Tag: Contemporary

Quotes to Note 25: Dorothy Sayers on the Necessity of Fundamental Christian Doctrine

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

I recently finished reading through Collected Writings on Scripture by D.A. Carson (compiled by Andrew Naselli; Crossway, 2010). The book includes not a few technical essays where Carson defends orthodox Christian doctrine on Scripture from innovative theological liberalism. In the conclusion to his essay, “Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: The Possibility of Systematic Theology”, Carson shares a lengthy quote from Dorothy Sayers that is pertinent to his defenses of orthodox doctrine. I intend to share the quote by Sayers here, as well as some of Carson’s remarks which follow it.

“The one thing I am here to say to you is this: that it is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. It is a lie to say that dogma does not matter; it matters enormously. It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity is only a mode of feeling; it is virtually necessary to insist that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the universe. It is hopeless to offer Christianity as a vaguely idealistic aspiration of a simple and consoling kind; it is, on the contrary, a hard, tough, exacting, and complex doctrine, steeped in a drastic and uncompromising realism. And it is fatal to imagine that everybody knows quite well what Christianity is and needs only a little encouragement to practice it. The brutal fact is that in this Christian country not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion about what the church teaches about God or man or society or the person of Jesus Christ.” (emphasis mine, quote from Dorothy L. Sayers, “Creed or Chaos?” in The Necessity of Systematic Theology, ed. Davis, 15-32)

So writes Dorothy Sayers, and I think she is basically right. This chapter has dealt with technical articles and critical judgments, but in the final analysis what is at stake is not some purely academic dispute, but what we preach. (D.A. Carson, Collected Writings on Scripture, pg. 148-149)

The wider American church needs to hear Sayers (and Carson) on this point. It does matter what you believe. The fundamentals of the faith are extremely important. All the warm-hearted feelings and emotion in the world, all the Christian morality and love for mankind, none of this means a hill of beans without clinging to the rock of Christian doctrine which has been revealed to us in Scripture.

In the next few weeks I’ll be sharing another quote or two from Carson’s work and then reviewing the book. I plan on giving away a copy too, so stay tuned!

More on Casting Crowns

~ fundyreformed ~ 4 Comments

Click to see this CD on Amazon (and listen to song samples)While we’re on the theme of music, I thought I’d point out a good review of some of Casting Crowns’ songs by my blogging friend Will Dudding.

It made me remember my previous look at the motivations behind Casting Crowns and Mercy Me, which might be a good follow up to Will’s post for you all to check out. Casting Crowns is one of my favorite Christian music groups and I’ve highlighted their great song: Who Am I?, and also their 2nd album Lifesong, and its title song.

As you see the challenging lyrics that Will shares, maybe one fact should encourage you. This group is enormously popular and has sold more than 2.5 million records in a couple short years. This doesn’t count there newest album which came out a few months ago. The first song on that to hit the radio was number 1 on the charts for 19 weeks straight, which gives you the idea of their popularity.

And in this case, I think this shows that Christians (at least the kind that listen to and follow CCM) are hungering for a deeper message and really are trying to grow in the Lord. Granted I wholeheartedly agree with the criticism that much of CCM is shallow and trendy today. But there is a real turn around happening. And Casting Crowns isn’t the only group producing some real soul-searching, deep, faith-building songs.

To check out Casting Crowns more I recommend using Rhapsody.com which allows you 24 free online songs a month. Just search for Casting Crowns and tune in.

“Across the Lands” by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

~ Bob Hayton ~ 6 Comments

Here is another great song from the authors of “In Christ Alone”. Keith Getty and Stuart Townend are producing what has been called modern hymns. I discuss their work in my post, “The Rise of the Modern Hymn Movement”.

We sang this song in church Sunday. It is a wonderful, God-centered song focused on the global mission of the Gospel. It works well as a congregational song. I hope you are encouraged spiritually by the lyrics of this song, and that if possible, you will aim to incorporate some of these modern hymns into your own church’s corporate worship.

Across the Lands

Words & Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

Verse 1
You’re the Word of God the Father
From before the world began.
Ev’ry star and ev’ry planet
Has been fashioned by Your hand.
All creation holds together
By the power of Your voice.
Let the skies declare Your glory;
Let the land and seas rejoice!

Chorus
You’re the Author of creation;
You’re the Lord of ev’ry man;
And Your cry of love rings out across the lands.

Verse 2
Yet You left the gaze of angels,
Came to seek and save the lost,
And exchanged the joy of heaven
For the anguish of a cross.
With a prayer You fed the hungry;
With a word You calmed the sea;
Yet how silently You suffered
That the guilty may go free!

Verse 3
With a shout You rose victorious,
Wresting vict’ry from the grave,
And ascended into heaven,
Leading captives in Your way.
Now You stand before the Father,
Interceding for Your own;
From each tribe and tongue and nation,
You are leading sinners home!

 © 2003 Thankyou Music.

You can listen to a sample of the song here, or you can listen to 2 versions of the entire song for free on Rhapsody.com: this one from Keith & Kristyn Getty’s CD In Christ Alone & this one from Stuart Townend’s CD Lord of Every Heart. If you would like, you can also purchase sheet music for this song here.

“Lifesong” by Casting Crowns

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

On Feb. 8 Casting Crowns won a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for their second album Lifesong. Winning a Grammy means you are both good and popular. Casting Crowns is definitely popular. Their first album went Platinum (i.e. sold a million copies) within 16 months of its release–making it one of the fastest selling Christian Albums in recent history.

Casting Crowns also happens to be one of my favorite groups. And their popularity actually speaks volumes about Christian Contemporary Music as a whole. Why? Because their songs are not mere Christian fluff dressed up in a popular music style. Their songs convey a deep and thoughtful message that is meant to challenge, provoke, and elicit heart-felt worship. And their songs are really popular for just that reason. In other words, a significant number of CCM fans really care about the message of their songs.

Kim Jones (of ChristianMusic About.com) calls Casting Crowns’ success “a God thing”. She sums up a review of Lifesong as follows:

“Bottom line – my hat goes off to Casting Crowns for a job well done, once again. This is one band that doesn’t soft-pedal their message, even if it is one that people enjoying a “comfort-zone” may not want to hear. It’s apparent to me that their incredible popularity isn’t just due to their obvious talent. It’s what I like to call a “God thing.” Think about it … most people don’t want the errors of their ways pointed out to them, yet Casting Crowns does just that. But people flock to see them and hear their music. I believe that’s because God is opening hearts to see the ugly truths about ourselves so that the seeds that Casting Crowns plants have a place to grow.”
[Read the whole article]

With the announcement of their Grammy Award (winning over the likes of Jars of Clay, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and Michael W. Smith), I felt it would be a good opportunity to highlight some of my favorite songs from their Grammy-winning second album.

Lifesong The title song is a prayer that our life would praise you not just our lips. “Let my Lifesong sing to you”. I blogged about this song in an earlier post, where you can check out the lyrics.

Praise You in This Storm This is a great song which speaks to the problems of unanswered prayer. The solution is “I’ll praise you in this storm…for You are who You are no matter where I am…though my heart is torn I will praise you in this storm.”

Stained Glass Masquerade This song speaks to the typical church-experience: everyone puts on their best clothes and best face to come to church, and no one reveals their deep struggles and problems. We are content to just let church be church and not have our real needs addressed–that would be too risky. But the song says it best:

“…’Cause when I take a look around, everybody seems so strong. I know they’ll soon discover that I don’t belong. So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay. If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too. So with a painted grin, I play the part again, so everyone will see me the way that I see them. Are we happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples with walls around our weakness and smiles to hide our pain?…But would it set me free if I dared to let you see the truth behind the person that you imagine me to be? Would your arms be open or would you walk away? Would the love of Jesus be enough to make you stay?”

Love Them Like Jesus I cried at least the first 10 times I heard this song. It paints two painful situations, which are all too common in this world: a woman losing her husband with a family still to raise, and a couple losing the baby they had hoped for. How do you face such situations? How do you help people in such situations? The song says “Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him. His yoke is easy, His burden is light. You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions, just know that He loves them and stay by their side. Love them like Jesus”. What moves me about this song is how Jesus can offer hope in any troubling situation. And we can offer the hope Jesus has to those who are hurting. It is a lovely song with music that matches the message of the words.

Set Me Free This song, too, wrenches tears from me most of the time when I hear it. It is extremely powerful and moving. The music is harsher to reflect the message. It is the story of the maniac of the Gerasenes (or Gadarenes)–the man who had a legion of demons in him. The song reflects the hopelessness of the man’s situation, and has him crying “Set me free of the chains holding me! Is anybody out there hearing me? Set me free!” The intensity builds through the song, “Who is this man that comes my way? The dark ones shriek, they scream His name. Is this the One they say will set the captives free? Jesus, rescue me! Set me free….” And the climax continues with “As the God man passes by, He looks straight through my eyes, and darkness cannot hide.” Jesus now speaks, “Do you want to be free? Lift your chains I hold the key. All power on Heav’n and Earth belong to me! You are free. You are free…” The song speaks of the greatness of our salvation by highlighting first our great need. All of us were as hopeless as the demoniac without Christ. And then it highlights the glorious power of Christ to set us free. I picture the image of a chained man lifting his chains and crying out “set me free”. But I see the hope that floods his soul as Christ passes by and says “lift your chains, I hold the key!” What a great Savior we have!

There are several other good songs on the CD, but these are my favorites. I encourage you to check out the CD. You can get the whole lyrics to these songs through a simple online search. A biography of the group is available here. And a review of their first album is available here.