David Wilkerson on Christian music

mrjesse

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David Wilkerson wrote an article about what took place at a contemporary christian music concert he attended (Do a google search for the article entitled "Driven To Darkness")

Below is Jimmy Swaggart's response to the event David Wilkerson is talking about -

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SEDUCING SPIRITS.

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils" [1 Tim. 4:1]

A VISION GIVEN TO DAVID WILKERSON.

Some time back, Dave called our office and, since I was out, spoke to Donnie. The following is an account of an incident he experienced, as he described it to Donnie (and as best as I can recount it)

A well know religious rock singer asked for an audience with Dave as there was going to be a "Jesus Festival" in Dave's city that evening. He met with this singer and, over a period of several hours, they discussed in-depth, the whole religious rock-and-roll scene.

In the course of their discussion, the rocker said, "I have been to see Jimmy Swaggart, and have invited him to my concerts, but he won't come. If YOU will come, however, I'm sure you will see how the Spirit of the Lord is working through these festivals."

Dave told Donnie. "The Lord has tried to speak to these people a number of times, and your dad is among those who have taken a firm stand of the fallacy of this whole "Christian" rock and roll business. And now God has spoken to my heart and said, "If they do not get out of this rock-and roll scene, they're going to get back into drugs and lose their souls"

"Then He said, They're going to be held accountable for their actions, and that's bad enough within itself, but tragically, hundreds of thousands of young people are being influenced by what they're doing. And if even greater import is the blame that must be placed upon today's spiritual leaders - the pastors and church officials - who have placed their seal of approval on this force that masquerades as being from God - while it is actually from Satan.

THE VISION

That night, David Wilkerson attended the concert. He arrived shortly after the introductions were made and stood unobtrusively among the crowd at the back of the grounds. It was a "festival" format, with no seating, and approximately 3,000 young people either stood or lounged on the ground. Few of these youngsters would have recognized David Wilkerson, so he blended anonymously into the crowd.

The singer stopped the music and, for a few minutes, testified to his purported "work for the Lord". When he concluded his "testimony" he made a reference to the Lord's coming and shouted "Lets rock!" (or something to that effect).

At this point, hard-core religious rock music blared from the amplifiers, and 3,000 youngsters started "dancing", their bodies writhing in contortion to the rhythm of the music.

Brother Wilkerson told Donnie that as he was standing there observing this scene, he suddenly came under the power of God, and fell to his knees. God then gave him a vision.

He saw the platform upon which the musicians were playing. And then he saw thousands of demon spirits rising up out of the platform and floating out over the audience where they attached themselves to many of the dancing young people. Then he saw the leering face of Satan rising up in their midst, laughing convulsively. "They think they're praising God," he said, "but actually they are praising me".

Dave jumped to his feet and began running through the crowd, shouting "Ichabod Ichabod" (Translated, this means "the glory has departed")

Bother Wilkerson was shouting at the crowd to repent, but there was such pandemonium that only a handful recognized his motive. A few who did understand dropped to their knees and began weeping. Dave then tried to climb onto the platform to warn the musicians (and the rock singer with whom he had spoken), but the press of the crowd made it impossible.

The sponsors of the concert were off to one side. Dave called them into a room, told them what God had shown he, and then left.

When Donnie related this to me, I felt a cold chill pass over my body.

CHRISTIANS FOLLOWING DEMON SPIRITS

For the past few months, the Lord has been dealing strongly with me about the frightening scene David Wilkerson saw unfolding that evening. Many Christians believe they are following harmless fads or "charismatic" preachers, when in truth, they are at times being led by demonic spirits. This is a numbing concept, but it overwhelmed me as Donnie recounted Dave's vision. And I could picture the scene in my mind as vividly as if I had been there. What we are discussing here are not harmless fads, or innocuous theories, doctrines, or creeds. We are talking about spiritual death - Christians consorting with demon spirits and inviting them into their lives.

SATAN IS VERY RELIGIOUS

There are some very important facts in play here that Christians need to realize. All the trappings of God's work are there: churches, preachers, and Bibles. There's even singing and praising the Lord. But if we could pull aside the posturing and expose the true spiritual underpinnings, we wouldn't see song services, Bibles, or churches. What we WOULD see would make us gasp in terror and revulsion.............

During the great tribulation period, the false prophet (also referred to as "another beast") will accompany the antichrist. He is described as having two horns, which signifies power. And then it says "...like a lamb"

This strange combination of having horns and speaking as a dragon - combined with the appearance of a Lamb - is a startling revelation. But the meaning is really quite simple. This false prophet will have the power to speak for Satan, but he will APPEAR AS A LAMB! Jesus Christ is, of course, characterized in a number of places in the Word as "the lamb of God".

So what does it mean? That this false lamb will have the power to deceive many who dwell upon the earth (verse 14), because he LOOKS like God and ACTS like God.

This deception has perhaps been with us right from the beginning, but it has certainly intensified in the past few years. And I am confident, although I say it with great sadness, that it will continue to increase in intensity and effectiveness.....

We were meeting some time back with several preachers. I had taken the time to attend this meeting... At the opening of the session, the offended brother stated (addressing himself to me) "My church has fallen considerable in attendance and financial support over the past year - and it is your fault"....

The offended brother said "my people listen to Jimmy Swaggart on television, and he is promoting attitudes contrary to those we take in my ministry. Some of our people have left the church"

What he was referring to primarily was religious rock-and roll music - although there were other elements as well. His church happens to own a Christian (Christian?) radio station which is heavily committed to the hardest type of religious rock. We have, of course, on our telecasts, repeatedly taken a stand against this music, and readers of THE EVANGELIST will recall that we have spoken out against it in print on more than one occasion.

The reason I was so affected as Donnie told me of Dave's vision was that the Spirit of God was similarly stressing this situation to me.

Even though religious rock-and roll music comes camouflaged as a means of "drawing young people to the Lord Jesus Christ (which it does not do) when you pull back the covers, you will find it to be a doctrine of devils....

Millions of Pentecostals believe that anyone who praises the Lord, speaks in tongues, and exhibits what is today accepted as the "gifts of the Spirit" is "of God". Such are blindly followed no matter what devious paths they might promote. They never "try the spirits", and they obviously do not realize that Satan is an expert at parroting the things of the Lord. They are unaware that Satan is the ultimate expert in the religious area.

As a result, many are found in the position of those thousands of teenagers (from Pentecostal, Charismatic, Nazarene,and Baptist homes) who attended the "Christian" rock festival described earlier. Demon spirits came out of the platform and attached themselves to those young people How would these youngsters have described themselves? I'm sure most would have said, in all sincerity, "I'm a good Christian".

And all of this in the name of God. It was promoted by a well-known youth missions group. The performers bill themselves (apparently sincerely) as "Christian". The young people attending were by and large from good Christian churches and good Christian homes. The name of God and the Lord Jesus Christ were frequently invoked. But Satan said, "They think they're praising God when they're actually praising me"

As we said, if the curtains could be drawn aside and the true nature seen, we would realize that many people will be worshiping Satan in their church this Sunday!

"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet" [Rev. 16:13]

Picture this; On an average Sunday morning, you would see many preachers preaching with a Bible open before them. They would make frequent reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. But, in reality, "unclean spirits would be coming out of their mouths".

People in the congregation would raise their hands and worship one they THINK is God - but who, in reality, would they be worshiping? I am convinced that this is happening all over our land, and I'm heartsick at the thought of it.....
 

MPaul

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An interesting post you make. I would like to respond in two parts, and I will divide this post as such.

***** Part One

I stopped at a Christian program on TV the other day, and there was the owner of the network telling people that if they cannot send $20 a month to him, then the blessings in their life are going to stop and things will start going wrong in their life. This message was a new twist, as previously he had always preached that God has many blessings waiting for the viewers, which he was going to release as soon as they agreed to send this TV ministry $84 a month. Times are getting tough for donations, I guess. But I find the $20 message even so much more disgusting.

However, TV ministry is not where the work of God is at anymore. The messages on TV use the most sloppy bible interpretation ever and are self-serving for the ministries involved – (but now people will want to remind me there are exceptions. Still, I say be very careful with them all). The internet is where the work of God is going on; and in third world countries, the house church in particular: (no, I do not think this statement on the house church just reflects my own bias, but there is a lot of statistical evidence). And believe it or not – there is a great revival going on all over the world, due to communication on the internet that is affecting small groups and churches everywhere. It is hard to measure, but it is there. So the people in this forum use computers – then, ask yourself, how can you use it even more effectively to serve the kingdom of God.

Traditionally, resisting popular music in the church has only led to dead ministries. The people pick their music. However, I think we have reached a climax. Modern church music isn't Elvis Presley, “You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog,” but it reflects a narcissism that is a contradiction of Christianity. The point comes when the church has to speak out against it, even if that means the young generation then will go with the ministries with a non-Christian message – it is their choice, but I will not compromise what I know is truth.

In any Christian society, artistic expression is marked by an element of nobility. Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. This concept of nobility would also apply to church music – like that hymn, I forget what it is called in English, but in Spanish, it is “Himno de Alegria,” and I think it is by Beethoven. I think we have to keep in mind that music must focus on worshiping God and it cannot be narcissistic – church music is not an expression of how cool the singer is. Ministries that promote narcissistic music are really looking for ways to promote themselves, not God.

No church has entirely correct theology. There have always been mistakes in theology in any church throughout history. That does not mean these churches were under the influence of demons or preaching the doctrine of demons. It just means that truly understanding the Bible takes a lot of time, especially in an environment of the priesthood of all believers. Thus, incorrect theology does not by itself indicate what is meant by the doctrine of demons in Timothy. This bible passage really applies to things more like Marxism, Evolution, Freudian psychology, etc. However, at times, it becomes a challenge to know how to distinguish between the doctrine of demons and merely mistaken theology.

********* Part Two

It is interesting that your post starting this thread is your first post at CF. At least you use a Pentecostal icon, but your message is actually similar, if not identical, to those by other Christians in responding to the Pentecostal movement as it began and continued through the last century, in noting that it is actually a work of Satan, and Pentecostals themselves are demonically possessed. And the primary support you use for your position is not Scripture, but a vision a minister had, the significance of which is not proven and has to be considered subjective. Further, the passages in the bible you reference on Satan's activities under the anti-Christ are for a special period in the future and do not apply to the present time, although there can always be parallels. In short, although you have brought up some interesting things to consider, you have done so in a very suspicious manner, and one completely lacking objectivity in approach. Therefore, I think you should clarify just what your view of Pentecostalism is and what is the truth of its role in the history of the church. Do you believe that any Pentecostals are not demonically possessed, or is this just a small minority doing an insignificant work?

In truth, Pentecostalism has accomplished the greatest work of evangelism in history, bringing so many millions of people to Christ, statisticians struggle to keep up with the count which continues to this day, and many Pentecostal ministries which have some mistaken theology, have a very precise and biblical understanding of how salvation occurs and are bringing people into the kingdom in droves, while the Christians who accuse them of being false prophets and of Satan have evangelized almost no one, but they consider their main work for the kingdom, advising others how successful evangelists are actually Satanic.

Therefore, I think your questioning is relevant, but your analysis actually resembles the type commonly used by a television preacher, which subtracts a lot from its relevance. Perhaps, you would like to clarify, being as you are a Pentecostal.
 
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stormdancer0

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I'm afraid that I have to question the testimony of one who dismisses an entire area of praise and worship because of a "vision." I agree that there are many so-called Christian rock bands who only label themselves Christian because they can fill a niche and make money.

Some of the young people were most likely dancing to the beat no matter what the words. But surely there were some kids there worshiping God. Surely had there been demonic spirits everywhere, a youth leader, a discerning kid, SOMEONE would have sensed them besides this one man.

I will have to pray about it, but this vision strikes my heart as off. I don't know who the man is who had it, so I have no info on him or his spiritual state, but something just seems off. Sorry, I don't have any other word for it.
 
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dayhiker

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I've heard these arguements about Christian rock and roll being of the devil since the 70s.
At the time I was in a Bible college that taught against it. But I was in the middle of the contempary Christian music as it started and heard most of the orginal groups.

So one day at chapel they had a pianoist in to play. He starts playing and the longer he played the piano the harder he played, taking off his suit jacket and tie. It was very good. After chapel everyone was saying how got it was. I agreed, but pointed out he had been rocking adn rolling .. just used a piano instead of a guitar or drums.

I've seen now my kids have a lot of fun at Christian rock festivals and they have grown up now still love Jesus. I think David's vision has failed in the overview. Ya, we can find individuals who backslide and lost out with God. But the few Christian groups I knew loved Jesus.
 
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Wolvrin704

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I did a search about this vision. David Wilkerson did certainly have it, in August 1987. Christian music has changed a lot since that time, some good and some bad but from my personal experience the worship music is far more relevant today and moving than ever before.
 
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GrowingInGrace

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The article from David Wilkerson is full of his own personal convictions regarding what is wrong with Christian rock music.

But what is wrong with music of that form when it's message is Christian? How is it that rock music is of the devil even though it's words are those of praise unto God? The devil cannot steal any to claim as his own. It's sad that David Wilkerson or anyone else thinks so.

David Wilkerson has had revelations before that he was so sure were directly from God and later admitted that it was his own concerns.

It does not mean that his convictions are what everyone needs to follow or they are dancing with the devil.

Out of all the other spiritually responsible ministries that sponsored the Christian rock music concert, we don't hear what they said about it, we only hear what David Wilkerson said about it.

How is that fair? Would it be because the sponsoring ministers words would alleviate anyone's concerns? What of the words of the music? Nothing mentioned about that, would that be because knowing the words to the music would alleviate anyone's concerns?

Could it be that David Wilkerson is the only spiritually responsible minister at that concert who was capable of seeing demonic things during the music? How can that be? Surely the other ministers have recognized demonic influences before, how else could they have approved of the Christian rock music?

How is it that only David Wilkerson is an authority on the issue? Well, only because the other ministries that sponsored the concert aren't given any opportunity to speak in the one sided article.

The same is true concerning what David Wilkerson stated about speaking in tongues. I don't know if the man speaks in tongues but if he does he seems to not be thoroughly grounded concerning the denominational beliefs of the Assembly of God that he apparently associates himself with.

I also associate myself with the Assembly of God and I've not been taught of any uncertainties regarding the possibility that one could be speaking in demonic tongues.

There are Christians of other denominations that say that it is of the devil.
Are they right?
God's own word says no. And those who speak in tongues say no.

How can tongues be words of the devil when the person asked to be baptized in the Holy Spirit in order to worship God?
No Christian can ask for Holy Spirit tongues and get words from the devil. Jesus guaranteed it in Luke 11:9-13.

To the pure all things are pure and usable to praise God. The devil has no exclusive rights to anything, unless Christians relinquish it to him.

A bit of personal testimony here. I was exposed to secular rock music in my days before I came to the Lord. And I can definitely tell a difference between the secular and the Christian kind.

During the church revivals of the early 1970's I remember listening to secular rock music that had Christian phrases in them, when the secular music groups competed to draw in those who had gotten saved during the Jesus movement days.

If secular groups can do that kind of thing, then how can it be wrong when Christian youth music groups use Christian rock music to draw in young Christians with a Christian message in their music?

I believe that David Wilkerson is making a mistake in his concerns.

Some examples of Christian music I like is from Bryan Duncan, Kirk Franklin, Vicki Wynans all have used the upbeat music, and Carmen. He uses a variety of music styles to put across the Christian message, but coming from the rock music days I like that style from him best. He has made other songs with the likes of DC Talk and Petra. Christian rock groups.
On the other end of the spectrum I like the more traditional Christian Gaither music.
 
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GodisLove2

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I agree David Wilkerson's vision is not scripture, so we cannot entirely go by the vision. You shall know them by their fruits! How is David Wilkerson's life and christian character? How is the christian character of the 'christian' rock artist? Comparing these two will give us the direction.

To know about music influenced by demons look up g craig lewis' exministries.com
 
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Randy_R

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Isaac Watts wrote Christian hymns like:
"Joy to the World"
"Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove"
"Alas and did my Savior Bleed" and
"When I survey the Wondrous Cross".

Yet in his lifetime his hymns were called "whims" and were vilified by his many critics. We should be careful not to attribute praise to God as coming from Satan when the truth might be that we just don't like that kind of music.

Todays cherished hymns were yesterdays hated "whims". Todays hated music may be tomorrows cherished hymns.
 
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GrowingInGrace

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I agree David Wilkerson's vision is not scripture, so we cannot entirely go by the vision. You shall know them by their fruits! How is David Wilkerson's life and christian character? How is the christian character of the 'christian' rock artist? Comparing these two will give us the direction.

To know about music influenced by demons look up g craig lewis' exministries.com

The link you give is for someone who may not have ever been in that stuff. I was.

I know about music influenced by demons too. I've listened to the backwards played songs.

I know the names of the bands that were into that. None of them were Christians or Christian rock bands.
 
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heron

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I don't think the vision was about the style of music or the Charismatic movement. It was a warning to focus on God and not just follow anything a rock start tells [them] to do. Wilkerson was not anti-Charismatic; in attributing prophetic meaning to a dream, and in speaking about demons, that puts him quite far into the Charismatic realm.



if they cannot send $20 a month to him, then the blessings in their life are going to stop and things will start going wrong in their life.
Bless, and do not curse. Doesn't this sound like a choice to curse people?
 
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heron

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I don't think the vision was about the style of music or the Charismatic movement. It was a warning to focus on God and not just follow anything a rock start tells [them] to do. Wilkerson did not seem necessarily anti-Charismatic, but pointing out specific problems and trends. In attributing prophetic meaning to a dream, and in speaking about demons, that puts him quite far into the Charismatic realm.



if they cannot send $20 a month to him, then the blessings in their life are going to stop and things will start going wrong in their life.
Bless, and do not curse. Doesn't this sound like an inadvertent choice to curse people?
 
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