What Rev Greer says in this video clip is very true. Any attempt to introduce ‘modern, jazzed up music’ or ‘Contemporary Christian Music’ MUST indeed be opposed and stopped.
Rev John Greer, Clerk of Presbytery, preaching at the ordination and installation of his son, Stephen, as minister of Coleraine Free Presbyterian Church, 4th December 2024.
How?
But how is that to be done? There seems to be a great reluctance on the part of some senior Free Presbyterian ministers to recognise this evil and speak out against the very evident introduction of CCM that has already taken place. Its introduction is not merely a possibility to be opposed but a tragic thing that has already happened.
There have been public denunciations of CCM and the threat which it poses to traditionally scriptural worship. It has been stated on numerous occasions that any attempt to introduce it must be condemned. However, when evidence is produced that CCM is ALREADY within the ranks of Free Presbyterian congregations, the response is not concern and alarm, but rather abuse directed at the one producing the evidence!
The type of music which Rev. Greer objects to IS ALREADY IN THE DENOMINATION!
A look at a number of congregational websites will show that to be so. But despite many warning articles being published, no action has been taken by our Presbytery oversight. Action should have been taken by it since, as Rev Greer states, such a sin must be resisted.
So what is to be done?
One response would be to compile some examples of the music which Rev. Greer objects to, actually being used in Free Presbyterian congregations, and then publish it in a video as a means of exposing just how this infiltration has taken place.
If one were to do that, however, he may be accused by some, who ought to know better, of violating the command of Christ in Matthew 18:15. “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” (more…)
Here is further evidence of the wrong that has been done to Rev David DiCanio and the far-reaching implications for the work of God in Liberia.
This young Liberian Christian’s words make sad reading though we salute him for his courage in standing up for the truth of God. I have not included his name though it is known to me for the simple reason that I do not wish to place him in the way of any retaliation.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
This protest was posted on Facebook and sent to me by Rev Stephen Hamilton.
The the name of the brother who posted it was displayed but I am not disclosing his name – The Editor.
“I want to take this time to publicly react to the statement released by the Executive of the FPCNA informing the Free Presbyterian Mission Church in Liberia of the disposition of the Rev Dicanio.
I am a convert saved in the FPMCL through the ministry of Dr. Alan Cairns, whose sermons were broadcast on the radio. I began attending the FPMCL under the ministry of Rev. Dicanio, under whose guidance I was baptized and began faithfully walking with the Lord as he shepherded us.
As a servant of the Lord who had to separate from friends, family, and even churches that adhere to this brand of so-called ‘gospel music,’ a worldly movement from which I was saved, I do not in any way take the slightest delight in supporting such sin.
Although I am grieved by the proceedings of the FPCNA against Rev. Dicanio, I am also encouraged and in total agreement with and supportive of faithful men like Rev. Andy Foster, Rev. Stephen Hamilton, and Rev. Milos Solc, who strongly opposed such proceedings against the faithful minister Rev. Dicanio.
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the first letter read in October 2024 from the LPCNA presbytery to our church. I heard nothing about addressing the sin that a faithful minister exposed but instead about his ‘methodology,’ which seemed absurd to me. Rev. Milos Solc made a heartfelt statement: ‘I wish we would be in sackcloth and ashes, praying, fasting, and weeping over how far we have fallen, rather than being so dissectible about the methodology of the messenger—sin is in the midst, not the messenger.’
As a servant of the gospel of Jesus Christ, one who is seeking to be a gospel minister and who has to contend with this type of music, which is so prevalent in many churches in my own country and is destroying the lives of young people, I wholeheartedly oppose the sin of the CWM movement with my whole being. I am committed to faithfully separating from every form of such a trend, whether it be in any church, organization, or elsewhere.
I stand with Rev. DiCanio because I believe his actions were biblical. He did what Paul would have done when he withstood Peter publicly (Galatians 2:11). As a minister of the gospel, it is his duty to rebuke sin, just as Elijah did (1 Kings 18:17-18). He must act as one who will give an account to God for the souls entrusted to him (Luke 16:2; Acts 20:28).
How do we need to heed these words today!
Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
CCM is worldliness dressed up in religion and, therefore, must be abhorred! We need no other ‘methodology’ to address worldliness if our ‘methodology’ is grounded in Scripture.”
This is an article by Rev Miloš Šolc of the Free Presbyterian Church in the Czech Republic.
Rev Šolc has been a long time opponent of the evils of “Contemporary Christian Music”. He is a member of the Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America.
In this article he expresses his utter opposition to what the North American Presbytery has decided with regards Rev David DiCanio’s protest against ‘CCM’!
He along with Rev Stephen Hamilton and Rev Andy Foster opposed its decision to depose Rev DiCanio for his protest against ‘CCM’.
His article is a most welcome testimony to the very wrong decision of the NAFPC.
Rev Ivan Foster
I take this opportunity to publicly react to the statement released by the Executive Committee of the FPCNA, informing the churches of the deposition of the Rev DiCanio. After the release of an article by the Rev I Foster under the heading The Free Presbyterian Church at a decisive crossroad, I called the Rev Foster to express my regret that he did not include my name along with the Revs A Foster and S Hamilton, as the third minister who from the outset strongly opposed the proceedings of the FPCNA Presbytery against the Rev D DiCanio.
My words to the Presbytery from the very beginning of the proceedings expressed my grief over where we find ourselves as a denomination. I stated that if we truly understood the gravity of the issue of Contemporary Christian Music that has permeated many of the Free Presbyterian churches in Ulster and most of the young generation, we would be in sackcloth and ashes, praying and fasting, and weeping over how we have fallen; certainly not dissecting the ‘methodology’ of the messenger. We would deal with the grievous message – sin in our midst, and not the messenger. We would understand the issue at hand.
As stated by the Rev I Foster in the above mentioned article, Dr Paisley was often criticised for his ‘methodology’ (as was my grandfather the Rev M Šolc Sr, a mighty servant of the Lord in this land, the Czech Republic; and as I have been). But interestingly enough, the one unifying feature of these critics is that they have no perfect method of their own to offer, since they don’t actually do anything, just as is the case here with the issue of Contemporary Christian Music in our Free Presbyterian churches in Ulster, hence the spread of this carnal, sinful music. And now, when a minister exposes this sin, we condemn him instead. You couldn’t make this up. By doing so, we have accelerated and encouraged the sin, and everything that it brings.
In no way whatsoever do I delight in dealing with this matter, nor do I delight in controversy. Nor do I have any other agenda. I believe that for all those who have stood against these proceedings, it has been a great grief and burden – for me, very personally. My separation from my family church and Baptist denomination for four generations–both my father and grandfather being leading ministers, and I an elder–was on the very issue of Contemporary Christian Music and compromised associations. Here is a very pertinent excerpt from my March 2, 2002, resignation letter:
This is not a rash decision, but something that has been a process for the last number of years. It was just this past Friday that our young people attended a youth rally at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre called Missionfest 2002. There we heard a ‘Christian’ rock band entertain hundreds of youth…If that is what we have to offer to young people who are seeking the Lord or who are trying to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), we have NOTHING at all! It is secular, it is carnal, it is of the lusts of the flesh, it is irreverent and unholy – it is blasphemous! The Word of God says to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2), and what I witnessed at the above event…to that the Lord could only say as He said by the prophet Amos: “Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs” (Amos 5:23). There is little surprise that our young people are so spiritually weak and unstable, when this is what they are fed. We have all failed in guiding them in purity and truth.
How true these words ring today in the situation we find ourselves in, in the Free Presbyterian Church, some 23 years later! Who would have believed it?
If I have taken a hard stand at a great cost, against my own father, family, former church and denomination, other New Evangelical ministries, on this very matter of Contemporary Christian Music, how could I tolerate or excuse the same sin in my own denomination. What sort of a witness would that be? What sort of a witness would that be to my own wife, sons, and daughter? What sort of a witness would that be to the church here in the Czech Republic to which the Lord sent me to be a watchman to give them warning from Him (Ezekiel 3:17) and to lead them in the faith of the “old paths” (Jeremiah 6:16)? What sort of a witness would that be to those that I admonished for this sin? In this context, it really is a very straightforward matter. Tolerating or excusing this sin would be a betrayal of my calling. It would be the end of this separated ministry. It would be the end of the Lord working in our midst. It would be shameful hypocrisy. A double standard. A respecting of persons. A falsehood. Unrighteousness. “The time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). “How are the mighty fallen” (2 Samuel 1:27).
I wholeheartedly, before God, agree with the response to the FPCNA Presbytery statement on the deposition of the Rev D DiCanio of the Rev A Foster, as published in the aforementioned article by the Rev I Foster. It is an accurate, careful, and biblical summation of these shameful proceedings against the Rev DiCanio, highlighting two key issues: one, the biblical duty of a preacher to publicly expose public sin; and two, the sinfulness of Contemporary Worship Music – an outflow of Contemporary Christian Music. Indeed, the Presbytery of the FPCNA has acted very shamefully, foolishly, wrongfully, and cowardly in this matter, and I fundamentally and completely reject its ratification of the guilty verdicts of both Judicial Commissions and its deposition of a faithful minister of the Gospel. This must come as no surprise to the Presbytery, as the Presbytery itself is my witness, as well as the documentation of the proceedings, that I most firmly opposed it in this matter from the very beginning, both in word and deed. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me.
Before God, the only Righteous Judge of all things,
In Christ our Lord,
Rev Miloš Šolc
Free Presbyterian Church in the Czech Republic
