Devil Music

When I first became a Christian (or at least in the "early days"), and back in the day at my old church, we had this guy in our small group, Elton, who was an amazingly talented musician. He could have made music with a pile of dog poop, assuming the poop had the correct consistency.

But we were at a small church, with hymns and a piano. We didn't do the contemporary thing. Heck, I didn't even know such a thing existed.

One Sunday Elton set up a group of musical misfits in the church to play a song: I'm Not Ashamed, by The Newsboys. It was groundbreaking, to have such loud music at our church. There was an electric guitar, bass guitar and even a synthesizer! There were no drums, since nobody could play drums. Oh, Elton probably could have, but he was playing bass and singing that day.

Elton improvised. He programmed the synthesizer to play the drum beat. It was crude, but effective.

Several people in our church were up in arms about this, convinced that this loud music would cause God to look down in anger upon our tiny church.

Tradition.

I suppose it can go either way. Well, meaning, good Christians were upset by the music of "The Newsboys." So it goes...

I feel the need to state it: I am not a fan. Still, I liked hearing something that sounded similar to good music in our church. "I'm not Ashamed" is actually a pretty good song.

One time we were at the Indiana Dunes, this small group from our church. Elton, as usual, had his acoustic guitar with him. He was playing songs and singing when a guy and his girlfriend, both very drunk, decided to sit with us and join in the fun. Some of my good Christian friends left, fearing the drunkard. Others stood by, certain that the drunkard was led there by God.

After a while we were tired. Elton continued to play, while the drunkard, certain he was a great singer (as all drunkards are), continued to wail into the night.

Hey, I never claimed the stories were all good, or with a point, did?

[The Newsboys]