A random idea for a featured song came into my head today. It was a song that was very influential in my life as a kid. It is a song that still affects me today. However, it is a song that was never on the radio. And it's a song I can't find on YouTube. (Seriously!) It is a song I highly recommend that everyone learn though. What is it? The Books of the Bible song I learned in Kid's Action Club (think Awana without the badges). We learned all 66 books of the Bible by singing them in order. Now there are a ton of songs out there that rap or sing the books of the Bible in order. But none of them that I found did it in the memorable pace or tune that Mr. Paul (Refior) our fearless leader taught us. This is the closest:
Here is my personal Music Mondays debut singing the original version that we learned, admittedly completely off-key:
Really the point of all of this is not song itself, nor my lack of singing gifts. The idea itself is what matters. Being so familiar with God's Word that you are adept at navigating it's diverse landscape is crucial because we are called to explore it our whole lives (see Psalm 119). As a pastor, I still recite this song in my head from time to time to find specific books. The value of this smacked me right in the face this past spring when I taught a freshman Bible Study Methods class at my Alma Mater. There was a significant portion of the 22 students who were resigned to starting in the index of the Bible to find a passage I was asking them to look up. Others bravely, but slowly combed through their holy texts hoping they'd stumble upon the intended destination. Memorization is a helpful life-skill. It becomes spiritual cheat code when applied to Scriptural concepts, making biblical studies so much easier. If this song doesn't motivate you to memorize the books of the Bible, find one that does - it is worth it and there are plenty out there.
Our worship team knew I'd be preaching on spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:10-24 yesterday and they picked an ideal song as part of our praise time. The classic "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" was written by the great reformer Martin Luther. And in just a couple lines, it captures what I hoped to convey yesterday.
"The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him - His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure: One little word shall fell him."
What is that one little word? Or as the song says in an earlier verse - "Dost ask who that may be?" Luther has told us - "Christ Jesus it is He".
God's given us all we need to be victorious in our battles - all we need to do is to run to our mighty fortress and suit up in the Armor of God.
Here's the version of the song we sang Sunday. It follows the traditional pace and time for a bit and then switches to a more upbeat rhythm and alternate chorus. There are no lyrics but I think I've highlighted them enough above.
At one point I intended to include some more Christian Music comps as I did a couple weeks ago, but alas, I lost my list. Instead here is something that was shared by a friend on Facebook. Turns out it was exactly what my soul needed this morning.
Here's commentary provided by the artist for some context:
"I never met Rich Mullins in person. He died on the day of my twelfth
birthday, the year I got my first guitar. My parents took me out to eat
that evening and I'm certain we talked
about his death because we always listened to Christian radio in the car
and they would have certainly been talking about it. I didn't
"discover" him until years later. I didn't know you were allowed to
write songs about faith that weren't cheap, derivative and sterilized
versions of main stream songs, but he did. I heard (and still hear) an
emotional truth that was transgressive to the brand of christianity
whose songs are cheap, derivative and sterile. His voice was imperfect,
his language was non-religious and there was a yearning that no matter
how polished the recordings were, could not be suppressed. The songs
were records of spiritual conflict and unsettledness that spoke more
often of need than of resolve. But the need had a direction and an
object. As a singer/songwriter I hope to do with my need what he did, at
least in a few songs, with his."
Twenty years ago, during the era when CD's were popular, Disc-man's were prevalent, and large stereo systems were the norm for any young adult's bedroom, the Christian music industry sought to capitalize on the Christian culture's desire to grow by mirroring the larger culture's trends. This took many forms, including 'CD Clubs' with names like 'Power + Glory' which promoted various Christian artists by often comparing them to their more popular secular counterparts. "If you like ___________, then check out ______________" the marketing stated. Offering alternatives certainly had it's benefits, but when those alternatives were little more than poor imitations, it gave the CCM industry a reputation for mediocrity that it had a hard time shaking. In memory of that strange and unusual time, I offer this Music Monday of some randomly selected Christian bands and their secular comparison. I decided to avoid individuals for the sake of length.
And next week, we'll look at the flip side - some CCM trailblazers who proved to be ahead of their time and larger cultural trailblazers as far as musical styles are concerned. So here is a list of Christian bands and the secular groups they owed a large part of their popularity too.
Let me just mention that these particular songs are only meant to reflect the style of each band and not be a straight one-to-one comparison to the other song.
Bleach - Weezer
This one was obvious even at the time. Bleach was putting out really good music in their own right and like Weezer, they were only a niche band even at their peak.
Plus One - NSync, Backstreet Boys
Of all the ways CCM tried to mirror pop music, this may be the most cringe-worthy. Did we really try to make a go of the whole Boy Band thing? Yes we did, and I'm sure someone made some money...but man...smh.
Polarboy - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Counting Crows
I fell in love with Polarboy at apparently the end of their run which happened to coincide with the release of Californication by the Chili Peppers. So while I was listening to the Back from Nowhere album, my hallmates my freshman year of college were blasting RHCP and at one point, I couldn't tell them apart very well.
The Waiting - REM
Two bands, both acoustically driven and both led by baldish-roundheaded-kind-of-short singers with memorable but unspectacular voices - one a gigantic Hall-of-Fame cultural icon while the other was a band that struggled to get even a couple hits on Christian radio. The Waiting still stands up though.
OC Supertones - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The late 90's and early 2000's featured some interesting fads. One of the most remarkable was the popularity of Ska music. Instruments typically showcased in marching bands were suddenly adopted into rock bands that often featured a raspy-voiced lead vocalist.
I grew to personally loathe this whole movement as my best friend and freshman year of college roommate used this as his alarm clock song that played through his stereo. Given I'm not a morning person and he commonly got up before I did, it wasn't long before I couldn't stand to hear even a note of any of it.
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This is no way is meant to demean theses artists as if they were all frauds. While it would be easy to be cynical about these artists, really that would be misplaced criticism. First of all, some of those Christian options were legitimately good and presented Christian truth in a relevant package.
But looking back at that period overall, it is easy to cringe at much of it. But isn't it our own fault as a Christian culture that we accepted this 'milk' when we should have been clamoring for more 'solid food'? Shouldn't we have been more demanding of original styles and voices and creativity from the CCM industry?
I realized something today. Unlike 95% of most people, I actually like Mondays.
You might think, "of course you do, you're a pastor and Monday is your day off." That would be wrong. I take Tuesdays off.
Mondays have become essentially 'miscellaneous days' for me. While each week varies, Mondays are less about study and Sunday-prep and more about people and pet-projects. I often use Monday to visit people, whether it be in nursing homes, the jail, the hospital or their homes. And if some of those places seem unusual - ask your pastor, he probably frequents those places too.
Sometimes it is a duty and something I know I need to do. Other times, it's an absolute privilege and blessing. This morning for instance, I had the opportunity to meet with someone going in for surgery. In the middle of it, I felt what can only be described as 'a holy moment' as I met with them and their family and prayed. It wasn't me, but God decided to use this unworthy vessel to show up.
Another one of the highlights of this Monday was preparing the final exam for the class I've been teaching at my alma mater. The fact that my schedule allows me the chance to teach freshman college students how to read and study the Bible is pretty cool. And I find Mondays to be an optimal day to get ready for Wednesday. Pet projects like this help me be refreshed and ready for the weekly demand to proclaim "Thus says the Lord" on Sunday morning.
I don't write this to pat myself on the back - as I said, many other pastors are doing the same thing. Frankly, there are people in my church who do this kind of thing and do it better than me.
No, I write this to give those of you non-pastors a peek behind the curtain as to what goes on in full-time ministry. Also, I share it to prove the point we ministers work more than 1 day a week :). So while you may be battling 'a case of the Mondays', try to find something redeemable about your day as well as your weekly grind.
I have to agree with author and biblical scholar Gordon Fee, that of all the commands Paul wrote in Scripture, the most important is "be filled with the Spirit" in Ephesians 5:18.* Yesterday we encountered this command as we studied 5:15-21. I've concluded that being Spirit-filled or Spirit-controlled is THE secret to the Christian life.
Therefore, I find in concerning that the Holy Spirit has been overlooked and ignored by many in Christian circles (see Forgotten God by Francis Chan for a helpful corrective). This is certainly true about our worship - which is ironic because a major result of being filled by the Spirit is worship - "addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart..." (vs.19).
There has been an influx recently of Spirit-centered songs. I thought I'd feature two such songs which share the same title but are very different.
The original:
The new song:
While each are distinct unto themselves, they both do emphasize the transformative work of the Spirit that we all need. Without it, we are hopeless to please God. But thankfully we've been given the third person of the Trinity to enable us to live out our faith from the inside out.
*Gordon Fee, God's Empowered Presence, p.721-722, 1994. As cited in Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians NIV Application Commentary, p.289, 1996.
There are plenty of songs on the radio that are popular in various categories that I almost reflexively skip when they come on the radio. Sure some people might like them - but if they are overplayed or just not in my wheelhouse musically, I have no time for them. Sometimes though, I get a chance to see an alternative or live version of the song and I totally change my mind. Something about seeing the artist play it themselves piques my interest. This weeks' Music Monday selection is one such song. It's a fine Christian song about being a light in a dark world. It has never really stood out to me among the hundreds of songs like it that the CCM industry puts out yearly. But this intimate jam session is right in my personal-musical-taste-wheelhouse.
And I share it today because these kinds of themes have been on my mind since studying and preaching Ephesians 5:1-14. In this passage, Paul challenges Christians to stand out in a spiritual dark and decrepit world. We are especially called to 'Walk as Children of Light' and expose (challenge/confront/even 'push back') the dark.
The lesson, at least for myself is, always keep an open mind with songs because many of them (especially Christian) have a relevant time, place, and lesson to share.
