No Music Monday this week. Though if you want to scratch that itch and more, check out this article on U2. I'm a casual but ardent U2 fan and it was a lot of fun going through their catalog.
I did want to share another fun thing I'm indulging in, narrative sermons for our Christmas series. Thanks to my friend and author Amy Green, I have some really good scripts to 'act out' instead of preach this holiday season.
I first learned of narrative sermons in seminary, but I had seen a few from my mentor, Pastor Ralph Porter, when he was at my home church during my college and seminary days.
In our seminary preaching classes, they required us to preach one. The hardest part for me was the 'script'. Writing from the point of view of a character didn't come naturally to me. So last year, when I read through Amy's blog, I knew I had the basic content I needed to actually preach one well.
So, on top of the excellent material I was beginning with, I added a few rhetorical nuggets, found some pretty good costumes in our church storage, and warned our people ahead of time that these Christmas sermons were about to get weird.
Don't be fooled by these pictures, there were plenty of people in attendance. Few of our folks want to sit right up front is all. I will probably add some more later. And next week, I might even have some video and you can judge for yourself how good of an actor I am. For now, you can listen to our audio recording, and imagine me prancing around the front wearing some very interesting garb.
I wasn't going to post today. My song idea didn't fit with the reality that today is 9/11. And other ideas that could fit this anniversary of that dark day weren't coming to me. And then my denomination tweeted out the perfect choice.
This was the Super Bowl halftime performance that took place a mere 4 months after the attacks.
I can remember being at a Super Bowl party with our church's college group. I can remember this performance catching my attention while most of the rest of the party had began socializing with one another. I can remember wishing the sound had not been turned down because I could tell something special was going on. I can remember a lot of those who hadn't been paying attention turning their focus back on the tv by the time U2's set was finishing up.
I can remember connecting this performance to the one I'd seen them do on SNL and thinking that this band from the U.K. was emerging as the prominent musical voice for our nation's healing.
This band has caught its share of flack as time has gone on and their relevancy has waned (this article offers a fair perspective). And my memory may not be perfect on all of those points. But re-watching that video tells me confirms the power of that moment.
I will never forget 9/11 and I'll never forget these beautiful moments of hope and healing that helped us recover.
I've had a whirlwind summer filled with opportunities that have taken me out of my regular routine for the past 5 weeks. But we made it through and enjoyed almost all of it. Unfortunately, my blog and Music Mondays have suffered. In the midst of this busyness, we started a new sermon series on the "One Another" commands of Scripture. If we are going to be the kind of church God wants Milford First Brethren to be, then we should be sure to embody these commands.
At one point, I remember asking myself, "what song would reflect the theme of 'One Another'?" Well, one of my favorite songs of all time came to mind pretty quickly.
While the original is an all-time classic, who's to say this more recent version isn't better? The video is certainly superior and I think the addition Mary J. Blige is inspired.
Yesterday we studied the highest and most honored name for God - "Yahweh". It is so special that the people of Israel stopped saying it out of fear they'd misuse it (Ex. 20:7). It means simply, "I AM" or "I am that I am". It is a statement of eternality, of independence, consistency, and know-ability. It is also the name God used when fulfilling his covenants with his people (Ex. 3,6). While I cannot criticize the tradition that has refused to even speak the name, I do feel it goes a little to far. A couple songs capture it's uniqueness, and we'll share one this week and one next.
Due to the crazy weather over the past several days, I've been home-bound and unable to access the rest of my list. But without any further ado, here are songs #5-#1:
5. "Day by Day" - dc Talk
This may be the strangest video on the list, but this remix of a song from the 'Godspell' musical improves the original by about 1000%. It's a perfect song for the new year because it expounds on the daily nature of our walk of faith. In 2014, and every year, we need to depend on God day by day day.
4. "Dare You to Move" - Switchfoot
This has been a favorite song of mine since the first time I heard it. It calls us to become who we were born to be. It calls us out of mediocrity to something greater. It calls us to get back up when we fall. Isn't that the whole reason for New Year's Resolutions' anyway?
3. "Time Is" - dc Talk
Another song, another dc Talk entry. No official music video for this song, but it's a classic. It speaks for itself, but my favorite part are all the soundbites involving the word 'Time', especially the Star Trek: Next Generation quote from Geordi La Forge.
2. "Beautiful Day" - U2
The only non-explicitly Christian song on my list. But it's too fitting not to include. This song will always be connected to 9/11 in my mind. It was released around that time and I remember it as an inspiring song of hope during that darkest of times.
1. "Alive" - P.O.D.
Another song with 9/11 connections, this single was released shortly before that fateful day and the album itself was set to be released that very day. This song would always pump me up before basketball games. Though in a deeper way it reminds me of the freedom we have in Christ and the power over sin that is ours because of the Cross.
That's it, that's my (belated) New Year's playlist for 2014. What's on yours?
