chris, stay in your supposed subculture

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, Christianity, church, culture, music, roaring lambs, television, worship
• Date: Apr 13,2007

[Sarcasm intended]

The Associated Press reports: ‘Idol’ Contestant’s Faith Questioned

If you haven’t read the article, let me pull a quote that sums it up the ‘controversy’:

Chris Sligh, the American Idol contestant who has won fans thanks to his curly mop of hair and soulful voice, has a few people concerned with his departure from strictly Christian music … Jonathan Pait, a spokesman for fundamentalist Bob Jones University where Sligh attended for several years, said: “We really are somewhat disappointed with the direction he has gone musically.”

For those that are familiar with BJU, this should come as no surprise. But as is the case of any story in a major North American newspaper, people will make unfair judgments about the state of evangelicalism today.

What is unsettling about this story is: 1) it furthers the world’s view that evangelicals are stodgy, moral mongers that only approve of music that meets a certain religious ‘threshold’ and 2) it highlights the misconception that there is such a thing as Christian music.

As for #1, there has been much debate just between evangelicals about what constitutes our ‘approved’ list of music. We have churches frozen at nostalgia points all over this country. Even for more progressive churches, the definition can change from the shower to the sanctuary.

But I want to focus in #2.

I recently heard Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church say recently in one of his sermons, “I didn’t know that music could get saved.” Humorous, but profound.

Chandler is kind’ve saying it but I’m just going to say it:

Read the rest of this entry »

phriday is for photos 03.07.07

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, photography
• Date: Mar 2,2007

This past week, I joined the Flickr Friday Photo group, home to typically reverent/refreshingly irreverent evangelical bloggers Joe Thorn, Steve McCoy, Kevin Cawley, Timmy Brister, and the like. I’ve been using Flickr during the last year, trying to compile my family photos in an online format as ‘backup.’ Anyways, I’m excited about this new foray…

By no stretch of the imagination am I a prolific or professional photographer. But I am an artist. And a believer. And I believe that yes, even believers, can create great art to the end of redeeming it.

I enjoy the art of photography and hope to grow as one through this group as I virtually ‘hang’ with some really good photographers/bloggers/believers/purveyors of sarcastic fodder.

Props to Joe for starting this group and for keeping the invitation open to any to join. I hope I make you proud! [Sniff, sniff...]

So today I enter into the portal that is Friday Photos. [I stole Steve's moniker for the title- I hope that was okay...why improve on that which is genius?] :)

the 7

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, Christianity, church, community, missiology, music, planning, religion, social issues, social justice, the 7, theology, worship
• Date: Feb 26,2007

The 7 are seven blog entries that stood out [imho] from the past week in the blogosphere.

The scope of this feature is to particularly highlight posts for those who are ministering to the ‘younger evangelicals.’ This ultimately echoes the theme of this blog: the rules of postmodern engagement. Enjoy…

The 7

1. Independent singer-songwriter and Caedmon Call’s band member, Andrew Osenga, explains why he struggles with the moniker “Christian music.” Pastors and worship leaders would do well to heed Andrew’s words as it relates to ministry to the ‘younger evangelicals.’ Read his two-part series here and here.

2. Are accountability groups lame? Covenant Seminary Prof Anthony Bradley thinks so. He says, “Men sharpening other men into the image of Jesus, who through blood, sweat, and tears, fought to make the world right again demands more than a weekly, quarterly, or annual confession booth, checklist, penance meeting.” I think he is right…

3. Asbury Prof Ben Witherington has been gently critiquing Rob Bell over the last couple of weeks. He comments on Rob’s Sex God book tour; his book, Velvet Elvis; and his Nooma video series here, here, and here. Make sure and read the comment sections. Ben graciously deals with others on his views on homosexuality and his belief about the true Jewish culture during Jesus’ ministry.

4. At the recent Passion ’07 student conference, John Piper introduced his talk by recounting a message he had heard in the 80′s by pastor George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization. blog.worship.com has tracked down a message given by Verwer in February ’07 @ Perimeter Church in Atlanta. Particularly, he talks about the “seven people lying at the side of the road” that need the attention of the contemporary church.

5. How well do we minister to those with disabilities? Brian Sims of Brentwood Baptist Church has created a church service exclusively designed for deaf people. It is called Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church. This sort of service is social justice at its finest! [HT: churchrelevance.com]

6. LifeWay Research conducted a survey among people age 18 to 34 discovered four major factors that are causing young adults to leave the church. [HT: catalystspace.com]

7. Are short-term missions becoming faddish? Seth Barnes, founder and Executive Director of Adventures in Missions, an organization that takes thousands of short-term missions trips each year, says yes. Seth points to seven standards of excellence to keep short-term missions from being done too casually and therefore, without any long-term impact.

the rearview mirror v

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, church, editorial, media, music, news, pastoring, politics, technology, video, web
• Date: Jan 29,2007

1. The Pope is at it again. This time he says, “more fine art, less Paste.” I will say this was a bit more balanced than his music style talk last year. See my post about it here.

2. David Fitch waxes about the danger of mission statements and why he believes ‘value’ adjectives better serve the mission of God through the local church.

3. Some keen observations from the JollyBlogger himself, David Wayne, on the underlying communication brilliance the Hillary camp used in officially entering the presidential race for 2008 last week.

4. Speaking of Hillary, someone get her some voice lessons. Ouch!

5. Max Hsu, ‘off the hook’ photographer/artist, shows us the difference between creating and doing art by reminding us of Scooby Doo.

6. Pinch me. According to Pitchfork, The Police and The Smashing Pumpkins to reunite for appearances in upcoming months. In other news, the David Lee Roth version of Van Halen to reunite. Sorry Dave, no one cares.

7. Speaking of The Police and Van Halen, Dan Kimball debates who is the more exciting reunion of 2007. Come on, Dan, remember the reggae…

8. Interesting news item lost in the shuffle last week: Mike Jones, the male prostitute whose accusations against New Life Church founder Ted Haggard led to Haggard’s dismissal as pastor visits Haggard’s old church, …to “get some perpective” and to research a project on evangelicals with a New York-based theater troupe.

9. Ron Martoia reminds us of the importance of the catalyzing question. Isn’t that WJDid?

10. Nashville’s Tennessean reports piracy to blame for recent job cuts at Brentwood-based EMI Christian Music Group. But is piracy to blame for the downturn in CD sales in all genres? Felix Oberholzer-Gee of Harvard Business School in Massachusetts and Koleman Strumpf of the University of North Carolina don’t think so.

11. Can the E-word be saved? USA today looks at the ‘misunderstood, misappropriated and maligned’ term, evangelical, and if it can regain its ground as label of choice for Christians.

our posture before art

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, quotes of note
• Date: Jan 29,2007

We sit down before the picture in order to have something done to us, not that we may do things with it. The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way. There is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered you cannot possibly find out.

-C.S. Lewis

wise blindness

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, community, emerging church, planning, worship
• Date: Jan 18,2007

Jonny Baker has been blogging on a book he is reading called The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World by Lewis Hyde. Here is one of his observations:

one of the terms i came across in the gift that i love is wise blindness. it is in a quotation hyde uses from rainer maria rilke. it’s getting at the idea that when we create if we get too analytical we’ll lose the giftedness of what we are doing…

in other words the gift is lost in self consciousness. this isn’t to say that there isn’t a place for analytical thought. but the creative moment isn’t it. wise blindness also applies to the sense that poetry or a song or an idea comes to use from beyond ourselves, from god or whatever it is we believe is beyond us. best just to receive it as a gift…

there’s a parallel with worship and i am the worst culprit here. i get analytical way too quickly rather than worship in the blade of the moment, receive what others have prepared as a gift and offer my own gifts…

Check out all of Jonny’s comments about The Gift here:

the gift [1]

the gift [2]: artists are poor

the gift [3]: wise blindness

the gift [4]: blind gratitude

the gift [5]: art and prophecy

the rearview mirror iii

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, church, culture, environment, media, music, news, pastoring, politics, religion, television, theology, worship
• Date: Jan 8,2007

Here is this week’s edition of The Rearview Mirror, where we peruse the past week’s best of the best in the blogosphere. Enjoy!

1. Bob Hyatt ruminates on the church’s simul justus et peccator.

2. Talking about worship aesthetics usually polarizes people. But Frank Burch Brown shows us it doesn’t have to.

3. Challies writes a letter to The Learning Channel. He has a new idea to offer ‘theological assistance’ to a particular group within evangelicalism…

4. The cross comes down from William & Mary’s Wren Chapel. And all heck breaks loose…

5. David Crowder Band wins MSN’s Artist of the Year. But not without a little controversy involving some ‘robots.’

6. Is Christian music getting out of the ghetto? MSN Music News thinks so…

7. Podcasts, Slate, and RSS Feeds. These are how young consumers consume the news according to the Online News Association via cyberjournalist.net. Maybe TV Guide Canada and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric aren’t crazy after all…

8. I was born in 1976. That same year, Gerald R. Ford spoke at the Southern Baptist Convention. Here were his words. R.I.P.

9. America’s first Muslim congressman is using an interpretation of the Koran owned by a man who sliced up the Bible for his swearing-in ceremony. Except that he isn’t. Terry Mattingly weighs in…

10. Activists Shane Claireborne and Brian McLaren remind us that grace is hard to communicate with a noose.

11. Steve McKoy vacates his position on vacations as times of renewal…and as he realizes they are not enough, he sees that being blessed is.

12. Do we need a greener Gospel? Lead Pastor of Blue Sky Church, Joe Schimmels, thinks so…

13. Lessons in blogging from Dr. McKnight and tips on blogging from the Tall one.

14. Dan Kimball tells us why it’s hard for him to listen to Christian music.

15. The best Christian on TV. No, really.

blogging the Bible

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, Bible study
• Date: Nov 21,2006

Not sure where I stumbled upon this, but this is a cool marriage of art and “heart-on-your-sleeve” Biblical “commentary”: Wonders for Oyarsa.

The title of this blog is taken from C. S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet. Oyarsa is the name of the guardian spirit of Malacandra (the planet Mars).

Wonders of Oyarsa combines the breathtaking Biblical illustrations of French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883) and commentary on the accompanying Scriptures.

Here is the idea behind this blog:

One of the reasons I started this blog was to blog the Bible. I got the idea from David Plotz over at Slate. As a nominal jew, he describes his experience at a cousin’s bar mitzvah. Being bored out of his mind, he picks up a Bible from the pew in front of him. Arriving at Genesis 34, he is soon engrossed in the sordid story of the rape of Dinah and the revenge of Jacob’s sons.

I’ve enjoyed David’s writing so far – it’s refreshing to see someone take the story on its own terms and wrestle with it. I’ve known many devout people bending over backwards to justify dreadful things in the Old Testament, but he’s not afraid to decry parts that seem horrible to him. I’ve also known unbelievers who read the Bible simply to mock and criticize, but David doesn’t let his difficulties blind him to the deep and wonderful things.

Now, what does this have to do with me, a lifelong Christian? Blogs about reading a book I’ve read all my life don’t sound too exciting. And maybe it isn’t exciting, and I don’t really expect that many readers. However, it does seem like a really good idea for any Christian – to read the entire Bible, reflect on it, honestly write what comes to mind, and welcome conversation from others.

* I want to engage the text – to not shy away from the parts that jar and even disgust me, and to see the parts I’ve always loved with new eyes.

* I want to focus on more than individual passages or stories – to let the grand sweep of the narrative carry me to places further up and further in.

* I want to invite others to come along with me – to show me things I’m missing, and to tell me what thoughts resonate and which ones don’t.

To be honest, it’s probably not something that I’d actually finish if I didn’t have some sort of public face and accountability. So, to those of you who are interested, thanks for joining me. I appreciate the company.

Interesting…check it out here.