It's difficult to catalog exactly what makes music worldly rather than spiritual. We could point to loudness, shrillness, over-bearing beat, loud base or all four. We can point to music which creates addictions to stimulation and encourages strife, anger, or fleshly sensuality. These do cause a kind of emotion, a bodily reaction to a noisy pestilence. That emotion is not the Holy Spirit. It is contrary to the Spirit.

Contrast all this with this testimony from Mwanza, Tanzania.

"The congregation erupted in beautiful African harmonious praise that reached the heavens. The praises in Swahili lifted us all into another state, into the presence of the Lord. The words were in Swahili, but I heard the voices of angels."

"The choir treated us to beautiful singing, coupled with the African synchronised worship with dance. Every word, every chord, every motion, every drum beat, every hand clap seemed to speak of glory, honor and praise to our God in heaven."

Note that everything is for glory, honor, and praise of God. What a huge difference!

Voodoo beats are used to conjure demons and actually cause brain dysfunction when scientific studies are done. These beats are ancient in voodoo, but have only been introduced to Western music since about the 1920s. They were first used in Jazz and Blues, then in Rock, and Rhythm & Blues. Now, they can be found in almost any kind of music, even so-called Contemporary Christian Music. These also cause an emotional excitement that seems to be rooted in the confusion that is brought on by beats that are working so effectively against the creation of God. These are the kinds of beats that result in no anointing, just coolness.

The beats are easy to detect. They follow certain patterns. Screaming heavy-metal guitars are easy to spot. There is an area, however, where discernment is more difficult. One of the problems is that exposure to certain types of music actually work against our ability to receive wisdom and discernment from God. The more subtle evil is difficult to describe, except that it gives one of several moods that are against God. It may be a mood of rebellion, lust, sensuality, drunkenness, silliness, disrespect, or any such thing. It may lead to lifting up a performer rather than Christ. One thing is certain, you will not see these techniques used in a Spirit led service. If someone introduces them, the Spirit lifts from the service and it is no longer a Spirit-led service.

It seems that each worldly technique does mimic, however poorly, something that is real in the Spirit. That's what makes it so easy for the weak Christian to rationalize and fall for the worldly music. In fact, the one who is being deceives will often help in the process of deceiving themselves. It's even easier to rationalize when the weak Christian is concerned about his or her popularity. The Christian who has his or her senses exercised by reason of use is not fooled at all, but many Christians are indeed fooled.

That which produces discord or strife is not spiritual. Some methods convey anger. Music can be earthy and sensual even without words. Music can be used to create a kind of a mind-numbing hypnotic effect. There are musical techniques that are used to send a message of relativism, drunkenness, a questioning of authority and a rebellious attitude. Others. Also, any technique that brings attention to the singer or musician comes from the wrong spirit. Any of these techniques make sense in the world, but don't belong among those who have been called out of the world.

The problem with making a list such as this is that someone will look at it and try to twist it to mean something that it does not mean. For instance, I'm not saying that a singer is in error when people give glory to that singer but the singer never did anything to seek any glory. In that case, the people are in error rather than the singer. On the other hand, there is no quicker way to ruin a true ministry than to give the glory to the person. A true ministry will immediately give all the glory to God and will never seek popularity. One of the problems with the "Christian" recording industry is that is built on this type of earthly popularity.

If you don't like the old hymns, this is a warning sign. If Amazing Grace, The Old Rugged Cross, Just As I Am Without One Plea, or A Mighty Fortress Is Our God seem to be boring to you, it is time to get help. The old hymns, drenched with the holy anointing of the Holy Spirit, and filled with the deep messages of the Gospel, should move you beyond words. If that's not happening, your faith has died in you. Sometimes it is good to sing choruses, but we need the depth that is found in the verses of these old hymns. They have stood the test of time. There are new hymns that do have a depth of meaning, and time will tell whether or not they will stand the test of time. I pray that there is enough substance in some of them that they do last. The point is that a disrespect or boredom with the old hymns, or with any other form of the moving of the Spirit of God, is an indication of a spiritual problem.

Probably the most serious violation of spiritual music today is the emphasis, in the Church, on entertainment value. There is far too much emphasis in the Church today on entertainment in every area, especially music. It's been said that the way to build a big church is to keep people entertained and never to make them feel challenged. God isn't concerned with entertainment at all. And God is not concerned with creating big congregations either. God desires a sincere heart. The fact that you could never sell a recording of a certain singer's voice in the marketplace makes their singing no less beautiful in the ears of the Lord. And we ought to be hearing things as God hears them.

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