O Timothy April 2011 - Way of Life Literature

W A Y O F L I F E L I T E R A T U R E
how wonderful it was that they could be so united and
what a great thing God is doing today. Each evening
featured about an hour of contemporary worship music,
which united that mixed multitude in fervent “praise.”
But then one evening a large percentage of the 35,000 or
so participants raised their hands to indicate that they
weren’t sure of their salvation. At a press conference the
next day, Dennis Costella of Foundation magazine asked
why the conference didn’t address the matter of salvation
plainly and publicly in order to clear up the obvious
confusion. A Pentecostal leader replied, “We don’t have
time for that.” The more honest answer would have been
as follows:
“We are a mixed multitude. This conference represents 40
different denominations, and we have different ideas
about that. Our Catholic brethren have one idea and our
Lutheran brethren another and there are differences of
opinion even among us Pentecostals. In the context of the
ecumenical movement, some believe baptism is necessary
for salvation; some believe you can’t be saved without
tongues; some believe baptism regenerates; some believe
cooing infants can be saved; some believe salvation must
be nurtured through sacraments; some believe you can
lose your salvation; some believe salvation is a mere
sinner’s prayer; some believe in ‘Four Spiritual Laws,’
etc. So it is impossible to be doctrinally precise on that or
practically any other issue and still keep our unity. As you
know, doctrine divides; love unites, and love is what
really matters. We can’t judge someone else, you know.”
That would have been the honest answer.
And the fact that the vast majority of CCM “artists” have
bought into this wretchedly unscriptural ecumenical
doctrine is why their music should be rejected
wholesale--lock, stock, and barrel--by Bible-believing
churches.
Thus, the first reason why the associations of CCM and
not just the words must be considered is that the Bible
commands us to separate from heresy and even more
particularly from end-times apostasy.
John Styll, the publisher of Worship Leader magazine,
made the following telling observation:
“You can have a pretty straight-laced but theologically
liberal Presbyterian church using the same songs that are
being sung at a wild and crazy charismatic church, but
they use different arrangements and adapt the songs to
their unique settings” (Styll, quoted by Steve Rabey, “The
Profits of Praise,” Christianity Today, July 12, 1999).
Observe that he said that churches “use different
arrangements and adapt their songs to their unique
settings.”
My friends, that is EXACTLY what Lancaster Baptist
Church in California and a rapidly growing number of
other IB churches are doing. Styll, who is totally
committed to ecumenism and who delights in the fact that
CCM is bringing all churches together, understands this
matter much better than the average IB pastor who is
allowing his people to mess around with CCM. Styll
understands the power of music. He knows that if
churches dabble around with CCM they will be hooked
and they will be drawn gradually closer to the ecumenical
thinking and orb and its multitude of heresies and fables.
In an interview with Christianity Today, Don Moen of
Integrity Music said: “I’ve discovered that worship
[music] is transdenominational, transcultural. IT
BRIDGES ANY DENOMINATION. Twenty years ago
there were many huge divisions between denominations.
Today I think the walls are coming down. In any concert
that I do, I will have 30-50 different churches
represented.”
Styll and Moen know that they are talking about. They
know the power of music and the deception of
ecumenism. Forty years ago, who would have thought
that fundamental Baptist churches would be using CCM
on a wide basis in the early 21st century But they are,
and if they don’t set their houses in order they will be
swept along by the flood of compromise and apostasy.
The typical pragmatic IB thinking and the refusal to listen
to “criticism” on the part of the average IB pastor, won’t
get the job done.
2. THE CCM CROWD IS ACTIVELY TARGETING
“OLD FASHIONED” CHURCHES TO MOVE THEM
FROM SACRED TO CONTEMPORARY
These people are real proselytizers. There are
TRANSITION SONGS and BRIDGE SONGS designed
to move traditional churches along the contemporary path
toward Christian rock. From the perspective of the CCM
artists involved in this, they aren’t doing anything sinister.
They are simply and sincerely trying to “feed” the
“broader church.” But from a fundamentalist Biblebelieving
position, the effect is to draw “old-fashioned”
Bible churches into the contemporary orb, and that is
most sinister.
Bridge songs include “How Deep the Father's Love for
Us” by Stuart Townend and “In Christ Alone” by
Townend and Keith Getty.
1 Timothy 6:20,21 5