admingauge people’s spiritual maturity and development as they fight against sin and also with instructions which are given from the inspired Word of God on how men and women should conduct themselves in order please God.
One important aspect, however, about the Word of God is that it is described as a double-edged sword, which underscores the effectiveness of the Word of God in dealing with sin.
“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” reads Hebrews 4:12 (King James Version).
Psalm 149 verse 6 underscores this point by suggesting that praising God and reproving sin go hand in hand.
“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand,” reads Psalm 149 verse 6 (King James Version).
According to this scripture, it is clear that praising God either verbally through prayer, testimonials or songs and condemning sin with scriptures are some of the major aspects of Christianity which can be used by preachers of the gospel or gospel artistes to direct people back to Christ.
While many church denominations have adopted what has become popularly known as prosperity gospel in teaching lessons about material and financial prosperity, preachers and gospel artistes are needed to preach the exact word of God through addressing the real concerns affecting people such as witchcraft, incestuous relationships, homosexuality, prostitution, drugs and alcohol among others.
Although there is nothing wrong with teaching that Christians need to make money or gain material possessions, it is also important for preachers of the word of God to reproach many sinful practices which affect people’s relationship with God.
On the same point, it also becomes clear that given the power of music or other creative channels of communication, a new generation of gospel artistes is needed to remind people through teaching from the scriptures how much God hates sin and the type of misery likely to be suffered if people continue sinning.
While it is clear that some gospel artistes have chosen to gloss over real issues affecting Christians, choosing instead to focus on themes such as love, forgiveness, happiness and others which attract more fans for their work, there are some artistes, however, whose works have addressed real issues of life though the scriptures.
Among these artistes are Pastor Charles and Amai Olivia Charamba, Elvis Munetsi, Donnah Chibaya Tagara and many others.
In a song titled “Nhangemutange”, Pastor Charamba criticises the spirit of selfishness, envy and competition among people where instead of struggling to gain God’s approval people compete to gain material possessions which are temporal.
Mai Charamba also has a very good song titled “Hakuna Chombo” in which she condemns witchcraft and the use of goblins and black magic which she describes
as powerless against Christians who according to the Bible are guarded daily by the angels of God.
On his album “Revelation”, Munetsi has a song titled “Modern-day Pharisee” in which he criticises hypocrisy among church leaders who enjoy theological titles but fail to live according to the Bible.
Since the Word of God is described as a double- edged sword there is need for repentance in people when they receive the gospel either in church through pastors or if packaged in other forms such as music or works of art.
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dyton mupawaenda