A Daughter of Kobol Gets A Record Deal At Word Distribution

All too often a goodly number of my evangelical friends get frustrated that I really don’t want anything to do with contemporary Christian music. Generally speaking I just can’t stomach what passes itself off as Christian songs as the standard seems to be only an inclusion of the word God or worse yet an illusion to some spirit that is guaranteed make us feel better about the place we have earned by our accepting his (it’s) knock at the door of Americanized Christianity.

If Jesus does happen to make an appearance in CCM, He is regularly cleaned up and polished so we aren’t reminded of all our innumerable sins which our Lord bears as He does his salvific work on the cross. Often in CCM the Lord of heaven and earth who makes footstools of his enemies is turned into some poor shlub we want to have a beer with while watching a football game after brunch at Applebees or worse yet; an eroticized significant other that we want to curl up on the couch with so we can feel him breath on our happy selves. Eeeeww!

But what happens when the music and songs that claim to be Christian offer up a new, improved, and made here in America Jesus? What happens when the Jesus of God’s Word is substituted with a plan B Jesus who is neither eternal nor begotten but rather a creature like you or I whose brother is Satan himself? Is it possible to divide the Jesus of Scripture and His work so that we can have songs that sing of a Jesus that inflicts some kind of bosom burning (sorta like last night’s kielbasa casserole surprise?) and automatically get a pass as something a Christian can or even should sing?

Answers; we run as fast as we can away from a Jesus of our own creation, ditto, and hell no.

Recently on Chris Rosebrough’s radio program, Fighting for the Faith, Chris reported that Marie Osmond is getting a record deal at Word Distribution; a company that focuses on the contemporary Christian music market. What’s the problem with Marie Osmond getting a record deal at a company dedicated to providing CCM to the masses? She is Mormon and therefore not Christian! Marie Osmond’s Jesus is not the Jesus of the Old and New Testament but a creature like us who becomes a god (like we all can be according to Mormon theology; “as god is so can we become” see Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20).

A few “frank facts” on what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons, believe about Jesus:

• Jesus is our elder brother who progressed to godhood was first born to heavenly parents: Doctrine and Covenants 93:21
  


• Jesus became a god and reach a great state of understanding through obedience of all universal laws: The Gospel Through the Ages, Milton Hunter pg 51.
  


• The blood of Jesus does not atone for all sins. Murder for instance is not covered as this sin is too grievous to be forgiven: Doctrine of Salvation J.F. Smith Vol. 1, also Mormon Doctrine, Apostle B.R. McConkie 1979, pg 93 (although later on page 669 McConkie says that Jesus only died for Adam’s sin…. Hmm, confusing ain’t it?)

Is this Mormon Jesus the Jesus revealed in Scripture? Is this Mormon Jesus the kind of Jesus that Word Records wishes to promote by signing Marie Osmond? Does Word Distribution really want to hold up a neutered creature who can’t atone for all the sins of the world and that managed to work his way to godhood as something to sing joyfully about?

Answers; No. Apparently yes they do. Ditto.

The only song appropriate for the Mormon’s Jesus is Highway to Hell (and yes, I have heard that song played in during a seeker sensitive church service)

I cringe nearly every time I hear contemporary Christian music as most of what I hear too often sings of so generic a God, Jesus, or Spirit that even a Mormon, even Marie Osmond, could join in and say “see, we believe in that Jesus too!” I just don’t want to sing or listen to songs being sung of a God that can’t be differentiated when placed next to a made in America god of Joseph Smith’s imagination. I’ll be passing on that Jesus thank you very much.

No doubt Word Distribution made a business decision hoping to cash in on Marie Osmond’s recent career revival. Signing Mormons to a Christian record label is well within Word Distribution rights as a business. However, they really should break out the seer stones and try to figure out how well they’ll be doing when even those prefer CCM can only look at their offerings and call it vapid drivel at best or if they are honest; heretical. The writing is already on the wall (or the golden plates of Kobol) where this is all headed.