Bad Lyrics Make Bad Theology

Tout fini

2011-07-18T08:00:00.002-04:00

I have decided to take down this blog because I really don't know what I'm talking about.
Goodbye!

I made a mistake in my post of February 2009

2011-07-14T13:34:00.001-04:00

In a post of February 2009 I criticized the song "Give us clean hands" because it lacked overt elements of the Gospel.

An anonymous commenter has pointed out that the song seems to faithfully follow a psalm.

I failed to consider this. I need to analyze it more, but I think I'll probably change the post.

I'll leave it up for now as a memorial to my ignorance.

I'm glad that this is a "low traffic" blog.

More later...

How to Think Biblically About Christian Music

2011-07-01T08:39:00.000-04:00

I would argue that one problem is that most church-goers do little if any thinking about the music they sing.

Here is an old post at SaidAtSouthern.
HT: Kata Drew.

10 Principles for Church Music

2011-07-01T08:27:00.000-04:00

Justin Taylor links to "Wise reflections from Kevin DeYoung" (part 1 / part 2).

Interesting Book Review

2010-11-23T07:09:00.000-05:00

A recent book contrasting Old Testament poetry with the happy-clappy mush served by the CCLI-singing Garage Bands posing as "worship leaders" is here.

Free Church of Scotland on the Slippery Slope

2010-05-20T06:00:00.004-04:00

R. Scott Clark comments on possible changes to the Free Church of Scotland's exclusive hymnody here. Several good points come up in the comments section.

UPDATE: Heidelblog is no longer available.

9 Ways the modern-day* church has gone wrong with worship

2009-11-07T22:15:00.001-05:00

That is the subject of a recent post at The Biblical Weltanschauung of a Moderate-Conserative Mennonite Christian

Luther and "Bar Music"

2009-11-07T21:45:00.004-05:00

Here is a link to a paper by Paul Jones (HT Douglas Bond). He starts it with the statement:

"If I had a dollar for every time I have heard that Martin Luther used tavern music for his hymns and that 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God' was a drinking song,I would be a wealthy man. Yet such assertions are simply not true."

Paul Jones Lectures on the Music of the Reformation

2009-11-07T17:14:00.003-05:00

Grace PCA in Douglasville, GA recently posted the link to some lectures given by Dr. Paul Jones on the Music of the Reformation. You can listen to them here. HT: N.T. Batzig.

A lot of old hymns are not that great either.

2009-05-13T12:51:00.007-04:00

Steve Holmes, a Baptist minister, presently employed to teach theology in St Mary’s College, St Andrews, Scotland, comments on John Stackhouse's post on Tomlin's songs by giving examples of bad hymnody in the past.

Holmes writes:

What of the claim of weak theology? John says ‘We are the most educated Christians in history, and yet our lyrics are considerably stupider than our much less educated Christian forebears…’ Well, for starters I’m not sure about this – once again, one would need to look at what they actually sang, not the classics that have come down to us. Victorian hymnody was full of sentimental claptrap with no discernable doctrinal content at all (check out ‘Blessed Assurance’ for the best of the genre, that has been judged good enough to survive).

Read the rest here. Holmes takes on charismatic worship here.

Old Hymns In New Ways

2009-03-13T08:28:00.004-04:00

Justin Taylor points us to:

Page CXVI is a project started with the idea of making hymns accessible and known again.They are some of the richest, most meaningful, and moving pieces of music ever written.

Chris Tomlin’s Worship Songs

2009-03-09T13:27:00.004-04:00

Dr. John Stackhouse of Regent College sounds off in his blog posting "Chris Tomlin’s Worship Songs: We Have Got to Do Better":

Why else take Brother Tomlin to task? Because those of us who want to praise God with our minds as well as our hearts, as our Lord taught us to do, cannot just ignore bad lyrics. None of us can just ignore repeated wrong notes sung or played by worship leaders, and these lousy lyrics go “twang” and “clunk.” They distract from the worship they are supposed to foster just as much as a lazy or untalented musician distracts us when his guitar isn’t tuned or he keeps playing the wrong chords on the piano. So don’t come back at me with “Well, just ignore it and praise the Lord anyway and appreciate his heart” and all that. Chris Tomlin is a professional songwriter. He’s not a sweet little kid doing his best in a Sunday School concert.

Let’s be clear, furthermore, that there’s lots of blame to go around here. Brother Tomlin’s music producers are happy to keep churning this stuff out. Worship leaders keep programming it. And we keep singing it without protest.

Well, that's enough. We are the most educated Christians in history, and yet our lyrics are considerably stupider than our much less educated Christian forebears–the people who sang lyrics by Fanny Crosby or Charles Wesley or Isaac Watts.

Read the rest here.

Another Blogger Who Will Probably Do This Better

2009-02-09T21:02:00.007-05:00

Rich at Sound Doxology has just come on line, and he has some interests in common with mine. He also appears more qualified than I to speak on many of these issues. Welcome to the BlogOSphere, Rich!

"Give us clean hands" doesn't give us a Christ or a cross

2009-02-08T14:11:00.005-05:00

7/14/2011: I'M RECONSIDERING WHAT I HAVE SAID IN THE POST BELOW
Ht: Anonymous comment from a couple of days ago.

Give Us Clean Hands by Matt Redman and Charlie Hall

This song lacks Christ and Him crucified.

We are powerless to do all of the good things proposed in the song. Our hearts are idol factories. And we can have none of this without Christ's death on the cross, his burial and resurrection and our repentance and faith in Him.

Yes, we need the Spirit to make us humble, but first we need Him to regenerate us and give us faith in Christ.

It seems that here "the law" isn't so bad and "the gospel" isn't so sweet.

Michael Horton in Modern Reformation Magazine says

The church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and his deeds of salvation, from our various "missions" to save the world to Christ's mission that has already accomplished redemption. If the message that the church proclaims makes sense without conversion; if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time, so that they too need to die more to themselves and live more to Christ, then it is not the gospel.

Give Us Clean Hands by Matt Redman and Charlie Hall

We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Oh God let this be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob

We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, oh God and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob

Oh God of Jacob
(Give us clean hands)

So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, oh God and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob

Oh God of Jacob
Oh God of Jacob

Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, oh God and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob

Oh God of Jacob

Simul Justus et Peccator

2009-02-01T21:39:00.002-05:00

“Righteous and at the same time a sinner.”
(Martin Luther)

Luther recognized that although we are redeemed by the blood of Christ and judged righteous on this basis, we remain sinners before our ultimate glorification at the end of the age.

The song Amazing Love by Billy James Foote contains these oft-repeated lines:

Amazing love, I know it’s true:
It’s my joy to honor you.
In all I do I honor You.

News flash: In all I do, I do not honor God. I cannot sing these words without lying. I wish those who would impose this song on a congregation would tighten up the theology.

Kauflin on Top 10 Ways to Write Bad Worship Songs

2008-10-22T21:23:00.002-04:00

Bob Kauflin posts his "Top Ten" list.
Note particularly:

6. Make sure the majority of your songs talk about what we do and feel rather than who God is and what he’s done.

and

10. Forget about Jesus and what he accomplished at the cross.

_IT_ came upon a midnight clear

2007-12-24T20:13:00.000-05:00

See http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif for words.

The lyrics were written written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Weston, Massachusetts. Rev. Sears was a graduate of Union College and Harvard Divinity School.

The lyrics aren't about Jesus. They're about the message of Peace presented by the angels.

More sloppy theology

2007-11-26T06:55:00.000-05:00

Hallelujah (Your Love Makes Me Sing)

by Brenton Brown, Brian Doerksen

Every time I see you, all your goodness shines through
And I can feel this God song, rising up in me

Who has seen God?

"God song, rising up in me" ?

The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies

2007-09-22T19:55:00.001-04:00

The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies of St. Stephen University, St. Stephen, New Brunswick, is trying to tackle the problem of producing contemporary songs with deep theological content.

I must admit the the "E-word" in their name raises hackles for me. But they're worth watching (and hopefully benefiting from).

John Stackhouse is not in love with Jesus!

2007-09-22T19:41:00.000-04:00

Dr. John Stackhouse explains here.
HT: Justin Taylor

Interview With DA Carson on Worship.

2007-08-25T21:27:00.000-04:00

Here are some nuggets [each taken out of context] from an interview of DA Carson, PhD, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The entire interview with a followup series of email is available here.

I would abolish forever the notion of a 'worship leader'. If you want to have a 'song leader' who leads part of the worship, just as the preacher leads part of the worship, that's fine. But to call the person a 'worship leader' takes away the idea that by preaching, teaching, listening to and devouring the word of God, and applying it to our lives, we are somehow not worshipping God.

And because it is not only adoration of God and confession and so on, but indoctrination-that is, teaching one another-it needs to be biblically true. A great number of contemporary choruses are impressionistic rather than contentful. You don't come away having learnt a great deal. There are some exceptions, but on the whole that is true and we just have to work harder at this.

My mother died of Alzheimer's disease, over nine years. Nine or ten months before she died, you'd get a small flicker from the eyes or squeeze of the hand if you held up pictures of her grandchildren. Six months before she died, if you sang an old hymn like 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine', you'd get a squeeze. Or a quote from the King James Version that she'd been brought up on. That was about the last thing that produced any response in her. The most deeply embedded memories in that decaying brain were those old hymns and memorised Scripture. There is something worrying to me about a generation that sings choruses that won't last more than five years. There's not much memorization of Scripture, and there's not much memorization of doctrinally profound hymns. I want to see that reborn. Nobody's going to die remembering 'He's a great big wonderful God'.

HT: Jason Taylor's Between Two Worlds

Consumer Soteriology

2007-07-09T08:10:00.000-04:00

We Believe In God
(Amy Grant/Wes King)

Note the couplet:

If you believe in God / if you say you need Jesus
He'll be where you are / and He will never leave you

So much for faith and repentance!

Why do we "need" Jesus?

We believe in God / and we all need Jesus
'Cause life is hard / and it might not get easier

I guess I might have trouble meriting heaven by myself, so I need help of some sort from Jesus. In this song, is he my savior, or my example or friend or therapist or life coach or what??

Phillips, Craig & Dean-- Oneness Pentecostals

2007-05-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

Phillips, Craig and Dean

Songs:

Critique:
Who Says What’s “Christian” Music?

Loving The Trinity

Blurring the Dividing Line:
The Legacy of Phillips, Craig and Dean
by

A theological nuance, but it's the difference between our faith's being man-centered and God-centered.

2007-04-09T17:31:00.001-04:00

Thanks to M.R.H. for his comment under my recent post One Church's Report Card
He quotes from Bob Kauflin at length about Above All. Although there are several things he likes about the song, Kauflin has two serious misgivings:

But two parts bother me, both near the end of the song.

The first is the line "you took the fall." It seems like an understated way of describing what Jesus did. Not wrong, but not the best.

The other problem is the line, "and thought of me above all."

I have no question that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20). But he didn't think of me "above all." Jesus went to the cross to satisfy God's righteous judgment against a sinful humanity. He thought of his Father's holiness, justice, and glory above all. It may seem like a theological nuance, but it's the difference between our faith being man-centered and God-centered. I don't think that's what the writers intended, but I think it could cause some confusion in people's minds. Besides, I think we have other songs that better articulate Jesus died for because he loved us and for his Father's glory. [Paragraphing and formatting by Corner Creature].

Do the words we sing in worship matter to God?

2007-04-09T17:25:00.000-04:00

Bob Kauflin over on his very good blog http://worshipmatters.blogs.com has recently posted about Singing the Psalms in Worship . He begins his post with

Do the words we sing in worship matter to God? More than most of us realize. What we sing teaches us, shapes us, molds us, and affects us.

One Church's Report Card

2007-04-08T21:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Scott Klusendorf's comment (#31) to Dr. Veith's post on Bathos, we are referred to a "Report Card" of songs and hymns published by Trinity Evangelical Church of Ft. Wayne, IN.

Interestingly, one song which I absolutely loathe, they give an A- to Above All. The song makes a great start

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

But right at the climax of the song, it goes from a Christ exalting anthem to a solipsistic mess:

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Excuse me??? Jesus thought of ME above all???? I displaced God The Father from his mind??? What doggerel!

Awesome's Songwriter Never Intended It For Worship Services!

2007-04-07T07:37:00.000-04:00

Comment #49, by Rebellious Pastor's Wife, notes that songwriter Rich Mullins "never intended this song [Our God Is An Awesome God] to be the 'praise song of the '80's and '90's.' He absolutely hated what it became. When he used the word awesome, he meant the true meaning of the word "fills with awe" not "cool or wow" like in Valley girl/surfer slang. He never intended the song to be a worship song. He meant for people to enjoy listening to it.

Ancient Words [transitive verb without object]...

2007-04-07T07:23:00.000-04:00

Here's a comment to Veith's post by Lars Walker:

I'm not sure what the title is, but mine's a praise song with the words, "Ancient words, long preserved..." It includes the classic line: "O let the ancient words impart."
Impart what? "Impart" is a transitive verb! You've got to impart something, be it only banality or or beigeness or hyperglycemia! Nothing just sits there and imparts.

Pathetic writing.

Heart of Worship... ?making up for wrongs???

2007-04-07T07:13:00.000-04:00

Brant E. DeBrow comments about Veith's post:

Thats an easy one for me too: Heart of Worship. See if you can spot anything that is even worshipful about this song. In addition, it acts as though we are doing God a favor by worshipping Him, and perhaps even making up for wrongs by doing it properly.

When the music fades and all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it
When it's all about You
All about You, Jesus

King of endless worth, no one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is Yours
Every single breath
Posted by: Brant

God Will Find Me When I Praise Him[!]

2007-04-07T07:05:00.000-04:00

Here is one of the comments to Veith's post. It is by "Theresak" whose blog can be reached here.

You've brought up the one good thing about CCM and praise songs: they are usually good at making people stop and think about what words just came out of their mouths. Unfortunately, they are also good at misleading the uncatechized soul.

My favorite bad song? That's easy! It's the song that provided me with the straw that broke the back of my evangelical camel:When I Praise by FFH

Here's the lyrics:

Lookin' for love and I lost my way
Another long night has turned to day
Nobody likes to feel this way
So I draw close to you
It's what I'm supposed to do

Lookin' for love and I close my eyes
I run to you with no disguise
You hold me close and say "it's fine"
You take me in your arms
And you soothe this heart of mine

And I throw my hands up in the air
Here's my heart 'cause I don't care-
What they say about me, I gotta praise
I throw my hands up in the air
'Cause I know that You will find me there
Find me when I praise

Lookin' for love and I hide my face(Lookin' for love and I hide my face)
What about the scars and disgrace(Should I hide my disgrace)
But You meet me there in spite of my shame
Your blood covers it all
And You carry me away

The "ear worm" for me was the line that says God will find me when I praise Him. It played in my head over and over, but this stupid voice in my head (my junior high catechized self, I suppose) kept saying, "That makes no sense. God can only find you if you praise Him?" I think "When I Praise" is a perfect illustration of the lie of evangelicalism: that we affect our own salvation. There are many other evangelical anthems, but this one is a great symbol for me.

A stab in the dark.

2007-04-06T14:52:00.000-04:00

I have sought in vain a forum for the criticism of theological shortcomings of the lyrics of hymns and songs used in worship services.

This was inspired by a posting on Gene Edward Veith's Cranach Blog about his Most Hated Song.

Dr. Veith takes issue with Our God is an Awesome God.