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Way of Life Literature
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Way of Life Literature
Publisher of Bible Study Materials
Way of Life Bible College

Suggested Sacred Music Recordings
Updated January 11, 2024 (first published February 14, 2007)
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143,
fbns@wayoflife.org
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The philosophy of music is changing rapidly among independent Baptist and fundamentalist churches in general. It is becoming popular to “adapt” contemporary praise songs by selecting ones with Scriptural lyrics and toning down the rhythm. This is being done by Majesty Music, Soundforth, the Wilds, Bob Jones University and its president Steve Pettit, and West Coast Baptist College, for example. They excuse the practice in various ways, such as likening the use of contemporary praise to the use of a Lutheran or Methodist hymn, but it is a different thing altogether. While I have never heard of a fundamental Baptist church becoming Lutheran or Methodist by singing old hymns, many are moving rapidly in the direction of the contemporary philosophy by using contemporary music.

The contemporary philosophy is 180 degrees contrary to a Bible-believing, separatist position, and the music has transformative power. Nothing is building the end-time, one-world church more effectively than contemporary praise music.

For more on this see
“The Transformational Power of Contemporary Praise Music”
“CCM a Bridge to Dangerous Waters” (Satanic Attack series)

Please note that we cannot guarantee that all of the music produced by the following organizations and ministries is sound
. We publish this list because it is difficult to locate good Christian music, and we desire to point the way to some of the music that we and others have found helpful. It is not possible for us to listen to every thing that has been produced by the following sources, and it is not possible for us to keep up with changes that might occur.

Also, there is the matter of “taste” in Christian music. While there are definite biblical principles that must be applied to music, there is also the simple matter of taste. For example, my wife does not like quartets, but I like quartets as long as the music is spiritual and the message is scriptural and they don’t “showboat,” meaning put on a carnal performance. Some like operatic style and some don’t. Some like “bluegrass” style, and some don’t. This is the type of thing I am talking about when I talk about “taste.”

Ultimately it is the responsibility of each listener to prove the music by the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

For tools in how to analyze Christian music, we recommend the video series and book
The Satanic Attack on Sacred Music.

We encourage our readers to contact us if some of the music by any of the following sources is found to be worldly or contemporary.

Internet links change frequently. If any of the following links are inoperative, it is up to the reader to do his own internet search to find the latest links and contact information.

120 BIBLE HYMNS.
https://www.youtube.com.watch?v=ID2U5cM661w

AMBASSADOR BAPTIST COLLEGE, Latimore, NC
https://higher-grounds-coffee-shop-bookstore.square.site/s/order/4?shipping=true

ARAMIS QUARTET.
Day by Day (Classic Hymns for String Quartet)

BAPTIST COLLEGE OF MINISTRY, Menomonee Falls, WI. www.bcmedu.org/ministry/cd-recordings.

BIBLE TRUTH MUSIC. Two good CDs by Bible Truth Music are “Hallelujah Singing” and “He Is Alive.” Bible Truth Music PO Box 1881 Newport News, VA 23601. www.bibletruthmusic.com.

BRYSON MUSIC operated by Michael Bryson. https://michaelsbryson.com

CHRISTIAN PURITIES FELLOWSHIP. Conservative music titles from Foundations Bible College. P.O. Box 1166, Dunn, NC 28333. www.foundations.edu.

CLARK, MIRIAN JARRELS. “While He Is Near.” Piano/vocal arrangements. P.O. Box 292, Penn Laird, VA 22846.

CONCORD & HARMONY is the ministry of Alan and Ellen Ives. Their music has recently been put online for mp3 download at concordandharmony.com. Two good choices are “Volunteers for Jesus” and “In Jesus Is All Meaning.”

DAVID E. SMITH PUBLICATIONS, 4826 Shabbona Rd., Deckerville, MI 48427. www.despub.com. Catalog consisting of over 2,500 items by over 50 writers. Includes graded solos and ensembles for woodwinds, brass, strings, piano, string orchestra and concert band. Featured are “Heritage,” a band method supplement utilizing hymns and sacred songs sequenced to traditional band methods, and “Hymnsembles” and “Hymns for Multiple Instruments” which are designed to work with mix-and-match or unusual instrumentations. Distributor for C.T. Smith Publications, Curnow Press, Majestic Music (not to be confused with Majesty Music), and Salvation Army.

FAIRHAVEN BAPTIST COLLEGE, 86 E. Oak Hill Rd., Chesterton, IN 46304. 800-733-3422, fairhavenbookstore.com. A good choice is “Everything Is Possible” by the Fairhaven Baptist College and Church.

FAITH MUSIC MISSIONS, Boeke Road Baptist Church, P.O. Box 2463, Evansville, IN 47728. www.faithmusicmissions.com. Faith Music Missions has a line of conservative, drumless soundtracks. They produce congregational piano hymns on CDs “for the church or servant of God to use in lieu of a pianist or to assist their music program.” We would warn that some of the Faith Music Missions music CDs use a honky-tonk Southern Gospel rhythm. “Heavenly Place” by the Epleys and “Ed Russ and the Old-Fashioned Quartet” are examples. An Evangelist contacted me recently to give the following warning, “When I checked Faith Music Mission's website recently, I struggled to find any recordings that didn't have music taken from CCM/Southern Gospel and that weren't performed with worldly techniques (scooping and sliding, excess breathiness, flipping around the melody, etc. As of yesterday, on their website eight of the ten newest listings either have severe problems with their performance (strong Southern Gospel sound; lots of slipping, sliding, and scooping; etc.) or are performing songs taken from CCM and Southern Gospel (six of them use songs from such sources as The Legacy Five, Joel Hemphill, Steve Green, Triumphant Quartet, and Greater Vision). It may be worth noting that one of the two recordings that didn't seem problematic was a piano soloist, but that isn't always safe; the staff pianist, David Chamberlain, has recordings there playing songs like ‘My Tribute’ by Andrae Crouch, and other pianists play ‘As the Deer’ by Marty Nystrom and ‘Via Dolorosa’ by Sandi Patty. The drum-free soundtracks also include in the first few listings ‘I Bowed on my Knees and Cried Holy’ by Michael English of the Gaithers.”

FOUNDATIONS BIBLE COLLEGE, “Not I But Christ” and “The Haven of Rest” by Robert Wilson (piano). There are a few CDs by Men of Foundations Quartet and other Foundations’ groups. The style is strictly sacred with no Southern Gospel “showboating.” Most of the songs are new, written by O. Talmadge Spence and H.T. Spence. As far as we have explored, the lyrics are theologically sound and bold. There are even songs warning about apostasy and calling for separation, particularly on the
Forwarding the Faith album (i.e., “Militant but Magnificent,” “The Battle Is the Lord’s,” and “Help Lord, for the Godly Ceaseth”).
https://www.foundations.edu/bookstore/section_categories.php?Section=Music

GLORY AND HONOR MUSIC is the ministry of John Randall, son-in-law of Alan and Ellen Ives. They have a recording studio and are producing new music which is available for download. He says, “We have a recording studio in our home so that Christians can record conservative music at a drastically reduced cost.” They publish an audio hymnal of over 500 mp3 songs for churches that do not have a pianist. They also offer online music lessons for piano. See gloryandhonormusic.com.

GODLY MUSIC, Stephen and Christina Rains. http://godlymusic.org.

GOSPELRIVER.COM
There are more than 300 conservative music files available for free download. Most are violin and piano and other instruments. We have only listened to a few them, so we cannot verify the character of all of the files.

GREER MUSIC MINISTRIES, Greenville, SC. Gordon and Jean Greer are former opera singers who have produced two CDs,
My Savior First of All and Soldiers of the Cross. www.greermusicministries.com, 864-607-1042, singingforsouls1945@gmail.com

HERBSTER TRIO. This excellent trio of brothers has several excellent CDs. The singers are accompanied by orchestral music. Two of their CDs that I particularly like are “Hymns of Grateful Worship” and “Faithful Servant.” Tri-City Ministries, 4500 Little Blue Parkway, Independence, MO 64057, www.herbsterevangelism.org/site/pages/catalog.aspx?fsId=12&returnUrl=catalog.aspx.

HIBBARD, DAVID, 291 Clayton-Aura Rd., Glassboro, NJ 08028. 856-863-4992, hibbardfamilyministries@juno.com or dhibbard@juno.com. An excellent CD is
Along Life’s Road: Songs for the Saviour.

HYMNS OF PRAISE
https://www.mostfreebies.com/Hymns/Hymns.php

HYMNS TRIUMPHANT. There are two volumes of these, each containing dozens of hymns performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London National Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Amen Choir. The arrangements are wonderful. They are available from the Old Fashioned Christian Music Radio Store, http://www.oldchristianmusic.com/mproductpages/london-orchestra+amen-choir--hymns-triumphant.html.

INTERNATIONAL BAPTIST COLLEGE AND SEMINARY. They have two albums currently:
Mercy Flows and Our Eyes Are Upon You, Lord. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=International+Baptist+College+and+Seminary&i=digital-music&search-type=ss&ref=ntt_srch_drd_B01EDR2XZA

KARDIA MUSIC.
Kardia Music Journal (quarterly); sacred music theory lesson downloads; a growing list of newly arranged sacred sheet music: choral music, instrument ensemble arrangements, instrumental duets, trios, and quartets; voice/piano/violin. KardiaMusic.org

MAJESTY MUSIC. We cannot recommend Majesty Music because of the worldly elements that have been present in Patch the Pirate from its inception and the more recent move to support out-and-out contemporary musicians Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, among others. See the report “Dr. Garlock Misses an Important Point,” Feb. 3, 2015, via the search engine at www.wayoflife.org.

MELODIOUS ETERNAS. This YouTube channel features conservative sacred music in Spanish or with Spanish translations. I haven’t spent a lot of time listening to it, but what I have heard sounds good. A pastor friend who recommended this site said, “I came across this channel a few years ago, and have come to appreciate it as it is very difficult to find sacred music in Spanish. This is a ministry of an independent Baptist Church in Monterey Mexico. While there is classical music included, none that I've heard has been contemporary in styling.”
https://www.youtube.com/@MelodiasEternas

MELT THE HEART. Mennonite music in many categories, including a large selection of acappella. Be aware that a small amount of music distributed by Melt the Heart is contemporary Southern Gospel (with bass guitar and rock beat), which we do not recommend. Some of the acappella is too jazzy (beat anticipation, pushing the rhythm) and incorporates sensual singing techniques, in our estimation. In particular, we don’t recommend the groups Surrendered or the Royer Brothers. Online samples are available of most of the albums.
The albums we recommend are as follows:
Acapeldridge. Michael Eldridge singing all four parts of a male quartet. He has a 7-CD “Whatever” series: “Whatever Is of Good Report,” “Whatever Is Excellent,” “Whatever Is Lovely,” “Whatever Is Pure,” “Whatever Is Just,” “Whatever Is Noble,” “Whatever Is True.” “The Messiah’s Birth is traditional Christmas hymns.
Yoder Family. “In the Saviour’s Hands”
Schrenk Sisters - “Lord of All,” “Living for Jesus,” “Be Thou My Vision”
Praises in Harmony. Mixed acappalla group. Mennonite. ‘I Will Praise Him,” “Living by Faith”
Zion’s Harp. Acappella mixed group. Mennonite. 16 CDs
“Sunlight in My Soul” by Apostolic Christian Churches. Orchestra.
Smucker Family - “Christ Our Rock,” “Like a River Glorious”
Latty Apostolic Christians. Mixed acappella. Mennonite. “Blessed Assurance” and “Precious Memories”
Apostolic Christian Men. acappella. Mennonite. Apostolic Christian Church of America. Singing from the
Zion’s Melodies hymnal. Many of the hymns are translated from German. 11 CDs.
Melttheheart.com

MURRAY MUSIC MINISTRIES. Lovely recordings by Greg and Heather Murray. I particularly like “The Lord Is Calling.” P.O. Box 346, Bedford, VA 24523, 540-816-0284,
www.murraymusicministries.com.

MUSIC EDUCATION MINISTRIES. http://www.musiceducationministries.com/shop.

OLD FASHIONED CHRISTIAN RADIO MUSIC STORE. This online store offers a wide variety of traditional Christian music.
www.oldchristianmusic.com.

OLD FASHIONED REVIVAL HOUR. Music from Rudy Atwood and the Old Fashioned Revival Hour choir. ofrh.com

PRAISE & HARMONY. Acappella mixed group. Congregational style. Mennonite. “Holy God,” “Savior God,” “Jehovah God,” “Wonderful God” (Christmas), “Ever-Present God,” “Compassionate God,” “Heavenly God,” “Majestic God,” “Loving God”
Melttheheart.com
Warning: “Praise and Harmony is part of the organization The Acappella Company  https://acappella.org/ which is led by Keith Lancaster  http://www.keithlancaster.com/about.html  who is a member at a Church of Christ church.  Praise and Harmony records mostly hymns but they also sing worldly Christian music.  Not only is their doctrine in error, they seem to be culturally liberal. On their recording of a small ensemble singing Twila Paris' song 
We Shall Assemble, one of the singers is a man with long, blue dyed hair, heavy makeup, and jewelry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qapKATi5vhk  and a woman with a man's haircut is standing on his left. Keith Lancaster's website has a tab ‘My Music Hobby’ where he has a video of a secular music group Vokestra he apparently works with. Vokestra has a You Tube channel where they have a uploaded a number of old rock songs they have done Help Rehearsal 20201112.”

PRAISES IN HARMONY. Mixed acappalla group. Mennonite. ‘I Will Praise Him,” “Living by Faith”
Melttheheart.com

PUBLICDOMAINAUDIOBIBLES.COM
More than 200 simple piano mp3 files for listening and downloading.

RAINS, STEPHEN AND CHRISTINA. Nice sacred music duets. http://godlymusic.org/

SACRED CHORAL MUSIC. Mennonite. Mostly acappella, but also some instrumental. We like the following albums: “I “My Last Move” by Seven Sisters in Song. “Lord, Give Us a Vision” and “Be Still, My Soul” by the Histand Quartet. “Hymns for Life” by the Christensen Family. “Rise Up, O Men of God” and “Praise to the Lord” by Altar of Praise Men’s Choral. “Beautiful Saviour” by Dena and Joanna Marini (two sisters playing harps).
http://www.sacredchoralmusic.net

SATANIC ATTACK ON SACRED MUSIC. This large course consists of a textbook and a video series with about 17 hours of teaching, packed with photos, graphics, audio and video clips. One previewer commented, “The series is broad and deep with serious factual analysis according to properly interpreted Scripture.” It deals with the following: Emotions and the Music Issue; The Spiritual Environment of the Music Issue: The Church and the Home; Bible Principles of Music; Music’s Role in the Great Changes among Fundamental Baptists; Contemporary Music as a Bridge to Dangerous Waters; Bob Jones, Majesty Music, New Reformed Calvinism, and the Gettys; The Language of Music Styles (also vocal techniques); Lancaster’s Role in the Downgrade of Fundamental Baptist Churches; A Plea to Southern Gospel Music Fans.

https://www.wayoflife.org/s3/satanic_attack_on_sacred_music.php


SCHRENK SISTERS. Four sisters. Acappella. “Lord of All,” “Living for Jesus,” “Be Thou My Vision”
Melttheheart.com

SOUNDFORTH, Greenville, SC 29614. www.soundforth.com. Music tapes and arrangements, song books, choir and choral, children’s music programs, dramas. Also “A Guide to Hymn Playing” by Rebecca Bonam and Duane Ream. They are adapting contemporary praise music and justifying it on bogus grounds, so it is inevitable that their standards will change over the next few years.

SOUTHERN CROSS BAPTIST CHURCH, Engadine, NSW, Australia
 
music@scbc.org.au, http://www.scbc.org.au/music.aspx
To God Be All the Glory

STOUFFER MEN. Two excellent CDs are “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship” and “Come and Sing.” info@stouffermusic.com, www.stouffermusic.com.

THE WILDS Christian Camp and Conference Center. http://www.wilds.org/resources/music. This is a pretty good source for sacred music, but they, too, are justifying the use of Townend/Getty and other “contemporary hymn writers.” An Evangelist recently communicated the following: “I might add that I am also concerned that the Wilds are now publishing music from Matt and Christy Taylor, which includes songs like ‘Lord Most High’ by Ross Parsley.  Likewise, Bible Truth Music, while the music that originates with them seems fine, is selling on their website music from corrupted groups like the Calvary Quartet and Crown College.”

ZIESEMER FAMILY. “I Believe in Miracles” and “Abiding” CDs (piano and violin).
Hymns of the Faith music books for various instruments at various levels (piano, violin and piano, organ, cello, saxophone and piano, viola and piano, piano duets, violin duets, flute and piano, B-Flat instruments and piano). Piano hymn arrangements. Principles of Harmony (a textbook: complete chordal vocabulary, melodic and original compositions, in the style of hymns).
https://www.zfpublishers.com

ZION’S HARP. Acappella mixed group. Mennonite. 16 CDs
Melttheheart.com

The
Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians, a free eBook, contains extensive documentation about the danger of using Getty/Townend music. It is available on our website at the link above.

For more on this see
“The Transformational Power of Contemporary Praise Music”
“The Satanic Attack on Sacred Music”


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