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.” 

When I was a teen, I tried replacing my CCM with Southern Gospel music. It didn’t work. I just simply learned to have a taste for both Southern Gospel music and CCM. I, like most believers, wasn’t aware that CCM and Southern Gospel are pretty similar in their music structure, 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. 

Southern Gospel is a “don’t touch” to many believers. Many get very, very upset for revealing its sins, but we must. From its very inception, Southern Gospel music was worldly. A number of early Southern Gospel groups like the Imperials started their career singing for secular artists like Elvis whose seductive music and sensual moves are all-too known. 

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 Southern Gospel. Please, remember, my friend, from previous articles that the discordant jazz chords and syncopated pop have distorted God’s perfect design. 

Andrae’ Crouch, who has also passed away, wrote many famous Southern Gospel (“The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”, “My Tribute/To God Be The Glory”, “Soon And Very Soon”) songs 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! 

One former Southern Gospel music singer communicated to a preacher friend of mine that in the entire time he had traveled in Southern Gospel music, his group had never once cracked open a Bible. There is something extremely wrong with a profession claiming to be Christian that doesn’t attend church except when performing, read the Bible, etc…. 

One of the most famous performers of Southern Gospel is Bill Gaither. He and his wife have written 700-800 songs. Bill Gaither has been instrumental in producing many CCM and Southern Gospel artists including Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patti, Steve Green, Amy Grant, and Michael English. Many of our hymnbooks contain a number of Gaither’s earlier works. However, I don’t wish to be unfair, but Bill Gaither has been used by the devil as a minister 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” to 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. Again, I do not wish to be harsh, but that is someone in the guise of a “minister of righteousness” luring believers away from God’s commands of separation, soulwinning, spiritual warfare, etc…. 

Please, dear reader, take the time to research Southern Gospel. Look at the syncopated rhythm, the jazz chords, and the lives of those who write and perform it.