This morning, I awoke with a particular song on my heart, so I wanted to post it here. When this song is sung in our church, there is such reverence for the Lord. There is not a lot of loud musical accompaniment, but an almost hushed tone occurs and the song becomes like a prayer. It is truly a cry from the heart as the sincerity of it ushers in God's presence.
However, I have scoured Youtube and can find nothing like it. Yes, there are many versions of the song there, but none really reflected the worship that I have seen when sung in our services. What I have posted below is the closest I could fine.
Yet, that search leads to the title of this post. There was one version of this song by Michael W. Smith that I almost posted. It seemed to have a quietness about it that I wasn't seeing in a lot of the other versions. Although I am not a Michael W. Smith fan, I thought it was harmless enough.
However, after I embedded that video in this post, the Lord would not let me hit the "Publish" button. Every time I started to post it, I had a very strong resistance in my spirit about it. I didn't understand why.
I must have replayed that video about 4 times trying to understand what was wrong with it, but I couldn't see anything. Then I thought, "Well, maybe I should not be posting this song." Yet the Lord replied, "I didn't say that." So I asked, "Then Lord, what is the issue?" That is when God led me to the following page: Michael W Smith: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing.
UPDATE: Bro. HannielOnline has shared that the above linked article is apparently a snippet of a larger piece that may be found here for those wanting to look into this further: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Now, I know nothing about this site and have not researched it, so don't consider this an endorsement. However, this particular article I thought was very important to share. It is evidence of just how badly the condition of the church has become. To quote the author of this article, "It may be a sign of the times, that Christian ‘discernment’ is so utterly lacking." I link to the article not to talk about Michael W. Smith, but to ask each of us to consider the spirit behind the music to which we listen...even if it is called "Christian". This is of particular importance as many of the leaders of music in the "Christian" church are homosexual (whether openly or not).
receive worship and fill people with his spirit. We have also shared how most "Christian music" is in actuality anything but. We have spoken about how Satan is a master of music. We have spoken about how there is music inspired by God and music which is not.
So it should come as no surprise that Satan has incorporated much of the occult inside of the church. The music from Michael W. Smith represents the tenor & tone of most of what is played as Christian music today...and it is filled with occult mysticism. Much of this music is not just "un-Christian", it is outright Satanic!
We know about secular music. We know about the deceptions of so-called holy hip hop and Christian rock. But what about music considered praise and worship? It is not enough for the lyrics of the song to be ok, but what is the spirit behind the ones singing the words? Even the words of God spoken in the wrong spirit are nothing but the conjurings of a smooth-tongued devil. When Satan used Scripture to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, he was not inspired by righteousness (Matthew 4:6). We must remember that even Satan can be transformed into a minister of righteousness (II Corinthians 11:15).
In our home, each of our children play praise & worship in their rooms throughout the night. While we started this when they were babes by continuously playing Scripture Memory Songs in their rooms, they have chosen to continue this tradition. Even now, although they are out of town visiting grandparents, they take their music with them to continue playing at night. The problem is that there are now sites like Pandora whose idea of what is Christian is certainly not the same as mine. Sure, you can pick and choose which artists are in your play list, but they also play other artists whom they consider similar to those. For example, I have awoken at night to hear Toby Mac playing in my son's room (God forbid). We have had to teach them that something is not "Christian" just because it is labeled as such. Not understanding this may be the equivalent of ingesting cyanide.
As parents, and even just as servants of the Lord, we must take care about the "Christian" music to which we listen. It is not just that some singers don't represent the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In many ways these artists are the same as the secular ones...except they are more devious. They are not just singing about a watered-down Gospel, they are attempting to entice people into the occult or at the least, use witchcraft in the music to bind them.
What is the difference about the song below when it is sung in my church (and I am sure others as well) compared to much of what I heard on Youtube? Even though the song's lyrics are the same, it is the spirit behind the worship which makes the difference. May we exercise Godly discernment.
Beware of "Christian" music.
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