Sing God's Word
Recently I’ve come across a bunch of children’s music with what seemed to be sound doctrine. Many of the songs sung of aspects of Christ and God the Father. Not only were the lyrics good but the instrumentation was something I immensely enjoyed (It takes a lot to check this box usually). So you can imagine how surprise I was when I heard a song from one of these artists start singing about Joseph Smith’s vision. I had to pause and really thing about what I was intaking and supporting. It wasn’t easy to let go of so much music that seemed to good at the surface. The biggest thing I have, even with the songs that are sound according to the Bible, was that at any moment Spotify’s algorithm could suggest one of the false gosple songs. I couldn’t have that happen if my future kids were listening to those songs and so though it was hard I had to give up listening to all those artists. Additionally on a faith based platform I started watching a movie and it started talking about different people with the terms from the Mormon church. I had to stop watching immediately. It is important to have clean sound media intake. In all these cases they were presented as “Christian”. It’s a bunch more work but it is important to do some research into the media that you consume. You might be surprised at what you actually are supporting.
After giving all this up the music, I soon discovered a few new artists that did more scriptural music. Several even geared towards kids! I wanted to share a few of these resources and an encouragement that God honoring music that draws you closer to God is out there.
Scripture Lullabies I heard of awhile ago, but I have to mention them. They have released four albums in a series called Hidden In My Heart Most of these songs are direct quotations of scripture put to calming music. They are great to listen to at my desk. Again these have amazing instrumentation. There was a lot of hard work put into recording these.
Psallos is one that I just learned about. Their mission resonates very much with me and their music is good. They have taken several books of the Bible and turned them into albums of music. Besides using scripture as their lyrics they also strive to display their God given artistic gifts through beautiful instrumentation.
Scripture Hymnal is another that takes scripture and uses them directly as lyrics. Currently there are eight volumes in the series. Randall Goodgame the founder has written music for several larger CCM artists as well as done some work for Veggie Tales. These connections have allowed him to coordinate and have other talented song writers join in and contribute to the project. The most notable being Ellie Holcomb.
Slugs and Bugs is also by Randall Goodgame but targeted for kids. Andrew Peterson has also contributed significantly contributed to this project. In the series Sing the Bible, the lyrics also are taken from scripture but the melodies and verses are shorter making it memorable for young minds. I found myself after listening for a little bit that this is very rich content for children to listen to. Growing up listening to something like this will instill Biblical truths in children that will never leave them. In addition to the music there is also a kids TV series on DVD.
Cornerstone Fellowship Music has some strong theological songs too. Many of my colleagues attend church here. Several of them are also involved in writing the songs. The songs are based on passages of scriptures with a few adaptions to make them more singable. You can find their music here.
Reflecting on all these I’m reminded that God is on the move. Many of these artists are continuing to releasing music. It brings me much joy that there are people who want to treasure God’s word in their hearts and they’ve set out to do so through song. I would strongly encourage you give these artists a listen. Swapping out meaningless secular music for theology rich songs will have a huge impact on you. The content we consume is important. Let’s choose to honor God with our ears.
