I am still trying to figure out exactly which type of songs we are speaking of (I know "Christian Rock, Rap, etc", but under the category CCM...this includes a much wider range.).
Will you please give me an example of what you mean by songs without rhythm (as melody is good, rhythm is carnal).
Can melody exist without rhythm?....or is it just a certain type of rhythm God hates?
You can take away all the percussion all you want but at the end of the day, all western music still has rhythm, otherwise it is simply disorganized noise.
I don't agree with the idea that people are looking for a style of music that God hates.
If you read some of the verses, he hates the music because it was being used to worship other gods and whatnot, not because it had a particular instrument.
Big band and swing stuff, which we fondly listen to and reminisce about the innocent good old days, was developed in speakeasy's.
Irish folk music was largely developed in taverns.
China went so far as to totally ban all classical music including Bach and Beethoven, for being "decadent".
Pope Clement XI went so far as to ban all opera music.
Some piano chords were even banned, do a search on "the devil's interval".
Even bluegrass was invented as dance music, and many baptists say you shouldn't dance.
It's evil you know.
Even some of our most beloved Christmas carols were banned due to being evil.
"I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" was banned by the Catholic church, but going back even further, "O Holy Night" was banned as well, being declared "unfit for church services".
etc., etc., etc.
So, is there anything that God DOESN'T hate if we use the poor judgment of goody-goodies as yourself as the litmus test?
Yes, all music has rhythm, but we are not talking about the plain existence of Rhythm, I am talking about when rhythm is the driving force and emphasis of a song and certain rhythmic techniques.
I want to ask forgiveness for judging the motives of my brethren, I do not know any of your hearts. So for that I do sincerely apologize.
I do believe with all my heart that CCM and Christian Rock is worldly though, and in my zeal to defend against this, I have judged the hearts of other people, and I am no judge of the thoughts and intents of others.
I'm not much of a Gaither fan myself, but that's just a personal preference of mine---IOW, I wouldn't break off a relationship with another Christian friend simply because he/she happened to like the Gaithers.
Sometimes a person can develop an attitude that unless another person has exactly the same likes and dislikes that he/she does, that no friendly relationships can ever exist between each other. Unfortunately, I've met some people such as this who make such unrealistic demands upon others that they wind up having very few friends at all.
I haven't found any biblical basis for such an attitude as this. Jesus Christ never shunned people merely because they might have differed a little bit on some matter of no real significance.
Jordan, would you please define what exactly you mean by the term "ecumenical." That can mean different things to different people. EXAMPLE: I know of some Baptists who will have nothing to do with other Baptists simply because one of them held a VBS that used materials that wasn't put out by a Baptist organization---therefore they were considered to be "ecumenical."