DUBROOM ARTICLE SECTION

There are seven industry professionals representing seven countries who will once again serve as judges to determine nominees as well as winners for this year’s awards. "Unlike with most music awards where nominations and winners are determined by mail out ballots, nominees and subsequent winners are skillfully selected by a panel of carefully chosen industry professionals representing seven countries. This process though intense allows for all submissions to be given equal opportunity as each album or single is listened to, categorized and then professionally considered for a nomination and ultimately for a Marlin Award," according to awards President Kevin Harris. As with past awards, judges are comprised of recording artists, songwriters, producers, engineers and radio announcers

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The Marlin Global Gospel Music Summit is designed to meet the spiritual as well as the artistic needs of recording artists, worship leaders, psalmists, songwriters, producers, managers as well as other industry executives.

Topics include:
The Business of Gospel Music – (Industry Luncheon)
How to Write and Publish A Great Song
The Role of an Artist Manager and Booking Agent
How to Package and Promote A Great Product
We will also introduce the Global Media Panel – featuring radio announcers and promoters from throughout the Caribbean, the US and other countries around the world.

The jury are "industry professionals". This is mentioned twice, in what can only be seen as a description of an industrial award. The industry, wherin these professionals work, isn't the Music Industry though. 

It's the CCM or Christian Industry!

And that changes everything...

In the mind set of the Christian Industrialists, everything which is done in that industry is labeled with "annointed", "sanctified", blessed" and so more. They apply certain ideas from the Bible and transform it to fit their works.

Artist and other industry professionals are seen as "ministers". In western Christianity, "minister" is a word to describe "clergy". It's the ruling class in a religious system where the so-called "layity" obeys the clergy, as the clergymen are the ones who practise religious rituals and activities. The layity pays the clergy so the clergy will rule over them.

Of course, this system is completely against the description of Christianity as found in the New Testament in the Bible they claim to uphold. According to the Bible, Christianity or the Church are all of the same class. One is the Head, and that One is Jesus Christ. Every Christian is a "minister" with a "ministry". There are watchmen, teachers, deacons, elders, and many more functions. 

In the Bible, a "minister" is not an "industry professional", and there were no systems to give them "awards". Ministers provided services to the Church, but never were these services bought or sold as products. No minister in the Bible ever chargeed money for his services. Sometimes, ministers received financial support so that they could live, but this support was not the result of selling their services.

There is a big difference between receiving support and selling your products. To charge money for products, is to be involved in business.

In America, there are many "ministries" who ask you to pay "gifts" for which you will then receive a book or a video or something like that. This is a trick to stay away from tax laws, but everyone knows that it's just business.

And so, we have to really look to this from a Biblical perspective. Does the Bible actually speak about this? Does the Bible mention people who sell their products to the Church rather than providing them for free while trusting that the Good Lord provides in their daily needs?

I shouldn't be a surprise to find out that indeed, the Bible does talk about this.

In fact, the apostle Peter even warned the faithfull against false teachers who "will make merchandize of you". And Jesus Christ Himself whipped the merchandizers out of the Temple Yard and said: "You have made my Father's House into a den of thieves". He told them to go and do their business on the market place and not in the religious places.

But according to the Christian Industrialists, Christianity is a little bit different then how it is described in the Bible. It seems, like they are only using biblical terms to describe their rather unspiritual activities.

An example.