• II Corinthians 11:14 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
  15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 
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When I was a teen, I slowly learned how bad CCM was for me as a believer and my Christian growth.  The worldly music only fed my flesh, not my new man (Rom. 13:14). So, I tried replacing my CCM with entertainment Southern Gospel music. It didn’t work. I just simply learned to have a taste for both progressive Southern Gospel music and CCM. I, like most believers, wasn’t aware that CCM and Southern Gospel are pretty similar in their music structure (heavy rhythm, sycopation, jazz, country, bluegrass, etc…), their founders, their music companies, etc… 

In the article “Satan is Musical”, we learned how musical and beautiful God made Lucifer. All of the precious jewels (Eze. 28:13) on earth that mesmerize mankind are on Satan’s person. As a result, it is easy for Satan to be mankind’s “angel of light.” Everything Satan touches seems to captivate sinful man, including Satan’s music. At the same time, Satan’s ministers, including musical performers, are also transformed into “ministers of righteousness”. 

It is nothing for Satan to make music look godly. And why wouldn’t he?! Satan has all of the musical ability and beauty. Of course, that conniver would employ all of his talents, especially since Satan is innately musical! Never forget that. One of the best and innate abilities of Satan is music. He’s good at tricking people, including believers, with music. 

Entertainment Southern Gospel is a “don’t touch” to many believers. Many get very, very upset at those who reveal its sins, but we must since God commands us to reveal any and every sin (Is. 58:1). From its very inception, entertainment Southern Gospel music was worldly. A number of early Southern Gospel groups like the Imperials, Jordanaires, the Gaithers, the Blackwood Brothers, the Sweet Inspirations, JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, etc…, started or jumpstarted their careers singing for secular artist Elvis Presley whose seductive music and sensual moves are all-too known.  It is shocking how secular TV stations would not record the lower half of Presley’s body because of its sensuousness while, at times, entertainment Southern Gospel groups sang on the same platform as backup or in the same program with Elvis.  To this day, groups like the Gaithers regularly praise Presley and print media positively about Elvis which makes sense since he helped the Gaithers become mainstream by recording their songs.  Elvis Presley himself as well as other future rock artists were greatly encouraged into rock music by the likes of the Statesmen Quartet with their rock beat, boogie woogie, “rockin and rollin'” phrase, hits like “Happy Rhythm”, etc….  So, from its inception, entertainment Southern Gospel was progressive and worldly.

The infamous sodomite Jeremy Cleveland who died by AIDS is called “The King of Gospel”, and he is credited with bringing modern pop and jazz music into progressive Southern Gospel. Please, remember, dear reader, from previous articles that the discordant jazz chords, unresolved chords, discordant chords, syncopation, etc… have distorted God’s perfect design. 

Andrae’ Crouch, who has also passed away, wrote many famous entertainment Southern Gospel songs (“The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”, “My Tribute/To God Be The Glory”, “Soon And Very Soon”) while at the same time performing for and using in his songs many unsaved, secular artists like Elton John, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. That is wicked!

• II Cor. 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
  15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
  16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
  18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
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I personally and continually receive informative comments from former entertainment Southern Gospel performers about the sinful state of the industry.  Some point out how that in the entire time they traveled, their groups never once cracked open a Bible. In the past, my family has been in services where the performers would sing, praise some celebrity like Presley, and make sure to be loaded up and gone before the preaching took place.  In our travels around America, we have heard sad and shocking testimonies of how Southern Gospel performers are the worse customers businesses ever have to deal with!  There is something extremely wrong with a profession claiming to be Christian that doesn’t attend church or only the music portion of the service, never read the Bible, have terrible testimonies worse than the lost, etc…. 

One of the most famous performers of progressive Southern Gospel is William “Bill” Gaither. He and his wife, Gloria, have written 700-800 songs, some of which sadly are in modern hymnbooks as if they were traditional music. Bill Gaither has been instrumental in producing many CCM and entertainment Southern Gospel artists including Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patti, Steve Green, Amy Grant, Mark Lowry, Michael English, etc…. However, the Gaithers have been used by the devil as ministers of righteousness to usher many strong churches and believers into worldliness and ecumenicalism. In an interview with John van der Veen on August 21, 2013 (as posted on FamilyChristian.com), Bill Gaither was asked what his biggest life accomplishment was. Bill Gaither said he thought of himself as a “bridge” pulling all the various religions together. Bill Gaither also stated that believers shouldn’t fight the darkness (I Tim. 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith,”) but rather shine our light through various activities in our communities. Dear reader, that is someone in the guise of a “minister of righteousness” luring believers away from “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn. 14:6), and away from God’s commands of separation, soulwinning, spiritual warfare, etc…. 

Please, dear reader, take the time to research entertainment Southern Gospel. Look at the syncopated rock rhythm, the jazz chords, unresolved chords, discordant chords, etc… and, at the same, notice the lives of those who write and perform such music.

(Please check out the rest of both the Music series and the CCM and Southern Gospel series.)