MUSIC, CHRISTIANITY, AND BELIEFS- MY THOUGHTS.

INTRODUCTION: This pitch seeks to address the relationship between music and beliefs, especially for Christians. 

It seems my love for music and my faith in Christ are causing some contradiction amongst believers and non-believers about whether I am truly a Christian; I have decided to write a short note on what I know about music, types of music based on my category, the spiritual impact of music on certain cultures, and why I listen to the songs I listen to.

From my experience, I can say these are the types of songs I know based on my category: spiritual songs (mostly inspired by the spiritual world), motivational songs, storytelling and poetry, and circular songs (sometimes inspired by the actions of others).

SPIRITUAL SONGS: Per my definition, they are songs that are inspired by spirits. They can be sung to invoke certain spirits for people in certain cultures. I have watched indigenous practices where a group of people uses songs to invoke certain spirits. As they begin to sing, their intensities increase gradually to a higher level- while sometimes playing musical instruments and performing dance moves- where they can say: we feel the presence of the spirit we are invoking. Normally, you see it through their bodies and eye movements.

  - For Christians, most of these spiritual songs are worship songs and are inspired by the Holy Spirit; a spirit-filled Christian shows genuine emotions through the raising of hands, closing of eyes, crying, lying on the floor, kneeling, or anything that individual is led by the spirit to do. These songs express the nature of God, which I think makes these songs carry so much weight. Most often, spiritual songs last longer - in a period- than circular songs. 

- To be honest, I don't see praise songs being highly spiritual. It's normally one expression of what God has done for him/her while worship songs express the nature of God. 

-There is another category of songs but I don't know where to fix them. These songs and beats are tailor-made for a specific purpose based on frequency variations. You might be told by some people that certain beats and songs can cause individuals to sleep, some to improve sex drive while playing, etc. Instruments can be turned to certain frequencies to achieve these purposes. I don't know much about this; I did a little research way back and came across these. They even talked about the devil's frequency! Lol.

MOTIVATIONAL SONGS: Most of these songs tell stories about the author's life or another individual's life. It can tell what motivates an individual in life, his or her aspirations, and what he or she has accomplished in life. It can inspire or tell a story about a group of people. I love them!

STORYTELLING, POETRAY, and LOVE SONGS: In these songs, an individual expresses his emotions, love life, life story, lifestyle, etc. John Legend would sing ALL OF ME to express his love for his wife. I love Justin Bieber because he is good at expressing his emotions through music. These songs could be about breakups, the greatest love stories, the lifestyle of an individual, etc. These are my favorite categories of songs- aside from worship songs- because they are mostly real-life stories; few of them spike emotions in me if I relate to them. Most often, they serve as advice to me; I do learn from them a lot. They also fall under my inspirational songs but not entirely.

CIRCULAR SONGS: These are the songs as a believer I call WORLDLY SONGS.

The Bible says: Ye are in the world but not of the world; do not be conformed to the things of this world. The "in the world " here is a physical dimension and "off the world" are the pleasures and lust of the flesh the Bible speaks against. What are the things of this world according to the Bible? The love of material things, sex, drugs, and all the pleasures and lust of this world are contrary to God's word. If you pay close attention to these songs I play and share, I frequently don't share these songs. Once in a while, I might listen to a few to know what that music is about and who the artist is.

THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY I LISTEN TO THE SONGS I LISTEN TO. THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS AND I AM OPEN TO ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION; YOU CAN EDUCATE ME!