Category: Music
What is your favorite and/or most disliked Christmas hymn?
What hymns do you like to sing this time of year?
I think my favorite Christmas hymn is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. The opening lines capture what the setting of the holy day:
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
I can’t think of my most disliked Christmas hymn at this moment. I am not very fond of “Silent Night”, it seems to sterilize the story.
I’m sure you’ve been singing and/or hearing many Christmas hymns this time of year. What is your favorite and/or most disliked Christmas hymn?
Calvinism and Hip-Hop?
"Too Short coming straight from Oakland" because he was predetermined to do so.
Yesterday I mentioned (see here) a post by Efram Smith where he critiques the recently evolving “odd marriage” between “holy hip hop” and Calvinism. Smith understands Hip-Hop to be a form of music that emerged as a voice for “poor urbanites feeling rejected by upwardly mobile people of color.” On the other hand, Calvinism is a “theology driven by the priviledged”. In context, he states the following:
“Hip Hop influenced entirely by Calvinism is no Hip Hop at all. Reformed Theology, though it contains some theological elements that I totally agree with should not be the only or primary theology influencing Holy Hip Hop. Calvinism is Eurocentric in nature and in the United States of America has evolved into a theology driven by the privileged. Hip Hop, Holy or Secular is about the engaging and presenting of the issues surrounding a sub-culture of the historically marginalized of urban America.” (See the full post here)
Later in the day this blog received a trackback notice that Bobby Grow had written a response. I read it and I thought it presented an important counter-critique. Grow wrote:
“It seems like to me that Smith is of the belief that theology is really a political maneuver; one associated with a power game. What makes Liberation Theology, for example, any better than Calvinism? Aren’t both suspect constructs? Don’t both presume upon a certain doctrine of God? Is Black Liberation Theology more proximate to the Christian Gospel because it developed under constraints that were seeking to throw off the oppressor? To me the problem with both of these alternatives is that the Calvinism Smith has in mind suffers from a God of brute power (and thus theocentric while not christocentric); and Liberation Theology suffers from a focus that is horizontal in orientation, and thus man-centered. I don’t think either one of these alternatives actually represent good alternatives for hip-hop artists. Not because one developed in Europe and the other in Latin America, but because neither one actually offers an actually Christian approach, methodologically. So it’s not where a theology was developed, but what, and more importantly Who that theology communicates. Am I denying that locale has no effect on theological development? God forbid! If theology could be marginalized because of its socio-cultural genesis; then to be consistent with this, we would also need to say that Christianity is only really viable for Jewish people. Since, of course, Christianities’ particularization is Jewish and finds its mooring in a first century Jew named, Jeshua.”
Unfortunately, it seems like he has removed the post (Update: The post is available again here). I thought the point he was trying to make was worth discussing. Is Smith proposing “that theology is contextual and thus because it is contextual only has relative and particular purchase versus universal force in its proclamation” as Grow said elsewhere in the post?
In another post with a different response, T.C. Moore shared a couple of short articles he has written on Calvinism’s influence on Hip-Hop (see here). In the first article he states, “It is no secret that holy
hip hop is now dominated by Calvinist theology, and honestly I’m concerned about the effect this
will have on the generation listening.” Why? Moore makes the following points:
(1) Calvinism is determinism.
(2) Determinism is not the theology of the oppressed.
(3) Hip Hop is a culture born in oppression.
(4) Calvinism dominates conservative theological education in the United States.
E-40 and I both come from Vallejo, CA. It seems he was predestined to make music. I was predestined to buy it.
In juxtaposition with Grow, it does seem that Moore is suggesting, at least in part, that Calvinism is culturally conditioned and therefore, in this instance, yes, theology is contextual. The context of Calvinism (maybe not in origin, but at least in recent history) seems to favor the status quo while Hip-Hop has always challenged that very thing.
In Moore’s second article he suggest some of the following:
(1) He is concerned with the number of Christian Hip-Hop artists embracing Calvinism because (A) it can reinforce institutional racism (i.e. it propagates the theological system of the very conservative seminaries who promote an “inordinate and disproportionate exultation of the theologies of dead, white/European theologians over the present, majority, global theologies of non-white people groups around the world and Black theology developed right here in the US”) and (B) it plugs itself into an already present “cultish theological elitism”.
(2) He worries that it will impact the current listening generation resulting in (A) “apathy and complacency” and (B) an “indifference toward evil and injustice”.
I recommend you read Moore’s articles because my overly simplified points are for introduction more than summary. Likewise, if Grow restores his post it is worth reading for a counter point.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Is Calvinism compatible with Hip-Hop? If so, how? If not, why not?
Worship Music in the Church
As a musician myself, I love good worship music. I can pray and worship to anything from Hillsong to hymns to good hand-clappin’ Gospel. Recently, I discovered Gregorian chant. It is not that I had not known about chant before—I had once heard it in fifth or sixth grade in a video on music and sound—but I had never paid attention to it.
Chant is or has been quite popular, although maybe less so in the United States. The German New Age group Enigma had sampled chant in songs like “Sadeness” and “Mea Culpa.” In 1994, the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 with their album Chant (here). Their Chant Noel and Chant II also peaked at #78 and #172, respectively (here), although these standings were relatively short lived.
Chant is one of the reasons I have had an interest in Latin. I also appreciate the beauty of the chanted melodies, but more importantly I love that these are prayers in addition to being worship music. The church I attend has a Sunday Mass in Latin, and also does also in Latin a monthly Missa Cantata (Sung Mass) according to the Dominican Rite. Perhaps this is just me and the way I am more introspective, but in the midst of the soothing sung prayers I find myself praying along, the melodies arising to God, and I end up drawing closer to Him.
For those not familiar with Gregorian chant, here is a short video on Gregorian chant, the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, and the making of their CD.
What music do you find helpful in drawing you into worship and relationship with the holy God of the universe?
Where’d the thoughtful voices in hip-hop go? Consider Lupe Fiasco.
I have a confession. As a teenager the music genre that most shaped my world-view was hip-hop. I know that seems odd to some since I don’t fit the stereotype. It was Notorious BIG, Tupac, P-Diddy, Ma$e, DMX, Eminem, Too $hort, and others that came over my radio much to my parent’s dismay.
Hip-hop has had a polarizing history within its own ranks. It has had voices for change. Those who represent the oppressed and overlooked. Those who made sure their hoodies and grim faces struck fear in the establishment if for no other reason than that they deserved a little fear like the rest of the world.
On the other hand, then there are songs about fast cars, g-strings on female bodies, anti-feminist sexuality, and a long list of vices.
While we may not find a time when hip-hop has been “moral” there has been thoughtful lyrics and insight. Sadly, hip-hop artist didn’t realize how the establishment shuts you up. They give you money. Now hip-hop artist are wealthier and more comfortable than most of the rest of us. Not much angst to fuel social change can be found when you are parking your BMW in your four car garage on the side of your mansion.
Let me toss a name out there for you to consider if you are seeking lyrics that meet modern beats: Lupe Fiasco.
I just purchased his new album Lasers, because I really enjoyed thinking along with songs from past albums.
I won’t say much more about it, but consider the subjects addressed in the song “Words I Never Said”:
The “War on Terror”:
I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bulls**t
Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets
How much money does it take to really make a full clip
9/11 building 7 did they really pull it
Uhh, And a bunch of other cover ups
Children and their schools:
Your childs future was the first to go with budget cuts
If you think that hurts then, wait here comes the uppercut
The school was garbage in the first place, thats on the up and up
Economics:
Keep you at the bottom but tease you with the uppercrust
You get it then they move you so you never keeping up enough
Television content:
If you turn on TV all you see’s a bunch of “what the f*cks”
Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such and such
And that aint Jersey Shore, homie thats the news
And these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Domestic and international politics:
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say sh*t
Thats why I aint vote for him, next one either
I’ma part of the problem, my problem is I’m peaceful
And I believe in the people.
Islam
Now you can say it aint our fault if we never heard it
But if we know better than we probably deserve it
Jihad is not a holy war, wheres that in the worship?
Murdering is not Islam!
And you are not observant
And you are not a muslim
And that is just a sample. You may not like what he says, but you can’t say it isn’t thoughtful. Thus far the album seems to live up to this song’s standard as a whole. Let me say one more time. If you are missing the days when hip-hop challenged the status quo, consider Lupe Fiasco’s work.
To listen to the full thing watch this video:
__________
See his interview with Tavis Smiley here.
Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world
"Every generation thinks it's the worst/thinks it's the end of the world" saith Wilco
Come on, children/
You’re acting like children/
Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world/
It’s the end of the world
All you fat followers/
Get fit fast/
Every generation thinks it’s the last/
Thinks it the end of the world
- from Wilco, “You Never Know“
This week I was having coffee with someone who asked me if I have any friends or family who always seem to be consumed with the second coming of Christ. I couldn’t think of anyone in particular so this person told me about an acquaintance who mentions it almost every conversation. This person comes across as a bit depressed and defeatist. There is no hope for this world. It is corrupt beyond worth. Jesus must be readying his return right now!
There is a tension here. At one angle we want to join with the end of the Book of Revelation (22.20) saying, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”. It seems to me that the apostolic church lived in the expectancy that Christ could return today. If we are watching and waiting as people of the day we will not fall into the evil of the night.
Oh, then there is that other angle: it’s 2011.
Jesus has been gone for a very, very, very long time now. In one sense this can be disturbing. Of course, there is an irony. If Christ would have returned in 557, 791, 1211, 1784, or any of the hundreds of years between the ascension and now there is a likelihood that we would not be experiencing the inaugurated Kingdom and we would not be one of the many in history awaiting the Parousia and the resurrection where the Kingdom is finally and fully established.
So who are we to be? Are we to be like the person who thinks every day about the Second Coming? Are we to be more realistic than that? How to we avoid being just another generation with apocalyptic hopes that go unfulfilled (unless, of course, Christ returns)?
How do you live with this tension of anticipating Christ’s return while acknowledging he may not come back in your life time?
The Grad Student Rap
The Maccabeats?
In case Hanukkah is more your thing. (HT)
The Great Christmas Music Debate
Listen Bing Crosby, you can wait a few weeks!
This last week some of my co-workers have begun playing Christmas music in the office. That means they were doing so three weeks before Thanksgiving! I argue that Thanksgiving is an important and valuable American holiday and that Christmas music should be reserved until after Thanksgiving. Many disagree!
Do you (if an American) wait until Thanksgiving to begin listening to Christmas music?
Singing I Know Not What
For the last year or so I have occasionally sung the song “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” which includes the line “Here I raise my Ebenezer” without having any idea what this means. Yesterday I decided to Google the word because my only understanding of “Ebenezer” is connected with “Scrooge” and Christmas. It appears it comes from the Hebrew אֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר which means “stone of help”. I guess I should have been able to deduct that since I knew both words but for one reason or another I didn’t put the two together.
Sometimes I wonder how many songs I sing or have sung that I don’t understand. Can you think of any songs that you do not know what you are singing yet you keep on singing it?
Singing Songs of Human Slaughter
This morning one of my co-workers played a song from YouTube that she remembered from being a child in Sunday School. It was about Noah’s Ark and the great flood. It talked about the water falling on the people and so forth and so on. I wonder if the next song will be about Joshua and the Israelites slaughtering all the pagans and their women and children!
Is it only me or is it a tad odd that we have kids sing songs of God’s judgment from a young age while panicking when they listen to Miley Cyrus? Do you think we should introduce children to these biblical stories in such a bubble wrapped way? Should we wait until they are older while singing songs about the fruits of the Spirit or something a tad less controversial when they are young? Or is there a benefit to slowly introducing the more controversial aspects of the biblical narrative to young children in a way that allows them to ponder it from a cautious angle?
Worship Music, what’s all the fuss about?
I read a few recent postings on the dissatisfaction with current music trends in churches. Below are two good examples of this, stop by and read for yourself and post some thoughts here. What I’m curious about is, do you think they are being subjective and just stuck in a time capsule and do not want to move forward? Do you think they are not as aware of good new songs that are theologically based? Or do you think they make a valid point? Also what are some good examples of recent theologically based worship songs? I’ll see if I can reference a few, I have a horrible memory for songs so I need to look some up. I’m a typical guy and just make up my own words 
Church Music, Roger Olson
The U2 Worldview: Breathe
Read this article at the Examiner.com here.
In the Gospel According to John (14:6) we read this statement by Jesus:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
For scholars there has been various interpretations of this passage. For those of the more liberal stripe, like ‘The Jesus Seminar’ or Bart Ehrman, it is argued that these words were likely never actually said by Jesus. For those with a more conservative reading it has been argued that Jesus claimed to be the only way to God. In conjunction with the rest of the Christian canon this would mean that the only way to God is by trusting in the work of Jesus accomplished by his death and resurrection.
This answer often leads to the tricky question about those who have never heard about Jesus and therefore have never had the opportunity to reject or accept Jesus. What about those people? When Christianity was mostly limited to Europe this question was not so prominent. Paradoxically as Christianity became globalized, globalization began to challenge the exclusive claims of Christianity. As Todd Miles of Western Seminary has noted there was once a time when the heathen were “over there” somewhere. Christians assumed all pagans to be uncivilized, needy, and likely even immoral. Now Christians rub shoulders with Buddhist, Muslims, Hindus, and thousands of varieties of “religious others” every day. We find these people are often very moral (sometimes more so that ourselves) and usually civilized. These people are pious. These people are “good”. These people have thought through their religious views and at times these people have decided the prophet Mohammad makes more sense than the Christian New Testament.
Therefore Christian scholars such as Amos Yong, Clark Pinnock, and Veli M. Karkkainen–amongst others–have reexamined the Christian Scriptures to see if there is any hint of hope for those who do not hear about the gospel or who already have a religious persuasion that appears sufficient. The conclusions reached by these scholars should not be deemed “universalism” because it is not argued that all will be saved by God in the end (Hitler, apparently, finds little sympathy with most people). It is not even necessarily “pluralism”, per se, because it there are few conservative–especially evangelical–scholars that would argue that Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam are essentially different paths up the same mountain to the same deity that all understand in part but not fully. Rather, it is affirmed that Jesus is the only way to God, yet death and resurrection of Jesus may result in the salvation of those who do not even know about Jesus as well as those who do not fully understand what Christians are trying to say and therefore opt to remain in their own religion.
Some scholars, such as the aforementioned Karkkainen, Pinnock, and Yong, have argued that since the Christian God is described as a Trinity that God may save through other religions by the work of the same Holy Spirit that saves Christians while applying the effect of the work of Jesus to those people. Some argue that if a person lives by faith to their fullest knowledge God will count those people are righteous much like those Jews who believed in YHWH God before Jesus arrived, or those random non-Jews like Jethro, Job, and Melchizedek who somehow knew the true God outside of the religious world of Abraham and his descendents.
If the Holy Spirit is fully God, as Jesus is God, as the Father is God, then the Holy Spirit fully saves people as much as Jesus and the Father. God is one, therefore the Trinune God must save as one. Yet the work of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit do not always look the same. Rather, the Father uses the Son and the Spirit to rescue humanity from different angles.
At this point you may be asking “What does this have to do with U2″? I know, I know it has been an essay on a Christian ‘theology of religions’, but I think that some of these positions being reached by Christian theologians jive well with the American culture of which we are part. Many Americans will claim to be some sort of Christian. Most of those believe Christianity is the best of all religions. It is the best way because it is built on the person of Jesus. But most American Christians will not go as far as to say that Christianity is the only true religion. If there is a seemingly Christian, especially biblical, more specifically evangelical understanding of the religions of the world that holds out hope that they may too someday be saved then our culture will eat this up quickly!
U2 has promoted this movement called ‘Coexist‘ for sometime now. It is an effort to unify Buddhist, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of various faiths around the idea of mutual respect and civil engagement. In a post-9/11 world where many Christian Americans saw Muslim terrorist fly planes into the World Trade Center buildings, and then subsequently watched on television as our “Christian” president told a “Christian” nation that we were invading Afghanistan and then Iraq, we are prime for any movement that signals a truce. Let us be and we will let you be as well.
At the beginning of the 360 Tour concert in Chicago, IL, on Saturday evening September 12th, U2 opened with the song ‘Breathe’ from their newest album. The song usually has a line that ends one of the verses that says, “I can breathe, breathe now”. Bono ended the song saying, “Spirit breathe, Spirit breathe”. Bono is well known for praying, or singing Psalms, or even hymns like ‘Amazing Grace’ at U2 concerts. For many Christians, including myself, this is very enjoyable. Yet we know when thousands of thousand of people are packed into Soldier Field there is a good chance that thousands and thousands of those screaming fans are not Christians. Yet there is no offense taken by Bono’s prayers. Is this because everyone is fine with Bono being a Christian of sorts? Or is this because Bono may be praying to the Christian God but you are welcome to direct your own prayer toward your own god because when it all boils down to it the Holy Spirit is working through all religions to bring us to a place of unity “Where the streets have no name”?
It is most evident that the entertainers of this world are very influential as regards public opinion. Brad Pitt may not be the most brilliant man in the world, but his good looks get people to sign on to the ‘One’ campaign. George Clooney makes us all want to go to Africa to help HIV/AIDS victims. Madonna and Angelina Jolie make us want to adopt orphans from Asia. Christians see these good deeds and we ask, “What is the difference between these people and myself? These people are even better people than me!” And if it comes down to loyalty to Jesus we Christians will always (?) side with Jesus. But now we have a reason to believe that Jesus has sided with us, and them, and through the Holy Spirit pretty much everyone in the world. This is the world-view most of us now share and we now ask ourselves this question, “Why do we even proclaim Christianity anymore? Let’s live and let live.”
Also: Read my December 21st, 2005, post: ‘Is Bono anti-Christ?’ here.
The U2 Worldview: Where the Streets have No Name
Read this article at the Examiner.com here.
U2 is the biggest music act in the world. [1] U2 very well may put forth the best live performance of any band. This is the opinion of the lead singer of Snow Patrol, Gary Lightbody. I was apt to agree as I stood in Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, this last Saturday evening (September 12th, 2009) watching U2′s 360 Tour.
Bono is an amazing performer and a rare talent. The Edge is one of the greatest guitarist of all time. Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. are perfect complements. This band has influenced vocalist and musicians everywhere. Yet we must not limit their influence to the musically inclined. Bono has met with presidents, popes, prime ministers, political activist, and business CEOs. To ponder the impact of U2 we must move beyond the music to the worldview.
We will take the time to do so over a period of about three articles. I want to do this by examining U2′s Christianity. Yes, U2 may not be a “Christian” (adjective; genre) band, but U2 is Christian to its core. Yet it is a particular type of Christianity that U2 presents. To some it may appear watered down while to others it is exactly the type of “preaching” that a “post-Christendom” world can hear. Like C.S. Lewis’ Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings you hear the echo of the gospel but it does not confront you straightforward. It is smuggled in to the mind of the hearer.
Let us first consider the “eschatology” of U2. Eschatology is a long word used by Christian thinkers to explain one’s view of “the end”. While some authors use it to refer to various adjacent subjects this is its primary usage. U2 has an eschatology.
As I was singing along to ‘Where the Streets have No Name’ I remember talking with a pastor of mine a few years ago. He was telling me about how one day he was watching a U2 concert DVD on his television and as this song played he began to cry and pray to God. It deeply touched him. At the concert my wife said something very similar. She leaned over to me and said that some of these songs feel like worship melodies. The lyrics to this song make people ponder the joyous afterlife, or what we would call “heaven”:
I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no nameI want to feel, sunlight on my face
See that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no nameWhere the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Were still building
Then burning down love, burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you…
(its all I can do)The cities a flood
And our love turns to rust
Were beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled into dust
Ill show you a place
High on ta desert plain
Where the streets have no nameWhere the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
(its all I can do)
This understanding of the afterlife has been questioned from various angles. For those who are atheist or agnostic it appears to be an excuse for not giving all we have to this life. For others, including myself, it hints at a quasi-Platonic view of the afterlife that may be derived from the Christian Scriptures, but it not likely an accurate portrayal of the end of all things as presented in the Judeo-Christian worldview.
In Christianity we are presented with a world that will be made “new” (see Romans 8:18-25; Revelation 21:1-5). There is a sense of continuity and discontinuity. One can sing “Where the Streets have No Name” with this in mind, but most probably think of heaven as a cloudy place that looks kind of like the world we know, but much more surreal. In essence, this is probably what the redeemed creation of the biblical worldview will include, but matter matters and we are not seeking the immaterial alone.
The afterlife is presented to us as pure joy. It is tearing down the walls that hold us inside. It is touching the power of a flame. It is feeling the warmth of the sun on our face. It is the removal of dust clouds and poison rain. It is redemption.
In the afterlife our love disappears and we merge into Love. The lyrics say nothing of “God”, “Jesus”, “heaven”, or “salvation” (Unless this what he means when Bono sings, “When I go there, I got there with you”). Instead there is a play on our imagination. The afterlife is a place where the streets have no name. It is a place where everything has been equalized. There is no Harlem juxtaposed with the Trump Tower area! There is no Nob Hill juxtaposed with Hunters Point. There is no North Side or South Side. All is equal, all is good, all is joy.
What U2 presents to us through these lyrics is the rays of the sun, but not the sun itself. Whether or not Bono would say this I do not know, but as a Christian I do think that U2 describes what it may very well be like in the presence of Jesus the Messiah. Yet the description the lyrics give us only show us what it is like in Jesus’ presence, not Jesus himself.
Where the streets really have no name is where all roads lead to the holy hill, Mount Zion, where Jesus reigns. There is no need for street names because we all look up to the hills from where our strength is coming. The great equalizer is the second advent of the Messiah, Jesus. This is the fuller, Christian understanding of what U2 only hints at with their eschatological lyrics. Yes, it is glorious, but it is because of someone, not simply because we have passed from one life to the next.
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[1] While I understand that The Rolling Stones and Green Day are also very popular, I do not think that either of these two bands can draw the same crowds that U2 can draw.
The Poor Luckies!
A very good friend of mine, Dan Zivney, is in a punk style band known as ‘The Poor Luckies’. The band has three shows in the San Francisco, CA, area in the next few weeks. You should go watch them perform. To learn more about ‘The Poor Luckies’ visit their official website thepoorluckies.com.
U2 in Chicago!
I will be seeing U2 live in Chicago at Soldier Field on September 12th of this year! My amazing, most wonderful fiancee (who will be my wife by then) purchased the tickets for me as a graduation gift. I am so excited!
