Contemporary “Christian” Music
READING TIME: 10 MINUTES
Contemporary Christian Music is ecumenical music. In fact, Contemporary Christian Music is one of the most powerful forces of the end-times ecumenical movement. It is the music of the “one-world church.” In his book “Making Musical Choices”, Richard Peck makes the following important observation about modern church music: “Aside from its commercialism and its increasing resemblance to the world, contemporary Christian music is becoming a religious melting pot. Some in the community admit that they are not believers. And while this is still an exception, CCM is proud of its ecumenical and charismatic spirit. This ecumenism extends open arms toward apostate Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church.”
Here are just a few examples of ecumenism in the last thirty years:
The contemporary praise anthem “We Are One in the Spirit,” which became the “banner song of the Jesus Movement,” was written by Peter Scholtes, a Roman Catholic priest.
When Pope John Paul II visited the United States in January 1999, well-known contemporary Christian musicians joined hands with hundreds of thousands of Catholics to welcome him. Featured at a Catholic youth rally connected with the Pope’s visit, were dc Talk, Audio Adrenaline, Rebecca St. James, and Jars of Clay.
Michael W. Smith performed at the Catholic-sponsored World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado, in 1993. Smith also wrote the foreword to Catholic Brennan Manning’s “The Ragamuffin Gospel.” In the fall of 2009, Michael W. Smith toured with Catholic Matt Maher (highlighted below) on the “New Hallelujah Tour.”
Sandi Patty moves freely in ecumenical circles. She has entertained audiences as diverse as Billy Graham crusades, Jerry Falwell meetings, Southern Baptist Convention annual conferences, and Pope John Paul II masses (she performed at a papal mass in Los Angeles in September 1987).
Darlene Zschech of Hillsong Music is another example of the radical ecumenism that permeates CCM. One of Zschech’s themes is the importance of unity, which, of course, is the false ecumenical philosophy. For example, she makes the following comment about the album You Shine — “There is a new sound and a new song being proclaimed across the earth. It’s the sound of a unified church, coming together, in one voice to magnify our magnificent Lord” (from the album cover). In a 2004 interview with Christianity Today, Zschech expressed her radical ecumenical philosophy: “I’ve been in the Catholic Church, in the United Church, the Anglican Church, and in many other churches, and when worship is offered in truth, this sound emerges-regardless of the style. It’s the sound of the human heart connecting with its Maker” (quoted by Michael Herman, “Zschech, Please,” christianitytoday.com, June 4, 2004). Additionally, Zschech led worship for Pope Francis at an ecumenical prayer gathering of more than 30,000 people at the Vatican in July of 2015.
Steven Curtis Chapman played a concert in 2003 at St. Mary Seminary sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio. Retired Catholic bishop Anthony Pilla celebrated the Mass at the event. Chapman told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that it’s “a good thing” that “the Catholic Church is showing a greater openness to contemporary Christian music” (Plain Dealer, Aug. 7, 2006).
Third Day and TobyMac performed for the Roman Catholic Youth Rally in 2011, which featured Pope Benedict XVI and a Catholic mass.
The above information is from the following article: http://www.wayoflife.org/database/ccm_and_rome.html
Here are some more examples:
The following CCM artists all performed at the ecumenical Together 2016 event: Hillsong United, Kari Jobe, Lecrae, Passion, Crowder, Kirk Franklin, Jeremy Camp, Andy Mineo, Michael W. Smith, Lauren Daigle, Matthew West, Casting Crowns, Tedashii, Tasha Cobbs, Trip Lee, and Matt Maher. (http://herescope.blogspot.com/2016/07/resetting-reformation.html)
For those unfamiliar with the ecumenical intent of this gathering, this video clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGuepsn3Lg&fbclid=IwAR02AWVSl9006wKPw0bZaOHVynY8xGSwNXchsvn5UX_Z-uCGBhVrrsuQpS8) shows Pope Francis issuing an invitation to the event.
Third Day and TobyMac performed for the Roman Catholic Youth Rally in 2011, which featured Pope Benedict XVI and a Catholic mass.
The above information is from the following article: http://www.wayoflife.org/database/ccm_and_rome.html
Here are some more examples:
The following CCM artists all performed at the ecumenical Together 2016 event: Hillsong United, Kari Jobe, Lecrae, Passion, Crowder, Kirk Franklin, Jeremy Camp, Andy Mineo, Michael W. Smith, Lauren Daigle, Matthew West, Casting Crowns, Tedashii, Tasha Cobbs, Trip Lee, and Matt Maher. (http://herescope.blogspot.com/2016/07/resetting-reformation.html)
For those unfamiliar with the ecumenical intent of this gathering, this video clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGuepsn3Lg&fbclid=IwAR02AWVSl9006wKPw0bZaOHVynY8xGSwNXchsvn5UX_Z-uCGBhVrrsuQpS8) shows Pope Francis issuing an invitation to the event.
In addition, this video clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=18&v=scdeI_c6nBs), beginning at the 3:52 mark, shows Bishop Robert speaking about unity at the event. At the 9:02 mark, Catholic leader Matteo Calisi, who has worked at the Vatican for three successive popes, speaks of being so grateful to be there worshiping together in unity.
Now, to highlight Matt Maher, an extremely influential CCM artist active in the ecumenical movement today:
Matt Maher is a Catholic CCM artist, songwriter, and worship leader originally from Newfoundland, Canada, who later relocated to Tempe, Arizona. He has garnered multiple radio successes writing and recording songs like “Lord, I Need You,” “Hold Us Together,” “Christ Is Risen,” “All The People Said Amen,” and “Your Grace Is Enough.”
Maher performs and speaks at global high-profile events. In 2013, he performed on stage with Pope Francis in front of 3 million people at the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZa6spYqHsA&list=RDLZa6spYqHsA&fbclid=IwAR3RwuHnUiFdouJ1n1OXRAb_b2ehet6cXWRs0AusoYIJ6-27xeguzIjtfVE#t=95).
He performed at the World Meeting of Families in 2015, which marked Pope Francis’ first visit to the US (https://www.thechristianbeat.org/index.php/news/925-matt-maher-to-perform-at-the-world-meeting-of-families-with-pope-francis?fbclid=IwAR0DWtqpxy9habZ55IxHBMxD-qzzsiEj6UeSicDxMlCW_mx5nLd0z5Dw9SM).
In December of 2015, he spoke and led worship at Mike Bickle’s IHOP OneThing event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmJhb0UuF4&list=PL4S19ubs2BxdgP4XrvSUWHVuTe4tM-LI7&index=7). Many of his statements from this video demonstrate his role in the CCM movement and highlight his desire to see a unified church:
At the 27:03 mark we hear Matt Maher say he was born and raised Catholic and went to a Jesuit high school.
At the 38:02 mark we hear Chris Tomlin is a good friend of his and has recorded “Your Grace is Enough” which was written by Maher.
At the 40:29 mark, speaking of John 17, we hear Matt Maher say: “It’s Jesus’ high priestly prayer for unity and just to set the stage for you, He’s, Jesus, has celebrated the Last Supper – there’s a lot of people in this room that believe during that He actually instituted the Eucharist. Then after that comes a hymn of praise. And, then Jesus goes into the Garden of Gethsemane where He’s going to suffer.”
41:34 mark: “He (Jesus) prays a prayer. So if you’re going to have the audacity to call yourself a Christian…to say that you’re a follower, you’re going to have to contend with the things that He prays.”
42:27 mark: “I would encourage you to read the whole prayer. Basically, what it boils down to; there’s two things. Jesus says, I pray for my followers, God, that they may be as one as You and I are one. Okay, I want you to stop and think about that. The second Person of the Trinity – the Son – is communicating to the Father and He is praying for us. And, He is saying, God, as close as I am with You, which is pretty darn close because they’re one, they’re one, that’s what we believe. That’s one of the foundational mysteries of the Christian faith, we believe in a God who’s three persons, but He’s one, and you can’t call yourself a Christian if you don’t believe in that. That God, who is three persons, but one is praying to Himself, testifying, the Son is testifying to the Father, that they, the body, His Church would be as unified as God himself is.
44:44 mark: “…But do we believe in the words of Jesus that His bride would be as close and as unified as He is with His own Father?”
46:36 mark: “So, you know what, Lord, I’m just gonna keep writing songs for the whole church to sing.”
48:24 mark: “That’s something that even the early church didn’t get to experience; Peter, Paul, they didn’t get to experience tangibly what you got to experience this morning, praying with believers from other churches.”
49:20 mark: “My wife, Kristin; she’s not Catholic. We go to two churches on Sunday when I’m in town. We go to a non-denominational church in the morning and then I go to mass. We’re registering our kids, they’re gonna go to Catholic school. We’re gonna raise our kids Catholic. We’re trying to figure all this out. It’s like a whole new reality.”
50:01 mark: “Here’s the thing. Worship is the key to this. The ability for us to stand and pray together in public, despite our disagreements, it actually gives witness to a world that doesn’t know how to get along anymore. So, like us standing here, you standing here, these few days, and praying together with people and seeking prayer from somebody that doesn’t confess fully the same thing you do, the humility in that is the humility of Christ.”
52:24 mark: “Is it possible that the greatest obstacle to an unbelieving world is not any external evil, or any external problem? Maybe the greatest obstacle to a believing world is an un-unified church who’s not missionally proclaiming the same gospel together. Because if Jesus Himself prayed, I pray that they may be one, as You and I are one, so that the world may believe, isn’t He basically saying in order for the world to believe, they need to be one?”
53:14 mark: “And, so here we are for such a time as this, in such a time as this, brothers and sister, in the history of the church, standing on a threshold of a new era, a new age. In Catholic circles we talk about it; we call it the New Evangelization. We’ve spent twenty years trying to figure out what that is. Maybe, brothers and sister, maybe what the New Evangelization is, is Christians of all denominations proclaiming the gospel together. Maybe that’s actually what the New Evangelization is. Because what makes it so new is we’ve never seen that before. That’s really new.”
54:13 mark: “Do you realize most of us, we’ve grown up in a church, we’ve never seen a unified church before in the history of the church since the Reformation. We haven’t seen it. We’ve never seen it. We don’t even know what it looks like. But, like we’re standing on a threshold of moments like this conference, and like where ministry actually happening on a local level where people could start to have fellowship together and I think that’s what the work of unity is. I’ll end by saying this, I think what the work of unity starts with; it starts with us praying together; it starts with us fellowshipping together; it starts with us having common respect for each other; a love for each other.”
Here are some of the songs Maher has written in conjunction with other CCM artists (http://www.gospelmusic.org/blog-12-songs-didnt-know-matt-maher-wrote/):
Jesus Culture – I Stand In Awe (Written By: Chris Quilala, Hank Bentley, Matt Maher, Mia Fieldes)
Bethel Music – Greatness Of Your Glory (Written By: Brenton Brown, Brian Johnson, Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher) (Brian Johnson, of course, is the son of Bill Johnson, the founder of Bethel Church in Redding, CA).
Steven Curtis Chapman – Hallelujah, You Are Good (Written By: Steven Curtis Chapman, Matt Maher)
Third Day – Soul On Fire (Written By: Brenton Brown, David Carr, Mac Powell, Mark Lee, Matt Maher, Tai Anderson)
David Crowder – Come As You Are (Written By: Ben Glover, David Crowder, Matt Maher)
Hillsong – We Glorify Your Name (Written By: Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, Matt Maher, Reuben Morgan)
Kari Jobe – We Exalt Your Name (Written By: Kari Jobe, Matt Maher)
Chris Tomlin – I Will Rise (Written By: Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Louie Giglio, Matt Maher)
Please avoid events which feature CCM artists. This movement is leading people down the path to the one world religion.
Matt Maher is a Catholic CCM artist, songwriter, and worship leader originally from Newfoundland, Canada, who later relocated to Tempe, Arizona. He has garnered multiple radio successes writing and recording songs like “Lord, I Need You,” “Hold Us Together,” “Christ Is Risen,” “All The People Said Amen,” and “Your Grace Is Enough.”
Maher performs and speaks at global high-profile events. In 2013, he performed on stage with Pope Francis in front of 3 million people at the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZa6spYqHsA&list=RDLZa6spYqHsA&fbclid=IwAR3RwuHnUiFdouJ1n1OXRAb_b2ehet6cXWRs0AusoYIJ6-27xeguzIjtfVE#t=95).
He performed at the World Meeting of Families in 2015, which marked Pope Francis’ first visit to the US (https://www.thechristianbeat.org/index.php/news/925-matt-maher-to-perform-at-the-world-meeting-of-families-with-pope-francis?fbclid=IwAR0DWtqpxy9habZ55IxHBMxD-qzzsiEj6UeSicDxMlCW_mx5nLd0z5Dw9SM).
In December of 2015, he spoke and led worship at Mike Bickle’s IHOP OneThing event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmJhb0UuF4&list=PL4S19ubs2BxdgP4XrvSUWHVuTe4tM-LI7&index=7). Many of his statements from this video demonstrate his role in the CCM movement and highlight his desire to see a unified church:
At the 27:03 mark we hear Matt Maher say he was born and raised Catholic and went to a Jesuit high school.
At the 38:02 mark we hear Chris Tomlin is a good friend of his and has recorded “Your Grace is Enough” which was written by Maher.
At the 40:29 mark, speaking of John 17, we hear Matt Maher say: “It’s Jesus’ high priestly prayer for unity and just to set the stage for you, He’s, Jesus, has celebrated the Last Supper – there’s a lot of people in this room that believe during that He actually instituted the Eucharist. Then after that comes a hymn of praise. And, then Jesus goes into the Garden of Gethsemane where He’s going to suffer.”
41:34 mark: “He (Jesus) prays a prayer. So if you’re going to have the audacity to call yourself a Christian…to say that you’re a follower, you’re going to have to contend with the things that He prays.”
42:27 mark: “I would encourage you to read the whole prayer. Basically, what it boils down to; there’s two things. Jesus says, I pray for my followers, God, that they may be as one as You and I are one. Okay, I want you to stop and think about that. The second Person of the Trinity – the Son – is communicating to the Father and He is praying for us. And, He is saying, God, as close as I am with You, which is pretty darn close because they’re one, they’re one, that’s what we believe. That’s one of the foundational mysteries of the Christian faith, we believe in a God who’s three persons, but He’s one, and you can’t call yourself a Christian if you don’t believe in that. That God, who is three persons, but one is praying to Himself, testifying, the Son is testifying to the Father, that they, the body, His Church would be as unified as God himself is.
44:44 mark: “…But do we believe in the words of Jesus that His bride would be as close and as unified as He is with His own Father?”
46:36 mark: “So, you know what, Lord, I’m just gonna keep writing songs for the whole church to sing.”
48:24 mark: “That’s something that even the early church didn’t get to experience; Peter, Paul, they didn’t get to experience tangibly what you got to experience this morning, praying with believers from other churches.”
49:20 mark: “My wife, Kristin; she’s not Catholic. We go to two churches on Sunday when I’m in town. We go to a non-denominational church in the morning and then I go to mass. We’re registering our kids, they’re gonna go to Catholic school. We’re gonna raise our kids Catholic. We’re trying to figure all this out. It’s like a whole new reality.”
50:01 mark: “Here’s the thing. Worship is the key to this. The ability for us to stand and pray together in public, despite our disagreements, it actually gives witness to a world that doesn’t know how to get along anymore. So, like us standing here, you standing here, these few days, and praying together with people and seeking prayer from somebody that doesn’t confess fully the same thing you do, the humility in that is the humility of Christ.”
52:24 mark: “Is it possible that the greatest obstacle to an unbelieving world is not any external evil, or any external problem? Maybe the greatest obstacle to a believing world is an un-unified church who’s not missionally proclaiming the same gospel together. Because if Jesus Himself prayed, I pray that they may be one, as You and I are one, so that the world may believe, isn’t He basically saying in order for the world to believe, they need to be one?”
53:14 mark: “And, so here we are for such a time as this, in such a time as this, brothers and sister, in the history of the church, standing on a threshold of a new era, a new age. In Catholic circles we talk about it; we call it the New Evangelization. We’ve spent twenty years trying to figure out what that is. Maybe, brothers and sister, maybe what the New Evangelization is, is Christians of all denominations proclaiming the gospel together. Maybe that’s actually what the New Evangelization is. Because what makes it so new is we’ve never seen that before. That’s really new.”
54:13 mark: “Do you realize most of us, we’ve grown up in a church, we’ve never seen a unified church before in the history of the church since the Reformation. We haven’t seen it. We’ve never seen it. We don’t even know what it looks like. But, like we’re standing on a threshold of moments like this conference, and like where ministry actually happening on a local level where people could start to have fellowship together and I think that’s what the work of unity is. I’ll end by saying this, I think what the work of unity starts with; it starts with us praying together; it starts with us fellowshipping together; it starts with us having common respect for each other; a love for each other.”
Here are some of the songs Maher has written in conjunction with other CCM artists (http://www.gospelmusic.org/blog-12-songs-didnt-know-matt-maher-wrote/):
Jesus Culture – I Stand In Awe (Written By: Chris Quilala, Hank Bentley, Matt Maher, Mia Fieldes)
Bethel Music – Greatness Of Your Glory (Written By: Brenton Brown, Brian Johnson, Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher) (Brian Johnson, of course, is the son of Bill Johnson, the founder of Bethel Church in Redding, CA).
Steven Curtis Chapman – Hallelujah, You Are Good (Written By: Steven Curtis Chapman, Matt Maher)
Third Day – Soul On Fire (Written By: Brenton Brown, David Carr, Mac Powell, Mark Lee, Matt Maher, Tai Anderson)
David Crowder – Come As You Are (Written By: Ben Glover, David Crowder, Matt Maher)
Hillsong – We Glorify Your Name (Written By: Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, Matt Maher, Reuben Morgan)
Kari Jobe – We Exalt Your Name (Written By: Kari Jobe, Matt Maher)
Chris Tomlin – I Will Rise (Written By: Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Louie Giglio, Matt Maher)
Please avoid events which feature CCM artists. This movement is leading people down the path to the one world religion.