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Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost
 
 
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Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost [Paperback]

Matthew Paul Turner (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 16, 2010
Every Life Has a Soundtrack. 
 
If you’ve ever had the opening bars of a song transport you back in time or remind you of a pivotal spiritual moment, Matthew Paul Turner’s honest—and frequently hilarious—musings will strike a chord. Straightforward and amusing, Hear No Evil is Turner’s “life soundtrack,” a compilation of engaging personal stories about how music—and music’s ability to transform—has played a key role in his spiritual life.
 
Groove along on his journey as young evangelical Turner attends forbidden contemporary Christian concerts, moves to “Music City” Nashville, and dreams of becoming the Michael Jackson of Christian music.
 
Cosmic and compelling, keen and funny, every page is a new encounter with the people, places, and experiences that have taught the music-editor-turned-author some new things about God, forced him out of his comfort zone, and introduced him to a fresh view of grace along the way.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a childhood roped off from popular culture, Turner (The Christian Culture Survival Guide) chased dreams of becoming a Christian singer only to find the safe genre more plastic than relevant. In this memoir, Turner strings together his journey from starstruck child to Christian music editor, with tales of music's influence on his Independent Fundamental Baptist upbringing. At times, the book takes aim at the denomination, lamenting the anxiety its moral absolutes produce: few things existed that were more frightful than a syncopated beat. At other points, the book becomes a critique of unoriginal Christian music. Turner calls for honesty from all Christians, begging artists to tap into guarded imaginations and urging churches to be more forgiving when singers step outside the box. Despite his misgivings, Turner maintains a playful tone, like a teenager rolling his eyes at an embarrassing parent. Still hopeful, he seeks not to discount Christian music and its listeners but to fine-tune his Christian church and shake up the genre that remains a consistent thread of grace in his life. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Like a good Amy Grant song, Hear No Evil will worm its way into your brain, lodge itself there, and refuse to leave.  Every page is funny, honest, and full of the best kind of faith.  Matthew Paul Turner isn't just a great Christian writer.  He's a great writer, period.” 
— Kevin Roose, author of The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University

“The most glorious part about Hear No Evil is Matthew Paul Turner’s humor and authenticity.  Brilliantly affective, this collection of stories about music--its triumphs, its dysfunction, and its value in people’s lives--will conjure up memories about your own musical journey and experiences. Matthew's funny and sometimes irreverent tone reveals not only his social relevance but also his sincerity.”
—    Josh Shipp, host of Jump Shipp, author of The Teen’s Guide to World Domination, MTV personality

“There’s an adage: ‘Never make fun of a group of which you are not a member.’ Matthew Paul Turner grew up in the fundamentalist bubble and worked in the Christian Contemporary Music scene. And make fun of them he does ­ however, not with outsider venom but with insider empathy. Hear No Evil is hilarious, cringe-worthy, and all too true. And Turner's faith survived. Halleluiah. That’s what humor can do.”
—    Susan E. Isaacs, actress, comedienne,  and author of Angry Conversations with God

Hear No Evil is a compelling story that will send you on a journey where you’re laughing one second and doing a painfully honest heart check the next. When you finish this book you’ll have a new understanding that God works in very unique and surprising ways as He draws us closer to Him.”
— Pete Wilson, pastor of Cross Point Church, author of Plan B

“Anyone who grew up in the evangelical bubble will relive their own adolescence through Turner’s witty, devastatingly forthright account of his own. Couching his unsparing observation in self-effacing mirth, he drags the superstition and cultural backwardness of the good ole Christian subculture right out into the open. Even if you’ve had bad experiences with exorcisms in the past, Hear No Evil is the last one you’ll ever need.”
—    David Sessions, founding editor of Patrol magazine

 “In Hear No Evil, Matthew Paul Turner writes ‘The odd thing about Christians pursuing fame is that they do it while pretending not to be interested in fame’. I would buy this book even if this was the only sentence printed inside. It’s that valuable.”
—    Jonathan Acuff , creator of StuffChristiansLike.net and author of the book Stuff Christians Like

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (February 16, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 140007472X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400074723
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matthew Paul Turner is the best-selling author of "The Christian Culture Survival Guide" and "The Coffeehouse Gospel." Before he began writing and speaking full-time, he served as editor of CCM and music and entertainment editor of Crosswalk.com. He, and his wife, Jessica, live in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Customer Reviews

80 Reviews
5 star:
 (29)
4 star:
 (38)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (80 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Too focused on stereotyping other religions and not on his own conversion, February 20, 2010
This review is from: Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost (Paperback)
This book follows the author through his youth, college and young adult years. He was raised by parents who practiced an extremely conservative religion and his college years were spent trying to find what he himself believed. The theme of Christian music runs throughout the book, as the author majored in music business at a Christian college.
I have to say that I was disappointed with this book. I struggled to read it, as I felt that it stereotyped many different religions. The book focused much less on music than I would have hoped. The focus was more on the Christian Music industry, as opposed to the influence of music. As a lover of music, I had really high hopes for this book and was sadly disappointed. Having said that, I did find the author to have a fun, unique voice. I just wish that it had been less judgmental of other religions and more focused on his own conversion. The book skipped from his continued confusion to several years in the future when he seemed to have it all figured out.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hear No Evil is Now Here, February 2, 2010
By 
Chad Estes (Boise, Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost (Paperback)
In his new book "Hear No Evil," Matthew Paul Turner establishes some of his current thoughts towards the blending of religiosity and music, and then proceeds to illustrate the pitfalls through stories of his childhood through his early writing career. Though the world of music was an easy theme for Turner to focus on, Hear No Evil also covers other aspects of art and expression such as movies, television, fashion, performing, and Calvinism.

Like his book, "Churched," Turner's writing is full of hilarious anecdotes and very clever observations, while at the same time the stories are a sober reminder that there is no fun in fundamentalism, whatever its particular brand. As the chapters proceed and the little boy grows up he must figure out what to do with all the religion he has soaked up over the years. He journeys through college, living in Nashville, booking music for a Christian coffee shop/concert house, and having a job as a writer and editor for CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) Magazine.

While his inside view of "the business" provides insights to the Christian music scene (especially thoughtful are his interactions with Amy Grant, a musician he calls "James" who left the industry, and a church worship leader named Kyle) Matthew's writings aren't an expose on others as much as they are a tell-all book about himself. As he says, "Honesty can sometimes sound judgmental to those who don't fully understand the topic of conversation." And that is what this, an honest conversation from a man who is walking out his faith in sincerity, even when it means being uncomfortably raw, in hopes that tomorrow's songs will be sung in freedom.

I highly recommend this book.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars interesting read but without a clear enough point, February 16, 2010
This review is from: Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost (Paperback)
Hear No Evil is a collage of stories from Matthew Paul Turner's past. A former independent fundamental Baptist (IFB), Turner chronicles his spiritual journey with special attention to the role his love for music played.

As a former IFB myself, I could identify with many of his experiences. I was raised KJV only, and also used my Bible as an autograph book (for the great men of God who I was privileged to hear). One of Turner's memories is particularly relevant to the audience of my blog. Sadly it rings true, to some extent, of my own experience and many others. He recounts:

"I didn't study God. I just memorized Scripture verses and practiced Bible trivia. I could have told you the names of the twelve sons of Jacob or offered you a biblically accurate play-by-play of the events that led up to King David sleeping with Bathsheba. I learned facts. I knew a thousand Bible verses by heart, but I couldn't explain why God's story was important to me, personally. (pg. 122)"

Clear and extremely well-written, the book makes for easy reading. In a light-hearted manner, with equal parts humor and candor, Turner recounts his escapades expertly. The stories are interesting and to some extent comical.

Unfortunately, Turner's tone is rather disturbing. As I read the book I was struggling to find a point in it all. Some of the stories seemed a bit over the top. Even granting for some authorial exaggeration, some of the scenarios he described stretched the limits of reality. Often the humor seemed self-serving. And Turner spared no punches in his shots of fundamentalists and other wider segments of Christianity.

Several scenes were painted without a clear resolution. What really is Turner's assessment of all of this? Where did he end up on the other end of the story recounted in the book? He was not timid in his insinuations about the state of Christian rock music. A Christian bass player ejects from his group and considers himself agnostic. Turner doesn't try to win him back, rather he empathizes with the pressure the Christian rock industry puts on its performers to remain virgins, albeit only in a "technical sense". Biblical literalists like the stern publisher of CCM (the magazine Turner edited for a while), have an agenda and aren't to be trusted. A gay former worship pastor, who visits his church on Easter Sunday indiscriminately receives Turner's cheerful welcome.

I do want to be careful not to judge the book too harshly. It is a personal recounting of events and nothing more. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from it. The flavor of the book is perhaps best captured in the following excerpt. Speaking of a fellow Amy Grant aficionado and staffer at CCM, Turner says:

"The story of Michael's early years is nearly identical to mine. Different parents, different churches, different states, but our experiences were the same. Both of us were raised Independent Fundamental Baptists. When we met people who hadn't heard of our form of Baptist, we told them it was Christian for 'scary beyond all reason.'

"By the time we turned twelve, Michael and I were convinced we knew everything there was to know about God. If that information wasn't already stored in our brains somewhere, our parents had flashcards to help us memorize it. People who told us that God was more or less than what we'd been taught were liars sent by Satan to deceive us. Our teenage years brought questions, college brought doubt, and we spent the better part of our twenties in therapy, trying to reconcile our understandings of God, sex, relationships, and what we believed to be true.

"But there was one consistent thread of grace in our lives, a trail we could follow all the way back to when our memories began: music. Music reminded us that we could trust God even when "his people" failed us.

"And at some point, our paths crossed with Amy's music, which gave both of us hope that God wasn't nearly as hateful as we'd been taught. (pg. 200-201)"

This book will resonate with many. But some will be emboldened by it to continue along a trajectory outside of confessional Christianity and orthodox faith. The book is good reading, but must be read with a discerning eye.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, as part of their Blogging for Books program.
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