December 2023
Merry Christmas! Jesus was born to bring peace in our hearts through His blood and righteousness, providing right standing with God for us. But not an end of all wars until the judgment at His Second Coming, when He will rule and reign forever as the Prince of Peace. After His birth, Luke wrote:
"Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others--the armies of heaven--praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." 1
A Last Beatles’ Song Response...
"I am a young, Christian man who is an amateur musician and avid music lover, who has always found it disturbing how The Beatles' music and message were falsely interpreted to propel Manson's violent ideology."
"I've read on the site that you aren’t into secular music anymore, but I was wondering if you’ve heard the new Beatles song, 'Now and Then?' When I heard those lyrics written so long ago now, 'I know it’s true, it’s all because of you, and if I make it through, it’s all because of you,' I thought of you and your ministry.
"I believe we get to choose our intention of how we listen to music, secular or worship, and I choose to think of the 'You' in that song as 'God.' I think we can choose to hear any song any way we want. For instance, some might even find God living in the words of a 'secular' song more than they found Him in the new trendy 'worship' song.
"It's more about your personal heart posture than the general idea of the words on paper. With your life being radically altered in part by someone with wrong intentions, what do you think? I praise God for the direction He has taken your life and would appreciate your view. Thank you, Anonymous, N.C."
The Beatles' Song: "Now and Then" ...
It is disturbing how The Beatles' songs were used to propel the crimes. Though I have no desire for secular music now, it isn't because of my past. It wasn't the music back then, but my prideful-rebellious heart. Though my desires have changed, I did listen to their last song, plus I watched a fifteen-minute documentary on its production. I laughed when I saw they took the song off a 1978 cassette recording since we are likewise digitizing old cassettes for my podcast. I enjoyed it like I would a secular song in a movie. I even watch a singing contest now and then, but it isn't a part of my daily life. I am satisfied completely with what I consider Spiritual things, which isn't the same for me with secular music. We are all free to choose our musical taste.
Charles' Spotify Playlist
My view might be different if the Lord had called me to be a musician like the anonymous young man who wrote me the letter. I believe the Lord has gifted him to serve others as a music lover. However, my God-given gift has always been to help others share the Gospel, which is one of my greatest joys. For instance, God is using this young man to reach you through this specific message today about music. His act of faith spoke to my heart to use his letter to plant Gospel seeds.
"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." 2
Choosing Our Intentions . . .
As a Christian, when this young man heard John Lennon's lyrics, "I know it's true, it's all because of you... if I make it through", he chose the "you" to be God. Back then, I chose to enter into a conspiracy, making God into a man who intended to destroy those in society. He blamed them for his downfall, through beliefs he developed while in prison, which caused hatred to overflow from his heart. Those who joined in could identify with him, including myself, since we were rebelling against our parents' beliefs. We were ripe for deception through his musical lyrics and the false interpretation of other songs, combined with our rebellious hearts that caused a wave of destruction. But now that I have made it through, I see that it is because of God's love and grace. Now, you have to choose your own musical view and decide what wave of intention you will ride in life. The Lord said long ago, "Now listen! Today, I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster." 3
I chose the Christian wave in 1975, and met up with the late David Wilkerson and Keith Green, who came to prison to minister to me on separate occasions in 1978. Both became my friends, Keith telling me about Bob Dylan, who he was ministering to on the wave as well. These men were friends -- David who had been dealing with the dangers of rock music on the youth for years, and Keith who rocked out on his piano with contemporary Christian music. They ended up writing articles, David's called, "Confessions of a Rock 'n Roll Hater!" and Keith's "Can God Use Rock Music?", distributed in 1982 by Keith's ministry and still available through a Google search. David shares his change of heart, plus seven steps towards balance in music. Keith concludes that it is all about motive, writing: "I truly believe that Christians who are completely sold out to God, using these tools, can bring people to their knees in repentance and lead them into the waiting arms of the Savior." Regardless, this controversy has been going on for centuries, since John and Charles Wesley took many secular songs of their day and put Christian lyrics to them, which most of the Church deplored, no matter how many sinners came to Christ.
It's All About the Heart . . .
This young man wrote: "It's more about your personal heart than the general idea of the words on paper." He agrees with Jesus, who said: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks." 4 The Psalmist David sang: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit within me." 5 As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in the core of our hearts, but our soul [thoughts, choices and emotions] is in need of continual renewal. This is where the battle of the mind takes place, through taking authority in Christ. The apostle Paul wrote: "We use God's mighty weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." 6
It was my pride, rebellion and choices that brought me to prison on November 30, 1969 -- 54 years ago. I was the age of this young man who wrote with such great wisdom. I was blinded about so many things. I had no understanding of the love and peace that I was searching to find. I rejected counsel from those who cared for me, and the mighty power of God available to set me free. I was destroyed because of the lack of knowledge and ignorance of the fear of God. 7 Then, as Keith Green said, I was brought to my knees and led into the waiting arms of the Savior, Jesus Christ, where I received His righteousness. "As a result, I can show others the goodness of God, for he called me out of darkness into his wonderful light." 8
A Prayer For You . . .
"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and in earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." 9
Scripture References (NLT):
1) Luke 2:13,14
2) 1 Cor. 15:58
3) Deut. 30:15
4) Luke 6:45 (NKJV)
5) Psa. 51:10 (KJV)
6) 2 Cor. 10:4,5 (NKJV)
7) Hosea 4:6
8) 1 Pet. 2:9b
9) Eph. 3:15-21