These articles have been written or selected by John Tracy. We trust that they will be a blessing to you. Many of them are intended to encourage discernment in the area of Christian Music. Others are related to additional aspects of contemporary culture and ministry. John would love to hear your feedback about these articles after you have finished reading. Please email him at WitnessMusic@netscape.net for further discussion, or simply to communicate your own thoughts. .

Nathanael Blake presents some keen insights into the Christian Music Industry. I do not know Nathanael personally, and thus cannot necessarily endorse all of his articles, however, he is brutally honest in this instance as to what is really motivating mainline Christian record labels and artists. Reading this article is well worth your time. -John Tracy

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What does God think of our church worship services? On the one side a Believer stands in a congregation of people who look and sound an awful lot like the world. He raises his hands in praise and to the best of his knowledge, sincerely sings to God as the screaming electric guitar and deafening trap set create a mood for his worship. On the other hand, the Christian stands in a congregation of dead, lifeless people, whose minds are anywhere but on the task of worship. He mumbles through a hymn written 200 years ago and struggles to keep his brain engaged. Which one pleases God?

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We have all been in a situation where there was "an elephant in the room." By that, we mean something that is an obvious point of interest or concern that is either intentionally or unintentionally left unstated by those who should bring it up. As a result everyone taking part in the conversation is frustrated because of what seems like a blatant oversight. Jason Janz has effectively addressed some of our Fundamentalist "elephants in the room." You will find this article thought provoking, challenging, and probably life-changing. If you consider yourself a Fundamentalist, you need to read this article! -John Tracy

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This could be one of the greatest moments in recent history for the church, but I am afraid that for the most part we are missing it. What a tragic thing for us to sit with smug confidence in our formal garb in the comforts of our multi-million dollar facilities and take pride in what we do and do not believe about watching a movie while a lost and dying world is going to hell.

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"...on that day God put a divine stamp of approval on the Beatles and every other type of music imaginable. He sums up his philosophy by saying,  If God was in the car with me that day, if He accepted my sing-along-with-the-Beatles as praise, if He could talk to me while the music played, if He actually prevented me from turning it off, then this is a God who..."

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How do I grow this music program? What do I need to do in order to take this music program to the next level? How do I motivate these local church musicians to be more committed and consecrated to their responsibilities? No doubt, these and other similar questions have plagued even the most dedicated minister of music as he goes about his weekly tasks. Regardless of the church's size, the talent of the local church musicians...

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One of the most popular, young, rising stars in today's mainstream Christian music industry is the 23-year old Jaci Velasquez. She seemingly has everything, including two houses (one in Nashville, one in L.A.), three cars, a boyfriend, and thriving careers in both the Christian and Latin music markets. She has been decorated with...

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"I thought I had, maybe, a year," said Father Joseph Girzone. "I remember thinking: What do I want to do before I die? What is it I need to say? I decided I wanted to write a book about Jesus. I wanted to write a simple little book about the Jesus that ordinary people met and loved, the Jesus..."

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I recently received an advertisement from a local church in our community inviting our teens to attend a Christian Concert taking place in their youth center. Several students from our Christian School are members of this particular church so the flyer caught my attention...

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It is a wonderful thing for us as finite humans to have the opportunity of worshipping and serving Almighty God. Who can actually comprehend the immense privilege that has been bestowed upon us with the commands to worship the Lord (Psalm 29:2), and to offer a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15)? As with any great opportunity, we certainly have a great responsibili...

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In a day when so called Christian musicians are flaunting themselves around the country with multi-million dollar record contracts, making a mockery out of Biblical standards for any church leader (I Timothy 3; Titus 1), and attempting to combine the religions of the world in celebration of the oneness of humanity, it is likely that none have remained untouched and unaware of this powerful voice in our society. It can be difficult to purge ourselves from the carnality...

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This article was written after collecting a number of questions from teenagers during my Christian music seminars. My prayer is that this question and answer format will be a blessing and insightful.

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