Back to Carman

First off, I've always dug the guy. I like his heart for our Savior and his passion for evangelism. And yes, I believe he has a lot of God-given talent that he has used for the Glory of our Father (albeit I don't personally agree with some of his beliefs).

Here's my main riff though- I read an article from a 1988 CCM magazine and to summarize, Carman is very exclusive. He expressed his opinion that Christian popular music is more for entertainment and not so focused on evangelism as it "should be". He pretty much sets himself apart from 90% of CCMs artists as if somehow he's doing more of God's calling and commands than any others. Now he didn't say this, but it's sure how he came across. (My response was, that method cannot reach everyone, and there are many artists/bands that are different parts of the One Body doing different ministries effectively)

My take on this is twofold- First, he completely misses the Scriptural concept of one ministry being the feet, another the hands, another the ears... you know, each in the Body of Christ with different callings towards the same goal. In this article he all but writes off the majority of artists in Christian music as not allowing themselves to be used as evangelists.

My second beef is this- I went to his website today ( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) and lo and behold, just like every month's issue of "O" with Oprah on every single cover, there's Carman - THREE pictures of him plastered on the home page. Delving deeper, it's Carman in every nook and cranny of his site - even a video that goes through all his achievements and accomplishments separating him from all other artists and just lauds him as some amazing person who's accomplished so much by himself. The video is very haughty.

So I said all that to say this - I like some of his music and always will, but I believe it's a trap to put so much attention on yourself and your own accomplishments (or current works) IF you're gonna make such claims as he did in this CCM article I read. There is a sense of hypocracy and self righteousness whether he realizes it or not. He said that the goal of his music and performance is to bring Glory to God, yet all I see is Carman, Carman, Carman.

Your take on this ? (and this is not a Carman-bashing thread, just a realization that no matter how much you dedicate yourself to Christ and evangelism, as a musical artist, that spotlight tends to shine just a little brighter on the deliverer of the Message)

It sounds like the sin of pride...which probably hits most people in the entertainment business (musicians, actors, professional athletes, radio personalities, me, you... etc.) It just get's dispalyed more publically because he is in the limelight. It would be interesting to hear his view on musical evangelism now (he was considerably younger...and probably more niave in 1988). I don't think I ever met anyone who was let to Christ by a Carmen record or at a Carmen concert.

I didn't check out his site, but i suspect there is probably quite of bit "over self promotion" going on as well. It seems like the music business has turned really cut-throat over the last 10 years. I believe that many musicians have been convinced that in order to survive they must promote themselves ad-nauseam....that can come across as self indulgent for even the most humble of artists.

I agree with you guys. I went to the site and had to work much harder than I should have to find a mention of Jesus... in fact, I was on the page about 10 minutes and never found his name. At all.

I admire and respect him for what he's done, and I love him as a brother but I do have a concern about the page being, as you said it Jim "Carman, Carman, Carman." His bio calls him a "cultural phenomenon" at least twice... like he's so much different than lots of other pop artists out there.

I laughed at the pictures at the top. The middle one is "Carman, the Intellectual" and the one on the far right is "Carman, Justin Bieber look-alike contest winner"...

Where to start...

Carmen's theology is 100% word of faith. He is close friends with Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copland and Kenneth Hagan.
My wife used to work for Oral Roberts University when we lived in Tulsa. We were kinds Required to attend alot of the functions held there so we have met alot of the faith movement teachers.
Our personal experience with Carmen went like this...He was filming a movie and needed extras. My wife was chosen as an extra. The whole time we were around him he was a complete jerk. He made sure everyone knew he was the star. He made it clear that he was doing all the extra's a favor by letting them work with an "anointed" star. He had a girlfriend that reminded us of Paris Hilton in both looks and attitude. She made sure everyone knew she was with the star. (Notice I keep saying Star.....) He also was rude to some of the extras and even commented on some of the women's weight.(he has a thing about big gals)...That pretty much tells you how it was being around Carmen. Needless to say we don't think much of him.
I am not allowed to say what I think of the faith movement because I would be breaking the rules but its not good.
As for entertainment vs ministry we have all had that debate many times. For me its all entertainment.

Never been a Carman fan in any way .......never heard anything by him that I liked at all......pretty much have no use for him.

Quote :

He is close friends with Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copland and Kenneth Hagan.

Wow, still ?? I thought he had more of a handle on Scripture and would have grown away from all that trash. Really sad.

And yes Gary, as Carman would call it: the Demon of Pride