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My Testimony

© Paul Landkamer

The Pharisees denied God's power through their fighting the message of Jesus. That message is communicated through many mediums. If God really created everything, and is omnipotent, we have nothing to fear from Christian rock music. It's God-created, and God's powerful enough to use it to further His Kingdom. People can argue those claims if they wish, but they can't argue my testimony. God speaks in many tongues or languages, and music is a powerful language. God used Christian rock music to shake me to my senses. Christian rock is far from satanic or devil music.

I was one of the multitudes who say, "I don't listen to the words. I just like the music." At the turn of the century (feels funny using that phrase for "just a few years ago"), I started actually hearing the message. What I heard, I frequently disliked. But like Alice Cooper sings in "Sex, Death and Money", "I was so offended as I sat for three hours. It was mental cruelty. I was so shocked. Just a little more flesh, just a little more blood, a little closer to the edge, a little deeper in the mud." I just kept on listening to it and didn't do anything about it.

I'd given myself to Jesus, but was still trying to fill that God-shaped hole with ungodly things (for example, tobacco, alcohol, and even porn --I justified it by saying it wasn't hurting anyone else. I was wrong.). I was not experiencing God's joy. I didn't miss it because I had no clue what it was.

God can be a nag and he nagged me with his still small voice. He made me question what I was putting in my head. Of course, the questioning and ultimate change took time --and God's still not finished with me yet.

My change began with quitting TV. I've been without TV since 2000, except for videos and DVDs (I love Veggie Tales). TV had been numbing me to Satan's diversionary tactics. It didn't take long without that distraction to become aware that God was calling me out of worldliness. It wasn't until I gave up my secular classic rock and heavy rock radio stations (see first two articles) that I realized real Christians truly aren't of this world. I made that conscious break with the worldliness I'd been putting in my head and I truly changed.

I talk with God all the time now. He's given me a wonderful contentment with life. He's even blessed me with possessions. He's also told me blessings are worthless if they're not shared. I pay attention to my family and their needs like I'd never done before. Until I shut willful worldly distractions out of my life, I didn't have room to think about my family or God like I should. Truly, Christian music in the forms of rock and pop has helped me stay focussed on God. Listening to Christian rock and pop keeps me from listening to other messages.