A SALUTE TO FRANK GARLOCK

August 11, 2003 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box
610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions
about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information
paragraph at the end of the article) -

It was 30 years ago that Dr. Frank Garlock published his first seminar to instruct churches
on the subject of worldly and spiritual music, and he is still sounding the same warning
today. That is the type of consistency that we need in this hour of shift and shadow, and I
want to salute this man.

A battle is raging for the heart and soul of Bible-believing churches, and music is playing
a central role. Of the preachers who have been willing to stand on the front lines of this
battle (and their numbers are small), few if any have had a greater influence than Dr.
Garlock. Though I am sure I could disagree with him on some issues (I can disagree with
myself on some issues!), I want to give honor to whom honor is due. I am convinced that
he has been a great blessing to the Lord’s work in these days, and his influence has been
vast.

Dr. Garlock is a man of God who knows music. He has a doctorate from BJU and has
taken every graduate course in music offered by the celebrated Eastman School of Music
in Rochester, New York. He sat under Howard Hanson, who headed up Eastman for 40
years.

Dr. Garlock began teaching on the dangers of worldly music in about 1970. I was in the
Army at the time, on my way to Vietnam. Three years before that I had been invited to
play clarinet in the Lakeland (Florida) Symphony Orchestra, but I turned it down because
I was much too busy wasting my youth on worldly vanities.

Dr. Garlock’s first book was The Big Beat in 1971. He warned about the danger of rock &
roll. At that time, I was living the rock & roll lifestyle to the hilt. The next year I went to
jail for drug abuse, hitch hiked all the way across America twice and then drove across
two more times, and got involved with Hinduism. It was a busy year, and I lived it to the
Big Beat that Dr. Garlock was busy warning about.

In 1973, Dr. Garlock published the Symphony of Life seminar on video, and it had a wide
and godly influence. That was also the blessed year that God in His great mercy saved me
and changed my taste both in lifestyle and music. I turned 24 that year, and a few months
later I published the first of my own books warning of the dangers of rock.
In 1992, Dr. Garlock (with co-author Kurt Woetzel) published the book Music in the
Balance, and that same year he published an expansion and update of his earlier music
seminar. The new six-part video series is titled The Language of Music.

In 2002, Dr. Garlock published a new single video titled Pop Goes the Gospel: God’s
Principles of Music. It is basically a summary of The Language of Music with many new
illustrations and quotes.

Dr. Garlock teaches that music is not neutral or amoral. It is a language; in fact, it is one
of the most important languages on earth. He warns that the message of the music must
match the message of the lyrics. He says, “The words only let you know what the music
already says. ... The music is its own message and it can completely change the message
of the words” (Garlock, The Big Beat).

He compares music with man’s tripartite nature. Man’s body responds to rhythm, while
his mind and spirit respond to harmony and lyrics. Dr. Garlock teaches that these three
aspects of music must be kept in balance, just as man must be careful not to emphasize
his body over his mind and spirit. Rhythm in music is good and important, but if rhythm
is emphasized over harmony and lyrics, as is the case with much of the contemporary
music, it is unbalanced and unhealthy. A spiritual person is one who puts spirit first, mind
second, and body last. Sound music will follow this pattern, using rhythm wisely. There
is nothing wrong with the body as long as it is in a proper relationship with the mind and
spirit, and there is nothing wrong with rhythm as long as it is in proper relationship with
the melody and harmony. Rhythm is like salt; it must be used under strict control. An
example is a symphony orchestra, which uses its rhythm section sparingly, in contrast
with a rock band, which is at least 75% rhythm.

Dr. Garlock warns: “In 1 Corinthians 14:7-8 Paul is comparing language to music. Music,
as language, must be distinct in its message. When God uses something for an
illustration, you know it is good. Music has power; it is addictive. The world recognizes
this and uses it to influence people. Thousands of young people have said that it is easier
to get off drugs than rock music. The style of music you like tells whom you identify with
and what your values are. It shows what kind of person you are. You must test music by
the Word of God. It doesn’t matter what you like or dislike, but what is acceptable to
God. The CCM movement says that music is amoral, which means that God doesn’t care
one way or another. God does care (Isaiah 5:20). God wants you to have discernment in
every area of your life. One of these areas is music. IF A CHURCH STARTS USING
CCM IT WILL EVENTUALLY LOSE ALL OTHER STANDARDS. You need to draw a
line concerning your music” (Garlock, Bob Jones University Chapel, March 12, 2001).

Amen, and we are seeing the truth of these words far and wide. “If a church starts using
CCM it will eventually lose all other standards.”
To demonstrate his points, Dr. Garlock quotes profusely from the Bible as well as from a
wide variety of experts in various fields.

Dr. Garlock is a Christian gentleman who preaches kindly but with fervency on this
important subject. A person does not have to agree with every jot and tittle of his style or
material to benefit greatly from it.

Dr. Garlock has traveled to every state in the U.S. and to 30 foreign countries, teaching
God’s people on the subject of music and warning of error. He taught for many years at
Bob Jones University, and in more recent years, at Pensacola Christian College.

Not content to warn about worldly styles of music, Dr. Garlock co-founded Majesty
Music with his daughter and son-in-law, Shelly and Ron Hamilton, to publish godly
music for churches, and they have produced some of the most lovely and spiritual music
in our generation. They also publish the excellent Majesty Hymnal.

Dr. Garlock is not content to warn of wrong music; he yearns for the churches to worship
God in spirit and in truth, with joy and enthusiasm and power:

“We can have the power of God on our music. I can remember hearing the Old Fashioned
Gospel Hour with Dr. Charles Fuller on Sunday afternoons. That was where I learned
what good gospel music was, where I learned to love gospel music. I’ve studied the
classics; I’ve conducted operas; I’ve written symphonies; but I love gospel music. That’s
the area where God has called me. And I love to use those other things to help me make
good gospel music. I said if God ever lets me work in music, I’m going to have music
like that--music that reaches the hearts of people, because it is full of the Word of God
under the power of the Holy Spirit” (Garlock, The Language of Music).

We are thankful to the Lord for Dr. Garlock’s wide influence among independent Baptist
churches. The independent Baptist and the fundamentalist Bible church movements have
provided one of the final bastions for traditional style Christian music, and this has not
been an accident. It is because these churches have emphasized separation from the world
and have been taught in the area of music by men like Dr. Garlock.

Most mainline Protestants, Pentecostals, charismatics, and evangelicals bought into the
“music is neutral” lie long ago, and now we are seeing rapid changes among
fundamentalist congregations as well. The contemporary philosophy is creeping in. In
some realms of independent Baptists, in fact, it is more like a flood!

Music is one of the most powerful influences in this world, and this is true both for the
secular and the religious realms. As Dr. Garlock says, “Music is a language. ... Music is
communication.” Indeed it is, and fundamental Baptist churches would do well to heed
the wisdom that God has given Dr. Garlock and not heed the siren call of the
contemporary paths.

In spite of ridicule and misrepresentation, Dr. Garlock has persevered and has not
weakened the message that God has given him. He has kept his enthusiasm and joy
through all the years of ministry. He testifies:

“I am so glad God lets me serve Him through music. I love it so much that I feel guilty!
That God would allow me to serve Him through something that I enjoy doing so much is
such a tremendous privilege. I can’t get enough of it!” (Frank Garlock, The Language of
Music, 1992).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I must say with much sadness that I cannot agree with the direction that
some of Ron Hamilton’s Patch the Pirate music is taking, and since Dr. Garlock is
intimately associated with Majesty Music, he must certainly take some responsibility for
this. Ron Hamilton is one of the great songwriters of our day, and he has written some
truly marvelous songs and hymns, but by incorporating Island and blues rhythms and
such into some of the children’s songs, the productions are going contrary to Dr.
Garlock’s own teaching. I readily admit that there is much that is subjective about music,
that lines are not always easy to draw, and that it is sometimes difficult to nail down
precisely what is and is not wholesome. This being the case, isn’t the wisest approach to
avoid all appearance of evil, to be certain that we offend in nothing? Isn’t that what Dr.
Garlock has taught in his seminars for 30 years? Instead of taking the wise path of
avoiding every semblance of worldliness and maintaining only the most unquestionable
standard for music, though, Patch the Pirate is pushing the musical boundaries for the
fundamentalist and Bible-believing Baptist churches, accomplishing a subtle and gradual
change in direction. This is the last thing that we need in this day and time. We
desperately need our music men to draw a clear and spiritual line and THEN HOLD IT!
A mild boogie woogie rhythm is pleasant, but is it the most excellent line that can be
drawn and is it not leading in the wrong direction?

I have written about that in another place, though, so I will not dwell upon it here.

With this one caveat, therefore, I salute Dr. Frank Garlock and Majesty Music for the
godly influence they have had among the Lord’s churches in an evil day and I trust they
will always “approve things that are excellent” (Phil. 1:10), reject carnal weapons of
warfare (2 Cor. 10:4), and “give none offence” (1 Cor. 10:32).

[Distributed by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service, a listing for Fundamental Baptists and
other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal in this particular aspect of our ministry is not devotional but is
TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS
APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have
subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. TO SUBSCRIBE to the Fundamental Baptist
Information Service, send an email to lists@wayoflife.org and put “subscribe FBIS” in the subject field. TO
UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to lists@wayoflife.org and put “unsubscribe FBIS” in the subject field. TO CHANGE
ADDRESSES, simply unsubscribe the old one, then re-subscribe the new one. Or a more simple process is to go to the
web site and sign up or change addresses there: http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. We take up a quarterly
offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6). Some of these
articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 20th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books.
The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box
610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail). We do not solicit funds from those who do not
agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but for those who are, OFFERINGS can be made
at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/
business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]