Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians - Way of Life Literature

THAT BANNED HIS MICHAEL BOLTONISH HITS WEREBARRAGED WITH NASTY CALLS. ‘THEY WERE MOREANGRY WITH US THAN WITH MICHAEL ENGLISH,’ saysMark De Young at WNAZ in Nashville. ‘ey weren’tcondemning of him at all’“ (emphasis added) (“God and theMusic Biz,” Newsweek, May 30, 1994).at’s the CCM crowd, for you.Later in 1994 English gained “crossover” success recordingsecular music. He recorded the song “Healing” withWynonna. e song was featured in the R-rated movie SilentFall, which received it’s rating for “violence, gore, profanity,and vulgarity.”A photo of English adorning the cover of his 1996 album,Freedom, shows the liberated gospel singer with long hair,scruffy beard, an earring, and a hard, rebellious stare. In thesong Freedom Field from this album, English sings:“Old man religion, I’ve got your name/ e best part of myyears were wrapped up, tied up in your thang/ Should youwake one early morning, to the sound of breaking chains/ I’llbe dancin’, I’ll be dancin’.”It sounds like English is blaming religion for his problems,that he is looking upon religion as a bondage. If this is not hismeaning, it certainly is how many country-rock music fanslook at religion. In this song English makes no distinctionbetween true religion and false. e Bible uses the term“religion” five times. ree times it refers to the “Jewsreligion” (Acts 26:5; Galatians 1:13,14) and two times it refersto “pure religion,” one of the marks of which is to keeponeself “unspotted from the world” (James 1:26-27). Manywithin Contemporary Christian Music would label James aPharisaical legalist for demanding such strict separation fromworldliness.e single released from English’s Freedom album quicklyrose to the Top 20 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chartbecause it resonated with this rebellious generation, and the94