General News
20 July, 2025
In good faith
In 1998, a movie was released by the name of “Thin Red Line”. It was a war movie based on the Guadalcanal campaign of World War 2.
In the movie there were a couple of songs sung by the choir of All Saints Church from
Honiara in the Solomon Islands.
If you have seen the movie, or any other like it, you will recognize the haunting tones of the South Pacific style of singing that I am referring to. It
seems to be a type of singing that is rarely heard in the Western world.
Recently, we had the opportunity for a short holiday in Fiji.
On the Sunday, we went to the neighboring village to attend to the local Methodist Church, where we were made very welcome.
The service itself was in the Fijian language, but when the hymns were sung, the singing was in the same style of music as the songs in that movie.
It was as though the entire church became its own choir.
There were about 50 people there, including twenty children, and when the singing started it was as though every person knew exactly the part that they had to sing, including both the harmonies and the melody.
There was no organ, band or any other kind of music to guide them, rather the tones were initially set by one lady in the congregation and then everyone else followed.
The result was beautiful.
Have you ever considered that, just like everything else in existence, it was God who created
music?
The Bible describes music and singing as having existed before the creation of the Earth.
The book of Job Ch 38 Vs 4-7 says, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
Job, which is probably the oldest book in the bible, describes the “morning Stars”, another name for angels, as singing praise to God as He was creating the world.
If music was created before the world, then it must be spiritual.
This is confirmed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:15, “So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.”
The thing about music is that because it is spiritual in nature it can provide, in that moment, a
means of very strongly influencing the mind and soul.
This is the reason why we must be very careful about the content of the music that we listen to.
According to the National Library of Medicine, “The link between music and emotion seems to be accepted for all time.”
Music is also described as a “heightened form of expression”. Psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
Even the prophet Elisha used music when prophesying. 2 Kings 3:15 says, “… While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha.”
Music has, from the very beginning, been used as a beautiful and powerful tool in the proclamation of God’s word.
And if you ever get the opportunity to hear a South Pacific church choir, then make sure that
you do.
You won’t regret it.
Contributed by DAVID YOUNG