Tag Archive for 'faith and theology'

Charlie Peacock on the Future of CCM

Published
by
michael lee
on 1 May 2008
in audio, church, emerging church and faith and theology
. 1 Comment

Charlie Peacock wrote a piece for the final print issue of CCM Magazine, on the future of Christian Music. Well worth a read:

In the future, young musicians will think that all Christian music is dated and boring, and they will create something they think is current, relative and exciting. They will say things like: “We just wanna show people that you can be a Christian and have fun, too.” Or, “We’re not gonna hit people over the head with the Bible. We’re not Christian musicians; we’re musicians who are Christians.” Or, “We are totally sold out to Jesus. We don’t write vague, sugar-coated lyrics.”

It will be nothing but retread hubris though. I will roll my eyes and grumble that history is hell-bent on repeating itself.

Read the whole thing here.

(ht: The Black Nail)

Our Daily Bread

Published
by
michael lee
on 5 March 2008
in faith and theology and life
. 1 Comment

Two blessings that pass by without being noted, but for which I am deeply grateful.

  • I am strong and healthy while my children are young. I can lift them and carry them, still sleeping, from the car to the bed.
  • Almost every day, someone will ask me a question that has no simple answer, and so I am invited to spend time just, simply, thinking.

His Dark Materials

Published
by
michael lee
on 14 January 2008
in faith and theology and literature
. 2 Comments

Tired of all the hysteria surrounding the release of “The Golden Compass”? Take a few minutes out and read Alan Jacobs’ outstanding, incisive, deeply literate critique of “His Dark Materials”, the original series by Philip Pullman that the film is based on.

I originally ran across this essay as part of a collection of Jacobs’ writings, Shaming the Devil, under the title “The Republic of Heaven”. I was thrilled to (finally) find it reprinted online at FirstThings.com under the title “The Devil’s Party”. It is, probably, the only review from a Christian perspective worth reading about the books and film.

It is a deeply critical look at Pullman’s work, but critical in the best possible way: he takes Pullman to task for squandering his formidable literary ability by delivering a disingenuous editorial pamphlet instead of the substantial work of fiction that his readers deserved. I think Jacobs would find resonance with our own beloved Chad’s critique of The Da Vinci Code: he [Brown, and Pullman] delights in goring the church, and “his delight is his undoing.” (what a great line, Chad). What he really wants to write is a bitter political invective against the church, but people don’t pay $20 to read those. Instead, he couches it in thinly veiled narrative, where the characters are either mimeographed caricatures or leitmotifs, and all suffer under the weight of the agenda.

You can hear Jacobs talking more about Pullman’s book at the Mars Hill Podcast archives.

If you haven’t read anything by Jacobs, this is a good introduction. His has a few collections of essays published, including Shaming the Devil and A Visit to Vanity Fair: Moral Essays on the Present Age. Both make good scotch + bathtub reading.

When Your Kingdom Comes

Published
by
michael lee
on 10 January 2008
in audio, faith and theology and university
. 20 Comments

So, I mentioned in a previous comment a song that Chad and I wrote about 4 years ago. I’ve been trying to dig it up to rearrange for small groups, and finally tracked down the demo. I’m posting it here because, well, this seems to be the only place I can put things where I won’t lose them! We originally did this as a demo for Avalon, based on a request from Jody McBrayer. It made it to the final table cut, but then they pulled it. They told us that they were already committed to a song that sounded similar. Then, the album came out and it turns out they were big stinking liars. And that’s why Chad and I do not drive a matching pair of Lexuses (Lexi? Lexium? Beemers.).

Share and Enjoy!

When Your Kingdom Comes
by Michael A. Lee and Chad C. Reisser

Bonus points if you can name the guys who played (1) drums, (2) bass, and (3) guitars. Chad, you don’t get to play.

Audio Christmas Card ‘07 — Hark This

Published
by
Chad
on 25 December 2007
in art and culture, audio, faith and theology and holidays
. 30 Comments

Well, I told you I’d post it, and here I am a whole week early. In between all the gift giving and receiving and hustle and bustle, we threw this little ditty together to complete our three song homemade gift for family and friends (ya’ll :)

Perhaps you’ve heard about the so-called “War on Christmas.” I, myself, think it’s all a bunch of Christian baiting hype, and I have only one pet peeve, and it’s been going for years and years and years. It’s the fact that when people talk about Christmas Carols, they mean.. Rudolph. Frosty. Sleigh Ride.

Bah Humbug.

What follows, my friends, is a Christmas Carol. This is where theology and poetry intersect with timeless results. It was my hope to draw attention to the staggeringly beautiful lyric while at the same time catapulting the arrangement into another time zone. I’m hoping to clobber you with joy. If you’re hoping for sublime and articulate, I suggest you look elsewhere. :)

Merry Post-Christmas, friends.

Authors note: After many unsuccessful attempts to embed the cool audio thingie in the post without help of the webmaster (who apparantly thinks that it’s alright not to answer his cell phone on Christmas day - BTW, Mike… yeah… that 2nd message, the one where I said I had it figured out… premature) I just did a workaround.

When you read this, Mike… feel free to fix it, delete this, and mock me.

(ed: fixed, snarky comments left intact for posterity)

Oh, and then tell me our track is great.