Lansing, MI – What if you don’t find the “one” while you’re at Bible college? What if you end up working with family? Pastor Joe Jackson gives us some insightful looks at these questions and more.
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The Mush God is not the worst of it. The worst of it is the Evangelical Mush God. Listen and be challenged! What do you think? Leave me a voicemail on the Anchor.fm site and I’ll play your call!
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5 Surprises from Mexico Ministry
I thought it was an overrated thing. I really did not expect to have negative effects from the altitude. I’m not in great shape, so I expected to be short of breath, but I thought the answer was to sit down and rest a while. There are a lot more factors involved.
Aguascalientes is 6000-6500 feet elevation. That is higher than Denver. People experience odd effects even in Denver. The biggest thing for me was in the middle of the night, I would wake up feeling like I couldn’t breathe. That’s a panicky feeling. Part of it was that I was suffering with a bad cold I picked up in Michigan before we traveled to Mexico, so my nose was stopped up. Another factor is the fact that it is extremely dry in Aguascalientes, so your throat dries out quicker if you must breathe through your mouth.
I also acknowledge that I’m out of shape, and that doesn’t help. But the first two weeks I was here, I didn’t sleep well, and the night panic was quite intense a few times. After two to three weeks, your body adapts by producing more red blood cells to carry more oxygen and the symptoms abate. I’m doing fine now and am glad to be! I can walk a quick mile with no trouble. (For more interesting info, head here: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/altitude-sickness-topic-overview.)
Mexico is blazing hot, right?
Not if it is the winter and you are at a high altitude! The days can get up to 70 degrees, but the nights really drop down. When your buildings are made from brick and cement, it can get extremely cold. I was working in the office past midnight, and I realized the temperature had dropped to 48 degrees! Just a bit cold.
Of course, those cement buildings are a relief during the hot days, so I wouldn’t change it if I could.
I am a communicator by nature. I find it extremely frustrating to be in a situation where I cannot communicate! Perhaps that motivation in even the simple life situations is a subconscious help to me. I have learned much simply by going to the store, getting gas, ordering items, being a guest in the homes of people, and such like. I’ve barely been here a month, and the sentence structure makes sense to me.
I was at a church about an hour away last Sunday, and the men and ladies divided up for prayer. We all received 3 note cards with lists of prayer requests written on them. I understood all the requests well, with only one or two words misinterpreted. That’s a major reason that we’re down here because it isn’t just the book learning of vocabulary. It’s actually talking with Spanish-speaking people.
I was told the story of one individual who had studied Spanish for 4 years and was extremely confident that they could communicate on an upcoming mission trip. The first Mexican they met rattled off a paragraph and the confidence of the “studied” student vanished. They couldn’t understand a thing! Book learning and “on-the-ground” learning are not necessarily the same thing.
I understood 80% of last Sunday’s message. I was excited.
It really does feel like home. Don’t get me wrong: I do miss folks in the various places we travel. And I’m pretty sure that when our time here is completed, I’ll be ready to see folks we haven’t seen in a while and minister in churches where we have meetings scheduled in the fall.
But that is going to feel like a trip. Like a trip “away from home” where you go see family or friends. It is home here.
Call me crazy, but I thought that I could start singing in Spanish with a believable sound. I thought this because I’ve sung in other languages in the past, and you can learn to sing in Italian, German, etc. by simply learning how to pronounce the words, even if you don’t know what each individual word means.
I’ve tried several songs in Spanish, and I’m terribly dissatisfied with the results. I realize that I hold myself to a very high standard in music, and my in-laws and my wife have been encouraging by telling me I’m a great deal ahead of the average American who comes down to learn Spanish. But to my ears, telling me I’m “miles ahead of the average” isn’t good enough. I desire to produce music in Spanish that sounds authentic.
I guess that’s going to take longer than a month.
Pastor Bakss writes, “We simply must get to the point when we can talk about these issues in a calm way without assigning malicious motives to those with whom we do not agree.[1]
It is in this spirit that I write this critique. I agree with 80% of this book. It’s the other 20% that spoils most of any benefit for the conservative Bible-believer. The smallest leak can empty the largest reservoir.
In my critique, I do not assume to be anything other than a fellow servant of Christ, leaning in to be more like Him every day.
I appreciated Pastor Bakss’ tone throughout most of the book. His desire to be biblical is obvious in the sections dealing with worship in the Old Testament. His attempts to be practical are perhaps his strongest points, no doubt influenced by decades of pastoring. Frankly, I’m tired of condescending books or other media that just make fun of conservative viewpoints without really dealing with the root arguments. This is not one of those books.
He wastes no time immediately zeroing in on the key issues that define the debate and constantly circles back to his assertions on those points. I happen to disagree with many of his assertions, but wasn’t any doubt as to what he was saying. At least we are talking about the real issues. A few examples:
“Music styles are basically blank slates on which we impose our creative ideas of all kinds — good, neutral, and bad. No style is right or wrong per se. . . .”[2]
“The Bible is silent on the style of music God likes. The Bible doesn’t have an official soundtrack.”[3]
“Music is important to God and He mentions it over 500 times in the Bible. However, no notes or styles are mentioned in the Bible, which indicates God has no musical preference.”[4]
People on all sides of issues of application like music have a tendency to fall short of accurate exegesis of Scripture. Those who are more conservative are tempted to make the Bible say more than it does, while those who are more liberal can easily succumb to making the Bible say less than it does.
He makes an excellent point about the common confusing of the words “body” and “flesh.” He goes to great lengths to show that it was a Gnostic teaching that the physical body was evil, and so led to heresy concerning Christ coming in the flesh. I appreciated this accurate exegesis, even though it damaged several conservative arguments many hold. More on that later.
I mostly agreed with him that music itself, without words, does not carry morality in and of itself. This does represent a more recent understanding for me, (compared to my early ministry in the 90’s and 2000’s) and something I’ve been considering for the better part of a decade.
I do teach that music carries emotional influence which, when coupled with words, creates morality. I’ve made small adjustments to my terminology as I’ve taught and written on the topic over recent years to better reflect my thinking.[5] However, I do have to add that a good portion conservatives I’m around actually mean this when they speak of morality of music. They’ve just hung on to the terminology.
One other good point to mention is that reading this book has caused me to seriously examine my own music theology. Above all things, I want to be biblical. Our allegiance should be to Christ and His Word, not tradition for tradition’s sake. In a healthy way, I was forced to consider what I believe to be biblically defensible and experientially defensible. For that I am grateful.
The first major problem I have with the book is his handling of this well-known passage where Christ gives the Samaritan woman the keys to true worship. Bakss tries to draw a tension between the how we worship and the Who. This is the source of the worship wars.
“Because many ignore the main issue and focus on how we worship, it causes us to lose sight of Who we worship, which in turn creates the worship wars.”[6]
He says that when Jesus spoke of worshiping in spirit, He was speaking of the subjective side of worship[7]. Later, he says that spirit means we “dare not neglect the emotions (spirit) [emphasis mine][8]. Throughout the two or three pages he repeats this use of the term spirit to mean emotions, mood, atmosphere, etc., as opposed to the Truth, which is objective. He states:
“The important thing is that we keep the right balance [between spirit and truth].[9]
Bakss falls into a common error regarding the meaning of this passage. Jesus is not referring to “emotions” or a feeling when He speaks of worshiping in the spirit. He is contrasting the Samaritan woman’s dependency upon a physical location of worship. We worship in spirit, meaning we do not need confirmation from our physical 5 senses that worship is taking place.
Paul repeatedly tells us this in more detail. Philippians 3:3 tells us that we worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Like Bakss points out in other places, just because the word “flesh” is used doesn’t mean it means sinful part of us. Here it just means our physical body. That understanding strengthens the contrast. Paul is informing us that we do not need our emotions to validate that we are having a true worship experience!
This flies in the face of what Bakss tries to make the passage say. We need emotions AND truth, in a right balance, seems to be his thought. That sounds nice, but it isn’t at all what Jesus was saying to the Samaritan woman. I wish he would have been as exegetically alert here as he is when it suits his point.
Is it a balance between spirit and truth that we need anyway? No, it is 100% of both. Much like God’s holiness and love, it is not a “balance” between the two that is biblical. It is a full and accurate understanding of what both terms actually mean. I was disappointed in this common but erroneous treatment of this passage on worship.
Bakss took time to redefine what psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs mean. I didn’t disagree with his more refined treatment of psalms and hymns, and I almost skipped over his thoughts on spiritual songs.
“Spiritual songs are songs sung to the Lord or about the Lord and often contain words of testimony. . . . Another thought on this type of song is that this may refer to a Spirit-led song. I am not suggesting this is in the same category as inspired Scripture, but rather that God may lead a person to compose a song. Paul makes mention of singing with the spirit (I Cor 14:15). The context of this passage deals with spiritual gifts indicating that to “sing with the spirit” is a Spirit-led song [emphasis mine].”[10]
Whoa! what is this independent Baptist talking about? Is he talking about prophetic songs, a la Sovereign Grace’s Bob Kauflin, a continuationist? Is he referring to songs somehow partially inspired by God, just not on the same level as Scripture? I don’t want to assign beliefs to Bakss that he does not hold, and in a different chapter he insists in a footnote that he is a cessationist on the topic of spiritual gifts. But I find this statement unclear at best and suspicious at worst. I wish he would explain why he favorably quotes Pentecostal worship leader Darlene Zschech,[11] Pentecostal author Amanda Ferguson published by Hillsong Church,[12] and Rick Warren. He considers them worthy of note but discounts others who actually share his theological positions but are more conservative on music.
I felt like I had read portions of this book before. As it turns out, significant portions were based nearly verbatim from Steve Miller’s 1993 book, “The Contemporary Christian Music Debate.” Some are footnoted, some are not[13]. Clearly Bakss’ thought process was influenced heavily by Steve Miller’s writing. As such, he repeats some of Miller’s errors, such as:
He tries to draw some lines based on his own preferences. He doesn’t think rap, heavy metal, and other such styles should be used in a congregational setting (for now!). This illusion of drawing lines is already proving to be enough to cause some pastors to think, “See? He does draw lines. We can trust this book.” I call it an illusion because it is based on sand. If everything is relative, how can we truly draw any lines at all beyond personal preferences? Frankly, I’m not interested in his personal preferences. The bulk of the book takes the time to relegate everyone’s positions on music to personal preference anyway.
Very early on, he tells us that it was misunderstanding, ignorance, and pride that kept him conservative on worship music. I greatly appreciate his candor in admitting this. These are things that easily beset any of us. May we grieve and confess our pride as God reveals it to us.
I must also point out, however, that this has the effect of painting anyone who is conservative on music as ignorant, proud, and simply misunderstanding of the issue. Wouldn’t it be fair to point out that there are some who refuse to consider a conservative viewpoint out of misunderstanding, ignorance, or pride? The sword can cut both ways.
Another example is found in this statement:
“I have learned the only way to seek to resolve the tensions, traumas and tragedies resulting from the worship wars is not by relying on and accepting the passing whims of psychology or the dogmatic assertions of the musically elite…”[15]
Isn’t that a statement that assumes a lot? I could just as easily flip it the other way: “We should learn the only way to seek to resolve the tensions resulting from the worship wars is not by relying on and accepting the passing whims of the lastest Christian pop best-seller or the mocking statements of mega-church worship leaders.”
There are numerous small statements with which I take issue[16], and other “assumptions[17]” that seem to undergird his writing with which I disagree.
“The amount of time we spend focusing on worship music styles is a strong indicator that many have little understanding of the heart of worship.”[18]
Really? Is this true? We spend a lot of time on worship styles because we’re ignorant? Or could it be that our hearts’ desire is to honor God with the best possible sacrifices of praise? Numerous examples of this type of assumption are throughout the book.
“All you have to do is drop in on a rock concert or go to a sporting event at a nearby stadium to see amazing worship. People are “going for it”: lifting their hands, shouting like crazy, staking their claim, standing in awe, declaring their allegiance. Interestingly, these venues are filled with the same forms of worship mentioned in the pages of God’s Word the same expressions of worship that God desires and deserves.
“The worship was phenomenal, demonstrating the God-given capacity for adoration that is rooted in the soul of every person. This clip was an amazing picture of worship. All elements of worship were present – singing, lifting up of hands, clapping, shouting, bowing down, crying and standing in awe. These are all the expressions of worship we are called to give to the Living God.”[19]
Pastor Bakss is in the midst of describing a Michael Jackson concert. I understand his point is to show us that worship is much more all-encompassing that we think it is. It is important to note that the only qualification he gives is that this worship is directed to the wrong subject (MJ) and not to God. We should strongly disagree with this.
He makes no mention of the lewdness, uncleanness, and other sinful behavior that goes along with worshiping a rock star. He makes no mention of the sexual dancing and other movements that Jackson, his backup dancers, and virtually every other major rock star uses to manipulate the crowds. Beginning with Elvis “the Pelvis,” sexual movements have gone hand-in-hand with rock music and their crowds. Simply replacing the object of worship with God
The character and nature of the person being worshipped has a tremendous bearing on the manner in which the worshipers act!
I watched the video clip he talks about. It was actually quite tame compared to what happened at many Michael Jackson concerts. HOW did the prophets of Baal worship? They certainly gave their all. Their all included cutting themselves while working themselves into a frenzy. Is that how the God of heaven desires to be worshipped? Of course not.
We do NOT agree on the interpretation of worship. He has assumed that what happens in rock concerts are GOOD EXAMPLES OF WORSHIP, just ascribed to the wrong god. What I must point out is that the “god” being worshipped will influence the “HOW” of being worshipped. Whereas Brother Bakss is putting the emphasis on “taking the focus off of …our preferences” and is trying to direct us to be “united” we MUST understand much more about what he believes is appropriate in worship.
Creationist Ken Ham’s ministry has identified “Arguments Christians Shouldn’t Use” in defending the biblical account of creation. “Some arguments are wrong, even if what they are arguing for is ultimately right.”[20] The reason we shouldn’t use those arguments is that when an evolutionist defeats a bad argument, it appears as though they are in the right!
Over the years in my travels in independent Baptist churches, I’ve compiled a list of poor arguments for a conservative position on music. This list includes the following:
While some people think I’ve made these arguments because other conservatives have, I’ve worked very hard not to. I’ve even gone to lengths to illustrate syncopation is not evil by utilizing the same demonstration Bakss mentions in his book (The Hallelujah Chorus)!
So then what is so “PAINFUL” about the book?
It is painful to read Bakss systematically dismantle bad arguments that are traditionally used by conservatives. His dealing with the author of the website www.av1611.com (I have no idea who that is; I’ll look it up after I write the review) throughout the book completely lays bare the poor argumentation used. He effectively neuters the “demon-beat theory” used by Bill Gothard (just like Steve Miller did in 1993). He points out flaws in David Cloud’s (Way of Life) logic, and pursues him for elevating of his preferences higher than they should be (among a host of other topics).
Particularly painful was his focus on the book co-authored by Frank Garlock and Kurt Woetzel, Music in the Balance. While I’ve never met Kurt Woetzel, I am extremely close with the Garlocks and Hamiltons. Dr. Frank Garlock is one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever known. But what is even more impacting is that he is one of the most godly men I’ve ever known, with a heart for God, the Word, and the mission field. He is sacrificial, and the true definition of a servant.
He’s also been one of the most vilified by pro-Christian pop adherents for decades because he was the lone opponent of Christian rock music in the 1960’s with arguments that were based more on Scripture than culture shock.
Bakss’ assails Garlock after pausing for a moment to laud his character and mental acuity. He claims that Garlock’s template that the melody appeals to the spirit, the harmony to the soul, and the rhythm to the body is unbiblical and is metaphysical in nature. Because it is nowhere found in Scripture, it is to be discarded with extreme prejudice.
He immediately must acknowledge, however, that Scripture does seem to indicate that melody is prescribed. It would seem to me to follow (logically, not explicitly, I grant) that rhythm appeals to the body. Isn’t that kind of obvious? All that’s left is the harmony. I guess I don’t see that as much of a stretch.
Other places, however, Bakss’ assessment hits harder. This is particularly true in his attacking of John Diamond’s place in the Garlock/Woetzel book. I believe I know why conservatives began using psychological and scientific arguments; it was a reaction to more liberal Christians demanding psychological and scientific evidence back in the 70’s and 80’s! People wouldn’t trust a simple application of Scripture.
The inclusion of behavioral kinesiology and other similar approaches should have been abandoned long ago.
The one argument he never addresses?
If music style has emotional influence, and becomes a moral entity once words are added, how do we draw lines as to what is moral and what is immoral? He tries to skirt around this several times by saying that we shouldn’t be allowing sensuality into our worship music. But if styles don’t say something consistent who is to say that it is sensual?
This book has a lot of Bible references. This book has a lot of good thoughts. This book is written by a man with a pastor’s heart and years of faithful service to the Lord.
But I’m saddened because I believe this book will open up the floodgates for overreaction.
One church after I had finished a message on music, the pastor got up and editorialized on what I had said. He took a much more extreme position than I did, but he made it seem like I had preached all kinds of things I had not said! What could I do? I left feeling sad, misrepresented, and a little frustrated.
Those are the same emotions I experienced after completing this book. Bakss does destroy some arguments that should not be made. And he does a thorough job.
Here is the cold, hard truth: this book has the potential to be a “death blow” to conservative music philosophy as taught in most independent Baptist churches and schools. I feel this way because most teaching on this topic utilizes bad arguments.
Bad arguments do not survive this book. Bakss sweeps them all away. The time has come to drop any of the side issues (molehills), bad arguments (misrepresentations).
[1] Kindle location 219.
[2] page 59.
[3] page 47.
[4] page 38.
[5] This is best represented by my approach to musical style as attitude. Attitude affects the overall communication of what one is saying. I’ve avoided saying a particular style is moral or immoral of itself as I think it isn’t precisely accurate.
[6] page 19.
[7] page 21.
[8] page 22.
[9] page 22.
[10] page 30.
[11] page 42.
[12] page 40.
[13] such as page 100-101.
[14] page 147.
[15] Kindle Location 204.
[16] His inclusion of a chart (pages 111-113) of the largest churches in America in 1969 and how they either transitioned to more contemporary style of worship or faded makes me uncomfortable. Perhaps because it smacks of using numbers to authenticate, a la Rick Warren?
[17] such as the idea that Paul used a secular poet of his time so that justifies our use of whatever style we choose
[18] Kindle Location 263.
[19] Kindle locations 305-307.
[20] https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/arguments-to-avoid/arguments-christians-shouldnt-use/, accessed 12/30/2015.
Sometimes it just doesn’t work.
I’m talking about songwriting. Or it could be about arranging. A sermon. Or even recording. Sometimes, an idea just doesn’t work. You can hang with it for a while, investing precious time and energy and it just doesn’t sparkle like you want it to. What do you do?
1) It releases you from emotional investment.
Consider this “cutting the cord.” Sometimes, when we hang with a particular project or way of doing the project, we get emotionally invested in it. If we don’t get emotionally involved with our work, then there is a problem! When our investment just isn’t paying off, sometimes letting the emotions go can give you that sense of lift that will help spur you on to a reboot.
2) It gives you the opportunity to save the gold nugget.
In the midst of your song, was there a great harmonic “accident” that was perfect? Analyze it and keep that idea, maybe even expanding it in the new, “2.0” version. Was the introduction brilliant? Did you learn something about how you mixed the project, even though the project itself didn’t turn out? Keep that as a building block for the next version.
Maybe by taking the seed idea from the Bible study you’re working on, you can drop the rest and start over. But with the key idea, you’ll be better off starting afresh.
3) It grows your 6th sense about what works.
Do you ever wonder how people can get that sense that something isn’t going to work? Or they have a real belief that some song has real potential. That knack for picking winners isn’t developed overnight. It is cultivated by being able to zoom out from one’s current situation and see the bigger picture. When we get all wrapped up in what we’re doing, it is hard to see things from that needed, larger perspective. But if you get in the habit of being able to cut the cord, your sense of what works in the larger scheme of things will get stronger. That will help you on future projects.
So let it die if needs to die. Let it die so that it can live again.