The same year I finished the last part of my M.Ed. degree, I also taught at Alabama Christian Academy while our elder son and daughter attended Alabama Christian College, later called Faulkner University. Our two youngest children attended elementary school at ACA. Our elder son met his future wife at Faulkner that year, and the three sang in the Alabama Christian College chorus together.
Keith Lancaster’s A’ Capella group was a regular feature at the school, often appearing on special programs. Someone mentioned that the lead bass singer, Rodney Britt, made the flatware vibrate on the tables even when he spoke.
Dayspring (Job 38:12; Luke 1:78), was another singing group at Faulkner featuring four young men who raised funds for Alabama Christian College by travelling to sing for interested audiences. Our elder son, his two roommates and another young man often sang by appointment. We enjoyed hearing them live when they were back at home, and we enjoyed listening to their cassette tapes.
As you can see, music filled our lives day after day. We sang because we were happy (James 5:13), and those times were often. We sang while riding in the car together, and after our daily Bible readings. Sometimes we invited friends over just to sing together. Today, we still sing often, but we also take a more serious approach to Christian music, as we sing and make melody in our heats to the LORD (Col. 3:16-17 KJV). Colossians 3:17 directs Christians this way: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name (by the authority) of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
If we do not have book, chapter and verse for everything we teach, then we must reconsider what we are doing. We determined to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent. How could we not understand that our singing also must be to this end? Our first determination was to sing as the LORD directs. We later realized that some songs actually were loaded with false doctrines, which needed to be abandoned or corrected to be sure we were not teaching each other the wrong things (Eph. 5:19). Singing is serious because it is actually teaching each other.
As I was considering some of the newer religious songs that have come out, I came across a pitiful little boy’s stage appearance on America’s Got Talent. No doubt, the deeper meaning in this prayer song is something the child probably did not understand at age four. What about age ten? Without a doubt, there are more than enough doctrinal issues with the way “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord” is done on stage with instrumental music. My reason for including it here is to cause us to think of the spiritual implications of the words. What a pitiful child! His mother’s drug addiction caused so much suffering. Spiritual sight could be so much more valuable to this young boy than physical sight. At least his uncle found where he was and adopted him before he had his second birthday. May the LORD bless us all to open the eyes of our hearts to see His purpose and promises for our lives.
MULIEBRAL VIEWPOINT 