Some churchgoers expect the entire focus of our worship service to be patriotic about three times each year (Memorial Day, July 4th, and Veterans Day). More dangerously, there is often an expectation that we should support the Republican platform or “our President” unconditionally. Conversely, some think that we should stay out of politics altogether, not considering that our socio-political context has changed dramatically since Bible times. We need to show that both of these views are, at the very least, oversimplifications.
If Paul can enlist his citizenship and its accompanying privileges for God's purpose, then so should we. Paul didn't get to vote, but we do - and should. (Maybe I'm wrong - my Mennonite friend, Ken, doesn't vote. He does, however, pray for the government daily. He also will--of course--never read this blog...) Slavery, fair wages, civil rights, and health and sanitation issues have all been transformed by the church operating in democratic societies during the last 180 years. This is redemptive work. It is not the primary work of the church, but it is the inevitable outcome of our lives as we are transformed into whole ("saved") people.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
VOX FOR EVERYONE!
(Warning: GUITARIST SPECIFIC CONTENT)
I was in St. Louis last week for a seminar and had some downtime, so I went to the Ed Debevic's of guitars stores - Guitar Center. (GC is slightly better than Myspace as far as annoyance factor.)
After about 10 minutes I finally got one of the "too-cool-to-be-bothered-with-the-only-customer-in-the-store" employees to fetch me a cable so I could check out some amps. A Lonestar Special, AC15CC, Crate V16 and V32, and a Line 6 Vetta were all in close proximity, and I had an hour to kill.
I started with the LSS. I really dug it. My main complaint is that you can't turn off the reverb via footswitch and it was really obtrusive. Then I compared another known quantity - the V32. Umm... I'm almost scared to report that it sounded better than the Mesa. The clean was "voxier" and the overdrive was more "marshallish." The Mesa costs (and weighs) 3X more. I REALLY wanted to like the Mesa, but...
...then I plugged into the AC15. It was the $600 one with the Whafdale speaker, but it reeked with that nearly inimitable* VOX beefy jangle. I was initially quite disappointed that they didn't have an AC30CC, but the more I played with the AC15, the less I cared. Really nice reverb (I'm not a Fender reverb guy) and tremolo. But it's the TONE that I'm infatuated with. My usual tonal needs are for something that's full-yet-bright and clean-with-some-hair-on-it. This is the VOX speciality. I was able to do my Edge impersonation and venture into indie/alt-country with ease. Ahhh...
So I concur with my friend John's assessment of several months ago. VOX is the magic. And - surprise of all surprises - Crate trumps Mesa. (Never made it to the V16 or the Vetta, but I'm a Line 6 user anyway.)
Bottom line: I want a VOX. I want John to have a VOX. I want you to have a VOX. VOX FOR EVERYONE.
(But I'm too poor to afford a VOX.)
*Bad Cat, Matchless, Dr. Z, Mojave, Top Hat, and a couple others make amps with similarly magical sounds - for two to five thousand dollars (gulp).
I was in St. Louis last week for a seminar and had some downtime, so I went to the Ed Debevic's of guitars stores - Guitar Center. (GC is slightly better than Myspace as far as annoyance factor.)
After about 10 minutes I finally got one of the "too-cool-to-be-bothered-with-the-only-customer-in-the-store" employees to fetch me a cable so I could check out some amps. A Lonestar Special, AC15CC, Crate V16 and V32, and a Line 6 Vetta were all in close proximity, and I had an hour to kill.
I started with the LSS. I really dug it. My main complaint is that you can't turn off the reverb via footswitch and it was really obtrusive. Then I compared another known quantity - the V32. Umm... I'm almost scared to report that it sounded better than the Mesa. The clean was "voxier" and the overdrive was more "marshallish." The Mesa costs (and weighs) 3X more. I REALLY wanted to like the Mesa, but...
...then I plugged into the AC15. It was the $600 one with the Whafdale speaker, but it reeked with that nearly inimitable* VOX beefy jangle. I was initially quite disappointed that they didn't have an AC30CC, but the more I played with the AC15, the less I cared. Really nice reverb (I'm not a Fender reverb guy) and tremolo. But it's the TONE that I'm infatuated with. My usual tonal needs are for something that's full-yet-bright and clean-with-some-hair-on-it. This is the VOX speciality. I was able to do my Edge impersonation and venture into indie/alt-country with ease. Ahhh...
So I concur with my friend John's assessment of several months ago. VOX is the magic. And - surprise of all surprises - Crate trumps Mesa. (Never made it to the V16 or the Vetta, but I'm a Line 6 user anyway.)
Bottom line: I want a VOX. I want John to have a VOX. I want you to have a VOX. VOX FOR EVERYONE.
(But I'm too poor to afford a VOX.)
*Bad Cat, Matchless, Dr. Z, Mojave, Top Hat, and a couple others make amps with similarly magical sounds - for two to five thousand dollars (gulp).
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Ulterior Motives would be a great name for a band
I spent a good portion of the day yesterday playing some killer rock songs with John, Boyd and Don (or Woody if you've read John's blog). We're playing a set at the city park next Saturday for my church's Summer's End party.
Now this is NOT a party for our church. Let's get that out of our heads right now. This is a party for our town, and specifically for the part of our town that seems a bit more frayed around the edges. We've got free mini-golf, free food, free kids games, bikes and cars to gawk at, dunking booth, etc.
We also have rock'n'roll. NOT Christian rock. We're playing great songs mostly written by Christians. So the world view is Christian theistic, without the off-putting trappings of much Contemporary Christian music.
Maybe there was a time - or perhaps there have been instances - when Christian Rock/Contemporary Christian music was an effective outreach tool. I spent a lot of time and energy pursuing that end, but it always wound up as a party for the church. Not really the original goal.
(There is a place for new music for Christians - for worship, for teaching, inspiring, etc. - but that's a whole different discussion. My main focus in life is ministering to the church through music, so I'm certainly not "dissing" that. Matter of fact, we're ending the whole Summer's End shindig with the best worship songs we know.)
Anyway - I'm prepared to take some heat for my wacky little plan to play music that speaks the vernacular of the community at large. Perhaps there are weaker brothers for whom this is a stumbling point - I don't know of any. I'm more afraid of the "don't handle, don't touch, don't taste" crowd.
You see, I have an ulterior motive: cultivate dialog and relationships with the community at large so we can show and tell the Gospel. If Switchfoot, or even the Foo Fighters, can help build a bridge, then so be it.
Now this is NOT a party for our church. Let's get that out of our heads right now. This is a party for our town, and specifically for the part of our town that seems a bit more frayed around the edges. We've got free mini-golf, free food, free kids games, bikes and cars to gawk at, dunking booth, etc.
We also have rock'n'roll. NOT Christian rock. We're playing great songs mostly written by Christians. So the world view is Christian theistic, without the off-putting trappings of much Contemporary Christian music.
Maybe there was a time - or perhaps there have been instances - when Christian Rock/Contemporary Christian music was an effective outreach tool. I spent a lot of time and energy pursuing that end, but it always wound up as a party for the church. Not really the original goal.
(There is a place for new music for Christians - for worship, for teaching, inspiring, etc. - but that's a whole different discussion. My main focus in life is ministering to the church through music, so I'm certainly not "dissing" that. Matter of fact, we're ending the whole Summer's End shindig with the best worship songs we know.)
Anyway - I'm prepared to take some heat for my wacky little plan to play music that speaks the vernacular of the community at large. Perhaps there are weaker brothers for whom this is a stumbling point - I don't know of any. I'm more afraid of the "don't handle, don't touch, don't taste" crowd.
You see, I have an ulterior motive: cultivate dialog and relationships with the community at large so we can show and tell the Gospel. If Switchfoot, or even the Foo Fighters, can help build a bridge, then so be it.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Ashtrays and the Lord's Supper
My wife commented on the staggering number of ashtrays in my mom's small apartment. There are at least seven the living room alone. No, my mom doesn't smoke. (Actually, she used to. When I was born her doctor "prescribed" a cigarette each morning with her coffee. She faithfully smoked one cigarette a day until I was 18, then she stopped - cold turkey!)
So why all the ashtrays? Maybe - like the fake marble one that adorns the top of a wrought-iron magazine rack - it's because they've always been part of her home decor. Maybe it's because my dad smoked constantly for 65 years. (He, too, quit cold-turkey - just before his 80th birthday. He died 3 months later. Too little, too late.) Dad never used any of these ashtrays, though. He prefered a metal ashtray that was sewn into a corduroy beanbag (literally - it was filled with soybeans). It would sit comfortably on his chest as he reclined on the couch reading Prairie Farmer and watching Wheel of Fortune. That ashtray - if she still has it - isn't on display.
No - I think it's because of memories: The glazed terra cotta one from our trip to Arizona when I was 4; the white one that was part of Grandma's hobnail collection; the big maple leaf that Uncle Russ brought back from Vermont; the one with the decoupage horse that Aunt Wanda made in ceramics class. To discard any of these would be tantamount to erasing a memory.
Most of us keep some sort of tangible means of reminiscence. Maybe it's something as obvious as a photograph. Perhaps it's more subtle - like the grey t-shirt that's still got a stain from where my newborn daughter's "baby ook" marred it perfectly.
Our church building is filled with them. There's an inscription in the front of nearly every hymnal and pew Bible. The organ has a huge plaque. The new tables in the fellowship hall each have a small gold plaque. The painting above the sink in our breakroom was given "in loving memory" 35 years ago.
Practically speaking, this is often a hindrance. When a pulpit or a table or a musical instrument has outlived its utility, it's difficult to discard it - tantamount to erasing the memory of a mother, a grandfather, a favorite Sunday School teacher, etc.
But, still practically speaking, Jesus left us with a tangible means of remembrance. One that - after 2000 years - is inadvisable to discard. When he celebrated his last Passover with his closest friends, he admonished them to "do this in remembrance of me." One of the things that the early Christians were "continually devoting themselves to" was the "breaking of bread." I hope this hasn't become an empty ritual for us - just part of our church "decor."
I hope we remember who he was: the Word of God - present at the creation of the world - clothed in human flesh; the Son of God, who humbled himself and died on a Roman cross; the Son of Man, who was raised from the dead to become the Firstborn of many brothers and sisters.
Through a miraculous mystery, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (1 Cor. 5:21 NIV). This righteousness (diakosune in Greek) is a virtue that sums up all the other virtues; a synonym of perfection; justice. It is the way in which God justifies persons so that they move toward living only for him. This righteousness is not only imparted to those who follow Jesus, it is manifested in their lives.
As we remember, may we understand. As we understand, may we worship him. As we worship him, may we be transformed into his righteousness.
So why all the ashtrays? Maybe - like the fake marble one that adorns the top of a wrought-iron magazine rack - it's because they've always been part of her home decor. Maybe it's because my dad smoked constantly for 65 years. (He, too, quit cold-turkey - just before his 80th birthday. He died 3 months later. Too little, too late.) Dad never used any of these ashtrays, though. He prefered a metal ashtray that was sewn into a corduroy beanbag (literally - it was filled with soybeans). It would sit comfortably on his chest as he reclined on the couch reading Prairie Farmer and watching Wheel of Fortune. That ashtray - if she still has it - isn't on display.
No - I think it's because of memories: The glazed terra cotta one from our trip to Arizona when I was 4; the white one that was part of Grandma's hobnail collection; the big maple leaf that Uncle Russ brought back from Vermont; the one with the decoupage horse that Aunt Wanda made in ceramics class. To discard any of these would be tantamount to erasing a memory.
Most of us keep some sort of tangible means of reminiscence. Maybe it's something as obvious as a photograph. Perhaps it's more subtle - like the grey t-shirt that's still got a stain from where my newborn daughter's "baby ook" marred it perfectly.
Our church building is filled with them. There's an inscription in the front of nearly every hymnal and pew Bible. The organ has a huge plaque. The new tables in the fellowship hall each have a small gold plaque. The painting above the sink in our breakroom was given "in loving memory" 35 years ago.
Practically speaking, this is often a hindrance. When a pulpit or a table or a musical instrument has outlived its utility, it's difficult to discard it - tantamount to erasing the memory of a mother, a grandfather, a favorite Sunday School teacher, etc.
But, still practically speaking, Jesus left us with a tangible means of remembrance. One that - after 2000 years - is inadvisable to discard. When he celebrated his last Passover with his closest friends, he admonished them to "do this in remembrance of me." One of the things that the early Christians were "continually devoting themselves to" was the "breaking of bread." I hope this hasn't become an empty ritual for us - just part of our church "decor."
I hope we remember who he was: the Word of God - present at the creation of the world - clothed in human flesh; the Son of God, who humbled himself and died on a Roman cross; the Son of Man, who was raised from the dead to become the Firstborn of many brothers and sisters.
Through a miraculous mystery, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (1 Cor. 5:21 NIV). This righteousness (diakosune in Greek) is a virtue that sums up all the other virtues; a synonym of perfection; justice. It is the way in which God justifies persons so that they move toward living only for him. This righteousness is not only imparted to those who follow Jesus, it is manifested in their lives.
As we remember, may we understand. As we understand, may we worship him. As we worship him, may we be transformed into his righteousness.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Head Lice and the Fall
I'm not talking about Autumn here: I'm wondering about chiggers, mosquitoes, ticks, tapeworms (yee-aah!) and other blood-sucking and/or parasitic critters. Are they functioning according to God's original specifications, or did they become what we now loathe as a result of the subjection of creation to sin and decay?
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