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Title: Oh, Be Careful Little Ears : Contemporary Christian Music by Kimberly Smith ISBN: 1-57921-045-7 Publisher: Winepress Publishing Pub. Date: 01 July, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Deceived, disappointed and dumbfounded.
Comment: If it were possible to give a 0 star rating, this book would qualify. I would certainly like to see the evidence that the "Dr." who reviewed this book on March 18th saw, regarding the honest biblical standards he spoke of. I have read the book and found nothing of the sort. 98% of the verses used in this book have nothing to do with the issue at hand. -NOTHING- The very first verse on the first page of the first chapter is about sound doctrine, and the rest of the chapter speaks nothing in regard to that matter, at all. Quite frankly, there WAS no biblical case made for the author's position in this book. One needs to look no further than chapter six, (if you can make it through the first 5 that is) in order to see this. The language Kimberly Smith uses is SUBJECTIVE, with words like, "appears" "we'll call this rhythm carnal, or unnatural" etc. As I mentioned above, the verses at least most of them have literally nothing to do with the topic. This is bad proof-texting at best, and poor, poor, poor biblical hermenuetics at worst. It seems this book stems from a personal bias against rock music rather than from a supposed biblical standard that is never actually put forth. Pulling a verse out of context and stretching it to apply to a topic to which it was never intended does not constitute proof. I would recommend reading Romans 14 instead of this irrational jumble of something the Pharisees would have been proud of. I have no doubt Mrs. Smith is sincere in her motive, yet she herself admits sincerity can't be the basis for truth. This review has many words in it, but I can some it up in just one - WOW.
Rating: 4
Summary: Read the Book Before Bashing It
Comment: Those who read this book with open, discerning minds will find it very difficult not to reconsider the use of contemporary Christian music (CCM), particularly Christian rock music, in the postmodern church today. Yet reviewers will still condemn the book, when it is clear that they have read little or none of it.
A man bashing this book elsewhere defended CCM on the misinformed notion that Martin Luther set his hymns to the worldly songs and brothel music of his time. Therefore, the man reasoned, the church should follow that example with popular music today. Having compiled a list of some 16 excuses which proponents of CCM commonly offer in defense, Mrs. Smith on page 84 exposes the fallacy and myth behind excuse #13, entitled "Martin Luther set his hymns to the tunes (worldly songs) of his day." It is clear that, had the man read "Oh, Be Careful Little Ears," he wouldn't have raised the issue, because Mrs. Smith already had defeated it. In Mrs. Smith's opinion, "The practice of pointing to another Christian so that we may excuse our own behavior is not to be commended."
If we honestly follow the biblical standards that Mrs. Smith summarizes in her book, we must honestly conclude that Christian rock music, the most carnal and prevalent form of CCM today, fails those standards and is completely unacceptable for use in worship.
To potential reviewers: Reviews based solely on prejudicial preferences rather than strictly on book content do potential buyers a grave disservice.
Rating: 1
Summary: Opposition to CCM is an emotional argument, not biblical.
Comment: When deciding whether or not to accept arguments opposed to contemporary music, consider this historical account:
"The church should be a place of purity and holiness, separate from the world and its secular entertainment. How could good Christians conceive of welcoming this worldly instrument into the Lord's house." The wealthy churchman did all he could to thwart the efforts of the "misguided" group that had conceded to accept the sinister gift, beseeching them with tears and even offering to refund the entire price if someone would only dump the ill-fated cargo-a musical instrument-overboard during its transatlantic voyage. Just what was this instrument of such vile associations and shady history? ... The churchman's pleas were left unheeded; the instrument arrived safely in the New World, and the Brattle Street Church of Boston made room for the controversial instrument: the organ. (Quoted from Edward S. Ninde, The Story of the American Hymn [Nashville: Abingdon, 1921] in Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, Into the Future: Turning Today's Church Trends into Tomorrow's Opportunities [Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 2000], p. 231.)
Let us not crucify contemporary music for the perversions by those who are without God in the world. When the Bible speaks of worshiping God with the trumpet, harp, tambourine, dancing, strings, flute, crashing and resounding cymbals (Psalm 150) and the ten-stringed lyre (the ancestor to the 6-string guitar, Psalm 33), why would the music produced by such percussive and other instruments be dismissed as evil? No one continues to see the organ as evil, but it is no more sanctified than guitar or drums. Such an argument is a fallacy.
Christians who understand God and the Bible recognize that sex is a gift from God, yet it has clearly been perverted by sinful humans. But we don't preach against sex in the context of biblical heterosexual marriage. So why would we throw out contemporary music because of misuse? A similar controversy arose when Wycliffe wanted to translate the Bible into English. The religious establishment opposed him, even burning his bones after he'd died. All he wanted was for Christians to have the Bible (the very Word of God) in their contemporary language. To subject contemporary music to similar persecution seems ludicrous, does it not?
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Title: Let Those Who Have Ears to Hear by Kimberly Smith ISBN: 1579213189 Publisher: Winepress Publishing Pub. Date: 15 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $10.99 |
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Title: Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement: Confessions of a Former Worship Leader by John Blanchard, Dan Lucarini ISBN: 0852345178 Publisher: Evangelical Press Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: Pleasing God in Our Worship: Today's Issues (Today's Issues) by Robert Godfrey ISBN: 1581340796 Publisher: Crossway Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense by John M. Frame ISBN: 0875522122 Publisher: P & R Publishing Pub. Date: 01 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $10.99 |
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Title: Reforming Our Worship Music (Today's Issues (Wheaton, Ill.).) by Leonard R. Payton ISBN: 1581340516 Publisher: Crossway Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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