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Jesus and Music
by Arthur Blessit
(12/29/2005)

You may not be familiar with the name Arthur Blessitt. It isn’t surprising because unlike many great men of God today he doesn’t promote himself…he promotes Christ! But there is no one on the face of the planet today whom I hold in higher esteem. Yet he is simply a man like you and me. You may find preachers of greater eloquence or more profound theologians, but I have yet to find anyone more humble, submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and who has truly put into practice the call to preach the gospel to all nations. He is the only man who has ever brought the Gospel to every single nation on earth! He has walked over 37,000 miles physically carrying a cross in every country in the world sharing the Gospel as he went!

As an example of his humbleness, I called him a couple of weeks ago hoping to request an interview with him. When I called I expected to get a recording or at best someone in his office. But he answered the phone! I was totally shocked! To me, it’s like picking up the phone and getting Paul or Peter! I managed to remain coherent but I was humbled that this great man of God would take a few moments to talk to little ol’ me. It was a moment that left me feeling deeply blessed and which I will always cherish.

Arthur has a weekly column where he posts whatever the Lord is teaching him at the time and the past two weeks the topic was "Jesus and Music." Here are a couple of quotes from it:

"To the church member today it must be shocking that there is only this one reference in the life of Jesus to music or singing. This is spoken of in Matthew and Mark concerning the same event; that of Jesus giving the Bread and the Wine for us to remember His Body and Blood."

"The modern church just could not function without music and singing! Almost every meeting has a warm-up with music. We are almost incapable of having a meeting with no music."

"Did the 12 disciples form a music group that set the mood of Jesus to speak or preach?

Were the 12 humming in the background as Jesus called people to follow Him?

Could it be that the women that followed Jesus was a music group!

Or is it true that Jesus had no music warm-up before He spoke. What about John the Baptist or Peter on the Day of Pentecost, did they have singers setting the mood before the sermon?

I am simply asking a question. Where in the record of Jesus do we have anything like the way we conduct meeting today?"

"Have we become overly dependant on music? Is it necessary?

Why has music become so important?

I have carried a cross around the world and walked the roads of the world. Only a few times have I ever had anyone singing. The crowds listen and respond great. Yet when I go to a church along the way there is often an hour or so of music before there is any preaching. For me I notice no difference in response whether there is music or not."

Go to his website to read the full text of the columns:

http://www.blessitt.com/weekly/v4n46.html
http://www.blessitt.com/weekly/v4n47.html