UNCOMMONLY UNCOOL

The Change

2012-01-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

I'd always had this nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right.

During my first ministry, I was teaching a class on the book of Acts when I asked the class this question: "We see in Acts 2 that the church had, quote 'everything in common'. They shared possessions, and spent a lot of time together. Given the nature of life today, do you think it's possible for the church to live like this now?'" People thought for a moment. And the answer that the class gave was a surprise to me: "No. I don't think so." I figured that, being good Christian people, they would at least give lip service to the idea. Nope. No dice. "Life is so different now", they said. And with that, my lesson was derailed.

Ministry wasn't that much of an eye-opener to me. I knew, because I was friends with my youth minister, that church work wasn't all pizza parties and prayer services. There was drama. There were conflicts. People got mad. People were jerks. But this class was a turning point for me. Those early Christians seemed like hippies, like a sub or counterculture that the church today wouldn't embrace. It started the nagging question of whether or not we really are like the first believers in the book of Acts, and like the people Jesus expected us to me.

Every once in a while, I'd be studying a passage and see that what the passage said didn't match what the church did. A simple thought. But one that always bugged me. It got under my skin. Flash forward a decade, and I'm in my third ministry. At this point, I had been in enough church meetings, and talked to enough church people, to know that, even in the face of what Jesus said, a lot of Christians will sometimes flat out refuse to follow the example of Jesus. For example...

Jesus had people leave his ministry when he spoke the truth. But we never want people to leave our church, and bend over backwards to placate even the slightest whim.
James tells us to take care of the orphan and the widow. But we have a budget that doesn't have hardly any spending for this, let alone volunteers who do this work.
Paul tells us that we are a priesthood of all believers. But we have ministers who do most of the pastoral work.
Jesus tells us to love one another, and that we will be known by our love. But we get into petty arguments with each other that cause us to disfellowship, and we are not known by our love, but rather have defined ourselves by what we hate.
The Bible tells us that we are supposed to confess our sins to each other. But we don't, either because people will gossip about us, or ostracize us.
Jesus makes it clear that we are to go straight to those that we have issues with. But we write anonymous notes to church leadership instead, and complain about each other to our friends.
Jesus has no political affiliation. But we try to give him one.
Paul told us we are saved by grace. But we give very little grace to those who don't share our opinions and lifestyles.
The Bible tells us to share each other's burdens and to help those who are in need. We judge them, and tell them to get a job, and assume they are lazy if they are out of work.
Jesus was very blunt with people who did things that were hurtful to others. We bite our tongues (or join in with the complainers) because it's easier and not controversial. And we don't want to lose our big tithers, either.

My change came about over the course of the last couple of years. I used to identify as a conservative. I thought that American conservatism was the political ideology that was closest to the identity of the church. Anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, etc. And, in the churches where I worked, almost everyone was Republican. And then I met (gasp!) a democrat in my church.

I talked just a little bit about politics with him, not much. He shared with me that he felt like he couldn't really talk about his politics with his fellow Christians. Even though there should be no political litmus test, and any man-made political ideology will be imperfect, he really didn't feel comfortable sharing his views. He was a pro-life democrat to boot, which meant that he was on the fringe of two different groups of people.

He was also a wonderful, Godly man.

And the more I thought about it...the more I read the Bible....the more I heard the political conversation surrounding both the election of Bush and Obama, the more I saw that this is not a fight that I have a dog in. The more I heard the negative comments about both men (both church goers, by the way) - the racist jokes, the comparisons to Hitler - the more I realized that I had added to the words of Jesus with my ideology and politics, and it was time to lay them at the foot of the cross.

This post really isn't about politics. It's about how we supplement the Gospel with a bunch of other thinking that is usually contrary to the love of Christ. Americans pride ourselves on being self-made individuals, but Paul tells us that we have nothing without the grace of Jesus, and it's this grace that we can't earn on our own. We're supposed to keep striving to make more money, but the love of money is the root of all evil. In so many ways, we've given up on the ideal of the early church because it was a standard we couldn't attain. And, to replace the ideal, we've got our own set of rules that sound pious. And all our friends have the same opinions, so they must be right. Except that they don't show love, they just make us feel more superior.

The funny thing is that there are so many Gen-X and Gen-Y Christians who seem to have come to the same conclusions. The last ten years have seen church leaders emerge that share this vision. But some corners of the traditional church seems to have very little use for us, even though the goal of most of them is to be more like Christ. How can you argue with that?

I don't think the government should take nearly as much money as they do (conservative) but what money they do have should be going to help people (liberal). I think people should do everything they can to help themselves (conservative) but I think we should do everything we can to help them, too (liberal). I'm in nowhere land, politically and ideologically. And that's alright with me. I don't want to throw all in with any group of people. I want to go all in with Jesus. That's how I roll.

Man We Was Lonely

2011-12-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

In Nashville, that is. Glad to be gone and moved away. It seems like the kind of place I should be. And if we'd had some friends there, some people to play with....you know....community, it may have been different. In a year, we found very little.

Let me tell ya.....I don't need a bunch of people in my life. A few good friends that I feel comfortable around. A couple of musical foils. That's what I need. When we left the ministry over a year ago, I just figured that it would kind of happen. Like it always did. It didn't. And it reminded me of something.

After my junior year of college, I took a year off to collect my head. I was down. Angry. Bitter. And broke. Don't forget broke. I went back home, worked two jobs for year, interned at a church. After reading over 100 books of all manner and matter, I got a little slice of peace and headed back to college. I had two years ahead of me (I was trying for two degrees) and was ready to get into it again. All of my friends had left my college, though. And for the first couple of months, I ate in the cafeteria alone. I came back to school a far better person than I was when I left. Nobody was interested in what I had to offer. For a while, anyway.

And that's what Nashville felt like. Nobody was interested. I was told that people were jaded regarding music there. Turns out, what they are interested is their own scene. And we didn't fit. Too old. Maybe too young for some. Too conservative or liberal. Who knows? We met some great acquaintances there, but no real friends. I still really don't know what to make of it.

So, we went in the opposite direction and are sharing a house with another family. Some day I'll tell you all about it. We're still finding our bearings in a two family household. But we're making our own friends in this new area, slowly. I'm also closer to family. This is better. But still.....

Something is missing. Our old ministry life was all-encompassing. I've had a much harder time adjusting than I thought. There was nothing to replace the instant relationships when we left. Trying to get back into it has been a bust, until recently. There is some hope, but it's slow. Hope is, by it's very nature, slow.

My wife and I, the lovely Summar, have gone through some serious ideological changes. We've fought with God. We've discarded political labels. We've realigned our theology. We love music and food and knowledge. We talk for hours, and our son joins in sometimes, too. He's so smart. He wants to take everything apart to see how it works. Or to just destroy it. He is a boy, after all.

The point is our change, our upheaval, our loneliness has changed us. We're resilient. It made us face our convictions, and discard the ones that don't work for us. I'm glad it did all that. We're different people. Stronger.

It may seem a little hyperbolic. You're thinking, "Hey, people move all the time. What's he whining about this time?" I get it. I just can't emphasize how hard it was personally, or how glad we are to have some sense of community again.

God, through Paul, talks about being refined in a fire. He talks about discipline for those He loves. He speaks of beating his body daily to, basically, keep it in line. All that talk about trials and tribulation and what it does. On the tribulation-o-meter, we would hardly register, I suppose. But the process of transformation isn't pleasant, which I suppose is the point. A pleasant transformation wouldn't stick. It would be like a trendy diet, and then six months later you've gained all the weight back. This change is sticky. This change is like Laffy Taffy in your teeth. Or super glue on your fingers. At least I hope it is.

P.S. This is the last Nashville post. Next up....rock stars who became preachers. Stay tuned.

Life on Pause

2011-09-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

I was sick. Really sick. The kind of flu-sick where you babble.

I still am a bit. I'm waiting for all the garbage to leave my system and self-medicating with Oreos. Having called off of work last night, I have actually had this Sunday off, and I spent it on the couch watching broadcast television. I can't remember the last time I just watched one channel for any length of time. It reminds me of being a kid watching channel 36 in Toledo, when they played movie after movie on the weekends. This small break in life is making me realize how much I needed it, and that my work schedule just isn't, well, working.

But it's what I've got for now, and with our impending move it will get a little better. No more night shift. It's taken a toll that I didn't foresee. I feel like I work all the time, because staying up every night blurs the line between days. This lazy Sunday, acquired only via illness, has been a blessing in disguise.

I've been so involved in our next step, our frustration and our concern that I really haven't been enjoying anything. Especially this year, I felt like I had to keep moving, like I was a target, and often times felt like one. Today, I'm thinking a lot about what I've liked: treasuring memories, recalling the past. I don't do this. Ever. But today...

I'm enjoying the memories of the beautiful landscapes of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. In college, I explored them. I hiked. Spent a lot of time outside, sometimes in meditation. What happened to that?

I'm remembering spending time with people in our church families: playing board games, watching fireworks, grilling out, watching "Family Guy" (of all things) after our college-age Bible study.

I'm thinking of being a kid growing up in our old, creaky, half-painted house. It was a Jaycees haunted house before my dad fixed it up, and so the unpainted upstairs rooms were all black. There were raspberry and elderberry bushes outside, an apple tree and a chicken coop, sometimes with chickens and fresh brown eggs, with an inordinate amount of double yolks.

I'm daydreaming of our first house as a married couple, and how my wife's car got stuck in the backyard when she went to look at it. Before we got married, she had a car accident in that car. I got there right before the ambulance did, and I helped pull her out of the car.

Looking back today, I can't believe all that happened. Do you ever feel that way? Here today, sick in our apartment in this lonely city, all of that seems like a different life, like a bunch of movies I watched on a Sunday afternoon. Memories have their way of making you feel like that.

This year....man. You're getting tired of me writing about it, I'm sure. It's been a total contrast. We went from a decade filled with activity, movement and social interaction to a less interesting construct of work, eat, sleep. I feel like that's all we've done. The good news is that graduate school is on the horizon. Being among friends is coming soon. It's coming just in time.

So, in a few weeks, we set out to fix what is broken, to right our wrong. And thank God. I don't feel like we've made any memories here. We're trying again to crank up the machine, and the gears are creaking and wincing. But they are moving.

Just Begin Again

2011-09-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

As our ministry search winds down with no prospects forthcoming for the foreseeable future, I thought I'd take a little stock of our thirteen years in ministry, specifically the beginning of my ministry and my experiences therein. This will be the first in a series of posts about the Church, and my experiences in ministry.

I had been a Christian for a year and a half when I decided to go into the ministry. It was a reaction to a heartfelt sermon by someone who would eventually be one of my professors in College. Based around Romans 8:1 ("Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"), it culminated with an invitation (as all of the sermons for this conference did) with three choices: to become a Christian, to recommit your life and to give your life to full-time Christian service. I chose the third one, being at the height of my young faith at the time. I wanted to take it further, and even though I knew instinctively that I was deficient in some areas that I thought would be important in ministry, I felt the spirit move.

Maybe a socially awkward, moody introvert shouldn't go into the ministry. But my gifts (ease with public speaking, musicianship, compassion for the lost) seemed to calm my reservation. I've changed quite a bit since my commitment to ministry on that day, but I'm still moody. And I can be introverted with the best of the introverts. And, of course, the biggest difference is that I'm not in the ministry any more.

Can a 37 year old man be expected to make a promise he made at 18? Youthful idealism has been responsible for all kinds of good and bad decisions. It's a big deal to make your career choice, and ministry is different from any other career. It's all-encompassing. Your friends, your social life, your job, your home (if you live in a parsonage) and your connections all come from the same place. There aren't many jobs like that. Couple that with the fact that you are hired by people to help them get closer to God (an esoteric job description if there ever was one), and you have to be a certain kind of person to stick with it. And I don't mean a special, awesome person. I'm not saying that ministers are better than anyone else, because we're all flawed humans. But I think there is a specific kind of tenacity it takes to keep pursuing this kind of work, and somehow I had (have?) that.

I went into ministry wanting to make a difference. Most ministers won't admit it, but I will, that I also probably went into ministry to feel special or important. That kind of dissipated after a while, but it was true for a time. Good can come out of even bad or selfish motives, I suppose. But when those motives are stripped away by frustration and confusion, and all you have left is love for others, that's when you really make a difference.

We've had a spate of church interviews, and all except one have ended with rejection. It makes you wonder. God does things for a season, I know, but I feel like I want a clear response if that season is over for me. Me being an analytical person, I also want several reasons why. I'll never get them on this side of glory. If you have been searching for a job in your chosen field, so that you can use your God-given gifts, you know what I'm talking about. And, I really feel for you.

You can't maintain the initial excitement of starting a journey all through that journey. And, like a school project, a painting or recording an album, sometimes it's hard to know when it's done. I think ministry is winding down for me, and maybe a new adventure looms. I've got some ideas about what that adventure might be. But I'm not 18 any more. And the adventure I choose will be a lot different, and for better or worse, less idealistic and more practical. Our Nashville move has kind of purged any last drop of that career idealism out of me. Maybe that's alright. I don't know. But I do have the drive to do it, to do something. And that literally is better than nothing.

Check out "Just Begin Again" by Spinal Tap in the video below. It starts at the two minute mark.

Something Good Coming

2011-08-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a Gospel record. It will be a collection of hymns, old blues tunes and a few songs I've written that fit the style of our band, The Double Downbeats. I'm setting out to assemble a collection of songs that are true to the condition of contradiction that a life in Christ represents. That, as Paul states, is the rub: "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." (Philippians 1:23-24) We believe in the power of an unseen God. But sometimes, it feels as though we don't even see the power. We do, truly, see only as a reflection in a mirror (1 Cor. 13:12).

As chronicled elsewhere on this blog, it's been a rough year. Multiple vehicle issues, various kinds of illness, schedule conflicts, general loneliness and other problems that I can't really categorize. Most people don't care to hear someone else complain about their life, so I won't delve into it any more except to say that it's been a faith shaker. And me and God, well, we've had some words...

Some people may take issue with that last statement. I think I'm in good company, to be honest. Although doubt is thought to be THE cardinal sin in some circles, the wrestling that comes with doubt is all over the Bible. I think a lot of people that have doubts never express them because the culture of their church is such that it just doesn't allow for that. It's uncomfortable. Someone else's doubt might reflect yours. But that's a mistake, and denies the overreaching history of God's people, and Scripture as well (Habakkuk 1, Job 19, etc.) When Jesus tells his disciples to not doubt, he's reminding them that God is all-powerful. He is not denying the situational wrestling that comes with faith, in which he himself engaged (Matthew 26:39).

We moved last year to take a break from full-time, paid church ministry, and to pursue music. To be honest, we needed the break. The pursuit of music didn't pan out (I probably should have saw that coming), but the break has been good: we have reevaluated our thinking on a variety of issues; we have appreciated the past blessings that we received; we figured out the puzzle of our next step. So, maybe we were "refined in fire" (1 Peter 1:7) for the last year. But, fire burns, you know. The writer of Hebrews tells us that "no discipline is pleasant at the time." No, it is not. But it does make you, well, refined. Better than you were. An extraction of your impurities and mistakes.

To that end, we have felt strongly about going back into full-time ministry. A little wiser, we're looking for the right place where we can work, in community, with other believers who are passionate and flawed. It's been a tough go, as I've written on an earlier post, but we're not giving up. A good portion of that process has been discouraging, to be honest. But I think God is teaching me, hard headed as I am, to find the right place, to be patient, to worry over nothing.

I have to say that I just don't understand everything that has happened in the last year. I also have to say that I'm not, at this point, okay with some of it. I've always had a hard time just letting trials go. But I can't shake this feeling that something is happening, that God is doing something here. After all, it's not all been bad: our adoption was finalized after a two year wait. So, I'm doing my best to remember that it is sometimes just about showing up instead of staying in bed; folding your hands in prayer instead of wringing them in agony; looking up instead of looking in the mirror. Something good is coming...there has to be.

Something Good Coming - Tom Petty

Death and Other Miscreants

2011-06-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

For the last month and a half, I've been working an overnight shift, stocking shelves at America's Largest Organic Retailer. I like the work, but not the schedule. I have learned that staying up all night is not as easy as it was when I was 22 (the last time I worked an overnight shift), and that as the night progresses, I become a little more free. When the sun starts to come up, I become a bit more uninhibited. I sing along to the muzak. I say things I wouldn't normally say. I clapped my hands when a song with clapping in it played on my mp3 player. Fatigue will make you become a slightly different person. Up all night, sleep all day.

I opened up Facebook today and saw death. A dear friend of ours from one of our churches where we served passed away on Monday. His funeral was today. There was a lot of discussion about that, of course. Two other friends mentioned the passing of their fathers: one three years ago, one sixteen years ago. Dr. Jack Kevorkian also died today, apparently. I then found a link from the AV Club with a picture of the tombstone of Leslie Nielsen. O, death. Won't you spare me over to another year.

There is also a lot of rebirth in the air, I suppose. I've been interviewing with churches, and making trips to visit them. I've got a couple of friends who are doing the same. I know some people who are moving, making life changes. We had some unpleasant, private news on the same day we had some great news. Heck, it's the end of spring, after all. It is the season for that sort of thing. Get up, get out, spring is everywhere.

My wife said something I thought was profound, and I immediately agreed. She felt like our break from church ministry has been a vacation from our life. I feel the same way. You know those vacations when you go visit family because you haven't seen them in a while, and you basically just stay around their house for a week because you don't have any money to do anything else? Yeah...it feels exactly like that. A year of that. While working a job. Vacation, gotta get away.

Remember the fatigue I mentioned earlier? And the death? And the change? It's all happening at the same time. In real time, even for us personally. We're hoping to go on to a next chapter in life. It looks a lot like an earlier chapter, except that we are very different people: more confident, less worried, more appreciative, less upset, more at peace. We know, from our earlier discussion on death, that a next chapter is not promised, not guaranteed. But, we also know that change is a constant, if indeed another chapter is given. Change is hard.

At the same time, we question more. We speak out more. We know what we want. We also know what we can't have. That's part of being a grown up, you know. Not as many Twix bars, a few more carrot sticks. Easy on the impulse buying, and slowly building up the savings. You have to think more when you get older. You can't rely on youth and time to carry you through. You have to plan, prepare and discuss. Get me ready for it.

"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." (Proverbs 16:9) We often take comfort in the idea that someone else is in control. But it can be frustrating, too. The concept of the "unknown" has kept humans writing books and songs, making outrageous claims and generally running scared for as long as there has been people. Paul tells us this: "The Lord is near. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:5a-7) He never says that god will grant those prayers and petitions. He never promises that He will tell us what we want to know. He says God will guard your hears and minds with His peace. That's God's reaction to our asking: not giving us what we wanted, but giving us what we needed: peace of mind.

I'm not going to pretend like I'm totally happy with that all the time. I get it, though. It is very much like eating carrots instead of Twix, or dropping a hundred bucks in a savings account instead of on a new record player (yes, that's right, a RECORD PLAYER!). It's grownup time in the Kingdom. When I have to eat my vegetables, when I have to work the overnight shift, when I have to go through the death of people I love, I don't need more stuff, or a better situation or money: I need peace. The peace that surpasses all understanding. I need it all to be okay in me. Give me love, give me...peace.

He's Alright, But He's No David...or Goliath

2011-04-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

As a former (and maybe eventually again) minister, I have taught a ton of lessons: Sunday school, home groups, sermons, etc. A liberal estimate might be 1,000. I've taught on Romans, the history of the Church, how the Bible came to be in its current state, "The Gospel According to the Simpsons", and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. One thing in particular that people who teach the Bible like to do is use "heroes of faith" as object lessons. We love to apply these heroes to our situations. For example, David killed a giant with a slingshot, so you can beat the football team. Or...something like that.

We use Scripture like this all the time. For example, God tells Jeremiah that he has plans for him; plans for good-you know the verse (Jeremiah 29:11). People quote it when things are good, when things are bad, in their sleep, and possibly before eating a Big Mac. Christians love, love, love this verse. And, while it's a perfectly cromulent verse, none of us Jesus lovers ever notice that it's...wait for it...NOT ABOUT US!!! For realz, kidz. Not about us. In context, God is speaking to Jeremiah, specifically about Jeremiah's current situation, and really specifically about something that's going to happen in the future, and really, really specifically about Israel ending their captivity. He's not talking about us. Not even a little.

Oh sure, there's some great encouragement in this passage. In verse 13, there is something that's totally applicable to everyone, ever: that we will find God when we seek Him with all of our heart. And, sure, He may have some great blessings for us. But He may also take them away (Job), tell you to do something you absolutely don't want to do (Jonah) or allow you to die for Him (Jesus, for starters). So, while God may be wanting to "prosper" you in some way, He also may not. And you need to be alright with that.

It's good for us to know that we are not Jeremiah. We're also not Joseph, David, Jacob, John (or John the Baptist, thank goodness!). We like to use Bible stories as life application, and insert ourselves into the situations of those great followers of the God of Israel. And while we can, in a general way, be encouraged by how God was faithful, and take comfort in that faithfulness, we must understand who we really are. And who we really are, are the multitudes.

Let me start by saying you may not be a card-carrying member of "the multitudes". You might be a big deal: you might be a dream interpreter, or a king of some ilk. You could be a guy sent to kill a king (especially a fat one), or blow some killer horn while an army falls. You may end up being "a great nation", through whom all of God's people emanate. But, you're probably not. And, chances are, if you're reading my blog, you really aren't.

God may have some big thing for you to do, but remember this: we read (and subsequently talk about) all the big wigs of Scripture. We rarely hear about, and even more rarely talk about, "the multitudes", the people on the sidelines who believed in God, lived Godly lives, but never lived out any headlines that made the Israel Evening Gazette, otherwise known as the Old Testament. You are probably not a prophet; you are probably one of the unmentioned people who gave the prophet water when he was thirsty and disheveled. You are probably not an apostle, but, if you're lucky, you might be a Joseph of Arimathea. And you need to be okay with that.

There's a scene in "A Christmas Story" where Ralphie, the main character, narrates the pecking order in grade school: you're either a bully, a "toady" or one of the nameless rabble. And that is my point: not everyone can be Jeremiah or Joseph. In fact, most people, considering the odds alone, simply can't. Consider for a moment that you might be one of the nameless rabble, a member of the multitude, and let that sink in. And then understand that even though you most likely are one, that God will still do something with you. But it probably won't end up in the Bible.

Rejected

2011-04-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

You can't help but feel a little rejected...

Applying for nearly 100 churches, and getting a rejection from 99 of them. It sounds like a parable:
"And it will be like that in the last days: there was a man who applied for one hundred jobs, and was not rejected by only one. Will he not take the one, and forget about the others?"

Church is a funny thing. And I don't mean it like Chonda Pierce or Father Ted mean it. I mean "funny" as in "strange" or "confusing". It's "funny" to me because, even though I have more experience than I've ever had for any job, and more qualifications than I've ever had, I'm apparently virtually unemployable. I recounted my experience of being rejected for a part-time prayer counselor for CBN in an earlier post, and to sit along side that experience on my mantle filled with badges of indistinction are the following:

1. I've been making a point to sometimes ask why a church takes me out of the running for a position. One such correspondence was two sentences: "We have a highly developed program. From your (video) clips I didn't feel like your guitar playing or singing are sufficient for you to come in and lead our program." I suppose you could say a lot of negative things about me, but this? Dude. I mean...DUDE! I respectfully disagree, sir.

2. A month after receiving a rejection e-mail from a church, I received another correspondence: news of who they did hire! So, after being told I wasn't good enough, I got to see who was. I don't think I've ever had any job I've applied for tell me who they hired, unless it was me. They always tell you if it's you, at least in my experience. :)

3. The litany of phrases that all say the same thing: you are not good enough for us, like the following:

"We are in the final stages of conversation with our top candidate."
And yet, through the miracle of the interwebs, your ad is still posted EVERYWHERE!

"Our needs are different from your gifts and abilities — and this is much more a statement about us than about you."
Yes, but what is that statement?

"We will no longer be considering you for this position."
But you were for a while, right? So that means I'm not a total loser. Right? RIGHT?

"The Lord is not leading us to consider you for the position that we are trying to fill."
Fair enough. Can't argue with God, I suppose.

So...yeah. Sometimes a guy needs to take a hint. I spent a lot of time in ministry being called "young", now I'm pretty sure I'm too old, at least for worship ministry. If I had just applied during that six week window when I was neither, I'd have the job of my dreams right now. That being, of course, fry cook...on the moon.

Working the Dream, Deferred

2011-01-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

"And the doubts crept in, as they do at night, mostly. When life is still, and there is nothing to drown them out. You hear them. And you embrace them as you would any reality."

I've wrestled with this whole music thing a long time. And my wrestling for the last decade or so has been over the will of God in my life. Sure, that's a whole contrived concept. For the atheist and humanist, it's naive. For the casual observer of faith, it's a wash. For the Christian, it could mean any variety of things.

Ministry has placed me many times having a conversation with someone about how they might discern what they should do with their life. You know, the classic career/passion/giftedness discussion that most people have with God, themselves, their families and close friends. Me, I've never totally settled that.

Ministry should have settled it. I love to speak, teach, lead worship, and organize ministries. I felt "called" into ministry, as much as a skeptical person like me can be said to be "called". I like to help people figure out little pieces of God, even as they help me. The problem is that writing and playing music is like a fire I can't put out. But I've never gotten any traction with it, at least not on my terms. Bands I was in split up; songs I recorded never got any traction at labels; connections never materialized. Even in Nashville, that stuff just isn't happening for me. Meanwhile, I've had three worship ministries, where I get to play music. For a living. And get paid. Shouldn't that have been enough?

Do you have something like that? Do you have a gift coupled with a dream that has been deferred?

Many people have something they'd like to do, but aren't good at, haven't worked at, etc. But do you have a talent that you'd like to use, but have been prevented from doing so? Do you have a passion backed up with a skill that has never been utilized? If so, how have you handled it? Our move to Nashville was me trying to "undefer" it, trying to make it happen. I'm not so sure that it's going to work out.

I'm a fan of music, but I'm also a fan of the history of music, the narrative. So, I like to hear stories about how people got into making music. Last year, I went to a songwriting conference where one of the speakers shared that he "just fell into" the music business. His band was decent, and had played some shows when they were approached by an A&R person to sign a contract. This eventually led him to being a producer and owning a studio. I'll be honest: it's hard to hear these stories for me. This person was a Christian, and as he's telling this story, I'm thinking two things: that God moved him where he wanted him, and that God has chosen not to move me into something I'd love.

Don't misunderstand: ministry has been good to our family. And I love it. I really do. So much so that I'm going to do it again, probably soon. So, if there's a prospective church that is reading this blog, understand that I would love to work at your church :)

But, I've met some people who have dreams and talents that have been deferred, and it was probably because God deferred them. So, here's my struggle: why does God give dreams and talents only to have people not use them, or use them in different ways than we desire? A friend of mine, a tremendous musician, preached for quite a while at a non-instrumental church. I couldn't quite understand that. I guess I still don't. How could something that is so important to you never be realized, never even be utilized?

I'm thinking that the deferred dream has actually been good for the work I've done in ministry, that what I learned in writing and recording songs has aided me in training up and leading musicians and singers in the church. Even the move to pursue it has made me appreciate the church work I've done a little more. After all, almost anybody can write a song, I suppose. But helping people in their walk with God, well...that's probably more important.

Dreaming the Work

2010-11-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

What did Debbie Allen say at the beginning of "Fame"? Oh yeah...

"Right here is where you start payin'..." and so forth. Good for her.

Has there ever been anything in your life that was exactly the way you thought it was before you experienced it? Was high school or college or a job or a marriage precisely what you had dreamed it would be?

"Of course not" you say. "Stop asking stupid questions" you say. "I could really go for some chips and salsa instead of reading this blog" you think.

But stick with me, here, and put your cravings on hold. I just wanted to tell you all that I've dreamed, daydreamed, fantasized and pondered (ad nauseum) about being a working musician forever. Ever since I was five. It's a little different now than it was then (I don't sing all Elvis songs; the cats aren't my backup band, etc.,) but the gist of the hallucination is the same: I'm spending time playing songs I love.

I already had one dream realized last year, when Mike Roe asked me to play a few shows with him. I doubt he knows how big of a deal this was to me. For the thirteen years previous when I would see him (or his amazing band) in concert, it crossed my mind that it would be so cool if Mike would ask me to play a few songs with him. It turned out that the last time I played with Mike, I played his entire set with him, including this song.

Other dreams have included being the bass player in Wilco (although John Stirrait does a great job), keyboard player for Bob Dylan (he plays his own keys, thank you very much) and opening for The Lost Dogs (I also did that!). Still, it's never quite what you think it's going to be. They say you should never meet your idols or heroes. If you do, you'll soon learn that they are human. It's true, but who's to say that you may not like them more because they are human? Personally, I don't think I'd ever want to meet someone who wouldn't be real, even if it means that they are flawed.

In reality, it's not about doing something cool (refer to previously listed fantasies) but doing something you love. What do I love to do? What do you love to do? If I played with Bob Dylan, would I really love it? It would be cool, and it would be a dream realized, but would I be satisfied?

We pursue education, employment and relationships to fulfill a need to accomplish something for ourselves. It's rarely about other people, to be honest. We might say we want to go into a profession to help people do this or that, but it really is for us to feel something that we wouldn't have felt otherwise. I think a lot of ministers are ministers because they like to feel special, they like the attention and they like the feeling that they get when they help people get closer to God (Trent Reznor not withstanding). Like Phoebe Buffet said, "There is no unselfish deed." I agree.

Still, I do want my music to do what the music I love does for me. I don't really know if it does. I don't think artists really ever get why their music clicks with people. Elvis Presley wondered throughout his life why he was "picked" to be Elvis. Why him? Why George Washington as the first president, why anyone doing something amazing at any particular time? You can't answer that question. Another question you can't answer is "why not me?", and that's a question that I need to give up asking. "Why not me?" to do some of the things I've dreamed of doing? I have no idea.

I'll bet you don't know, either. Why did Van Gogh only sell one painting during his lifetime? Why did Mississippi John Hurt languish in obscurity until he was in his 60's? I'm not comparing myself to these people as great artists, but I'm offering you all some company, just a little, for your misery. Maybe not misery, but your disappointment. The disappointment that the promise you had for yourself (and/or that others had in you) you've never realized. As the bartender says in "Piano Man", "I'm sure I could be a movie star, if I could get out of this place." Watching the video, you see the folly in his dream: he's older, overweight and bald. He could play a bartender (in fact, he could be the guy in the video playing him!), but that's about it. That song is about unrealized and unrequited dreaming and dreamers.

What's great about that song, though, is that the piano man (the singer, the song, the melody, the memories of music) is the balm for the dreamer. People say regarding those who have been ill and have passed away that heaven is the ultimate healing. It's also the ultimate healing for the dreamer, because it's going to be beyond our wildest dreams. Even better than playing in Wilco.

So, it's alright if you never achieve what you thought you would. Age teaches you that. But us dreamers never really give up, even though we should (or should we?). As for us personally, I'm glad we moved, even though it's tough. To me, it's the dreaming that I've always done, the predisposition to do so, that has made me a follower of Jesus, that faith which is what we hope for, that hope for that which is unseen. And whether or not my career in music will be seen (because this remains to be seen), my residence in heaven will be seen because I believe. As a dreamer, as one who hopes, I'm in good company: the group of all of us who have yearned for something more, even if it's not tangible at this moment.

Now it's time for chips and salsa.

Working the Dream, part 3

2010-11-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

Another chapter with musings regarding uprooting my life, my family and my career, and moving to pursue music. You are, no doubt, on the edge of your seat, with baited breath, etc., waiting for this next installment.

Cue anti-climax now.

Sure there's been some soul searching. Here's what I've got so far:

1) I don't regret it; I didn't think I would
2) It's a hard adjustment to make (lifestyle, money, etc. have all been significantly impacted)
3) Making connections and networking over a long period of time are how you accomplish things here. I'm not sure if I want to wait that long.

Understand that ministry, as a vocation, is far different from most. You're always "working", although it's really more about who you are than what you do. Your schedule is extremely flexible. I knew this would be drastically altered. I just wasn't sure how much I'd miss it. And, I do. I do miss it. So does my family.

I do not miss not knowing when the other shoe will drop: a criticism coming from seemingly nowhere, people angry at you and you have no idea why, tempest-in-a-teapot controversies that have nothing to do with God, Scripture or why the Church exists. I don't miss that. Neither does my family.

Does the familiarity and the comfort of something make it better for you just because you know it? Most people would say no, but I'm not so sure. Clinging to a spouse, a career or a habit for only the reason that it's the devil you know isn't healthy, but who is to say that being familiar, being comfortable can't be a part of why you stay instead of go.

It can also be a reason why you go. I've heard ministers say they left ministries because they are comfortable, and they feel as though they'll become stagnant if they stay. James tells us, basically, that when God tells us to go, we go. When he says stay, we stay. Our decision making should be wrapped up in His leading, it should emanate from it. My last sermon at FCC was exactly this idea: you move when God moves you.

Here's the thing: our move was easy. Our stay so far has been hard. I believe circumstance can reveal to you what God has in mind, so what would something like this tell you? Does it say that the change was good or bad? When Paul was prevented from going to Rome to visit the church there, he wrote Romans. What does that say to us about God's prevention in our life?

I've never subscribed to extra-Biblical, trite sayings. One that you'll hear about this kind of situation is that when God closes a door, he opens a window. Let me ask you a question: have you ever crawled through a window? As a person well-skilled in locking himself out of the various homes he's lived, and being on the, ahem, larger side of humanity, I will testify that it is not as easy as simply walking through the door. It's hard, uncomfortable, awkward, and probably looks really funny from a distance. In short, if God is giving you a window, it follows that it's not going to be as easy as turning a knob.

So, I think we're crawling through a window. We're getting somewhere, but we're feeling our way. "Through the glass darkly" and all of that. The journey through the open pane is the important part, anyway: It's the part that teaches you not to lock your keys in the house.

Drinking From a Firehose

2010-10-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

No, not Mike Watt's force of musical nature. That would mean that I used "fIREHOSE" as a noun, which I did not. The title describes music on the internet, and music in Nashville.

I knew there would be a ton of musicians here. In fact, I'm surprised when I meet people who have moved here who are not musicians. That's one of the reasons why I moved. Where I've lived (small towns in the mid-west, mid-south and northeast-ish), there were always a few players. But I rarely met someone who was passionate about playing. Here, I see people reading books about writing better songs where I work (America's Largest Organic Retailer, or ALOR [I will not shame it by mentioning its actual name on my lowly blog]), see people carrying guitars on buses, hear all kinds of musicians at restaurants and even music playing outside. It's pretty much the first place I've lived that is my brand of normal.

Boy, is it intimidating.

Knowing that you're a drop in the firehose teaches you humility right away. Even though we've only been here two months, you already know whether you're going to stay or go, and if you can handle the staying or going. Because, staying means scraping together enough for rent, playing in front of small, apathetic audiences, working retail and cleaning toilets (at least for me it does). And going means you're giving up on your dream. And, as I've heard from many people who a few rungs ahead of me on the music-as-career ladder, the wheat separates from the chaff fast, usually in a few months. We've got two under our belts.

If you're not here for music, the pressure is off. And while we did come here for family, and the convenience and pace of a city, we're really here because we think we can compete: compete with the likes of Over the Rhine or The Avett Brothers. Apparently, we believe we are good enough. (This is where you sit back in your chair, stroke your beard and whisper, "pathetic fools"!)

Here's the thing: "good" will always have a voice. "Good" will always get heard, in some way. My favorite bands aren't household names (but you have heard of the Beatles, right?), but they have a following. I think we are good enough to have a following, and we also think we have something to add to the discourse that is recorded music. Bono, after making and touring the "Pop" record, said that U2 was reapplying for the best band in the world. We're applying for best duo that 1,000 people love. Here's my drug test and work history. (BTW, Wilco and Radiohead are the best bands in the world, Mr. Hewson)

Mike Watt, from the Minutemen and the aforementioned fiREHOSE (not the hairpop monstrosity Firehouse), is one of those guys, and is one of my favorite bass players: I love his style of post-punk playing, his work ethic, and what I assume is a strict no-BS policy. He still drives an Econoline van for tours, just like Neil Young name dropped in "Tonight's the Night". Those vans are so rock and roll that they need to be in the RRHOF, not Madonna. He "jams econo", and rightfully so: just plug in and play, and if you can't do that and kick some butt, why are you wasting my time? I'm egotistical enough to think I can do just that. After all, the world needs more bald, fat, approaching-middle age rock starts.

Working the Dream, part 2

2010-10-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing: if you don't ever try, you'll never know.

That's the thinking that has moved us to Nashville. And it's true. It's bugged me for 20 years, even longer if you count: starting to write songs when I was five, pretending I was a singer at seven, recording on my crappy tape recorder when I was 10, learning guitar at 12, etc. I've really wanted to do music all my life.

We've had a pretty craptastic couple of weeks, hounded with cars breaking down, minor annoyances and money concerns. It makes you doubt. No surprise there. But there was something that gave me hope: my first writer's night in Nashville.

If you don't know, writer's nights are pretty self-explanatory. A bunch of songwriters get to play two of their original songs at a bar. There were at least 30 there the night we went, and so there were 60 songs. I heard at least 5 John Mayers, 10 Brad Paisleys, 3 Miranda Lamberts and what had to be an undercover nun. Seriously. And although I was surprised at the ability of those who played (decent players and singers), I was also surprised in a different way: the songs weren't very good.

I decided to listen not in comparison to my songs, but good songs I've heard in the last year. So, I'm not saying I was better or worse. I am saying that the songs were neither good nor bad. They just seemed to exist. Nothing stood out, nothing had a great hook (although I'd heard one great title), and nothing stuck with me. As a music fan (not a musician or writer) I finally gained some empathy for all those A&R guys who listen to song after song. It's no wonder some of the music people I've met here don't take CD's. Any CD's.

When you do things like this, you wonder, "is this me?" "Am I not critiquing myself the way I'm critiquing them?". And I really have no idea. I have no idea, objectively, whether or not I should have moved to take a chance on carving out some niche in the music industry. I do know, however, that if I find out that I'm just not good enough, at least I found that out. Because the not knowing over the next 20-30 years of my life would have been rough. I've waited a long time to find out.

That, and I do think my songs are good enough, or else I wouldn't be here in the first place.

We've had some crazy coincidences this week, too. Nothing I care to detail, but head scratching kind of stuff, which makes me wonder what God thinks of what His people do: is His concern for their passions and gifts secondary to simply loving Him and others? Yeah, I'd say so. But even if it's secondary, is it worthwhile figuring it out anyway? Or are you just wasting Kingdom time? How does your happiness or contentment factor into your serving Him? I've answered those questions in different ways over my years in ministry when other people asked them.

Well, I'm still giving it a shot. Not throwing in the proverbial towel yet. But how long do I give it? How long before I give up on what I think I was made to do? Stay tuned...

Working the Dream, part 1

2010-09-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

So...it's Monday at 11:05 am, and I'm at home watching T.V. and writing this post. I'm definitely living the dream.

Most of you know my wife and I moved to Nashville, TN to pursue career interests: I came to pursue making a living at playing music, she came to start a gluten-free baking company/store. I left the ministry to do this, and also because I wanted a break from it. We were going to blog about this big life change, and call it "Living the Dream". I changed it to "Working the Dream", because that is exactly what we're doing; we're working hard at putting food on the table AND doing what we feel like we were made to do.

Let me say this: no one, family or friends or colleagues, has called us crazy. Maybe they do it behind our backs! I admit, I had a pretty good job, ministry or otherwise. Being a worship minister is certainly not a bad gig in a lot of ways. Ministry in general, however, can be difficult in many ways, too. I'll cover some of these in later posts. We didn't just change our lives to do something, we changed them to do something different: to shake off complacency and ease. There's a lot about working at a church that is wonderful; there are some things that I'd had my fill of. I already miss the former; I'm elated that I'm not dealing with the latter.

So, we moved, got jobs, and I've lost almost 20 lbs. I'm an employee of a Large Organic Food Retailer, and I'm looking for any opportunity to play, write songs and listen to other artists. I'm also looking for ministry opportunities, but not the kind I can get paid for. I've always wanted to play music for a living, and I've been blessed to do that for almost 14 years. But I'm interested in doing that in a different way, in starting a new adventure.

So, when you see a post entitled, "Working the Dream", you'll know that it's an update on our pursuit of our passions. Many people say that the worst part of not taking a chance is never knowing what could have been. That sounds like an excerpt from a trite couplet, at best. I suppose it's also true.

More to Come

2010-07-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a chaotic few months since I last posted. I've not forgotten this blog, but I have neglected it. Soon, there will be a flurry of activity here. Some house cleaning, hopefully a link to my wife's new blog, and the creation of some real conversation. I promise it won't take forever.

You might remember on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson that when commercial breaks were taken, they would display a graphic with the words "More to Come". That was good to know especially if you had to go to bed when the show was over. That graphic meant you were going to stave off bed time just a little longer, even if it meant just that Johnny's "goodnight" and the Tonight Show credits were all you had left. Well, there is more to come, and it's not just a "goodnight" and credits.

My mind has been working and churning. I've been formulating blog posts, but haven't had the time to write them out. There is much to talk about, advice to be given and received, prayers to be prayed and change to endure and celebrate at the same time. Remember, above all, that God is still good and people are still sinners. See you soon.

You Can't Do That (Or Can You?)

2010-02-17T08:41:00.000-08:00

Yep. You've heard it. Probably, more likely, you've thought it: "You can't do THAT". And "that" could be any number of things:

1) Quit your 20 year, high-paying office job to become a barista (or doing something like that).
2) Say what you really think about your wife's outfit.
3) Train for and then run a marathon at a starting weight of 330 lbs.
4) Buy 25 bottles of Ny-Quil.
5) Slime people when they say "I don't know". (This applies specifically to things that you can't do on television).

You name it. There are always people trying to tell you that you can't do stuff. Either because of unwritten societal rules or inability and lack of training or knowledge, there are many well meaning folk who would appreciate it if you would stop trying to do things that they don't think you should do. Things that they think you shouldn't be allowed to do. Because it's weird. Or not fair to them. Or confusing. Or uncomfortable.

I've had some naysayers in my life. And I've estimated that anywhere from one-third to one-half of unsolicited advice regarding what I should do or want was wrong. And, it was different kinds of wrong. Wrong philosophically, wrong Biblically, wrong for me personally. And maybe, there have been some well-meaning people who have given you a list of all kinds of things that you can't do, too.

Don't get me wrong. This is NOT a "follow your dreams" post. I think there are times when people really can't do something. Wise counsel will let you know this. My real concern is why we seems to be so concerned with keeping everything safe. When life, indeed God, is anything but. God is the ultimate cheese mover.

I was teaching out of the book "Your God is Too Safe" and after a lesson, someone took great issue with the concept of the title. "God is safe eternally", I said. There's no more of a sure bet than Him, in my mind. "But in this life, He will prompt us to do things that are not comfortable. He talks about laying down our lives, in fact. That's not too safe-sounding." This person was adamant. "I like the idea of Jesus watching over us. My family, my children. I feel that God is safety."

This was yet another well-intentioned person telling me "you can't do that." You can't tell me what you're telling me.

I offered Bible stories of Abraham almost sacrificing his son, Stephen's stoning and Abel being killed by his brother after offering an appropriate sacrifice to God. God is not in the safety business, at least in this world. He is indifferent to the Safety Dance (although, from what I understand, you can dance if you want to). However, it didn't matter what I said or how many 1980's songs I quoted. Nothing was going to change this person's mind.

Much of the time, "you can't do that" really means "you can't change how I see things" or "you can't confront me with ideology that I don't want to think about" or "don't make me uncomfortable." Let me ask you a question: when issues like this come up with people you care about, what if you erred on the side of freedom? What would that be like? Would you be like Jim Carrey in "Yes Man"? If so, you'd need to choose better roles.

What would the world, or the kingdom of God, be like if we gave and even encouraged more freedom, instead of trying to stifle it? Would everything collapse? Would it simply develop a different set of rules designed to quell creativity in a new way? If it was for freedom that Christ set us free, then what does that freedom look like, and why are we not more free with it?

What do you think?

The Long, Dark Winter (Break)

2010-01-27T07:05:00.000-08:00

It's been a long winter break from blogging. Like someone in the Polar Bear club, I'll be jumping right back into the icy waters of the interwebs. Here's a post tossed to the winds of the new year:

There is definitely more perspective as you age, but it depends what you do with that perspective. I've meet older folks (retirement age and up) who either derive happiness or bitterness from that introspection. My Christmas times for the last decade have been great times to delve into that perspective. Since we leave where we live, and visit family in the places we grew up, we get to be in that world, but not of it. And, it allows us to learn.

Don't get me wrong. We miss our family. When we're down, feeling alone, or longing for some commonality, it would be nice to have some family close by. Ministry can cause all of those feelings and yearnings. It can be insular, and it can be hard for people in your congregation to understand, specifically those who have family close by. But it also removes you in a good way. It allows you to be emotionally attached to your home town, the churches you've served, and the one you're currently at. It almost lets you see several different worlds at the same time, especially if you maintain contact with people from all of those places you've been.

I'd almost call it a fringe benefit.

Because, when I get wrapped up in my little corner of the world, I can experience other little corners and gain perspective on what's important where I am now.

Rick Wright, keyboardist for Pink Floyd, died last year from cancer. Rick was a quiet, unassuming presence, singing harmony and the occasional lead vocal from behind a wall of equipment when Floyd played live. The last time they did that was a few years ago at Live 8, playing a four song set. Before that, it was the 1994 Division Bell tour. I saw that tour in Detroit.

The other two main members of Floyd at the time, David Gilmour and Nick Mason had specific stage presence. Gilmour, the cool elder statesman/fluid guitar player, and Mason, the concentrated backbone/solid drummer. I noticed Rick didn't have any kind of rock and roll personna that you could derive or easily label. He just played. That could be because all the ego was stuffed out of him.

Imagine being in a band for fifteen years, spending a ton of time with three other guys. The leader, at least in your mind, becomes increasingly oppressive and controlling. At the end of the fifteen years, you make a record with your band, only you're not really in the band any more. You played on the record, but on the subsequent tour, you're side man, a session player, removed from the creative and business aspects of this entity that you have spent your adult life serving. Your erratic behavior, and a lack of grace for that behavior, has caused the chasm.

Although, being removed had it privledges: Rick was the only band member to profit from that tour, the 1980-1981 tour for "The Wall". Since he was in the partnership of Pink Floyd, he was a paid player, and didn't have to bear the brunt of debt that was created by the massive tour. But, I digress...

If you have never been in a band, you might miss the tragedy here. It's like someone taking away your rightful place, your artistic voice, and your claim to letting it speak. From what I've read about Pink Floyd, it was part of what had crushed Rick's spirit, along with the usual rock star drugs and lifestyle.

And then the band reforms without the leader, without the guy who had really pushed you out. According to Gilmour, it took a while for Rick to regain confidence when they reformed. But he did. And, in the wake of it all, seemed to gain a perspective that allowed him the confidence to continue.

I think people in bands do side projects because they get perspective. They see what it's like to inhibit someone else's world, and then take what they've learned back to their world. I wonder how our lives would be different if we all could take the side project route, instead of the Rick Wright route (which is a hard to say five times fast!). If we could inhabit a different space, where the expectations are different, where the rules aren't so familiar, I think we might be spared from going through problems. If we made a point to get out of our own head space from time to time, maybe conflict would be reduced. Maybe our empathy would increase. Maybe all that stuff that seems like a big deal would be defanged. That would be nice, wouldn't it?

So, yeah, perspective. Gotta get me some that!

Church is Where the Wild Things Are

2009-11-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

I just got back from seeing "Where the Wild Things Are". I'm not usually this reactionary (in blog posts anyway), but I've just got to say this: all church people should see this movie. Here's why:

The church is supposed to be tight. Not tight in the hip hop kind of way (i.e., "cool"). Not tight in the literal sense (i.e., "in very close proximity"). Tight in the sense of emotional closeness. The trendy phrase for this right now in church growth circles is "living in community". I guess that's not too bad a description. It'll do for now.

In the film, a boy visits a far off land with monsters. Really, they're just people with different personalities who look like monsters. They make him king. They have different dispositions and opinions. They wound each other (one rips the arm off of another in anger). They sleep in a pile. They build things together, and have fights about what should or should not be built. They leave. They come back. Some are not accepting of new monsters (owls, actually). So, they're pretty much like every church I've ever experienced.

One complains all the time. One is quiet. One is accommodating. They live in community, but it's rough. Toward the end of the film, one of the monsters says, "being a family is hard". They put up with each other's flaws. They are stuck in behavior patterns that they seemingly are doomed to repeat over and over again.

The ripping off of an arm was what really struck me as something common in church behavior. Not literally, of course. But, the kind of senseless hurting that sometimes happens when people live in community hit me hard. My wife and I have heard back biting comments about us from church people all too often. I've got to tell you that I don't think that we're that bad. We're certainly not as bad or inept as some church people have made us out to be. And yet, we still live in community with those people. Well, some of them. Some of them were at other churches we've worked at.

The movie ends with reconciliation of a kind. The king (the boy) leaves to go back to his human family. The aggressor of the film groans, as does the boy, both bemoaning their actions, the situation, and, in a way, the human condition. The aggressor, the monster, it is inferred, feels bad. Maybe he even learns something, like not to rip the arms off of others, like controlling his anger is a good thing.

Being a family, being a church family, is hard. I guess I can deal with the disagreements and fighting and event the snide comments if, when the dust settles, something is learned, something is resolved. What I've seen more of, unfortunately, is people being polarized, and nothing coming to resolution. Maybe if we could see ourselves in these monsters, maybe it would.

We're Getting the Band Back Together

2009-10-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

I found two bands this year that I absolutely love: Superdrag and Wilco. I'll sidestep the latter in this post: you've heard enough from me regarding them. I'll only say about Superdrag that they should be as well known as Foo Fighters, and that John Davis' second solo (and straight up Jesus) record is the among the best (read: THEE best) records ever put out by someone who loves Jesus. For real, dude. John's not always been in the faith, but a lot of the pre-Jesus Superdrag records reflect that struggle.

Superdrag had one big hit in the mid 90's, the post-grunge anti industry slice of pop called "Sucked Out". I dismissed them, and that album, Regretfully Yours, as some hipster/Beatles wanna be. After that, I didn't have to worry about it. I didn't really hear from them again. Flash forward to 2007, when some of my internet friends (also big music fans and Christians) are raving about John's solo record. I heard it and I was hooked.

During their decline, they had line-up changes, and then they were put on hiatus, which is what bands say when they're breaking up, but don't want to say it. The original line-up then regrouped in 2008. John had said what the Blues Brothers said many years ago: "we're getting the band back together".

I'm thinking that this phrase is kind of like saying "I'm having a mid-life crisis" or "I'm out of royalty money" or some other idea that is spurring you on to revisit something that was successful. Of course, the only correct reason to get the band back together is to create more good art.

Oh man, are Christians really bad about getting the band back together.

Not that they are assembling actual bands and going on reunion tours, but they are really bad (meaning they do it a lot) about dwelling on past glories and behaviors. Being a music guy, I've heard it all: "We used to do _________. Why don't we do ________ any more?" Or: "Back in '52 we did _________, and it was really successful. We should do it again in the exact same way."

But, when the goal is to replicate something that happened before, you've missed the point. With the Gospel, as well as music, your goal is to communicate. And, to do that, you have to communicate what you want to say in a relevant way, which will mean that you'll have to explain the Gospel in a fresh way. You'll have to write new songs, not just put out another greatest hits package and go on tour (I'm looking at you, Styx and Poison). In the words of Jesus, you'll have to reclaim your first love.

Music geeks love Bob Dylan, but regular folk can't figure out why he's still recording and touring. Well, it's because he's the opposite of those artists just cashing in, the opposite of those church people who are living in the past. Of course, he never had to get the band back together. He's been on the never ending tour since the 80's.

I have a personal interest in the idea of "getting the band back together": I want to do it. I still write songs all the time, and I want to play them in a band. I'm a little too old to want to do that, I suppose, but it's not about being young, but having something to express. I also want that for churches, including the church I'm at now, and the churches I've worked at in the past. I want them to regroup (if they need to), and do what bands who reunite should do, which is to get back to why you exist in the first place, and let what you do emanate from that raison d'etre. Jesus addresses this with the church at Ephesus:

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Revelation 2:4-5)

I don't have a problem with reunion tours, as long as the artists have something new to say. Then again, I'm the guy that wants the band to play songs off of its new record.

Well Known Pastors and The Stuff They Say and Do

2009-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Being either an early or late adapter (never adapting when most people do it), I'm either usually really early or late to trends and pop culture, and even popular church culture. For example, I was early on Rob Bell (thanks to my wife finding "Velvet Elvis" in a Barnes & Noble), and late to Shane Claiborne. So late on Shane, in fact, that I'm just now reading "The Irresistible Revolution". I didn't even buy the book. I found it laying around the church.

A couple of blog posts are of interest, including this one at Church Marketing Sucks. It's all about North Point Community Church building a $5 million bridge for improved parking and traffic flow at their facility that holds thousands of folks every Sunday. For me, being smack in the middle of Shane's book, but always having a nagging feeling about how churches spend their money, I've got to ask: Really? You're really going to do that?

Sarah Silverman (comedian) has proposed that the Vatican do what Jesus told us to do and feed the poor. How? Sell the Vatican. It's a silly three minute clip that I won't link here because of language content, but it's very tongue in cheek, and parts of it are funny. And, in its weird little way, it begs the question: why do churches have (or are asking for) all kinds of money while people are starving? Claiborne's book echoes that sentiment.

I think I could argue the other side, too: people need to know Jesus. Unchurched people have all kinds of reasons why they don't go to church, and, in the case of North Point, one reason could be that it's a pain to drive in and out of their parking lot. I get it. But contrast this with Jesus telling people that if we are to follow Him, we must take up our cross and deny ourselves. It begs the question, what are we "churching" people into? Jesus was up front about the cost of following Him, and the expecations therein. Spending millions of dollars so that people won't be inconveinenced seems to send the wrong message to the unchurched. That message seems to be that we want to serve you, so when you decide to keep attending, you can expect being served again and again. Contrast that with people leaving Jesus because His teaching hard to understand or hard to live out, and you'll see the problem.

For those of you who are saying, "Yeah, sure, but YOU take a full-time church salary, and YOU work at a church with a nice facility." Yep, I sure do. But, in the words of Darius Rucker, don't think I don't think about it. I wonder how far is too far.

Rob Bell has been talking about things that churches don't like to talk about. His talking about those things is talked about here. What's interesting are the comments, which misconstrue what the article is saying so that an attack on Bell can be made. I won't explain it, but if you read it, you'll see it, and mourn another nail in the coffin of reasonable discourse.

So, that's the well known pastor round-up. Fascinating, huh?

And now, for no reason, here's a video of Bob Dylan playing "Saved":

Wilco (the blog post)

2009-10-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

So, like I said in the last post, I saw Wilco. First time for me. It was one of the best shows I've seen. Liam Finn, a multi-instrumentalist, chronic looper and rock and roll progency, opened the show. Very cool. Wilco's got a new record out, called "Wilco (the album)", which has a song called "Wilco (the song)" (more about that in a minute). My wife bought a tote bag at the show, which has on it silk screened "Wilco (the tote)".

I've only recently really been into Wilco. They've been on my radar for a while, ever since their first record, "A.M.". But, they never really clicked for me until the last year or so. Now, much like Superdrag for me, I'm trying to get ahold of everything on vinyl by them that I can. I know, though, that, initially, I wasn't interested. Let me take you back to 1995.

In the early 90's, there was "alternative" music, and the teenagers saw that it was good. They bought copious amounts of it. Most of them didn't realize that, since they'd mainstreamed this "alternative" (read: Grunge), that it was no longer alternative. During that whole time when all these flannel wearers killed glam rock, there was a whole other undercurrent, which was the "No Depression" movement. Well, maybe not a movement. But, it was its own thing. It was called alt. country, Americana or who knows what else. It was rocked up country. Twangy punk. Whatever. And elitist music snobs like myself saw that IT was good, too. But, most others didn't notice.

Out of old country, rock and even punk influence came this Alternative Country stuff, and Uncle Tupelo was a part of it. The Jayhawks, too. And some other great bands as well. Uncle Tupelo played twangy country loudly. And there were two main guys in UC: Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy. In a few years, deals were signed, tours were booked, a major label record was recorded and released, and the fighting and pettyness that success can bring reared its pointed little head. Jay wouldn't sing back up on Jeff's songs when they toured, they got into physical altercations, and so forth. UC split. Jay formed Son Volt. Jeff formed Wilco.

I read about all this at the time, and here's what I thought. Aren't two gifted songwriters better than one? Why are they such big babies? They're living the dream as rock stars. They were living MY dream, and they were being whiny brats. They were what was wrong with music, where musicians did their own thing instead of collaboration, and music suffered. I still think that somewhat today. After all, why can't artists work together when their best work was made together? Why can't churches work together instead of splintering?

Early on in ministry, I once suggested at a meeting of ministers in my town that we just all form one church, just like the early church only had one church in each town. It was so absurd to them, that they didn't even acknowledge that I said it. So, instead of pooling resources, manpower and prayers, small towns all across this country have 10-20 churches, most of them dying. Yeah, that's much better than my idea. Anyway....

Jay and Jeff split, formed two bands, and it was kind of like a divorce for music fans. I picked Jay's Son Volt, at least initially. He had his album out first. The single was good, and Wilco's record, "A.M", didn't get the airplay that Jay's record did. (This was pre-internet-as-music-conduit, kiddies). I stayed up with Son Volt for a while, bought CD's by both artists, but didn't spin 'em as much as other records. I thought I was vindicated in my indictment of both guys: their selfishness had allowed art to suffer.

Then I hear "Wide Swing Tremelo", Son Volt's best record. Then I hear "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", Wilco's best. Then, I stand corrected. These guys are doing way better following their vision than compromising it for each other.

As always, there's Bible to back it up.

³⁶Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." ³⁷Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, ³⁸but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. ³⁹They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41)

Long story short, the Gospel is preached to more places because of the parting of the ways here. Some separation and subsequent segmentation can be good. Uncle Tupelo begat two great bands. I've read a few ministers and Christian authors lamenting the number of church plants that we have in U.S. They think that those church planters should use established churches, I guess. It sounds good, but those churches are so entrenched in their culture sometimes that they can't see any other way to reach out, if they reach out at all.

A friend of mine planted a church close to another church that I'd attended. He'd attended there as well, and had left the community for several years. He came back to plant this church, and, while in that process, talked to the leadership of the church we'd both attended (confused yet?) At the time, I thought, how could he do this? This is a church that has really cared for him. How could he plant another church (rival church, in my thinking) so close to ours? He knew something that I didn't, that our church, because of its traditions and conventions, just wasn't getting the job done, wasn't reaching out to the community and becoming a part of it. I didn't see it, because I didn't know that churches could do that. I'd never seen it work that way.

A lot of ministers I know don't like church plants. I have to say that there is a lot of people coming to Christ because of them, that may not have if there had not been a Christian presence where they were at. They don't have the baggage that some more established churches do. They don't have to appease any group of people in their church, because they don't have any groups in their church. They just have people.

I would also mention church splits in regard to this. Granted, church splits can be very bad, very hurtful, but I also believe that they can be a way to reach out, to give more variety to how we preach the Gospel, much like using different translations of the Bible to reach people where they are at. Church splits and church plants are not the same thing, but both can be used. Like Son Volt and Wilco, or like Barnabas and Paul, you may end up with something greater in the end.

Blogger Did a Bad, Bad Thing

2009-10-06T07:29:00.001-07:00

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I've neglected this blog for two months, after years of blogging consistently. Bad, bad blogger. Swat my nose with a rolled up newspaper. Rub my nose in the chasm that has been created by my lack of words.

I have a feeling you are doing fine without my wonderful posts.

But, it's time to get back on the horse, I suppose. So, here's some housekeeping:

1) I've been enjoying Tim's posts at Church Voices about being a bad consumer. Check 'em out:

Be a Bad Consumer
BABC # 2: When You Put it That Way
BABC #3: Credit
BABC #4: The Long Con
BABC #5: You Probably Don't Need Credit

Sit back, read, and enjoy the deconstruction and destruction of group think.

2) I've been involved a lot lately in my research of songwriting, publishing and the music business. I attended Back Third Audio's songwriting conference, have had several songs reviewed by the wonderful folks at NSAI, and have been reading posts on Songramp and Songwriter 101. I will have some posts regarding this soon.

3) Since I posted last, I've seen Phish, U2 and Wilco. Great shows, all. Bob Dylan comes up Chicago way in late October. I'll be there as well.

4) I've added a bunch of blogs to my bloglines reader. Comixed, Up Next in Sports and People of Walmart are the funny ones, and they're all different degrees of funny. People of Walmart is also disturbing, unfortunate or confusing at different times. Lefsetz Letter is a music industry blog. Free Range Kids and Phoenix Preacher are self explanatory. Not all posts on these blogs are "G" rated, and I don't endorse all of the content, so I don't want to see any nasty comments about these links. We're all grown-ups here, right?

5) Question: If you aren't downloading songs from Daytrotter's concert series, why not?

6) Chynna Phillips records a Christian album. See what happens when I'm not paying attention to my blog?

Next up: a post about Uncle Tupelo.

It's a Guitar Player Thing...

2009-08-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the film "Crazy", a biopic about Nashville session ace Hank Garland. Hank played on all kinds of records by Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline and a bunch of other late 1950's and early 1960's artists. He had his own hit with "Sugarfoot Rag" in 1959, and recorded a Country-influenced Jazz album the next year, with a quartet that included the drummer from the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

That jazz/country record was a big deal for its time: it showed that country guitarists were good, great even, to jazz musicians who turned up their nose at Country music for its corn pone simplicity. You hear some of Hank's licks on some of his records and you stand amazed, just like many of those Jazz artists did. Hank was a musician's musician.

I was just thinking today about how much I love to play, and I'm not getting to do nearly enough. I can't explain why it makes me feel complete, but a guitar in my hands immediately puts me at ease. I'm sure God wired that in me. It's wonderful to have something that you love, that you can do at any time, and that's portable (take that, organ players!)

Hank loved playing, as the film depicts, and as Hank's story goes on you see a talent who is probably headed for some kind of brick wall. Hank's brick wall was a car accident, rumored to be caused by a record label head for Hank's threats on his life. It sounds like a soap opera, but you know how those crazy musicians are. They're, well, crazy.

Hank recovers to a certain extent, and goes home to resume his playing, but he can't. He can fumble around but, as the various biographies of him record, he didn't have the attention span any more to focus on playing with the kind of dexterity that he'd had before. His time in a mental hospital didn't help either, as shock therapy may have robbed him of his greatest gift.

As I watched the scene where he fumbles his once easy playing, I thought of my grandfather. When I was young, my dad and I would go to his house, and a lot of the time he had a group of guys playing jazz tunes with him. I was young, so I was disinterested. "Who cares about that?", I thought. "Why don't they play some Elvis?" They never did.

Later, as a teen, when I'd take my "portable" monolithic CD player to family functions, I'd tune the playing out. My late teens found me playing a bit with him, specifically "All of Me" and "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" I treasured it at the time, because, with my dad playing, too, this was family to me. This was MY family. This is what my family did.

While I was attending college, my grandfather started to have some memory issues and slurred speech. Eventually, he was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a disease that slowly and increasingly impairs the mind. He would spent his last months in a nursing home, visited by a steady stream of family and friends. When I visited, he'd write down indecipherable notes on small pieces of paper, or tell a story of which you could barely make out a handful of the words. And then he'd pull out his guitar from the closet, and try to play a couple of simple chords, strumming unevenly. He'd mumble something frustratingly, and then put it back in its case, with help from my dad or me.

I'm not a big cryer, and I didn't cry whenever I visited him, or at his funeral. I'm just not someone who cries very much, if at all. But, at that visit where he tried to play, I felt the weight of it. I understood that he was not my grandfather any more. There wouldn't be any more jam sessions into late hours, and there would be no more jazz chords that I'd have to learn on the spot to try and keep up. So, I mourned the way that often do when mourning is appropriate: I play.

I know that what you do, even what you love, is not the sum total of who you are. But, for those people who have a passion and a gift, and whose identity is wrapped up in both, it's very hard to separate, either for them or for those who know them. I'm one of those people, and you may be as well. If so, you know you'd do that thing, that gift, whatever it is, all the time if your spouse or your job or common sense would let you. I understand.

I think the lesson here is that you should find the time, and find the way, that you can do your thing. Enjoy the joy that it brings to you. Revel in it, even. Not because it may be gone someday, but in spite of that. Or, find the thing that you want to do. It wasn't placed inside of you so that you could push it down until it shuts up. I always got the impression that "growing up" was code for giving up what you love. But, my grandfather, even to the end, even when he couldn't do it any more, never did.

Sometimes, if you stick around long enough instead of giving up, cool stuff happens. A few weeks ago, I got to play a couple of shows with one of my musical heroes, Mike Roe. If anything, life is teaching me to not give up.

Live from My Garage Sale

2009-07-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah...I'm writing this post as I sit and wait for another customer to give me a quarter from a toy that my son doesn't want, or a CD that's outlived my interest in it.

There's also a laserdisc player. An organ. Computer cables. Old 78 records. Anyone need a corded phone? I didn't think so.

How (and why) did I acquire all of these things? Much of it came from garage sales, so there's a little bit of nonsense in that cycle of buying and selling. The books and CD's are being sold for a lot less that I paid when they were new. I paid full price for U2's side band project, Passengers, when it first came out, which was probably a $12 dollar investment. Now, you can get it only inside my garage, only until this afternoon, for $.25. That is roughly 2% of what I paid for it.

Speaking of my garage sale CD's, they are the CD's that FYE, Co-op Records and Allied Record Exchange did not buy. They are the albums that three record stores in two different states would not buy to resell. They are selling equally as well at my sale.

My son remarked, as he was squirming and sitting by me, that it would be great if you could buy everything ever. An adult in earshot remarked that, yes, it would be. And then, as if to underscore some kind of slight sadness, some unfulfilled wish, under her breath repeated the same thing. Knowing from anecdotes and statistics that wealth does not bring happiness, I pondered how life might be if I could buy anything I ever wanted. Maybe when I was younger, that might have been impressive. Now, I'm excited about having less stuff, not more. I was a little saddened that the adult who agreed with my child's comment was a more seasoned citizen, roughly in her 60's. I'm always surprised when I meet older folks who seem to have not figured what I have about life. They are the ones who should know better.

I sold most of my 8-track tapes. I never look at them, let alone play them. I have a ton of office books, mostly church or Bible related. Most of them I've never read. I'm selling my Mini Disc deck with 10 discs. I hardly ever use it. I'm keeping my portable MD recorder. I use that quite a bit. I'm almost appalled that we had enough stuff for two garage sales in two years. But, I'm glad that we've had them. Stuff is not the stuff of life. We had a few early garage sale buyers who, arriving ten minutes early, and driving by the house a half hour early, may not know that.

A garage sale tells you, yells back at you, what has important to you at different times in your existence. It's a documentary on your life, using not film, clever camera angles and narration, but items purchased and money spent. It's all on display, your dreams and schemes, your passions and pursuits, your hobbies and whims, and it's all being haggled over.

Remember when you got those Dr. Martens shoes after shopping for them for months? Now, someone is trying to get you to take less than the price you marked on them, which was already too low. And then you remember how cool it was to have them, and how you wore them out the day you got them. Or what about that band you really liked? You bought their CD's and shirts, saw them in concert, and now you can't give the CD's away. If you're me, you can't give away CD's of the band that you were in. This crap on a table represents time spent and emotional investment, but none of that context is relevant to the bargain seekers who are pilfering your items and messing up your neatly placed junk.

I once went to a garage sale where I found an old pair of headphones. These were the big kind, the kind that will shut out the world, and give you a headache for the trouble because they're so clunky. I used to love those kinds of headphones (still do) because they sound great. So, I picked them up, and noticed that the wire was a bit frayed and had electrical tape on it. I asked a younger woman if they worked, to which she replied that they were her father's, who was an airline pilot, who was now dead. "He was a great man who never had any junk", she said; everything he bought was of high quality. None of this was stated to make a sale, but to keep and affirm a memory of a person she'd dearly loved. My question not answered, I placed the headphones down slowly as she walked by. Clearly, I had touched a nerve inadvertantly. Those headphones had context, weight and history attached to them. She was throwing all that in for free, and maybe I should have purchased them for that reason alone.

But, they would have ended up in my garage sale eventually.

The Late Friday Night Ponderous Post

2009-07-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

It's late Friday night. I'm done recording for the evening. The more pensive side of me notices that I've not posted anything in nearly a month. Given that I used to post every week, sometimes twice a week, I suppose I should say why.

I've been busy, of course. And, I've also covered most of what I've wanted to say regarding God, church and ministry. Music, on the other hand, still is a vast untapped resource. The podcast, UU#1, has done well, and people have listened. I hope to do that more regularly in the fall.

The big thing about not posting for a month is that it allows you to decompress your thoughts. I've still got a lot of 'em. But, I've been pouring my attention into songwriting, and most of my free time goes there.

Songs. I've got a ton of 'em. If I had to count, I'd say around 150. Many are not good, but some are decent. I watched a DVD today of my old band, Jonas and the Big Tree, and I was impressed. Not only was the playing good, but some of the songs were decent. I was encouraged by that.

My friend Tim mentions the book "Outliers" quite a bit. I've not read it, but I know the premise. Those who are successful have put in roughly 10,000 hours of time to become successful. They are also in the right place and the right time. I wonder if I've put in 10,000 hours in on either music or ministry. I think I have with music. I used to play guitar for hours every day. Sometimes, I still do.

When I was younger, all I ever wanted to do was play in a band. I didn't have to sing, or write songs, I just wanted to play. I still love the feeling of playing, almost more than playing and singing. I could do it for 10,000 hours (that's around 417 days) and not get tired of it. In the 23 years I've been playing guitar, I've never taken a break from it, never gotten sick of it.

It's hard to believe that I'm old enough to have done anything for 23 years. But, when God wires you a certain way to do a certain thing, it's quite believable. You want to do it a lot. I'm not quite sure that the Purpose Driven life concept is how I understand how we figure out what God made us to do. I don't think He gifted us for careers as much as He gives abilities to honor Him and enjoy life. Whether you get paid for it is quite a different manner. Ask most musicians. Or most people.

Then again, I do believe that you should do what you love, if possible, for money. For your livelihood. Nothing wrong with that. That way, you probably get to spend more time on it. It also might become a burden, but that's the chance you take. My goal is that, in some way, I earn my living from music (So far, so good). In that, there is ministry, even if it's not always full-time church ministry.

So, after a "recording session" (if my late night office recording can be termed as such), I'm waxing philosophical after a particularly rewarding few hours. It's times like this that I miss my grandfather, who loved to play as well. I'm grateful for that, and feel that his and my father's influence of music is a great heritage for me, and for my son. Yeah, that might sound a little weird, the word "heritage", but what else would you call a passion handed down through three generations (now working ont he fourth!). And, it wasn't like we got the family business. There was never any pressure. It just happened. Us Evans men like our music, and I feel that deeply.

Like Garth from "Wayne's World" (yeah, "Wayne's World") said at the end of a ripping drum solo at a music store, "I like to play". Put a guitar in my hands and I'm instantly more at ease, no matter what the situation. My question for you is this: what makes you feel like this? You don't have to answer it here, of course. But, maybe just ponder it: what did God wire within you that, when you do it or experience it, makes you feel right? God is the answer to the question of what makes you feel complete. I understand that. But, what did God give you that makes you feel like....well.....you? Think about that for a little bit. And then, thank Him.

Good Music VS. The Music Industry

2009-06-05T09:01:00.001-07:00

As I write this post, I'm listening to Derek Webb's "I See Things Upside Down" album right now. It's really good. It also wasn't carried in most Christian book stores when it was released. Webb uses some, um, language in his music at times. I doubt he'd get much play there anyway, although he might get more sales: he's best known for his work with Caedmon's Call.

I was recently asked by a church member regarding why I don't care for mainstream, top 40 Christian music. It's a hard question to answer in some ways: many followers of Jesus love this music, and many of the artists who record that music are doing valid ministry. To me, much of it is lyrically vapid and redundant, musically repetivitve and smacks of product, not art. But, that's me. If that's not you, that's alright. I don't want to denigrate your taste in music, or the ministry that these artists do. It's just not for me. If you're still fuming from my mini-indictment of CCM, launch your tomatoes at me in 3....2.....1.....go!

I listen to artists like Webb because he tells the Christian (and human) condition as it is, much like Scripture does. Most of what is popular, most of what sells in Christian music, talks about that condition in very vague and cliched terminology, if it deals with it at all. It seems that although ministers can talk about the sex life of their parishoners (see this post), you cannot write songs about it. We can preach against lust, drunkeness and for justice and mercy, but when your lyrics get specific about those topics, you're musica non grata.

Many artists translate the current music industry downturn into an indictment on the overt commercialism of music. I'd agree, although that's not the only reason for it. I do know that a lot of people my age don't buy a lot of new music, but listen to the old stuff. They say there is no new music that's good. I submit that there is, but labels aren't pushing it, even if there are labels behind it at all. Most of the artists I listen to are self-releasing their stuff.

This article in Christianity Today tells the tale. It's hard to feel sorry for the labels; they've been entering artists into what is essentially indentured servanthood for decades, as this article points out (WARNING: There is some "colorful" language in it). I hope their business and distribution models die with them, for the most part. They've created a culture where honest expression, which is what art really is, has to fit their rigid requirements so that they can return an investment. I've submitted a couple of songs for review to Nashville songwriters, and, while the feedback was constructive and true, it shows you what Nashville is looking for: simple minded songs, easily understood, with simple melodies and a bridge that is no longer than two lines. I can't fault the guys who reviewed my songs, they were right in telling me what I needed to change to get a hearing. But they've also bought into the thinking of music as product, not expression.

In July, a great artist, Michael Roe, will be coming to my town to play for my wife's birthday party, in a living room. A living room! At one time, I was sad that one of my musical heroes was playing in houses when he should be playing in stadiums. And, although I'm sure he wouldn't mind a little more success than he has, I'm not so sad about it. He talks to his fans on his website, he gets to spend time with people when he plays these small shows, and as a fan, I get much more out of the whole experience. Mike, too, is one of those Christian musicians who speaks to contradictory nature of the Christian life, and pulls no punches.

When I'm really struggling with an issue of faith, when life has beaten me down, I don't want to hear some vague anthemic catchy tune about how it will all be just fine. I want to hear a latter day Psalm or lament about the struggle. I want to be encouraged, but I also want to mourn. I don't always want to find the nearest escape for pain, but I want to be transformed through the pain. And I want my soundtrack through that transformation to reflect it, not try to avoid or ignore it. That's part of the reason why the music industry as we know it is dying a slow and painful death: it's escapism without a portrait of what you want to escape from.

The Uncommonly Uncool Podcast

2009-05-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

It begins! It's episode #1. For our first time out, we're talking about the cut-out bin, a theme Uncommonly Uncool is not unfamiliar with. Download, listen and enjoy!

UU#1: The Cut-Out Bin

NOTE: There is also an archive to the right, so that all the episodes will be available there as well.

Neil Young and Biblical Sex

2009-04-27T06:49:00.001-07:00

So...um...about the title: I would encourage you to remember the admonishment of great rappers of yore: "check yourself, don't wreck yourself." This post really IS about those two things, and the title is not there to be scintillating or titillating. The Bible does talk about sex (disclaimer: it does NOT talk about Neil Young), so don't blast me for talking about something the Bible talks about. In fact, don't blast me at all. In fact (again), while I'm asking for favors, could you get me a mocha? Thanks.

Good Ol' Mr. Young has had a storied carreer. He was called out in "Sweet Home Alabama" for crying out loud! It's the kind of musical journey that few artists decide take, and with the recent addition of his own autobiography, there has been a small garbage heap of material written on his music and artistic decisions. I'll keep mine brief, so as to keep the blog a little green. No more garbage is needed.

In the early 80's, Neil was in a precarious place. Punk and New Wave had given way to some kind of hybrid of the two with synthesisers added. Sure, Neil could be somewhat Punk, and maybe he had something in common with New Wave (not sure what, exactly), but keyboards that make those fake treble-y string sounds? Hardly. He'd also been arguing with his new record label, who no doubt wanted Neil to return to his glory days of sales. He did what so many of us do when we're at an impasse: he recorded a rockabilly album. Understand that The Stray Cats were already exhuming this genre that had been dead for almost thirty years at that point. So, Neil was at least in step with what was going on. He released "Everybody's Rockin'", a decent if benign (and short) ode to those early rockers.

The year before "Everbody's Rockin'", he released "Trans", which sounds like it was recorded (and rejected) for the soundtrack to the movie "Tron". It was Neil doing electronic music, most of the vocals processed with a vocoder to give them a robot-like effect. The story behind the disc is far better than the material itself: Neil loved the reaction that his little boy would give him when he sung through the vocoder. His young son, suffering from Cerebral Palsy, would give Neil more of a response when he heard his daddy's voice through a glop of effects. Being a daddy myself, I'd probably record that album, too.

But this kind of behavior doesn't always make for great art. Neil indulged himself on these projects largely in protest to his label, Geffen, who he eventually sued. When he finally did get off of the label, Neil had a return to form: He released "Freedom", which contained then now-classic "Rockin' in the Free World."

Neil's confusing period in the early 1980's was a distraction from his carreer, and a detour from his successful recordings. Fans were confused and ro ck journalists perplexed, and when he returned to doing what he was known for (and most would say what he was gifted to do), then he saw success once again. There's nothing inherently wrong with those album side steps, but they weren't what Neil did, they really weren't what he was about.

There was a recent news story about a church possibly losing its permission to meet in a high school. The issue is over their recent sermon series about sex, and promotion thereof. In the last couple of years, there's been a glut of churches (and news stories about them) doing and extensively promoting their sermons on sex, the married kind, anyway. They talk about how great it is, how to do it and what the Bible says about it. Many communities are hearing about these churches for the first time via these news stories. A lot of people are hearing about these faith communities through controversy.

Let me say it: I'm not a prude. I have no problem talking about sex, and issues related to it. But I do have a concern about all the sex talk: it's not what we're all about. And from the inside of these churches, it may not seem like that. But, these churches may be in danger of preaching what I'd call a Bread and Circus Gospel, dispensing portions of Biblical truth in a disproportionate way, which has the accidental effect of displacing focus off of Jesus as Lord and Savior. Sure, the Bible talks about sex (see Song of Solomon, of course), but there are far more pressing issues at hand in Scripture.

I've heard a lot of sermons where ministers mention how much the Bible talks about different topics. I've heard from different preachers that Jesus talked about children, justice, money and the kingdom of God more than anything else. How could that possibly be? Did he talk about all those things the exact same amount? Yes, Jesus focused on some aspects of living for God more than others, but do we really need to bolster our case by engaging in word counting? If Jesus talked about something even once, I suppose that makes it something I should know.

So, a Bread and Circus Gospel is telling people the whole story, but skewing how much you focus on parts of the story. Some sex talk is alright. But talking about that more than people coming to a saving relationship with Christ is dangerous. And talking about it more than taking care of the widow and orphan is just sad. I'm not saying that these churches are doing that, but they are promoting it more than their other programs, and they are certainly becoming more known for it than other aspects of Christian living. The phrase "Bread and Circuses" dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, where politicians would gain popularity through meaningless handouts and parties instead of getting support because of sound policy. Likewise, filling our churches with people because we have seemingly endless sermon series about how to deal with finances or how to have good sex seems like a distraction from being told that were sinners saved by grace, called to serve everyone. Which sermon would you rather hear? Which sermon should we preach more of?

Please understand this: I have no problem discussing the struggles that we face. I have no problem with talking about how we can improve our lives by following Biblical teaching. But if that's all we do, if that's all we become known for, we're apt to be seen as self help centers, instead of worship and service centers. We become like Neil Young, in that we're still doing something involving our giftedness, but it's only a part of the whole picture. In our case, we sometimes can focus on parts of the Biblical message too much, at the expense of the other portions.

Ode to the Know-It-All

2009-04-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

I'm dedicating this post to the Michael Scotts and Cliff Clavins of the world, those of you who always know something we don't, even if we actually do know it. To you, the know-it-all's of the world, I send this post. It's your moment in the sun, the first you've had that you've not purposely and obnoxiously inserted yourself into.

You know who I'm talking about, right? If you are one of 'em, you probably don't. It reminds me of a commercial for the British version of "The Office" regarding the David Brent (boss) character: If you don't know someone like David Brent, you probably are David Brent. Much like his American counterpart, Michael Scott, Mr. Brent could not be wrong, even when most of the time he was wrong, clueless and inept. Cliff Clavin, of "Cheers" fame, had an endless list of facts that no one solicited or was interested in. Their know-it-all-ism took different forms, but the impetus is the same: they glean self worth from showing that they are knowledgable, they prove their superiority by correcting, rebuking and bombarding.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the know it all it its natural habitat.

These guys (or gals) interject themselves into conversations that they have no business being in, they make obvious observations and, most egregiously, they tell you things you already know as though you don't know them. I've worked with many, and I've been one, too. One particular know-it-all revealed to me that many drug stores were being built all over the country, "popping up like weeds" he said, two or three years after the proliferation of chain drug stores had been a news story. You say "so what?" I say day after day of someone telling you things that you already know, and telling you them in a condescending manner grates on you. Know-it-alls are the real-life Captain Obvious/Mr. Obvious. It's hard to deal with these individuals day after day, knowing that they are wrong about so many things, and yet believing that they are right, and also pushing their "rightness" on you.

What's even worse is when your friends seem to drift in and out of this state. These are people you like, but seem to thrive on telling you things they think you don't know. They clarify your words for you because they think you can't do it, or they correct what you say, and so forth. A word, please, to those people: You don't know what I know. If you did, you really would be a know-it-all. We all love you, to be sure, which is why you don't have to prove yourselves to us. Either way, there's grace available for those whose sin is ego, and that is the sin of the know-it-all.

Let me say this, and I ask you to take note: there are know-it-alls, sans ego. We call those people "wise". I've met a few of those people. They're great, usually elderly (but not always), and they really know their stuff without all the smug trappings of those who think their spiritual gift is omniscience. I absolutely love these folks. With great wisdom (and also great aplomb) they navigate life with the heart of a servant and the mind of an intellectual.

You had a lot of these kind of people in the Bible. I think of Solomon or Paul who, though flawed, had great knowledge and yet also had a heart for God, and compassion for people. Solomon in particular, compiled and/or wrote Proverbs and, to me, would have had to inject great humility in his writing, knowing the kinds of folly the human race can find itself entangled in.

Sin can take all kinds of forms. We'd all do well to remember that. Your sin might not be envy or greed or being involved in orgies; it might be ego. There was a time when I was younger when I refused to show weakness by admitting being wrong. I was insufferable, I'm sure. My wife's refrigerator magnet says it all: "Ask your teenagers now while they still know everything." To all you Michael Scott types out there, I say this: we love you, but you don't know every little thing! Maybe God didn't gift you with wisdom. You should let that be okay with you.

My point here is that wisdom is valuable, and so, dispensers of wisdom. I'm thankful for those people in my life, and I'm thankful for the example of those in Scripture. Utilize those people that God has placed in your life. Listen to them. And don't for a minute think that you're one of 'em.

In other news, we've hit 11,000 hits here at Uncommonly Uncool. As is our custom, we observe every thousand hits as a milestone. There is cause for much celebration, with fanfare and party hats and the like. Since I'm feeling in a celebratory mood, I'd like to shamelessly plug my band, The Double Downbeats. I won't do it again here, except for the link to the right. But, I'm pretty pleased with the little EP that we recorded, and I thought that some of you might like to know about it. The link to the right will take you to the band's page where you can hear the tunes, and maybe even buy it if you are so moved. The shameless plug ends..........now. Thanks to all who read Uncommonly Uncool. Stay tuned for the first Uncommonly Uncool podcast, coming soon!!!

Cliff Clavin on "Jeopardy"

The Spiritual Copy Cat

2009-04-13T07:28:00.001-07:00

VS.

Confession is good for the soul. Really, it is. So, I have decided to confess a musical sin: I used to love Huey Lewis & the News. Not a sin, you say? Well...I still think they're pretty good. How 'bout now? I've stayed in my Huey Lewis sin for almost 20 years. I'm sorry, but "Sports" was a great album, "Fore" was a good one, and they recorded "The Power of Love" for the film "Back to the Future", which received multiple rentals from my house back when mall hair was not retro white trash. It was neo (or nouveau) white trash back then.

I don't have any Huey on my mp3 player (really, I don't), but reading a blog post that charted the labrynthian line-up changes of the Doobie Brothers inspired me: they had a guy in their band who used to play in Huey's pre-News band. And Huey and the Doobies (specifically Michael McDonald) have something else in common: they were both copied.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but maybe not if you don't get paid for it. Huey did. Michael didn't. It has to do with the kind of copying that's being done, and here are the stories of both artists.

HUEY: He was approached by the producers of "Ghostbusters" to write and record the theme song. They wanted something in the vein of Huey's hit, "I Want a New Drug". He declined. So, they hired Ray Parker, Jr., a decent R&B singer with little pop chart exposure to write and record a song very close to "Drug". Now, understand that commercial jingle writers and movie soundtrack writers do this kind of thing all the time: they mimic a song by shuffling a few lines of melody and apeing its style. They change it just enough that they can't get sued. But, the "Drug"/"Ghostbusters" situation is one where Huey won a lawsuit of copyright infringment, mostly based on the exact style and close melody of the two songs, even though the melodies are different enough.

See also The Rutles, wherein Neil Innes had to give credit (and publishing) to ex-Beatles, even though only one of this Beatles parody songs were close in melody. The style he copied so convincingly can't be owned by anyone, and yet the Beatles won. There's a great scene in "Jailhouse Rock" where a record exec copies Elvis' style on a record for one of his artists after Elvis plays him a demo he made. The copied-style record is released, Elvis storms into this guy's office, and the guy says, "you can't copyright a style, son." Well, maybe, but if your Huey Lewis or the Beatles...

MICHAEL: So, Michael McDonald becomes the defacto leader of the Doobie Brothers due to illness and a need for songs. Michael records this decent album with them called "Minute by Minute", it's a hit, and soon people like Robbie Dupree are copying the style and the voice. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out why "Steal Away" wasn't on any Doobie/McDonald compilations. The reason why is that it's not Michael McDonald.

See also Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, although I love STP. I was pretty sure "Plush" was Eddie Vedder singing with a side band. The video didn't help, either. It's style hid what Scott Weiland looked like very well.

Churches copy stuff, too. Some ministers read books about how churches grow, and they do the same stuff, even though usually the author warns about not copying what they did, that what they did won't work everywhere, and so forth. Likewise, when we see good ideas at churches we visit, we want to do them. Time and experience has taught me (and any good minister worth anything) that if you steal ideas, you need to tailor them to your church. Or just not do them at all because they won't work. Wisdom rules the day here, and that's how you decide what to do. I suppose there's nothing wrong with copying, even in music, if you add something original to it.

The Apostle Paul encouraged the church at Philippi to do some God-honoring copying:

^"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9)

What's so great about this is that it's easy. While we don't follow certain people, we follow Christ, and we can learn from those around us who follow Him as well. Maybe "mimic" isn't the word to use, but certainly doing what other Christians do who are growing makes sense. There is this cultural shift that's taken place that, while at one time you might have been encouraged to copy the success of others, we now are so individualized that we look at copying success as weakness. We're so egotistical as a culture that we must, as a hippie would say, "do our own thing." Maybe we don't need to always do our own thing.

Some of the best musical performances I've heard are covers, recordings of songs written and recorded by other artists. A revisit or a rework that retains the heart of the original can be tremendous in that we learn from the different approach. Copying isn't bad, but we must copy well.

No Fear VS. Know Fear (This Is Not a Mash-Up)

2009-03-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

VS.

It's official: my son has been embarrassed by his dad.

It's hard to believe, being the ultra-cool person that I am. And, he won't admit that he's embarrassed. He won't tell me that another kid made fun of him for his dad walking him to his classroom every day, or for giving me hugs right before he enters. But, I'm pretty sure that's what happened: he asked me to not walk him to his classroom door.

His reason was that he was a big boy now, and that he doesn't need me to walk by him. So, maybe he's not mortified by our school hall walks, maybe some kid didn't make a comment, maybe he just wants to do something by himself, but still, the separation begins.

And I'm thrilled.

I'm not thrilled by his embarrassment (which will become worse as time wears on, I know), but I am excited about his independence. I was a pretty clingy kid, was almost scared of my shadow in grade school, and disliked most social aspects of school. My fear was almost irrational at times, like Bart Simpson worried that his the clown on the headboard of his bed would eat him while he slept. I do not want my son to be like me in this respect (but I'm also not going to buy him a clown bed!) Fear can be crippling, and if his skateboard riding is any indication, he'll be re-breaking bones in no time, which is a crippling emanating from not having enough fear!

Fear can also be good. There is healthy fear, the kind that keeps us from driving recklessly, the kind that helps us understand the power of God, even the kind that encourages us to obey our parents instead of receiving discipline. But those kinds of fears, if they can even be called fears, are really fears borne out of protection and self-preservation. All those "No Fear" t-shirts had it wrong, and for once, the Christian parody t-shirts had it right: there should be some fear, directed to the right place, and we should know it.

The founder of the "No Fear" brand died at age 49 from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. The impetus seems to have been that he was in great pain stemming from motorcycle accident injuries. It's hard to say whether or not the lifestyle promoted by the brand had anything to do with the way he died. Most would draw that conclusion, but I won't. I didn't know the man or his beliefs. What I will say is that he is a good example of what drive and ambition can do. But introspection and fear both have their place as well, but they don't get a lot of press. It's not nearly as cool to put that on T-shirts.

My dad used to have friend who called him "fearless". I'm not sure exactly why. But I remember wondering how that could be possible, how someone could have no fear, especially when I was so fearful. I'd see my dad do things like climbing up on roofs and think, "I could never do that". As I get older, I'm gravitating more toward my dad's nickname. There isn't much that scares me. Going to hell probably scares me the most. Not seeing my heavenly Father and residing with Him forever is on that list as well. I really don't want to miss it. I don't want to get my eternal destination wrong. I am afraid of the one who can throw both body and soul into hell. And that's okay. That's how it should be.

And for my son, too, do I want to see him have a healthy fear of God. And a healthy fear that keeps him out of arm and leg casts. But, I want him to have the balance that I felt like I didn't have when I was his age. He shouldn't be afraid to try new things, even knowing that there might be some danger. He should take calculated risks because, after all, that's what faith is, knowing about the possibility of something greater, even if you don't have concrete proof. After all, concrete can be as much of a faith buster as it is an arm buster.

So, I'm glad he's going to his classroom by himself. Soon, (but not too soon) it will be all about driving to new places, meeting new people, and taking bigger chances. Sometimes, possibly, his fear of God, his healthy fear and understanding of the power of God, will prompt him to push out of the nest, and take calculated risks. And when he does, his daddy will be so proud.

Applicable Scripture passages:
Matthew 10:28
Genesis 22:1-19
Deuteronomy 6:24; 10:20
Job 1
Acts 10:34-36

Do the Reconcile: Why Christians Sin

2009-03-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

It's amazing where you find new music.

As I've admitted here before, I used to pay DJ in my bedroom, spinning selections from my stacks of 45's given to me by my dad. Those stacks were an education in 50's and 60's rock and pop. There were even Sun records in those stacks, and they got a ton of play time on my fake radio show. Sun records were a big deal to me, because that's where Elvis Presley started his career. I've not been able to afford an Elvis sun record yet (they are quite pricy), but I've got a few Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins Sun discs. They were beat when I got 'em (no surprise here; they were great) and I beat 'em even more. Those grooves are well worn, and now sitting silent in my bedroom closet.

I knew every pop and crack on those records. When I was 8, I started buying a series of compilations called "The Sun Story", a six volume set that featured the biggest, non-Elvis stars to record at Sun. I had them all by the time I was 10 except for one: Jerry Lee Lewis. None of the record stores had it. They had mulitple copies of the others, but Mr. Lewis was in absentia. I'd never even seen the record until my trip to Nashville last year, and I almost bought it even though it was ridiculously overpriced, just so I could complete my set.

It was in Memphis that I saw Jerry Lee (a.k.a, the Killer) two years ago. He was pale, walked slowly, and was aided to the stage by people who flanked his sides almost the whole way. I wasn't sure what to expect, but when started to play, it was like 1957 had come to rest upon the record store where he was playing. I've never, I mean NEVER, seen anyone play the piano the way he did.

It's amazing that he's still alive. After all, Jerry Lee's life story provides the template for Rock and Roll bad boy. Sure, you might know that he married his cousin (his 13 year old cousin), but he behaved badly in so many other ways, too: he married his second wife while he was still married to his first wife, who he divorced a month later; he set his piano on fire at the end of a set in protest to being billed below Chuck Berry; he once visited Graceland (Elvis' home) brandishing a gun and demanding to see Presley.

In "Walk the Line", the character of Jerry Lee Lewis (riding in a vehicle with Elvis and Johnny Cash) says that they're all going to hell because of the music they play. Apparently, this did weigh heavy for a time on Jerry's mind. Possibly because of his upbringing, possibly because his cousin, Jimmy Swaggart, rebuked him so many times, Lewis had this struggle of reconciling his love of the world with his love of God. Jerry's recorded a ton of Gospel tunes, possibly as penance, most likely as an honoring of the God he knows and loves but couldn't follow.

Jerry Lee, much like Little Richard and most of those early rockers, had such a grounding in church, had really learned their trade in church, that when they made it big, they had a great crisis of faith. They seemed to wrestle with their fame and their faith, and it came out in their music, on albums that contained songs with sexual innuendo and carousing along side straight readings of hymns. Those artists really personified in their choice of recorded material the struggle depicted in Romans 7, and the struggle that we face daily, that of the new creation being tempted by sin, and the contradiction of the two warring factions in one body, one soul, one mind.

We studied 1 Peter 4 this last Sunday, and talked about this very battle. On the one hand, we are to follow the example of Christ:

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1-2)

On the other hand, we can't seem to totally do it:

"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." (Romans 7:21-24)

My re-reading of this passage allowed me to find what I'd not seen before. Paul says that, for a follower of Jesus, our inner being, our core, our heart and soul delight in God's law. Our core has been remade by the Lordship and saving grace of Jesus. The problem is that the outer lying areas, the hinterlands of our flesh are still warring. I think understand the fight a little better now. The biggest part of me, who I am really, doesn't relish in sin. I don't like it when I sin. But there is a part still lurking, on the periphery of me, that still wants it. It's a disease that you don't ever get rid of, but neither does it define you. It would define you without the blood of Jesus and indwelling of God's Spirit, but, because of Jesus, it's not first and foremost in your mind.

I think that maybe Jerry Lee let his core be overtaken for a time by sin. After all, if you don't fight, if you just lay down your arms and surrender, sin will just walk right in, set up camp, put up its flag and hunker down. Hopefully, in his more seasoned years, he's fought the good fight that he was taught to fight in his early years, before stardom and cousin-marrying got the best of him. For us, too, the lesson is clear: the fight is on-going. It never ends. As long as we protect the core, the inner most being, we're safe. We protect it by all the usual suspects: prayer, reading God's word and accountability. When we give up ground, though, the core is in danger of being overtaken. And when we wave the white flag, we're completely decimated. Sin is a warrior that takes no prisoners. It will conquer all at the highest cost if you allow it to do so. I've actually seen this play out, and it's no surprise that James explains it in this way:

"...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. ¹⁵Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:14-15)

You can see in so many lives what happens when people give root to sin. Maybe Jerry Lee Lewis is a cautionary tale from which we can learn. When we give sin a little ground, we're sacrificing so much more than we initially thought.

Body Piercing Changed My Life (not really)

2009-03-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Gather 'round, kiddies. Let me tell ya a little story.

I was fourteen once, over twenty years ago. Man, when you write it like that, it seems so very long ago. When I was fourteen, I wanted to be like my favorite bands. Aerosmith had long hair. I had long hair. Guns N' Roses wore shirts from other bands. So did I. But, the guys from my favorite bands had something I didn't, and that was an earring. It was understood that, amongst the populous of teenagers into heavy metal, that a piercing in the left ear meant you were a rocker, a tough guy, or maybe a pirate.

A piercing in the right ear meant that you...er...liked show tunes, which was, among my friends, decidedly not cool.

Beyond all the "other people did it" syndrome regarding the piercing was that I thought I would look cool. I did NOT want it because other students had one, because almost none did. On my fourteenth birthday, my mom (yes, my mom) paid for my first piercing. I'd go on to do subsequent piercings myself, but this one came straight from the the Piercing Pagoda kiosk at Southwyck Mall. And there it was in all its glory, a long-haired fat kid with his left ear pierced in 1989 small town middle America.

Flash forward two years. Short haired, football playing type guys were getting their ears pierced. Included in this group were some of those who teased me regarding my piercing two years earlier. Obviously, a small metal stud in your ear meant you were a girl, even though I tried to tell them that a piercing in your right ear meant that. They didn't get that memo from Heavy Metal Central, however. They finally got the memo from Preps R' Us, though, that said left ear piercings were finally "in" in 1991.

So, to amp up my cool, I pierced my right ear, and then my left ear two more times. I would soon wear my Metallica shirts to a church I was invited to, and the rest was history. Two years later, all this stuff would seem normal, and flannel and long, cut-off jeans would be the new uniform, which I gladly donned. I fell into that naturally, and before the curve, as, like most lower middle class kids, all our shorts were cut-offs of old jeans. Flannel kept you warm in winter, and your dad probably wore it and handed it down to you, so you wore it, too. This was way before Eddie Vedder. Either way, I had long hair until I lost too much of it to pull off a long hair look. I stopped wearing earrings when I started interviews from my second church job. I no longer dress cool. I'm lucky enough to find clothes, any clothes, that fit. All the rock band shirts I want to wear don't come in 3XLT.

Understand that if I was thinner, not balding and not working at a church, my look would most likely be altogther different.

As Abe Simpson said, "I used to be with it, but then they changed what 'it' was. Now, what I'm with isn't it, and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me." Except that I'm not scared of "it". Sometimes, "it" is what I like, not because I'm chasing after my youth, but because I just like it. My wife got a nose ring a while ago. She's not making a statement with it, or trying to reclaim her high school years, she just likes how she looks with it, and so do I.

But, what's great about it is that it's new. "New" for adults seems to be something that we're supposed to avoid. We're supposed to be late adapters. Not me. And not most of the adults that I spent time with. We're interested in "new", whether it's music or technology or even social trends. It keeps us somewhat intelligent.

There really is nothing new under the sun. But, as NBC told us a few years ago, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you. There is this great wonderment that kids and teens have because everything is new. One of the biggest problems teens have is that they grow up and think that they've learned enough. I've met quite a few adults who are in that exact spot, thinking that life, and God, have nothing more to teach them. They don't say it, of course, but they admit as much when they are resistant to change and when they won't discuss or debate.

The sadness of this is that God wants us to always grow, and yet we've created an adult culture in so many churches that says it's perfectly fine to not grow. In the film "Singles", Bridget Fonda's character says that age 25 seems to be the age where you find that time is running out to do something crazy. Sure, you can pierce things when you're fourteen, maybe even get your mom to pay for it. But try doing that twenty years later. Some people will think your going through a mid-life crisis, or that you've gone crazy. But, sometimes, you just want to do something different, and learn from the experience. And there's no better place to do something crazy, something new, than the kingdom of God.

Dig Abraham. Meditate on Moses. Old guys, both of 'em, who did something crazy when they were older. I read a comment on an article about U2 that blasted them for simply being too old to do what they do. But, as the song goes, "Age ain't nothin' but a number". That song was talking about being young, but it works both ways. When I really dug Aerosmith, they were already in their forties. I didn't even think about their age. Who says that U2's best album isn't ahead of them? Ageist elitists, that's who.

When God uses someone, he doesn't at all have a prerequisite of age or gender or race or even skill level. So, why exactly do we? And it's not just wondering why we have our prejudice for other people, but why do we have them for ourselves? Thinking that we're too young or old to do something crazy for God is our own creation, and sometimes an easy "out" to living out God's will. Don't let age get in the way of living, and specifically, living for God.

The Sampler Pak Post

2009-03-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

I've got several short things to share today.

First, Uncommonly Uncool, this here blog that you are reading, has hit the 10,000 mark. In the interest of full disclosure, I am including the posts from my old location in that total. It is the same blog after all. To celebrate, I plan on cracking open a diet Black Cherry Jones Soda.

Second, there are a multitude of musical releases I'm excited about. Pearl Jam's "Ten" reissue; Newly-reformed Superdrag's "Industry Giants"; U2's "No Line on the Horizon" may be pretty decent despite the lackluster single "Get on Your Boots"; The Lost Dogs' "Route 66" project (audio and video) and my own Double Downbeats release, "Get Nowhere". Maybe I shouldn't call it a release as much as a giving of CD's to a few of my friends. But, technically, I will be "releasing" it into the wild of the world. Or, as Elvis Presley would have said, it's "escaping", like a mysterious, Yeti-liked creature climbing out of the cave.

Third, the world is disturbing and greedy place, kiddies. From internet providers planning to get fees from large corporations for more bandwidth to my own phone company charging me $55 for phone internet that I couldn't even use on my phone at the time, we see that irresponsibility and greed are joined at the hip. Bernie Madoff and Rod Blagojevich are not alone in their lack of integrity, honesty and fairness. Not even close. As if we needed another reason why people need Jesus.

Fourth, God is amazing, as usual. A student shared with me how giving an offering in turned blessed him roughly five times over. As is His custom, He's teaching anyone with an open heart and mind how He works. Good on Him. And good on those with ears to hear.

And finally, there's a midnight showing of "Watchmen" this Thursday/Friday in K-Town. I'm tempted. I enjoy the midnight shows that our little theater in our little town holds. Hopefully I'll be in tow with my dark chocolate Raisinettes and my diet Coke.

I'll have a non-hodgepodge, proper post coming soon. In the interim, I'll leave you with Bret's karaoke song from Sunday's "Flight of the Conchords" episode. Enjoy, kiddies!

A Musical Conundrum

2009-02-20T06:56:00.001-08:00

"I've never seen anyone lead worship like you do." -Anonymous Minister at a church where I worked

It was not, I guess, a compliment. There are plenty of people who lead worship like I do, but this guy had never seen it. I'm not the gregarious, in-your-face, Guy Smiley kind of worship leader. I'm subdued. I say things, encourage people to get involved, but I try not to draw attention to myself. I have been told that I'm not dynamic enough. But, what can I do? I'm probably not going to give my personality an entire overhaul. I don't think I could even do that.

There is this struggle I have with popular opinion. On the one hand, it's overwhelming. It's everywhere. That's why it's popular, right? We live our lives most of the time based on what other people think. What is acceptable now may not be the same as fifty years from now, or fifty years ago, because popular opinion changes. Tastes certainly change. Music tells this story better than anything.

When Elvis played the Grand Ole Opry, he was told by the Opry's manager to go back to driving a truck. A year later, he's the most well-known, popular singer in the history of recorded music. When the Beatles auditioned for Decca records, the producer said that guitar groups were on their way out. These guys were playing styles of music that hadn't really been heard by mainstream music listeners at the time, but soon they would be the biggest thing in music.

As a songwriter, I can't hardly stand a lot of mainstream music. It's simple minded and arrogant without a hint of introspection. I don't usually listen to most contemporary Country or Christian music, and when I do I can hardly keep listening. Overriden with cliche and unimaginative production, I quickly put on some Iron and Wine. Yes, I have my guilty pleasures, but most of what I listen to says something of substance, and says it well.

So, I have a conundrum here. I love to write songs, and I'm trying to break into the business of songwriting. In order to get anywhere with songwriting, you have to write in the style that people are already listening to. It makes me wonder, is there a place for music in the mainstream that doesn't fit the mold of mainstream music? I read a post on a songwriting message board where someone told a guy that if this were 1995, all of his songs would be hits. Now, he can't get anyone to record his songs. They are, I'm assuming, good songs. There's just no place for them now. I've got to tell you that old songs that are good are just as good as new songs that are good. It's the business part of music that has ruined it, I suppose. If you can't sell it, or if it's won't sell now, does it matter if it's good?

There's also a conundrum for church people of the same variety. We say that we should not change our Biblically based views of social issues, and I agree. God's word has spoken on so much of what is going on in our society. But what about our music? It should be good, right? What does good mean, you ask? I'm not sure I know any more. After all, I've been hired by three churches to lead worship, and all three have been responsive to my worship leading style. So, it's apparently good, but not good to the churches that have either not hired me, or those who have been critical (see the quote) of how I do what I do. I understand this is all subjective, but I'm wondering if there is some quality standard in all of this.

I think I'm confused here. I believe the goal of music is to express thought and emotion artistically, and new songs should bring something new to the table. But the more I listen to mainstream music, the more I hear more of the same. I feel the same way about worship music, too. It's hard for me to pick new songs because I want great songs, not overly repetitive or simplistic songs. Afer all, I'm leading worship for adults, right? I love new worship songs like "All Because of Jesus" and "Mighty to Save" because they bring something new to mainstream worship. But, for every one of those, there are five songs that are rehashes of hymn titles or verses of Scripture that were written about better in another song. But, we don't do those any more because they aren't good now, right? Allow me to roll my eyes with exasperated expression.

Originality doesn't seem to be a concern for Nickleback, most likely because when they've released the same basic song as a single twice, they racked up two hits for the work of one. Elvis recorded two songs by the same guy that had exactly the same melody, but different arrangements. Maybe it doesn't have to be original, but I'd have a tough time getting paid for someone else's work.

So, if I write lyrically complex songs, I might not get a hearing. If I dumb it down, I've got a better shot. I feel that way about worship songs as well. My present church excluded, I might get more acceptance playing what's popular in a worship service, and leading in a popular style, but I'm not sure I'll get the depth that I think God deserves in our worship times. Then again, why should I be concerned about it? What's a music guy to do?

The Making of a Cynic

2009-02-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

When I was eleven years old, I sold all my 45's (that's records, you know. Vinyl, you know.) for $10. I was a record nut even then, and those of you who know me know that this was not in character for me. Here's how it happened, and what I learned from it.

Some of my family came to visit. One family member, seemingly understanding the naivete of youth and the opportunity to acquire something of value, told me that they would give me $10 for my records. Understand that, to me at the time, if someone in my family wanted to make a deal like this, I felt like it must be good and fair. Besides, you're always supposed to do what your adult family members want you to do, right? So, I did it. They were, even by the sheer volume of them, worth far more, and this person knew it.

I immediately had seller's remorse.

I'd always seen the world a little bit differently, but that age, that eleven to twelve years old period made me the truth-seeking, realist that I am. It also made me a cynic. I realized then that there were a lot of people who would try to get one over on you, even possibly a close family member. Let me say here that I make no apologies for what I'm telling you. It happened and it was not right. And, I never got the records back, not even when this person passed away. I loved this person before and after the sale, but like all of us, this person had their flaws, and I now see the incorrect behavior here.

I'm not an entitlement kind of guy; if you make a bad decision, I believe, you have to live with it. You can most likely understand why I feel that way, and in a way, this family member taught me a valuable lesson (unintentionally) about wisdom. The Bible has also, explicitly, taught me the same kinds of lessons about human nature. That, among other reasons, is why I love it. Reality and human behavior, to me, proves the wisdom in the Bible to be true.

Stuff like this in Proverbs tells me the Bible is right on target:

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (15:1)
--Yep. That's how that usually works.
"A rebuke impresses a man of discernment, more than a hundred lashes a fool: (17:10)
--That's certainly how it is. You can't tell a fool anything, or even beat it into him.

But then there's this:

"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life." (16:31)
--There are quite a few gray haired people who know no righteousness. They simply have good genes, I think. Does that make the Bible not true?

So, my question for you is, how do you read Scripture? I'll say this, if you're reading it like it's a math book, thinking that "if this happens, then that happens every time", you don't get it. There are assumptions of context and culture that we miss. While it's true that there is wisdom with older folks, not every every older person is wise or righteous. Age, as I've said many times, does not necessarily yield wisdom. Sometimes, my friends, a gentle answer does not turn away wrath, but that doesn't mean that it's not true most of the time, or that it's not good advice. God's word is true and infallible, but sometimes we miss the mark of what God is telling us, or how we are to comprehend it.

I got a book at church when I graduated high school. I didn't read most of it, but the title has stuck with me: "Don't Check Your Brains at the Door". In other words, don't stop thinking because of outside influence or situation. God's word is so complex and layered, and yet, the Gospel message is simple. We do a disservice to it when we simplify its complexity, or make complex its simplicity. Explicitly, do not check your brain when you open God's word. He doesn't want you to.

I've found that a lot of cynics are actually deep thinkers. They draw true conclusions (even if they sometimes skew negatively), but don't have answers on how to fix what they've concluded is wrong. That's where I differ: I'm a cynic who has a solution, The Solution. And, I'm really not oversimplifying here. Jesus is the answer. There is more nuance to it on how that answer plays out, but ultimately, He is still the answer.

A cynic would not shy away from that discussion, however; I refuse to feign happiness for the sake of the comfort of those around me. I will wrestle with the tough stuff of life. I dare say that there is a long list of Biblical heroes who would not do that, either. We should not be the stereotype of the "happy, happy, joy, joy" Christian who never seems to frown. Paul told all of us that we should tell the truth in love. Like love and marriage, you can't have one without the other. Sometimes, truth is tough. As Ecclesiastes tells, there are appropriate times for different emotions. Conversely, there are some of us cynics who could be a little happier now and then.

So, here I am, your friendly neighborhood cynic. I roll my eyes when I hear or read narrow minded commentary. I shake my head when the daily onslaught of human ignorance is paraded on the morning news. I get angry at those who live perpetually floating in the sky, their heads buried in a cumulus, oblivious to the hurt and the pain that so pervades our world. But I know Who can change it all, and change it all in you and me. I hope that you do, too.

Fun With Letters and Words

2009-02-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

Since my son has started kindergarten, I, like most parents whose children who are in the big "K", have been working with him on his letters and words, and the sounds that they make. It's also fun to watch my wife do this, because it is her who has to explain why, yet again, these letters don't follow the rules in this particular word. The English language is down right goofy.

It is to that end that I thought I would post the alphabet for you. Ever since I was a kid learning the alphabet, I always pondered how letters would be spelled out. Today, I realize this life long dream/interest/obsession with my very own made up alphabet list, with empathy for the sea of letters and the words that they make, in which, when you're learning them, can make you feel a little queasy. To quote the New Kids on the Block, this one's for the children.

LLOYD'S ALPHABET (all of which except "Zee" spell check correctly)

'ey?
bee
sea
Dee
e
eff
gee
aitch
eye
Jay
Kay
Elle
'em
en (thank you, Latin language)
oh
pea
cue OR queue
are
es (thank you, Spanish language)
tea
You
Vi (thank you, French language)
Double You
ex
Why?
Zee

Fun With Church, part 1

2009-01-30T11:37:00.000-08:00

Check out Purgatorio for things ludicrous and churchy. By the way, I'm not talking about the rapper here, nor did I type "crunchy" (if you think I did, you misread it), so don't be too disappointed.

Here's an especially appropriate post regarding when worship leaders should just give it up. I confess, I've been tempted to plan an all-Stryper worship service, but don't have the hair or the spandex to pull it off.

Poor Pete Best

2009-01-29T06:43:00.000-08:00

Poor, poor, Pete Best. He was a Beatle, until that Ringo guy took over. I can picture Best having a fevered dream of his Beatle tenure many nights, then waking up and, in the fashion of famous celluloid screams "Stella!" and "Khan!!!", sitting up in a cold sweat and saying, "Ringo!!!!"

Hey, I feel for the guy. I had my own Pete Best moment, when a couple of guys who I was in a band with formed another band after we'd broken up. A friend called me about a year later, and told me that they were signed to a label. They're a great group of guys, and don't begrudge them any of the success they had, but I was a little disappointed. After all, that's what I wanted to do since I was a little kid. So, I'm feelin' ya, Pete.

Dig this: people were mad when Pete was ousted. They made signs and hoisted them in protest. When I'd heard this story for the first time, I felt bad for the guy, to be sure, who eventually worked as a civil servant after his being replaced. Then, after years of thinking that Pete was somehow wronged, I, along with other Beatles' fans, got to hear Pete's playing on the few recordings he'd made with the Beatles when they were released. I suddenly understood. Although a solid drummer, he had none of the versatility that Ringo had, nor the power. The first version of "Love Me Do" tells the whole story: problems with transitions and tempo forced the hand of producer George Martin to hire a studio drummer, prompting the Beatles (at the same time) to make the switch. Their next studio date (where both Ringo and the studio drummer were in attendance) was awkward, with Ringo relegated to a tambourine, Martin still unsure of the new drummer.

But still: poor, poor Pete, right? I'm not so sure. Yeah, that stinks to miss out on all that the Beatles became. But, would they have had that success if they had retained the barely competent Best? Believe me when I say that, in a band, you want everyone firing on all cylinders, and if something doesn't work, you've got to change it. Paul, John and George made a hard decision, but ultimately the right one.

So what, you say? So this, I say:

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." - Matthew 11:12

I really struggled with this passage when I first read it, a very long time ago. Aren't we supposed to be meek, I thought? Surely being forceful is not the example of Jesus, I mused. My new Christian brain had yet to comprehend the full ministry of Jesus, where He was indeed forceful, stubborn and unwavering. There was no compromise to be found in Him, and yet there was great grace. Both have a tremendous force to them. I've long since made my peace with it, mostly because in ministry, you understand what Jesus is saying here. Those without a spine need not apply. Those without intestinal fortitude should sit on the bench.

Yes, Jesus is talking about a specific time, that period from John preaching to Jesus' own ministry. But, the lesson here is for everyone for all time: You must do what advances the kingdom, what brings people in a relationship with the one, true, living God. I've heard several people in churches complain about their volunteers' not showing up, not doing a good job, or wandering in and out of their ministry. They usually end their complaint by saying that "you can't fire volunteers", and I reply, "why not?" Paid or not, people should work as though working for the Lord, and a leader must make the right decision about workers so that whatever ministry he or she is leading does not suffer at the hands of sloppy, uncommitted work. Enter Pete Best, stage left, kiddies. He couldn't play at the level of the other Mop Tops. He, unfortunately, had to go. And, someone had to decide it and let him go.

As for my story, it was all fine. I ended up not being in a moderately successful band, which was absolutely appropriate: I didn't want to play their style of music, and they didn't want to play mine. No harm, no foul here. It was the right thing to happen. In our culture, the Pete Best story might seem a little cold and callous, but that's become some of the problem with our culture: no honest assessment of what's best (no pun intended), no making right decisions in the face of opposition, i.e., a lack of guts. Thank God that there are still "forceful men" (and, I assume, women) taking hold of the Kingdom under God's direction, making the tough choices, yet not lording their power over others. Most likely, we'll not know all their work until we're all in heaven drinking Yoohoo and swapping stories.

The Organ and the Band, The Lion and the Lamb

2009-01-27T07:40:00.000-08:00

I once interviewed at a church where they had just purchased a very expensive church organ. I was asked how I could incorporate this organ into contemporary worship. I said that it wouldn't work, that worship bands only have organs in them if they have a Hammond B-3 or something like it, and that the style of music played on church organs doesn't fit with a worship band setting, and vice versa.

I didn't get the job.

Understand this: my two concerns here were quality and reality. Anywhere else in the world, you don't have big pipe organs playing with rock bands (well, maybe in The Transiberian Orchestra, but..). Church seems to be a place where normal rules don't apply, where organs go with rock bands, where the lion lays down with the lamb, where broken things that you don't want have great value.

Anyway, I've been to several churches that attempt this and fail miserably. Either one, separately and done well, is edifying and excellent. They are not, however, the chocolate and peanut butter of church music. They are the butterscotch and salmon of church music. And that's okay.

I've been surprised by how many people complain that their church doesn't do anything for them, doesn't meet their needs, doesn't feel like their church. I heard from some older folks that the churches they attend only cater to the youth (Junior and Senior high), or from 40-50 year olds that all their churches do is offer programs for young families. I can understand this: when I attended church while single and out of college (and, as a pastor on staff), I felt out of place in class discussion and social times because it all revolved around married couples, because our attendance was comprised of mostly married couples. When I was married but had no kids, I felt that I had nothing to add much of the time because schedules and conversations dealt with those married couples' children. So, I did what I could to join the discussion: I talked about my dogs, the closest thing my wife and I had to kids.

Now, my wife and I are in the majority. We're married. We've got a kid. I lead worship, so the music represents at least some of what I like, stylistically. A lot of what our church does is for us and our period of life. In the years to come, however, it will change. What will we do then? Will we complain that there is nothing for us? Will we leave and attend a church that panders to us? I'm hoping that we won't, even if, like the organ and the band, we might be in different worlds. We'll both still be used by God, in the same place.

Age groups in churches are like the organ and the worship band. There may be some intermingling, but by and large, they are separate, but still both a part of what churches can offer. In our case, the band gets more play than the organ does. In twenty years, when worship music changes and the style is something that is different from what I'm used to, I hope I'll adapt to it. And, maybe we'll do it all, from organ to drums to DJ to...who knows what? The style serves the goal, not the other way 'round.

I've been encouraged by conversations with a few older folks throughout my ministry experience that have reiterated what I learned when I was single (and childless) while attending church: that church is not for getting served, but serving. Now, we talk a lot about this in churches, and it sounds like we believe it, but when change comes to our churches, and it's inconveinent to us or not to our liking, we sometimes balk and verbally stomp our feet, throw a little tantrum and quietly steam over not getting what we want. It's to the credit of those older folks that they undersatnd what I learned early on in ministry, that the son of Man didn't come to be serve, but to serve, and He is our example.

Let me tell you that I practice what I preach here. I've led many traditional worship services, and worshipped in them. It's not my preference of style, but worship is not for me or about me. Conversly, I have no problem with leading worship the way I do: it's what I'm gifted to do, and it's been relevant to a majority of the people at the churches I've worked. When worship style has to change to be relevant, I'll do my best to change with it. When there was no college age/single program at my first church, I started one, and then started one at the second church that I was at. I'm not trying to brag here. This is what happened, and it's not bragging if it's true:) Possibly, as I age, if there is a void in minstry to the more senior individuals in my church, I'll spearhead a ministry that meets those needs, too.

Don't forget that smaller churches can't do everything, and decisions are made usually by what is best for the majority. I have no problem with this. If you're in the minority at your church (and age, family situation, etc., places you there), maybe you're the one who could minister best to that smaller group that you fit into. If you're at a church and you see its programming passing you by, or you've not aged into it yet, maybe it's time for you to work. Maybe it's time for you to give, and not expect to be catered to. Maybe you should fill the void instead of filling the pew. One thing that you shouldn't do is nothing. Don't just sit in your barcalounger, expecting the church to do all this stuff for you. That's not what church it supposed to do. As a pastor, that's not my job, to make sure that you are happy and fulfilled. I couldn't do that, anyway. My job is to creative an enviroment where you can grow, where Jesus makes you feel fulfilled, not where I can hold your hand with every spiritual step you take. Sure, I'm called to serve you, but you are called to serve me, too.

Official Chart of Uncommonly Uncool

2009-01-26T08:51:00.001-08:00

Gettin' All "Old Testament" Up In Here

2009-01-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

"I'm living in the weirdest dream
Where nothing is the way it seems
Where no one's who they need to be
Where nothing seems that real to me"
- "Born of Frustration" by James

Boy, I tell ya. I really like the prophets of the Old Testament.

Maybe it's because they spoke out against ungodly behavior and didn't suffer fools. Perhaps it's because they never were popular or well-groomed. I would also argue that you didn't have a lot of type "A" personalities amongst the pantheon of prophets that would lead God's people until Jesus came. They were grumpy, obstinate, ungregarious and unwilling to relent even in the face opposition and abject whining and complaining.

Good on them.

Once in a while, my frustration reaches critical mass, and I feel lost in a morass of hopelessness for this world. Not hopelessness period, because I have hope in Christ, but hopelessness for decent behavior. As I've chronicled in a couple of posts here, so many people don't seem to be concerned with doing what is right, when doing what is right is also difficult.

This will be, it would seem, our ruin.

No surprise to be found here for a Christ follower. We kind of saw this coming, right? We've read the book and bought the t-shirt. We know that we are to love all of those around us because we called to do so by Jesus, who, more than anyone, knows the human condition involves selfishness. What his closest friends did to him reads like his enemies' activities list: denying that they knew him, selling him out to be arrested, deserting him when he was dying. And these were his friends! As the saying goes, with friends like that...

You get it, right? You understand we're imperfect. But God encourages us to try to be good. It sometimes seems that we've just given up because it's too hard, or we're too busy watching "American Idol" and eating Chili Cheese Fritos to care.

A friend of mine recently chased down a group of teens who were causing trouble in our neighborhood (a la "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", no doubt). Good on him. There is this great scene in "King Creole" (an Elvis movie, and a great movie, too) where Elvis robs a store with three other guys. One of the guys doesn't speak well, and so the other guys call him "dummy", and they short him his part of the haul from the robbery. Elvis will have none of it, and makes them "cough up the dough" (said in your best mob boss voice). Honor among thieves, yes, but still some kind of honor. So I know that sometimes people do help (whether in real life or film), but the problem is that not nearly enough people help. We're now finding that people don't stop to help elderly people who are dying, much like the story of the good Samaritan. As another saying goes, the more things change...

Dennis Wilson of the The Beach Boys holds the archetypical story of fame gone bad. He was a drummer (you know how they are, right?) and amidst a sea of bad choices, drugs and human leeches, died in an boating accident, of all things. The people who cared about him couldn't tell him anything or call him into account (he simply would not listen), and the myriad people who filled the void of the people he pushed out didn't care enough to tell him, "no". Rock music is chock full of stories that highlight the human condition of greed and selfishness. Ask Steven Tyler why he has to pay money to sing his own songs, or ask why Leonard Cohen has to tour at age 73. The answer is the same kind of behavior that those O.T. prophets loathed, and had no tolerance for. A lack of personal responsibility to treat others the way we'd like to be treated is the cause, and it's tolerated. Sometimes, tolerance is bad. Very bad.

And it continues. When kids get picked on at school, it's their fault for being different, not the fault of the bullies. When people get trampled at Wal-Mart simply for shopping, it's a news footnote. When people drive and talk on their phone at the same time, and then cut you off in traffic, it's somehow your fault, and they are angry at you. As the Offspring sang, the kids aren't alright.

We could use a few of those Old Testament prophets today, telling people that they are bad. Yes, BAD! Let me say that we can be very, very bad and wicked. People are not only imperfect, but sinful and have great capacity to be evil. If you have any understanding of yourself, any self-awareness, then you know this to be true. But, just because you and I terrible, doesn't mean that we shouldn't give up the fight of trying to be good, holy and righteous. That's what the Christian condition (not the human condition) is all about, and essential to our existence here, and our existence eternal.

Bill Bennett wrote a book called "The Death of Outrage". I've never read it. It deals with politics, and I didn't wholly agree with its premise. But the title to me expresses what I'm talking about. The key is to be outraged by the right things, like injustice, hatred, bigotry and selfishness. The problem has been that we know if we don't call other people out on their sin, they won't call us out on our sin, so a quid pro quo (or is it "hi-pro glo"?) has happened societally. In this exchange, everyone gets to live as they wish, because no one will confront evil. This, as we know, will end badly.

For us church type people, this has got to change. As for the church, it's sometimes defined by its misdirected outrage. We petition media outlets and picket abortion clinics, thereby failing to react in a productive way. So stop being mad at music style, and start hating real evil. End your quarreling over buildings and culture, and start reacting lovingly and sternly to sin. Be outraged about the right things, Church. Get your courage on and your conviction on and get all Old Testament up in here.

The 'Naug OR The Art of Hedonistic Apathy

2009-01-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's a happy title, isn't it? But, like "Magnolia", it will all makes sense in the end (even though that film did not.)

Before we begin, I'd like to welcome Rob's blog to the blog roll here at Uncommonly Uncool. Rob was the campus minister at KCU (my alma mater), and is now in the Nashville area leading worship and writing some kickin' country tunes. His blog is good, too. Also, he loves himself some Batman.

Now, to the blog proper.

First, some definition:

"'Naug" is short for "inauguration".
"Hedonism" is the act of living for pleasure at all times
"Apathy" is not caring, i.e., when a teenager says, "whatever".

The 'naug is today, as you know. There is much that can be said, but I will not discuss or debate the significance of the new president. I am going to discuss the party (i.e., celebration, not political affiliation) for the new president. So, come on party people. Wave your hands in the air. In fact, you can do so as though you just don't care. Repeat until tired or until you strain something. There's a big party going on in D.C., don't you know. And, if you're a partier, it's on like Donkey Kong.

Millions of dollars will be spent on the 'naug. Some of it will be from private donors and organizations, some will be from government. I used to be of the mind that only government expenditures of this kind were outrageous, specifically to me because they are using my money, and they should show restraint. Now, even the private funds bug me. They bug me because the last thing we need is more American excess, whether it be on the backs of our citizenry or via large corporations. In this case, it's some of both, with some bailout companies and their employees donating thousands of dollars to the 'naug.

I know, I know. This 'naug a big deal. And because it's a big deal, we should have a big party, right? I'm told by the media that it's even bigger deal, this "'naug" as I call it, because of who will be 'nauged. What I've not heard from anyone in the media is pause for concern about all the money being spent. Specifically, I've not heard a thing about all the money that will not go to homeless shelters and soup kitchens, to funding clean water and vaccines for developing nations, to even you and I in the form of less tax. I hate to be a wet blanket, but please water down your comforter while you ponder just exactly how many people in the world won't eat today while politicos and hangers-on eat, drink and be merry in our nation's capitol.

We can be annoyed by those who are the voice of conscience. Possibly, you're annoyed by me at this point. But, you also know when something isn't right, right? As a people, we've come up with all kinds of reasons for our compromise of ideals. In fact, our own internal Jiminy Crickets, that insect of conscience, have been surpressed for so long, that they no longer chirp. In the church, we see this as well, where many large churches build even larger buildings, and pay their pastors handsomely for the skill of filling those large buildings. In some small churches, there is always a reason why help comes with strings, or is nonexistent, or pawned off on local civic organizations.

I have no problem with capitalism. The problem I have is this loss of integrity, which I discussed a few posts back. In our culture, the worst sin you can commit is disagreement. Well, as some of you know, I'm a sinner, a big sinner when it comes to this. I've not had a conscience-ectomy, and neither have you. We've just let accountability slip through our hands. It's time to grab it back.

I'm loving the mini series "John Adams" right now. Adams was concerned with right and wrong, and the rule of law, so much so that he defended British soldiers right before the Revolutionary War started. They couldn't find anyone else to defend them, being extremely unpopular as the British were, especially in Boston, where Adams resided. Adams was a principled man, however, and would not back down from an unpopular stance, if it was the right one.

He had no stomach for the mob mentality that sometimes so pervades free societies. He was the kind of man, it would seem, that would weep at social irresponsibility. When he stood beside George Washington as Washington was inaugurated, he is depicted as getting a little misty-eyed (at least in the series). Washington was another one of those guys that we sorely are in need of today, a humble, yet strong servant leader. Adams supported him, even though he was the loser in their contest. By they way, at that first inauguration, there was little pomp and only minor circumstance, the likes of which you will not see today, and, as selfishness knows no party, have not seen for a very long time.

The money bothers me because so much could be done with that amount of cash, and what could be done would make an inpact in thousands of lives. Our youth group recently bought a well for an African village. The cost of the well was $1650, and it will provide clean drinking water for an entire village. Considering the expense of 'naug, you could buy over 30,000 wells for half of what is being spent, and use the other half for a big party. Shouldn't that give pause? To me, this provides a moment of introspection that makes me ponder how the church allocates its resources.

Our lives need to be fueled by integrity and principle. We need to be the servant leaders that God has called us to be. We need to love both justice and mercy, and not allow the intimidation of disagreement to placate our sense of right and wrong. Adams traveled over Europe to win the hearts (and funds) of others to secure his new nation financially, at great personal sacrifce. For us God-followers, the example is to be strong and help others, and feel those needs deep enough that we sacrifice and act. So many times, doing what is right and being unpopular are the same thing. So what? As the Spike Lee film title reminds us, we must do the right thing.

Party affiliation here is not an issue for me. I'm not railing against the 'naug because of the party that will be in power. I don't think that either the outgoing or incoming presidents are evil or perfect. I don't have great allegiance to one party over another. Financial irresponsibility, however, seems to know no political party, and has been co-opted by no one. And, it's also nothing new. But, there are times when flawed men and women rise above the rabble, downplay their weakness and do what is needed. In the kingdom, we must be those people. Regardless of country, party or parties, this is what is required for showing people the Gospel. Not just telling, but showing. Regardless of what a bunch of politicans do, we need to love as Christ has loved, and not lose our idealism about how to do that. As Journey sings, "don't stop believin'".

Christian Lilliputians

2009-01-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

A friend's blog inspired this post. Thanks, Bake. His blog is "Hearing the Whisper". Check it out.

Back in the day when I was cool (before I was "uncommonly uncool"), I was in a couple of bands, and we played churches and small Christian festivals. I've opened up for World Wide Message Tribe (remember them? I didn't think so), and almost opened up for Code of Ethics (remember them? Again, I figured you didn't). At these shows, you'd always hear the latest and greatest CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) had to offer, either via the covers that the other bands would do, or as filler music before and after the shows.

It was the only time I listened to CCM with any regularity.

I remember Audio Adrenaline's tunes over all the others because they were played more than anyone else. It was never my cup of joe, but they had a great ministry, and some catchy tunes, and one that really got a lot of play was "Hands and Feet", as in, we are God's hands and feet. I heard they recorded a sequel called, "Ankles and Neck", but they never released it. People just don't care about ankles that much, I guess, and that's where the metaphor broke down.

The sentiment is one that I agree with, in that we're the ones who show God's love through what we do. A more unsettling thought is that we're also God's mouth in some ways. No, we don't speak for God in any official capacity, like Moses or Oral Roberts. But, we do represent Him. If our actions should show Jesus, so should our tongue sound like Jesus. As the book of James will tell you, we stink at it.

So, if we don't do or say what God desires us to, we're in effect limiting the impact that the Gospel has. No, God cannot be limited. But, He won't make us do the stuff that we should. He won't make take care of the orphan or the widow. He wants us to choose it, because it we choose it (and, by proxy, Him), He is glorified. To be clear, you and I have to move our hands and feet and mouths for God's glory, or things that honor Him simply do not get done.

So, in the post from "Hearing the Whisper", Scott talks about Sinead O'Connor's song "Out of the Depths". Yeah, she's the one with the shaved head who ripped up a picture of the Pope, and everyone got mad. Since then, she's become a Catholic priest of some kind, and her last disc, "Theology" has God and church all over it. "Out of the Depths" was inspired by Psalm 130, and in it, she expounds on this theme of God's work being limited by our, well, limits. It may not be what she meant, but the lyrics sure read like that to me. Here's a segment:

"And I've heard religion say you're to be feared
But I don’t buy into everything I hear
And it seems to me you're hostage to those rules
That were made by religion and not by U"

Now, God is not literally hostage to anyone, but the image of God, the impression of who God is, can be held hostage by those who are His, in that we can misrepresent Him to those who don't know Him. It's a very daunting task to be Christ's embassadors, and yet that is what we are, that is what He has decided should happen. 2 Corinthians 5:20a says it clearly: "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." His appeal is the Gospel, and so we should handle that appeal with all the care and conviction we can muster. Those who haven't made Jesus Lord have seen a view of God that we define by what we do, for better or worse.

It all reminds me of "Gulliver's Travels", specifically the movie version called "The Three Worlds of Gulliver", a live action version that I used to see on the Million Dollar Movie, which aired old flicks every day at 4 pm on Toledo's CBS station. Gulliver traveled lands where he was as small as an ant, or was as big as a skyscraper, depending on the locale. It was pretty impressive to me, and blew my little seven year old mind, that there were all of these little people, only as big as the finger of Gulliver, tying him down with little ropes and stakes. This, for me, is how I envision what can happen when we do a disservice to who God is, and what He does. We contain our representation of Him in an effort to control Him. We can't limit Him, but, at this point, when we've got the giant tied down, we limit what He will do through us.

Maybe because God is to big to comprehend, we try to tie up all that He is on a sandy beach so that we can define Him and make sense of Deity. We can't explain all that God is, so we represent Him in ways that we feel comfortable with. That's not how this is supposed to work, though. As for me, I don't want my hands and feet (or my words) to impede what God can do through me. I don't want my laziness or lack of understanding to stop what God is doing through others. I hope that I don't show people my version of Jesus, but just Jesus Christ, in all His glory.

Sinead O'Connor - "Out of the Depths"

I'm Only As God Made Me

2009-01-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

There is this great quote in "This is Spinal Tap" I wanted to share with you. If you're not familiar, you can read the synopsis here. And, if you're not familiar, how did you not ever end up seeing this film?

Anyway, the cover of the VHS edition of TIST had a guitar neck tied in a knot. When I visited the video rental store as a kid, I thought that was quite weird, like a movie that might be too dangerous to rent. Such is the mind of a child. I also remember the box for "Walking Tall" and "Slaughterhouse Five", because they were in the same section. This was when most video stores had a hundred titles, if that. That's how old I am.

I rented the film when I was 14. It seemed very real, except that Rob Reiner, in his post-Meathead, directorial glory, was the first guy you saw. You knew if would be fake, but it's a great fake, and has earned its cult status that is entirely warranted. You don't need me to blather on and on about it as so many people do. However, this post is about one of the more brilliant bits in the film, so I will blather about that. And, my commentary about that clip is forthcoming.

In said clip, the band is staying at a hotel (or trying to). It seems their reservations were fouled up, and they are taking it out on the front desk manager, played by "Bentley" of The Jeffersons. You remember Bentley, right? He was the upper crust British foil to George Jefferson's street wise vibrato. Anyway, after the band hurls insults at the man (insults that only washed-up rock stars would hurl), the reserved, nerdy, British front desk guy says, "I'm only as God made me, sir."

If you're like me, and I hope you're not, you've felt like saying this to people, in response to their response to your quirks or your flaws. Here's what I mean:

I've always had a bad memory, especially short term. It's been bad ever since I was a kid. I've been called aloof because of it. I've tried to remember names and schedules, even using memory tricks to do so. Most of the time, it just won't stick. I was once punished for not remembering where my Cub Scout troop met, because I had to tell my baby sitter where it was, and I couldn't remember it. I'd made the trip 20 to 30 times. My defense for my brain, with all its foible and folly, it would seem, is that it's only as God made it. After all, I've been this way ever since I can remember (I think).
Socially, I've always been clueless about how people interact with each other. Around about junior high school, I started to study how people spoke to each other, because I was tired of being the fat kid with no friends. I had to learn what was natural to other people. From the time I was a toddler, I had my personality before I knew what it was. Therefore, my personality was only as God made it.
I haven't liked any seafood since I was five years old. I want to like it, but I just can't stand it. My taste buds are only as God made them, or only as God changed them to be.

So, at this point, you may take issue and umbrage with what I've said. I say it only to say this: that we tend to credit God with doing all kinds of things that He probably didn't do, and forget the stuff that He actually did do. My biggest example of this is death: we talk as though God takes people who He needs to heaven, thereby in effect killing them. God does decide who lives and who dies, to be sure, but it was never His plan for us to die, ever. So, if you're like me (and, again, why would you be?), you wonder just how much of life is God, and how much of it is us messing up what He did.

I really hate to credit (or saddle) God with the responsibility of making me who I am, but He did. No doubt, you see your flaws and shortcomings and have tried to change them, with varied results. But, when people are critical of you, when they ostracize you or are just plain indifferent to you, they are reacting, in part, to who God made you to be. Some people will not agree with this. I am not some people. If God knew me before he formed me in the womb, he at least bears some responsibility for who I am. We might have some debate on just what parts of me He made, and what parts of me I constructed, though. In this case, it's a classic "nuture vs. nature" argument, with a whole lot of Theology thrown in.

Romans 9 tells us that God makes people for noble and ignoble purposes. A lot of people have a tough time with this passage, because it says that God makes people differently. We don't, however, talk about this verse when we talk about gifts and skills that God has blessed us with. We say that God gave someone this gift, or God gave someone that gift, and when we talk about gifts that God gives, it's always in a positive light. What if God also gives you your traits that not everyone else likes. What if God, in accordance with Romans 9, gave me a cruddy memory and a social cluelessness that would eventually make me the person that He wanted? In this scenario, God might make someone to be a lowly servant of someone else. In church world, we might like that. It sounds humble and Christlike. But, in the real world, we don't want to be anyone's lowly servant. We wouldn't want to think that the personality traits that are frustrating would come from God.

I sometimes wonder if the "bad" traits are all a part of the plan to keep us humble, and a part of the whole package of who God made us to be. It makes a lot more sense that way, because it's all very Old Testament, with God decreeing things like "the older one will serve the younger one" (Genesis 25:33). In this passage, He even says that a whole people, a whole group of people, will be stronger than the other. How would you like to be fated to be in a group of people who were weaker than another group? It seems really offensive and wrong until you remember that God knows everything, and so, even if it seems unfair, it really is fair and right. The "flaws" in us that God makes are not sinful, but what we do with them certainly can be.

In this case, making Esau submissive to Jacob was the right thing to do. Jacob was going to be the more sensitive of the two men (again, that's how God made him), wrestling with God and dealing with faith, while Esau was going to be strongheaded and irresponsible. So, as much as we carry blame for our sin and transgressions (and rightly so), some of our quirks, or our thorns in our flesh (2 Cor. 12:7), may just be Godly ones. It may also be that those people around you have "flaws" that God has placed there, maybe to keep you accountable and humble. So, think of "This is Spinal Tap" when the front desk clerk at your hotel is a clueless, bumbling fool. God loves that fool, and maybe made him that way for a reason you'll never know.

Stop It: 2009 edition

2009-01-02T08:12:00.001-08:00

2009 might be the year in which I become the stereotypical curmudgeon. Some might say I'm already there. God has been great to me and my family, to be sure. And, we really don't have any serious complaints about anything. No doubt, some will come, but, all in all, life is good. It's from this vantage point that I feel as though a few societal tweaks would make things even better. I know the economy is bad, and times are tumultuous. But, if we start small, start attacking the small problems first, we might be encouraged by our victories in these areas to tackle the big things.

It's with that in mind that I offer you my annual "Stop It" list. Actually, it's the first one, but it will be annual, because I'm sure by 2010, I'll have amassed another list of annoyances. None of these are directed at any one person. I'm not thinking of anyone in particular here. But, this is what I've seen because of my keen sense of observation and critique. You are so lucky! So, therefore, with tongue in cheek, yet without any more fanfare, here are the social trends that need to be stopped, and soon:

1. Young guys who wear their hats askew on their head.

ADMONISHMENT: You guys look like you don't know how to put a hat on. Really. Stop it.

ADVICE: Wear your hat in a way that communicates that you've actually got a brain inside the skull you're covering. I used to wear my ball caps backwards, but they were still on my head. Yours looks like it just happened to land on your head randomly, as if a bird dropped it there and you didn't notice. Girls don't think the tilted/misaligned hat is cute anyway. They like you in spite of it.

2. Being revelatory and/or cryptic on the internet (i.e., facebook, myspace, twitter)

ADMONISHMENT: Don't pour out your heart to a bunch of people who you don't really know. Don't post veiled messages that are just basically cries for attention. Really. Stop it.

ADVICE: Only talk to your close friends about what's bothering you. And, I don't care how popular you are, or how many friends you think you have, "close friends" doesn't include all of your Facebook friend list.

3. Cell phone use while I'm talking to you.

ADMONISHMENT: Don't talk to me while you're on your cell phone, either texting or calling or playing a game. Really. Stop it.

ADVICE: Do one thing at a time, thereby actually paying attention and retaining what I've told you. I promise to do the same. I don't really care if you do it to other people, but, as #3 states, just don't do it while I'm talking to you.

4. Thinking that you are the exception to the rule.

ADMONISHMENT: You don't get to have sixteen items in the the twelve items aisle in Wal-Mart just because you're you. In fact, maybe your limit should be eight. Sure, God thinks you're special, but you are not more special that someone else. Really. Stop it.

ADVICE: This applies to almost any circumstance. We already have special privileges for different classifications of people by law or social acceptance. We don't need someone else making up more of them.

5. Writing things for public consumption when you're not good at it.

ADMONISHMENT: Now, more than ever, I'm seeing bad grammar, incorrect punctuation and bad spelling. I see it on handwritten signs and notes, but I also see it in professional print. Really. Stop it.

ADVICE: Don't write copy just because someone asked you to do it. Don't use quotes to emphasize, use a line underneath the word. Sure, you'll see some mistakes on my blog, but I know the difference between "you're" and "your", and "there", "their" and "they're". Apparently, even some editor-in-chiefs do not. Sure, these travesties of writing cause me to laugh vigorously, but I'd be willing to sacrifice my joy for what is right. That's just the kind of guy I am. So, if writing isn't your gift, let someone else do it. Communication is only effective when everyone follows the rules.

Understand that Jesus loves all of the offenders described here. I love 'em, too. I'm not perfect, either. I have made social faux pas in 2008, and will do so in 2009. I ask for your pre-emptive grace, and I'll give you mine as well.

Recipe for Church, part 1

2008-12-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

Any cursory read of the new testament will let you in on just what God expects His church to do and be. For example, it's pretty obvious that loving each other is a big deal in any dynamic of a church. Also, to be a real church, you'll have to believe in God, and have people attending it, whether you're a house church or one of the "mega" flavor. There are other Biblical criteria too, which, if you're reading this blog, you probably already know.

Many times, I've blogged about all of those unwritten expectations that churches have. These expectations are almost canon, meaning that they are almost as essential to some congregations as the Word itself. They are traditions that you could take or leave, with emphasis on the "take". It also seems like there are certain necessary people in churches. You won't see too many churches without noticing that there are always certain personalities and roles that are common to most churches. Today, we're going to look at a hodgepodge of the good, bad and ugly of some of the more esoteric human ingredients of church. These are some of the people that most non-mega churches have in their ranks:

1. One Pony Tail Guy (between the ages of 40-55)
Usually these guys are bikers, or ex-bikers, musicians and/or from California, transplanted to the mid-west. They're usually in some kind of leadership role, and, in the church where they serve, you can bet that there are at least...

2. Two People Who Don't Like Long Hair on Guys
Again, you'll find 'em. And they will speak out. And they really don't like male pony tails in leadership. Also, you'll have these same people railing against piercings, tattoos and jeans in church, especially when you have...

3. A Youth Who Served Communion in Jeans and/or Shorts
And, if they're jean shorts, look out. The pitchforks and torches are not far behind. This kid loves Jesus and doesn't care what he wears when he's serving Him. Therefore, I always like this kid. Sometimes, he'll be the son of a...

4. Director
Usually of the children's variety, although sometimes worship or even youth, directors are the title churches sometimes give to women when they are overseeing a ministry. Here is where churches may play a little fast and loose with titles. It seems like a Biblical loophole almost, like God is tricked because these women don't have the title of minister, therefore they can oversee a ministry, even though they are women. And, so, God's alright with it. (No, I don't think God can be tricked. This is sarcasm. Don't send me any nasty letters! It's a joke!) As for me, I think it would be cool to have a director on staff. We could make some really cool short films! Although, the director would have to work well with....

5. The Overburdened, Unpaid Resident Tech Genius
This guy knows all, does all and wires all. There's always one, and he (or, if the person's a director, she) can power all of Altoona with a gerbil on a wheel. And, he or she can make your praise band sound like they could open for .38 Special at a county fair. Sometimes, he's also the pony tail guy, so, if you're starting a church, you can fill two positions with one person. His son or daughter is usually the...

6. Drummer for the Youth Group
This is the kid that can bring drums into your church service if you don't already have them. Pony Tail Tech Guy's kid can do no wrong, and usually they're a very low key kid, the kind that quietly loves Jesus, the kind of youth that older folks can get behind, even when the snare drum is piercing their ear drum. Usually he talks a lot with the...

7. Older Guy Who Seems Like He Should Be an Elder, But Never Will Be.
Either because he doesn't want to, or because of a lack of Biblical knowledge, or because he's got something in his past that, in the minds of leadership, disqualify him from Elding, he's not an Elder but seems like he should be. This guy is really wise, Godly, loving and has a great temperment. But he might be a member of a lodge, or can't recite the Beattitudes, or he beat up his brother in 5th grade, thereby excluding him from service. Sometimes, he just has no stomach for church politics. In this case, put him on the fast track to elder right away. He'd be a great mentor to the...

8. The Dave Matthews Wanna-Be Worship Minister.
They wear khakis and totally rock the acoustic guitar. They have a receding hair line. Very receding. They throw in really cool guitar licks during worship, but are never too showy. Often they write blogs wherein they point out the quirky aspects of church, sometimes using clever lists to do so. Once in a while, they're big fans of Elvis and have very messy offices littered with all manner of music and/or tech items or pieces thereof. They usually work with Senior ministers who either haven't heard of, or don't like, Dave Matthews.

There are more, to be sure, and I'll be posting another list soon. You should also share yours. And, if you're one of these people, let us know as well. Certainly, you've seen the same kinds of people in the churches you've been involved in. People say that God likes diversity, but I ask you, how much diversity does He really like if he puts the same kind of people in each church?

DISCLAIMER: God really does like diversity. Again, don't send me nasty letters because of my joke!

I Had a Dream, I Had an Awesome Dream

2008-12-18T06:47:00.001-08:00

I had a weird dream last night in which I was dreaming an entire church service.

When I dismissed people at the end of it, I woke up. I think I might need a break from church. As the Electric Prunes said, "I had too much to dream last night".

So this morning, I'm thinking that dreams are the only rational explanation for otherwise inexplicable behavior. Dreams make you wake up in a certain mood, depending on the dream. They might even make you wake up mad at someone who wronged you in a dream. Who knows what you might do after a particularly vivid dream?

There are a lot of song lyrics that just had to come from dreams. It's the only way they make any sense, because song context, author intent and even the body of work of the writer sometimes do not prepare the listener for some of the most whack (that's right, I said "whack") lyrics this side of "Jabberwocky".

John Lennon was very much inspired by "Jabberwocky", the well-known Lewis Carroll poem, which is an exercise in the use of language parts stringing together correct grammatical sentences that have no coherent meaning. It was this that inspired Lennon when he wrote "I Am The Walrus", and The Rutles when they wrote, "Piggy in the Middle", their wonderfully spot-on parody of "Walrus". Great songs, both of 'em. Great artists do write great free form poetry, but often they simply do not. Here, however, for your perusement and amusement, are some not-so-great "wockicized" lyrics most likely inspired by either dreams, substances or lack of talent.

-"Say you, say me, say it always, that's the way it should be" - Lionel Richie
Say what? Oh, Lionel Richie, you wrote "Brickhouse", man! What happened here?!?

-"I am, I said, to no one there. And no one heard at all not even the chair" - Neil Diamond
Neil, Neil, Neil. When I was a kid, I really thought this was a song that was saying something. As an adult, I now know that it's a song that is saying something, but what that something is no one knows, not even the chair.

-"I will understand, someday, one day, you will understand always, always from now 'til then" - Paul McCartney
Nope, sorry Sir Paul. I won't understand. Ever.

Lyrics like these make me want to swat these songwriters with a newspaper. These lyrical atrocities can only be explained by the fevered dreaming (and possibly the inpregnable ego) of musicians. Those songs that make you go "huh?" are usually catchy as all get out, and as meaningless as they are sticky in your concious mind.

The book of Joel tells us that, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions" I think in the original Hebrew manuscripts it also says that "Your washed up superstars will write spurious, cryptic lyrics and set them to tunes that the Enemy has given them. And they will be like a millstone in your brain, never leaving. And you will sing them forever and ever."

Seriously, though, dreams are a big deal in Scripture. You've got God telling people stuff in dreams, and, for your mind, dreams help you work out things and live vicariously through your subconcious. But, for all you songwriters out there, maybe you could reign it in just a little, huh?

Misty, Water-colored Memories of...Hot Fudge?

2008-12-16T06:47:00.000-08:00

I recently had a conversation about old school kids shows. Everyone started naming off the shows that they remember and, as I usually do, created a lull in the back-and-forth when I started naming shows that I really liked. "The Great Space Coaster" and "Hot Fudge" were two shows that I really liked when I was a kid. No one who I was talking to knew about them. As evidenced by my links here, I did NOT dream them! Also, for all you NW Ohio kiddies, "Patches and Pockets" was something you surely remember and watched. We all probably have our regional shows, produced on shoestring budgets by local stations. But "Space Coaster" and "Fudge" were syndicated shows. It doesn't help my case that Googling "Hot Fudge" a while ago yielded nothing, while now it will give you many entries, and many Youtube links so that you can see why I liked it: it was really trippy.

It turns out that "Hot Fudge" was a local-ish show, however, produced by channel 7 in Detroit. I can still sing the show's bumper music in my head: "Hot fudge, right on, whoa! Hot fudge, right on, comin' atcha now", and so on and so forth in that fashion. Nonsensical, sure, but the music was cool, sounding just like a great Detroit rhythm band played it, which they probably did. Now you've got mounds of yuck like "Kids Bop" for our children to hear. At least we've got "Yo Gabba Gabba" (the slightly creepy uncle of "Hot Fudge") and They Might Be Giants and BNL doing kids music. Nothing, however, as funky as "Hot Fudge", baby!

All that weird, seemingly random stuff that you and I experienced when we were kids has shaped us. Hopefully, you're still having those experiences. I did this fall when I visited Nashville's Studio B. For me, it was one of those "Hot Fudge" moments; it was something that would stick with me, ironically like so much actual hot fudge.

Studio B hosted all kinds of country artists. In the 1960's it was the place Elvis Presley preferred to record, because it was only a few hours from his home in Memphis. There is a piano in that studio that Elvis tried to buy on several occasions because of its amazing sound. The studio would not sell it to him. My son, Dylan, asked if he could play the piano. He did not know this, but, I, too, really wanted to play it. Sure, it's a tenuous connection with greatness, but one I would have loved to experience. I'm not quite sure of all the reasons why I feel so right when I'm involved with music, but it feels like breathing to me. And, playing that piano would have been like breathing in some great, home-baked cookies.

I can't remember what movie this quote is from, but there's an older man telling a younger man that "at the end of life, all you have are the experiences". There's some great Bible in that quote, namely that, when you face the, well, face of God, all you'll have is the stuff you did or didn't do. All you'll have are the experiences.

We had a weekend of service in our student ministry this past Saturday and Sunday. We served at a church who gives out free breakfast on Saturdays (and they do food distribution on Sundays), and then we collected cans for our local food bank on Sunday night, with forty students trudging through the winter and, toward the end, the rain, to collect food for people who need it. No doubt some of them will remember these experiences, and for a few, it may shape their world view. They chose to have good experiences this last weekend, experiences that they can be proud of when Jesus asks for their account of what went down. Whether it's "Hot Fudge", Studio B or serving people food, use your time wisely, and go for the good experiences that shape you, and shape your eternity. Why waste your time on anything else?

Check out some "Hot Fudge" goodness

The Endangered Species List

2008-12-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

Really, I'm talking about the species of human characteristics. It's an inappropriate usage of the term "species", I know. I'm also not talking about the film "Species", or its subsequent sequels. Yep, I said "sequels". It seems that the concept of this film was so good, that there just had to be two sequels.

I don't recommend the film, or its subsequent spawn in any way. No artistic merit. No great acting. But, shockingly, it stars Ben Kingsley. Ben did bail for "Species II" and "Species III", although I'm sure when number VII comes around, he'll be all like, ready for it and stuff.

Really, what I'm talking about here is the death of integrity. It's no great shock that some of our political leaders have none. It's been a week of reviewing what we think we already know about politicians: that they are in it for themselves. Not "public service", as they themselves term it, but self-service. I don't think they are all living their lives in office in this manner, but the recent charges against (and taped recordings of) Illinois' governor reiterate our concerns, to be sure.

Really, though, it saddens me that integrity is falling by the wayside, like it was a fashion trend that's now gauche. And, let me say that I really am genuinely sad. I can't figure out why it's becoming increasingly acceptable to cheat and lie as a part of our discourse and lifestyle. It doesn't have to be like this. Being nice, treating people right, having respect and healthy pride in what you do and how you live all seem to be going the way the Panda. They're still around (albeit in short supply), but they're not interested in having any baby pandas, and that pesky prowling lion (you know, the guy with the horns), is looking to devour the ones that make it.

God would say that there's nothing new under the sun, and He'd be right, because He's God. But, for us, for our generation, we've got to kick it up a notch with integrity. We've settled for corruption and apathy, when we should have settled for nothing less than our idealism. No, perfection can't be obtained on earth, but when did we stop even trying?

I Love the Laptop Lunch. Cards, on the other hand...

2008-12-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

You say you don't know what a laptop lunch is? Well, let me tell ya...

You go to lunch with someone, but bring your laptop because the place you're going has Wi-Fi. It's excellent. And, unlike some lunches, there's no social pressure to fill all the time you'll be around the other people. Right now, I'm having a laptop lunch with my wife. I like to talk to her, so I'm not using the computer as an impetus for ignoring her.

WARNING: It's really only appropriate if all of you bring your laptop. Then, you can drift in and out of conversations, and you finally have a valid excuse for your short attention span.

Over this lunch (and all the interweb surfing), my wife and I are chatting about Christmas cards. And cards in general. We tend to think that e-mailing (or better yet, speaking in person) is better than wasting all the money, paper and energy picking out a card. Cards are alright sometimes, for sure, but, as a society, we're a little card happy.

Let me tell you how my position on cards made some people mad.

I'll just flat out say it, and then you'll think I'm terrible, and then we'll move on. Sound good? Good.

We had hundreds of people at our wedding. For all of those that helped, I made a point to personally thank each and everyone who came and/or helped. I mean really, in person, hand shaking and hugging, I thanked them. I did this because I knew that we probably would not send "thank you" cards, because I've never really been big on cards. I genuinely felt (and still do feel) that an in-person thank you means more. And, although I do send cards on occasion, I do so not out of duty or expectation, but because I really mean it. I don't have a Christmas card list for this very reason.

I do, however, love getting updates from families, who send those in place of cards. I like cards for monetary gifts, and, when I give them, they usually accompany a card. But, again, the impetus for the card is not social expectation, but a genuine expression of love and caring.

I do like playing cards, gift cards, being a card (that means being funny, for all of you under 40), and I'm mostly indifferent to Andrew Card, former White House chief of staff.

So, I payed a price for not sending "thank you" cards. Some people were upset, I found out later. I suppose you do suffer for not doing what society expects you to do. I suppose that you could make the case that this is how society communcates thanks, via cards. I understand, and from time to time, I'm sure I'll send a few. I do write them when I really want to thank someone, and I personalize them, by writing about the specific thing that I am thankful for.

I shall now tell you that I don't have any issues with getting cards (especially with gift cards for Best Buy in them), or other people sending cards. You might even get one from me. But, rest assured, if you do get one from me, I'll mean it.

Saddened, Not Surprised

2008-11-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

I came across this blog:

Letters From Leavers

As in, letters from people who have left the church.

Sure, there's a bit of "I didn't get my way"-ism on this site, but, for the most part, the issues that the writers have are the flaws in the church that have frustrated me since I began in full-time ministry. Sadly, many of the writers have also left God, to which I say this: His followers are not Him. Idiots though we may be, we are not always great representatives of our Lord. This begs the question of God's existence for some, which makes sense. After all, if His people can't really get it together, is He really around?

The problem is that pastors and church leaders dismiss those questions out of hand. We shouldn't. Nor should we be confrontational or be "faith mechanics" and try to "fix" it. We should do what this ex-church (and ex-Christian) person suggests, and actually listen.

For me, the matter of confusion is simple: why can't the church just be the church? Why does it seem to be so hard? As I scanned the letters, I saw people talking about behavior that was like a church in a mash up with a Junior high school: cliques, back biting, power and popularity posturing, and integrity and compassion issues. I'm increasingly discouraged by the state of the church as it worms its way around explicit instruction from Jesus on how to treat each other. There always seems to be an excuse for why we don't have to do what Jesus said. Is that really something that you or I want to stay on board with? Should we be somewhat scared that this is not what walking the narrow path looks like?

A Real Faith Twister, Courtesy of Art Tatum

2008-11-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

So, I'm starting on this new blog with a post about Art Tatum. Hopefully, you'll all redirect your browsers here to read great, yet munificent, posts about God and music. And they'll be other stuff, you know.

I'll keep it brief, which is not my strong suit. I've used my myspace blog the last few years as an exercise to compile a book, and I think I've written enough material to edit it and perhaps shop it around. So, I'm starting here with a new kind of blog. This blog will be for new posts, long and short, about this and that, and it will move to and fro, and it will say things big and small.

Art Tatum was a great piano player. And from Toledo, Ohio, too. He was blind in one eye, and could barely see out of the other. This is not a clever turn of phrase, but fact: if he got real close to ya, he might be able to figure out who you were via the one eye that still somewhat worked. Above all, he could play. Man, could he play.

When people first heard him in New York City outside of clubs, they assumed, I'm sure, that they were hearing two or three pianos at once. On record, he got much the same reaction. Film of his performances show an effortless gliding up and down the keyboard, as if programmed to do so without flaw. He'd be able to play a tune after only hearing once, and then he'd play it with embellishments and ad libs, as if he know the core of the tune so well that he could play with it, rearrange it on the spot. Genius is known instantly, usually.

He didn't play spiritual tunes, or hymns or anything of the kind. His opinions of faith not really known or discussed. After all, he's not known for such things. But, people like this make me wonder, bring me to question. I don't question my belief in God or anything like that. I question why He does what He does. He has created all of us, if you believe it, and I do. This means He made Art Tatum. This means He made Art Tatum to have this amazing skill, at least in my mind, because, it's so uncannily good, great even. It's evidence of God, just like the birth of a child, or the banana, according to Kirk Cameron. Art Tatum is my banana. He proves God to me.

But, there's a hitch. Tatum's life didn't necessarily exemplify the Christian life. He was a heavy drinker. His song choices were not explicitly or implicitly about God; they seemingly were devoid of much, if any, spirituality. My question about all this is: how does God see that? How does God view His creation living this way? Why would He give such an obviously God-manufactured gift to someone who would not use it for Him? Or, do we have a narrow definition of what brings glory to God? And, what do you think about all of this?

I'd like to know...

So quietly he sounds the division bell...

2008-11-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

I'll be starting this blog up as my main blog. No more MySpace bloggging. Looking forward to more posts, and mostly shorter posts from now on. Get ready to dig all that is uncool!

Coming Back from Deadman's Curve

2007-06-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

For the last seven years, I've been recording songs that I write on multi-track software. I've got about 50 songs that are more or less done. I do this not because people want to hear it (they don't) or because I'm such a great songwriter (I'm not) but because I just enjoy the shear creation of playing all the instruments, laying on vocals and singing harmony with myself. It keeps me well-practiced and picky about what I play, in a good way. It helps me work out other problems through my expression of those problems through song. Music=good.

My son, an extremely musical four year old, was listening to a mixdown of one of those songs this morning, and said, "You make good music, Dad." It almost brought a tear to the guitar-playing nerve center of my mind. Did I mention that my son can also keep an actual, solid beat on the drums? Did I mention that the song he was listening to was pretty heavy, and that he likes pretty loud, heavy music? Did I mention that I really like this kid?

I was reading an article recently that talked about why people are so passionate about music. Music fills an entirely different space in the brain than verbal skills, and that the music we so love is engrained into our gray matter like a veteran's memorial plaque in front of a county courthouse. It's no wonder that when I've had pain from people, I turn to music. When I've given pain to people, I do the same. The music that we love is a port in a tempest, a rock in the middle of chaos.

When I was in grade school, I saw a movie about surf music legends Jan and Dean called "Deadman's Curve". The title itself is a spoiler, and the movie fascinated me. Even then the whole recording process, the lifestyle of musicians and creating music enthralled me. This above-average made for TV film told the story of Jan and Dean's rise to the top of the charts with surf music, even predating the Beach Boys. They had big hits including "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Surf City".

They were on the downswing in 1966, releasing weird albums like "Filet of Soul" and "Jan and Dean meet Batman" when Jan took Deadman's curve too fast, and skidded, out of control and suffered serious brain injury and partial paralysis. Eerily revisiting their hit of the same name, gives this story a sense of great irony, with Jan and Dean singing the refrain "You won't come back from Deadman's Curve", except for the fact that Jan Berry did come back from it. It was arduous and difficult, but he did it.

In the film, Jan is seen in a recording studio after the accident. He can't talk very well; he stutters and stammers while talking to the recording engineers. But, then he sings. No longer is his speech stilted, but fluid. Watching this movie on our monster white, 1970's Zenith amazed me. I remember thinking, "music can do that? Music must be a big deal, then." To which I still concur. Much like Homer Simpson musing on the power of donuts, I say, "Is there anything music can't do?"

The Jan and Dean story is a good one that ends well. Although Jan battled drug addiction, he toured with Dean up until his death in 2004. Night after night, at county fairs and oldies shows, he spoke the recitation part of "Deadman's Curve":

Well, the last thing I remember, Doc, I started to swerve

And then I saw the Jag slide into the curve

I know I'll never forget that horrible sight

I found out for myself that everyone was right:

And then the vocals kick in:

Won't come back from Deadman's Curve!

Part of the Jan Berry story is that he was musical genius behind the duo. He wrote the songs, and before the accident, was a very in-demand producer. Music was a big deal to him. It wasn't just another career move, like it is for so many famous-for-being-famous people that sing because they have a hit movie or a rich daddy.

Music is important, so important that, among God's chosen people, God chose to have musicians. Given the fact that the Israelites had to work hard for their food, couldn't those musicians just have worked, and play on their own time? No, no, says God. I want them to play because that's why they're here, that's why I made them.

I know that if my son decides to become a musician, he will no doubt feel the sting of working hard for something that other people don't always understand. He'll probably play gigs where no one shows up, make CD's that nobody buys, and write songs that nobody hears. That's where I'm hoping he doesn't end up like his dad. But, again like his dad, he might get the experience of being the lead worshipper for God's people. He might get to feel those moments when music transcends the situation or the written or spoken word. He might get to wonder quietly, "music can do this?" I would not mind that at all.

Willow and the Miller Man

2007-06-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm going to break with tradition this week, and talk about something recently personal. Don't get excited. I'm not revealing some dark, salacious secret or anything. I still keep all those things locked up tight...

But, I did want to share a little about the Willow Creek arts conference that I attended last week. I wanted to do this because attending it gave me a wonderful perspective and encouragement to do what I should be doing.

One of the things I learned was that blogs are not supposed to be long. Yes, I am a big, fat loser who cannot follow rules. I still can't color right, so what do you expect?

Being gathered around a group of artists, you understand right away that God has made you a certain way, and you figure that out because He's made a lot of other people the same way, too. I think it also gave me the seal of approval to do work that I do well. I've spent some of the time of my ministry watering down my passions so that I could keep a job. I've also decided, on occasion, not to do something because it was easier not to do it. I've made decisions based on ease, and not on effectiveness. Shame on me. When did I ever think that was alright?
I realized that when I can't be creative, I shut down. And it's not some self-serving, I've-got-to-have-it-my-way thing, it was who God made me to be. We rarely would tell pastors to adapt a different preaching style so that they can conform to the style of a specific church. It is an absurd request because their style is who they are. That's where it comes from. I seriously doubt that most people who preach could change their stye even if they desired to do so. The same is true for artists in the church: you can't do the square peg in a round hole thing with them, either. It's not that they're not willing, it's just that they really can't do it. It would be like telling a podiatrist to become a neurologist. The shoe would really be on the wrong brain, then.
Don't misunderstand, I can be flexible. But, in the right environment, you're not called upon with regularity to be flexible on your giftedness. I might be willing to lead worship with a kazoo, but it certainly isn't what I do well, and, at this point at least, it's not what God made me to do. This is the key, I believe. And this leads me into Alex Chilton.

You've probably heard something by Alex Chilton. Possibly you've heard his mega-hits from the '60's with his band the Box Tops. Their two biggest, "The Letter" and "Cry Like a Baby", are shinning examples of white, R&B pop. They're also really good songs. If you're not familiar with those tunes, you probably know "In The Street" by his band Big Star. No, you say? Well, "In The Street" is the theme song to "That 70's Show". The Replacements also immortalized him in song, writing a tune called (of course) "Alex Chilton". The Bangles covered his song, "September Gurls." Some way, you probably have some connection with him, not Kevin Bacon.

When Alex began in the Box Tops, he sang with a low gruff almost like a seasoned blues artist, even though he wasn't even old enough to vote. Their songs, mostly from other songwriters, and their recordings, usually backed by studio musicians instead of the band, were not all their own. After being sucked dry by managers and record labels (and after the hit singles started to wain), Alex Chilton had enough. His vocal chords probably couldn't take it anymore, anyway.

A couple years pass, and Chilton forms a band with Chris Bell called Big Star. If you've ever heard them, you hear how unlike his former voice Chilton sounds. Even to this day, after many years of listening to all three Big Star albums, I can hardly believe it's the same guy. Sure, the Big Star discs didn't light up the charts, but many groovy (or at one time groovy) artists and bands list Big Star as big influence, including REM, Cheap Trick, Elliot Smith and, yes, the Replacements. They did power pop before almost anyone else.

Yes, it was the Box Tops who had big hits, and receive, to this day, much more airplay than Big Star ever did even in their prime. They tour the oldies circuit, probably more for the money than anything else. Chilton admited once that the reason why he put a Big Star reunion together was for the cash, pure and simple. But it's Big Star who is counted among the influences of equally good artists, and it's Big Star who created something original. There's got to be a lesson in there somwhere.

Pro-life types (like me) love to quote Jeremiah 1:5a: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." Good enough. But for artists, and everyone else trying to figure out why they're here on the planet, the rest of the verse tells you. God is talking to Jeremiah here, and tells him that "before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." So, God makes people a certain way to do certain things before they ever even see daylight? And if you need more evidence, take me. I can't get enough of playing guitar, listening to music and getting lessons from art. I mean, I've been playing guitar for twenty years, and I never get sick of it. How in the world can this be? Well, it's engrained in me like breathing and eating. Just like a garbage truck is made to pick up garbage, I was made to play guitar for God.

Rick Warren sold more books than the Bible telling us the exact same thing, to which I reply "well, duh!" I think I'll capitalize on it (although it's a little late) and write a book called "God Made You To Do Something" by my pen name, Captain Obvious. More books in the series will have titles like, "Love is Lovely", "Sticking a Fork in Your Eye Hurts" and "Corn Dogs Taste Good." I tell you the truth, such revelation has not ever been had by human kind before.

At the conference, Donald Miller talked about writing your story, your life. He talked about writing a screenplay for "Blue Like Jazz", and then asked the question if your life would make a good story, a good movie. If you were saving up to buy a Volvo for five years, and then end of the story is that you bought the Volvo, no one would pay to go see it, right? (Of course, people have paid good money to watch two guys go to eat at White Castle, so, Mr. Miller may be off base here...) He then shared the story of a friend of his trying to build a thousand wells in Africa so that people have clean drinking water. Immediately, I know that I would go see the African Wells story over the Volvo story. It's not even a contest. And although he didn't say it explicitly, a life well-lived makes an interesting, inspiring story. A self-absorbed, easy life is as boring as watching a miniature golf tournament on ESPN 27
.
As you would think, putting a thousand wells of water in Africa is extremely difficult. But that doesn't really matter to the woman who is trying to do it, because it's what she was made to do. A car doesn't ask why it has to take all these fat Americans to McDonald's once again, for example (except maybe the car from "Knight Rider".) The car just does it. That's what some people in Detroit on an assembly line manufactured it to do. I've just got to remember that I have to do what I'm made to do, or I'll totally implode. I've got to do that stuff that God wired me to do. And that is to be a Jesus-loving, guitar-playing, wife-loving, child-raising, artsy-fartsy, right-brained goofball, bi-polar nut. I would not have it any other way.

JESUS CHRIST by Big Star
Angels from the realms of glory
Stars shone bright above
Royal David's city
Was bathed in the light of love
Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born
Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born

Lo, they did rejoice
Fine and pure of voice
And the wrong shall fail
And the right prevail

Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born
Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born
And we're gonna get born now.

It's Urgent, I Tell Ya!

2007-03-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

In 1991, I had the distinct opportunity to be one of the few people who saw the band Foreigner with their (at the time) new lead singer, Johnny Edwards. Lou Gramm, the voice behind such classics as "Urgent", "Double Vision" and "I Want To Know What Love Is" had left the band for a solo career, having a couple of hits and then fading into obscurity for a time. Tickets had been adverstised to be discounted, which is always the last refuge of a band on the downturn with an arena to fill.

The failure of both the new Foreigner and Gramm led to a new willingness to work together (surprise, surprise), and a couple of years later, I was privleged to see them again, for free, in downtown Toledo. Off they went into the 90's and beyond, playing county fairs, biker rallies and bar-mitzvas and remembering, I'm sure, their glory days of the late 70's and 80's.

Seeing a band with a new lead singer is like a Brady Bunch reunion show without the original Marsha; it's like Speed 2 with Jason Patrick instead of Keanu Reeves; it's like Van Halen with Sammy: something's not white in the milk. It might be adequate or even good or great, but it's not right. It's not a fit.

Speaking of Van Halen, one time I interviewed at a church, and the youth minister asked me, jokingly, "Sammy or Dave"? As everyone knows, the correct answer is "Dave", so that's what I said. I'm going to shock everyone by saying, though, that they are two different bands, and you can't compare the two. I didn't say that in this interview, though. I knew better. Answering "Dave" was my ticket to Coolsville. But isn't there a point when you stop giving the "right" answers, and start giving your answers? God made me to be this way, to think this way, to live as an individual under the His Son's lordship.

I knew that this small betrayal of my heavy metal heart would end badly: during the course of interview, I realized that they wanted me to incorporate their newly purchased organ with contemporary worship. That's fine if that's what they wanted. It's far better if they felt like that's what God wanted. I have no problem with it. But it wasn't right for me. And not only was it not right for me, but I was not equipped to do such a thing, and would have no passion for it.
I should have known that their dogmatic, Dave-only stance was a precursor of the inflexibility and set-in-their-ways mentality. The next time you interview for a church, see where they stand on the Van Halen lead singer issue. It will tell you a lot.

When you see successful bands break up, actors not sign on for multi-million dollar sequels, or people resign from lucrative jobs, us middle class schlubs tend to balk. Why would you do that? Why would you quit when you are doing so well? It's very simple, really. The heart wants what it wants. Or, to phrase it in a Godly way, the heart wants what God made it to want. After you dig through all the human, fleshly desires (which is quite a difficult and never-ending process), you find that God designed you to live a certain way, to like certain things, to be passionate about what He wants you to be passionate about.

So often with matters of faith, we embrace a stance either pro or con. We feel much of the time that God and His holiness is served by strong reactions to behavior (usually sinful behavior), and that being able to give a correct answer is what will fix the world. Our "fixing" usually ends up costing us and others dearly, putting burdens on people that they (and we) cannot carry. Only rarely do our strong reactions come out of obedience to God's word. So many times, our strong stance comes from personal opinion on issues where God has been silent. I'm beginning to think His silence was on purpose. After all, it was for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1) God's kingdom is a buffet, not a hot dog vendor. You just need to find out if you're the peas, salisbury steak or fruit salad. Or a mix of all of these things on some little kid's plate.

We long for definition. We want people to fit in our box. But, you're not going to cram me into a box unless your doing it with your leatherbound NIV. After all, "who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." (Romans 14:4) Go see what the Big Guy has to say (and what He wrote in His book), and then we can talk.

Sometimes being who God made you to be might mean bucking conventional wisdom. And it can be tough. A lot of the time, being who God made you to be means standing for what His word really says (and doesn't say), as opposed to buckling under the pressure of what someone else thinks God's word meant to say. Being yourself in Christ isn't relativistic; on the contrary, it will make you have more respect and be more adherent to His word than ever. But a lot of that adherence equals freedom. And, while there are a lot of ways that God made us different, our commonality is found not so much in our millenial views of Revelation or (insert hot docrtinal debate here) but in our integrity, honesty and love.

I always read the liner notes on CD's. I guess I'm nosy that way, and I'm always looking for connections to other bands, or even, at times, people that I know personally. Reading the liner notes of Christian pop-metal band Petra's "Praise 2", I found a gem: Lou Gramm credited with singing "When will the world see that we need Jesus?" The notes went on to encourage Gramm to stand boldly for his faith, something you rarely see in a tri-fold, four-color pastiche of song lyrics, self-aggrandizing band photographs and thanks for every yahoo who ever lifted a single piece of the band's equipment. But Petra's lead singer used it to encourage. I realize now that, for Lou Gramm, leaving and rejoining a band was probably a part of his Journey, so that he could stay away from the river Styx at all costs, and so that his life would not be some Cheap Trick, but an (REO) Speedwagon to heaven.

2007-03-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

This Church Goes to Eleven

"If the sun refused to shine,
I would still be loving you.
Mountains crumble to the sea,
There would still be you and me."
- Led Zeppelin

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
-1 Corinthians 15:58

In a display of the irony of first world/third world contrast, Phil Collins appeared at 1985's Live Aid not once but twice. In two different places. He had to fly a jet to appear at stadiums Wembley and JFK, respectively. He sang as a solo artists in England, then flew across the pond and drummed for Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin (!) in Philly. There is some great irony in the excess of flying half way around the world to sing for starving children. Very rarely do paradox and incongruity meet, embrace, and get married via a balding pop superstar. But, there was a time, my friends. Oh yes, there was a time...

That Phil drummed for Led Zeppelin might seem like a sidebar until you understand what a difference there is between him and John Bonham (nickname: Bonzo), the Zep drummer who died in December of 1980. John was everything that, today anyway, Phil is not. John was bombastic. He lived large. He never wrote a song for a Disney film. He never sung about not being able to dance. He never expended large amounts of jet fuel to play a show that was a benefit for kids who didn't have a bowl of oatmeal, let alone jet fuel, let alone a jet to put that fuel in and to eat their oatmeal on.

I don't want to be too critical of ol' Phil. Sometimes, people get caught up in the moment, and mistakes are made. So, if you like Phil Collins, I'm sorry. Put on your Yanni CD and relax. This blog post will be over soon. It'll be alirght.

I like a lot of motion around me. Sometimes I observe this motion, and sometimes I partake. But I like to know there is a lot going on. It comforts me. I get more work accomplished when there is more work to do. I thrive on it. I usually languish, however, when there isn't enough to keep me occupied. It's probably why I really like it when God's people are doing something, and I really, really like it when God is doing something. I like it very much when I'm moving, too. And I become very disgruntled when people complain, and then sit on their hands. Don't look now. There is a metaphor for the church coming that will smack you up side the head if you're not careful.

And it's an easy metaphor. Get out. Get out of your bubble. Get out of your comfort zone, think outside the box, shift the paradigm and insert your overused business-speak phrase here. After you've done all that thinking and shifting, contemplate the life of Mr. John Bonham.
Born in England, John started drumming on tin cans at age 5. He copied his idols Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich when he got his first proper drum kit at age 14. He'd play with bands while working with his father in construction. He eventually met up with Robert Plant, who met up with Jimmy Page, and the rest is deafening history.

He used the longest and heaviest drum sticks available, which he called "trees". He beat the crud out of his drums at every performance, and mastered different musical styles when called upon to do so by the songwriting of Plant and Page. He was the first drummer to use synthesized drums on stage. He also lived the true, stereotypical rock star lifestyle, cutting a swath of destruction and leaving a path strewn with liquor bottles. But, whatever he did, good or bad, smart or stupid, he did with everything he had, with every ounce of energy. It was, we might say, extreme behavior.

In a time when extremists are very bad people, we forget that "extremists" (people with serious passion and tenacity) can be good, too. A better word for this kind of life might be "focused." There was another guy named John that lived a focused life, eating only wild honey and locusts, wearing camel's hair clothing, and preached in a desert. Why couldn't he just do it like everyone else had? Well, does history ever remember anyone who lived like everyone else did? Take it home and frame it: history (and you and I) remember the exceptions to the rule. You don't win friends with salad, and you don't win friends by calling them a brood of vipers, either. But they will remember you…

Those of us who are faithing it sometimes think we have absolutely nothing to learn from the world. We really think we have nothing to learn from famous actors and musicians, but seem to use their product at every turn for sermon illustrations and musical backdrops. Sure, some of that behavior is down right annoying and pompous (I could do without the protesting and testifying before Congress, for example), but there is plenty to garner from those ultra-liberal, left-brained, artsy-fartsy, namby-pamby and….I've run out of dashes. But you get the point: education is where you find it.

Yes, John Bonham lived an erratic life. Yes, he did indulge in behavior that was reckless and sinful. God grieves when His creation doesn't live the way He intended, the way He created us to live. I'm not endorsing the behavior, but the spirit by which it was born. Please don't miss the point if you're focused on the flaws and sin of someone. I don't intend to gloss over it; it's just not the point that I'm making. The big picture here is that we need to live the life that is vital, its pulse pounding with the energy of the truest, Good-est News that ever was. As Paul said, "always give yourselves fully." The church, like John Bonham, needs to live a life that goes to 11.
If you don't know what that last sentence means, go rent "This Is Spinal Tap."

2007-03-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Transitioning

I'm going to try to switch over here from my myspace blog. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition. If not, you can still find it over there if you prefer. OK? I also registered at Technorati, and here's the link:

Technorati Profile

2007-03-01T12:07:00.001-08:00

The Theology of Adam Ant

As a child, I remember hearing (and being called on occasion) "goody two shoes". This phrase refers to someone who is a self-righteous, smugly virtuous person. Its origin is a children's book called The History of Goody Two-Shoes, written by Oliver Goldsmith, and published in 1765 by John Newbery, who was a publisher of children's stories. The main character, who, of course, was named Goody (this was England, after all), owned only one shoe. When she was given a pair of them, she was so pleased that she showed them to everybody, saying "Two shoes". Thusly, this now-antiquated phrase was born.

You don't really hear this phrase too much any more. But you will if you turn on any station that's playing 80's music. You'll hear Adam Ant crooning about a moralistic prude in his song titled, would you believe it, "Goody Two Shoes". And you'll think of my blog. I'll take it as a compliment.

This weekend, I attended a church leadership conference in middle of the frozen tundra that the middle of Illinois has become as of late. Two speakers discussed how to be "missional", a term which basically means to meet people where they are at; speak their language, play their music, hang out where they hang out, etc. Para-church organizations send out missionaries who eat the food, dress in the clothes, and become totally immersed in, the culture in which they are working. The American church doesn't usually do this. The American church, sadly, creates its own sub-culture and hopes that the rest of the community around it will change their culture to fit ours. It ain't gonna go down like that.

I believe that us church-type people do this, this separation, because we don't want to sin. We want to do what God wants us to do. Without even thinking about it, we cloister ourselves away in our Christian community. The big problem seems to be that followers of Christ seem to forget from whence they came. Those who do come to Christ are assimliated into our church culture, the rest of the world be damned, literally. And as I sat in the conference (as I do in many conferences), I started to brainstorm and write down how I could do what was being talked about, what I've been talking about since I got into ministry.

And what I've been talking about is authentic community. I didn't always phrase it that way, but the deluge of emergent/postmodern Christian authors in the past few years teaches the lesson I've said right along side these writers. I want to hang out and talk about God, and all the subsequent conversations that emanate from talking about God. No pretense. No ritual for the sake of ritual. I want to sit on someone's couch, listen to Phish and Mute Math, and talk about God. I want to go to the Texas Roadhouse, eat steak, and talk about God. I want to play guitar (a lot) with a bunch of other people and break into a time of worship, singing old hymns, new worship songs, and extemporaneous tunes with simple words that express how great God is. I want to go to church and do different kinds of activities, see videos and paint pictures that express something about how we can live better for God. I want to have mind-blowing discussions and long, awesome prayer times with elders, church staff, and everyone else. I want to go to McDonald's and just love people and show 'em Jesus. Not by preaching, but by not getting mad when they get my order wrong. I want to have stuff at church that isn't inherently churchy or civic, like an all-day music festival with local acts, where we're not worried about every word sung or said, but rejoicing that a bunch of people who couldn't give a rip about God or church are in your church. Isn't that something to be happy about?

Sometimes we're so worried about our doctrine that we're losing our heart in the process. We want everything programmed so that no one says a wrong word, or does a wrong thing. We throw out programs that don't reach enough people, cost too much, or don't benefit our organization. I should know. I've been a part of some of those decisions. It's amazing that, as always, the Bible seems to have a different view: "It's not the Lord's Supper you are concerned about when you come together. For I am told that some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Is this really true? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace the church of God and shame the poor?" (1 Corinthians 11:20-22) I, Lloyd, will now ask you, the reader, to note several things from this passage.

First, Paul isn't so concerned about people getting drunk. Getting drunk is not good, but that's really only a small part of his point. His big-picture, kingdom-thinking is that you can't crowd others out when you are partaking the Lord's Supper. That's not showing love.
Second, Paul doesn't tell them that they better just stop the whole thing. He isn't ready to throw the people out, either. He sees this as a teaching moment, when he can share what Jesus' expectations are when we gather around His table. And all of His expectations have to do with taking care of the spiritual needs of yourself and those around you. That is showing love.
Third, Paul mentions disgracing the church of God. But his concern isn't about how the church looks, but about how God looks. If His people look bad by themselves, that isn't that big of a deal. We're not perfect, and we will inevitably screw something up, and people will see it. But don't make the Father look bad. I say this because God can use your imperfection; He usually has to, because that's all He has to work with. So, even if you look bad, do whatever you can to make sure that God doesn't. God can use even your stupidity to bring glory to Him. Many opportunities to teach and talk about God come out of our imperfection and sin. God is the original guy who could make lemonade out of our rotting lemons.

Paul didn't lay waste to everyone and everything. He tweaked it, and did so in a stern, yet loving, way. He was not interested in a list of rules, but how to love. These two things are so very different that it's hard to believe how many Christians have missed this very point. Especially in light of our history (Jewish Law), and the blatant clash between Jesus and the Pharisees, how do we continually miss this boat?

My life's mission is not to be a "goody two shoes", or a pair of moral Dr. Marten loafers. The point of the song seems to be that people who are so picky about the behavior of others are usually hiding some sin of their own. It gives us a view of how people who don't love Jesus see those of us that do. But, there is a far better way to live. I want to discuss and listen and learn so that people like Adam Ant (even if he is a one hit wonder) won't see me as a preachy egotist, but someone who's trying to live for God and figure out how to continually do that. That won't happen until I hang out with people and live their life. Not the sin part, of course, but I think that's assumed. Most of us are doing this anyway, but doing so under cover of darkness because we think we're not allowed to. We hide our more edgy secular CD's, and are selective about who we talk to about movies we've seen and liked. We order wine with our dinner only when we're out of town. We stay away from "bad" places and events not because we're tempted by a lifestyle (which is a good reason to stay away), but because we're concerned about what our fellow Christians might think. I've got news for everyone: those places need His light. Get your butt in there, already, and shine for God. One of the speakers at the conference said that we should "look like the world, but not live like the world." I couldn't agree more.

2006-04-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

So, my wife and I are myspacing it now. And, we've re-met some people we've not seen in a while. I put a couple of my own songs on my page because I personally like them, along with a big list of stuff you like. So, while I did the profile, I was thinking: I'm sure there's a great temptation to project an image on something like myspace. I'm not just talking about high school students posing as adults, but everyone. When you make your list, you make sure that you have the right, cool books or bands or whatever so that people we know that you know what's up. And it's a double-edged sword. Because if you say that you don't know about or haven't heard of this or that author or band, then get ready to be told that you should know about it, and then subsequently prepare to be schooled and condescended to. Strap yourself in.

After all, don't you want people to have a certain opinion about you? I think I do, but I also know I am totally clueless about what people really think of me. This is not a good thing when you are in the ministry. And while I think I have a clue about other aspects of interpersonal communication, I am bereft of any knowledge about what opinion anyone else has of me. It's been true about me forever. You tend to hear people saying that they do not care what anyone else thinks of them. Usually this means that they want to behave badly, and do care what people think. They are just manipulating people to have the opinion of them that they want. Some people love to be a constant source of potstirring. Some people love to get you upset. So, they actually do care what you think because they want you to think badly of them. You can get a lot of attention that way. It tends to be a very twisted, symbiotic relationship, with co-dependence on independence and narrowmindedness, respectively.

Other times, people just want to do something because they like it. I used to have long hair (still would if I had any hair left), earrings, etc, back when this was slightly controversial. I dressed a certain way because I liked it, and again in keeping with my cluelessness, had no idea that people cared what I wore or what I looked like. It never would occur to me, because I don't care what people wear or how they look.

I think there are parts of Christianity that are very hard depending on your personality type. For people who crave rules, "loving God and loving people" becomes a set of rules. For people who eschew rules, there are no standards for loving God and loving people. We always see God through our eyes, and it takes a lifetime of living for Him to even start to get them focused right. We also spend much of our lives trying to refocus someone else's eyes so that they see us the way they want. Instead of projecting an image (or projecting our image onto God), might I suggest for myself and everyone else that we just take it the way it is. If we're not very loving, don't make God not loving. Instead, admit that you're not very loving and let God work on you. Maybe you could even admit that to other people so that they could help you figure it out.

2006-03-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

It's fascinating to me how the path to understanding what Jesus wants to see in us is trod simultaneously and yet independently. Every once in a while, I'll talk to a friend I haven't talked to in quite a while, and when we start to talk about where we're at with Jesus, it amazes me that we have figured out some of the same things. I'm sure part of it is the commonality that we had that made us friends in the first place, but there is something more, too. It's how God reveals Himself to each generation, and I've believed for a long time that He meets people where they are at, where their culture is, and so you have different social reactions to the Gospel that comes in generational waves. I think that a lot of it is correct or right, but it is different. There was a generation that related to God in a suit and tie and with hymns. Nothing wrong with that. Now there is a generation that relates to God in a different way. One day, I'm sure that all of us thirty-somethings will complain that they just don't play the great contemporary worship songs anymore. No more "God of Wonders". No more "The Heart of Worship". We'll have worship services in average churches that are part dub, part ethereal, with a DJ and congos and maybe string sections and other combinations that I don't have time to imagine. I think that's exciting.
Ever since I've been in the ministry, I've always had a vision of what a church service might be like. Not just a new trend, but something that might be relevant for our little slice of church history. Not a new order that would be implemented forever, but just for a while. You can see this in postmodern/emergent churches. A little more loose order of stuff that's happening, along with video, discussion, etc. Maybe more laid-back, but definetely more flexable. Not really new, but harkening back to days when people spent all day with each other, and didn't have 5 soccer games to take their kids to, or 17 meetings at church, or any number of things that limit us from really getting close to each other. I've always wanted to be a part of that loose-knit afghan, as opposed to what I believe God has allowed me to be a part of so far, which is more structured and obvious. I like to hang out, I like to discuss. That's how teaching really happens. But, it doesn't happen. We always have to leave. We always have to move on to the next thing, when we really didn't have a grasp on the thing that we are leaving. Along with that, I don't want to push in a direction. Just like a good conversation, I want life to go where it naturally goes. God does a great thing when He works life so that we just fall into something, as opposed to strive for it. It doesn't mean that we don't work hard, we just go where the Ultimate Temp Agency places us, instead of hunting down a job.
My biggest mistake is forgetting all this stuff. I can't tell you how many times I've had epiphanies like this, and I end up forgetting it in a couple of months, and get bogged down in why my ministry isn't fulfilling and having anxiety about calling people and allowing a malaise to sweep over my emotion. I don't know where God wants me physically, but I know I've got to remember to let him place me there and let Him do the heavy lifting.
I always think I have to make sense of why something happened or why it is happening or why it will happen. It gets tiring, but it's engraved in my brain. It's what is good about me, and it's what allows me to be good at the things I can do well. But, it's not a one-size-fits-all train of thought. It works for some stuff, but destroys other things. Like nuclear energy. Or love. So, somewhere down the line, when more of this life is figured out, I will have made some sense about what is happening now. And I don't mean just right now, but I mean this as a rule of thumb for life in general. But I can't make it my goal.

2005-11-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

In college, two friends of mine published books of their poetry using a "publisher" who was a friend. It really was nothing more than letter-size sheets stapled together in the middle, but it had a spiffy cover. I think they even paid money for it. It came to mind during a quick, Freudian thought process of memory and id. I began thinking about searching for the right job, which I am currently doing. This led to thinking about impressions, and how what we see as an extension of ourselves is often perceived as mere ego. Here's what I mean...
One of the authors wrote poetry that was simplistic and very heartfelt. You could tell this immediately because he thought enough about how he felt to commit to paper, and then subsequently publish it. Most of us (his friends) thought that it was cute, but not bearing multiple reads or interpretation. At the same time, another friend was putting togther a very different work. Purposefully obtuse and obscene (our dean of student life would later call it pornographic), it seemed to be cry for attention that was not very difficult to decipher. After all, the mere shock value of it made him at once seem to be a rebel, an intellectual, and the kind of emotional train wreck that always attracts a certain amount of attention from the opposite sex. It was also nonsensical and borderline Jaberwocky-esque, which to me made it more laughable than serious art.
I'm not sure if what he was trying to create was genuine, or if it was a construct to garner attention. At the time this would have been easily answered. But now, I'm not so sure. This has all left me wondering if others have the same image of me that I do. I understand that they are rarely the same for any of us. Certainly this would-be poet didn't see himself and his work as I saw them. And when you are looking for employment, especially in a job where interpersonal communication decides much of your success, you tend to think about how people really see you. I'm glad that I don't make the snap judgments that I made ten years ago. I'm not too cool for school anymore. In fact, I'm barely cool at all! God has taught me that there is always more than you assume there is, and that it is in this area of "more" where you find a lot of patience to not be so judgmental. When I think of those poetry books now, I almost wish I would have thanked them for giving me two books of poetry that are memoirs of good friends. And it makes me look forward to the good friends to come.

2005-10-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

You've got a blog. Yaayyyyyhhh!!!

Being a minister gives you a lot of opportunity for release of your opinions and musings. Sermons, lessons, classes and newsletter articles all allow you some outlet. Mostly, however, these are reserved for scholarship and life application. What do you do when you have even more to say than all of these outlets allow, and no one dying to hear it?

You get a blog. Yaayyyyyhhh!!!

I've been thinking that if I ever did a blog, I would first write about how egotistical our culture has become. We seem to think that every breath and evern bowl movement must be chronicled. We have cupboards of home videos that we never watched, but maybe hope some anthroplogist will stumble upon and be riveted by the shaky camera work, little Johnny unwrapping his fourth pair of socks at Christmas and Aunt Tilly stuffing turkey into her mouth. After all, everyone must get our perspective on how we have redefined and refined our version of Americana. These blogs must be read, so that people know what we think. We are important and great and so on and this greatness must be acknowledged!!! Although we have the capacity to be a fascinating bunch of carbon molecules that God has strung together, I'm not sure that what everyone writes is so interesting. Seeing people wrestle with difficult concepts or situations and emerge victorious is what I think is so interesting about us. Merely writing about it should be reserved for those who can communicate that struggle through text. Not all of us can do that.

So, now you get to judge if I can do that. Utilizing my freedom of expression, I shall exercise it with great care. And, although I'm glad we have this freedom, it has not always been to our benefit. In fact, there have been times in American history when freedom of expression has been a liablity. This right that we so covet has been responsible for some of the undoing of civil discourse in all of its purest forms. Whatever chance we had of elevating that discourse takes another one for the team every time someone waxes idiotic on their blog. In the blogosphere, it seems, Thomas Paine doesn't have a chance.

Of course, our speech has also sparked and sustained revolution. Who would have felt emboldened to take the Pepsi Challenge without our freedom of speech to speak out against the tyranny of the UnCola? The subsequent Cola Wars would not have happened, which would have left us without new Coke, which would have left VH1 without an entire cadre of pop culture jokes. Keep an eye out fourth installment of "I Love the 80's" or some such thing. I'm sure it's coming. It leaves me questioning whether this freedom thing is really so great...

But, of course, it is so great. This morning I was reading a well-written rant about incoherent ranting. It was nice. Pleasant. Unassuming. It was not jingoistic, iconoclastic or obnoxious, but an even-handed view, proving that there is still much to be said. Hopefully, in the hands of the right people, it will be interesting.

I'm certainly not trying to be elitist, but I have said for many moons that you don't have a right to an opinion; you have a right to an informed opinion. It's not a right legislated from the Constitution or activists judges on a high court. It's probably more of a responsiblity than a right, and you owe it to culture, history, all of creation and the Creator to adhere to this responsiblity. Especially in the area of religion, spiritually, and life temporal and eternal, it is our responsiblity to speak rationally and thoughtfully; to ask the tough questions and expect an intelligent answer; to mine the depths and then plumb them, so that we know of what we speak and what we believe.

So, with all of that in tow, I signed up for this blog, gave it an off-the-top-of-my-head lame title, and, whoop, here it is.