Friday, September 29, 2006

Halloween Safety

All of writing endeavors are either mundane research papers or self-serving, autobiographical nonsense on this blog. My wife, however, has discovered a way to put her writing skills to good use. While my research may one day pay off, and this blog will never feed anyone, my genius wife is bringing home some extra loot while telling us all how to be safe at Halloween.

Have I ever been as helpful to any of you?

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Worship Music?

I have spent at least the last three years avoiding the subject of music used during corporate worship. I pulled this off by going to a church that considered anything played on a piano rather than an organ to be "praise and worship". How quaint! Three years of this and the overall effect was to come as close as one can to hitting the neurological reset button when it came to Sunday morning music. My attendance and participation had nothing to do with music but instead had everything to do with the congregation.

This now means that whenever I hear church staff discuss the quality of their church's "worship" (as in "Man, we just aren't worshipping like we used to.") , my eyes narrow and my ears try to discern what is meant by "worship". It would be too easy and so three-years-ago for me to pontificate about how shallow and superficial such talk is (and my friend Clint can tell you more about that than me). I pray that I have matured since I left the guitar-strumming worship scene of my alma mater. I grew to despise it then, but now I know that music does play a role in the worship of the church. But when it is done poorly, it is really really awful.

So here is my attempt to understand why we do what we do: a modest list of the possible reasons the church should use music in its corporate worship.

1) To elicit the proper feeling and sentiment among the congregation.
This is perhaps the most popular, or at least I would accuse most praise & worship bands of holding this mindset. Here the musicians attempt to create a "mood" or "atmosphere" conducive to worship. The problems here are perhaps myriad. First, why use music for this when anything else would do just as well? I am sure LSD can create a mood that promotes a receptivity before the divine. Second, one needs to establish what that mood is that makes worship possble. Here, most praise & worship types are terribly uncreative. Fast happy song, love ballad song, awe-inspiring march filled with power chords, repeat. But what if we need to be angry one Sunday in order to properly worship? Somebody needs to put Lamentations to music.

2) To promote the understanding of and repetition of basic doctrinal, biblical, theological statements
We sing Scripture, repeat lines of the ancient creeds, wax theological in hymnal verses. Why? Because we can never say these things enough, eh? Repetition is the key to understanding according to the ancients and your third-grade teacher. I like this one because memorizing a song is effortless compared to memorizing a chapter of Hebrews. But it takes theologically astute musicians or else the basic thought is just repeated over and over ad nauseum. Here I must confess I favor the old hymns, because they are just so much more interesting and stimulating that singing "Better is one day in your courts..." until the words stop making sense. You don't repeat it until you feel it: you repeat it until you understand it.

3) To join the congregation in a common task, that of declaring and proclaiming allegiance and praise to God
Even while singing the most dreadful songs, I must say I enjoy the fact that I am singing with other people. Part of what turned me off in the rock band style of worship was that whole "draw a circle around yourself. It's just you and God. Now sing to Him" stuff. I can do that in my car (which is probably why praise and worship CDs are so hot). I came to church to be part of a congregation. People who have been part of a choir or a band can speak more to this than I, but to come together with a roomfull of people to produce a sound of beauty is a bonding experience. Congregational singing can strengthen one's faith and help forge a Christian community.

There are 3 basic reasons, my own "good, better, best" for church music. But I am no expert. If I left anything out, or if I need correction or rebuke, I am depending on you to set me straight.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Early Season Thoughts

I had not realized how much I had missed living in this part of the country until the past few weekends. Rutgers can play a little football (with the emphasis on little), but I want to see the Big 12 on Saturday. Give me Tech, OState, A&M, UT, and my Sooners on Saturday. Keep Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, and Maryland. Life is good.

Here are thoughts about my two favorite teams.

Sorry peeps, but the Sooners have struggled and will continue to struggle. I am counting on perhaps four losses this year. Don't blame Bomar/Thompson, blame the inexperienced and untested defense. Before watching the first two games, I would have never expected to be questioning a defense coached by Stoops. But they stink against the run and get beat deep. I know that the guys who got baked by USC are long gone, but that dreadful loss still haunts the defense.

As for Michigan: no coronations yet. I am worried sick that these guys are going to convince me a few weeks from now that they deserve to be called a title contender. They are going to tease me this year, I know it. But I don't think for a minute that the decisive win against Notre Dame this weekend means too much. The Irish were (and continue to be) the most overrated team of the last decade. They can't stop the run, can't defend the pass, can't run the ball, and rely on a girly looking baseball player to catch their passes. Brady Quinn for the Heismann, huh? He reminds me more of Ron Powlus. Big Blue was going to roll these clowns up. But can they beat Ohio State?

It is nice to use my brain and my fingers for something other than theology.