemporary times acting more on presumption and inadvertently falling as a result. This in no way negates the reality and purpose and desire of the Spirit to move in our lives. It does provide a pretty graphic warning as to getting caught up in the blessing and not living life thoroughly submitted to the direction of the Spirit. The blessing can become a curse. Copying secular methods doesnt cut it. Few Christian artists will ever make it in the ranks of Contemporary Christian Music. The bottom line is the way the system is set there isnt enough room for us all. There may be a few fortunates, but even among those who supposedly get a recording contract, only a minute percent will ever be able to sell enough and make a living at it. That does not mean the rest of us should just give up and toss in the towel. It does mean we have to rethink our purpose. How are we trying to do it? Who are we listening too? Is there an authority to be heard that we are not comfortable hearing, or arent sure we can trust?

But now bring me a minstrel. And while the minstrel played, the hand and power of the Lord came upon [Elisha]. And he said, Thus says the Lord: Make this [dry] brook bed full of trenches. 2 KINGS 3:15-16 AMP Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound. Psa 33:3 AMP And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord. Psa 40:3 MY HEART overflows with a goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer. PSALM 45:1 AMP New Song- new- What is a new song? The word used here means unmilled, unfulled, undressed, unprocessed, new. The implication is spontaneous, improvised, something that has not been hashed and rehashed, and although unpolished and in the rough, receptive to creative inspiration. The musician in a situation of trusting God to play the musician as the skilled musician plays their instrument. MY HEART overflows like the pen of a ready writer. He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. John 7:37-38 AMP Why is it so hard to just let it happen? He who believesout of his innermost being shall flow Wheres the flow? Why do we have such a problem with the new song. And the next time we gather a newer song. A song for then and a song for now. I am speaking hypothetically because it really isnt rocket science or brain surgery, but it can be complex. It isnt as simple or easy as we would like it to be. There is no EASY button to push. As artists, musicians, we really arent willing to pay the price, invest the time, the years, the money. Of course if its just a matter of money, we can come up with that eventually and are willing to do that if the bucks will get me there without the real personal commitment and effort. Master the guitar in two weeks (a month tops) in ten easy and affordable lessons. Practice is optional. How can God speak through us on our instruments if we are not willing to learn the language of the music? So we search for the next best thing. Copy someone else. Learn enough to fake it. And be sure to get the latest edition of The Lords New Song Fake Book. You cant get by without it. Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. PROV 22:29 AMP

For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him. ISAIAH 64:4 AMP Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him. Our responsibility as musicians and artists is to master our craft. Become intimate with your instrument, understand its language. And wait on the Lord. But, if we are not responsible to the task of mastering our instrument, if we can not be found faithful in this, what more do you really expect to be entrusted with? You cant expect God to speak through your playing and inspiring new, spontaneous music, if you are not responsible to learning the language of the music God will speak through. You have relegated yourself to state of the imitator and copier of the creations of others. Every man has become like a brute, irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God]; every goldsmith is brought to shame by his graven idols; for his molten images are frauds and falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are devoid of worth, usefulness, or truth, a work of delusion and mockery, in their time of trial and punishment they shall [helplessly] perish. JEREMIAH 10:14-15 AMP What is the state of our art, our music? Can we say it is filled with the knowledge of God, not just academically theologically correct, but the product of Spirit influence and manifestation of life? Is there power, not volume, or quick licks and flashy playing or complex arrangement of chords, but does it usher in the manifest presence of God? Not an ooy-gooey feeling, the product of schmaltzy nostalgic sentimentalism, but the undeniable presence and power of our God and Creator, our Father and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Technically, all the aforementioned elements may be utilized, technique is not the issue. Faith and obedience is. You say Im asking a lot, - You bet-cha. Anything less, as representative of our God is a fraud, a falsehood. If our art is devoid of His life, without His breath, it is dead work, devoid of worth, usefulness, or truth, a work of delusion and mockery I am nobodys judge. The standard is high. I can not claim attainment. Im not there. I dont know if Ill ever get there. But, I do know I have a responsibility to move in a particular direction. For me, to do less is disobedience. To do less is unbelief.

The Next Level Infinity and Beyond

..Human nature causes us to run from the fire. We are afraid of being burned. We will resist, and try to keep our distance. We dont want to get hurt. Its better to play it safe There is a depth and knowledge of God that the church fears and runs from. This transcends denominations or expressions of different movements. It is the nature of fallen man..we still carry with us a fallen human nature that resists and fights and in every conceivable way seeks to stifle the out working of our new Spiritual nature Get Back No Other Gods earlier chapter. There is a metaphoric concept circulating within contemporary church movements that God is taking us to the Next Level. A new deeper dimension or realization of God manifesting Himself and bringing His church into intimate fellowship with Him and opening the eyes of the faithful to new and greater spiritual realities. The implication is that we will step into a higher plane in the heavenlies and know Him as we are known. The spiritual jargon often sounds more like some kids engrossed in a video game punctuating their sentences with a God word here and there. I admit that I may be applying a hint of exaggeration (although not that much) and a touch of sarcasm and this will not win me any popularity contest. Oh well, what the hey! I do not doubt that God is moving His church into new dimensions, or as some may prefer to say the Next Level. I am amused, and I find it ironic that we seek to by pass what God has plainly revealed in His Word, the Bible, in the hope of some indefinable metaphysical consciousness. I am not implying the application of scripture and what we call the Bible, in some legalistic, Thou Shalt or Not method of attaining Christian Nirvana. The application of the Bible as a yard stick to slap our hands doesnt bring us closer to God. I think were finally figuring that one out. But Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. There is a next level, a deeper dimension, and some are entering into it. During the course of Jesus ministry on earth there was what I will loosely refer to as the Glory period. He worked the miracles, fed the multitudes, and healed the sick and cast out the demons. He taught the crowds in parables, and opened up these to those nearest Him. He was a pretty popular guy. But as the demands of following Him became evident, the crowds dwindled, the cost was too high. Its great to get a free meal, get zapped with a healing, kiss that demon goodbye, and witness a dead man walking, but, sell everything and give it to the poor and followeat His flesh and drink His bloodTake up my cross and follow Forsake ALLLovemore than thesesuffer. There was a lot of rethinking by a lot of wanna bes. Sunshine soldiers and summer patriots need not apply.

THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. Romans 8:1 I believe Romans 8 has got to be the most vital chapter for the collective conscience of the church (if there is such a thing) in this current era. We, the church, our coming to realize collectively, who we are. We have grown to collectively realize, accept and comprehend justification by faith, and the necessity to be holy, set apart. We are beginning to realize the futility of our own religious efforts, and coming into the freedom and life of through the Holy Spirit, the Power, the intimacy, the healing. We are beginning to comprehend our Sonship. We are not slaves to a set of laws and religious legalistic dogmas and dictates imposed on us by some external theologically precise and Biblically religious rationale. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Rom. 8:14. As many as "allow themselves to be led." Here, the sons of God are defined, those who allow themselves to be led. The Spirit does the leading. "But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the Law." Gal. 5:18. They that are after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit. And if we be led by the Spirit, we are the "sons" of God. The Greek word for "sons" used here is "uioi", "it is used of one who depends upon another or is his follower: pupils- one who is connected with or belongs to a thing by any kind of close relationship. one to whom anything belongs. those to whom prophetic and covenant promises belong, for whom a thing is destined, one who is worthy of a thing." Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are "sons" in this sense. It signifies the legal relationship before God as sons. There is another word that may be used, and is a synonym to "uioi", but relates to our relationship to God by virtue of our character. That is not the sense implied in this verse. That Grace Might Reign After the Spirit Bob Couchenour- 1985 Legally we are coming to realize Who we are. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage...but ye have received the Spirit of adoption..." Rom. 8:15. Bondage, slavery, the condition of a slave. Bondage that consists in decay, this is the equivalent to the Law, the necessity of perishing. It is used of the slavish sense of fear, devoid alike of buoyancy of spirit and of trust in God, such as is produced by the thought of death, Heb. 2:15, as well as the Mosaic Law in its votaries; the Mosaic system is used to cause "slavery, bondage on account of the grievous burdens its precepts impose upon its adherents (Gal. 4:24). This we did not receive. If our experience is that of bondage, it is not Christ; it is not a life after the Spirit. If all we know is defeat and condemnation, our relationship to God and His Spirit must be examined in light of the Scripture. It may be that we are merely ignorant of God's truth. But the Scriptures say in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." That Grace Might Reign After the Spirit Bob Couchenour- 1985

We have received "the Spirit of adoption." "Adoption" in the Greek is "uiothesia". It is from "uios" and "thesis"; it means "adoption, adoption as sons. This is the nature and true condition of the true disciples of Christ, who by receiving the Spirit of God in their souls become the sons of God- to wait for the adoption- i.e. the consummate condition of the sons of God." The word "thesis" {s a legal term, referring to "lawgiving, legislation, the setting of boundaries." In this sense of "sonship" we are legally adopted sons, but as yet waiting for the consummation of that adoption. (I Cot. 2:12; II Tim. 1:7; Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:5). That Grace Might Reign After the Spirit Bob Couchenour- 1985 Legally We know our rights. Romans 8:23 expresses the end of this legal process that has been instated for us, the revelation of our manifestation as the sons of God, the Redemption of the body. The purpose is not to dissect and tear that apart right now. The point is to come to grips with what must happen in each of us individually and as a church collectively before this will ever become a realization. Our problem is that we want to jump right into that manifestation. We know its there. We sure like the idea of where were going. But there are a few things in between here and there that we would rather try to figure some way around. Rom. 8:16 says the Holy Spirit "bears witness" or "gives testimony" with, or in agreement with, our human spirits, that we are the "children of God", and back in Rom. 8:14, it refers to those who are led by the Spirit of God as being the "sons of God". The Greek word for "sons" in verse 14 and children in verse 16 are synonyms, but do not have identical meanings. Although both point to parentage and in our case the parentage of God, the "sons" of verse 14 refers to the "legal, inward or ethical" sense of being a son. The "children" of verse 16, teknon gives prominence to the "physical or outward" characteristics, or being a child by virtue of one's nature or character. This is the sense we are concerned with at this point. The Spirit of God bears witness with our human spirits that we are the children of God by virtue of our nature. That Grace Might Reign The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Development of Hope and God's Nature In Our Lives -Bob Couchenour- 1985 Rom. 8:17 says that if we are children of God by nature, then we are heirs of God, and joint, co-equal heirs with Christ, since we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together with Him. Or as it is put in Tit. 3:7, we are heirs according to the hope of eternal life. In Rom. 5:2-5 we see how hope is being developed in us and as hope is developed, the love of God, nature of God, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We are heirs of God because of that nature (Rom. 8:17). We are heirs according to the hope of eternal life being developed in us That Grace Might Reign The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Development of Hope and God's Nature In Our Lives -Bob Couchenour- 1985

We are children and heirs because of the nature of God flowing through us by the Holy Spirit as a result of the development of hope in us. Rom. 8:17 says "since" we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together with Him. From this verse we can see that we are children (by nature) and hence heirs, because we do suffer with Christ, or with Him in a like manner, to the end that we may be glorified together with Him. In Rom. 5:2-5 we find the love of God or nature of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit as a result of the development of hope, through tribulations working patience and patience, experience. It is because of this nature that we are children. In Rom. 8:17 we are children (by nature) since or because we suffer with Christ. In Rom. 5:5 we have this nature and are hence children (by nature) because of the tribulations we go through with the end result being hope That Grace Might Reign The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Development of Hope and God's Nature In Our Lives -Bob Couchenour- 1985 Legally we are getting it together. But, there seems to be a character issue that most of us arent all that sure about. We like the glory stuff and what seems to be the final outcome. There is a level out there that sure is desirable. But between it and where we are, there seems to be this chasm. Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. The KJV states it like this The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, The Spirit bears witness with our spirits. The Spirit is doing something here. Now remember, our normal, carnal nature is to resist whatever the Spirit is in the process of doing. We resist, because its natural. We rationalize and devise whatever schemes we can to thwart and circumvent this leading, guiding, prodding influence because it contradicts our comfortable status quo and leaves us in positions of vulnerability and uncertainty, and in some cases downright sacrifice. I dont mean giving up a meal now and again, but sacrifice the possibility of loosing it all. And at some point, all there is, is God. There is a song we used to sing: Spirit of the living God Fall afresh on Me Spirit of the living God Fall afresh on Me Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me There is a breaking process God puts us through. Until we are broken, essentially useless as regards our own devises and purpose, we are useless to Him. That does not mean He will not use us, but we set the limits and as we are or are not responsive to the Spirits moving and recreating of us, we can frustrate and ultimately quench the Spirit.

We must learn to embrace this breaking. Let me not mislead you, It Will Not Feel Good, It is not comfortable, It means suffering, and suffering beyond any simplistic sense. As we embrace the suffering of Christ, as it were a facsimile in our lives, his character is produced in us. The Holy Spirit bears on our spirits producing in us a character foreign to our natural human character. We are being transformed. Our tendency and nature is to fight it. The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit. There really isnt any short cut around it. Legally we know who we are. Are we, Are You, willing, ready, to move to that next level? Its not out there someplace. But it is the character of Christ in you. You, feeling the heart of God. You, expressing the heart of God. Our heritage in the Kingdom of God is not based on our Legal standing as sons. It is tied to and intrinsically related to our personage as sons by virtue of the character of God emanating through us. So what does this look like? Isaish 53 2 For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him. We all like this passage in Isaiah 53, and particularly verses 4 and 5 He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. But there is an apparent negative side to this, and particularly when you consider we are to experience His sufferings as it were a facsimile. Now apply this to you personally, no form or comeliness, despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness. acquainted with grief and sickness, this is not saying Jesus was sick. But it does give reference to His intimacy of feeling in association with the sick. a Man of sorrows and pains, this is the depth of His association with the suffering of mankind He came to as Lord, Savior and Healer. Its a petty standard joke among right wing conservatives to belittle Bill Clintons statement to hurting constituents, I feel your pain. Maybe it is just a joke and a sly politician manipulating the populace. But Jesus Christ felt our pain. As we are clothed with this character, we too will feel their pain.

Commenting on the purpose of Art the other day I made mention that the purpose of the artist is to provide a window into the heart, feelings and mind of someone else. The artist is responsible to convey the inner experience and turmoil that is a reality in the lives of suffering people and do it in such a way as to make the experience the property of their audience, readers, and listeners. We as artists can only convey the heart of God, as He forms that heart and character in us. As we are transformed in that character, we will bear the sufferings of those around us. When we cry for them, it wont be because we logically conclude tears are appropriate. We will cry because We feel their pain as Christ felt and bore ours. Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], We dont want to feel anybodies pain, least of all our own. But if we are essentially being made into the image of the firstborn among many brethren, as it were a facsimile of the original, what should we expect? We can expect our suffering and feeling and character to be a relatively comparable. What Price Glory? Suffering with Christ, The price of the Next Level.

Faithful Men
In setting out to write an assessment on the state of Christian music, I find I cannot merely focus on the affairs of musicians and the arts, since they are but a small reflection of the overall state of affairs and condition of the church in America and American culture in general. My focus may be artists and musicians, but the condition as it is, is not an artists and musicians issue only. As musicians and artists, people expressing ourselves in unique and creative ways, apt to draw attention to our work and ourselves, we bear an exceptional responsibility as influencers within our culture and in the church. It is with this understanding that I address myself to the artistic and musical community. Francis A. Schaffer, three decades ago, stated that the dominant values of western culture and the western church in particular would become those of personal peace and happiness. For a conservative theologian, he got that one right. Comfort, Convenience and Commitment Bob Couchenour The American Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." In establishing the premise for independence, certain assumptions were made, "...to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them...", and invocation of God to bear witness to and divinely justify. By such reasoning it is the right of the governed to establish its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness..." The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as the corresponding Bill of Rights are probably the greatest political documents ever written, to be foundational in the establishing a free society of man. I cannot argue that the United States is probably the greatest nation to ever exist, or that we as Americans have proven time and again that we are generous, tolerant (for the most part), welcoming, and a blessing to the rest of the world through our generosity, Christian missions and defense when absolutely required. But, the DoI, and the Constitution are not infallible. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution provide a framework which we as a free society have accepted in order to live and function in relation to each other. As such, they have proven workable, and we have means to work at instigating changes collectively. The DoI, more than stating means, establishes purpose. The Constitution establishes the means. As a system to work in association with others of non-compatible beliefs the Constitution serves us well, at least, better than anything to be established prior or since, to the best of my knowledge.

The problem for Christians, I mean Spiritual followers of Jesus Christ, and believers in the objective authority of the Bible, the Declaration of Independence assumes too much. We hold these truths to be self-evident certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Our nation was established and declared independent in order to most likely to effect their safety and happiness..." As a means to work toward these ends, we adapted the Constitution. Thank God we have a constitution such as it is to move forward in accomplishing our collective and individual callings in Christ Jesus. The problem with much of the American church is that our Christianity and life in the Spirit of Christ is more influenced by our American notions, than our being American is influenced by the Holy Spirit and direction and constitution found in the Bible. Im sorry to bust your bubble but the pursuit of happiness is not a Biblically Christian unalienable right. It sure sounds good, but dont try to justify it as Christian (although Im sure there are those who will do whatever they can to do just that). I am an American. My Americanism is founded in my Christianity, my life in Christ. My Christianity is not founded in my rights as a citizen of the United States of America. As an American, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights, grants me certain rights as a citizen. As a follower of Jesus Christ, subject to a higher law and calling, I may well be required to forego my rights as an American citizen to draw nearer too and grow in deeper servant relationship to my Lord. My right to pursue happiness, is not constitutionally guaranteed in the scriptures, the Bible. "Why do men seem to struggle more in making a total commitment to Jesus Christ than the women? Is it because men are somehow "distracted" by their desire to provide for their families - and therefore go after the security of what money can bring - rather than proving in a positive and powerful way that the call of God upon one's life is more satisfying and more rewarding than anything this world can offer? Or, do they allow the natural mindset of logical thinking to overshadow the supernatural way of the Holy Spirit? Or, do they lack the courage to stand up and be counted? Or, have they been so disillusioned by the way that Christian Preachers, Pastors and/or Churches often are unable to impart vision and leadership skills and challenges in such a way as to inspire men to want to serve God fully?" Rodney W. Francis Total commitment to Jesus Christ Is this really such a foreign concept? For most, I believe it is. We really dont have very many contemporary examples of Total Commitment. It is a nice piece of rhetoric and catch phrase but we really dont have much in the way of real hands on models to provide contemporary definition, at least not within the context of the North American church.

Is it because men are somehow "distracted" by their desire to provide for their families - and therefore go after the security of what money can bring - rather than proving in a positive and powerful way that the call of God upon one's life is more satisfying and more rewarding than anything this world can offer? For a rather extensive period of my Christian life this was my belief and modes operandi. I am a husband, a father; I have responsibilities to my family. Let me get my house paid for, build up a nice little cash reserve, get myself into a position so I can underwrite and bankroll all these wonderful ideas to serve God. It made sense to me. So my God got shelved for a security that really wasnt there. The fact is the rationalization to be responsible to my family, to leave something to my kids, isnt the commitment God wanted from me. rather than proving in a positive and powerful way that the call of God upon one's life is more satisfying and more rewarding than anything this world can offer? But what was I teaching my kids. I had dreams. God given dreams and vision. No, not had, have. I have dreams, I have a vision. What am I trying to pass on to my kids? Get a good job, make a lot of money, put yourself into a secure position and then you can serve your God? That is not the concept of Total Commitment men of God had tried to pass onto me. It makes plenty of sense, but is it Total Commitment? It may be total commitment, but it is not the total commitment God is looking for. Or, have they been so disillusioned by the way that Christian Preachers, Pastors and/or Churches often are unable to impart vision and leadership skills and challenges in such a way as to inspire men to want to serve God fully?" There are men and women of God I am personally acquainted with and know as dear true friends who are living lives of commitment and personal sacrifice for God. They are a rarity. The vast majority in Christian leadership roles too often fall into the category of the circuit conference speaker. Many have a great deal to say and impart. Most, sadly enough, seem to be parroting each other. Besides the evidence of moving from conference to conference while being able to ride the crest of the wave, the ability to impart by way of character example vision and leadership skills and challenges in such a way as to inspire men to want to serve God fully is noticeably absent. As a result the church has become Conference addicted. Total commitment to the next conference. "If Christian men are going to change from a pitiful, wimpy bunch of "really nice guys" to men who are made in the image of God, they must reexamine their preconceptions about who God is and recover their true "wild" hearts." John Eldredge - Wild At Heart wuss - NOUN: Slang A person regarded as weak or timid and especially as unmanly: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language The worlds perception of Christian men essentially can be summed up as nice guys, but in masculine terms, wussies. I could, but wont, give the more vulgar definition.

We have become so domesticated as to become emasculated. And this only reflects itself in our relations in the church. Our lifes values have become those of maintaining a home, paying off a mortgage, putting the kids through school, planning for retirement, and filling the gaps with as much stuff as you can. This is essentially the contemporary realization of the American dream. But what makes our Christian lifestyle any different? Little boxes on a hillside Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on a hillside Little boxes all the same Theres a green one And a blue one And a red and theres a yellow one And there all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. Maybe Im being overly critical of the vast numbers of Americans that only have this vision as the possibility of their realization of a dream. But to Christians who supposedly take the Bible at its word, and believe the message proclaimed by Jesus is real and valid for life now, regardless of the times or seasons, we need to change our way o thinkin. "Where are the men today? Somehow we Christian men must rethink our priorities. Life is not about becoming successful or prosperous and then, after that, we serve God - or "Our task is to make money so others can do the work of the Gospel." These all become weak excuses when we see the fruit of our modern Christianity seemingly not being able to produce real committed, dedicated men, willing to lay down their lives to demonstrate their love and obedience to the One who has "called us out of darkness to walk in His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9)." Rodney W. Francis For a time, shortly after coming to know the Lord in 1974, I traveled with an evangelistic team, under the leadership of Rev Frank Gonzales. This was an intense year of discipleship training and challenge. The practice of acting out the word as taught by Christ was more of a realization during this period than I have ever known or heard of since. Leaving the team and being assimilated into the local church was an act of compromise I had not expected. As a new believer, I had thought that the way we applied ourselves to the Word and teachings of Christ was the norm in the church. I was wrong. The focus of the vast majority of the church was to maintain the proper image, keep up appearances; dont let our dirty linen be aired as to tarnish the image of Christ. Now, I am not advocating broadcasting all the crap that is really there, I am advocating getting our perspective and purpose in proper order. I do not believe Christ is overly concerned with His image being tarnished. I do believe He is concerned with the church getting real. "I wondered why America has a hard time experiencing revival. I came to a partial conclusion: the love of money. Luke 16:13-15; 18:18-43; 19:1-10, is a basic blueprint of the love of money in our country and in the American churches." "Many American

Christians are pushing traditional values, morality, and the Ten Commandments instead of the Gospel of Jesus Christ..." "...I have sensed that many morality movements overly emphasize keeping the law, not coming to Christ." "...Can 'morals' save? Should we be renowned as people of the "law" or people of the gospel? Is it right for the Christians to be viewed as allies of 'Big Business' and capitalism when, after all, Jesus came as a poor man preaching to the poor?" Michael Rew Too much of our theology has become a question of Where the money is, the Spirit must be. Lets face facts, I have no problem with making the bucks, my problem is that our purpose can all too easily become, making the bucks. As soon as making the bucks becomes the guiding factor in our relationship to following Christ and hearing the Holy Spirit, we have lost our focus, we have compromised for the sake of security. Of all the discipleship materials I have had access too (and they are considerable), the most influential in my life is a seventy-seven page booklet, True Discipleship, put out in 1975 by a Plymouth-Brethren minister named William MacDonald. For what ever reason it is out of print and is considered a collectors item. This little booklet sold for $1.25 in 1975 and now can be found on EBay going for about $20.00. Not so much a Bible study as it is an attempt to set forth some principles of New Testament Discipleship, love Christ, denial of self, deliberate choosing of the cross, forsaking all, zeal, ad infinitum. The author from the outset admits seeing these principles in the Word for years but somehow concluded that they were too extreme and impractical for the complicated age in which we live. And so we surrendered to the chill of our spiritual environment. Then we met a group of young believers who set out to demonstrate that the Saviors terms of discipleship are not only highly practical but that they are the only terms that will ever result in the evangelization of the world. To the extent that these truths are still beyond our own personal experience, we set them forth as the aspirations of our heart. Out of print, yes, hard to find, yes, but not impossible. If I can obtain the permission from the publisher I will post it on my web site. But, in the mean time, I have found five MP3s of William MacDonald teaching this material. I have provided links to them on my website. The point is that when it really comes to following Jesus and taking Him at His word, we, the church, men (and women) are a bunch of spiritual wussies. A few weeks ago Martin Frankena stated that when we have a Bible study, typically we are looking for loop holes in the contract. Is it any wonder that the church is so powerless? It is only as we can give ourselves in true total commitment to Christ that we can ever expect there to be any real effectiveness in our music and art. Sure, we may sell some CDs, may even get a recording deal, and go on tour and all that is well and great in its place. But serving Christ and being effective in our music may

constitute something totally different. Christ is not just interested in your music. He is interested in you. His character in you, the Holy Spirit moving and living in you, this is the power to be manifested in your music and art. But there is a cost. I cant necessarily be the one to tell you what that cost will be. Read the Book the Bible. The Spirit still speaks through it. But beware of compromise. To the extent that the Word is rationalized and dismissed, so your effectiveness in the power of the Holy Spirit is compromised. No, its not easy. Things will not necessarily work out the way you figure they should. The question we need to face is, Are we interested in the pursuit of happiness, or the pursuit of Christ?

"A Jam is a currently living active conversation in the language of musical notes and chords, ever changing and evolving, as the language becomes common and the individual musicians better versed in the language." BC

The Theory of Relativity

One thing that can be very discouraging in learning to play an instrument, particularly when the intent is to eventually play with or in relation to other instruments and musicians, is not getting a clear look at the whole picture. In a sense it's the 'Forest and the trees syndrome'. Only in focusing on our instrument, our part, our deficiency, we loose sight of where we fit into the scheme of things, and fail to grasp that we are only a part of the overall creation. Our failure to reach perfection, as we feel we should, reinforces a sense of dread that we'll never make it. Perfection is an elusive dream, an ideal to be strived for yet almost always a few inches out of our grasp. Even those who have attained a modicum of 'perfection' rarely are able to maintain the high standard indefinitely. It's there for a moment and then reality puts us in our place. Our inability to sustain the illusive 'perfect' is overcome by our human 'imperfect'. Some guitarists have recorded music that seems to set a standard of perfection. As we listen over and over to these recordings we are left with an impression of an innate greatness of these musicians. We listen over and over, a standard is set, and we apply ourselves to the task of mastering these styles and licks and riffs. There is something that seems to have attained a level of sacredness in these sounds. Surely God has blessed these more than the rest of us poor slobs struggling to make three notes into a chord without hearing an undesirable fret vibration that inevitably will manifest right in the most delicate and sensitive portion of a piece and shatter an otherwise beautiful mood. We have become captive to the illusion of the manufactured image that really doesn't exist. Just as Playboy and Penthouse magazines pose, photograph, and air brush images of beautiful women, to entice us in our lust, and turn us on, so also we succumb to the airbrushed, enhanced, edited, mixed and mastered illusions of musical mastery, that also really don't exist until they have been run through the grinder, processed, tenderized and presented as an attractive and palatable gourmet dish. Which one really tastes better, that six ounce filet mignon you paid $50 for in some high class restaurant with some ambience, or those USDA prime cuts you grilled on your patio while entertaining some friends. You might say it's relative. But that's not the relativity we're focusing on right now. I remember seeing Jimi Hendrix. The Merriweather Post Pavilion, summer of 1970. It was raining and we were sitting on the lawn, by a tree, stage right, left side of the seated area. It poured; we sat and stood with our jackets over our heads and wrapped ponchos around us, and snuggled to keep warm. We weren't too far from the stage, and the music certainly was loud enough, but I remember very little about what Jimi Hendrix actually sounded like. I couldn't have told you the day after. The only thing I can remember with any clarity is Jimi in the middle of the stage, guitar laid in front of him, feed backing

without end, bass and drums pulsing and throbbing. Jimi bends his knees as to crouch down closer to the guitar holding a can of lighter fluid with both hands in front of him saturating the guitar. He knells by the guitar facing the audience, pulls out a match and ignites the saturated guitar. Flames leap up. Jimi, half standing, knees bent, extends his hands towards the guitar and lifting them towards his face fanning with his hands as if to draw the flames and incense from the guitar too his face. He goes through this motion several times. He empties the lighter fluid on the guitar. As the flames die down he picks up the guitar by the upper neck and swings it to the ground. I'm not sure whether he did that once or more, enough to assure the guitar was no more. In recent years I have become a fan of Jimi Hendrix's studio recordings. Over the years I have heard a number of Jimi Hendrix's live recordings (I refer to bootleg recordings) and have not found many shows that demonstrate the guitar mastery that Hendrix was capable of. There are a number of live recordings that are worth while, Hendrix at the Fillmore East, Woodstock, and possibly Monterrey Pop, but as a whole most of the live performances are shallow compared to the studio stuff. I do believe Hendrix was one of the best for His time. Or maybe a better way to describe him is that he played with reckless abandon. Freedom was a benchmark of his performance and playing. This license to let it all fly free may have been his greatest weakness as well. The unfettered, let it all out, stretch to surpass the last performance approach, as much as it excites and draws us into the performance and captivates us, also lends itself to sloppiness and an excused liberty to make mistakes when the mark is missed or over reached. Was Hendrix a 'great' guitar player? In this respect, you could say it is 'relative'. I have listened to guitar lead tracks, by notables such as Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, without the accompaniment of other instruments. Voodoo Chile lead guitar soloed just doesnt quite leave the impression you would think a guitarist with the stature of Hendrix or Stevie Ray should leave you with. This brings the question to point. Much lead guitar work, whether, by a recognized great or an average hack chopping his way through it, is relative. Surround the sound of a moderately accomplished lead with a tight rhythm section and the lead takes on a definition and context that can not be realized otherwise. Greatness is the illusion that someone else wants to sell you. We, in the Christian community have bought into this modes-operandi. Here again, If youre the one being accounted the status of greatness, its perfectly Okay. After all, isnt that how the system works; the promoters promote, the influencers influence, we take them at their word because they are the experts and know what is good and best for me. This music is good, acceptable, awesome, and great. This minister, this Prophet, this Apostle has a life changing new, earthshaking, revelation, to open the portals of heaven and release you into your destiny. Now all this is fine and dandy, But, am I so dense and unyielding and unwilling and spiritually inept that God cant get through my thick skull and personally commune with me? Does it take all the hype of showmen and well intentioned ministers to sell the gospel in a religious infomercial to keep my attention?

Am I so culturally incompetent that I cant listen and decide for myself what I like or dislike. If God, as the Prophets have expressed, desires a personal, intimate communion and relationship with me, and I also strive to that end, why am I bombarded with external religious hype, based on a presumption of my unwillingness, ineptness or spiritual deficiency. Why cant I not listen and decide for myself? Whether it be to the vast variety of music and evolving artists or be it God in the depths of my heart, in that secret place. The reason really is pretty simple. Someone else wants to sell you their vision. Someone else wants you to accept their concept and expertise of what constitutes greatness. Someone else is not secure unless you are secure in them. We in the Christian community, at least as a virtual whole, have delegated our ministers and Pastors as our God experts to decide for us, and guide us in what God wants for us. Too often our insecurity in relation to God has constructed idols built in the image of prophetic gurus who manifest the word and the Spirit too us. Now that I have successfully and completely pissed off at least a large segment of the Christian Pastoral leadership community let me add. We need our Pastors. They are our shepherds, overseers. They are not our mediators before God. The pastor who can bring you into the intimacy of communion and fellowship and relationship with God through Jesus Christ is to be honored for the father figure he is intended by God to be. A fathers true, rightful goal is not to dictate and control and build a patriarchal dynasty, but to nurture, guide, train up and eventually release their children into their own spiritual journey and (as much as I hate the word - it has been cheapened and ignorantly overused) destiny with God. As musicians, as artists, we need to face some facts. We are not perfect. We may strive for perfection, but we are not perfect. Ideals are like the stars, we never reach them. But like the mariners of the sea we chart our course by them. As artists, there reaches a point, in your current level of accomplishment, there is a place that you can do no more. For who you are, for what you are capable of, the job is done, it is finished. It may not be perfect, it rarely is. If it was, there would be no more to strive for. As artist/musicians we need to learn to be content with what the Lord has allowed us to accomplish and at the same time be continually desirous to delve deeper into the depths of relation with God and creative possibilities as He opens them too us. Art, creativity can be measured as a matter of pure mechanics. Much of what is considered art in our contemporary society is just that, mechanized abstractions of a universe void of personality. As Christian artists, art is something much more. Art is the extended creativity of God the creator through us, His creation, and a reflection of His longing and embrace of mankind in love relationship so otherwise perverted in contemporary artistic expressions. This does not mean our art is expressly evangelistic or religious in nature, but it is REAL in context of true human existence.

If our art, our music, is truly tapped into the source of creativity, and contextually relevant to our culture, God will commune to His creation, humankind, in ways that boggle our own finite perceptions of what is possible. But for this to be a reality, our art must truly be creative, not merely the imitation of the creative, or imitations of the creations of others. The pre-requisite is the integrity of relationship of the artist tapping into the divine resource, God, and secondly, our willingness to master our craft. Ministers cannot be the source and inspiration of this kind of creativity. Our art, as we are in relation to God, are intend by God to be a reflection or expression of Him. Art as dictated down from ministers of influence are merely expressions of them, and idols created in the image of the minister and ultimately become the standards of religious acceptability, but never truly express the intimacy and relation with the person God. What kind of Christian artist should we be? What kind of Christian artist should I be? What kind of Christian should I be? Some would argue that it is relative. I believe that it is at this point that the Theory of Relativity falls apart. Many things as relate to our arts are relative. Some things as relates to our God never will be.

Purpose
Historically, it has only been within a relatively short period of time that the measure of a musician has been calculated by the ability of the musician or artist to record or document their musical creations either by notation penned to paper or even more recently in audio recordings. These certainly are skills that have proved to be beneficial to posterity in our enjoyment of the creations of the masters of the past, and in providing a framework and knowledge base upon which new musical creations may be explored and developed. Scripted recording of musical scores only began circa the Renaissance, with maybe some crude renderings in Gregorian chants and even fewer more primal attempts in some psalms. Documentation of music prior to recent history is virtually non-existent. Although music may not have been documented or compiled as scores or recordings through recorded and pre-historic times, that fact does not diminish the role of the musician or the purpose of music as a means of expressive communication of man and from God. Music in Gods order of creation had and has purpose beyond recent human rationale and technological abilities to transcribe, encode, record or digitize its mechanical properties, as though its value were the result of our ability to capture it and mechanically reproduce it. In the period of scripted or recorded music, the Renaissance to now, much truly great music has been saved for us. Much of this music is the product of Christian musicians either supported or patronized by the church or royal and aristocratic families. As ages of thought, the age of Reason, the Enlightenment exerted influence in cultures and society, secular values progressively became more the subject of music, elevating of the musician, the composer, the artist genius, as the enlightened purveyor of the new secular Holy Scripture. Much of this attitude toward the musician, the artist, still continues and pervades in our culture to this day, both outside the church, and inside the church. The music publishing and recording industries are relatively new entities in our economic world. Both of these came into existence initially as supportive structures to propagate, distribute and create avenues of profit for composing and recording musicians. That may not be totally factual, but as a musician it sounds nice. The fact is these supportive industries came into existence to profit the financial investors who recognized a means to employ and exploit the artistic efforts of musicians, under the pretext of patronizing the arts. These industries grew into the major recording and publishing conglomerates that exist today. The fact is, music, the arts, and by extension artistic worship expression have not always been governed and controlled by economic factors as they are today. Recording and publishing are both relatively new. They are not the musicians purpose. Having music published or recorded is not the purpose of music. Recording and publishing at best are

means to pass on and communicate what was created, but they are not the ends in and of themselves. We, musicians, artists have lost our real sense of purpose, calling and direction. In secular environs (and I dislike separating and dividing the situation as secular and Christian, but will do so because there are some unique influences within church spheres) purpose is relatively simple That which is best to my advantage, my ideology, my profit, that which serves my ends, establishes and determines my purpose and directs decisions. Relatively simple. If an association does not fill my needs, wants and desires, it is expendable. This would apply to relationships as well. Probably an over simplification, because although it may be the most expressive and logical coarse of action, it is not true as to what it is to be fully human, made in the image of God. Inherent, God endued character traits find their way into what and how we relate to others and the world. Flawed as these human, God ingrained and image character qualities may be, they are a part of whom and what we are. In a sense, we are caricatures of what we were created to be. Cartoon expressions of what God created; with an over emphasis on what are our individualistic traits, but recognizable as persons and individuals. We are not mechanically generated stick figures or art abstractions where one representation represents all individuals. As much as the secularist may try to live in full harmony with secular ideals and philosophies, they can not, and inconsistencies of the mechanistic approach to life and the reality of human nature as created by God eventually crack the ego centric model. That does not keep us from trying. Within the church, we have incorporated much of the secularist model, but have veneered our presentation and added a few new religiously acceptable attributes. In the name of God, or of Jesus Christ, by the authority of our particular denomination or evangelical, reformed, fundamentalism, that which is best to our (our being interchangeable with Gods, Jesus, ad infinitum) advantage, our ideology, our profit, that which serves our ends, establishes and determines our purpose and directs decisions, with a particular attention to a theology that distinguishes us from them. Our, the churches, those who associate themselves in relation to Jesus Christ of Nazareth as Savior and Lord, identity is more often a matter of who we are in relation to and in association with, our local church, our pastor, or our denomination. Relationship with the real, risen, living, communicating Jesus and out poured Holy Spirit is a subjugated measured doubt filled and debilitating reality. The church, the denomination, the priest, the pastor, the evangelist, the prophet, the apostle, the theology, in too many real situations has taken the place of our relation to God. This is true in too many cases of what are currently active moves of God. God is moving, prophets are prophesying, the truth and Gospel are being preached, and we are missing God. We have lost our ability to discern the difference between the hype and the Spirit. Maybe we never had it.

Hype and a frenzy of activity attract a crowd. A call to maturity may be romanticized and get a positive response. But a walk of maturity is not very attractive and the romance fades after a few difficulties. The church, in general, is a self perpetuating nursery. Sadly, most of our pastors our doing little to nurture and bring to maturity those entrusted to their care. That may be an overstatement, and I am sure there are exceptions, I know for a fact there are. But the church, the evangelical church, the product of the Reformation, the Great Awakenings, the Welsh and Pentecostal revivals, the Charismatic movement, and movements of today are in fact filled with babes fearful of letting loose of the tit lest we not be fed. Our trust is in our enabler. We are junkies and alcoholics held captive by our twelve step program. Now dont think I am unsympathetic to those who suffer from these conditions, and I thank God for the twelve step programs. But this is not about drug addiction and alcoholism; it is about believers who are so grown dependent on leaders and religious systems to dispense the Holy Spirit, forgiveness and purpose for being that they can scarcely imagine or even desire the reality of life free of the umbilical cord. It is time we were weaned. There will always be a nursery. It is not Gods intention that we remain in the nursery. There is a time for dad and mom to say to that kid, Weve done all we can, we have done our best, what ever that might be. Now it is time for you to take care of yourself. Do your best. As long as I am tied to the nursery, unwilling or unable to let go of the tit, I will never be able to find my source of sustenance, or purpose or direction in relation to God alone. We are told (Romans 4), that we, the believing body in Christ, are essentially to have the faith of Abraham. Abraham lived approximately 1800 years before Christ, called out of a Pagan culture, no stipulations, or legal requirements, in faith trusting God, going and doing as He had perceived Gods leading. Over a period of decades knowing extremely little in the way of personal communications with God, but continuing to trust in the promise, along the way making human mistakes rooted in doubts and the influence of those closest to him, but moving forward and onward. Two steps forward, one step back. Maybe even many steps back, then God. Maturity does not come from learning and being able to relate the story. Maturity, growth and all the benefits, blessings and responsibilities comes when you are able and willing to apply, and step into the story yourself, trusting in and relying on the same God of Abraham. The application may differ from individual to individual, but the truth and exercise of our faith comes down to the same thing. Our purpose as musicians will not be realized in the nursery. We may have dreams and visions of the grandeur, of accolades to be heaped on us for our artistic accomplishments,

but dreams and visions are realized at the end of our faith, in between there is the exercise of our faith. Recording and writing music and writing songs are not our purpose as musicians. The blessing to be able to record and write songs with our copyright may be a benefit of what we do, but that is not our purpose. Purpose is grown out of and realized in our relationship to Jesus Christ and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. Purpose in music is something deeper than what we might do with it. Intent, objective to render depth of feeling, the heights of elation, the excitement of passion, the fear in despair, to touch human psyche in scope not realized through reason alone, to express empathy in feelings of the heart insufficiently expressible through words. No one said it would be easy. It is the mastering of a craft. It understands the variables, and wisdom to apply them appropriately. To both emulate the world around us and restructure it as a new creation, to envision deeper truths than what is visible and communicate the invisible. To lead into war and offer up a sweet smelling offering of incense.