May 2006

I leave on June 6 for 10 days to play several dates with Nate Fancher and band. We’ll be playing in KY at Asbury Seminary and in VA at Liberty University for a youth rally event called “War Cry”.

We’ve had a couple of rehearsals with the band, mostly hashing out arrangements for Nate’s newest original stuff. I’m really enjoying the direction of the music. Quite Sting-like - with some disco-ish, pseudo-reggae beats from Dale and Jamie, who make up the rhythm section. Modern guitar tones and effects from George, the wonderkid. I’m playing keys - mostly ethereal pads and vintage wurly and hammond - but so far I’ve been able to add in some weirdness, like marimba and some analog synth leads. Pretty eclectic so far, really.

I love creating good music with good people!

I wonder — what is the etymology of the word klutz? That’s why it takes so long to write a blog post sometimes…

Anyhoo….I thought I’d share an embarrassing moment that unfortunately no one saw - although, I’m sure I heard God chuckling.

My wife’s friend, Adrianne, brought CC a nice, big planter filled with spring annuals. We were out of town last week, so CC had to miss a garden party that Adrianne hosted on Saturday. Don’t ask me exactly what a garden party is, except that each person came home with one of these planters. It was a beautiful gift, and a thoughtful gesture of friendship.

So we put the planter out on our front porch just outside the door. Last night, as I run out the door with my dog, Utah, as I’ve done a million times — (and, as always, without ever turning on the porch light) — WHACK! “My shin!” Crash! Leap! “What the. . .?” So I turn on the porch light to find the pottery shattered, potting soil everywhere, and these poor innocent annuals laid out like pulled weeds.

Through my uprorious laughter, I try to get the story out to my beautiful bride who is not as amused. I assured her that had she seen it, she would probably be laughing with me, but I’m not sure I convinced her.

So, I did what every husband would do…. clean up the mess and tell her we’ll buy some more flowers next week….. just kidding. Did you know that you can go to Super Target at 9:45pm and find a planter (unbreakable this time, of course,) a CD from your wife’s favorite new artist, and a box of Milk Duds and be home by 10:05?

“The Lord is all that, I need for nothing. He allows me to chill. He keeps me from being heated and allows me to breathe easy. He guides my life so that I can represent and give shouts out in His Name.

And even though I walk through the ‘hood of death, I don’t back down for you have my back. The fact that He has me covered allows me to chill. He provides me with back-up in front of my player-haters and I know that I am a baller and life will be phat.

I fall back in the Lord’s crib for the rest of my life.”

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This is a rephrasing of the 23rd Psalm from the “HipHopEMass”. Trinity Episcopal Church in Bronx, NY has translated the liturgy into hip-hop vernacular for weekly HipHopEMass Celebrations.

Very interesting…..

See my friend Dale’s blog for his comments after attending a local event sponsored by his church.

I’ve always been a proponent of “translating” the truth into language that speaks to the culture here and now, but I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I read this because my first thought was “this is ridiculous!” That made me start wondering what was behind my contempt. Am I becoming the person who cries foul when the drum set slides its way onto the platform? The one who is okay with guitar in worship as long as it’s an acoustic guitar and not - God forbid - an ELECTRIC guitar. I wondered where you draw the line. Then I wondered, should there be a line? When does a translation no longer say what was intended? How would we know when that happened?

I’m going to stop or else my head’s going to explode. Okay, your turn. What do you think?

I wonder if anyone would like to share some ideas for some creative ways to teach about worship? Starting May 14, we are going to spend several weeks teaching on worship at our church.

Here are some themes that we’re considering….

1. Revelation and Response - God reveals Himself, worship is our response to that revelation…not just about singing, but about our lifestyle….we worship what we value the most

2. Sacred Pathways - based on Gary Thomas’s book….the different ways we tend to most readily relate to God (i.e. Nature, Senses, Activism, Celebration, Intellectually, etc.)

3. Postures - biblical foundations for worship postures (lifting hands, clapping, shouting, kneeling, etc.)…it’s not about ritual, but helps express what’s in the heart

So, what are your ideas - visuals, sounds, experiential, etc - to help engage people with these concepts? What have you seen? What have you always wanted to try?