Ok, I agree that there are some scary bands out there.  But there is also scary politicians, teachers, preachers, etc. and we must use discernment for us and our children. 

A few points of fact, the Eagles have repeatedly said that “Hotel California” is about the slavery to drug addiction.  Also, the backmasking thing was discredited years ago.  According to Rolling Stone, “Highway to Heaven” is 33rd on the list of the Greatest Rock songs of all time - not #1.  Lastly, most of the groups mentioned either no longer exist or are in the fringe minority of rock music.  However, a parent should always be involved in knowing what their kids are listening to.

I have heard these kinds of lectures since 1983 and I was in the sixth grade.  I also have a current seminary professor who thinks rock music, playing cards (not just gambling but any kind) and dancing are of the devil.  My dad thinks that having drums and guitars in church is wrong.  I think these kinds of lectures fuel this kind of thinking.

I promise the average teenager does not spend 6 hours a day listening to rock music… these radio programs need to be done with, they self righteous and hateful and are doing nothing for the cause of christ, especially in the lives of young people

As a former teenager, current father and Worship Pastor, I have to agree with the danger of most of the bands mentioned in this message.  I must say that there is nothing wrong with warning parents of the dangers of ignoring the cultural preferences of children and teens.

However, it would make absolutely no sense if many of these “fringe” bands were not making a come back through the genius of “Guitar Hero.” Most recently, Guitar Hero’s second tribute game “Metallica” features the music of mainly Metallica, but also Slayer, Social Distortion, Suicidal Tendencies, Judas Priest and others.  This “fringe” music is experiencing a come back, predominantly among teens whose parents grew up on the so called “fringes.”

Nevermind the underground uprising of hate-filled bands like Korn and Marilyn Manson.

You can laugh at the idea that rock music is Satan’s tool.  I’m with you. But you can’t ignore the fact that he is using it. 

All music can be Satan’s tool.  Without wisdom and discernment of loving parents, kids can find themselves down a path that they will seriously regret.

Check out iamsecond.com for testimonies from former rockers about how their music was intentionally written to lure kids in and turn them against their parents.  After coming to Christ, these men have abandoned their “craft.”

Is all rock music wrong “no,” but to ignore the threat of what is becoming less of a “fringe” culture is irresponsible and downright dangerous.

If you plat my sermons backwards it says 10% is God’s way… 10% is God’s way.  I then preach in an unorthodox cadence so as to throw the rhythm of a persons mind off and make them more susceptible to my diabolical planning. 

Once while preaching to pygmies in the deepest part of the outback, someone heard the cadence of my preaching and said, “why do you use the devil rhythm to your preaching.

ugh…

Leonard, you always crack me up.  Thank you!

I’m not worried about the aforementioned Bands.  I’m worried about Brittney Spears’ new song “If you seek Amy”.

There isn’t any question that much contemporary music has gotten more and more profane.  The era of my birth, the fifties, saw Ed Sullivan show Elvis Presley from the hips up, because it was too provocative and would not have made it past the censors.  Yet, today the profanity, sexual descriptions, and acts of lewdness are common among many of the songs of today’s youth. 

To say that this man’s message is over-reaching, or just another hell-fire and brimestone southerner is to dismiss the truth that he does state.  I teach for a Christian College, and the music and world views of many youth within the Church that claim to be Christian and have grown-up in the Church is the same as the rest of the world’s.  It is a fact that you can’t fill your mind with images or thoughts and not be affected by them over time.  If this were not so, then pornography would not be a problem in the Christian community.  Plus, there have been numerous suicides, murders, and kidnap cases that have been connected to and influenced by youths who have listened to various kinds of hate music for years, and they were eventually influenced to act on the lyrics that became their world views of women, parents, and society as a whole.  We can become so comfortable with filth that we can’t discern moral righteousness any longer.  Yet, the problem isn’t just one type of music, it can be found in every type of music that is produced.  As parents, we are still to establish what is acceptable and unacceptable within our homes, and what we will allow our children to participate in. In our family, if it was profane and I or my wife discovered it, we broke the CD, regardless if it was on loan from a friend.  Our son may have gotten around us, but it was said loud and clear that there were some types of music that would not be permitted.  Period!

Coming from a very proud Southern Man, Satan hides in subtlety. Such as, in slick over produced performances of man centered worship “experiences”.  Such as a church getting to the point of using AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” to open an Easter service which happened this past weekend. This is what happens when we focus on the “experience” (which is what many churches are beginning to call the production that worship is becoming) instead of the person we worship.

This is what happens when the Church sacrifices at the alter of relevance instead of the Throne of our Holy God. GOOD INTENTIONS become the cornerstone as we turn a time of worship into a moment of carnal pleasure.

Go ahead, fire away at me!