‘CHRISTELIKE ROCK - MUSIEK UIT DIE HEL’ !

Die volgende brief van die hoof van die Ongeregistreerde Unie van Kerke in Rusland het in die tydskrif Life van 21 Mei 1992 verskyn:

"For thirty years we have suffered intense persecution. Now freedom is bringing another great harm to our churches. This damage is coming from Christians in America who are sending rock music and evangelists accompanied by rock bands. Our young people do not attend those meetings because we have all committed not to participate in secular entertainment.

This is a great burden to our hearts. Many come with Bible in hand and rock music. We are embarrassed by this image of Christianity. We do not know what words to use in urging that this be stopped. We abhor all Christian rock music coming to our country.

Rock music has nothing in common with ministry or the service to God. We are very much against Christian Americans bringing to our country this false image of "ministry" to God. We need spiritual bread... not false cakes. It is true that rock music attracts people to the church, but not to Godly living.

We were in prison for fifteen years for Christ's sake. We were not allowed to have Christian music, but ROCK MUSIC was used as a weapon against us day and night to destroy our souls.

We could only resist with much prayer.

Now, we have a time of more openness. We are no longer taken to prison. However, now it is Christians from America who damage our souls. We do not allow this music in our church, but these "evangelist" rent big stadiums and infect teenagers and adults with their rock music. We, the leadership and congregations of the Unregistered churches urge you to join with us, and we advise you to remove rock music from America.

Do not desecrate our teenagers with it. Even the unbelievers recognize it is unholy music. We call this music, "music from hell." We urge all Americans to stop giving money for the organizations of such concerts in Russia. We only want traditional Christian music in our churches.

This is the unanimous decision of all our leaders. Peter Peters and Vasilij Ryzhuk,Unregistered Union of Churches, Moscow, Russia, April 15, 1992."

DIE INVLOED VAN TROMRITMES

Is ‘rock’ musiek, watter soort ookal, ooit musiek wat die ware God kan verheerlik?

Christene sê so graag dat musiek neutraal is, maar is daar werklik iets in hierdie wêreld wat neutraal staan?

Nie eers geharde ‘rock’ musikante noem hulle soort vermaak musiek nie:

"It's a NOISE we make. That's all. You could be kind and call it music"

(Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones, Roy Carr, The Rolling Stones - An Illustrated Record, p. 37).

‘Rock musiek’, soos dit bekend staan, word gekenmerk deur een uitstaande klank – die van ‘n trom wat hewig en aanhoudend weerklink ! Hierdie tromritmes kan nie van ‘rock musiek’ weggeneem word nie, want dan sal daar niks daarvan oor wees nie.

In die Bybel vind ons baie instrumente wat by die naam genoem word. So is daar bv. Ps. 150 wat al die instrumente beskryf. Daar is egter een ‘musiek instrument’ waarvan jy nooit ooit in die Bybel lees nie en dit is: DIE TROM (Engels: drum) ! Geen Bybelkonkordansie sal jou ook daaroor kan inlig nie, want God het hierdie instrument nie genoem as een waarmee Hy verheerlik kan word nie !

Die gedeelte in Ps. 150:3-5 noem net ritmiese instrumente wat ‘n opwaartse klank kan gee soos bv. "helder simbale" en "klinkende simbale". Hierdie instrumente en die ander melodiese instrumente nl. fluite, snaarinstrumente, harpe, siters, basuine (trompette) en tamboeryne het almal klank gegee. Vroeëre tamboeryne het net klokkies aangehad (vir ‘n opwaartse klank) en nie ook ‘n stuk vel soos sommiges vandag nie. Tromme daarenteen maak ‘n dowwe geluid wat afwaarts beweeg na die voete en die grond.

Hierdie soort ritmes deur ‘n dooie tromslag opgewek, is suiwer sensueel en vleeslik van aard. Dit kan niemand geestelik verryk nie, maar veel eerder die teenoorgestelde bewerk.

Het die Here dalk vergeet om die trom in sy Woord te noem as ‘n wonderlike instrument?

Of is dit dalk omdat tromspel nog altyd geassosieer was met voodoo, sjamanisme (toordoktery), heidense godsdienstige rituele en towery?

Kyk na die volgende aanhalings:

"[Drums] represents the beat of the heart and is played to summon up magic powers" (Miranda Bruce-Mitford, The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols, DK Publishing, 1996 p. 80).

"The shaman was the original 'long hair', the first rock star draped in leather, dancing POSSESSED to a rhythm banged out on A DRUM" (Danny Sugerman, Appetite for Destruction, p. 208).

‘In Siberia, in northern Asia, drums are used in shamanic rituals to heal people. It is believed that the shaman can communicate with the spirit world THROUGH DRUMMING’ (Louise Tythacott, Musical Instruments, Thomas Learning, 1995, p. 37).

"Pagan dances and rituals are always accompanied by the incessant BEAT of DRUMS. Rhythm plays a major role in these demonic activities" (Lowell Hart, Satan's Music Exposed, 1980 p. 71).

Robert Palmer, ‘n mede redakteur van die Rolling Stone ‘rock’ tydskrif in Amerika, raadgewer van die TV program "History of Rock 'n' Roll" asook iemand wat al musiek aan Yale en ander universiteite in die VSA gedoseer het, sê die volgende oor die gebruik van tromme:

"Bata drums [drums used in voodoo], sacred to the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Cuba: Their push and pull provided a template for the inner rhythms of rock and roll" (Robert Palmer, Rock & Roll, An Unruly History, Harmony Books, New York, 1995, p. 46).

"The idea that certain RHYTHM patterns or sequences serve as conduits for spiritual energies, linking individual human consciousness with the gods, is basic to traditional African religions, and to African-derived religions throughout the Americas. And whether we're speaking historically or musicologically, the fundamental riffs, licks, bass figures, and drum rhythms that make rock and roll can ultimately be traced back to African music of a primarily spiritual or ritual nature. In a sense, rock and roll is a kind of 'voodoo' . . . " (Robert Palmer, Rock & Roll, An Unruly History, p. 53)

Palmer beskryf ook hoedat tromme gebruik word om die besetting van ‘n persoon teweeg te bring (om te dink hedendaagse ‘Christelike’ musiek en sy musikante probeer ook so hulle gode nader trek !) Baie sal vir jou sê dat hulle musiek ‘so geestelik’ is en dat hulle so naby hulle god gekom het. Die vraag is watter god?

"Bata drummers tap out their toques, or rhythm patterns, like signals to the realm of the gods, inviting and enticing them to come on down and mount or POSSESS their horses, or devotees. . .The specific drum patterns or toques include some riffs and licks basic to the rock and roll vocabulary"

(Robert Palmer, Rock & Roll, An Unruly History, p. 62).

Selfs die okkultiese nuwe era tydskrif, New Age Journal, beskryf hierdie gevaar:

"I remembered a conversation I'd once had in Cuba with a reporter from The New York Times, - 'Stay away from those drums,' he had told me, referring to the ones said to call down the gods in Santeria's sacred ceremonies. 'If I ever really gave in to those DRUMS, my life would change in ways I'm not prepared to take on,' he had added. I knew what he was talking about. It was all there in the drumming. Listen long enough, and some energy field, some kind of interconnectedness, became palpable. I was hungry for those drums. Yet I still ran from them" (Elizabeth Hanly, "A Shaman's Story, A Vodoun priest leads the author on a journey of understanding," New Age Journal, March/April 1997 pp. 56-57).

Little Richard, die self erkende "architect of rock 'n roll", het sonder om te skroom erken dat die Satan sy musiek en lewe beheer het:

"My true belief about Rock 'n' Roll - is this: I believe this kind of music is demonic . . . A lot of the BEATS in music today are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo DRUMS"

(Little Richard, The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White p. 197).

Vervolgens ‘n meer volledige aanhaling van Danny Sugerman, ‘n outoriteit op die gebied van ‘rock’ musiek en die skrywer van vele boeke oor die onderwerp:

"The shaman was the original 'long hair', the first rock star draped in leather, dancing possessed to a rhythm banged out on a DRUM. . . To these people, communication with the gods was synonymous with DRUMS . . . the body can become the conduit for a deity, a deity not necessarily the same sex as the worshiper, and DRUMS are the catalyst for the whole process. The trance of the RHYTHM then begets the hysteria, which begets what Westerners simplistically call 'possession'" (Danny Sugerman, Appetite for

Destruction, p. 208, 181).

"Today's DRUMMER differs but little from the shaman in his incessant beating out of a rhythm, and likewise often enters into a form of trance while performing" (David Tame, The Secret Power of Music, p. 199).

Net meer as ‘n honderd jaar gelede was die trom nog ‘n verbode instrument in Amerika, behalwe vir militêre gebruik. Die hoofrede daarvoor was omdat dit nog altyd verbind is met die heidendom.

"The arrival of African slaves has had one of the strongest influences on North American music. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, millions of African people were taken as slaves to the U.S. to work on plantations in the South. They brought many of their own traditions with them but were forbidden to play their DRUMS" (Louise Tythacott, Musical Instruments, Thomas Learning, 1995, p. 19).

Op ‘n stadium was tromslanery oral in Amerika verbied behalwe in New Orleans. Die rede hiervoor was omdat die slawe uit Afrika daar aangeland het. Hierdie stad is nou nog die hoofsetel van voodoo in die VSA.

"This was especially true in New Orleans. African-based DRUMMING, singing, and dancing, discouraged and repeatedly banned elsewhere in North America, had flourished there since the early eighteenth century. This unique heritage has informed and enlivened New Orleans music ever since, as well as distinguishing it from the rest of American musical culture, making the city an ideal incubator for a nonmainstream music as rhythmically oriented as rock and roll" (Robert Palmer, Rock & Roll An Unruly History, p. 21).

When the first blacks from Africa were converted to Christianity they knew the power and evil influence of DRUMS. And the converted blacks strictly forbid the use of drums! They referred to the drums as "the Devil's drum" (Martha Bayles, Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music, p. 138).

"Historically blacks had drawn the line between particular instruments and practices; They permitted tambourines, for instance, but not DRUMS"

(Bayles, Hole in Our Soul, p. 130).

Om ‘n ware Bybel Christen te wees is om anders te wees as die wêreld en sy afgodsdienste. Daarom is daar ‘n eenvoudige Bybelse riglyn vir die Bybel Christen: Musiek sonder onnodige tromritmes !

‘Loof Hom met die tromme’ sal jy nêrens in die Bybel vind nie. Nie in hierdie eeu nie en ook nie in die een wat kom nie. 'Loof Hom met die fluite' ? Ja, verseker !

Hulle mag dit dalk in ‘n ‘nuwe vertaling’ inwerk, maar dan is dit nog steeds nie in die Bybel nie !

Daar gebeur baie vreemde dinge op ‘n verhoog waar ‘rock’ musiek gespeel word:

"It’s amazing, cause sometimes when we’re on stage, I feel like somebody’s just moving the pieces. . . I’m just going, ‘God, we don’t have any control over this."

Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac

"...it's like I'm on automatic pilot. Someone else is steering me - I'm just along for the ride. I become possessed..."

Angus Young, AC/DC (Hit Parader, July 1985, p.60)

"When I hit the stage it’s all of a sudden a ‘magic’ from somewhere that comes and the spirit just hits you, and you lose control of yourself."

Michael Jackson

Is dit enigsins vreemd? Nee, hoegenaamd nie, kyk na die volgende aanhalings van bekende ‘rock’ sterre van die wêreld:

David Bowie: "Rock has always been THE DEVILS MUSIC." (Rolling Stone, Feb. 12, 1976, p. 83)

Lita Ford: "Listen, rock’n roll AIN'T CHURCH. It’s nasty business. You gotta be nasty too. If you’re goody, goody, you can’t sing or play it. . ." (Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1988)

Selfs die sekulêre Time tydskrif, (11 Maart 1985 p.60) kon onderskei dat iets fout is met die nuwe soort ‘Christelike musiek’ toe hulle tereg geskryf het: "New Lyrics for the DEVIL'S MUSIC". Min ‘Christene’ verstaan egter iets hiervan.

Die immergewilde popgroep, die Beatles van die sestigerjare, het veel gedoen om die nuwe soort musiek populêr te kry – deesdae is dit tot in die kerk, maar wie was hierdie Beatles?

Die Beatles se media beampte, Derek Taylor, het hulle goed geken:

"They're COMPLETELY ANTI-CHRIST. I mean, I am anti-Christ as well, but they're so anti-Christ they shock me which isn't an easy thing." (Saturday Evening Post, Aug. 8, 1964).

Paul McCartney: "We probably seem to be anti-religious. . . none of us believes in God." (Hit Parader, Januarie 1970, p.15)

John Lennon het die volgende gedink van Jesus Christus: "Jesus El Pifico, a garlic-eating, stinking little yellow, greasy fascist bastard catholic spaniard."

(A Spaniard in the Works, p.14).

Duidelik het die Katolieke veel met sy siening van Christus en 'n Christelike lewe te doen gehad.

Lennon het ook die volgende beroemde uitspraak gemaak:

"Christianity will go, it will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that. I'm right and will be proved right. . . .We're more popular than Jesus now." (San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 1966, p.26)

Ray Coleman het John Lennon ook aangehaal dat hy gesê het: "I've sold my soul to the DEVIL." (Coleman, Ray, Lennon p.256)

In die Brownsville kerk in Pensacola in Amerika, waar ‘n sg. ‘herlewing’ uitgebreek het, het een hoofpastoor gesê dat God hom gevra het om die Beatles se musiek in die kerk in te bring want ‘dit is sy (God se) musiek. Ons weet nou watter god s’n dit is.

‘n Ander baie bekende ‘Christelike’ groep, dc Talk, sing graag ‘n Beatles lied, ‘Help’ aan die begin van hulle ‘Christelike’ ‘Jesus Freak’ konsert. Hulle het verseker hulp nodig, maar soek dit by die verkeerde god.

Aan die einde van hierdie vreemde ‘Jesus Freak’ konsert (niks anders as net dit nie) sluit hulle af met ‘n lied, ‘All apologies’, van die Sataniese ‘rock’ groep Nirvana. Lg. groep se een ‘kunstenaar’, Kurt Cobain, het reeds selfmoord gepleeg en verstaan nou veel meer. Hoekom sou hulle sy musiek sing?

Hierdie man was ‘n Godloënaar van die eerste water. Hy het gesê God is ‘n homoseksueel en nog veel meer wat net te erg is om te noem. Daarom het hy ook so tragies aan sy einde gekom. Om nou te dink dat die sg. ‘Christelike rockgroep’ dc Talk hulle ‘Jesus Freak’ konsert afsluit met ‘n verwerking van bg. man! Hierdie is ‘n baie vreemde en onbybelse Jesus, een van die waarteen die Skrif ons herhaaldelike kere gewaarsku het. Die Suid-Afrikaanse ‘Christelike’, gekerkte, gedoopte en voorgestelde jeug koop hierdie CD’s by die duisende en hulle goed gelowige dominees en pastore sal nie ‘n woord daaroor sê nie. Baie van hulle luister self ook na hierdie soort ‘musiek’. Hoekom sal hulle nou daaroor praat, netnou verloor hulle nog die paar jongmense ook. Hulle besef egter nie dat hulle nog al die tyd verlore is nie.

By verre die meeste ‘Christelike’ musiek van vandag is sover verwyderd van God as wat ‘n mens maar kan kry. Dan word dit oral in kerke en by Christelike byeenkomste ‘gespeel.’

Die woorde maak die musiek nie Bybels nie, nee, die ritme, melodie en harmonie maak van musiek wat dit is. Die verskil tussen iemand wat praat en een wat sing, is juis nie die woorde nie, maar die begeleiding ! Diegene wat die nuwe soort musiek in die kerk en elders wil regverdig gaan ‘n baie groot taak hê om God eendag daarvan te oortuig. Stel jou net voor dat daar sulke musiek in die hemel sal wees – nooit ooit ! Hoekom wil so baie dit dan hier op aarde (in die kerk) hê?

Mag God ons in hierdie dae help.