Screaming Singers ...I Love Them
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Written: 10/31/2005 
Author: RickBHendrix
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Leave No Stone Unturned
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I have to touch on something that seems to keep circling the drain. I keep hearing, "Would you prefer talent or screaming singers?" Well, I would prefer REAL singers over the over-produced. Who really gives a flip if you've produced the perfect record, and you turned around and forgot the most important elements. Fruit, honesty and reality.
So, what if they scream, growl, use there full voice, or sing unnatural. Its not the artist's fault that production ideas are not being appreciated by the buyers. So, what if you all can hit a note perfectly, or produce a project with all the bells and whistles. A lot of good it does sitting in the closet or garage.
Christians love reality, the energy, the spirit, the flow, not the timing, perfection and egos that are producing big budget projects, big budget salaries and BIG boxes of product not being sold.
Next time you wanna gripe about an artist that's growling, or singing what you think is unnatural maybe you should examine all the boxes or returns retail on those over-produced porjects because more than likely only a handful of people are buying it. Its probably over produced or to0 perfect to be pleasant, fruitful or real.
Knowing the market is important. Knowing boundaries is important. Having a level of expertise is important. But lets not allow the self proclaimed Gospel gurus to dictate what we all need. I am sure the mother that just lost her son to suicide is not listening for a controlled vocal run. The father of two that is losing his battle with cancer is not bothered by whether the vocals are stacked. And I am sure the house wife that is bleeding from a brutal beating her husband just gave her is not wondering why the artist is singing unnatural.
Friend, let me tell you what is unnatural. Removing the Holy Spirit from a record. Taking the artist out of the recording and trying to replace it with years of cookie cutter production or trained vocals is unnatural.
I get spiritually ill at the people in the industry sometimes. It seems the people with the most ideas and criticism have the least place on the food chain. No offense, but, it's easy to criticize, condemn.
Leave the singers alone. If they wanna scream their vocals till their jugular pops, its their juglar. I wonder how many people told Rob Parsley and TD Jakes to tone down, not to scream, not to get loud. I can hear it now. "Oh, that's not Christian to be loud.
What is not Christian is to sit back and listen to everyone else but the Holy Spirit. If I wanna know how it feels to hold the hand of Jesus in a storm, awaken from a dark depression, meet my needs down to the wire, hold me when everyone else has betrayed me, dry the years of disappointment from my eyes - I will take the energetic, excited, vein popping, sweating, running singer or preacher that can't sit still because he knows what it's like to feel the worthlessness removed ................ Yes, give me those screamin' singers!
Rick Hendrix
http://www.rickhendrix.com
Reader Comments
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ARE WE TRAINED TO SAVE SOULS NOW? I AM NOT HAPPY WITH THAT REMARK.
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I think, honestly, that this article is a knee-jerk response to articles that other columnists have written about the state of SGM. Evidently, Rick does not agree with the opinions of those columnists and this column is his attempt to answer. It's actually quite amusing to watch. "Columnist A" writes about a subject and a few months later Rick comments on what Columnist A said - but in an opposite opinion. Which is a GOOD thing. Open discussion is always GOOD.
Therefore I don't' think Rick really LOVES screaming singers but was simply taking the opposite opinion of a columnist who commented recently about the screaming going on.
And furthermore......none of us can determine who is in this for ministry and who is in it for entertainment. Someday the Lord of us all will separate the wheat from the chaff.. and then we'll know forever. -
I would like to modify my statements. "JJ" wrote that entertainers were "chaff" and ministers were "wheat." While I think the basic motive for singing MUST BE MINISTRY, I don't think that makes the singers who are more involved in uplifting and encouraging the already
saved, "chaff." Let's be careful what we label Christian ministry/entertainment. -
tj, let me clarify your clarification of my comments. I said that Jesus would separate the wheat from the chaff on judgement day and that ONLY HE knows what our motives are. You missed my point completely.
I was not calling anyone chaff... I was warning against those of us who have decided WHO ministers and WHO does not.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TJ.... YOU CHANGED MY STATEMENT COMPLETELY.... Please review my post.
I did not make a distinction between "ministry" and "singers who are more involved in uplifting and encouraging the already saved" . YOU ARE THE ONE WHO MADE THAT COMPARISON... NOT I.
I made a distinction between MINISTRY vs ENTERTAINMENT.
To encourage and uplift the Body of Christ IS MINISTRY COMPLETELY. OF COURSE... when a person's motive is to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ.. OF COURSE that is MINISTRY... Encouragement, edification, exhortation are all GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.
But you can look through the Bible till the cows come home and you will not find the GIFT OF ENTERTAINMENT anywhere in the Bible. My point is that you can be an entertainer if you so chose. There is nothing wrong with that at all.... but it isn't MINISTRY.
And if a person has devoted his/her entire life to ENTERTAINMENT.....while convincing himself and others that it is ministry... it will be so sad to stand before the Lord we sang about with nothing to show for our lives.
Thanks... and blessings to you tj. -
"None of us can determine who is in this for ministry and who is in it for entertainment. Someday the Lord of us all will separate the wheat from the chaff.. and then we'll know forever."
Sorry if I misunderstood this. It just appeared to me that you were saying anyone who's in it to provide wholesome Christian entertainment to people were gonna have to answer to God. Apparantly you didn't say what you really meant, but thanks for the clarification - Masta! lol -
tj....You've got a real gift for twisting people's words.
Why is that? Do you work for CNN or something?
I NEVER SAID that anyone who is providing wholesome Christian entertainment is going to have to answser to God.
YOU SAID THAT I SAID THAT. WHY DID YOU DO THAT?
WHAT I ACTUALLY SAID IS: ,,,"you can be an entertainer if you so chose. There is nothing wrong with that at all.... but it isn't MINISTRY."
And the sentence about the fact that the Lord will separate the wheat from the chaff meant exactly that... SOMEDAY we'll all know who did what and for what reason. And UNTIL THEN we WILL NEVER KNOW FOR SURE WHO IS DOING WHAT FOR WHAT REASON. So for that reason we should all concentrate on the state of our own hearts.
Blessing to ya, and I'm not doing The Twist with you anymore. Twist away. I'm done. -
"My point is that you can be an entertainer if you so chose. There is nothing wrong with that at all.... but it isn't MINISTRY."
What could possibly preclude entertainment from also being ministry? When I need a lift, I can often get it from polished, good quality Southern Gospel music. That most definitely is a form of ministry. -
And if you consider it a form of ministry then good for you.
You are entitled to your opinion.
I don't, of course, agree with you because if you carry your reasoning to it's logical conclusion then anything that brings you a "lift" can also be considered "ministry".
The list of "lifts" is endless.... ( Rev. Jay Leno? Ringling Brothers Evangelistic Association? Rascal Flatts Ministry? )
It is MY opinion... (and I'm entitled to one) that ministry is one thing and entertainment is another... and never the twain shall meet. As I stated before encouragement is certainly a VALID way to minister to one another...
Why is it such a no-no to simply state the obvious - many groups are singing for the same motive that many NON-Gospel groups are singing - they like the attention, they like the applause, and they like to entertain.
Truth? I think it is. -
I directly quote you so you can't twist MY words this time, JJ:
"As I stated before encouragement is certainly a VALID way to minister to one another..."
Why can't entertainment be encouraging, JJ? I have to agree with David Murray 0. lol -
I don't agree with you.
You don't agree with me.
Let's just end it here.. OK? OK
You're using circular reasoning... Entertainment is encouraging.. encouragement is ministry.. therefore entertainment is ministry... Please...
There ARE groups who minister.
There ARE groups who do not.
The reasons they do or do not are between them and their Lord. I'm simply stating the obvious. Some wanna be entertainers.....don't call yourself a minister.
Over and out.
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