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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/1/2008 6:55:01 PM
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Dagwat
Posts: 53
Joined: 6/13/2008
From: Oklahoma
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quote:
ORIGINAL: HigherNote4U
I find it odd that so many people love to listen to country music and love it when a country artist records a gospel album or song. I do the same, but still find it odd.
Now, let's think about what would happen when a southern gospel artist or group records a country song...just once...and it makes it big time on the radio airplay. Do you not think that this could help the southern gospel industry? I think that it could.
Here's an example that I thought of. If you go on Youtube you can find clips of Gold City on stage with the Oak Ridge Boys singing some of the ORB's hit songs. When I first saw this I was thinking that they were doomed once this got out. Then I had to think about the fact that they are on stage at a country concert, not acting all stuffy, not singing what most non-church goers think we all sing...straight out of the hymnal classics. I would almost bet money that some of the people in that concert went home and "Googled" Gold City that had no idea who they were. It planted a seed somewhere along the line and I bet that some of those people have seen them in concert since...in a church, and hopefully got saved because they thought outside the box a little. Again, I thought the worst in the beginning but I think it could be a blessing.
Anyone disagree?
Well, as to whether or not it might work, PERHAPS, BUT I also think it could go very wrong. If that group started finding great success in the Country music field, they might be tempted to switch over completely and lose their ministry altogether. If you give the devil an inch, he will become your ruler. I'd sure hate to see Southern Gospel groups start doing this, and little by little start crossing over and next thing you know they're singing in honky tonks, dancing, drinking and living a whole different life than what God called them to. I think perhaps Southern Gospel groups would be better off just doing what God called them to do, and leave the rest alone. No use tempting God, or casting their pearls among the swine as the Bible puts it. I do not mean all country singers are like swine, but there is a persona about country music and the places it's performed that doesn't exactly line up with Godly principals. We see country groups perform in concert at an arena, or on stage at the Ryman theatre or something and we sometimes forget that many of these same singers do their singing in bars and nightclubs. Let's don't walk the line. Jesus said to let your yeas be yeas and you nays be nays. In other words, black or white, no grey areas. I think when we start to cross lines, we become open to things we shouldn't.
I just think like this. If you will be yourself, be what God called you to be, do what you are supposed to do and do it the way it's supposed to be done, then God will make it work. He will also lead others to you that HE WANTS ministered to by you. We must stop thinking WE HAVE TO REACH a certain group, a certain age range of people, a certain field that doesn't go with what we think our ministry is all about, and LET GOD REACH THOSE PEOPLE. He knows how to get them there to hear the message He has given you to share. And it's THAT message, the WAY HE GAVE IT TO YOU, that WILL reach those folks, once they are there. It's not about US and OUR ABILITY to appeal to others, it's about submitting oursleves to what God asks us to do, and LET HIM MAKE THE APPEAL to those that are lost. Jesus is the one who died for their sins, not you or me. We can't reach them, no matter what we do. Only God can and He knows exactly how to do it with nothing from us except obedience.
I listen to SOME country music, but not like I used to do. Much of it does not promote the kind of life I want to live so I avoid that part. What I listen to, is also not at a concert, but on radio or my own private collection. I don't go to see country singers live. I like the music or least SOME OF IT (most of the music, not a lot of the lyrics) but I'm not going to seek out those groups and keep up with them like I do Southern Gospel groups because I don't really know what kind of life many of them are living. They might be living a great life, but I don't see a profession of a Godly life, which I do with Gospel groups. Big difference. I especially love to hear country singers sing Gospel. I think it's great and can be used of God just like anything else can. But there is a difference between God using a secular genre to reach the lost and those singing Southern Gospel and ministering the Gospel of Christ, placing themselves in a secular venue to try to do the same. They don't belong there and you can almost bet the devil will use it against them SOMEHOW......... that's just the way he works. Thin ice... IN MY OPINION.
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/1/2008 7:07:08 PM
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i_heart_jesus
Posts: 19
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Dagwat
I listen to SOME country music, but not like I used to do. Much of it does not promote the kind of life I want to live so I avoid that part. What I listen to, is also not at a concert, but on radio or my own private collection. I don't go to see country singers live.
Why not go to a concert? Jesus sees that you listen to the music at home or in your car from your private collection.
quote:
I like the music or least SOME OF IT (most of the music, not a lot of the lyrics) but I'm not going to seek out those groups and keep up with them like I do Southern Gospel groups because I don't really know what kind of life many of them are living.
Nor do you probably have any idea what kind of lifestyle some SG artists are living. I'd rather go see a Country Artist who isn't living a lie than go see a SG artist who is singing about Jesus on stage and then living unfaithfully off stage. Wouldn't you?
quote:
They might be living a great life, but I don't see a profession of a Godly life, which I do with Gospel groups. Big difference.
And you see this "profession" in SG singers because they sing about Jesus? hmmm. Most Country artists who are Christians aren't afraid to tell you that they are. Some SG artists don't give Jesus a second thought once the weekend's up.
quote:
I especially love to hear country singers sing Gospel. I think it's great and can be used of God just like anything else can. But there is a difference between God using a secular genre to reach the lost and those singing Southern Gospel and ministering the Gospel of Christ, placing themselves in a secular venue to try to do the same.
How? Are SG artists much too good? The secular venue isn't up to par? Ha. I've been in churches with more back-slidden, prejudice, hateful people than you'd be able to count. Didn't Jesus even eat among the sinners?
quote:
They don't belong there and you can almost bet the devil will use it against them SOMEHOW......... that's just the way he works.
And Jesus is mighty to save. If it's done in the right manner and God gets the glory...it won't matter what the devil tries to do to make the group look bad.
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/1/2008 9:07:37 PM
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TQ_Fan_4_Life
Posts: 3658
Joined: 5/8/2007
From: Fort Rucker
Status: offline
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heart, better watch out. ya might be branded something ya not. 
I do have to say, I saw someone a few posts back judging people. that ain't smart. and I dare say, I have read many Singing News articles where fave artists is listed and wowsa wowsa but who seems to dominate many of the playlists? those same singers being judged. what gives posters? is it because they listen to it, they ok. but if they sing along to it then they gasp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! secular?
please. the fact is that the music has a solid deep background in country music. many of them listen to country because the songs sound similar. care to discuss that? lot of the songs in SG I have heard and not from the country gospel(( wow do i love me some country gospel))) have a country beat and vocal style. just because is covered up with 4 part harmony and the ivories dont hide that.
_____________________________
Let go of a sanitized Christianity and get back to the powerful, raw and ancient faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over safety, and passion over lukewarm and watered-down religion.
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/1/2008 9:50:38 PM
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rogasinger4Him
Posts: 386
Joined: 5/1/2008
Status: online
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Pretty well why I prefaced my comments with I know a lot of folks won't agree with me.
It's a personal thing with me. Before I accepted Jesus as my Savior I did a lot of things that I am not proud of and I did a lot of them while listening to country and rock music. As a part of my changed life I try very hard to avoid any possible temptation to do the things I used to do. Part of that is avoiding the music I used to listen to while doing a lot of thosethose things.
I know how the country and rock music poses a temptation to me that I must avoid and so therefore I cannot allow myself to potentially tempt someone else who may be as weak as me by singing that music. I am not judging whether country music is a sin or not. However I am personally under conviction about it so it would be a sin for me to sing it. I sin quite enough without even trying to go go a do something deliberately that feels wrong in my heart.
For anyone else, rich & famous or poor and unknown, it is their own business and a private thing between them and God as to what kind of music they sing and how it affects their conscience.
quote:
ORIGINAL: bigboytenor
quote:
ORIGINAL: rogasinger4Him
If your heart is truly given to Jesus there's no reason to switch back and forth between singing for Him and singing songs about beer drankin and Cheatin on your spouse.
It is absolutely not my place to try and judge what is in someone elses heart but I know for myself there is no way I could sing what is played on country music stations with a clear conscience.
What a gross generalization of country music. There is a lot more to country music than drinkin', cheatin' and losing your spouse, etc.
I personally think of the fact that God's Word won't return void. If the message is getting out there, someone's being affected by it. If God spoke through a donkey, He can surely speak through a country singer.
_____________________________
Psalm 108: 1-5
Psalm 146: 1-2
http://www.myspace.com/rogasinger4him
Dana
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/2/2008 7:36:23 AM
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Seaton
Posts: 1277
Joined: 5/12/2006
From: Mooresville, NC
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: i_heart_jesus
quote:
I like the music or least SOME OF IT (most of the music, not a lot of the lyrics) but I'm not going to seek out those groups and keep up with them like I do Southern Gospel groups because I don't really know what kind of life many of them are living.
Nor do you probably have any idea what kind of lifestyle some SG artists are living. I'd rather go see a Country Artist who isn't living a lie than go see a SG artist who is singing about Jesus on stage and then living unfaithfully off stage. Wouldn't you?
Yes.
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/2/2008 11:55:52 AM
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HigherNote4U
Posts: 66
Joined: 4/10/2008
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: bigboytenor
What a gross generalization of country music. There is a lot more to country music than drinkin', cheatin' and losing your spouse, etc.
There sure is!!! Have we forgot about our pick-up trucks, that blood hound itching to catch his man, or running late for pickin' mama up from prison? LOL
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/10/2008 1:18:55 AM
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Dagwat
Posts: 53
Joined: 6/13/2008
From: Oklahoma
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: i_heart_jesus
quote:
ORIGINAL: Dagwat
I listen to SOME country music, but not like I used to do. Much of it does not promote the kind of life I want to live so I avoid that part. What I listen to, is also not at a concert, but on radio or my own private collection. I don't go to see country singers live.
Why not go to a concert? Jesus sees that you listen to the music at home or in your car from your private collection.
quote:
I like the music or least SOME OF IT (most of the music, not a lot of the lyrics) but I'm not going to seek out those groups and keep up with them like I do Southern Gospel groups because I don't really know what kind of life many of them are living.
How? Are SG artists much too good? The secular venue isn't up to par? Ha. I've been in churches with more back-slidden, prejudice, hateful people than you'd be able to count. Didn't Jesus even eat among the sinners?
quote:
They might be living a great life, but I don't see a profession of a Godly life, which I do with Gospel groups. Big difference.
And you see this "profession" in SG singers because they sing about Jesus? hmmm. Most Country artists who are Christians aren't afraid to tell you that they are. Some SG artists don't give Jesus a second thought once the weekend's up.
quote:
I especially love to hear country singers sing Gospel. I think it's great and can be used of God just like anything else can. But there is a difference between God using a secular genre to reach the lost and those singing Southern Gospel and ministering the Gospel of Christ, placing themselves in a secular venue to try to do the same. They don't belong there and you can almost bet the devil will use it against them SOMEHOW......... that's just the way he works.
And Jesus is mighty to save. If it's done in the right manner and God gets the glory...it won't matter what the devil tries to do to make the group look bad.
WELL, If you would have read the post I quoted, before you picked my comments apart, you would know I was replying to a post about Southern Gospel artists singing country, not the other way around. I do not attend Country councerts, not because I don't want Jesus seeing me there, but simply because I don't WANT to attend country concerts. It's just not my thing. I WANT to attend Southern Gospel Singings. That's where my heart, and peference is at.
As for your other comments, I agree with you whole heartedly. It's just that to me, it's easier to find someone LIVING THE LIFE for Christ at a good SG concert, as opposed to a secular venue. As for this quote however:
"How? Are SG artists much too good? The secular venue isn't up to par? Ha. I've been in churches with more back-slidden, prejudice, hateful people than you'd be able to count. Didn't Jesus even eat among the sinners?"
I take exception. The secular venue is NOT up to par FOR A CHRISTIAN. If I go to a secular concert I already know before I get there that we ain't exactly having church. That's the whole reason I attend concerts, is to feel the presence of God and assemble with others so like minded. If I WANTED to go to a C&W concert however, the talent and music might be up to par but that is a whole other "par" than the one I was referring to. I have also been in churches like you are referring to, but NOT FOR LONG. Once the fruit was borne and Spiritual discernment revealed the wrong spirit, God showed me I was in the wrong place. The same goes for those groups that you mentioned who do not give God another thought once the concert is over. It's not that hard for a dedicated Christian to tell who is living what they profess, and who isn't. In a secular venue, there aren't that many even professing anything, so you pretty well know the chances are slimmer than they are among a venue where people have dedicated their life, one way or another, to ministry of God's message. Duh!
As for my original post, I am simply saying that if God has called someone to SG ministry and they try to do something else, satan is going to take every inch he is given to try and destroy that ministry. That is the way he works and frankly the person(s) called are better off doing just what God called them to do and leave the other stuff to secular artists. Those folks can get by with doing both formats, it's just not that easy for those in ministry.
"And Jesus is mighty to save. If it's done in the right manner and God gets the glory...it won't matter what the devil tries to do to make the group look bad."
It DOES matter what the devil tries to do, if you're the one he's doing it to. And does God really get glory from those He's called to minister His message, singing secular music instead? What glory is there to God in secular music?
Bottom line. my post wasn't that hard to understand in it's PROPER context, that it had to be picked apart and twisted around to sound like something else. In essence, ALL I WAS SAYING is that I like it when C&W artists sing Gospel, but I WOULDN"T like it the other way around, seeing someone lay down that to which God called them, and sing secular music instead. There is a difference.
In listening to C&W in my own home, car or wherever, I get to select what I listen to and I'm not placed in a compromised environment like MIGHT be present in some live concerts. That being said, I HAVE walked out of a few so-called Christian concerts because I felt the wrong spirit in the place, from those on stage. That is rare however, but YES there are those in gospel music who are there for the wrong reasons and not living a Godly life. God gives us a heart to properly discern the spirits, if we've placed our heart in His hands.
(edited because I really screwed up the quotes first time around)
_____________________________
God knows right where each of us are, and just how to find us, even when we don't want to be found. He doesn't have to send someone down to our level to reach us. He knows exactly how to draw us to His message and to where He has placed it.
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RE: Country doing Gospel - 7/10/2008 2:25:01 AM
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Steve4FWB
Posts: 9
Joined: 6/4/2008
Status: offline
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While I do not hold any type of higher education degree in Southern Gospel music (yes, that's meant as humor), I am a rather newbie to the forum, and for that reason would give a bit of background before I address the issue at hand. I have a background in radio, playing both SG as well as country and even some adult contemporary. Having majored in Church Music in college, I have also served as both senior pastor and music minister in several churches for the past 20+ years. I am currently a worship leader at the church I have attended for the past 3 years.
That having been said, I well remember most country groups / artists recording at least one 'token' gospel song on their projects. I also remember most any television program featuring a C&W artist would end with a gospel number. I place the quotes around 'token' simply because that's how it always came across to me. The earlier ( I believe the original post ) asked for scriptural references to support beliefs and positions. I find it ironic (and actually quite disturbing) that on one of the few posts that lists Scripture, it was sharply refuted. I would add a couple of Scripture references to consider. The New Testament book of James explains that Christians should not be double minded or unstable in our ways. Paul also reminds us along with the Corinthians that, while all things are lawful, not all things are expedient. In other words, there may not be anything WRONG with listening or singing a particular song or genre of music besides that which has a specific gospel message, but is it WISE to do so?
Because of the combination of Scriptural principles (some of which obviously not listed for brevity), I personally choose to enjoy music not by type or genre, but by the message of the individual song. I also take into consideration the known testimony of the performer. No, I cannot judge the performer, but I need to at least be able to inspect the fruit of the person(s). Understanding that Matthew 7 instructs me that the way in which I judge, is the manner in which I will be judged. There are some who sing country who sing some songs I certainly enjoy listening to. If that music can honor God, and not detract from my testimony of living for Him, I see no problem with it. But by the same token, if I led anyone to believe that my support were for SG across the board, I would certainly be less than truthful.
One of the most difficult parts of being in ministry as a vocation is maintaining a Christian testimony in the public eye while at the same time not coming across as the stuffed-shirt Christians that the world sometimes sees, or even expects, us to be. There has to be a balance of ministry with reality that cannot cross the line of Spiritual mediocrity or compromise. The same can be said of those who claim to be a follower of Christ who sing on a public stage. No matter the genre of music they perform for a paycheck, the message they sing should never cause the listener to wonder if their testimony is real.
This has been an interesting and for the most part enjoyable thread to read. I look forward to coming back to read further the opinions of you, my brothers and sisters.
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