Delivering Souls To Christ Through Music

THE PURPOSE OF MUSIC 

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

Music in today’s secular society is divorced from God’s original purpose.  It was really meant to glorify its creator, and magnify His name in praise and worship.  In the world, we see the complete reversal of purpose of everything that God created.  And this is especially so with music.  It is used for the glorification of man and the magnification of his name.

In Colossians 1:16, it states that, “…all things were created, that are in  heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible - whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers – and all things were created by Him and for Him.”  God gave us these gifts, so let us give them back to Him.  Do not rob God of His glory.

We in the secular society see nothing wrong with this humanistic approach of attributing all innate artistic ingenuity, and excellence to man.  Artistic excellence, without God in the equation - really degenerates into petty nit-picking.  It only caters to man’s vanity.  We do not realize that we are not totally responsible for the greatest of giftings.  Whether these giftings are in music, languages, mathematics or the visual arts - they sometimes baffle or mystify the possessor.  A mathematical or musical prodigy may be at a total loss as to how he can perform feats of mind with little or no training.  Neither does he know how the gifts came about.  The best thing to do is to give glory to God for their possession, rather than taking the glory for it.  Do not rob God of His glory.

Again, some church performers think that their relationship with Christ consist of an artistic performance; I have sensed that the Lord is displeased with this particular attitude.  There are some church musicians who may not even be saved!  The musician who has consecrated his music to the Lord should have a corresponding Christian lifestyle.  He should be a vessel of honour with a renewed mind.  He should not don the attitudes and philosophies of so many of the musicians in the performing arts.  With a renewed mind, he should realize that the word of God takes priority over - and gives direction over his music.  This is so because: “God even honours His word above Himself” – and most certainly above music.  In the field of the classics, music is above all else and fanaticism is the norm.  This can result in musical idolatry that is so pervasive in the performing arts.

THE RELEVANCE OF DIFFERENT MUSICAL STYLES IN THE

BAHAMAS

Here again it is a question of calling.  It is my belief that the preference for different artistic styles is inborn.  If you find that you have a strong preference for classical music as opposed to popular music, contemporary Christian music or other styles, it may not have as much to do with your environment as you thought. However, it may have everything to do with what God predestined for you before the foundations of the earth were laid.

God first conceived a purpose in the earth and then created a liking for the thing you were supposed to do.  Your personal style is related to your purpose.  Do not let anyone force you to change your style.  It could seriously hinder your purpose.  You may not minister to the people within your calling.  You may play other styles, but always come back to your calling.  Remember the story of the prophet in Jeremiah 1: 5.  God ordained him as prophet to the nations before he was born.  If he did something else, he would not have reached the nations.

Thus, your culture did not create or shape you entirely; you created your own culture according to what God already birthed in you.  God then is not a God of uniformity, but a God of diversity.  He then created the different styles to express his versatility.  I have noticed that the predominant style in this Bahamian society is indigenous music or Junkanoo music.  That also is God’s doing.  However, this does not mean that everybody is called to do this type of music.  There are also a few classicists like myself as well.

All these tastes are legitimate and relevant to God’s purpose as far as He is concerned.  Your brain was neurologically wired for your artistic taste.  I also suspect that there is a genetic basis for strong rhythms shown in peoples of African or Caribbean descent.  Just consecrate your style to God and invest it in His Kingdom.  Others of similar taste may be attracted to the style and find salvation through your performance and lifestyle.  Now, if you don’t like a particular form of musical expression, do not worry about it.  It was probably not meant for you anyway.

WHAT ABOUT FRANCIS FAWKES?

Many people know about my liking for classical music.  As far as I can recall, I was exposed to popular music which I liked before classical music.  Then my father, Sir Randol Fawkes, purchased for me a classical series called Music Masters.  This dealt with the lives and music of the great composers.  Since my father was constantly traveling overseas, I eventually accumulated an impressive collection of recordings and music books form the United States.  This act of wisdom on his part, I believe, was in keeping with God’s specific purpose and calling for my life.

So overwhelming and so profound was the experience of listening to great classics, that it became the predominant factor in my taste.  It has not changed since.  My liking for the classics was intense and immediate.  I did not have to learn to appreciate this art form.  It was as though I was always familiar with it (sorry no allusions to reincarnation intended).  When people come up to me and say I had to learn to appreciate classical music, I cannot relate to what they were saying.

Later on, I discovered that this art-form was part of my calling.  I remembered asking God what was my purpose on this earth.  He replied to me in a dream: “I have placed you on this earth to do my work.”  In 1987, I received the anointing for my music by the laying on of hands.  But revelation is progressive.  I am not only anointed to play the Classics but to preach the Gospel as well!

It is interesting to note that before I learnt of my purpose, I never suspected I was called to Christian ministry work through music and the Word!  I only flowed in the direction of my strengths.

MINISTERING THROUGH THE CLASSICS

I know that it is God’s mandate to reach the world with our callings.  This is certainly true of the musicians in the arena of the classical performing arts.   Most of them however, are spiritually indifferent.  The field of the performing arts is one of the unreached mission-fields.  Prophet Kim Clement, a former prize winning classical pianist, said that God was going to touch this area in the latter times.

In all of my years of experience with classical music, I have only heard of one or two European musicians with a clear-cut Christian testimony.  One of them happens to be concert pianist Van Cliburn!

Situations like this led a music scholar Patrick Kavanaugh to form the “Christian Performing Artist’s Fellowship”- (CPAF).  His goal is to help fulfill the great commission, to go and make disciples of all nations.  It is his contention that you do not have to go to Africa to be a missionary.  But you can go to the Kennedy Center to find people unreached by the Gospel.  Another outreach organization is “Crescendo” – This is an international network of Christian classical professional musicians and music students.  Their mission is to encourage classical musicians to be “the salt of the earth.”

I have often wondered what happened to the souls of the great performers in the classical arena – especially concert pianists.  If they have Christian testimonies - surely it is the world’s best kept secret.  All I hear about them is gossip!  I am very thankful that these artists are beginning to consecrate and use their gifts for the Kingdom.  This is what all musicians should be doing – bringing souls to Christ and impacting lives for the Kingdom.

When I win a soul to the Master, I feel the surge of God’s power at its strongest.  This is because you touch the heart of God every time a soul is won.  I have been doing this for over 20 years, especially among Bahamian musicians - as well as those involved in other aspects of the performing and visual arts.  It is a source of great satisfaction and relief when they pass on later; to know that you have contributed to their life in eternity with Jesus Christ.

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Charles Darwin Deathbed Regret

THE DEATHBED REGRET OF CHARLES DARWIN

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

“How I wished I had not expressed my theory of evolution as I have done.”

Charles Darwin 1809 - 1882

There is an interesting story that I came across unintentionally.  It is an eyewitness report of Charles Darwin’s deathbed recantation of his theory of evolution.  In his book: “The Origin of Species”,  he postulated that life evolved from lower forms into more complex life forms.  He was the one that claimed man descended from the ape.  His theory was very controversial especially among Clergymen and Christians in general.  They believed that God created man in his image as expressed in Genesis 1:26 - 27.

Charles Darwin was trained to be a Clergyman of the Church of England.  After graduating from Cambridge at the age of 22, he gave up the Christian ministry to become a naturalist.  During his voyages on the Beagle – a ship, he observed the varieties of plants, animals and fossils in different regions of the world.  He noticed certain similarities in some species and came to the conclusion that simpler life forms evolved into more complex life forms.  Eventually, because of his false observations and the death of his daughter, he became an agnostic.  Before it was too late, Darwin repented of his apostasy on his deathbed.

Here are scientific facts that contradict the theory of evolution:

- The theory of evolution is only a hypothesis.  It is a logical fallacy based on a false premise, leading to many false conclusions in many other fields.  Darwin later realized this, but yet some scientists treat it as fact.  Evolution is really a fairy tale for adults.  It is the battle waged for the souls and minds of men through spiritual deception.  But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10: 4).  The weapons that Paul used were the Word of God, prayer and spiritual discernment.  With these weapons, we can demolish the arguments of pseudo-science.  In verse 5, it further reads: “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.  Yes, we have to cast down these reasonings that come from the imaginations of fallible men.  We must bring down every pretentious argument, every fallacy and every false concept that man exalts against the knowledge of God.

- Evolution is just a variant of the old medieval notion called spontaneous generation in which something can come out of nothing.  This was proven to be unscientific.

- The big-bang theory contradicts the scientific principle inherent in the second law of thermodynamics which states that all systems left on their own move from order to chaos.  The world, the solar system and the universe therefore, could not come from the big-bang.  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  All of it came out of God (Genesis 1:1).  Actually, the universe is in a state of decay after man sinned.  The odds of the universe coming into existence by random chance are 1 in 26 to the 44^th power.  In other words, it is not possible.

- In over 150 years, no real missing links have been found.  Darwin himself said that that the absence of transitional forms would prove his theory false.

- There are no real evolutionary links between fishes, reptiles, birds, lower mammals and man.  God created every species after its own kind (Genesis 1: 24 - 25).

- Some scientists believe that life came about through a series of mutations.  However, scientists claim that 99 per cent of mutations are harmful or lethal.  New life forms could not have come through a series of unfavorable mutations.

- In a study in which there were twelve missing links in the evolution of man, nine were proven to be extinct apes or monkeys.  Others were based on the remains of pigs and donkeys.  Some known frauds are the Piltdown man and the Ramapithecus man.

- The theory of evolution goes against the law of probability.  The odds of life coming into existence by through blind chance are 1 in 10 to the 40, 000^th power.  This is also an impossibility.  It had to come from God, the original designer.  In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

- According to a brilliant English astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle, the chances of higher life forms ever evolving is the same as a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard, assembling a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.

On his deathbed, realizing the error of his observations and his skepticism, Darwin admitted that “he was a young man of unformed opinions.”  He confessed that he threw out queries and suggestions, wondering all the time over everything, and to his astonishment, his ideas took like wild fire.  People made a religion of them.  In other words, Darwin did not really anticipate that his theories would gather such momentum.  Furthermore, he was surprised that what was a matter of theory was treated as a matter of scientific fact!

But Darwin later repented on his deathbed.  His Christian training began to assert itself.  As Darwin lay dying, he was found to be reading the Bible opened to Hebrews.  He was very concerned and desperately wanted to repent.  In another report, He requested a Lady to read the New Testament and arranged for Sunday school children to sing “There is a Green Hill far away.”  When this was done, Darwin said:  “How I wished I had not expressed my theory of evolution as I have done.”

Darwin’s theory of evolution had far reaching repercussions and it is discussed in today’s magazines and textbooks.  It also has implications in other disciplines such as politics, science, geology, history, humanistic philosophy, law and even in the New Age movement.  The sad thing about this is that it could lead to atheism, something that Charles Darwin would have despised later on in life when he found out the truth.  He, himself, admitted that something as infinitely complex as the human eye could not come about through blind random chance.  He would be mortally shocked and wounded to see that his error has been given universal recognition.

However, there is a ray of hope.  This is beginning to change especially in America.  Today The Intelligent Design movement is taking precedence over evolution in the schools.  This is because Christians are fighting back.  Two-thirds of Americans believe that creationism should be taught alongside evolution.  Forty percent of Americans believe in scientific creationism.  These people believe in a God and as they seek His kingdom and his righteousness they will be blessed (Matthew 6:33).

Darwin’s final Position

I believe that Darwin was saved.  He fully repented.  In Colossians 1:14, it states that we have redemption through His blood, even forgiveness of sins.  This is quite so, for the blood of Jesus wipes away all of our sins.  In Romans 3: 25, we read that “God has set forth propitiation though faith in His (Jesus’) blood, to declare His righteousness through the remission of sins that are past…”

Below are the words of the hymn that Charles Darwin requested:

THERE IS A GREEN HILL FAR AWAY

There is a green hill far away,

Outside a city wall,

Where the dear Lord was crucified,

Who died to save us all.

Refrain

O dearly, dearly has He loved,

And we must love Him too,

And trust in His redeeming blood,

And  try His works to do.

We may not know, we cannot tell,

What pains He had to bear; 

But we believe it was for us,

He hung and suffered there.

Refrain

He died that we might be forgiv’n,

He died to make us good,

That we might go as last to Heav’n,

Saved by His precious blood.

Refrain

There was no other good enough

To pay the pride of sin;

He only could unlock the gate

Of Heaven and let us in

 

Refrain

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