Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians - Way of Life Literature

Stonehill doesn’t seem to like biblical guidelines, but Godcertainly requires that His people work within a Bibleframework. Christian liberty is restricted by the Word ofGod. is is not a “hidden agenda” in a Bible-believingchurch; it is an open agenda and it is a right agenda.Stonehill admits that he is rarely in church: “When otherpeople are going to Bible studies and Sunday services, I try tohave the Church of the Airplane, the Church of the Taxi, orthe Church of the Hotel Room” (CCM Magazine, November1985).Stonehill does not believe he has to be concerned “with thefiner points of theological debate.” Instead, his music dealsmostly with human experience. “Just look at my songmaterial. It doesn’t deal with faith and theology on that level.It is much more of a gut level basic message. ... I try to picksongs that deal with God’s grace, God’s reality, God’s love, ourpain, and what kind of confusion we are experiencing in ourculture and all of those things” (Devlin Donaldson, “LifeBetween the Glory and the Fame,” CCM Magazine, October1981). is is the experienced-oriented approach so commonin the lyrics of CCM.Stonehill also does not want to preach via his music: “Idon’t want to preach at people. What I want to do iscommunicate the truth in the most compelling, fresh, andchallenging way I can. I just want to be the best songwriterand performer, unto God, that I can be. at’s the mainthing” (“Kicking Around with Uncle Rand,” Christian MusicReview, April 1991).Of his 1975 album, Welcome to Paradise, Stonehill says, “Ithelped them [the hearers] understand that God really isinvolved in their humanity and that this relationship can becelebrated through rock ‘n’ roll” (CCM Magazine, November1985).Like most Contemporary Christian Music performers,Stonehill “listens to all kinds of music,” including secular rock349