On two nights Keith and Kristyn Getty brought their ‘Home For Christmas’ show (that surely is a significant definition of the event that is used in their announcement of it) to the SSE Arena, Belfast. on 19th and 20th December!
We are told in the ‘blurb’ announcing the affair that — ‘The Grammy-Nominated duo will be performing well-known carols and hymns along with new songs to fill everyone with holiday cheer’.
Considering the booze-induced ‘cheer’ that permeates society at this time of the year this is hardly a prospect that should encourage a true Christian to attend their ‘show’.
A brief examination of the event highlights yet again that the whole ‘Contemporary Christian Music’ is marked and corrupted with the spirit of the world and is therefore an offence to the Lord and ought to be offensive to the devout Christian.
The Lord says: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time,” 1 John 2:15-18.
There was every mark of the world upon this ‘show’ and Christians are left with no excuse for embracing CCM and believing it is of God.
I. THE FIRST THING TO BE NOTED IS THAT ALCOHOL WAS ON SALE AT THIS ‘CHRISTIAN’ AFFAIR!
Here is an official reply to a question sent by a Christian bother to the Odyssey Complex regarding the sale of alcohol during the Getty event.
From: Customer Services <customerservices@theodyssey.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2024 at 15:00
Subject: Getty Concerts CRM:0013001032
Good Afternoon ………
Thanks for getting in touch. Alcoholic drinks will be available to purchase as usual.
Kind regards Customer Services | The SSE Arena, Belfast | 2 Queen’s Quay, Belfast BT3 9QQ
‘AS USUAL’, in other words this is just another worldly, booze-consuming event as far as the SSE Arena is concerned!
Ought this not to alarm the true Christian who is commanded,“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God,” Romans 12:2?
In my experience, when wedding receptions are convened in hotels, the bride and groom have requested that the bar, where alcohol is usually served at events on its premises, be closed down and shuttered. If the hotel refuses to do that, then another location for the wedding reception is sought.
That is how it ought to be. The Christian must never give any sanction or endorsement to the consumption of alcohol.
That was very obviously not the case at the ‘Getty’ concert!
II. AGAIN, A PICTURE SENT TO ME, SHOWED A SCENE WHICH IS TOTALLY IN KEEPING WITH AN UNGODLY EVENT.
This is the ‘stage’ at the concert. Looking at it, it is an exact replica of any ungodly ‘rock concert’!
There is little difference in these two scenes and that ought not to be! There ought to be a very great change in the attitude and behaviour of those who claim to be Christians from those of the world.
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;),” Ephesians 2:2-5.
“But God . . . hath quickened us together with Christ.” That being so, we ought not to be found amongst those who behave and look like the world as is the case here!
Where do we find in God’s Word anything like such a display at any presentation of the gospel? Where do we find the Saviour engaging in such an ostentatious show?
Rather it is said of Him: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street,” Isaiah 42:1-2.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass,” Zechariah 9:9.
The only donkeys at the ‘Getty Concert’ were those who, giving vent to a worldly spirit, were present in their thousands!
III. IN CONTRAST TO THE FREENESS OF THE GOSPEL, THOUSANDS OF POUNDS WERE PAID BY THOSE ATTENDING THIS EVENT.
Prices posted online show that seats were priced at £35 to £55. That is a very large amount of money made by the organisers of this affair.
What a contrast to God’s presentation of the gospel.
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David,” Isaiah 55:1-3.
What profit had those who attended the Getty concert? I would say none at all. They came away the poorer by between £35 to £55! But the Lord offers freely eternal riches through Christ the Saviour of sinners.
Such an offer was made in lowly circumstances by humble servants of God throughout the ages, from the grassy slopes where the Saviour preached to the heather hills of lowland Scotland, where our forefathers listened to the glorious truth of the gospel in times of persecution.
What a contrast there is between those times that God met with multitudes and the scene at the sham ‘gospel’ event in the Odyssey Arena.
IV. HOW MANY OF THOSE WHO GATHERED IN THEIR THOUSANDS TO THAT EVENT WOULD GATHER TO A DAY OF PRAYER FOR OUR NATION?
That question was posed to me by a friend, grieved and vexed by the events at the Getty Concert! I have no doubt that very few would respond to such a call to prayer.
I heard just the other day that a Free Presbyterian Church had a very full attendance at the morning service. That dwindled to a fraction in the evening and at the weekly prayer meeting there were about 20 in attendance!
That is not the Free Presbyterian Church I joined in 1964! The very reverse of these numbers was the case back then. The Old Ravenhill Church of Dr Paisley was filled at every service!
Why is it so in many, many churches? Could it be the rise of an infatuation with and infiltration of our ranks by CCM and the modernistic, liberalising spirit that is the fount of such a departure from the ‘old paths’ of God’s truth?
I have no doubt that the answer is ‘yes’!
Why cannot minister and elders see the drift and the direction in which the Free Presbyterian Church is being taken? There are some who even rise in opposition to any mention of such a drift?
It is drifting away from God’s truth and downward that is taking place. It is a drifting in the direction the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Episcopalian Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church in Ireland, as well as thousands of other denominations and groups are going in as they are swept along by the spirit of this latter-day apostasy!
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the church of the 1859 revival, is today a harbinger of those who engage in sodomy and the confederate perversions of the ‘LGBT+ etc’ groups.
That is the INEVITABLE outcome of departure from God’s Word.
This shameful digression is seen in the Democratic Unionist Party, which once held aloft the slogan, ‘The Truth Shall Set You Free” but where now ’sodomites’ are put forward as candidates and endorsed and Free Presbyterian support that and Free Presbyterian membes of that party sit bedside such perverts and vote in agreement with them.
V. WHAT MORE EVIDENCE DO MINISTERS AND ELDERS NEED TO SEE WHERE IT IS WE ARE HEADING?
May the Lord Who is longsuffering and merciful grant His grace to those who see the danger, to stand up and shout out against the compromising attitude that dominates the leadership of our denomination for quite some time now!
Oh for the experience of which the Psalmist wrote!
“When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him,” Psalm 126.
May the Lord in mercy visit us and turn our captivity for His honour and glory’s sake.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Monday, 23rd December 2024