Music Monday (on a Tuesday) - Best Movie Ending Songs

I believe it was watching the end of Stranger Things season 3 that inspired me to figure out my top 10 favorite songs that come up at the end of movies.

Admittedly this is a bit obscure but again, Stranger Things' finale had a powerful moment with Peter Gabriel's "Hero" and it got my mind wandering down this rabbit hole. My evaluation is based off how well the song fits with the overall tenor of the movie. A fun movie ought to have a memorably fun song. A dramatic movie should have a powerfully evocative number to punctuate the finale.

This week, I'll cover songs 10-6 and finish it off next week. By the way, a lot of the videos I'm including have spoilers...so you've been properly alerted.

10. Edge of Tomorrow, "Love Me Again", John Newman.

Ok, I'm going to cheat on #9-10 because these songs technically play right as the credits roll. But especially in this case, it's a fun song that matches what was a surprisingly great movie. I first liked the song because of it's original music video which is an homage to Romeo and Juliet. And while this movie really doesn't have any romance, the song just fits the energy of the Tom Cruise pic.

9. Oceans 11/ The Bourne Identity - "69 Police" David Holmes, "Extreme Ways" Moby. 

Up until I fact-checked this five minutes ago, I was under the impression that Moby wrote both of these songs. Whatever genre it is, you can inject it straight into my veins at the end of these movies because they just ooze "cool".

8. The Graduate - "The Sound of Silence", Simon and Garfunkel

This is a classic final scene well staged and well acted. And the cherry on top is Simon and Garfunkel's classic ballad.

7. Heat - "God moving over the face of the waters" - Moby

This is one of my all-time favorite movies (don't watch the first five minutes of the video below if you don't want it spoiled though). There's something gratifying, honorable, and powerful about this instrumental by Moby. The movie earned this ending and this ending earns this song...if that makes any sense.

6. Drive - "A Real Hero", College Electric Youth

Drive is an unique movie to say the least. But it's really more stylish than strange because of it's soundtrack. It's capped off perfectly by this song. I don't know who College Electric Youth are or where they are from, but it feels like this song was created to play during this exact scene and at the conclusion of this particular movie.

Thank you for indulging me in this little vanity project. More to come next week!

Gen Con reflections and quotes

We just returned from our Brethren Church National Conference which was held at the beautiful and spacious Ridgecrest Conference Center outside of Ashville, North Carolina. 

It was a busy week so we took our time coming back this weekend and made it a mini-vacation which was a good decision. Having some time to reflect on the conversations, meetings, and sessions I thought I'd share some of the key quotes I am taking away from this year's gathering. 

It turns out all of these are from our main speaker, Karl Vaters, who is an author, pastor, and expert on small churches. He proved to be a perfect fit for who we are and where we are at as a denomination. 

A little background, The Brethren Church traces its roots back to 1700's Germany when a movement was birthed out Anabaptism and Radical Pietism. Fleeing hardship and persecution, these original Brethren moved to the American colonies and continued many aspects of their spiritual and social lifestyle including being agrarian (farming) people and remaining German-speaking for many years. These preferences led them to starting churches in rural areas to begin with. And while various groups have splintered off and no longer maintain this path, it still provided the foundation for where we began and where our churches were planted. Because our specific denomination did not dramatically change course we remain in mostly rural areas with mostly smaller churches (50-150).

And here is where the Conference's themes and Vater's expertise comes in to play:

"Small is not a problem, virtue, or an excuse."

IKEA and Starbucks are both wildly successful businesses with vastly different business models (h/t to Vaters for this genius analogy). We don't have to compare ourselves with bigger ministries and we don't have to arrogantly believe we're better because we "provide a better personal touch."

"A healthy church will not necessarily experience numerical growth."

Numbers may accompany healthy ministry, but not always. We need to divorce ourselves from the assumption that numbers equal health and health equals numbers. More quotes to come, after the break...

Music Mondays - Can a heretic still teach (or sing ) God's truth?

I came across this article over the weekend and there were parts I liked and others I didn't like. I agreed with some of it and disagreed with enough of it that I began formulating a response in my head that I realized would make a good Music Monday post.

Now I fully admit critiquing another's critique may be a low-brow approach in a form (blogging) that is already low-brow. But my aim is not to trash anyone's opinion. only to critically think through this issue - and do so within the parameters the author himself sets. Let me also admit at the top that I own 1 song by Bethel on iTunes ("You Make Me Brave") and I'm not sure our church has ever used their music.

To sum the article up, or just give you a TL;DR version, the author uses the following four questions to ultimately conclude that churches shouldn't use Bethel Music's worship songs*:

1. Are you examining everything you consume through the lens of God’s Word?
2. Does the song stand on its own, proclaiming the truth of God’s Word without explanation?
3. Is it possible to separate the truth being sung from the error of its associations?
4. Would using the song cause us to actively support an errant ministry?

*To be fair, the author doesn't explicitly write that Bethel Music should be avoided. But it is clearly implied.

I completely agree with the first two standards the author provides. It would be accurate to say that they are biblical criteria even. 

Here's why I believe the article fails to fully make it's point. The author provides no evidence that Bethel's music fails to meet the biblical standards in either of the first two areas. One would expect each of those four criteria to shed negative light on Bethel's worship music. Yet under the first two questions, no particular lyric and no songs are given to demonstrate the problematic nature of their worship music. There are nods towards questionable teachings in Bethel's church ministry but the author doesn't even hint that any particular song fails to line up with God's Word.

I am not convinced by the case the author makes for the third and fourth standards either. I believe they are worthy questions. But I am not sure they have as strong of a biblical basis, nor does the article convince me that Bethel Music disqualifies itself in these areas. 

The last question is the easiest for me. Someone can show me the CCLI receipts and prove me wrong, but if an individual church sings one or two of their songs a month, that is 12-24 a year. I doubt the royalties are very significant at that level. I'm sure there would be more egregious examples of this kind of "bad support" if we scrutinized the list of corporations that our retirement plans are invested in or if we evaluated moral quality of the Hollywood production studios we support when we go to the movies. 

With the case of question #3, the author actually makes a good argument for embracing music from Bethel earlier in the article. He cites three classic hymns from three different writers who each had problematic views on various doctrinal issues. Are we sure Bethel is more erroneous than those examples? We aren't advocating Luther's anti-Semitism when we sing "A Mighty Fortress" nor are we affirming all of Bethel's theology by singing their version of "It is Well". And how realistic is it for our people to leave our ministries to embrace with Bethel's questionable doctrinal beliefs as the author implies? What does that say about my church's ministry if my people are so easily swayed by a doctrinally-sound song authored by a theologically-questionable church? 

This gets us to a larger question. Can a heretic ever teach God's truth? Could they author a song that is truthful? 

I'm of the persuasion that all truth is God's truth. I will not seek out secular psychologists for discipleship principles, but I might seek out their observations for how to best deal with addicts or those dealing with mental health issues. A con man who leads revival services so he can fill his pockets rather than save souls can still be a vehicle through which the Spirit convicts hearts. The Bible is full of examples of less-than-worthy vessels being used to further God's Kingdom. He even uses a donkey to prophesy at one point!

In the end, I wonder if this concern over Bethel Music could be an example more like Mark 9:38-41 than Arius. Yes, I find the reports of their theological drifting to be troubling. Yes, I think some of their "spontaneous worship" tacked on the end of their live performances is likely planned and it is certainly not my style. But if there are no glaring doctrinal problems with their worship music and if their music library instead has Christ-honoring qualities - what is specifically wrong with using it for your own God-glorifying purpose? 

Music Mondays - The one about death

This past weekend, I did my 6th funeral/memorial service since last November and my 8th in the last 13 months. In a sense, I've been in a "season" of death. More accurately, I've been walking along side many others going through seasons of death. 

I believe that's why, after belatedly buying Needtobreathe's latest album, their song "Be Here Long" hit me right square in the heart.

I have heard good songs that dealt with what I can only describe as "the real stuff" of death. Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" and Twenty One Pilot's cover of "Cancer" are two stand-outs for their poignancy, even if the former doesn't match my theological convictions. And there are certainly scores hopeful Christian offerings, too numerous to even begin to link to. 

But what this song does is offer a glimpse into the raw struggle of grief. It never gives up our hope in Christ, but for anyone who has been devastated by the loss of someone close to them, these lyrics ring absolutely 100% true to life. 
As Christians, we like to say, we don't grieve as those who have no hope. Certainly true, but let's leave ourselves room for the grieving part of that equation. This song certainly does:

I know I can't keep it together 

but I know that you want me to

Oh, I'm swimming in the grief
And there's no anchor that could hold me down
I don't want any relief
'Cause I don't wanna let you go right now

Yeah, I know you found the promise land
But I'm still here and I'm missing you

I gave you the best of me
Loved you more than anything
But we don't get to be here long

For any of you who have read to the end, here's the studio version as a bonus:

Service Snippets

I was really happy with how my sermon on Bathsheba came together and how I presented it yesterday. The story resonates to our present culture in many ways and I believe she is truly one of the most misunderstood characters in Scripture (listen here). 

Having said all that, I fear my sermon was overshadowed a bit by something that happened right before. During our corporate time of prayer, I asked our work team to come forward for prayer. They were traveling down to Kentucky to help out at Riverside Christian School after the service. 

One of the leaders, Duane, jokingly suggested we pray for Karen E. who was going to be driving down as the third wheel with her husband and Duane. See, Duane and Jim her husband are quite the friendly duo who love to joke and razz each other. 

She responded to that remark by saying "that's ok, I have my Cheez-It's". Being in super-spiritual "prayer mode", I heard "that's ok, I have Jesus". And I complimented her saying, yes, it was good that she'd have Jesus with her. 

It was then that I began to realize my mistake when she said, "no, I said 'I'll have my Cheez-It's'. I don't think I was the only one who misheard her but everyone in our service burst out laughing. 

Fittingly, Duane's wife grabbed a box of those crackers and wrote "Jesus" on them and gave them to Karen as they took off Sunday afternoon.

It reminded me that as much planning as you can do, sometimes you just run into things like this in a service and there is no real way to save the decorum. And you know what, that's ok. 

Sermon Snippets - Tamar, the Righteous Prostitute

A little over a year ago, I read and reviewed "Vindicating the Vixens" edited by Dr. Sandra Glahn. I really enjoyed this survey of prominent women in Scripture who have been misunderstood and misrepresented in our common evangelical interpretations.

I decided to use it as a guide for this summer's sermon schedule. I usually try to come up with a series that will work through the summer when people often miss more often. This way, they can still glean a lot out of a specific week's sermon, but not feel lost or behind in the overall series.

Yesterday was my first sermon based on the characters featured in this book. We took a look at Tamar in Genesis 38, who is both described as a prostitute and righteous.

It was one of my favorite sermons I've preached in awhile.

The audio will be up on our website later this week here, but one of the pieces of evidence that she's a righteous hero in this complex story is how the Bible refers to her in other places.

Not only is she described as "righteous" in 38:26 for her actions, but King David names a daughter after her (2 Samuel 13). Absalom names his daughter Tamar as well, though I'm more inclined to see that as a tribute to his sister (2 Sam. 14:27).

Tamar also comes up in the story of Ruth. Ruth's story is another unorthodox account of love and family and God's redemption. In the concluding chapter, the people of Boaz's community give him their blessing, saying,

Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

On the surface, one could accuse Tamar just being a scheming femme fatale, going to great lengths just to start a family.

In reality, we see Scripture honoring her for her bold steps to seek what was right. Labels like "righteous" aren't given out to everybody in the story of God. And naming children after an ancestor was a way to show admiration for their character.

Coming down off a high - Sermon Snippets

I've taken a break from blogging but now I hope to be "back and better than ever" (s/o to Mike & Mike). I'm putting "Music Monday" on hiatus for now and going to bring back "Sermon Snippets" moving forward. 

These posts will feature tidbits and/or last minute cuts from my sermons that I find interesting. One common problem pastors face is deciding what to cut from their messages - or rather, not realizing they need to cut material out to keep their audience focused. I'm writing a commentary on 1-2 Kings currently so there should be plenty of material. To keep up with my sermon series, you can listen here.

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Being a sports fan, I see it all the time. A team pulls off a big win only to fall flat on their face against a lesser opponent. This is a theme that threads throughout Scripture's story. 

• Israel is conquering the Promised Land and defeats the unconquerable city of Jericho. Then they turn around and are trounced when trying to attack the much less formidable Ai (Josh.6-7)
• David is anointed to be the next king and defeats Goliath in their famous battle (1 Sam.16-17). He then spends years dodging spears and hiding in caves until he gets the throne (2 Sam. 2-5).
• Elijah confronts and defeats the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18) only to be overwhelmed by discouragement soon after (1 Kings 19).
• In less that 24 hours, Peter goes from boldly vowing to never abandon Jesus to denying him three times (Matt.26:33-35, 69-75)

Everything about 1 Kings 8 points to this being another probable letdown. This chapter is an account of one of the most glorious worship services of all time. Solomon completes the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and the nation dedicates it with a special celebration. 

So when the music has faded and the offerings have all been offered, God visits Solomon to offer him instruction that will greatly help him and his people not fall into that trap. Both positively and negatively, he reminds the king of the importance of undivided loyalty to God and faithfully following his Law. 

Faithfulness to God needs to guide us, whether we're experiencing victory or struggling with defeat. God takes notice and truly cares - not just that we reach a spiritual mountaintop - but also that we use it to grow and be better followers of Jesus. Anything else is just sentimentality or emotionalism not true spirituality.