The Christian music.

What are your thoughts about the current Christian music?
Do you see a difference in the lyrics now and 10 years ago?
Do you think Christian bands are afraid to share bold songs about Jesus and write more "radio friendly songs?
Resterictions of labels and more.
And the newer bands what are your thought about their lyrics?
Do you think "cookie monster" music can honor God with their growling voices?

After I came back from the EoR.
I've thought about things like this.
What is christian music in music styles like death metal?
Want to know what your thoughts are about this.

I don't think much has changed since the 80s as far as the lyrics debate. I've been reading HM and CCM magazines from the 80s and 90s and notice that the biggest debate then was that many bands write whatever they want and don't include praise/or songs unmistakenably about Jesus or God. It seems that for a long time bands have been doing this - writing songs that are "crossover" worthy, and songs that are just creative (not always about Scriptural things). Then there are a few bands here and there that are hardcore for Jesus and fulfill the Christian's desire to hear several "JPM". There are many great articles on what makes a Christian artist, and a big misunderstanding is being legalistic so that a band calling themselves Christian MUST have Christian lyrics in every song. Music is a gift and I believe that we should honor God with that gift, but honoring Him doesn't always mean singing "I can sing of your love forever" like 8 billion times over and over. Honoring Him can mean a song that honors a person's spouse or relationship with a Believing friend, or political issues that are Pro-God, or Lamentations about the sin in our world, etc.
So yeh, this has been the same since the 80s and I don't see much difference today. One thing we have today that we didn't have 30 years ago is the large amount of bands in the Christian industry. So, the more bands, the more controversy.
I observe many bands today that are very bold about Jesus, but compared to the vast number of bands active now, they are in the minority.
As much as I HATE cookie monster growling, I believe it has a place and can be used of God for the audience that loves that kind of junk. I say, more power to them !
I like very little death metal (it's just not my style), but I believe that God can use ANY style of music from Keith Green to Vomitorial Corpulence.

I think there's alot of "feel good fluff" on Christian radio today, and some of the lyrics are as generic as they've ever been. That being said, there's still some really good material out there. I think there should always be a rock solid tie between Christian lyrics and the word of God, and that's how I form my opinion on popular Christian music these days. Is it really God-honoring (pointing us beack to Him and His word), or is this material that can easily be transferred to secular radio??
As far as "cookie monster" music... For me personally, bands like Disciple or Ultimatum are about as heavy as I go because I prefer to be able to understand the words. I'm old school and that is simply my opinion. I mean, if you see some of these bands live, you can't understand a word they're saying. So unless you're a concert goer that knows the lyrics already, it can be rough from a listener's perspective.
The flip side of that is that I believe God can still be truly honored by a growling type band whether or not the fans understand them. If a band's heart is in the right place and they seek to praise the Lord with their brand of music I believe God still very much appreciates that, because He looks at the attitude of the heart.
Just my thoughts!

LRW wrote:

As far as "cookie monster" music... For me personally, bands like Disciple or Ultimatum are about as heavy as I go because I prefer to be able to understand the words. I'm old school and that is simply my opinion. I mean, if you see some of these bands live, you can't understand a word they're saying. So unless you're a concert goer that knows the lyrics already, it can be rough from a listener's perspective.
The flip side of that is that I believe God can still be truly honored by a growling type band whether or not the fans understand them. If a band's heart is in the right place and they seek to praise the Lord with their brand of music I believe God still very much appreciates that, because He looks at the attitude of the heart.
Just my thoughts!

I'm with you there on both points.

As far as the vocals,cookie monster or not,I am reminded of a verse . Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

I don't think there is anything about how our voices should sound as long as we praise him. Not all of us will sound like the angels but it shouldn't matter.

Plus this...

LRW wrote:

The flip side of that is that I believe God can still
be truly honored by a growling type band whether or not the fans
understand them. If a band's heart is in the right place and they seek
to praise the Lord with their brand of music I believe God still very
much appreciates that, because He looks at the attitude of the heart.
Just my thoughts!

In some ways I think the lyrics are a little better than they used to be. There is still metal praise and worship out there...Scandinavian metal praise is my favorite of all time. I don't think a band has to be about that however to still be a christian artist. I actually prefer lyrics that talk about mordern daily events and life from a christian perspective. At the end of the day though I usually wind up with the classics I have always listened to.