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Rimshots and Powerchords - Using Music to Teach and Entrench the Word of God
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I) Intro - Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little
Man
What is it about our brains that allows for a lyric and a melody to be so easily remembered? Whatever it is, it’s certainly a part of the way God has wired us.
Most people sitting in the pew today can sing “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he…”. While we laugh at ourselves for being able to recall a song from our childhood, it’s nevertheless indicative of a very strategic and a very effective reality
What we’re going to be looking at today is how we can use that aspect of how we are created to better teach and engrain the Word of God into the hearts and minds of our listeners.
II) Deuteronomy 31 – A Song by God
While some might want to dismiss our ability as human beings to remember song lyrics as a contemporary triviality, it is something very significant.
When God wanted to impress upon the Israelites their tendency to stray despite their current resolve, He chose to communicate their lack of commitment by teaching them a song.
15 Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. 16 And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 "Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
A) Divine Methodology
God wants to teach in a way that’s going to be effective. What He has to say is important and it needs to be understood and it can’t be regulated to something that is merely mentally acknowledged. It has to stick. It needs to be entrenched in the heart and the mind of the Israelites. While He has access to any one of a number of teaching styles, He opts to use an original piece of music. God uses a song.
B) Easy to Remember
In verse 21, if God’s methodology appears a little unorthodox, it’s validated in a big when you see that His lesson plan is going to be remembered for generations.
The “Contemporary English Version” of the Bible renders verse 21 as:
21When I punish the Israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters, I will remind them that they know the words to this song, so they have no excuse for not obeying me.
“God’s Word Translation” renders it as:
When many terrible disasters happen to them, this song will testify against them, because it will never be forgotten by their descendants (emphasis added)…
His content is going to be understood and it’s going to be so internalized that even the descendants of His current audience will remember the words to the song.
We view music as something entertaining and sometimes inspiring. The fact is, however, music can be a great tool in the hands of a capable teacher to communicate in a way that’s understood and easy to recall.
III) Psalm 42 - A Song About God
While we can see in Deuteronomy 31 that music can be used to teach, the question now is, “Can music be used to influence someone?” Communicating a fact is great if all we’re trying to do is assist someone tasked with having to correctly answer a multiple choice question. But can music be used to help someone make the right choice in a real life situation?
The answer to that question is, “Absolutely!”
In Psalm 42 we find David dealing with some serious disappointment. In the midst of his desperate appeal for resolution, he poses a rhetorical question. He asks himself why he’s so sad given his knowledge of his Savior. And among the things that inspire this thought is a song (see verse 8).
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:5-8)
You see the same sort of thing in Psalm 77. Here Asaph has to contend with some negativity in his life and it’s his intentional recalling of his “songs in the night (verse 6)” that inspire him to fix his eyes on the activity of God in the past. By doing that he’s able to secure a different perspective for himself and despair is replaced with hope and confidence in God.
It’s important to realize that these songs accomplished more than an emotional change. Passion, however healthy it may be, can be a deterrent if it prevents you from basing your choices on Truth of God’s Authority, Sovereignty and Goodness. For David and Asaph, by rehearsing the words to their songs in their mind they were able to establish a healthy disposition both emotionally and spiritually. Their resolve is now based on what they know as opposed to what they felt a moment ago and their new sense of passion is feeding their determination rather than taxing it.
So while music can tame the savage beast, it goes beyond that in that it’s a formidable teaching tool that can both educate and influence in a way that is nothing short of profound.
Our culture already knows this and it is dispatching this methodology with great success.
IV) The Dark Side of the Force
Given what we’ve been able to determine by looking at how music was used by God in Scripture coupled with the way it obviously brings certain Truths to mind, consider MTV’s programming schedule:
6:00 AM – 9:00 AM – music videos
9:00 AM – 5:30 AM – Mix of Reality Shows
programming schedule as of 11/28/2007
Out of 24 hours of programming time, only 3 consist of pure music videos. From 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM, the show “A Shot at Love” has “Tila,” traveling to the hometowns of the final four contestants where she will reveal to each of the families that she is bi-sexual. This is “Music Television.”
The Parents Television Council did a study on MTV from March 20, 2004 – March 27, 2004. During that time, they were able to determine that there were an average of 13 sexual scenes per hour while the music videos averaged 32 instances of foul language per hour. For more information, refer to http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/mtv2005/main.asp.
The thing that’s especially disconcerting is that while profit is supposedly driving this kind of programming, it becomes difficult to believe when you look at the numbers.
MTV is the most recognized network among young adults ages 12-34, according to Nielsen Media Research. MTV is actually part of the Viacom empire which also owns Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, CMT and Comedy Central to name a few. They also own Paramount Pictures. They are a huge media empire. With that kind of overhead, you need a substantial influx of income. The Marketing and Advertising dispatched to secure this income is amazing. It’s not just about commercials anymore. Commercials used to be annoying interruptions, now the ad is the show.
Now that uninterruptedness in advertising has disappeared. Advertising has now moved center stage. Consider rock videos, for example. MTV was the first 24-hour, seven-day-a-week commercial channel, because rock videos are ads. Rock videos are highly sophisticated, irresistibly seductive commercials for songs and also for clothes. They may not be as popular on MTV per se as they used to be, but there are tons of them on the cable channel VH1. The fact is that that development has brought us to a world in which the ad is not something you have to suffer through. The ad is not the price you have to pay in order to get to watch the show. The ad is the show. The ad is the point.2
And to better position the ad as something truly influential, there’s a subtle campaign being launched that says the only reliable authority figure to consider when evaluating yourself is the corporate sponsor.
It's part of the official advertising worldview that your parents are creeps, teachers are nerds and idiots, authority figures are laughable, nobody can really understand kids except the corporate sponsor.3
Given this kind of dynamic, anything that contradicts the message being communicated in the media is immediately dismissed as out of date or just plain inaccurate. So when a parent tells a teen not to have sex before getting married, they’re immediately countered with a thousand images and overt messages to the contrary. The result is a generation of sexually active teens.
In most of the developed world, the majority of young women become sexually active during their teenage years, the proportion who have had intercourse reaches at least three-quarters by age 20.4
Remember, it’s not, “If music has an influence, then…” Rather, it’s “Because music has an influence, then…” The fact that MTV and VH1 don’t really play a whole lot of music videos anymore reinforces this point. The whole premise upon which their approach is built is the fact that music and musicians have direct access to the mind of their listener and can implant a catalytic influence in a manner that is both compelling and very easy to recall. Once that platform and credibility has been established, you don’t have to play their songs anymore. Now just let them be seen consuming the goods you want your audience to buy and let them be heard proclaiming the message you want your listeners to hear. At the end of the day, Viacom isn’t interested in promoting bands as much as they’re interested in selling their own wares and their own message. They play just enough music to earn the right to be heard and then they proceed with the real business of the day and that is to shape the attitude and perspective of their viewers.
V) Putting Music To Work
Bear in mind that the influence we’re talking about is not something that cannot be effectively countered with a rational mindset. You can’t blame a song for a crime anymore than you can credit a song for someone’s salvation. You need more than a lyric to extract a decision from someone. But music is nevertheless a potentially potent tool in that it can be used to compliment and enhance a dynamic that is already in place.
Those who would blame a song for a criminal act are overlooking a host of other influences who’s ability to sway a decision goes way beyond a time signature and blues in B flat. Parents, life experiences, hurts, emotional issues etc. play a far more substantial role in someone’s resolve to commit a crime.
But, again, while music may not be the “deciding factor,” it is nevertheless a great way to fan the flame of something that is already in lodged in one’s mind. For example, David poses a rhetorical question in Psalm 119:9 when he says:
How can a young man keep his way pure?
He then answers his own question by saying that the answer lies in living according to the Word of God. And then in verse 11 he says that he has hidden the Word of God in his heart. That last sentence is the key to understanding the power of music in that it is through music that you are “hiding” whatever it is that’s represented in those lyrics in your heart. While those lyrics may not be solely responsible for formulating a particular decision, they are nevertheless a key player in that they amplify certain thoughts. Those thoughts are then thrown into the mix of all the other variables that are being considered and from that stew of stimuli comes a preferred option.
So to make music work for you, you want to begin by first recognizing it’s power while simultaneously acknowledging it’s limitations. By striking a balance between the two you arrive at a balanced approach that can effectively dispatch a song as part of a strategy that is as comprehensive as it is compelling.
You’re going to use a song to engrain and entrench a Truth in your listener’s mind. The song will by default give it a memorable quality and an assimilating nature that will penetrate and take root in the heart of your audience. And while it’s impact is deep, it is not alone. You will need to compliment it with your example and some further explanation perhaps. But the main idea and the end result where using music to teach is concerned is that it is a powerful teaching tool and one that needs to be leveraged as often as possible.
VI) A Happy Ending
So how do you do it? Here are some suggestions:
First you want to promote general awareness.
A) Play Christian Music – have Christian music / videos playing as much as possible and don’t tout it as something you “should” be listening to. Rather, offer it as an option and let the quality of the production and content speak for itself.
B) Christian Concerts – by attending concerts, you’re giving your students the opportunity to experience the artist’s music as well as their personality. This greatly affects the way in which their music is heard and appreciated.
Next you want to utilize music in a more intentional way.
C) Use a Song as a Study- Break down the lyrics of a song and allow the tune to be the lesson guide. Intentionally associate passages of Scripture with the thoughts being communicated in the lyrics so every time the music is played, the Word of God is being rehearsed in their minds as well.
D) Encourage the Crafting of Original Art – Whether it’s a song or a music video, the technology that’s readily available today allows for the creation of some genuinely good material. And if that material can be used to teach, not only does it impact the listener, the author(s) is / are effected even more so.
You can write songs for praise and worship, or you can create your own song to specifically teach. Either way, it’s an effective strategy.
Napoleon once said, “Give me control over he who shapes the music of a nation, and I care not who makes the laws.”5 Music can wield a phenomenal influence and in the hands of a committed educator, it can be used to teach very effectively. It’s a powerful medium that has a lasting effect with it’s influence and memorable nature. That being the case, perhaps a student’s iPod and it’s contents needs to be re-evaluated. Instead of it being perceived as a distraction, let it be used as a vehicle because it’s not only where your student lives, it’s also where they can, and will learn.
Footnotes
1. http://www.comnett.net/~rex/cslewis.htm
2. Mark Crispin interview
3. Mark Crispin interview
4. http://sexuality.about.com/od/sexinformation/a/teen_sex_stats.htm
(it should be noted that this same article had this to say about teen sex statistics: “It is also important to ask the question, if teens are having sex, is this necessarily a bad thing? For example, if eighteen year olds are having more sex, but the sex they are having is safer, and they are doing it with more knowledge and thoughtfulness than the previous generation, is that a bad thing?” Just one more reason to be concerned that sex is no longer a sacred act between a husband and wife, rather it’s a mere token of affection exchanged by two consenting adults – “…just like on TV.”
5. http://www.reformedperspective.ca/articles/00january.html
Bruce Gust is Creative Director with Big Shiny Planet. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, BSP specializes in innovative Christian media and the creation of the [UP] Bible Study which builds its content around the lyrics taken from Christian Hit radio and features the artist elaborating on the Biblical content represented in their song. Big Shiny Planet most recently partnered with Green Key Books, publishers of the GOD’S WORD TRANSLATION based out of Tampa, Florida. If you would like more information about this topic, an article, or to schedule an interview with Big Shiny Planet’s Creative Director, Bruce Gust, call 615.321.5130 or email at bruce@bigshinyplanet.com.
What is it about our brains that allows for a lyric and a melody to be so easily remembered? Whatever it is, it’s certainly a part of the way God has wired us.
Most people sitting in the pew today can sing “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he…”. While we laugh at ourselves for being able to recall a song from our childhood, it’s nevertheless indicative of a very strategic and a very effective reality
C.S. Lewis once said that, “…art can teach without at all ceasing to be art.” We learn and we remember things packaged as a lyric and a melody sometimes far better than we can when compared to the same content represented as mere text or the spoken word.C.S. Lewis once said that, “…art can teach without at all ceasing to be art.”1 We learn and we remember things packaged as a lyric and a melody sometimes far better than we can when compared to the same content represented as mere text or the spoken word.
What we’re going to be looking at today is how we can use that aspect of how we are created to better teach and engrain the Word of God into the hearts and minds of our listeners.
II) Deuteronomy 31 – A Song by God
While some might want to dismiss our ability as human beings to remember song lyrics as a contemporary triviality, it is something very significant.
When God wanted to impress upon the Israelites their tendency to stray despite their current resolve, He chose to communicate their lack of commitment by teaching them a song.
15 Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. 16 And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 "Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
A) Divine Methodology
God wants to teach in a way that’s going to be effective. What He has to say is important and it needs to be understood and it can’t be regulated to something that is merely mentally acknowledged. It has to stick. It needs to be entrenched in the heart and the mind of the Israelites. While He has access to any one of a number of teaching styles, He opts to use an original piece of music. God uses a song.
B) Easy to Remember
In verse 21, if God’s methodology appears a little unorthodox, it’s validated in a big when you see that His lesson plan is going to be remembered for generations.
The “Contemporary English Version” of the Bible renders verse 21 as:
21When I punish the Israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters, I will remind them that they know the words to this song, so they have no excuse for not obeying me.
“God’s Word Translation” renders it as:
When many terrible disasters happen to them, this song will testify against them, because it will never be forgotten by their descendants (emphasis added)…
His content is going to be understood and it’s going to be so internalized that even the descendants of His current audience will remember the words to the song.
We view music as something entertaining and sometimes inspiring. The fact is, however, music can be a great tool in the hands of a capable teacher to communicate in a way that’s understood and easy to recall.
III) Psalm 42 - A Song About God
While we can see in Deuteronomy 31 that music can be used to teach, the question now is, “Can music be used to influence someone?” Communicating a fact is great if all we’re trying to do is assist someone tasked with having to correctly answer a multiple choice question. But can music be used to help someone make the right choice in a real life situation?
The answer to that question is, “Absolutely!”
In Psalm 42 we find David dealing with some serious disappointment. In the midst of his desperate appeal for resolution, he poses a rhetorical question. He asks himself why he’s so sad given his knowledge of his Savior. And among the things that inspire this thought is a song (see verse 8).
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:5-8)
You see the same sort of thing in Psalm 77. Here Asaph has to contend with some negativity in his life and it’s his intentional recalling of his “songs in the night (verse 6)” that inspire him to fix his eyes on the activity of God in the past. By doing that he’s able to secure a different perspective for himself and despair is replaced with hope and confidence in God.
It’s important to realize that these songs accomplished more than an emotional change. Passion, however healthy it may be, can be a deterrent if it prevents you from basing your choices on Truth of God’s Authority, Sovereignty and Goodness. For David and Asaph, by rehearsing the words to their songs in their mind they were able to establish a healthy disposition both emotionally and spiritually. Their resolve is now based on what they know as opposed to what they felt a moment ago and their new sense of passion is feeding their determination rather than taxing it.
So while music can tame the savage beast, it goes beyond that in that it’s a formidable teaching tool that can both educate and influence in a way that is nothing short of profound.
Our culture already knows this and it is dispatching this methodology with great success.
IV) The Dark Side of the Force
Given what we’ve been able to determine by looking at how music was used by God in Scripture coupled with the way it obviously brings certain Truths to mind, consider MTV’s programming schedule:
6:00 AM – 9:00 AM – music videos
9:00 AM – 5:30 AM – Mix of Reality Shows
programming schedule as of 11/28/2007
Out of 24 hours of programming time, only 3 consist of pure music videos. From 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM, the show “A Shot at Love” has “Tila,” traveling to the hometowns of the final four contestants where she will reveal to each of the families that she is bi-sexual. This is “Music Television.”
The Parents Television Council did a study on MTV from March 20, 2004 – March 27, 2004. During that time, they were able to determine that there were an average of 13 sexual scenes per hour while the music videos averaged 32 instances of foul language per hour. For more information, refer to http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/mtv2005/main.asp.
The thing that’s especially disconcerting is that while profit is supposedly driving this kind of programming, it becomes difficult to believe when you look at the numbers.
MTV is the most recognized network among young adults ages 12-34, according to Nielsen Media Research. MTV is actually part of the Viacom empire which also owns Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, CMT and Comedy Central to name a few. They also own Paramount Pictures. They are a huge media empire. With that kind of overhead, you need a substantial influx of income. The Marketing and Advertising dispatched to secure this income is amazing. It’s not just about commercials anymore. Commercials used to be annoying interruptions, now the ad is the show.
Now that uninterruptedness in advertising has disappeared. Advertising has now moved center stage. Consider rock videos, for example. MTV was the first 24-hour, seven-day-a-week commercial channel, because rock videos are ads. Rock videos are highly sophisticated, irresistibly seductive commercials for songs and also for clothes. They may not be as popular on MTV per se as they used to be, but there are tons of them on the cable channel VH1. The fact is that that development has brought us to a world in which the ad is not something you have to suffer through. The ad is not the price you have to pay in order to get to watch the show. The ad is the show. The ad is the point.2
And to better position the ad as something truly influential, there’s a subtle campaign being launched that says the only reliable authority figure to consider when evaluating yourself is the corporate sponsor.
It's part of the official advertising worldview that your parents are creeps, teachers are nerds and idiots, authority figures are laughable, nobody can really understand kids except the corporate sponsor.3
Given this kind of dynamic, anything that contradicts the message being communicated in the media is immediately dismissed as out of date or just plain inaccurate. So when a parent tells a teen not to have sex before getting married, they’re immediately countered with a thousand images and overt messages to the contrary. The result is a generation of sexually active teens.
In most of the developed world, the majority of young women become sexually active during their teenage years, the proportion who have had intercourse reaches at least three-quarters by age 20.4
Remember, it’s not, “If music has an influence, then…” Rather, it’s “Because music has an influence, then…” The fact that MTV and VH1 don’t really play a whole lot of music videos anymore reinforces this point. The whole premise upon which their approach is built is the fact that music and musicians have direct access to the mind of their listener and can implant a catalytic influence in a manner that is both compelling and very easy to recall. Once that platform and credibility has been established, you don’t have to play their songs anymore. Now just let them be seen consuming the goods you want your audience to buy and let them be heard proclaiming the message you want your listeners to hear. At the end of the day, Viacom isn’t interested in promoting bands as much as they’re interested in selling their own wares and their own message. They play just enough music to earn the right to be heard and then they proceed with the real business of the day and that is to shape the attitude and perspective of their viewers.
V) Putting Music To Work
Bear in mind that the influence we’re talking about is not something that cannot be effectively countered with a rational mindset. You can’t blame a song for a crime anymore than you can credit a song for someone’s salvation. You need more than a lyric to extract a decision from someone. But music is nevertheless a potentially potent tool in that it can be used to compliment and enhance a dynamic that is already in place.
Those who would blame a song for a criminal act are overlooking a host of other influences who’s ability to sway a decision goes way beyond a time signature and blues in B flat. Parents, life experiences, hurts, emotional issues etc. play a far more substantial role in someone’s resolve to commit a crime.
But, again, while music may not be the “deciding factor,” it is nevertheless a great way to fan the flame of something that is already in lodged in one’s mind. For example, David poses a rhetorical question in Psalm 119:9 when he says:
How can a young man keep his way pure?
He then answers his own question by saying that the answer lies in living according to the Word of God. And then in verse 11 he says that he has hidden the Word of God in his heart. That last sentence is the key to understanding the power of music in that it is through music that you are “hiding” whatever it is that’s represented in those lyrics in your heart. While those lyrics may not be solely responsible for formulating a particular decision, they are nevertheless a key player in that they amplify certain thoughts. Those thoughts are then thrown into the mix of all the other variables that are being considered and from that stew of stimuli comes a preferred option.
So to make music work for you, you want to begin by first recognizing it’s power while simultaneously acknowledging it’s limitations. By striking a balance between the two you arrive at a balanced approach that can effectively dispatch a song as part of a strategy that is as comprehensive as it is compelling.
You’re going to use a song to engrain and entrench a Truth in your listener’s mind. The song will by default give it a memorable quality and an assimilating nature that will penetrate and take root in the heart of your audience. And while it’s impact is deep, it is not alone. You will need to compliment it with your example and some further explanation perhaps. But the main idea and the end result where using music to teach is concerned is that it is a powerful teaching tool and one that needs to be leveraged as often as possible.
VI) A Happy Ending
So how do you do it? Here are some suggestions:
First you want to promote general awareness.
A) Play Christian Music – have Christian music / videos playing as much as possible and don’t tout it as something you “should” be listening to. Rather, offer it as an option and let the quality of the production and content speak for itself.
B) Christian Concerts – by attending concerts, you’re giving your students the opportunity to experience the artist’s music as well as their personality. This greatly affects the way in which their music is heard and appreciated.
Next you want to utilize music in a more intentional way.
C) Use a Song as a Study- Break down the lyrics of a song and allow the tune to be the lesson guide. Intentionally associate passages of Scripture with the thoughts being communicated in the lyrics so every time the music is played, the Word of God is being rehearsed in their minds as well.
D) Encourage the Crafting of Original Art – Whether it’s a song or a music video, the technology that’s readily available today allows for the creation of some genuinely good material. And if that material can be used to teach, not only does it impact the listener, the author(s) is / are effected even more so.
You can write songs for praise and worship, or you can create your own song to specifically teach. Either way, it’s an effective strategy.
Napoleon once said, “Give me control over he who shapes the music of a nation, and I care not who makes the laws.”5 Music can wield a phenomenal influence and in the hands of a committed educator, it can be used to teach very effectively. It’s a powerful medium that has a lasting effect with it’s influence and memorable nature. That being the case, perhaps a student’s iPod and it’s contents needs to be re-evaluated. Instead of it being perceived as a distraction, let it be used as a vehicle because it’s not only where your student lives, it’s also where they can, and will learn.
Footnotes
1. http://www.comnett.net/~rex/cslewis.htm
2. Mark Crispin interview
3. Mark Crispin interview
4. http://sexuality.about.com/od/sexinformation/a/teen_sex_stats.htm
(it should be noted that this same article had this to say about teen sex statistics: “It is also important to ask the question, if teens are having sex, is this necessarily a bad thing? For example, if eighteen year olds are having more sex, but the sex they are having is safer, and they are doing it with more knowledge and thoughtfulness than the previous generation, is that a bad thing?” Just one more reason to be concerned that sex is no longer a sacred act between a husband and wife, rather it’s a mere token of affection exchanged by two consenting adults – “…just like on TV.”
5. http://www.reformedperspective.ca/articles/00january.html
Bruce Gust is Creative Director with Big Shiny Planet. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, BSP specializes in innovative Christian media and the creation of the [UP] Bible Study which builds its content around the lyrics taken from Christian Hit radio and features the artist elaborating on the Biblical content represented in their song. Big Shiny Planet most recently partnered with Green Key Books, publishers of the GOD’S WORD TRANSLATION based out of Tampa, Florida. If you would like more information about this topic, an article, or to schedule an interview with Big Shiny Planet’s Creative Director, Bruce Gust, call 615.321.5130 or email at bruce@bigshinyplanet.com.
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