Does anyone write christian based songs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter George Parler
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If you're talking about genre as in the style of music, then there is nothing limited about it. It may be that you have been exposed only to a limited number of styles in christian music. For every style of music can also be found in the christian arena, (Country, Rock, R&B, Rap, Metal, etc..)

If you're talking about lyrical content, there are things I can write about concerning this life as well as those things beyond this life. So for me, the area for creativity is wide open.

<><
George
 
Hi George,

It's good to hear from you again! I enjoyed those wise words told to you regarding hypocrites and God. Very powerfull.

Also hello to Joro,
There is CCM material out there that covers everything from the dificulties of single parenthood, ecology, politics the challenges of interpersonal relationships. This is part of my frustration in that this material gets little airplay, marketing or PR attention.

Some of my favorites;
Jan Krist - singer, songwriter very intelligent honest lyrics in a contemporary folk vein somewhat similiar to Jewel etc. great songwriting and no superficial cheerleading mentality. "Black Hat" is one of my favorite songs that deals with the pain if broken relationships and rejection...the chorus goes on to rightly point out...I get so tired of love wearing the black hat/ when its not love that hurts but the lack. "A Wing and a Prayer" her second CD is my personal fave.

77's & Mike Roe - The 77's are an "alternative" styled band with very wide ranging lyrics.
Mike Roe is the singer/guitar player and is a very prolific writer with several excellent solo albums as well. "Safe as Milk" is my personal fave in his solo work. He also has two instrumental albums out.

The Choir - Excellent song writing and production also in an alternative music vein. Lyrical contents include elaborations of strange dreams, the joys and challenges of parenthood, anxiety attacks, tire swings aka "Circle Slide" and being in awe of Gods creation "Wide Eyed Wonder".

Cademon's Call - They turned down several recording contract offers utnill they found one that guaranteed creative freedom and built a large grass roots following by independant releases, touring and fan club info etc.

Charlie Peacock - Every bit as good (if not better) in song writing and style diversity as Paul Simon.
I could name twenty others including The Lost Dogs who had a hidden cover of the "The Good Ship Lolypop" as a gag sung as you would kinda imagine Tiny Tim singing it. It was before song 1 on a CD you had to play song one and reverse button back to find it! We are talking side splitting funny.

You just won't find any of it on CCM radio and you will probably have to special order it at a local retailer and that is if you even know it is out there!

DC talk had cross over hits with "Colored People" about racism and "What if I Stumble" about the pressures of being a role model and living in the public eye on one level and just about forgiveness from your frineds on another level.

The ironic thing is the CCM music industry tried unsuccessfully for years to devolop disrtibution deals into the secular or mainstream music industry. Then the majority of CCM Record Company's were bought out by large mainstream labels and the next thing you know Jars of Clay, DC Talk and Six Pence None the Richer have had hits on secular radio!

Anyway I will stop ranting now but good and even great CCM Music is out there!
Do your best to support it and spread the word when you find it!

Lets hear from others on your favorite CCM songwriting artist or groups. Since this is a songwriters forum lets limit it to artist and groups who write thier own material. Whose writing and artistry do you admire?
 
Hi George,

It's good to hear from you again! I enjoyed those wise words told to you regarding hypocrites and God. Very powerfull.

Also hello to Joro,
There is CCM material out there that covers everything from the dificulties of single parenthood, ecology, politics the challenges of interpersonal relationships. This is part of my frustration in that this material gets little airplay, marketing or PR attention.

Some of my favorites;
Jan Krist - singer, songwriter very intelligent honest lyrics in a contemporary folk vein somewhat similiar to Jewel etc. great songwriting and no superficial cheerleading mentality. "Black Hat" is one of my favorite songs that deals with the pain if broken relationships and rejection...the chorus goes on to rightly point out...I get so tired of love wearing the black hat/ when its not love that hurts but the lack. "A Wing and a Prayer" her second CD is my personal fave.

77's & Mike Roe - The 77's are an "alternative" styled band with very wide ranging lyrics.
Mike Roe is the singer/guitar player and is a very prolific writer with several excellent solo albums as well. "Safe as Milk" is my personal fave in his solo work. He also has two instrumental albums out.

The Choir - Excellent song writing and production also in an alternative music vein. Lyrical contents include elaborations of strange dreams, the joys and challenges of parenthood, anxiety attacks, tire swings aka "Circle Slide" and being in awe of Gods creation "Wide Eyed Wonder".

Cademon's Call - They turned down several recording contract offers utnill they found one that guaranteed creative freedom and built a large grass roots following by independant releases, touring and fan club info etc.

Charlie Peacock - Every bit as good (if not better) in song writing and style diversity as Paul Simon.
I could name twenty others including The Lost Dogs who had a hidden cover of the "The Good Ship Lolypop" as a gag sung as you would kinda imagine Tiny Tim singing it. It was before song 1 on a CD you had to play song one and reverse button back to find it! We are talking side splitting funny.

You just won't find any of it on CCM radio and you will probably have to special order it at a local retailer and that is if you even know it is out there!

DC talk had cross over hits with "Colored People" about racism and "What if I Stumble" about the pressures of being a role model and living in the public eye on one level and just about forgiveness from your frineds on another level.

The ironic thing is the CCM music industry tried unsuccessfully for years to devolop disrtibution deals into the secular or mainstream music industry. Then the majority of CCM Record Company's were bought out by large mainstream labels and the next thing you know Jars of Clay, DC Talk and Six Pence None the Richer have had hits on secular radio!

Anyway I will stop ranting now but good and even great CCM Music is out there!
Do your best to support it and spread the word when you find it!

Lets hear from others on your favorite CCM songwriting artist or groups. Since this is a songwriters forum lets limit it to artist and groups who write thier own material. Whose writing and artistry do you admire?
 
thanks for the words of encouragement!

i wasnt complaining or saying church is bad...

just that its dangerous and i made it out alive!

i have been in other dangerous situations too and survived.

maybe god has a plan for me i dont know.


that guy is right about the lyrics. there are words that you wont find in my songs!

the f word
gd
maybe sh*t im not sure about that one...

:p
 
btw jesus is my brother and he says its ok if i dont want to go to church cause ive been there a lot already and after all it can get really boring! especially when somebody wants to talk for 2 hours without stopping!



:)
 
No Problem Jeep RE: the encouragement,

RE: not wanting to go to church......It is fine to not WANT to go to church, there are good pastors out there that don't want to go many times. There is a biblical problem with NOT going however and Jesus will never contradict the His own Written word. You may be entitled to a week or two off after a bad experience but I gotta be true to the word. I am not here to start a debate with you...you have to make your own decision and I will respect it but I would be amiss without bringing God's word on this subject.

Hebrews 10:23-25 NAS

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithfull; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

If you have not found a church that fits this description you owe it to yourself to keep looking until you find one that does. You may send me a personal e-mail if you would like me to contact some people I trust for some recomendations in your home town. You are missing out and God's kingdom is msising out on your services and participation.

;)
 
see thats what seems really weird.

it is said that these letters written by dudes are the word of god. but the dudes firmly believed that the end of the world was near and they wrote as if it would end soon. certainly within the lifetimes of the ppls they were writing to.

so... did god erroneously believe that the world would end during their lifetimes? obviously not. therefore the letters are not the irrefutable word of god but only letters written by dudes.

the red letter edition has red letters saying not to believe the dudes when they say the end is near. so if somebody says to go to church because the end is near i have to laugh up my sleeve.

it seems to me that there are plenty of ppls who go to church and they are encouraged to do all kinds of things. do they need me at this time? what for? cant they wait a little while?

:)
 
jeap, there is no contradiction... (and I think you know it :) )

every christian is to live as if the end will be here any minute for it says that we don't know "the day or the hour..." of the end...

so as a first century christians so are christians today live (or should) with same expectation of Christs return... now it might seem strange but that's what the Bible teaches and of cource if you don't hold the Bible as authoroty then there is not much we can agree on. Simply because it's just your opinion aganst mine.

If you doubt the Bible or it's origins I would encourage you to find out for your self and research the sobject. THink about this this way:...

- I belive in the bible and try to live by it's principals (lets say 10 commendments for simplisity) then I die .... and thats it... there is nothing... like turning of the switch... (I used to belive this you know) .... so what did I loose in life by beliving and trying to live godly life?..... I don't know.. you tell me :)

Now
- Lets say you don't belive and live your life the way you want .... then you die... and what the bible says IS true... what are you loosing... hm.... eternity with God for starters... and there is certantly no party in hell...

I know this is simplistic and maybe even off topic but take it from person who grew up an atheist ... it's a dark place ... why would anybody want to live with no hope I don't know ... but then there is this thought that I heard that blew me away....

- to be fare to our free choice... God had to make what He offers for us EQUALY appealing to whatever the opposite is ....

Ok I think I'm rabling now ... :)
later
 
im not saying theres any contradiction...

the early christians had every reason and right to believe the world would end within a short period of time. it just goes to show that even they didnt know.

i believe in the bible as the authority that we have. its in the form that was intended for us to have.

it makes us think to try and figure things out. if you pray for understanding and you want to understand then the truths of the bible will be revealed to you little by little.

the names of the saints were written down before the world began so theres not a whole lot you can do about it. with god all things are possible and the important thing is to believe in the one he sent.

:)
 
jeap said:

so... did god erroneously believe that the world would end during their lifetimes? obviously not. therefore the letters are not the irrefutable word of god but only letters written by dudes.



i believe in the bible as the authority that we have. its in the form that was intended for us to have.
Click to expand...

Now I'm confused man...
But maybe you intended it that way... :D
 
i have found that in some versions or translations of the bible it say that women should cover their heads in church and in others it says they should not.

which version is the irrefutable word of god?

assuming for my sake that what im saying is true can both be right?


i really did find that!


:)
 
Jeap,

You are absolutely right in that many people misinterpret the Word of God but that does not invalidate that the Bible as it was written is without contridiction.

Someone misinterpreting the Word has no bearing on the accuracy of the Bible. To imply such is what is known as a "Red Herring" argument. You distract from the original premise with a related falacy to attempt to discredit the original premise.

The majority of misinterpretations i have seen seem to stem from taking an allegory or story picture of the physical world to explain spiritual principals. The part about women not having their head uncovered is a prime example as this has nothing to do with hats or bonnets but is about a spiritual covering of a husband in his duties as the spiritual leader of the family. Husbands and wifes are equal but have differing responisibilities and roles. Equality is about having the same God given value not about having the same roles.

To be more specific to address your question I would have to review that portion of scripture but I have never run accross any discrepancy between differing translations regaurding the message...they just use different wording choices in their translation.

Honestly and with no disrespect intended it sounds more like you are looking for excuses to justify not going to church or pursuing an active spiritual life. That is your God given choice to make and I would never twist your arm to make you change unwillingly.

God's will and desire is that we desire to come willingly. To come any other way defeats His purpose in creating us with a free will in order to have relationship with us.

If you desire God's presense and relationship it is available and real despite what you have been through. If you don't desire His presence and relationship in your life then I will pray for you to desire it and seek it out.

Debating the authenticity of the Bible being God's word is a pointless endeavor...either you believe or you don't and I will never be able to convince you to believe what you don't want to believe.

I sincerely wish you all the peace and happiness you can find but I don' believe you will find it with out God active in your life.
 
hmm

and for that you have to go to a building with a bunch of ppls in it and you have to believe that god actually said every word in the bible himself?



:)
 
RE: Buildings....no the church is not a building a church is the people and yes the whole point is to come to worship God with other peolpe together. We as created beings are deisgned with those needs.

A Christian who does not fellowship as a member of a local church for support, encouragement and accoutability is like a single unarmed soldier walking through the enemy camp in broad daylight with a big bulseye one their chest. Think of it as being a condensor mic with no phantom power...yeah you may be a $5,000 condesor mic but without phantom power you might as well collect dust on a shelf.

RE: "every word" being from God Himself; I just don't see the Bible being worth reading, printing or discussing if it's not 100% God directed and inspired. I mean what is the point of believing just what you want to believe? Lies and deception are like cancer they spread and corrupt the rest of the body. If there is even one untruth in there it would invalidate the whole premise of being God's word. There is wisdom in there that you could apply to your life without buying into the whole thing I suppose but the bible itself claims to be the word of God.

It's like people saying " I think Jesus was a good man who meant and did well but I can't buy into the Son of God thing or Saviour thing". I don't seee how he can be anything but;

a) Who He said He was or,

b) A complete raving lunatic!

To me it's the same with the Bible...if it isn't 100% pure gospel then why bother to read one and who would make any major life changing decision based on there study of it if it was not dependable.

It's like keeping things sterile in the operating room. There is no such thing as 99.9% sterile. If an instrument gets contaminated from contacting a non sterile intrument it is now 100% contaminated and has to be thrown out. Any inaccuracy or untruth voids what it claims to be.

I don't think you can sit the fence on this one.
 
see?

you caught yourself out on this one.

"100% god directed and inspired". no argument from me there! thats in complete agreement with what i said about the bible being in the form(s) that were intended for us.

whether god is actually the author of the letters is subject for debate. you say god wrote the letters and i say the doodz were inspired by god to write the letters.

there IS a difference and an important one!

:)

as for church that is religion and not faith. there are many different religions under the big tent of christianity and ive seen a number of em. ive been to lots of churches many more than the average prsn i would think.

you seem to be someone who has a conviction. you are convinced that you have to go to church. but you dont seem too happy about it...

you are convinced that since you have to go to church then everybody has to go or else they "need ta git saved". they "need ta git right with god".

i dont have that conviction so i dont have that problem!

:)
 
Oh Contrair,

I love going to church and being a part of a community of believers. It has profoundly changed and improved my life. There are plenty of complainers there so if you don't want to be there don't go! I don't want you there if you don't want to be there my friend. I only suggest that you will never be fulfilled withou it.

My point was that you said " Jesus is my brother and HE says it is alright if I don't go."
The Bible is very clear on God's will on this and that false prophets and "angels of light" will come in God's name preachinig another gospel that is no gospel at all. I felt it my responsibility to point out an inconsistacny with your statement and the Bible lest someone be decieved. If the distinction for you of "being inspired by but not written by" gives you the option of choosing wich parts appealing to then I suggest you forget the Bible all together because it is of no use to any one other than a story teller if it is not 100% true.

Yes God did not pick up a pen and write on paper through the years for us but many "inspired writings and books" did not make it into the Bible. Yes there could be a difference to someone between God physically writing it by His hand or using people to write it but the truth is still the truth regardless by whose physical hand it was put to paper by and is of no consequence whose hand did it.



You are correct that there any many denominations under Christianity and there any many that claim to be Christian that are not. My beliefs are rooted above in the Word and if you don't study it for yourself you can get sucked in by some David Koresh type of false prophet.
 
well!

let's see...

"there are plenty of complainers there"! LOLOLOL!!!!! especially the presbyterians complain about everything! all i can say is theres usually a lot to complain about at church if you become involved in activities. theres so many little power trips going on! if you could go to church for 45 min on sunday and be done with it then that would be best i think!

everybody has to try to discern for himself what the bible means to him. or her. or whatever. the worst thing you can do is unthinkingly accept everything you see and hear in life. as far as accepting and believing everything in the bible its hard for a thinking person to believe that lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt. in any other setting we would discard that as a fairy tale. what are we to make of this?

the letters were to specific groups of ppls in territories where they were in grave danger on account of their faith. the situations in the letters are far different from the current state of christianity in this country. then they could be killed for believing. now i dont think it happens much.

if you take everything in the bible literally then i can only suppose that you have chopped your hand off, you dont sleep at night, you are not married, and all sorts of other things.

there are a lot of churches like the branch davidians in many ways. what a dangerous place! what a prime example of what i have been talking about!

if we are god's children and jesus is his son then logically he is my brother. im sure many would dispute the conclusion but not the premises. if you read the red letters of the red letter edition of the bible you can get a feeling for what jesus said. jesus was all about forgiveness.

your warnings about church smack of presbyterianism and judgementalism.

i hope this helps!

:)
 
Jeap my friend,

I really don't know where your conclusions come from but as far as I can tell they are preconcieved regardless of what I say and seem rather confused.

If you don't want to go to church... don't I have many friends and co-workers that don't and I maintain a good friendship with them.

All I tried to say is;
1. There are some good (not perfect) churches out there if you want to go but they don't feel right then keep looking. I believe you are looking for excusies not to go and are seeking affirmation of your decision. I understand your concerns but I can't philosphically or spiritually support your decision for reasons already discussed.

2. Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt is much easier to believe than evolution....just the odds against a functional human eye formimg by random chance is greater than the odds of a printing press blowing up and in the process printing one perfectly printed copy of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. You seem educated enough would you believe such a story? Evolution is not science but a religious theory (excuse) of humanism to escape the bonds of an absolute being and the limitations imposed from a society that rightly believes in right and wrong God ordained standards for living.

3. I have come to Chrisianity through logic among other things...its' the only explanation that does make sense. Josh McDowell was a very educated man andan avid athiest who made it his lifes work to disprove the Bible. In the process of not being able to find any errors he became convinced of it's authenticity. His life's story can be read in his book "Evidence that Demands a Verdict." If you are convinced the Bilbe is in error read his book to find your place to start where he left off or try to discredit his work.

4. RE: cuttting off your hand etc.....if you fully read the the story Jesus fully explains that this is not a literal implication for you to damagae your own body. The Bible fully explains that your body is a temple and that you should take care of it. The issue of mis-interpretations (see my earlier post) again this is an example of taking a spiritual truth being expressed in a physical parable and twisting it into something that was not meant and I think you know that.

5. Presyterian Legalism? Although I grew up Baptist I attend an interdeominational church that daily strives to keep legalism at bay. Unfortunately legalism is part of the fallen human nature and the only people Jesus ever spoke a harsh word to were the pharisee's and saducee's who disorted the old testament law into a legalistic system that acheived the "letter of the law" while at the same time violated the very spirit of the law. We are very big about forgiving others and ourselves but we are also aware of how easily we can decieve ourselves and rationalize any behaviour we want to. We in the westerm world have excelled at rationalizing anything we want to do

Political Corectness? More legalism under a supposedly non religious banner. It is nothing more than censorship from the liberal media that claims to oppose censorship. Go figure. It pervades human nature from athiest to Muslims to Christians.

It's like Bill Clinton...he obviously lied under oath but today his lawyers still explain how "technically" according to their interpretation he did not specifically violate the written specificaion of perjury. In my book it's obviously perjury but they are hiding behind another type of legalism.

RE: Judgementalism;
I judge no man. From Adolf Hitler to Jeffrey Dalmer to Billy Graham only God knows their hearts and only He can judge. That does not mean I can not tell right from wrong behavior or actions. That is pricisely why the Bible as THE source for all Spiritual Truth is imperative.

In the medical profession we use Latin terminoligy not to confuse you or sound more intelligent but because it is a mostly unspoken language it's meaning never changes due to slang etc like it constantly changes in english.

In understanding God, human nature's need for a savior and insights into the ever common self deception we practice as people we need an unchanging reference that does not change with the circumstance's of our life just as God Himself is unchanging.

Jeap I wish you only the best and I will let you have the last word on this if you want but I don't believe The Christian Songwriters Forum is the appropriate place to discuss this as it does not relate to songwriting or home recording.

Ther are dedicated web pages for discussion and debate that may be of more use in your search. I am not sure if that search is for the truth or just to debate and discuss and I will not judge it either way.

Good Luck and perhaps the Dragon Cave woud be a better place to discuss your concerns although I rarely go there myself.

Blessings on you and yours,
Be as gentle as a dove and wise as a serpent for the world we live in is a dangerous place.

Safety is not in avoiding storms but having he appropriate shelter rready when the storm comes for in this life it rains on the just and the unjust alike.
 
Hello to everyone follwing this thread,

I wanted to check in with everyone that has been reading or participating in the Christian Songwriting thread.

We have had some long and diligent discussions with Jeap and Royston debating things about God and and the accuracy of the Bible etc. Sometimes I feel like the flow of conversation gets hijacked from what I percieve as being the original intent of this thread: To discuss songwriting as a Christian, bounce ideas off each other to become better songwriters hopefully and encourage one another.

I do have a passion for spiritual truth and exposing the deceptions of humanism but I don't know if our visitors are really seeking truth or if they are just making waves. While I don't want to turn a deaf ear to an honest person seeking the truth I believe we are missing out on the benefits of our electronic community of Christian songwriters while I chase the proverbial rabbits of unbelief. It just seems like when we get into one of these discussions alot of other related subjects get dropped and alot of people drop out from posting or discussing anything else.

Let's take a poll:

Should we stay on the topic of songwriting from a Christian perspective or just go with the flow?
 
Scooter:

Let me be the first to say that I have been tremendously blessed by this thread and I believe God gave me a clearer vision of what He wants me to do via this thread.

I would like it to be a thread where we as christians can talk about music, and of course answer doubts of non-christians IF they are made with the proper respect (the ones Jeap made are a good example, not being agressive but stating his view) but let's not wander too much in other topics.

My 2c
 
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