Music - a Powerful and Mystical Thing

If music possesses a mysterious power to sway the soul, does the musical preferences of Christians hinder or facilitate the Holy Spirit’s work in their souls? Larry DeBruyn answers this important question here:

The Music and the Mystical
guardinghisflock.com

There is a difference between Godly worship music and simply emotional music. Music that is truly worshipful turns your thoughts toward God. Music that is emotional makes you focus on your feelings. In one, emotion may be a bi-product, in the other, the way it makes you feel is the goal.

To take this concept even further, there's no doubt that this is a dangerous thing that has entered the church...

One of the more recent and blatant examples of neo-paganism in the church...is Patricia King's endorsement and embrace of trance-dancing as a Christian form of worship that she and Caleb Brundidge, one of her itinerant ministers, call "Ekstasis Worship." Brundidge is a traveling "prophetic" D.J. that calls his show "Club Mysterio." (Repetitive "rave" or "trance" music has been so-called because nightclubs around the world use it to enable patrons to enter a euphoric altered state of consciousness--with or without the assistance of drugs such as "ecstasy"--through extended freestyle and sensual motion set to repetitive music tracks.

It doesn't take an anthropologist to recognize parallels between modern trance dancing and ancient forms of ritual dance that is still used in many cultures to produce identical altered states and "spirit travel." But what many may not know is the increasing popularity of "yoga trance dance," which could well become the new "jazzercize" that turns this form of Hindu worship into an aerobic activity for "everyday" gym members.

Space does not permit a full analysis with comparison to Scripture, but as the quotes below reveal, patrons of Brundidge's "Club Mysterio" may indeed feel "ecstasy"--but rather than realizing the true joy of the Lord, they might experience either a "head rush" from spinning in circles (a practice of the "whirling dervishes" of Islamic mysticism) or they could meet instead an angel of light--one of the same "divine" deceivers as encountered by yogic dancers seeking all-night tantric pleasure with Hindu deities.

Which brings us to an ancient-future spiritual law: "apostasies attract."

-Mark Dinsmore
"APOSTOLIC" APOSTASIES ATTRACT
Extreme Charismatics Increasingly Adopt "Emerging" Pagan Practices
http://www.thebereancall.org/node/6535
(Last article on page)

In light of that, it's not shocking that we now are hearing about another new and unheard of thing...

A new worry for parents – ‘digital drugs’ sold on the Internet induce altered states of consciousness
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Which naturally makes me wonder...what about this new ecumenical thing called Taize chanting that has become so popular in some churches?

Taize is a form of contemplative worship that incorporates mystical practices and interspiritual beliefs as this article describes:

"Short chants, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character," the brothers explain in a brief introduction printed in the paperback songbook. "Using just a few words, [the chants] express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being."

-http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/taize.htm

Taize is not only a seemingly innocuous way of removing belief barriers and blending religions, chants in general also have a mind-body effect.

Ecumenical and inter-faith chants

A style of chant that has gained popularity today is the Taize meditative chant. This is the chant of a new religious community in France. Christians of all denominations participate in this inclusive spiritual community. The Taize chants are characteristically short, melodic, and deliberatively repetitive. Each chant is followed by a long pause for meditation. The Taize chant has been taken up by churches worldwide.

A new phenomenon that needs to be highlighted is the increased celebration of inter-religious chants. People of different faiths come together to participate in the chants of varied faiths, not only to savour their aesthetic beauty, but also to experience their common humanity and oneness in the Sacred - a significant fact given the religious conflicts that mar our world.

Psycho-physical benefits and beyond

The psycho-physical benefits of chant are fairly well-established today. Researchers point to salutary body-mind effects: slowing down of metabolism, steadying of pulse, normalising of blood-pressure levels, reduction in rates of respiration and heart beat. Tangible relief from psychological tensions and strains has also been claimed.

-Christian chants
http://completewellbeing.com/article/christian-chants/

It's pretty obvious that music (even nice, religious music) can be a powerful, mystical, and even spiritually dangerous and deceptive thing. So for anyone who has ever wondered if their music choices are spiritually beneficial or not, here's an easy thing to do. The next time you participate in a church/worship/Christian music thing, or even sing along with the Christian radio station, it might be helpful to simply give yourself the 'feelings test' to see whether the music draws you into worshiping and glorifying God or whether it just makes you focus on your feelings. Just because something sounds like music to your ears doesn't always mean it's good food for your soul.