Twitter is buzzing with news about Apple’s new tablet, the iPad. And it’s not good.  I couldn’t agree more.  You won’t catch me shelling out 500 big ones for this device, and here’s why:

• Not built on OS X. Unlike other tablets, this is not a laptop replacement.  It’s an overgrown iPod that won’t fit in your pocket.
• Higher priced eBooks. You’ll probably pay more for books on the iPad, but it will be much less comfortable to read them (backlit screen, as opposed to digital ink on the Kindle and other devices).  Give us some color digital ink if you really want to be innovative, Apple!
• No Flash support. And what’s the Web without Flash?
• No USB ports.
• No multitasking.
• No voice or phone features.
• No camera features.
• Web prices are “good,” but AT&T’s network is not. It would be like paying 3x as much for below dial-up speed (where available).

Also, no big announcement about AT&T losing exclusivity with the iPhone… no iPhone OS 4 updates… no MacBook updates…  Big disappointments all around.  I’m glad I don’t own any Apple stock today.

For now, I’m just going to stick to my iPad mini (an iPhone). Thanks, but no thanks, Apple.  When you can turn my MacBook Pro into a gorgeous, stylus-driven tablet with FireWire and a quad-core processor, then give me a call.

[ht: @PastorJimDrake for the iYawn headline.]

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American Idol is back… and reminding us to keep out pants off the ground! I think one reason American Idol is so popular is that we Americans love our idols. Even beyond idolatry of money or fame, we can manage to idolize just about anything.  Even… church?

According to some, idolatry of church can be a big problem for Christian leaders. Check out these questions posed by John Ortberg on the Out of Ur blog:

• Where does my sense of security come from—from God, or from how my church is doing?
• After a worship service, do I find myself grateful that God is God and feeling joyful that I get to live in his care? Or—if I’m honest—are my emotions dictated more by how many bodies were in the room?
• Do I spend more time thinking about God, or thinking about how to make my church/ministry do better?
• How do I feel when the prospect for more prizes in the church tournament—recognition, praise, reputation, applause—get taken away from me?
• Does my sense of identity flow more out of my relationship with God or out of my performance at church?
• How much do I sacrifice to know God better versus how much do I sacrifice for my church to work better?

John calls this his IQ Test — an “Idolatry Quotient Test.” He says that idols aren’t just bronze statues.  They’re anything that we look to for something only God can provide.  Even good things become bad things when we try to make them God things.  Family.  Relationships.  Success.  Attractiveness.  Food.  None can provide what only God can.

Can church also become an idol if we’re not careful?

UPDATE: Apparently, some think not only the church, but also the Bible, can be so highly regarded, that it becomes idolatrous.  Check out the Village Church’s take on “bibliolatry” in the new movie, The Book of Eli. (Using the same naming convention, what I’ve described in this post would be “ecclesiolatry,” which is, surprisingly, a real word!)

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I’ve been using YouVersion’s Chronological reading plan this year, which has put me in the book of Job this month. I’ve come across a fair share of verses I never noticed before, including these two of my favorites:

• “My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family” (Job 19:17).
• “It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right” (Job 32:9).

These verses are great! Ladies, you can tape the first memory verse to your Listerine bottle in the medicine cabinet as a convenient reminder for your husband.  And, children who like talking back to their parents… well, the second verse is always good ammo when you want to remind them they don’t have a monopoly on wisdom.

OK, I hope you can the sarcasm behind my words. Obviously, you shouldn’t use these verses that way, just as you shouldn’t quote Job 35:12a (“He does not answer when people cry out”) as proof God is a heartless dictator.  We must consider the context.

How do we consider the context of the book of Job? The majority of the book is a dialogue between Job and his “comforters” concerning why he is suffering so much.  If we read through the entire narrative, it turns out in the end, their views were wrong.  So, how should we interpret chapter after chapter of their advice?  Well, obviously, they shouldn’t become our memory verses.  While the Bible is inerrant, it’s recording the erroneous views of Job’s friends as they posit many reasons why he is suffering.  (The Lord, Himself, is the one who handed down that verdict in Job 42:7b — “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”)

The proper way to understand these verses is that they contain commonly held (but incorrect) views about suffering. And if they’re wrong about Job’s suffering, what else are they wrong about?  Should we be quoting Elihu’s poetic words, “Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power” (Job 37:22-23a)?  They’re beautiful words.  But they’re coming from a man who was wrong about other things he spoke.

Sloppy Bible interpretation is dangerous. Unfortunately, it’s also easy:  Do a Bible search online, find a verse that seems to agree with what you want to say, and copy and paste it into your blog.  That’s why the key is context, context, context.  In this case, a good study Bible can shed light on what’s going on.  And reading through the entirity of Scripture is important so we know how each piece fits in the puzzle.  In this case, the puzzle piece is dialogue of mere mortals as they search for the reason behind suffering.

How should these types of passages inform our systematic theology? Should we be similarly careful when we interpret the Psalms, which also records humans searching for answers?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[ht: Olga for the picture!]

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It was my privilege to fill the pulpit at the Wade Center this week. As usual, preaching to myself as much as anyone else, my sermon could be summarized in these words (adapted from Rom. 12:2):

Life Transformation Follows
Thought Renovation

You can watch the sermon online here:

http://www.vimeo.com/8445191

My chief criticisms:

• Not dynamic and passionate as I’d like to be (think: John Piper, Louie Giglio, etc.).
• Too reliant on notes.
• Way too distracted by self-defeating thoughts.  (Should have listened to my own sermon about the importance of renovating our thoughts!!!)

Some positives:

• Good job at generating interest and clearly defining the topic.
• Good job exegeting the text.  From a broad view of the entire book of Romans to a macro closeup of what the word “renew” means, I think I dug down deep.  For academics in our crowd, the word-by-word analysis of the verse (conformed, transformed, renewing, etc.) felt more like a traditional sermon for them… which is a good thing around here, even though it feel less focused than it should be.
• Good job at making the message memorable through use of visuals and repetition of the thesis.
• Good job at stating application – making sure the audience left knowing exactly how to apply the message.

So, even though it wasn’t my best, I’m pleased with how it came out. If I can generate interest, faithfully exegete the Scripture, and send people out knowing exactly how to apply it.. what more can you ask?  Life change is what it’s all about.

As usual, I consider myself a hybrid speaker. My sermons combine Andy Stanley’s ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE structure with Louie Giglio’s love of visuals and Mark Driscoll’s detailed exegesis.  During the delivery, I was very hard on myself mentally.  At the time, I graded myself a “C-” at best.  But, after watching the tape and evaluating myself, I upgraded my performance to a “B+.”

Why did it feel so bad during delivery? First, I was busy right up until the service started fixing video cameras and trying to get Pro Tools recording.  Second, the sermon bump rolled late.  Third, my mic was clipped (not unmuted fast enough).  Fourth, the live Webcast echoed loudly in the background.  Fifth, the Scripture on the screen earlier than expected.  All that happened within the first 2-3 minutes of the sermon.  I believe that’s the most critical time to get momentum going and connect with the listeners.  So it took extra work on my part to get the ball rolling after those distractions (more distracting to me than the crowd, hopefully).  Also, every time I would stumble over a word or tell a joke that wasn’t as funny as our usual speaker’s jokes, I would tell myself that I have no business being on stage.  (That type of harsh self-talk is a good example of the type of thoughts I was preaching about correcting!)

Why did it come out OK in the end? I can only attribute it to practice, practice, practice (and the Holy Spirit).  It turns out that, even when I’m horribly distracted and “not feeling it,” my “auto-pilot” mode keeps my voice sounding decently passionate and my message moving along nicely.  Pitch, pacing, dynamics, memorization, improvisation — all these things used to require a lot of manual effort on my part.  Now, they’re almost automatic.  (I still do better in all these areas when I’m not distracted and when I’ve had time to properly internalize a message.)

I’m already planning my next sermon, scheduled for April 25 at the Wade Center. Based on 1 Cor. 6:19-20, it is called “Under New Management” and will explore the implications of the truth that we do not belong to ourselves but have been bought with a price.

If you have any thoughts on my upcoming topic or my current sermon, I’d love to hear them!

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It’s become as much a part of the sounds of the season as the Salvation Army bell ringing in the distance — the predictable onslaught of radio commentators bemoaning how the world is taking Christ out of Christmas. Now, Focus on the Family is taking the lead with a new Website that encourages visitors to rate-a-retailer.

“Stand for Christmas“ is the name of Dobson’s campaign, but sometimes I wonder if the people who create things like this are missing the point entirely.  I’m not alone.  Blogger Jason Boyett said he was offended — not by retailers who say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” but by the idea of rating secular stores on how much they fulfill a religious role.  In his own words, here’s why:

• It offends me logically. Old Navy is a clothing store. It is a secular retailer. It is not a Christian store. Why are we concerned that secular retailers are not exhibiting religious behavior? They are not a religious entity… It’s like me being offended that my dog doesn’t type very well. He’s a DOG. He’s not supposed to be typing.
• It offends me socially. You know what kind of retailer rating I’d like to see? I’d like to see one that rates them based on how they treat people. Like, do they use sweatshop labor? Is their clothing made by nine-year-olds in the Philippines? How do they treat their employees here? I could care less about what they say at the check-out stand or what signs they display. What’s more important to me is what they do. It occurs to me that Jesus made this very distinction in taking offense at the Pharisees — he condemned them for hiding their evil behind nice, clean appearances. Based on the logic of this campaign, it doesn’t matter if a company exploits their workers. What matters is whether or not the catalogs say “Christmas” on the cover. A Jesus who cared about taking a stand for Christmas today would have to be a Jesus who, in the Bible, praised the Pharisees for advertising their ritual cleanliness while neglecting widows and orphans. If you find that Jesus in the Bible, let me know, because I can’t.
• It offends me historically. The whole “taking Christ out of Christmas” thing sorta loses flavor for me when you look at the history of Christmas. For at least the first couple centuries of Christianity, the Church didn’t celebrate Christ’s birth. There WAS NO Christmas. Christ’s resurrection was a huge commemoration, but no one gave any thought to noting (much less celebrating) his birth. That is, until Constantine needed to legitimize Christianity in Roman society in the 3rd century. One of the ways he did it was by injecting Jesus into Saturnalia, the popular Roman winter solstice festival. That way the Romans could keep their major holiday and the Church could get some religious mileage out of it, too. Should we boycott stores that “Take Christ out of Christmas” by watering down the holiday? Only if we’re OK with Roman pagans picketing us because we watered down Saturnalia by mixing it with Jesus. (And don’t get me started on all the other Christmas traditions — gifts, mistletoe, trees — that have pagan origins. Are they bad? No. But they’re not originally Christian. We don’t own them.)
• It offends me morally. What about consumerism and greed? That doesn’t come into question at all in this campaign. Stand for Christmas isn’t telling you to spend less this Christmas. It’s not telling you to stand against culture by curbing your materialistic tendencies. It’s not telling you to focus less on getting and more on giving, which I think should be a pretty big part of the Christian holiday message. No…it’s telling you to keep on being a consumer, as long as you’re consuming from the proper Jesus-confirmed sources.

There’s a lot of other great insights on Jason’s blog, so be sure to check it out.

Like Jason, I have no problem with Focus on the Family… when they’re focusing on the family, that is. Dr. Dobson is a great counselor, and the biblical wisdom on parenting he shares is desperately needed today.  But when they start kooky campaigns like this one or venture into politics, they’ve lost me.  This is the kind of Christianity the world doesn’t get.

I wonder how many judgmental Christians I offend daily when I accidentally let a “Happy Holidays” slip out. (It is plural, after all — Christmas, New Year’s, etc.)  I just wonder if anyone has ever been saved because a cashier said, “Merry Christmas.”  Put yourself in the shoes of a Muslim, Hindu or atheist.  Would that cause you to question your entire worldview… or just push you farther away because Christians come across as so disrespectful and uncaring?

Perhaps if we focused a little more on loving and serving, we wouldn’t have to rely on Wal-Mart to do the work of the Church.

[ht: Karen Withak]

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It’s that time of year again!  Time to look back and remember this year in music!

MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM AWARD

• OneRepublic’s “Waking Up.” I love it that these guys are bringing piano-driven pop back in a cool way. The textures of the programming in their sophomore release really hit the sweet spot.
• John Mayer’s “Battle Studies.” Runner up is John Mayer, who has been on my radar ever since he released his live album, “Where The Light Is.”  He’s a massively talented dude, as you can tell from seeing him perform live, but his pop efforts sometimes fail to show his full potential.

BEST DRESSED AWARD

• Lady Gaga. OK, just kidding.  She gives me nightmares.  But I will give her this:  Her music is infectiously catchy, and she knows how to turn a performance into a spectacle people talk about for days.

BEST SONG WRITING AWARD

• Taylor Swift. Taylor’s songs tell a story — an engaging, memorable story that connects with your experience.  That level of creativity is rare these days.  I only wish her singing matched her mad songwriting skillz.

WORST STAGE PRESENCE AWARD

• Kanye West. I think President Obama said all that needs to be said about this jackhole…  We need to install a seatbelt on his chair at the awards shows.
• Miley Cyrus. Miley is proof that even I could have a successful recording career.  I’m a big fan of her hit singles, “The Climb” and “Party In The U.S.A.”  She’s proven she can do country ballads and teen pop hits and everything in-between.  But to hear her attempt those songs live on stage reveals that a lot of magic has gone on to make her studio recordings sound as solid as they do.

BEST ACCORDION SOLO AWARD

• Green Day. At MTV’s Europe Music Awards, this punk band proved once again that nothing goes together better than pyrotechnics and accordions.  From one accordion player to another: props, dude, props.

WORST CAREER MOVE OF 2009

• Switchfoot leaving Columbia Records. Everybody is hailing Switchfoot’s latest album, “Hello Hurricane,” as their return to greatness.  They regained complete creative control of their sound after leaving Columbia Records.  But I kinda liked their sound better when it was record executives who molded the final product into what they knew the public liked.  Say whatever you want, but “Nothing Is Sound” will always be the gold standard for me, and this new album is very, very rough in comparison.

STUPIDEST NAME AWARD

• Souljah Boy Tell ‘Em. Really?  Can your name be a whole sentence with a verb and everything?

OBVIOUS AUTO-TUNING AWARD

• The Glee Cast. They’re tuning these poor kids to death. And that’s a shame since some of them, like Lea Michele, have awesome voices without turning them into T-Pain.

WORST MASTERING AWARD

• Kristian Stanfill’s “Attention.” Great collection of songs.  Hard to listen to.  Man, I wish I had the opportunity to re-master these so the crash cymbals wouldn’t eat the entire mix alive!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT AWARD

• U2’s “No Line On The Horizon.” Although their newest CD contains my favorite U2 song of all time, “Magnificent,” the rest of the tracks completely miss the mark.  They’re one of my favorite bands, but “weird” is the only word I have to describe the strange style they’ve adopted for this effort.
• David Crowder Band’s “Church Music.” Given how much I love programmed music and the DC*B, this album should have been a shoe-in as my favorite of 2009  But, it’s dark.  Dreary.  Strange, even.  And rather than taking us through the history of church music (starting with the Phos Hilaron and moving forward), it remains in one gear the whole way through.  Big disappointment from one of my favorite bands.
• Christy Nockels’ “Life Light Up.” This Watermark and Passion Conferences veteran has always been one of my favorites.  Unfortunately, her solo debut on sixsteps records doesn’t capture her awesomeness at all.

PLEASANT SURPRISE AWARDS

• Owl City’s “Ocean Eyes.” The polar opposite of David Crowder’s dreary CD, Owl City’s unique brand of feel-good programming rocks!  The newest album inspires me to greater levels of creativity when using Propellerhead Reason for programming my own music.
• Derek Webb’s “Stockholm Syndrome.” Super original programming.  Tight lyrics.  Killer album from a guy who turned his career around by ditching the acoustic guitar for some hip hop beats.
• Fee’s “Hope Rising.” Unexpectedly, Fee has become one of my very favorite Christian artists.  Unlike some albums that take a few listens to grown on you, this stuff hooks you from the first listen.  (Mad props to Eddie Kirkland for co-writing a bunch of these awesome, original, God-honoring songs.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Chris Tomlin, for making a Christmas worship album. Awesome!
• Casey Darnell and James David Carter, for being my new favorite indie artists!  Hey, I predicted Fee and Kristian Stanfill.  Will I be right again?  Somebody give them a record deal, already, so I can be right (and we all can get some good music)!!!

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

• Matt Redman, for a bland new album that doesn’t represent what he’s capable of.
• Avalon, for not breaking up.  It’s over, guys.  It’s over.

Who were your favorites from 2009?

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In the Twittersphere, my tweeps are always doggin’ on Facebook, but I’m not giving up on it just yet.  Here’s why:

First, and most importantly to me, Facebook has highly customizable privacy options. With Facebook, I can choose to make my profile viewable only by my friends and not the public.  Beyond that, I can choose exactly which friends get to see each part of my profile.  For example, I can (and do) restrict my Facebook “friends” who aren’t really my friends from seeing the intimate day-in-day out details of my life.  I have different privacy setting for my notes, status updates, links, contact info, photos and videos (and even different privacy settings for each photo album and video).  Facebook gets an A+ in my book for privacy.

Second, it requires very little of my time because I use it as an aggregator. In other words, I don’t have to create any new Facebook content.  It’s all imported automatically.  For example, my status updates come from Twitter.  My notes are automatically imported from my WordPress blog.  Videos I edit for YouTube videos come in as links.  You get the point.  With almost no effort, I can have all my social media content come under one umbrella.  All I have to do is check in once a day for comments and messages.

Third, the expandability of Facebook via apps is a great idea. At times, it’s highly annoying (as when I get 10 Farm Town requests a day), but it’s still a great concept.  One of my favorites is Visual Bookshelf app, which lets me share which books I’ve been reading and even write reviews… or the My Band app, which lets me stream my own music right from my profile.

All that being said, I still know that Facebook is by no means perfect. I find the banality of the conversations going on there nothing short of mind-numbing.  Contrast that with Twitter, which (at least among my followers) focuses on my professional interests like photography, graphic design, worship leading, etc.  That’s why I read every Twitter update but hardly ever dredge through Facebook content.  I guess that’s because I’m more of a left-brained person, I’m more interested in concepts (“Canon released the 7D to rave reviews”) than the details of people’s lives (“Having pancakes for breakfast again…”).

I guess social networks are what you make of them. The person who uses them to connect with old high school friends is going to have a much different experience than the person who uses them for professional networking.  Whatever your preference, you can find it.  So, make the most of it, and don’t give up on Facebook yet!  I haven’t!

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Yesterday, I stumbled onto ChristianChirp.com, the “Christian alternative to Twitter.” Do we really need a Christian Twitter?  I don’t think so, and here’s why:

You don’t have to worry about Twitter bringing something offensive to you. This technology is about a neutral as it gets.  It’s not good.  It’s not evil.  It’s just a series of tubes* through with information flows.  For the person who follows @RickWarren and @AndyStanley, Twitter will be a source of great Christian encouragement.  For those who follow vulgar comedians or brash shock jocks, Twitter will deliver just what they ordered as well.

Twitter will never bring you something you didn’t ask for. If you only follow your mom, your best friend and me (@billwhitt), you won’t have to worry about encountering something that might violate your Christian sensibilities.  And check this out:  Even if the heathen follow you, you don’t have to follow them back, and their pagan ways will never make it onto your screen.  (I hope you can sense the sarcasm here…)

And there is a great benefit to Christians staying on Twitter instead of running for the hills: As we tweet about life from our perspective, we’ll have the opportunity to influence a lot of people… including a lot of people who may not share our worldview or faith.  An old friend from high school may end up following you.  Someone who shares your passion for knitting may read your tweets too.  On Twitter, it is easy to influence a lot of people — Christian or not.  Not so on ChristianChirp.com.

Ultimately, ChristianChirp.com is the next evolution of monasticism, the Amish, GodTube, etc. All examples of sectarian communities that have removed their “salt and light” from the world.  I don’t want to do that.  I don’t want to be one to get in the way of Jesus’ desire for his followers, as recorded in John 17:15.  Listen to how Jesus prays to his Father:

“My prayer is not that you take [my followers] out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

Jesus promises to protect us from the evil in the world, and that’s precisely because he expects us to be in the world. Online or offline.  Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.  Office parties, sports leagues, concerts.  In the world.  That’s where God wants us, and that’s why you won’t find me on ChristianChirp.com!

—

*tip o’ the hat to Ted Stevens for the “series of tubes” word picture!

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What were you for Halloween?

A lot of children go as what they’d like to be when they grow up. (For adults, we often go as what we wish we’d become when we grew up.)  I got to thinking about that and came up with several possibilities:

• A tennis star. But I already dress like that every time I play tennis.  I have several Nike outfits and shoes from the Federer collection.  In fact, I use the same exact racquet, strung with the same guage strings at the same tension as my tennis hero (Wilson natural gut and Luxilon Power Rough hybrid).  I get to live out my dream of being a tennis star about twice a week.  No halloween needed!
• A musical artist. But I already dress like that at concerts.  For example, when I go to the Dove Awards, I dress like the rest of the guys there…  I have to tone it down a little bit for Sunday morning worship, but I still get to live out my dream of playing and singing in front of folks every week!  No Halloween needed!

Most of the things I wanted to be in life are actually part of my life. That’s a great feeling.  No need to pretend.  No need to long for a better future someday.  No discontentment.  Many of my goals and dreams became reality.

But there is still one thing I still lack: I never became a doctor… and I never grew an afro.

I guess I’ll be content to keep pretending on that front for a while!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

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In Seth Godin’s new book, Tribes, he writes:

A thermostat is far more valuable than a thermometer… The thermometer is an indicator… The thermostat, on the other hand, manages to change the environment…

Which are you?

Thermometers know when something is wrong. Thermometers known when it’s too cold in church.  Thermometers can see your house’s paint is chipping and lights are burning out.  Thermometers can tell you that your Internet service is down… again.  Thermometers watch and complain.  But they do nothing.

Thermostats take action. When it’s too cold, thermostats turn the heat on.  When home repair needs to be done, thermostats grab a paint brush and a ladder.  When computer problems happen, thermostats try solutions until something works.  Thermostats don’t complain.  They do something.

The world has plenty of human thermometers.

What we need are more thermostats.

[ht: Photo by Axel Bührmann]

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I just finished listening to a very challenging sermon series by Andy Stanley about decision-making. Over the course of several weeks, he shared four principles we can use to make better choices in life.  The fourth and most ultimate question was, “Which choice will bring glory to God?”

Andy says that we weren’t created to receive glory, but rather to reflect it to God. In every decision we make, we should make the choice that brings the most glory to God instead of ourselves.  That’s easily said, but how do we apply that?  My small group had a great insight!

One key area of application is in how we use social media like Twitter and Facebook. These sites have revolutionized the way people communicate today.  While much of that revolution is good, many criticize social media for catering to people who love bringing glory to themselves.  Narcissists.  And as you probably know, narcissists don’t usually anything interesting to say.  I’ve found that useless and insipid vanity is the substance of  most Twitter traffic.  (“Having chicken for dinner tonight.”)  In today’s world, it’s not just nerds and geeks like me who get the chance to share the mind-numbing tedium of their day-to-day activities… it’s all of us, just as long as it’s 140 characters or less.

Twitter reveals a lot about the state of our hearts, and for many people, their tweets add up to say, “It’s all about me.”  That’s not just my opinion; a new study by Rutgers University found that 80% of social media users primarily post “Me Now” status updates — details about their activities, feelings, thoughts and social lives.  The remaining 20% can be classified as “informers.”  These few users primarily share informational updates such as helpful links.

Rutgers University Professors Mor Naaman and Jeffrey Boase classified users’ tweets as:

• Me Now
• Opinions and Complaints
• Self Promotion
• Random Thoughts
• Questions to Followers
• Presence Maintenance (“I’m backkkk!”)
• Anecdotes
• Information Sharing

So what do your tweets say about you? Which category above would primarily summarize your presence online?  (And how about your real-life relationships too?)

I’d like to do an objective analysis of my own Twitter history, but that would take forever. Just scanning back over this week’s tweets is helpful, though… and easy enough.  It looks like I’m primarily an information sharer (facts and links about music, cameras, audio/video, technology, ministry, etc.).  But I also throw in some anecdotes from my life so that my Twitter presence has a personal side as well.

Rutgers found that the “Me Now” user has an average of 43 followers, while the “Informer” has an average of 112 followers. (For reference, I currently have 124.)  It appears people like bring around helpful people and not narcissists.  What a revelation!

Ultimately, the question every Twitter or Facebook user should be asking is, “How do I point this tribe of people who follow me to God, and how do I reflect His glory to them?” My small group at North Point discussed this question Sunday night, and our consensus was that every post doesn’t have to quote Scripture or exclaim, “Hallelujah!  God is so good.”  It’s important to be authentic, even if that means admitting discouragement or frustration.  Ultimately, though, Christians are in the best position to turn a very narcissistic medium on its head and point people to truths far more interesting than what we had for dinner last night.

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:16

[ht: Illustrations by thenextweb and Matt Hamm]

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As a worship leader and musician, I’m always looking for ways to make church music more understandable and accessible to the culture outside our church’s four walls. It’s been a growing and a learning experience.  I’ve been at it for almost a decade, and the one thing I’ve learned is that everything changes.  In fact, musically speaking, change is the only that stays the same.

Church music has always been evolving. From simple Hebrew melodies… to Gregorian chant… to harmonious choirs and majestic pipe organs… to soft-pop ballads with the acoustic guitar… to “praise teams” singing highly repetitious “praise choruses”… to stadium-rocking anthems driven by electric guitars.  Change is the only thing that has remained the same over the centuries of musical evolution.

A lot of churches have pushed the pause button at their favorite era of church music. If they’ve made it to “contemporary music” at all, most churches in my area are stuck in the “praise team” thing, with over 10 singers doing their rendition of “Lord I Lift Your Name On High” or “As The Deer.”  One problem with that.  “Contemporary music” is not contemporary any more.  Since when do you turn on the radio and hear a “team” singing anything?  Since when have choirs been all the rage in pop culture?

That’s why I’ve set up our music ministry differently. Just like any song you’d hear on the radio (pop, rock, country, even Christian radio), our sound is driven by drums, bass and electric guitar, with hints of acoustic guitar, keyboards, drum loops, synth programming, strings and other sounds added as necessary.  Top it off with a lead vocal and one or two harmonies, and there you have your recipe for making music that has the potential to sound like the CD’s people buy off the shelves or the latest hit single on the radio.  When the unchurched visit our services, they don’t have to enter a strange musical subculture to become Christian.

For years, this rock model has been the standard.  But is it time to change again? I’ve been a fan of Derek Webb for many years, and for all those years, his name has been synonymous with acoustic guitars and folk songs.  He chose to write in this style because  folk songs were the vehicle culture had been using to carry the ideas of a generation.  Then came his latest album, Stockholm Syndrome… and a very abrupt departure from the style that had characterized his entire career beforehand.

Relevant Magazine asked Derek this question:

Part of your appeal is that people know they’re going to get good music with challenging lyrics that doesn’t fit into any one box. With Stockholm Syndrome, that’s proven true with the sound as well. It’s changed and progressed from a folk sound to a more synthetic vibe. Can you explain how your sound has changed and if you’ll ever go back to a more acoustic feel?

Derek’s response:

The one consistent thing for me, the thing that hooked me early on, was this posture or approach of these folk musicians—the protest movement of the ’60s, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan—the people who were really representing the stories of the people, telling the unfiltered stories of what’s happening in culture. They put a voice on the issues of the day. That’s the thread that I follow. Where I have picked up the thread again over the last 10 years or so is hip-hop. Hip-hop is contemporary folk music. That is one of the only genres that really seems to be fearless in terms of the way it speaks on behalf of the people. That style and the sound of the music started to just kind of infect me a little bit.

Those are brave works from a brave artist, willing to leave his comfort zone to speak in the heart language of a new generation. I pray I might have the same courage as church music continues to evolve.  Even though I love where we’re at now, may I never be guilty of selfishly hitting the pause button so that I can have my preference while the world moves on.

Category: Cool Stuff, Musical Musings | Already 1 comment »

Last month, I tried an ancient spiritual discipline on for size — fasting. It was nothing major — once a week for a maximum time of 24 hours.  I’m no expert, and in truth, I’ve never really understood what the benefit was supposed to be.

God is sovereign, after all, so how could driving by the drive-thru without getting supersized fries cause him change his mind? “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” (Numbers 23:19).

Maybe it’s not about changing his mind as much as it is knowing his mind. But, see, I’m not really much of a charismatic Christian either.  I’ve been led astray one too many times by “gut feelings” that I mistakenly attributed to God’s leading.  And it seems like every cult on earth today started with some guy hearing voices and assuming it was a new revelation from God.  So I didn’t go into the experience expecting to hear anything from God that I could not read for myself in the Bible.

Still, I wanted direction from God, and even though I assumed he didn’t lead that way, I wanted to give it a try. The idea came from a good friend of mine who shared that he was regularly fasting about a situation in his family.  In the providence of God, I also stumbled upon several books and Websites about the topic (five of them, to be exact).

So I dove in, and here’s what I learned:

• It’s amazing how much time we spend on food — buying food, planning how we’ll cook food, shelling out money for food, passing the time munching on food, etc.  You don’t realize this until you stop.  The time you get back is amazing, and if you devote it to God, that alone is worth the experience of fasting.
• Most of us eat more for entertainment than nutrition. We eat to socialize.  We eat to calm our worries.  We eat to ward off boredom.  I’m even eating cereal right now for that very purpose.  It’s not that I’m hungry.  It just feels weird whenever my mouth is not chewing on something sugary… even at midnight.  How much money could we save by stopping eating for non-nutritional purposes?  How much healthier would we be?  Imagine the resources that would free up in our budgets and calendars so that we could do those things we’ve always wanted to do… like help feed those around the world who can’t even eat for nutritional purposes, much less entertainment.
• I learned that it’s OK to tell your body, “No!” Fasting is a discipline that helps put your mind and spirit in control.  In a strange way, it was gratifying to feel hunger pangs and interpret them as something normal and expected — even, dare I say, good — instead of a god that must be obeyed.
• Fasting in a safe way is healthy for your body. According to much of the literature out there, it’s a good way to detox and help your bodily systems regulate themselves.
• The experience was not a magical window into the mind of God for me. My questions were not clearly or fully answered.  Neither was I able to alter the plans of God to fit my desires.  But it did increase my faith, and my spiritual life definitely benefited from the exercise.  Although God did not give me revelation, he did give me illumination as he deepened my understanding of the Scriptures I read.
• The concept of fasting can be applied to more than just food. For example, I also chose to refrain from using Twitter and Facebook on Sundays.  This refreshing Sabbath from social media was a type of fasting that enabled me to keep them from becoming idols in my life.
• Finally, I learned that being secretive about fasting is as dangerous as being boastful about it. In desiring to be discreet, I declined going to lunch with friends and coworkers without giving a reason.  By the end of the month, I had some explaining to do because they thought I hated them!  A non-prideful explanation that you are fasting is a perfectly legitimate response to those who ask.

So, where do we go from here? I’m not exactly looking to do a 40-day fast, but I would like to expand to try 48-hour fasts and possibly 72-hour fasts in the future.  It’s undeniable that fasting is prominently featured in the teachings of the New Testament, so it’s a shame many Christians today don’t even give it a try.  I’m still learning, but I am trying.  Hopefully, my comments will be helpful to someone out there in a similar situation.  If you have any comments about your experiences in fasting, I’d love to hear them!

[ht: photo by Christian Cable]

Category: Cool Stuff, Random Rants | Already 1 comment »

A while back, I posted about the strategy we use in choosing songs for our worship service. Now, thanks to a CCLI reporting period that just ended, I’m able to tell you exactly what songs we’ve used at the Wade Center lately!  Check it out, and let me know what you think of the list.  (This list doesn’t include any public domain hymns or original songs.)

So there you have it! I know, I know.  For some people, the songs are too old.  For some people, the songs are too new.  But that’s exactly the point.

While we’re not trying to be everything to everyone, we are:  1) Balancing the styles of our younger and older congregants.  2) Picking meaty songs with good melodies and great lyrics, regardless of their age (we’ve found most of these come from EMI-CMG).  3) Selecting songs which illustrate the topic of the sermon well to help make the service unified and memorable.

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