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Doctrines of Demons: The Coming of the Glory

This eleven-part series by Tricia Tillin is an urgent appeal to reject current teachings on the overshadowing and anointing of the supposed Glory of God in the endtimes. It looks at teachings from the old Latter Rain movement and shows how those teachings and many others have led to a belief that there will be a sealing or anointing for those who have prepared themselves for transformation.

The topics of the ten major sections, together with the appendix, and PDF version for download, are found on the CONTENTS page. Alternatively, each section is briefly linked below:

Part One - The Sealing & Overshadowing
Part Two - The Sealing & Overshadowing (2)
Part TwoA - Resisting the Overshadowing
Part Three - The Descent of the Glory
Part Four - Transformation
Part Five - The Sword of Judgement
Part Six - New Church, New Apostles
Part Seven - The Sound of Seduction
Part Eight - The Global Network
Part Nine - The Lighthouses Movement
Part Ten - Appendix A
Part Eleven - Appendix B

Part Seven: The Sound of Seduction

CONTENTS

  • The "New Song"
    • Inhabiting the praises
    • Music that alters your mood
    • Demonic use of music
    • Lucifer and Music
    • What is Music?
    • The Beatles as Forerunners
    • The 'new sound' revealed?
    • Irresistible Music
    • Producing the Glory
    • The wrong kind of praise
  • New Age use of music
  • Occultic use of Music
  • (copyright information)

     

I have, throughout this series, been exposing the plan to "release the Glory" on earth. Whatever this glory really is (and I suspect it is a major demonic deception) it needs a vehicle by which to manifest itself. It is becoming clear that the vehicle is MUSIC.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

As you may know by now, the revivalists and others involved in these teachings twist scriptures to suit their own beliefs. Two scriptures used to support the new teachings about music and praise are these:

 

    And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. (Rev 14:1-3JV)

    But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Ps 22:3)

Firstly we have the 144,000 firtsfruits - which the sonship and revivalist disciples often take to mean the glorified Manchild, the ruling elite of the earth - who are given a special "new song" which no other group can learn. This, reinterpreted, means that the glorified overcomers will be given a special power in praise and worship, and in new forms of music, to overcome the Antichrist and to affect the minds of those to whom they minister.

Secondly, we see a verse about praise that is much used in the revival. Whatever it originally meant, it is now being taught that the manifestation of the Glory comes about through extended times of praise and worship.

The verse is Psalm 22 can be interpreted as praise being a Throne for God, upon which he sits, just as the Glory dwelt between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat. Thus, the revivalists now claim that they are "building a Throne for God in the Church" by their long periods of singing, and when they manage to manifest a glory-cloud of some kind (a spiritual apparition) as a result, they claim that they have caused God to come down and "dwell" or "inhabit" their praises.

By an extension of the same interpretation, when it comes to the belief that God is coming down permanently (not just a "visitation", but a HABITATION as they say) the way to achieve this is to put even more time and effort into the music ministry and spend even longer in praise and worship.

    "The Lord is moving his church into a new season. .... With this move of God will be released a prophetic song with an unprecedented annointing for healing and restoration. What are the features of this song? How is this song released into the church?...
    In his book,"The Harvest Vol.II", Rick Joyner says, 'Annointed music will be one of the church's biggest guns in the battle of the last days... The Lord is about to annoint prophetic minstrels who will capture the world's attention....'
    This song of heaven, which the Apostle John calls a 'new song' in Revelation 5:13, is the song that the Lord wants released in the church. ... The prophetic 'new song' brings believers to focus on worshipping Jesus the Lamb of God....I believe the Lord is preparing to annoint minstrels who will release the Body of Christ in such powerful times of worship and intimacy in the presence of almighty God, that the glory cloud will be seen again in the church. HALLELUJAH! " ["New Season, New Song - A Prophetic Insight" by Ruth Webb 1996]

Music Alters Your Mood

Most, if not all, revival meetings begin and are sustained by long periods of music, singing, rhythmic jumping and swaying, clapping, and other rhythmic devices that set the tone for the entire meeting and soften up the listeners for what is going to be taught (or, more likely, what is going to happen during the "time of ministry".) These practices are well known in the world of the cults, and of course are near identical to what happens at rock concerts and discos where, helped by drugs, people enter into an altered state of consciousness. Their brainwaves physically change, as I will show below.

Mood music is played behind almost all the major ministers when they are on stage. In fact, ministers such as Rodney Howard Browne and Benny Hinn become agitated and angry if they do not get the "right" music on cue. It is a major part of their act.

This would be bad enough on its own, but would not be enough to deceive Christians if it were not for the intense spiritual power present in much current music being performed and used at revival meetings.

Demons use Music

I believe that much of the new music, while pretending to be in praise to God, is in fact a vehicle for demonic power that alters the minds of those participating. It is difficult to prove such an accusation and I know, therefore, I will be criticised for saying so. However, that is my belief and I think many discerning Christians experience the same check in their spirits when they listen to current "Christian" music.

Music is a mysterious force for good or evil, and its particular spiritual capabilities have been mentioned many times by writers dealing with the subject. It's not my intention to carry out here a long discussion about music, its source, power, nature, properties and uses. To some extent I have already dealt with the subject before in other articles, such as "They Want Your Mind", and "The Sound of Music" (see box below).

I urge you to read the latter article, at least, as the quotes given in the Music articles are much too long to be repeated here, but they DO add much more exact information to this series. This is information you need to know, so please make sure you have a copy of the two articles by clicking HERE(1) and HERE(2)

Lucifer has a vested interest in music

All humans and many animals have been created with a musical instrument in their bodies (vocal cords) but Lucifer was created, according to the scriptures, with timbrels and pipes. (Ezek 28:13-15) When he is consigned to the pit, his music is also brought down (Isa 14:11). Lucifer is apparently intimately concerned with the spiritual power of music.

This tells us that music is connected in some mysterious way to the spiritual realm. We know that there is music and singing in Heaven, and we know that praise can bring the presence of the Holy Spirit (2Ki 3:14-15) and even drive out evil spirits, as when David played to soothe Saul (1 Sam 16:14-16 /1 Sam 16:23).

Since the fall of Lucifer from his original created perfection, his music has also fallen and become a power for evil. All cults, pagans, and false religions make use of music to influence their victims and invoke the presence of their gods. The difference is not so much in the technique as the INTENTION, or spirit behind the worship.

Is today's music really music?

Music can be defined as an arrangement of notes into a melodious and/or harmonious structure having a defined construction and phrasing which is pleasing to the ear. A lot of rock and popular music today however, has no structure, is discordant, has no melody line and consists from start to finish of one repeated phrase. Thus it is really not music but a chant. (Jesus warned about "vain repetitions" in worship).

The beat has taken over. And it is the beat that excites and stirs the human nature. Rhythm in itself stirs us, making the flesh keep time, and perhaps raising the heartbeat, causing arousal. I am sure that a certain beat can also alter the brain's natural patterns.

Some rhythm and beat is innocuous, even in Christian music. Nonetheless it is interesting to note that truly spiritual music, while being harmonic and melodic, rarely has a beat. If it does, the beat is not so insistent and pounding as to alter the normal state of the flesh and mind.

However, even when the beat is eradicated, we are left with another and more insidious form of music, a hypnotic trance-inducing sound (usually called new-age music) that packs a powerful spiritual punch while appearing to be merely bland and soothing. Both beat music and new-age music are designed (if truth be told) to open the human mind to demonic suggestions. So, as I remarked earlier, it is not so much the form and technique of music, but the spiritual intention behind it that we have to discern. This is not an easy task.

The Beatles as Forerunners

For a number of years, a "new song" has been expected by the sonship followers. In order to change people's minds and hearts on a worldwide scale, some kind of vehicle is needed to propel them into the anointing. Music is perfect for this task. It penetrates into every corner of life, is easily duplicated and transported, reaches where missionaries cannot normally go, it crosses language barriers, is universally acceptable, and does not have an overt message that would cause people to reject it.

In 1990, in an article that has become famous (or infamous?), James Ryle (then Senior Pastor of the Boulder, Colorado, Vineyard) wrote of a series of dreams he'd had about the new music. The article was called "The Sons of Thunder - A Prophetic Dream".

There he stated that a new sound "new in quality" would be produced that would alter man's mind and heart, give instant revelation, and cause him to worship God almost automatically. He states in his article that "even the rebellious" will be forced to worship God when they hear this new music.

He likened it to the music revolution of the Beatles, indeed, he went so far as to say that God had anointed the Beatles with their gift and given them the mission to change the world, but they somehow disobeyed. This powerful music and the gifting to use it was therefore, according to Ryle, withdrawn by God until the proper time to release it once again in the Church.

    ".... two men came walking out from behind the curtain with sheet music in their hands. They were very excited as they looked at this, and they pointed out the different notes and the different measures, cadences and all the different features of this music It was obvious that they could not wait to play this music I looked over their shoulders and I could tell by looking at the music that it was a NEW SONG. IT WAS NOT NEW LIKE SOMEONE HAD JUST WRITTEN IT, BUT IT WAS NEW IN QUALITY...

    "In the dreams my thoughts were, 'This is new like the Beatle's music was new.' When the Beatles appeared in the sixties it was a new sound and it took the world by storm. Whenever one of their songs came on, you would automatically turn it up; it had a special quality that caught your ear - it turned your head. It was the most arresting sound that our generation had ever heard. I remember looking at that sheet music in this dream and thinking that this music was going to be just like that, with one very significant distinction - this was of Christ. ...

    "After I had written the dream down, the Lord spoke to me and said, 'I'M ABOUT TO RELEASE A NEW KIND OF SONG IN THE STREETS. IT WILL BRING A REVELATION OF THE TRUTH AND IT WILL USHER MEN INTO MY PRESENCE.' I filed that away until about a month later when I had another dream.

    "In the second dream, I was taken to a large church which had a stage....When I awoke, the Lord said that there was going to be a NEW AND DISTINCTIVE ANOINTING AND SOUND RESTORED TO MUSIC THAT WILL TURN THE HEADS AN CAPTURE THE HEARTS OF MEN FOR JESUS CHRIST. He said that we would see this happen when the church gets beyond the limits that she set for herself, into his grace, and takes the praise that is in the sanctuary and makes it music in the streets.... We must overcome our insecurities to sing the Lord's song if our light is going to shine in this world; Simply singing the truth in the name of Jesus Christ 'we say unto you be saved' will release the power of His Spirit in such an awesome display that MEN AND WOMEN WILL COLLAPSE IN THEIR SEATS converted to Christ. But the Lord said that a key will be THIS NEW ANOINTING HE IS ABOUT TO GIVE TO HIS MUSIC."

James Ryle, after much criticism of his theory that the Beatles were anointed by God,
backed off his prophecy and claimed that he did not say such things.

However, in 1994 he appeared again in the magazine "Charisma" in an article entitled "The New Sound of Music" in which he repeated his predictions and said "no one can doubt that the Beatles were greatly gifted by God" - a statement that most thinking people will find ridiculous, knowing the activities of the four members of that group! If the Beatles were responsible for introducing anything into the world it was the use of psychedelic drugs, the worship of false gods such as Buddha, and the promotion of promiscuity.

He once again said that "when those whom the Lord has anointed step forth...their songs will deposit the redeeming power of the Lord Jesus into the lives of those who hear the new sound of music". Clearly he had not repented of his former claims.

    Ryle's statements can be read in full in the "Sound of Music" articles mentioned above.

Far from rejecting this nonsense, revivalists accept and promote it, expecting that a man or ministry will soon arise to produce the "new sound".

In September 1992, Rick Joyner spoke of this music as having the power to defeat God's enemies and to pull down enemy strongholds. He predicted that "musical warriors" would come forth to "bombard the enemy's strongholds". He also predicted that "the power of this heavenly music will radically impact and enlighten Christians' everyday lives as it imparts a true spirit of worship and adoration for the Lord. This music will also draw multitudes of unbelievers to the faith". (Morning Star Newsletter:"Battlefields of the Nineties")

In his newsletter in 1994, Rick Joyner stated that music "is a spiritual force, like the force in Star Wars movies". He saw its use for creating revival and changing society. He said that in the latter-day God would give a music from Heaven "with a powerful anointing that will come from the heart of the Lord to grip the innermost being of his people...this music will grip men's hearts like no music that has ever been played before".

Since that time, speculation has been rife concerning who would produce this powerful new sound.

The New Sound Revealed?

Recently, I was astounded to come across (almost by accident) the names of two men who supposedly possess the new sound. One man is Jason Burns who I assume is related to Bill Burns of Faith Tabernacle. The other is a rock star called Carlos Santana who is the secular equivalent of Jason Burns. Whether there is any truth in these claims we will have to wait and see.

    John Moore: (a word to Jason Burns)-- Father, we just release the creativity; we just release it. ...And, we release a new thing. Not only that, but in Jesus Christ, we release a JASON thing.
    Glenn Jackson-- I was talking with Jason last night after hearing his music. There's about to come forth a tremendous explosion of revelation knowledge that has been talked about, and of course that is very, very important. But, there is also about to come forth into the earth an explosion of anointed music that is like nothing we have ever seen or experienced before. As I was sitting, listening to Jason over the past few days, I was astounded as the Father spoke to me, and He said, "This is it!" ...the Father had told me to wait for something very special. ... So, as I listened to Jason, over the past few days, the Father spoke to me and said, "This is it! This is it!" I noticed that these were not just notes, (they certainly were), they were not just chords (they certainly were), and they were not just well played, which it certainly was. But, there was a special anointing upon that music to affect the nations and to affect the hearts of those who will hear. Jason, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I commission you into the fullness of the call upon your life and the fullness of His purpose in the music and in all things, in Jesus' name. Go forth! Amen. ["Where Eagles Gather Prophetic Conference" Faith Tabernacle, Kremmling, CO August 20-22, 1999]

The second report was e-mailed to me almost out of the blue (God is so good!) and contained this information:

    It might interest you to know that recently there was an article in our paper that some old rock and roll star has found a "new" music sound that he says will change the world. He says that he got it after meditating and listening to a friend channel. It basically "wrote itself". He was "told" that this music had to get much air play as it would change peoples minds...
    I found the article about the new music. It is being written by Carlos Santana. He has a new album out called "Supernatural". The article says, quote........."Carlos Santana talks about a "spiritual virus: when he sits down to discuss 'Supernatural,' his new album"... "We are going to spread through these songs, a spiritual virus that brings hope and healing and a sense of validation for people's existence."... "I like to raise people's consciousness; to tap into the individual and remind him or her we are multidimensional spirits with tremendous possibilities and opportunities. That turns me on to do that."... "When the sound is true and comes from somebody's heart, it rearranges the molecular structure of the listener. Your hair stands up. You get chills." .........[The following is a quote about a guest artist on his album........] "I walked into the studio and as soon as Wyclef saw my face, he wrote a song. He kept looking at me. The next thing you know, it's like I'm watching this guy channeling." "If you listen to 'Supernatural' even though so many people go in and out, it is still one breath. It jells together very naturally."... "Santana said 'something internal' told him to work toward making music that would get radio play and be heard by young people."... "I got my instructions, as most people do, in dreams or meditations."... "I trusted my inner guidance. We'll set this up with the right engineer, musicians and record company, and all we have to do is be patient, gracious and grateful." All of the above quotes are taken directly from the article. [e-mail in possession of author].

I have just received this Update to the above e-mail [November 8th 1999]

    "As I was doing some work on the computer before school this morning, I had the TV on the news. It seems Carlos Santana's album has jumped to the top of the charts and is a huge hit. Both young and old people alike are loving it and it is getting tremendous radio play. They say that a number of the pieces on it are so "good" that they are thinking of releasing them all as singles. That's exactly what he predicted. They were talking about it like it was the greatest thing to hit the air waves in years. They had some short clips and all I can say is that it sounds like a combination of the rock and Andean styles of music and was incredibly repetitious."

Forced to worship

Many others are following the same path. The "Sons of Thunder Anointing for music" is spoken of as a proven fact and an accepted part of the revival. One explanatory message on a prophetic bulletin board spoke of it being irresistible.

    "The Sons of Thunder anointing for music is different in that although the Sons of Thunder enter into to Holy of Holies and are filled up with the Spirit of God, their music is for the benefit of the listener. It is a gift from God to the end times people for the purpose of salvation. As the Sons of Thunder begins to play the presence and power of God rolls into the room. Notice this manifestation of God is not optional. Everyone present is affected by the Holiness of God. As people fall down and scream "Jesus" it won't actually be a conscious decision, they will be beyond their own control because they are so lost in the presence of God. This music which I call, Manna, (the Hebrew word for "What is it", Manna falls from heaven new and fresh every day.) has the power to change. It is spiritually active with the ability to cause conviction, repentance, revival and warfare, as well as salvation." [Jeannie Withrow of Number8 Ministries]

I have drawn attention to that word MANNA for a particular reason. Please bear the word in mind.

A music that forces people to fall down and "scream Jesus" is obviously a potent tool in the hands of the revival. Can this be of the Lord?

Can we conceive of a Lord who comes to earth as a humble, gentle man who permits his own people to reject and kill him, who then FORCES men and women to fall at his feet as if he is some kind of power-crazed dictator?

Can we conceive of a Lord who appointed many means of preaching the gospel including the apostles, teachers and evangelists, and who caused a whole book to be written and gifted to the world containing irrefutable facts and doctrines about the path of salvation, only to fall back on using wordless music in the latter days to compel people to accept him?

The concept of men and women falling down in worship at the sound of music has more
to do with idol worship than Godly worship.

It is reminiscent of the situation that the Jews faced in Babylon:

    "... and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then a herald cried aloud: To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." (Dan 3:3-6 NKJ)

Remarkably, one minister has prophesied, as from God, that people will fall down and worship in exactly this way.

    "Today's a new day. The heavens are open says the Lord, and I shall pour out my melodies from Heaven and many shall come to know me. And to the leadership - father my Levites! father my prophets! and father those that carry my heart in all the sounds in all the earth! As it is written in the Book of Daniel, when you hear the sounds of instruments and all styles of music, multitudes shall bow down and worship Jesus Christ as Lord of Lords and then everybody dances in the streets." [A Prophetic Word by Stephen Bennett, New South Wales, Australia, as reported in the music magazine "Cross Rhythms", Oct/Nov 1995]

It seems to me that this demonstrates perfectly the confusion between the true God and the false God of the revival. I will boldly state that God Almighty, Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, would never stoop to such means to force people to worship him. However, the devil craves worship wherever and however he can obtain it and since doctrine is entirely irrelevant to Lucifer, he is willing to accept adoration with no strings attached.

Only those who are moved by an emotional experience, or overcome by a spiritual force, would fall down involuntarily and worship an unknown entity. We would like to believe that such a thing could never and will never happen in reality. Unfortunately, the way things are going I'm not so sure.

Producing the Glory

It is quite clear from revival literature that intensive praise and worship is being used to produce manifestations, and ultimately the Glory.

Some kind of visible and tangible Presence is expected to descend on the worshippers - and to permanently inhabit them - as a result of prolonged periods of singing and worshipping. Already they report seeing angels or a visible cloud in the room as a result of praise sessions. This is just the beginning.

For example, in Praise Assembly, Comanche, OK, it was reported that following involvement and meetings with the Brownsville teams, this church experienced "18 months of revival" culminating in the Glory Cloud being seen in the building during times of praise and worship, and "angels have also been seen" [Revival report, Nov 17th 1996 "Heaven Fell in Comanche, OK"]

But are the songs truly spiritual? One revival report told of the ecstasy and "dancing anointing" achieved when the song "Lord of the Dance" was played, yet this song written by Sydney Carter (who was a liberal social activist, not an evangelical Christian) is actually all about the Hindu deity SHIVA who uses dance as a spiritual expression of his creative power and his divine enlightenment! Whose glory is being manifested while worship is being offered to a Hindu god?

At that same meeting, the "Fresh Fire 97 Conference" Oklahoma City, in December 1997 produced "ear-splitting, toe-tapping trumpet-blowing, drum-pounding, hand-clapping worship" and then moved into a worship designed to outdo the praise to the goddess Artemis in the book of Acts.

    "... the celebratory atmosphere quickly transitioned to one of bowed-down, face in the carpet adoration, as the awe and reverence of the Holy Spirit's presence filled the sanctuary. As the offering is taken, Gary sings the Missisauga Blues, better know as "Joel's place." Tonight he's backed up by a grand piano, a saxophone, and a trumpet. It was here that we went into a second wave of worship. It was here that the pastor falls on the platform and can't get up, the microphone rolling out of his hand. ... Randy [Clark] comes to the rescue of the out-in-the-spirit-down-on-the-platform pastor. He picks up the microphone and says, "wait a minute, let me give you the interpretation. I don't want to shut this down, I want to take the lid off!" He explains to any unbelievers present that in Acts 34:19 [sic] there is an account of people worshipping the god Artemus [sic] for 2 hours. "Why should the devil have all the good music?" he says. "Why not sing, 'great is Jesus, the Son of God' So we're gonna just go for it for a while." Gary goes back into his spontaneous song. I hear the words, "there's something about my sweet King Jesus...makes me want to jump and shout...makes me want to scream and shout...makes me want to whoop and shout..." We lose half of the vocalists and the piano player. They fall to the floor, wasted! Worship continues with the remaining musicians; free-form, jumping, leaping, hopping dancing, praising, shouting the name of Jesus worship. Well, I didn't think it was ever going to stop. Finally after nearly 3 hours of this, Randy was able to preach. His message was about how God can use little ole' me." [Bill Cassada with Randy Clark and the Global Awakening Team in Oklahoma City.]

When the worshippers of Diana, or Artemis, chanted "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" for two hours in praise of their goddess, were they setting an example for believers to follow?

The pagans were chanting in defiance of the true gospel, and in order to shout down anyone who would tell them the truth! It was in fact a blatant display of disobedience and rebellion against God! (See Acts 19:21-34 - the wrong scripture reference is given above and I doubt the writer bothered to check it in his Bible!)

Did God not warn us to pray (and praise) consciously and sensibly, without using idle repetition or chanting as the heathens do? ( Matt 6:7) Chanting "God is great" for three hours is not something that pleases God, but it deadens the mind and brings demonic manifestations.

The wrong kind of praise

Does God use pagan methods, or secular songs in worship? I do not believe so. Yet the revivalists use them to get results.

Back in 1996, the highest level of anointing at one conference was reached when the Beatle's song "I want to hold your hand" was sung! Rick Joyner's notes from this meeting are very interesting. (The entire report should be read, and it can be seen in the second part of my article "The Sound of Music" as mentioned above.)

    "In the first meeting there was a holy electricity that charged the air. The worship immediately hit a level that was as strong as we have ever experienced, and immediately started pushing back the limits. It continued for over two and a half hours. There was no time left for a message or ministry, but it was right. We did not just want to talk about worship and warfare, we came to do it! Experience is a much better teacher than words.
    The intensity continued to grow in each meeting through Friday afternoon. It was during that meeting that the gulf between heaven and earth had somehow been bridged in a powerful way....Then, on a "Holy Ghost whim," I asked Leonard Jones to lead an old Beatles' song, I Want To Hold Your Hand, in which he had changed some of the words to make it like a message from the Lord. As soon as he started, it seemed like the roof would come off of the building. When he finished, "the sound of many waters" again filled the hall, but it was even louder than before. A holy fear began to fill the place. There was a presence of the Lord like I had never felt in a meeting before...THEN A CLOUD APPEARED IN THE CENTER OF THE STAGE, VISIBLE TO EVERYONE, AND A SWEET SMELL LIKE FLOWERS FILLED THE AREA...
    There was a reason that I requested Leonard to play the Beatles' song.  The Beatles were prophets of the world whose music helped set the course of a generation. The music of the sixties and seventies grabbed you, turned your head and sowed seeds for a harvest of lawlessness.  ...There is a music that is now coming to the church with the power to arrest men's hearts more than has ever been found in secular music...". [Rick Joyner's report on the "Heart of David: Worship & Warfare" Conference, April 1996.]

I have to doubt, therefore, what is called "praise and worship to God". A lot of worship is fleshy, much music is sensual and unworthy of a Christian meeting and many lyrics are unscriptural, man-exalting, or simply revival propaganda.

If, in a calm unrushed atmosphere without any pressure, Christians were asked to read out loud some of their song lyrics as a testimony before God, surely they would blush with shame or be checked by the unscriptural words they were saying? Yet in the heated atmosphere of a meeting they will sing almost anything.

The New Age use of Music

I have already mentioned new-age music, hypnotic trance-inducing music that is sold for stress-relief or as an aid to meditation. The power of this music lies in its ability to change the brain patterns to produce a trance-like state in which the mind becomes more passive, and more attuned to the "spiritual" (read, demonic) world.

But alongside this there is a more serious attempt to produce sounds that alter man's mind. First, let us take a look at a plan to achieve a "Minute of harmony at the Millennium". I first reported on this in my newsletter "Mainstream" in the Summer of 1996. There I said:

    LUCIFER'S NEW MUSICAL KEY? I have just received news of a project to produce a 'minute of connection' using music to link all mankind in the year 2000. I quote: 'On January 1st of the year 2000 all inhabitants of the planet Earth accessible through all communication means will be linked to receive and share for one minute a message, that expressed in musical language, can be universally understood as a way to empower the individual and express its belonging to the global community.' It is designed as: 'A moment of union with a single thought for all the people, which will erase all borders that presently separate us, and will inaugurate all together a new epoch in human relations.'
    The promoters ask the question: 'Does it [sic] exist a musical expression capable of promoting universal communication? We don't know, but there are people who research and advance in this area, from those who look for the "internal music" to those who combine different musical expressions.'

    This idea comes from World Action for the Millennium. The project has the backing of a whole list of powerful people and organisations, including UNESCO, and the UN-supported HABITAT II. [Project WAM. See http://www.igc.apc.org/millennium/alliance/index.html and http://www.wam2000.org/english/wam.html]

Other cranky schemes are coming forth. Some have claimed to find "healing codes" written in the pages of scripture that "appear to relate to the Christian bride, and the '144,000' predicted in the Book of Revelation to be gathered by God during the great tribulation to sing a special song heralding the Messianic age." Here is a news report of it:

    "Musical Code for 'Miracles' and World Healing Found in Bible; Ancient Frequencies Intrigue Scientists, Musicians and Religious Scholars SANDPOINT, Idaho, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The ancient musical scale, called the Solfeggio, that according to authorities includes tones for 'miracles, and possibly world healing', has been reportedly discovered in the Bible by an Idaho physician and minister of the gospel. The repeating six tones, electromagnetic frequencies, include the mathematical code recognized by experts to help repair damaged DNA -- the genetic blueprint of life, according to Dr. Joseph Barber, a naturopathic physician. Documentation and analyses are provided in [the book] 'Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse' (Tetrahedron Press, $26.95; 888-508-4787).
    Dr. Barber and lead author Dr. Leonard Horowitz, a Harvard graduate and public health authority, spent three years researching the six tones that physicists and musicians say include harmonic sequences similar to those found in the wedding march. "The entire series of tones appears to relate to the Christian bride, and the '144,000' predicted in the Book of Revelation to be gathered by God during the great tribulation to sing a special song heralding the Messianic age," Dr. Horowitz says. Dr. Barber found the ancient codes in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 7, verses 12 through 83. When simply deciphered using the ancient Pythagorean method of reducing the verse numbers to their single digit integers, sound frequencies are revealed. These correspond to the original tones in the great hymn to St. John the Baptist, lost centuries ago according to church officials.
    "These unique tones were believed to impart spiritual blessings when sung in harmony during religious masses,'' Dr. Horowitz added. Stunningly, the third tone in the series is the exact frequency used by genetic biochemists to repair damaged DNA -- the genetic blueprint of life, according to Dr. Horowitz and Dr. Lee Lorenzen, a world renowned biochemist working with water crystallization methods to rejuvenate DNA. "I was intrigued by the frequencies of the healing codes,'' said Dr.Lorenzen. "`The third frequency is well known to scientists working on DNA repair.'' Dr. Lorenzen believes this '528' frequency might be beneficial in delaying aging". [Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse, 517 hard-covered pages, Tetrahedron Press, See http://www.tetrahedron.org]

If you go to the website mentioned in this news report you will find much more information, including quotes from Christians both for and against the concept of healing codes in the Bible. It is disturbing that men and women calling themselves Christian could be deceived for one moment by this garbage, yet because it tallies exactly with current beliefs within the revival it may become acceptable despite its origins.

One quote from the Healing Codes web site caught my eye. It is this:

    "Providing the meaning of God's sounds...holds the power to rectify the primary problem that has plagued humanity since the Tower of Babel [when] humanity no longer spoke spiritually uplifting syllables and were thus immediately cut off from the free flow of God and eachother."

Passing over the fact that it was SIN that cut off man from God, not the confusion of tongues, and that the Tower of Babel was built by rebels against God, not believers, I have to say that the prospect of using codes or sounds to re-unite mankind can only be the plan of the devil.

Notice also the spiritual links with the "bride of Christ" and the 144,000, whom we know from sonship teachings represents the Manchild! Can this be a coincidence?

The Occult use of music

Still further out into Strangeville, we encounter alchemical and occultic schemes for using sounds to alter brainwaves - yet these are suspiciously like the Christian ideas on a "new sound" to change society and to alter man's thinking! Can it be that they have the same inspiration?

One web site [www.danwinter.com] links GOLD with MUSIC and has an article impressively titled "The Implosion Phenomenon: Psychological Import of Harmonic Music, Phi Scalar Technology and MonoAtomic Gold". Further down the page it specifies the Gold in alchemical terminology as the nature of LOVE - something I feel the revivalists would find interesting - and then links the MonoAtomic Gold and Harmonics with MANNA (remember that I asked you earlier on to remember the use of the word by a revivalist to describe the "new sound" in worship meetings?) [See "Gold/Manna/Ormes & The Hazards of Implosion at www.danwinter.com/implosionhazards/implosion.html]

There is much on this and similar websites about the use of sound, and most of it couched in terms that sound like a foreign language to us (and is not really worth the effort in reading) but I will give one interesting quote:

    "balancing brain harmonics into the theta range was a specific key piece of the Egyptian initiatory rituals"

I followed one suggested link to www.seriouscomposer.com to find the "Auditory Integration" web site. Once again, here was an attempt to use music and sound to change man's brain and perceptions. Tones and new scales were being promoted, amongst other things, for the education of children and adults with learning difficulties. As you see below, sound is being used to alter brainwaves and to induce altered states of consciousness:

    "Phi-Music™ comes with over 40 different tunings ranging from Phi (the "Golden Ratio")—to ancient Greece—to Bali—to the sound of the atomic elements of the periodic table. Now it is possible to hear not only the sound of hydrogen and carbon, but also the resonance of the Earth and 128 of our planet’s natural harmonics. ... One of the most unique features of the new software is the capacity to alter human brain waves. As users play their electronic keyboards connected to their computer, Phi-Music™ sends out slightly different frequencies to each ear over stereo earphones. These tones create a slight pulsing effect in the head that researchers indicate changes the listener’s state of consciousness...The resulting difference frequency has been shown to cause a bilateral increase in the brain wave amplitude of the corresponding brain wave frequency. These conditions of hemispheric synchronization are associated with a spectrum of consciousness states (Atwater, Goldman). The Delta range (1-3 Hz.) of brain wave activity is most commonly associated with the sleep state and dreaming. The Theta range (4-7 Hz.) is commonly associated with deep meditation and other forms of deep relaxation. It has also been associated with increased memory and concentration. Alpha frequencies (8-12 Hz.) are generally associated with super learning and light relaxation. The Beta range (13-25 Hz.) is generally associated with our normal, everyday condition of alertness. It is also associated with anxiety and stress."

CONCLUSION

Somehow, I believe, these concepts coming from the Church, the New Age and the Occult will collide and merge, and a new music will emerge that is both popular and very powerful, having just the right sound and spiritual inspiration to reach every soul and control every mind - all those who are willing to submit, that is! Christians must beware of this emerging trend towards a "new sound".

But we should not just wait idly by while the music develops - there is much to be wary of right now:

    • we should heed God's warning to shun idle repetitions in both praying, and singing praises.
    • we should be aware of the spiritual power of music and guard our souls and spirits from anything that could affect them adversely.
    • we should not be swayed by any strong emotional reaction that is caused by music or singing - emotions and spiritual truth are two different things!
    • we should avoid prolonged periods of chant-like singing, especially if accompanied by dancing, clapping, jumping up and down, spiritual manifestations and music with a repeated insistent beat.
    • we should take heed to what we are singing and examine the WORDS of every song. Are they dominionist? Are they unscriptural? Are they self-exalting? Are they revival propaganda instead of worship?
    • we should be ultra-cautious in listening to recordings of Christian music - much of it is now tainted by restorationist doctrines, and/or is churned out without spiritual inspiration just for financial reward. Commercial recordings often come from singers sold out to the world instead of to God. Cross-over singers are entering a world of (in many cases) satanic control, drugs, drink, sexual license and unchristian attitudes and those attitudes rub off in their songs.
CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PART OF THE SERIES (Part Eight) HERE

Including:

    • C. Peter Wagner's "Reformation" of the Church and his plans for a one-world Superchurch -
      see how he is networking with the Apostles and Prophets of the new Church!

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(c) Tricia Tillin 2001

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© 1995-2013 Tricia Tillin of Banner Ministries. All rights reserved. Cross+Word Website: http://www.banner.org.uk/  This document is the property of its author and is not to be displayed on other websites, redistributed, sold, reprinted, or reproduced in printed in any other format without permission. Websites may link to this article, if they provide proper title and author information. One copy may be downloaded, stored and/or printed for personal research. All spelling and phraseology is UK English.