Taken from chapter 6 of Jeff Godwins book What’s Wrong with Christian Rock?
Used with Permission
“If the WORLD hate you, ye know it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the WORLD, the WORLD would love his own: but because ye are not of the WORLD, but I have chosen you out of the WORLD, therefore the WORLD HATETH YOU.” John 15:18,19
Based on this scripture, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Christians are supposed to be DIFFERENT from the rest of the world. Surely this applies to the multi-billion dollar Christian recording industry and the millions of fans supporting it.
If difference from the world is supposed to define Christian music, then the facts in this chapter present some problems.
C-Rock defenders are always saying the purpose of their music is to glorify God. Yet the quotes below prove they are more interested in being identified with the devil’s crowd than anything godly. Here are a few excerpts about some of the biggest names in CCM:
KIM BOYCE
“For starters, this sounds a lot like Madonna’s classy, infectious brand of dance/pop music…” 1
RANDY STONEHILL
“I’ m going back and doing a band-oriented album that stylistically is very close to the music that inspired me when I was 13 and 17 – and that’s the Byrds and the Rolling Stones … “2
RAGE OF ANGELS
“…the Connecticut/NYC band is musically likened to Motley Crue, but also combines the commercially acceptable vein of Bon Jovi …” 3
BARREN CROSS
“They have the sound and intensity of Iron Maiden. ” 4
IMPERIALS
“These boys share a clear savvy of pop/rock vocal chop uncommon in this biz…” 5
TEMPEST
“The Poison/White Lion fans will like this.” 6
PHILIP BAILEY
“… glides and bobs and grooves with all the style and zest you remember Philip for – in his early releases with Earth, Wind & Fire. 7
WHITE HEART
“It’s everything that’s right with 80’s arena rock with all of the inhibitions removed.” 8
AMY GRANT
“Lyrically, the only difference between Amy Grant love songs and, say, those of Olivia Newton-John, is that often Grant’s pronouns come with capital letters…” 9
DEGARMO & KEY
“In their concerts and through their music DeGarmo & Key offer rock theology. Their uncompromising musical style has been the righteous raised fist of solid rock ‘n’ roll…” 10
DANA KEY
“He describes himself as basically a blues guitarist, and it is the players from that genre that have always influenced him the most, citing B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and Billy Gibbons [ZZ Top] as his major mentors…” 11
CARMAN
“Stylistically, Carman has been compared to Elvis Presley, Jim Croce, Tom Jones, Ray Stevens and even at times, Andrae Crouch. He has been described as having an Elvis-like charisma … 12
BOB HARTMAN (Petra)
“Early influences were the ’70’s guitar heroes like Hendrix, Clapton, Page and Walsh, and more recently Eddie Van Halen, of course… ” 13
UNDERCOVER
“… It will take Christian rock one step further with a myriad of soundscapes that combine the Cult, Jim Morrison, and Alice Cooper…” 14
VENGEANCE RISING
“Loud, fast, heavy, thrashin’ speed metal with a heavy blues influence is what you’ll find on this new release from one of Christian music’s most credible bands.. .” 15
STRYPER
“And rock they do. Their ninety-minute stage show includes all the outward trappings of secular metal – the sass, style, and bombastic bone-jarring sonic barrage of such secular acts as Motley Crue, Ratt, Iron Maiden, or Judas Priest….”16
And that’s just scratching the surface. I have identical quotes on the following C-Rock/CCM stars: White Cross, Geoff Moore, Steven Curtis Chapman, Mad At The World, Mark Farner, Holy Soldier, U2, Russ Taff, Ed DeGarmo, Phil Keaggy, Shout, Margaret Becker, Petra, Steve Taylor, Mylon LeFevre, The Awakening, Idle Cure, Wayne Watson, Ruscha, Kenny Marks, Michael Peace, Dion, Michael W. Smith, The Choir, Billy Sprague, Benny Hester, and Rick Cua.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Very simple: There is no difference between secular and “Christian” Rock music. None at all. These quotes prove that today’s big CCM names learned their licks from the secular Rock & Roll monsters years ago, and are recycling that same demonic musical mess to anyone willing to listen.
The fans say, “But that’s just the MUSIC. The LYRICS are where the real difference is.” Alright. Let’s do a little experiment. Read the following song lyrics. One is secular. One is Christian. Which is which?
BURN IN HELL
“Take a good look in your heart/ Tell me, what do you see?/ It’s black and it’s dark/ Now is that how you want it to be?/ It’s up to you, what you do will decide your own fate/ Make your choice now, for tomorrow may be far too late/ And then you’ll burn in Hell/ Oh burn in Hell/ You’re gonna burn in Hell…”
SILENCE SCREAMS
“The folly in our passions/ The prisons of desire/ The foolishness of bigots/ Tinder for the fire/ In bitterness and exile/ As foolish as it seems/ In the coldest, darkest spirit/ Silence screams/ Silence screams/ The echoes roar/ Silence screams forevermore…”
Well, which one of these lyrics brings honor and glory to Jesus Christ? “Burn In Hell”, with its uncompromising message of fiery judgment against sin, came from TWISTED SISTER, one of the most sickening groups in secular Rock! .
Before the group broke up, former lead singer Dee Snider prided himself on his filthy mouth and transvestite appearance in pot-choked concert halls across the country. Though the message in that song was good, am I going to suggest that young people listen to a group of perverts like Twisted Sister? No way!
The second song, “Silence Screams” by popular C-Metal group REZ (Resurrection Band) was the “Christian” one.
It’s pretty sad when the heathen produce more scriptural lyrics than so-called Christian! So much for the, “It’s the LYRICS that are important” argument. Try finding spiritual guidance for your life in that morbid mess REZ calls Christian lyrics and you’ll be a long time looking.
Let’s look at another set of godly lyrics:
PARTY IN HEAVEN – Daniel Band
“There’s a party in Heaven/ The bread is unleaven/ The tree of life is growin’ fine/ It’s way past eleven/ My number is seven/ The lamb and I are drinkin’ new wine…
Hmmm. Party time in Heaven, huh? Staying up past curfew and slopping down a quart or two of cheap wine with Jesus. Maybe Heaven’s a swingin’ place after all. Now contrast those blasphemous lyrics to the famous Satan-anthem by AC-DC “Highway To Hell”:
“Don’t need a reason/ Don’t need a rhyme/ Ain’t nothin’ that I’d rather do/ Goin’ down/ Party time/ My friends are gonna be there too/ I’m on the highway to Hell…”
The message is the same in BOTH songs. No matter where you turn up on the other side, it’ll still be one big party, dude. Is it any wonder Christian youth are wallowing in ridiculous carnal compromise?
When supposedly “Christian” lyrics have the exact same message as those of the God-hating Satan- Rockers, something is drastically wrong. Even the most dedicated CCMer should be able to see the hypocrisy. What does it all prove? Simple! There is NO difference in “Christian” Rock!
BRIDE
C-Metal stars Bride don’t even try to hide their worship of raw Satan-Rock power. At the end of their song “Heroes,” (“Live To Die” album), the tortured screams of the damned wail into the blackness like the hordes of Hell let loose from the Pit.
There is also a demonic backmask hidden within those nightmarish cries. When reversed, what sounds like hundreds of whooshing, teeth-chattering voices spiral downward into a spinning mass of chaos. With shredded throats, their bellowing shrieks beg for help.” 19 Please don’t forget, all this is supposed to be “Christian.”
“Metal Might” is a song by Bride. Is it about Jesus or Satan? Your guess is as good as mine:
“The ones with the power/ They have control/ Their mere words will direct your soul/ My words of steel carry through the night/ Leaving behind the wake of Metal Might…”
Parents, if you’ve been wondering where all that rebellion in your kids has been coming from lately, check out this review of Bride’s “Live To Die” album, (from a CHRISTIAN music magazine!):
“This release is chock-full of straight-ahead, full-throttle grinding and pounding. It’s the type of sound your parents will hate.. .” 20
Bride outdid themselves on this next tune. How’d you like to have THESE guys play at your church next Sunday?:
HERE COMES THE BRIDE
“I’ve got the strings of fire/ Screaming guitars/ Energy that will explode/ Got the golden throat/ To put on the show/ The power I will unload/ Here comes the Bride/ Got feet of brass/ I’m first and last…”
Jesus the guitar slinger? If this little ditty is supposed to be about Revelation 19:11-16, Bride sure missed the boat. With a Heavenly twang on his open E power chord, Metal Messiah Jesus swoops down like a screaming jet to deliver all his hoppin’ Christian headbangers from the wimpy, washed-up Devil. Shazam! The sad thing is that multitudes of young believers are buying these lies lock, stock and barrel.
A letter from a Teen Challenge worker in Salinas, California hit the C-Rock nail right on the head:
“When my newly saved son-in-law went to a theme park on Christian Day there were “Christian groups” playing their “Christian tunes. The last performer rolled out on stage seated upon a throne, enveloped in smoke from a smoke machine. First he sat with a weird, sinister look, then leaping from the throne, flung himself all over the platform. After the performance Gary was so perplexed that he approached the man and said, ‘Can I ask you a question? What religion do you belong to?'” 21
Here’s more musical “holiness” in action. “Master of the Metal” by the Messiah Prophet Band:
“You hear a loud guitar/ You wonder what we are/ You say we’re all the same/ You see us dressed in black/ Preparing to attack/ You say it’s such a shame/ But do you really know/ The force behind our show/ Our one way ticket home/ We’re rockin’ for the rock/ And we will never stop/ And this you’ve got to know/ Jesus said upon this Rock my church will stand/… He’s the Master/ The Master of the metal…”
The Rock of Matthew 16:15-18 was Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, NOT the Master of Heavy Metal music. That’s Satan’s title, as the last twenty years have proven. To answer the song’s question, YES, I do know the force behind your show. I only wish every Christian teen knew. That’s why this book was written.
BLOODGOOD
Most C-Rock fans refuse to believe their favorite bands are actually two-faced in what they say and do. Like gullible lambs led to a Hard-Rock slaughter, young believers eat up every golden word out of the group’s mouth without a second thought. In reality, Christian young people are being taken for a BIG ride. These comments by Bloodgood singer Les Carlsen at a live 1987 concert are a perfect example:
“Let’s not have any of us to put down our evangelist brothers on tv. We got nothin’ bad to say about ’em. Nothin’. Except that they’re brothers in Christ. If they don’t understand where we’re comin’ from, let God take care of ’em… 22
Match those silky words against this Bloodgood song to see typical C-Rock hypocrisy:
SHAKIN’ IT
“He’s a sinner though he’d never be found/ He got caught with his own pants down/ Can’t imagine how he must have felt/ He should’ve tightened-up his Bible belt…”
Speaking of double talk, here’s a letter sent to a Christian newspaper after one of our Missouri Rock music seminars. The excuses this poor, deluded girl uses are IDENTICAL to those put out by hot C-Rock fans everywhere. Remember this young lady considers herself a Christian:
“Who do you think you are, GOD? Well I do go to church and I do believe in God, but rock-n-roll has been around for a long time and will be around for an even longer time. No one can change that… You don’t submit yourself to God, you believe in Him and know that He is there for you and in return you do the best you can and stay out of trouble… Many rock stars are self- professed witches and dabble in the occult? Who cares?… Yes, I do listen to Stevie Nicks, Prince, Kiss, Cinderella and Cheap Trick. All of these I like and I will continue to listen to. I am able because I have all of my life and will do so for the rest of it, and continue to believe in God. Why should you care who or what they believe in? Who are you to judge them or their music?…” 23
This is how people turn out when they get their spiritual training from C-Rock stars instead of the Bible. Aren’t the fruits of the Holy Spirit abounding in this young lady?: love, joy, peace., longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23).
Why is she so angry? Because her RELIGION, the religion of Rock & Roll, and the idols she worships were attacked.
Notice her statement, You don’t submit yourself to God.” She obviously got her theology from Rock stars, not the Word of God. The Bible says we either submit ourselves to God or the devil (I Kings 18:21.) There is no middle ground. She has made her choice, she just doesn’t realize it yet.
Once young fans are programmed, Satan’s mission is accomplished. CCM stars look and act like the world. Their music and lyrics are like the world. And CCM stars are promoted the same way the worldly crowd does it – through bucks and hype.
In every respect., the “Christian” music gods imitate the Hell-bound reprobates they idolized when they were younger. Is it any surprise that young CCM fans today are in worse spiritual shape than their parents? If you profess Christ, then hear what the Bible commands:
“Love not the WORLD, neither the things that are in the WORLD. If any man love the WORLD, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the WORLD, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the WORLD.” I John 2:15-16
There’s a word for the cheap, carnal counterfeits found throughout all “Christian” Rock.
It’s called Compromise – with a capital C.
FOOTNOTES
1. Gospel Music Today, April/May/June, 1987, p. 28
2. Ibid. p. 22
3. CCM magazine, January, 1989, p. 14
4. Media Update, September/October, 1989, p. 11
5. CCM magazine, April, 1987, p. 38
6. Media Update, September/October, 1989, p. 11
7. Gospel Music Today, July/August/September, 1987, p. 34
8. Gospel Music Today, July/August/September, 1989, p. 10
9. Christian Amy’s No Rock ‘n’ Roll Sinner, by Bruce Guthrie.
10. Oz magazine, 1987, Queensland, Australia, p. 14
11. CCM magazine, January, 1989, p. 30
12. Echoes, Vol, 2, 1986, p. 7
13. CCM magazine, January, 1989, p. 31
14. CCM magazine, February, 1990, p. 22
15. CCM magazine, April, 1990, p. 52
16. Youth!, January, 1987, p. 8
17. Circus, November 30, 1984, pp. 52,53. Photo by Mark Weiss.
18. CCM magazine, February, 1990. p. 15. No photo credit listed.
19. Satanic & Hidden Messages in Popular and Rock and Roll Music, by Michael M., 1989, Melbourne, Australia, Tape 6, Example 275
20. CCM magazine, September, 1988, p. 47
21. Christian Rock? Christian Rap?, by James A. Thomas, 1989, Salinas, California, p. 9
22. Metal Mardi Gras 1987 video, by Sanctuary, Redondo Beach, CA, a C. Cole production
23. Good News Journal, Summer, 1989, Columbia, Missouri.
Jeff Godwin has several excellent books, videos and tapes on Rock Music. He has written The Devil’s Disciples, Dancing With Demons, What’s Wrong With Christian Rock? and Rock & Roll Religion. All are highly recommended.