Poetry With A Mission



...a thought provoking poetical exercise.

“You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places. You shall not worship the Lord your God in such ways. Take care that you are not snared into imitating them, after they have been destroyed before you: do not inquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I also want to do the same.’ You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods…” (Deut 12:2-4,30,31).

“But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt” (Ezek 20:8, NASB).

“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still striving to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (Gal 1:10, NASB).

“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Prov 14:12, NASB).

“ ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other…’ ” (Matt 6:24, NASB). Note also 1 Cor 5:6.

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?…” (1 Cor 10:20-22, NASB).

“But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted’ ” (Matt 15:13, NASB).

“For I, the Lord, do not change…” (Mal 3:6, NASB)

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2, NASB).

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17, NASB).

“ ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men’ ” (Matt 5:13, NASB).

Trojan Horses, Golden Calves

You know, there’s something terribly wrong with the Christian music scene,
Which nowadays often just reflects a glitzy Las Vegas sheen.
And hence all those Christian singers who have fans falling at their feet,
Such fans excited by their idols, their worldly sound, same strong beat.

And these Christian idols are gracing CDs, those booklets inside,
And not the Lord of whom they sing, who such placement is thus denied.
However, God wouldn’t want His picture adorning such CDs,
As their pagan-Holy fusion isn’t something that God will please.

And so, Jazz, Rock, Rap, Pop and Country seem the order of the day,
Displaying a Christendom that has embraced a worldly way.
For God has always warned His people not to imitate the world,
And that secular and sacred they should never attempt to weld.

But it’s clear that so many Christians love the entertainment scene,
With all its hype, glitz and glamour, and that stardom that is seen.
And thus at the foot of this matter lies one of the reasons why
So many Christian singers a wrongful music fusion soon try.

Yes, some want to have it both ways, but God has clearly said, NO WAY!
Because such simply dishonours Him, and Him will wrongly portray.
For we’re meant to serve our God alone who’s a Holy, righteous Lord,
And not the world or ourselves, or we may well forfeit our reward.

But Rock or Pop style concerts and those croony cabaret displays,
Soon dilute and assault the Gospel, and its purity betrays.
Therefore, Christians shouldn't copy the world’s entertaining ways,
Nor mix the secular and sacred, as confusion such conveys.

So it hardly surprises me that such in church is wanted too,
When Christians, (during the week), those wrongful worldly things pursue.
For once the world intoxicates any whom God has set apart,
It’s not long before we see that they soon from His pure ways depart.

Thus it seems that many Christians have just sought out another calf,
Helped by more compliant Aarons who simply make the devil laugh.
And a Trojan horse as well, it seems, has passed through the Church’s gates,
With enemies in its belly after everything that Satan hates.

So has Christendom become spiritually schizophrenic?
Has a horrid Babylonic fusion now become systemic?
Is another pagan golden calf being worshiped like before,
And has a devilish Trojan horse let dark forces out its door?

Now isn’t that just like the devil to revive apostasy,
And hence the many parallels with the past that we now can see.
For just like those foolish Israelites who demanded their own way,
Christians will pay a high price too if they've chosen to wrongly stray.

Yes, "The end justifies the means," seems to motivate many folk,
But such humanistic thinking, apostasy will simply stoke.
Because so many fires have raged due to just a tiny ember,
And this why Christians should take care and the following remember:

Good that comes from something done isn’t proof that the right thing was done,
Though often when some wrong thing is done, that it is proof, we see spun.
But in spite of and not because of is why good sometimes occurs,
For God, out of some wrong that’s done, good somehow creatively spurs.

By Lance Landall


This poem was upgraded on the 14 May 2016.



Sources drawn from include —

"Music in the Balance" by Frank Garlock and Kurt Woetzel.
"Restoring True Worship" by Ruth Webb.





Recommended reading — ‘Why I Left The Contemporary Christian Music Movement’ by Dan Lucarini — Evangelical Press USA, ISBN 0 85234 517 8