Dear God!

What's wrong with rock music? I like it, my friends like it, and we all think it's okay. Is it evil or not?
A teenager from Ohio

Dear Ohio,

       Judges 5:3 says, "I will make music to the Lord"

       Ephesians 5:19 says, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs."

       King David, the psalmist (musician) was "a man after God's own heart." There is nothing wrong with music. It was created to glorify God.

       The problem arises in the people who express themselves in the music. What are they saying?

       The style of music, whether it be rock, rap, or country, is not the issue. The issue is what spirit is at work behind the music?

       Here are some questions you can ask yourself when you are deciding whether or not to listen to certain music:

       Who wrote it?

       What is the person trying to communicate?

       What was in the writer's mind?

       What was in his heart?

       As you listen to music, it is definitely influencing your mind. You begin to think about the words. Their thoughts, ideas and priorities will affect you, even though you may not want them to.

       Just because these singers are famous rappers or rock stars does not mean that what they say or do is right. Are they hooked up to God?

       If they are not, and you let them influence you as to what's cool and what's not cool, then you're being ripped off, and you don't even realize it.

       Take authority over your own life, your own ears. YOU decide what you're going to listen to. Don't be pressured by your peers. They won't be around to help you when you're hooked on drugs, addicted to alcohol, or dying of AIDs.

       You might think, "Well, it's just mediocre music. It's not really of the devil, just mediocre."

       Let me ask you this: Do you want to be a mediocre person? Do you want to have a mediocre life? Do you want to be a mediocre Christian with a mediocre future and walk into heaven as a mediocre nobody?

       Whether it's words, thoughts, or music, don't let it into your mind or come out of your mouth if it is not lifting up the Lord. He will be there for you when everyone else has disappeared.

       By the way, God wants you to have fun. He wants you to be a winner. He wants you to succeed even more than you want to succeed.

       The problem is that the world's idea of fun is mostly sin. God's idea of fun is righteous, RADICAL, and world-changing.

       Be a winner. Music matters.

Gail Ramsey, an ordained minister, portrayed the role of Susan Moore on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. She had other roles on the TV programs Mike Hammer, Generations and California Dreams. Today, Ramsey leads Semeion Ministries, where readers can write her at P.O. Box 77, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43063.