Tuesday Tunes - Obscure CCM bands Vol. 2

Music has this incredible effect of burning lyrics and melodies into our brains. Those things may lay dormant for years until a random trigger may cause them all to come flooding back into our heads.

Today's obscure CCM band is a perfect example of that for me. 

The Waiting had a signature style, a signature sound, and a signature way of conveying their message lyrically. 

They started to make a name for themselves with Blue Belly Sky in 1995. Their peak was in the late 90's, particularly with the release of their self-titled third album. 

For me, they were an example of a consumer-formula that made me a fan. They had some songs on some "sampler" CD's that labels put out to promote their newer bands. Those singles convinced me to shell out my hard-earned cash to get the full album. 

The aforementioned third album, The Waiting, is a solid effort top to bottom. At some points they remind me of R.E.M. but that's the closest I can come to a comparison. They had a way of hitting you upside the head with their challenging and perspective-questioning lyrics that you couldn't see coming. 

From my own memory, songs like, "Never Dim", "How Do You Do That?", and "Hands in the Air" got a lot of attention. But for me it was the second layer of songs like "Number 9", "Pride", and "Better off as Friends" that kept me coming back. The latter especially turned what would become trope on its head. Instead of writing a song that could be vaguely descriptive of Jesus or a boyfriend, this one intentionally used that relational category to expose how we often flippantly treat our Savior. 

In a similar vein, I must mention one verse from "My Pride" that stopped me dead in my tracks the first time I heard it and still convicts:

I've wandered like an orphan

Down every dirty street

Till I stood before the Man

Who bent down to wash my feet

It's easy to wallow in nostalgia and opine about how no one really writes like this anymore in the CCM world. I think it may be true in this case, especially when you digest their full catalog. 

According to their Wiki page, they haven't retired as a band, but the members have generally gone their separate ways and more or less faded into the obscurity of their local lives. They made a mark on this young listener however, and I am grateful for both their creative music and their creative songwriting.

Friday Fun

I've been so sporadic with my posts, I'm inventing a title for this Friday edition. We have Wednesday Wisdom, Thursday Thoughts, and now Friday Fun. They are all one and the same really...just a matter of when I get around to writing.

The subject of this week's blog stems from a Twitter thread I saw a few weeks back. @drleahpayne asked "Looking for very weird, very obscure Christian rock bands...any ideas?" It currently has received 249 replies which is great as many of them name bands I'd never heard of. 

But inspired by Dr. Payne, I'll take the next few weeks to highlight a few of my favorite long-forgotten and obscure CCM bands.

First up, let me offer you a Reality Check. 

They are characteristically 90's CCM in so many ways. Stylistically similar to dc Talk, they even had relational connections with Michael Tait of that band.

After their debut independent album, they put out two records on the Star Song label. It was their second that briefly put them on the CCM map. 

I recall they had a single that received Christian-pop airplay, "Know You Better". That song was a bit of an anomaly as far as their sound was concerned. Though they certainly had things in common with dc Talk, they had a unique "funkiness" and "edge" that made them distinct.

You can find a Jesus Freak Hideout Review that gives it 4 out of 5 stars. I may need to relisten to it in its entirety again, but I'd be hard pressed to give it anything less than 4.5 or 5 stars. It was on regular rotation in my late high school and college years at the turn of the millennium. 

The band faded from existence shortly after reaching their peak with this album. They made quite the impression, at least on this CCM connoisseur. 

Personally, I really loved the entire album, start to finish. But it is the first three songs that really draw you in, plunging you headfirst into their up-tempo, in-your-face rap/rock energy. "The Way I Am", "Plastic", and "Masquerade" set the tone for the 10 song set that never really lags but never exhausts your ears either.

Thursday Thoughts

(The following is a slight elaboration on a Twitter thread I posted earlier this week, so if you follow me on there, you're getting the same but slightly fuller story here)

I grew up in a conservative Christian home. My dad passed away when I was 11 and my mom persevered to be a rock-star parent. She did her best to nurture and guide us four kids, of whom I was the oldest. 

In elementary school, when our classes had Halloween parties, we were excused from school and went home early for the afternoon (though candy and treats did await us). Mom felt conviction that we shouldn't celebrate that holiday. Later on, I wasn't allowed to go to school dances which kind of stunk socially. But personally I was full of angst and social awkwardness that I'm not totally sure how much fun I would have had.

I share all that to give context to one particular story that I was reminded of this week. 

In seventh grade, our honors English teacher organized a class trip to go see Schindler's List, the Steven Spielberg epic about the Holocaust and Oscar Schindler's heroic quest to save Jews from Nazi Concentration Camps. It was an optional trip, meant to supplement our study of The Diary of Anne Frank if memory serves correct.* Proper explanation was sent home to parents and I remember having a serious adult conversation with my mom. It was widely known the film had nudity and violence but in a historically accurate way meant to educate its audience about the awful abuses and offenses done by the Hitler regime. 

About 6 years later, my college basketball coach took several of us on the team on a basketball ministry trip to Europe. One of the tourist stops we took was at the Dachau Concentration Camp. I have a file of pictures I took there including one of a sculpture near the exit that reads "Never Again".

It was clear from our experience in Germany that the country is sensitive, remorseful, and mindful of the atrocities their people were guilty of 70 years ago. There is no avoiding it, only honest admission.

With all that in mind, I found this news item pretty troubling when I read about it:

TN county school board votes to remove use of graphic novel about the Holocaust, Maus from school curriculum. Complains about vulgarity and naked pictures. https://t.co/fUynX6Mu7g pic.twitter.com/v1fkaCMt2N

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) January 26, 2022

I'm appreciative of the fact that my mom allowed me to be exposed to the horrors of evil depicted in that movie. I'm glad she made the assessment that I could handle it. 

I'm disappointed that these school board members are claiming they need to ban this Pulitzer Prize-winning resource because it has some obscenities that may offend middle schoolers. 

I question a couple things. 

1. Have they met an 8th grader before? These kids know swear words and have probably seen racier things than (checks notes) sketches of sort-of-nude anthorpomorphic mice. Even if they haven't, I doubt it will shatter some kid's "innocence", especially if a parent helps them process it.
2. Have they read the novel? Even a cursory Google search will reveal most of their objections have not actual basis. 

I admit I have not read this graphic novel. I admit there are plenty of other resources that help teach about this dark part of history. Why are we banning this universally-lauded resource that speaks to actual lived experience in a format uniquely appealing to youth?

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*Honestly, I'm not sure at all about why our English class took a trip to see that movie, this is my best guess.

Christmas Songs continued

Merry Christmas everyone!

We've had a good set of celebrations around our house and with our family.

Let me offer you another song that helps me get in a proper Christmas mindset this time of year.

Wednesday Worship

As I wrote last week, there comes a point where I feel myself being drained by all the Christmas stuff that is going on. Certain Christmas things can be reenergizing though. Near the top of the list is the music. But not all Christmas music. I find a few specific selections tend to refuel my tank. 

Today's sample is a classic Christmas hymn that can send chills down your spine if a great vocalist is singing it (David Phelps and CeCe Winans are to recent examples). And yet the heart of this song is worship. Even more specifically, it's a call for people to worship together - corporate worship.

The best version to capture all of that is one I know I've featured here before. Chris Tomlin, from his Christmas album of ten years ago - "Glory in the Highest":

Thursday Thoughts

We are in the throes of the Christmas season it would seem. 

With all of the extra programs and specials and events that churches tend to have around Advent, it can be a tiresome stretch for pastors. My church doesn't have too many extra things going on typically. But even just adding in family plans can pile stress on top of stress.

Pretty much every year there comes a point where I feel myself being drained by it all. Certain Christmas things can be reenergizing though. Near the top of the list is the music. But not all Christmas music. I find a few specific selections tend to refuel my tank. I'll probably feature several over the next week and a half, but here's one I've always enjoyed, Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant. It's a beautiful, simple song entreating the Lord for his grace and presence.

Wednesday Wisdom - Getting Boosted

 

I got my COVID Vaccine booster shot yesterday. And I don't feel good.

Originally I received the Moderna vaccine last March and April. Both times I felt half-sick and sluggish for several hours later but by the next day I was back to normal. Today I still feel some soreness achy-ness but nothing some ibuprofen can't handle. I did a decent 20 minute cardio Pre-Core workout yesterday too - so some of this is undoubtedly due to my body complaining of the exercise after a holiday week of laziness.

What experts have said about what I'm experiencing is that it's pretty normal and that it is my immune system adapting to prep and fight the COVID strain. 

Clearly, I'm pro-vaccine in a time where strangely, our society that has made medical health a political issue. "You can't tell me what I do with my body" scream people who are predominantly anti-abortion. Masks and life-saving medicine are eschewed for personal freedom. I think that is a gravely mistaken position to hold. 

This is a personal choice, but it is not only a personally choice. Even if you don't feel the serious effects of this virus, even if you are healthy and trust in 'natural immunity' - this isn't just about you. This is about the people you can infect who don't have immune systems as strong as yours. This is about the people who contract it from the people you infect who are also a-symptomatic. 

Theologically, this is about "loving your neighbor". I wish I would have understood and communicated this earlier as the pandemic was just settling in. Wearing a mask and getting vaxxed is a way to love others by drastically reducing the chances of getting them sick. Despite what our American mindset has told us, our individual rights are not supreme. We have responsibilities to others - God even calls us to dramatically love others (Matt. 5:43-48, John 13:34-35).

I thought about trying to link to all of the relevant peer-reviewed medical research to supplement my points. I thought about offering you up the clear preponderance of evidence that my above statements are factually true. That information is out there and has been out there for awhile now, and if it hasn't convinced you and this post has triggered you, you have my sympathies.

In my mind, a night of semi-sore sleep and a day-and-a-half of feeling a tad below average is a small price to pay for inoculating myself against this deadly virus and protecting others from contracting it from me. That's what it comes down to.