My kids' current musical favorites...

I have always enjoyed all different kinds of music, even if they weren't the popular styles of the day. That's why I love the fact that my kids enjoy listening to music that's different from what most kids are listening to. They get introduced to a lot of unusual music because their father flips channels incessantly on the XM radio in the car. And they have discovered some great music.

I've posted before about my son's love affair with Chris Tomlin's music. Little MacGyver used to listen to Tomlin on my iPod when we were leaving the YMCA. But he's found a new favorite group on my iPod, and it makes my heart proud.

Here's what he's listening to now. And, yes he asks to hear these guys all the time:



Now, my youngest, the girl formerly known as Toddler Houdini, is jumping on the music bandwagon. A couple of weeks ago, I sang a little bit of an old song to her. Then I made the mistake of showing her a video of the song on You Tube. Now, every time she comes into my office, she wants to see and sing this song. She really gets into the "Ba ba ba's" at the end:



As for DisneyGirl, she loves just about everything she hears. Music just makes her happy. Last I checked, this was still one of her favorites:



The music is crazy around our house. Doesn't anyone just watch the Backyardigans anymore?

Tenth Avenue North...

Here's a song that really knocked me back...

Mike Farris has taken over my iPod...

I should probably admit that I don't listen to a lot of modern Christian music. That makes me sad, because I love music, and great music moves me like nothing else. But a lot of what passes for Christian music, especially worship music, bores me. The lyrics are shallow and man-centered, the music is flat-out boring (like bad James Taylor clones), and the singers (especially the men) sound like wimpy wallflowers. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

But in the last few weeks, I've listened to one album about 52,000 times. It's called Salvation in Lights, by a guy called Mike Farris. He signs straight from the gut, like what he's singing means something to him, and should mean something to you, too. And he picked a group of old spirituals, along with some new songs, that overflow with hope, grace, redemption, and joy.

I've got a clip of one of the songs, but this doesn't do the album justice. Go get these songs right now! If you don't absolutely love them, please check your pulse. Your heart may have stopped...

Bono and the psalms...

I caught this interesting article written by Bono of U2. Thought you might find it thought-provoking...

I like Southern Gospel music...so sue me

I'm not sure how this happened. I mean I grew up in southern California. Nobody listens to southern gospel music in southern California. But somehow I got hooked on the music of the Blackwood Brothers, the Stamps Quartet, Gold City, the Cathedrals. Even the Oak Ridge Boys, although they abandoned gospel music for a while.

I'm fortunate to have seen several of these groups when they would come to town. Which wasn't that often because there's about 7 of us gospel quartet fans in southern California. Most of the real old-time greats have died, and I'm not sure their likes will be part of American music again.

I think what I draws me to these groups is the harmonies (of course), but also the messages of the songs. These groups sang songs about living a life of faith and the hope of eternal life to come. I find myself returning to this style of music again and again for encouragement and inspiration.

My favorite group was always the Statler Brothers. They mostly sang country music, but they never strayed far from their gospel roots. Why did I like them best? They wrote most of their own songs, and they were great storytellers. I'm a sucker for a great story. And, they could sing. Really sing. Which sets them apart from a lot of musicians today. They also used to put on a great 4th of July picnic in their hometown of Staunton, VA. We went one year, and it was spectacular.

Anyway, here they are doing a couple of gospel tunes. The actual singing starts at about 1:20, but before that, one of the Cathedrals (George Younce) tells a very sweet story about one of the Statler Brothers:



And now, so, Band Nanny and Michelle don't feel left out, here's another great quartet, the Oak Ridge Boys. (This is an early, early version of the group; three of these guys are no longer with the group. I like this lineup the best.) They were pretty awesome in their time:

Great truth in an old song...

I've been thinking lately about how I need to hear the story of God's outlandish love for me over and over, because I forget so easily. It reminded me of the old hymn, " I Love to Tell the Story," especially this verse:

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

I think it was Luther who said that the gospel comes to us as an outsider, where the law is written in our hearts. We have to be continually reminded of the reality of the gospel, because it's foreign to us. I know I forget far too often. And really, there's no message more important...

Here's a great version of the old hymn, done by Emmylou Harris and Robert Duvall:

Thoughts on where God wants us...

If you look at the left side of the blog, you'll see links to the web sites of several musicians. They all helped my former church by donating songs for us to use on an outreach CD we gave away to people. One of the best of the bunch is Matt Nightingale, who has a great voice. I still have his CD as one of my "regular listens." (Go buy a CD for yourself here!)(And no, I don't get a cut from CD sales.)

Anyway, Matt is leaving his position as worship leader at a church in northern California. I'm sure his people there will miss him. When I emailed him to wish him well, he said that he had never done anything so crazy as leave a position like this. But he felt God was calling him away.

It made me think about my life in the last year or so, since we left the pastorate of the church we started. It's been a rough year in so many ways. Pastoring, like a lot of jobs, really defines the people who hold that title. It becomes a part of their identity. So I did lose a piece of who I was when I left that job. And I wasn't interested in going to another church, so that part of me really died when I walked away.

A lot of my life is different now. We started a new business. We've been finding new ways to fellowship with other believers. We're finding new ways to relate to people outside the faith too.

My reasons for leaving our church are different, I'm sure, from the reasons Matt and his family are leaving. I became convinced that the way I was using my gifts in the body of Christ were not consistent with what I saw in the New Testament church. And I didn't like the tension within myself that resulted from doing something I didn't really believe in. So I left.

I do want to ask every believer who reads this blog to pray for Matt, his wife, and his kids (4 of them, I believe). It's gutsy to leave the security of the known. Pray that God will lead the Nightingales to the place where He wants them to land.

Matt, I've got no advice for you, except this: I've learned a couple of things over the last year. One, following God is the craziest, most dangerous thing you'll ever do. But it's totally worth it. Two, I don't think God is that concerned about where you go, or what you do when you get there. (Not that He won't lead you where He wants.) But what He really wants isn't your service, or your talents, or your fervent efforts for Him. He just wants you. He doesn't love you for what you can do; He loves you because you are His child, His little boy. And as long as you are with Him, it doesn't matter where you guys end up...

DisneyGirl needs to discover Chris Tomlin...

Yesterday, I mentioned that my boy has discovered my iPod. He belts out the Chris Tomlin in the YMCA locker room, and all the way on the drive home.

I'm a little more disturbed by what I heard from DisneyGirl, my oldest daughter, when I came home yesterday. She and the Mighty Mrs. J were dancing around, singing a great old hymn of the faith. You know the one:

Elvira
Elvira
My heart's on fire
For Elvira

As if that wasn't disturbing enough, I then hear DisneyGirl singing the heartfelt lyrics, "Giddy up, oompapa, mow mow." Although, when she sang it, it was more like, "Giddy up, chippy, chippy, waw waw."

I think we need to schedule an intervention for her...

Getting my theology from C.S. Lewis and John Lydon...

Toddler Houdini was a little sick today, so she and I stayed home while the Mighty Mrs. J took the other 2 kids to worship with our peeps. While they were gone TH and I lounged about, watching TV. We especially enjoyed the "History of Rock and Roll" episode on VH1 Classic. The episode we watched was about the punk era (mid-70's to early 80's). (Actually, she watched Little Bear in the living room, while I watched VH1 Classic in the bedroom.)

Mostly I just enjoyed the music and the stories. The part that got me thinking about spiritual things was a film clip that showed the very end of the last concert by John Lydon's group (I won't mention the name of the group, because it's not appropriate for a family blog. Google John Lydon if you don't know his stage name or his first group.)

After the end of their last song, Lydon yells to the crowd, "Ya ever feel like you've been cheated?" Most people thought he was saying that they had cheated the audience. But Lydon said that what he meant was that he and the group had been cheated; that they got into music expecting one thing, but found out the reality was very different, and disappointing. So disappointing they disbanded after being together only 3 years.

The spiritual application? I wonder how many of us are cheating ourselves out the blessings God wants for us. How many of us pursue things that aren't really important in an eternal sense? How many of us harbor doubts about God, thinking He's less great, less good, less loving than He actually is? How many of us see our faith as a duty to be performed, rather than a relationship to be cherished? How many of us build walls between us and other people, keeping them at a distance? All those things, and a hundred more, cheat us out of experiencing the life that God wants for us.

It reminds me of something said during a sermon entitled, "The Weight of Glory."

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

I hope none of us will look back at our lives to discover we were "half-hearted creatures."

Oscar Peterson, R.I.P.

One of my favorite musicians died 2 days ago. Oscar Peterson was an amazing pianist who always blew me away with his technical ability and his passion for music. He really was one of the best of the last century.

I could try to describe how great he was, but here's a little bit of the man himself from 1977:



He'll be missed, but we have tons of recordings from every part of his career to remind us of his genius.

Thanks, Oscar!

My son picks the best music...

Little McGyver came into my office today while I was looking for a song on the computer. He says he wants to pick some music too. What does he want? The Wiggles? Maybe Backyardigans? Not for this boy. He wants the "cowboy song." What's the cowboy song, you may ask? This sweet, adorable children's classic:



Doesn't it just leave a warm feeling deep in your heart? But he wasn't done picking out songs he wanted to hear. We were combing through more Johnny Cash songs. That's when he found another song he loved. Another children's classic:




For those of you not initiated, the second video is Social Distortion's cover of the old Cash song, "Ring of Fire." Again, typical children's music.

I think I'll have to draw the line when he says, "Daddy can I listen to some Snoop Dogg while I go to sleep?"

Real truth from an old song...

I live in southern California, where singing the old Christian hymns went out of fashion about the same time as 8-track stereos. But I grew up on the old songs, and I still love to sing them. Fortunately, I church with a group that still sings the "golden oldies" sometimes.

I was thinking of a line from one of my favorite hymns this morning, and the truth of it struck me in a new way. It was "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing." This is the verse that got me thinking:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

The lines, "Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee," really resonated because I see now that God's goodness is really the only thing that binds us to Him. And all the things we use to try to bring us closer to Him are pointless at best, harmful at worst.

How many things have I used to try to build my relationship with God? Well, let's see, there's Bible reading, prayer, fasting, church work, Sunday School teaching, pastoring.and on, and on, and on.

There's nothing wrong with any of those activities, but so much of it was just me trying to gain favor with God with my own effort. Really it is God's goodness, ALONE, that draws me to Him. All those things can take the place of the Holy Spirit's work of growing us to be like Jesus.

In fact, I wonder how many programs int he church have grown and developed over the years for 2 bad reasons: we don't trust the Holy Spirit enough to do His work His way, and we have a lot of people attending services who don't demonstrate the Spirit's transforming power because He's not in them? Both of those possibilities frighten me.

More on this later...