Updated August 27, 2002 (first published December 10, 1998) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article)
The following is Part 2 of 2 of Southern Gospel Music --
SOUTHERN GOSPEL IN RECENT YEARS
In the last three decades, Southern gospel in general has become increasingly worldly, rocky, and ecumenical. Lee Roy Abernathy, originally with the Ranger Quartet, wrote "The Gospel Boogie," which became a million-selling national hit as performed by Pat Boone. The Oak Ridge Boys and many other Southern gospel groups experimented with rock beats and long hair. The extremely popular Gaithers exemplify of the direction of Southern gospel in recent years. They have increasingly used rock styles. During a concert tour in New England in 1986, Bill Gaither admitted that he had changed his musical style due to the influence of the "world's culture." He said he believed there was a place for Christian rock, and he expressed his philosophy of music in these words: "God speaks through all different kinds of art forms and musical styles and musical forms" and the "format itself is not necessarily spiritual or non-spiritual" (FBF News Bulletin, March-April 1986, p. 3). Gaither is promoting the Devil's lie that music is neutral and that any type of music can be used to glorify God.
During the disco craze in the late 1980s, the Gaither Trio recorded a disco album (Calvary Contender, August 15, 1989). They have a song titled "Singin' with the Saints" which is a boogie-woogie version of "He Keeps Me Singing." This is confusion.
Bill Gaither has mentored many of the popular CCM artists, including those who use very hard rock. Gaither mentors include Sandi Patty, Russ Taff, Michael English, Carman, and the members of Whiteheart (CCM Magazine, July 1998, p. 20).
The following is an eyewitness description of the Gaither's appearance at the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis in 1980: "The Bill Gaither Trio entertained 15,000 Southern Baptists on Sunday evening with a musical program worldly enough to make any true believer weep. The music was so loud that some people left and others put their hands to their ears to block the intense amplification of the music" (Robert S. Reynolds, "Southern Baptists on the Downgrade," Report on the 1980 SBC Convention in St. Louis, Foundation, Volume VI, Issue 1, 1985, p. 9).
The Gaithers provided the music one evening at Indianapolis '90, a large ecumenical charismatic gathering I attended with press credentials. One-half of the 25,000 participants were Roman Catholics. A Catholic mass was held each morning during this conference, and Catholic priest Tom Forrest from Rome brought the closing message. Roughly 40 other denominations were present. The Gaithers were perfectly at home in this unscriptural gathering, entertaining the mixed multitude with their lively music while turning a blind eye to the heresy all around them. They did not say one word about the abominable Catholic mass that was conducted each morning of the conference. They did not say one word about the demonic spirit slaying and spirit drunkenness which was being practiced. They did not lift their voice to warn of the cursed false gospels which were represented. They did not reprove priest Tom Forrest for preaching at the Indianapolis conference that he praised the Lord for purgatory and for Mary the Queen of Heaven.
The Gaithers represent the very heart and soul of Southern gospel music today. In recent years they have held "homecoming" specials which have brought together most of the well known Southern gospel groups. These include members of the Statesmen, the Blackwood Brothers, the Cathedrals, the Goodman's, the Speer Family, the Florida Boys, the Gatlin Brothers, and many others. Those who have attended these gatherings have put their stamp of approval upon the ecumenical-charismatic-rock music side of Southern gospel by not separating from those who are guilty of these things and by not lifting their voices to reprove them. The Bible instructs us to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11). Revelation 18:4 warns God's people to come out from among the apostasy of the last hours "that ye be not partakers of her sins." COMPLICITY WITH DOCTRINAL AND SPIRITUAL ERROR MAKES ME A PARTAKER WITH THAT ERROR. 2 John warns that even to bid God speed to a false teacher makes me "partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 11). I realize this is a very hard line and one that is completely foreign to the thinking of this ecumenical-crazed age, but this is what the Word of God says. I also realize that the Gaithers and the other groups we have mentioned have produced some lovely Christian music, such as "How Long Has It Been" (written by Mosie Lister, who wrote many songs for the Statesmen), "The Love of God" (Vep Ellis, recorded in the early 1950s by the Statesmen), "He Knows Just What I Need" (Mosie Lister), "Jesus" (Bill Gaither), "Great Is the Lord" (James Wetherington of the Statesmen), "What A Day that Will Be" (Jim Hill of the Statesmen), and many others, but this is no excuse for disobedience to God's Word. When the Gaithers greet 12,000 Roman Catholics, including many priests and nuns, as brethren in Christ, as they did at Indianapolis '90, they are partakers of the evil deeds of Rome and God's people should protest. I don't believe it is wrong to use some of the music which groups like these have produced which is Christ-honoring and Bible-based, but I do believe it is wrong to associate with them and to support them with record sales and to bring their jazzed up music with its ecumenical philosophy into our churches and homes.
The Florida Boys represent the contemporary-ecumenical side to Southern gospel. Les Beasley, who has been with the group since its inception, says they never get past the basic plan of salvation in their songs "because when you do that you're getting past our basic reason for existence" which is entertainment (The Music Men, p. 286). He says, "When you start trying to sell them a particular religion, or your set of do's and don'ts, then I think we are stretching what we are trying to do." That statement demonstrates their ecumenical, non-dogmatic, non-doctrinal, entertainment-oriented approach to Christian music, which is precisely the approach which has been adopted by Contemporary Christian Music at large. The preachers in the early churches certainly did not draw back from preaching "a particular religion" and a dogmatic set of "do's and don'ts"!
The Imperials are another key example of the changes occurring within Southern gospel. They were formed in 1964 and during the past 35 years the group has undergone a metamorphous in style, from southern gospel, to contemporary, to rock. Lighthouse Magazine, which is rock oriented, has taken note that the music of the Imperials has changed radically. Their 1987 album, This Year's Model, "took a sharp turn to a youthful techno pop/rock sound that caused many long time Imperial fans to fall by the wayside" (Stephen Trickey, "The Imperials: Reaching the Church in the 90s with Music and Ministry," The Lighthouse Electronic Magazine, December 1996). In reality, the Imperials had become extremely jazzy long before 1987. Many of the songs on albums in the 1970s and early 1980s had a heavy boogie-woogie/disco dance rhythm.
The Imperials are also very ecumenical. In 1992, for example, they conducted concerts at the First Assembly of God in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and at the Lancaster Bible College the same month. They frequently appear on the radically ecumenical Trinity Broadcasting Network. TBN promotes Catholic priests and nuns as born again Christians and disregards their false sacramental gospel. On August 21, 1998, they appeared at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Statesmen are another prime example of how Southern gospel has changed. As already noted, they were quite jazzy and entertainment-oriented from their inception. A Time magazine article about the Southern gospel quartets of the 1950s described their concerts as "swinging from rowdy boogie to fervent waltzes, all in praise of the Lord." Things got worse as time passed. In the 1970s the Statesmen, with many personnel changes but with Hovie Lister still at the helm, added more contemporary numbers to their already somewhat jazzed up traditional fare. For example, they recorded songs by Christian rockers Larry Norman ("Sweet Song of Salvation") and Mylon LeFevre ("You're on His Mind"). They even recorded Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water," Kris Kristoferson's "Why Me, Lord," and Gene MacLellan's "Put Your Hand in the Hand," even though none of these men are Christians. By 1973 two members of the Statesmen, Sherrill Nielsen and Tim Baty, sported shoulder length hair. The group had grown to six members with the addition of bass guitarist Baty. In the 1990s Hovie Lister has worked closely with ecumenist Bill Gaither. Gaither produced a "Bill Gaither Remembers The Statesmen" video in 1990. Three of the old Statesmen were present: Hovie Lister, Jake Hess, and Jim Hill. The show was telecast nationally on Pat Robertson's ecumenical-charismatic 700 Club. Following this, Gaither organized a reunited Statesmen called the New Statesmen. In 1994 Gaither released a documentary entitled Bill and Gloria Gaither Present Hovie Lister and the Sensational Statesmen, An American Classic.
In 1997 Southern gospel legend Vestal Goodman joined Roman Catholic Kathy Troccoli and 40 other CCM artists to record Love One Another, a song with an ecumenical theme: "Christians from all denominations demonstrating their common love for Christ and each other." The song talks about tearing down the walls of denominational division. The broad range of participants who joined Kathy Troccoli in recording "Love One Another" demonstrates the ecumenical agenda of Contemporary Christian Music. The song witnessed Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, etc., yoked together to call for Christian unity. A representative of the Southern gospel world was right in the midst of this unscriptural alliance.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SOUTHERN GOSPEL AND CCM
In case someone still has the impression that Southern gospel is separate from Contemporary Christian Music and Christian rock, let me hasten to note that all of the popular commercial Southern gospel groups are yoked together with CCM and Christian rock in the Gospel Music Association. In fact, it was some of the more famous Southern gospel performers who helped establish the Gospel Music Association (GMA) in 1964. The formation took place at the National Quartet Convention that year. Members of the original GMA Board of Directors included Urias and Meurice LeFevre of the famous LeFevre singing family, James Blackwood of the Blackwood Brothers, Hovie Lister and James Wetherington of the Statesmen, and J.D. Sumner of the Stamps. Don Butler, director of archives for the GMA, was the Statesmen's manager during the 1950s.
In was the GMA, in turn, which in 1969 began handing out the Dove Awards for outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The vice president of the GMA that year was Hovie Lister. The Dove Awards have honored Contemporary Christian Music artists of every stripe, including very hard rock groups such as Bride, the Newsboys, Petra, and dc Talk. Catholic singer Kathy Troccoli has been nominated as the Gospel Music Association's female vocalist of the year five times. The GMA has even extended its Dove Award to Amy Grant's Behind the Eyes album, which is not Christian in any sense.
Thus we see that the well-known Southern gospel groups are yoked together with and are supportive of the rock-oriented, ecumenical-charismatic CCM crowd. For the most part there is no separation from and no reproof of the error of CCM by the commercially-successful Southern gospel people. They are peas in one unscriptural pod.
In summary, we offer the following practical guidelines about WHEN TO AVOID SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC.
(1) AVOID SOUTHERN GOSPEL WHEN IT USES THE WORLD'S SENSUAL POP/ROCK/RAGTIME/BOOGIE-WOOGIE RHYTHMS. Southern gospel has always been too quick to use boogie-woogie styles. The late Bruce Lackey, who was the Dean of Tennessee Temple Bible School in the 1970s, played the piano professionally in bars before he was saved. He often warned that much of the Southern gospel music would be at home in these licentious environments because the rhythm is the same. Boogie-woogie is boogie-woogie, regardless of the words which accompany it. It arose from the same sleazy side of 1920s and 1930s Negro juke joint culture as rhythm & blues. It is sensual dance music and is not fitting for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Southern gospel today is being immersed in the larger CCM world and is adopting the pop and soft rock rhythms, the "Nashville sound," of popular commercial music today. You cannot serve the Spirit with fleshly music. Sensual music is very enticing to the flesh; thus it is extremely attractive and desirable. Like everything associated with the flesh, sensual music is addicting. It creates an appetite for more and more worldly music. God has called us to deny the flesh; to die to self (which refers to our old fleshly nature). Though it is not easy to know exactly where to draw the line with rhythms to Christian music, the best place to the draw the line is to draw it as far from the world as possible. If the music sounds worldly, it is worldly! Our goal as Christ-honoring Christians should not be to try to stay as close to the world as possible without becoming completely worldly, but to stay as separated from the world as possible. We are to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:21). If a piece of music would be comfortable in a bar, then we should not use it in the church.
(2) AVOID SOUTHERN GOSPEL WHEN IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHARISMATIC-ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT. The charismatic-ecumenical movement is at the very heart of end-times apostasy that is working to create a one-world "church." It is dangerous in the extreme and must be avoided in obedience to the Scriptures (Rom. 16:17). I don't care how pleasant the Gaithers and the Imperials and many other popular groups might be; I must reject them because they are openly disobeying and flaunting the Bible's command to separate from error. If I listen to them, I am in grave danger of picking up their spirit of compromise. Not only is it wrong, but it is grossly hypocritical for a church that preaches against the ecumenical movement to turn around and use musicians who are associated with the same. The National Quartet Convention exists in open disobedience to the Bible's commands to separate from error. It is ecumenical and refuses to take a stand for Bible doctrine. At the 1999 National Quartet Convention (NQC) in Louisville, Kentucky, which I attended with press credentials, the statement was made that the "celebrities" of the NQC are men who bring Christians together from all denominations through music. That is the ecumenical movement. Paul instructed Timothy not to allow any other doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3). Doctrine is very important and is the basis for separation.
(3) AVOID SOUTHERN GOSPEL WHEN THE PERFORMERS ARE WORLDLY. If a Southern gospel group is worldly, it is impossible for them to produce spiritual music. The Bible warns that like produces like. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:7,8). A pastor who does not want his people to be worldly will not bring in worldly singing groups. The same is true for parents. If we want our homes to be spiritual we must fill them with that which is spiritual, not that which is carnal and worldly. Many of the Southern gospel groups, even in fundamental Baptist circles, are worldly. They dress like the world. They love the world's vile movies. They are sports-crazy like the world. Their lives are not saturated with the Word of God. They don't walk cautiously and holily in the fear of God. Worldly singing groups present themselves like the world. On many occasions I have been distracted by the manner in which a church singing group was dressed. My friends, I don't go to church to be distracted by the immodest appearance of some carnal woman pretending to be a gospel singer. What a wicked thing it is for women to pretend to be singing for the glory of a holy God even while drawing men's attention away from Christ to their carnal appearance! Godly women do not want to draw attention to themselves with worldly hairstyles (notice how many of them whack their hair off in accordance with the world's unisex fashions), gobs of makeup (we don't believe makeup is wrong in moderation but we also don't believe Christian women should look like painted hussies), and tight or revealing clothing. Godly women do not want men in the congregation to be enticed by their appearance. I praise the Lord for humble, Spirit-filled gospel groups which dress modestly and which draw attention to Christ instead of themselves, but I intend to avoid worldly singing groups.
(4) AVOID SOUTHERN GOSPEL WHEN IT IS ENTERTAINMENT INSTEAD OF EDIFICATION. The Bible says everything in the church is to be done to edification. "Let all things be done unto edifying" (1 Cor. 14:26). The entertainers will ask, "What is wrong with entertaining the saints?" The answer is that there is no authority in the Word of God for it. I like to laugh and have a good time, but I don't see any justification whatsoever in the Word of God for turning the church service into a dinner club. Where do we see the Apostles doing anything like that? The only thing even similar to this in the New Testament is when the carnal Corinthians turned the Lord's Supper into a party time. For this they were rebuked soundly by Paul (1 Cor. 11:20-22). He did not permit it, and I don't believe we should permit singing groups which want to turn the house of God into an entertainment platform today. Sure, lots of people like jazzed up gospel music. Sure, it can draw a big crowd. That does not mean it is right, though. Just the opposite. The flesh loves entertainment, but that which is flesh is not spiritual. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Gal. 6:17). I have heard pastors argue that their people like the jazzy music, but it is the pastor's job not to give people what they want but to give them what God wants. Carnal Christians, even unsaved religionists, love worldly gospel music. Observe the Southern gospel sings which attract large numbers of people who are not faithful to the house of God and who do not live faithfully for God in their daily lives. Even Elvis Presley, the king of rock & roll, loved jazzy Southern gospel the likes of the Statesmen and the Blackwood Brothers, but he did not love to honor and glorify Jesus Christ. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). Probably no other single man in this century has done more to destroy the moral and spiritual climate of this world than Elvis Presley. He lived to glorify himself and to serve the flesh and the devil, and the fact that he loved some of the Southern gospel music proves nothing except confusion.
We praise the Lord for every Southern gospel singer and music group which is not characterized by the above traits. Many humble Southern gospel singers refuse to participate in the ecumenical-charismatic movement. Not only do they separate from end-times apostasy but they publicly warn God's people of it. Their chief concern is faithfulness to the Word of God and they do not make a god out of music. They do not want to please apostate religious crowds. They only minister in faithful Bible-based churches. They refuse to use the world's pop and rock rhythms. They don't try to get the saints boogying in the aisles. They refuse to turn the music of a holy God into sensual dance music. They do not seek to entertain people; they sing and play strictly for the glory of Jesus Christ and the edification of the saints. They refuse to dress like the world or imitate the world's methods. They strive to live holy lives separated from the wickedness of this hell-bound world. They pay the price for their faithfulness to God's Word by not being popular with the CCM crowd or even with the commercially successful Southern gospel crowd. They do not sell millions of albums. They do not appear on Trinity Broadcasting Network. The large contemporary "seeker" churches won't invite them. You will not hear their music coming through the loudspeakers at most Christian bookstores. You will see them one day, though, before the Judgment Seat of Christ hearing "well done, thou good and faithful servant"!
This is the conclusion of Part 2 of 2. See Part 1.
Both parts can be viewed at the Way of Life web site under the Music section of the End Times Apostasy Database.