More Thoughts on Contemporary Worship

This comes by way of my friend Steve Jeffcoat's Facebook notes:

Thoughts on Contemporary Worship
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Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 12:28am

A little rant on what annoys me about the contemporary worship movement...please don't take this personally or get offended. I like singing "praise songs" every now and then, but I like other stuff too.

1. "Praise and Worship" songs

First off, who came up with this term for contemporary church music? It seems to imply that traditional hymns and even Gregorian chants, et cetera, are not praise songs or worshipful. Worship consists of way more than just singing interspersed with prayer. Communion is part of worship. Discussion and thinking are part of worship. Reading scripture is part of worship. Fasting and baptism are part of worship. Of course, dancing and singing and prayer are also part of worship, but it seems that often when people now say let's praise God or worhship Jesus, they only mean sing (with guitar, of course), and pray. "Hymns" do not just encompass songs written prior to 1975. There are many active current composers of hymns; they are not dead. The words and meaning within the hymns are quite deep and sincere, and most definitly edifying to God. Also, there are more than just 10 words in the average hymn. I'm sure God doesn't get bored with hearing "this is the air I breathe" sung 500 times like a broken record, but I get bored and irritated singing it 500 times in the same song. I wish that these contemoprary church songwriters would add a couple more verses to their songs.
Contemporary church music shares some of the same bad characteristics as a fire-and-brimstone tent revival preacher. It gets you all worked up into an emotional frenzy singing the same words over and over and over again, without even halfway paying attention to the words. For instance:

in "Holy is the Lord" how many times are you actually lifting up your hands when you sing "we stand and lift up our hands"

in "I could sing of Your love" are you actually dancing when it says "They will dance with joy like we're dancing now?"

In "Your grace is enough" why are we telling God "remember your people, remember your promise?" Are we afraid He'll forget?

Also, why is it that the same 5-10 praise songs are sung every time, despite the supposed vast array of praise songs. Even 10 years ago, it was just the same 5-10 songs every time, just different ones than today. In my church, we can go over a year without repeating a hymn.

2. LCD Projectors

These devices (and their predecessor, the overhead projector) are the worst thing to happen in modern church singing. First off, they often have typos, are in the wrong order, and the operator forgets to change the slide in time. Also, they don't show the music, just the words. Granted, that's often because the song being sung has just 1 or maybe 2 lines of melody repeated ad infinitum, but that's beside the point. If I've never heard one of the 600+ songs in the hymnal before, or a new one that's copied and used as a bulliten insert, I can use some rudimentary music-reading skills to figure out the melody. With a new praise song, I have no idea what to sing. Also, I typically sing the bass line of the four-part harmony in the hymnal, and it's pretty difficult to get good multi-part harmony without having the notes.
Even worse than any of this, however, is the churches that put traditional hymns on the LCD screen, when the same song is in the perfectly good hymnal right in front of you.

Here are some of my comments from that note:

Well reasoned rant---but check out some weird hymns like: http://dominickadamo.blogspot.com/2007/09/god-of-earth-and-outer-space.html or http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=5278. It's sad how good CCM like Larry Norman or Bill Mallonee or even Rich Mullins' other songs get left out in favor of banal pop praise songs. Part of the reason for this is because of (apologists) like (the evangelical) Ravi Zacharias and (Calvinazi) John MacArthur telling Christians to reject post-modernism in favor of dogmatic modernism: fundamentalism/Evangelicalism or anti-intellectual Christianity Lite. Although it's true fundies hate newness, they are willing to accept Praise music in the name of God-ordained American Capitalism: modernism's triumph. See they need a banal commercial in order to sell their product ie. anti-intellectualism, moral legalism, pastor worship, bible literalism/inerrancy, bibliolatry and deification of bible translators. It all boils down to capitalist materialism/consumerism. Yeah, I agree with you, Steve: " Contemporary church music shares some of the same bad characteristics as a fire-and-brimstone tent revival preacher. It gets you all worked up into an emotional frenzy singing the same words over and over and over again, without even halfway paying attention to the words."---but that's because today's church is consumer and market driven. Most traditional churches are being replaced by large shopping mall like compounds in which preachers are the salesmen selling a product (their view of Christianity) to the consumers (congregation), in which critical thinking (especially in fundie/Christianity Lite churches but occaisionaly moderate/liberal churches) is bypassed, so that a theological worldview can be quickly consumed by the masses. Thanks alot, modernism. Harry Emerson Fosdick was right, when he said:

"As I plead thus for an intellectually hospitable, tolerant, liberty-loving church, I am, of course, thinking primarily about this new generation. We have boys and girls growing up in our homes and schools, and because we love them we may well wonder about the church which will be waiting to receive them. Now, the worst kind of church that can possibly be offered to the allegiance of the new generation is an intolerant church. Ministers often bewail the fact that young people turn from religion to science for the regulative ideas of their lives. But this is easily explicable. Science treats a young man’s mind as though it were really important. A scientist says to a young man, “Here is the universe challenging our investigation. Here are the truths which we have seen, so far. Come, study with us! See what we already have seen and then look further to see more, for science is an intellectual adventure for the truth.” Can you imagine any man who is worthwhile turning from that call to the church if the church seems to him to say, “Come, and we will feed you opinions from a spoon. No thinking is allowed here except such as brings you to certain specified, predetermined conclusions. These prescribed opinions we will give you in advance of your thinking; now think, but only so as to reach these results.” My friends, nothing in all the world is so much worth thinking of as God, Christ, the Bible, sin and salvation, the divine purposes for humankind, life everlasting. But you cannot challenge the dedicated thinking of this generation to these sublime themes upon any such terms as are laid down by an intolerant church."

Sorry for the long post/rant---but nice note, Steve.

Coldplay's Revolutionary Christianity

On the heels of Justin's excellent post from---Wednesday, August 20, 2008---Cartoon Of The Day. I'd like to share this interesting bit from a Wikipedia article:

The magazine Q asked Chris Martin about the line "I know Saint Peter won't call my name" sung in "Viva la Vida". Martin replied: "It's about… You're not on the list. I was a naughty boy. It's always fascinated me that idea of finishing your life and then being analyzed on it. And this idea runs throughout most religions. That's why people blow up buildings. Because they think they're going to get lots of virgins. I always feel like saying, just join a band (laughs). That is the most frightening thing you could possibly say to somebody. Eternal damnation. I know about this stuff because I studied it. I was into it all. I know it. It's still mildly terrifying to me. And this is serious."[1] When asked about the song, bass guitarist Guy Berryman said, "It’s a story about a king who’s lost his kingdom, and all the album’s artwork is based on the idea of revolutionaries and guerrillas."[2]

This seems to tie in nicely with some of Doug Pagitt's thoughts from his Way Of The Master radio interview:

---(Part 1)


---(Part 2)


And for those of you who have yet to hear Coldplay's new song here are the full lyrics:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead, long live the king"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you'd gone there was never
Never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was a wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Ohh...

Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Ooh...

You can also watch the music video:



Coldplay's new song also reminds me of John Lennon's "Imagine." So here is a thought that came to my mind: the question is although, eternal life and the afterlife are important to our Christian beliefs, shouldn't we as Christians focus on living the life of Christ in the here and now rather than turning Christianity into one more punishment and rewards religion among the many others?

Humorless Religion Is Blasphemy: Thus Sayeth The Rabbi

Check it out here: http://www.explorefaith.org/homiliesLent/20040402.html

-----good stuff!

Biblical Criticism Continued

Continuing from a previous note: http://www.new.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=33587435134 ---here is a handout of a brief overview of Biblical Criticism that I prepared for a Small Group I participated in:

BRIEF SAMPLES OF BIBLICAL CRITICISM

-What is Biblical Criticism?

*Biblical Criticism is the study of how the Bible was transmitted orally, at first and the process of how the Scriptures were collected into text form.

*Biblical Criticism is divided into two distinct categories: “Higher” Criticism and “Lower” Criticism/Textual Criticism.


“HIGHER” CRITICISM---

*There are three major branches of Higher Criticism: Form Criticism or Literary Criticism, Source or Source Redaction Criticism and Historical Criticism.

-Form Critics main concern is dividing out the distinct literary forms of the Bible. I provided you all with a photocopy of pg. 46 of W. Barnes Tatum’s “In Quest Of Jesus” that diagrams a representative sampling of Form Criticism applied to the Gospels.

-Source (Redaction) Criticism is the study of the “oral” or “textual” sources of a book or several books of the Bible and how the sources were edited by a ‘redactor’ into one single source/narrative. Representative of this is the Documentary Hypothesis in regards to Torah criticism and the different theories of explaining the Synoptic Problem in regards to Gospel criticism.
*On pg. 3, in the Documentary Hypothesis hand-out, there is a chart diagramming the theorized sources of the Torah.
*The Wikipedia article explains the Synoptic Problem and the different theories explaining it. You’ll find a Div. Student’s paper, underneath that, explaining the importance of the Synoptic Problem, in Biblical interpretation.

-The third and most controversial branch of Higher Criticism is Historical Criticism. Historical Critics seek to distinguish Jesus, in His historical context, apart from theological proposition. There have been 4 major quests to discover the historical-sociological Jesus---the most recent one undertaken by the “Jesus Seminar.”


“LOWER” CRITICISM---

*Lower Criticism is Textual Criticism. Textual Criticism is the study of all the collected Biblical Manuscripts and the process of collating them into one single Hebrew or Greek Text for the Bible translation process.

*Textual Critics main concerns are smoothing out “Scribal errors” found in the manuscripts and deducing the best possible rendering that is closest to the “Original Autographs”---since we don’t have the “Original Autographs,” all we have to go on is copies of copies as well as early Bible translations and Early Church writings.

*As newer manuscripts come to light and are accounted for---newer editions of the Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic Old Testament or Greek New Testament must be produced. In example, the current Greek New Testament is in the 4th edition for the United Bible Societies’ critical Greek text and the 27th edition for the Nestle/Aland critical Greek text. Both Greek texts are the same, but have different notations of textual variants. Also, a Textual Commentary is published alongside each new edition of the critical Greek text to further explain why the textual critic chose what they did.

*The Greek text hasn’t changed since 1986, but the notations of variants have---as scholars have yet to finish studying all the “Dead Sea Scroll” findings.

*Included in the Textual Criticism hand-out are:
-a photocopy of pg. 49 of Roy Robinson’s “The Thoughtful Guide To The Bible,” which has an illustration of the three parts of a critical Greek text. The photocopy may be fuzzy, but the first text bubble reads: Greek Text Selected By Textual Critics; the second bubble reads: Textual Variants Rejected By The Critics With MS (manuscript) Evidence Indicated; and the third bubble reads: Other Bible References For Comparison.

-Underneath the illustration is a sample page from the 4th edition UBS Greek text for clarity.

-Next are two charts explaining the types of unintentional and intentional scribal errors isolated by textual critics from pgs. 225-226 of Paul D. Wegner’s book, “The Journey From Texts To Translations: The Origin And Development Of The Bible.” The two charts are scribal errors in the New Testament, but the same types of errors are in the Old Testament as well.

-Underneath that is pg. 325 or Appendix 3 from Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life,” which explains the usefulness (for those who can’t read the ‘Original’ languages) of using several different translations.

-Finally, I included a photocopy of pgs. 80-83 of Craig R. Koester’s “A Beginner’s Guide To Reading The Bible,” which explains the difficulties of Bible translation.

Historical criticism today: a word to evangelicals

Here's an interesting article from The Fire and the Rose Blogspot:

"Saturday, September 06, 2008
Historical criticism today: a word to evangelicals
Slandering historical biblical criticism (HBC) is all the rage nowadays. Alternative methods of interpreting Scripture—e.g., inter alia, canonical, literary, linguistic, poststructural, and political readings—have all but displaced HBC. When HBC is taught, it is almost always with a caveat, such as: “this was how I was instructed when I was a student,” or “this is an important part of the history of biblical interpretation,” or “you have to know this first before we can advance to more nuanced readings.”

But just because the field of biblical scholarship has moved past the old hegemony of HBC does not validate the conservative claim that HBC is a rejection of Scripture, was misguided from the start, is evidence of the liberal attack on orthodoxy, or some other nonsense like that. HBC provides a part of the picture, a part that we must not lose: viz., the historical-cultural origins of the biblical text. HBC is the basis for a key Christian axiom: the text of the Bible is a human document and is thus not in itself the Word of God. Only Jesus Christ is, by nature, the Word of God. All other words must become the Word of God by means of the actualizing power of the Holy Spirit..."

Read more at: http://fireandrose.blogspot.com/2008/09/historical-criticism-today-word-to.html

The Absurdity Of Biblical Inerrancy

Tony Cartledge has an interesting article on inerrancy on his Blog.

An anonymous poster raised these valid questions---

Anonymous said...
Well, at the risk of starting the fight all over again, here are the questions I asked then and have never heard an "inerrantist" answer yet:

1. How do you KNOW "the Bible" is without error?

Which "Bible" are you talking about? Which translation? Which set of manuscripts?

A. No one alive has ever examined a single one of the original manuscripts.

B. And if you did have one of the original manuscripts, just exactly to what would you compare it to establish that it contains no error?

What is the available standard by which accuracy would be judged?

It seems to me that if "the Bible" was inspired by the Holy Spirit, you'd have to take that original manuscript to the Holy Spirit and ask Him, "Would you please check this to see if the writer got it right?"

The whole question of "inerrancy" is specious. It is a question that is impossible to answer. And if a question is impossible to answer, then it is not a reasonable question in the first place.

That's about like asking, "Can God create a boulder so big that He can't move it?"

As a statement of faith, I can accept someone's declaring that he BELIEVES the Bible to be inerrant.

But when it comes to someone's "proving" that the Bible is inerrant, he has absolutely no available tool with which to perform the analysis and evaluation.

Therefore, for one to demand that SOMEONE ELSE subscribe to HIS BELIEF about the inerrancy of the Bible, especially in order to qualify for or be retained in a position of employment, that is absolute arrogance and presumptuousness. And it's done as a demonstration of power in order to control.

How does one person DARE to demand that another person subscribe to a postulate that the first person cannot PROVE?

What EVIDENCE has ever been produced that the Bible is without error?

Just as a personal observation, one of my Bibles has a misspelled name in it--twice. At least it is misspelled in comparison to the other Bibles of the same translation I've examined. But I must admit, I haven't checked it against the original manuscripts.

Still, I'm fairly confident that this is ONE BIBLE that is not without error!

And if this one is not, how do you propose to be certain that all of the others are not?

IMHO.

Brother Deaux

---------------------------------------
Additionally I'd like to ask inerrantists:

Where is the support for Mosaic authorship of the Torah in the Torah itself?

If then the theory of Mosaic authorship doesn't come from the canon itself but Apocryphal sources, does that mean that those sources are inerrant, too? Why or why not?

If Apocryphal sources then are errant but contain truth in them---why not the canon itself?
Additional questions: How can mere humans decide what God's truth looks like?

Is God's truth something that we can vote on?

Rowan Williams and kenotic ecclesiology

Also from: http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Rowan Williams and kenotic ecclesiology
My paper in Rome today discusses Rowan Williams’ theological conception of Christian tradition. Here’s an excerpt:

“There is a profound apocalyptic dimension to Williams’ thought here. The meaning of doctrine is not latent within doctrinal history itself. The truth of doctrine is not immanent within the church’s own history and practices. Rather, the truth of doctrine comes to the church from beyond the church’s history. This means that an essential discipline of Christian theology is the practice of self-dispossession, of renouncing the claim to any final vision or any authoritative grasp of the truth.

“Following Donald MacKinnon, we might speak here of the ‘kenotic’ shape of doctrinal identity. Even where orthodoxy emerges as the historical winner from the struggle with heresy, that same orthodoxy must relinquish the right to claim a total vision or to interpret the direction of history. In relinquishing this right, orthodoxy preserves its own essential vulnerability vis-à-vis its founding event – and it confesses that the church can receive truth only from outside itself, as a gift that enters history from beyond history, tearing history open in the apocalyptic rupture of God’s advent.

“Williams’ role as Archbishop of Canterbury in recent years illustrates precisely this dialectic of kenosis and apocalypse. As a churchman, he combines an uncompromisingly rigorous commitment to the truth of doctrinal orthodoxy with an absolute refusal to grasp the truth as a possession or to wield it as an instrument of power. Indeed, the most striking thing about Williams’ conduct as Archbishop of Canterbury is his willingness to fail, his refusal to pursue any ideal of ecclesial ‘success’ in abstraction from the church’s spiritual identity as a community defined by weakness, fragility and self-dispossession.

“This rejection of the idolatrous notion of a ‘successful’ church, this willingness to fail, is at the same time a profoundly apocalyptic gesture: the church’s identity is not immanent within its own practices and institutions; its identity is that which exceeds it, that which comes to it as gift, that which fills its own emptiness and abasement. Williams’ approach here stands not only as a witness to the church’s proper identity, but also as a sharp critique of the tendency among some contemporary political theologies to hanker after the fleshpots of Christendom, or to envision the ecclesial polis as existing in any way other than that of discipleship and crucifixion. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer has observed, the church’s suffering is infinitely more dangerous to the world than any political power it may retain – the church’s only authentic power is its weakness.”
Labels: ecclesiology, Rowan Williams

posted by Ben Myers at 6:06 PM 12 comments links to this post

Donald MacKinnon on apologetics

Donald MacKinnon on apologetics from http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Donald MacKinnon on apologetics
“The philosopher is not an apologist; apologetic concern, as Karl Barth (the one living theologian of unquestionable genius) has rightly insisted, is the death of serious theologizing, and I would add, equally of serious work in the philosophy of religion.”

—Donald M. MacKinnon, The Borderlands of Theology: An Inaugural Lecture (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1961), 28.
Labels: apologetics

posted by Ben Myers at 2:58 PM 36 comments links to this post

The Gospel Of Bruce Springsteen

#

Here this is for you, Dr. J:

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/the_gospel_according_to_the_boss/


Here is an excerpt from the book The Gospel According To Bruce:

Bruce's Ten Suggestions for Spiritual Living

1. The world has gone awry. The world according to Bruce is often portrayed as a gritty, conflicted, sometimes dark and sinister place. It differs for the particular characters involved in each song, of course, but the darkness is always there on the edge of things or not very far beneath the surface.

2. There is a power within the souls of men and women to transcend the world and to achieve real victories in spite of the world. For every homeless loser who has left his wife and kids high and dry back in Baltimore, there is that good man or good woman who works endlessly at a thankless job to meet his or her responsibilities. People have within them the power to choose to be true to themselves and what really matters.

3. The world is as it is. There is both great pain and great joy in life, Springsteen affirms. Once we have accepted that the pain is part of the deal, then we are free to experience genuine joy when it comes our way.

4. Life without connections is empty and dangerous. Springsteen sings of a stark array of misfits, criminals and losers. But there is always compassion in the portraits he presents, and we sense that the line between winners and losers is a narrow one and that what differentiates the former from the latter are the connections they have with other people.

5. Our stories symbolize something deeper. The great lie of our contemporary, celebrity-crazed culture is that only the rich and famous have stories worth telling. There are almost no celebrities featured in Springsteen's songs. His stories are our stories, and the wisdom (as well as the folly) they contain is ours, too.

6. Life is embodied. Sexuality is intrinsically neither good nor evil, Springsteen implies; here, as in all human ventures, only good soil will produce worthy fruit.

7. It's all about change. If we cling to the past, it withers and dies. If we let it go gracefully and move on to the next stage of our lives, the gifts of the past can continue to bless us.

8. There is no guarantee of success. Sometimes life teaches us lessons about humility and silence and emptiness and pain and unanswered prayers. At those times, we know that our true treasure is the power of our own integrity, and our reward lies in keeping faith with those other decent, down-to-earth, hardworking people everywhere.

9. Hope is resilient. The men and women in Springsteen's songs may win or they may lose, but they seldom abandon all hope. Despair is seldom, if ever, given the final word. It is hope that carries us human ones on the sacred vector toward life's divine possibilities.

10. There is always something more. If Bruce is luminous in his work — shining a light of perception on the horizontal dimension of this earthly life — so he is numinous as well — casting this life we lead in the brilliance of an almost mystic glow; shedding the radiance of discernment on that vertical beam which crashes through the linear plane of existence and points it toward that which is higher, deeper, somehow transcendent.



**Excerpted from The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen by Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz. Reprinted by arrangement with Westminster John Knox Press. © 2008.

Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission.

Augustine’s Conception of Sin

So what do you think about these beliefs?

Luther, The First Neo-Orthodox?

"The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid."---Martin Luther

--------

http://www.christinyou.net/pages/Xnotbrel.html

-----Jesus is the True Word Of God---not the bible. The bible only bears witness to the fact that Jesus is the True Word Of God.

A little more on John MacArthur

John MacArthur Responsible For A Suicide
----------------------------------------

MacArthur has been a central figure in several controversies, the most notable of which was the first time an evangelical church had ever been sued for malpractice. Kenneth Nally, a 24-year old seminary student, committed suicide in 1979. The following year, MacArthur and several members of the staff were brought to court to determine the legality of counseling people from the Bible rather than modern psychology, although Nally had been receiving psychological help elsewhere as well. After seven years of court rulings, challenges and appeals, the California Supreme Court found that the "evidence presented by plaintiff [was] insufficient to permit a jury to find in his favor."[2]

----

http://wordofmouthministries.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-macarthur-and-kenneth-nally.html

------Such a fine case of a bible literalist. If it were up to bible literalists, people with mild cerebral palsy such as myself wouldn't be allowed in church or even considered Christian, because the bible is clear, when taken literally: “No man who has any blemish or defect may come near my altar: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked or is a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. For he has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. Because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.” Leviticus 21:18-24 ---see this hate site for further details---which sounds all too much like a Nazi hate program.

----------------------
John MacArthur Says That The American Revolution Was A Sin

http://theroadtoemmaus.org/RdLb/21PbAr/Hst/US/AmRevGodly.htm

---but what do you expect from a nutcase who thinks Christians should've obeyed Hitler, Stalin, Sadaam et. al.

-----------------------------
See also: Spurgeon's Profanity for something different.

The Existential Angst Of Snoopy Or Peanuts Ponders F. Scott Fitzgerald

Courtesy of: http://fourrealities.blogspot.com/2007/06/nobody-ever-believes.html

Religion And Pop Culture

For those who haven't seen this site you should check it out: http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jporter/pop-culture.html .


One of my favorite links on there is The Gospel According To Degrassi --because it engages religious issues, in a way that young people can relate.

John MacArthur Denies Barth, Bonhoeffer And Niemoller's Work

http://undoislam.com/obey_hitler or http://www.rhettsmith.com/?p=813

------------
Weird stuff.

John MacArthur Is A Nutcase

This is old news: http://colorado.mediamatters.org/items/200706070004

Hear the sermon, in question here:

Parts 2 and 3 are here and here, but you can access them in the above video as well.


For the transcript see: http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/jm-233910.htm

-------But I would like to counter with this protest song that perhaps Pastor MacArthur has never heard:
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/withgod.html ----------

It's arrogant to assume that God is on the side of any nation---let alone abandons that said nation, because of genetic causes of sexual expressions that God Himself created.

Christian Ministries

Ben Currin
Intro. to Church Ministry
Dr. Jonas
Dec. 2, 2002

WHAT I LEARNT THIS SEMESTER ABOUT MINISTRIES

I learnt a lot about ministries this semester, especially about God’s call to people to partake in an area of ministry in which they feel comfortable. It is hard to adjust to the fact that God could call any mortal being to do anything, but after all we are His creation so it takes everyone to make the world go round and to help share in God’s work here on earth. It may take some people a longer time to accept their calling than other people. Sometimes a person can be unsure of why they were called in the first place and what they were called for. I’ve struggled with this for years, because I was basically called in high school to some kind of ministry, but I didn’t take it seriously until my Freshmen year here at Campbell in 1998---so it didn’t take that long to understand that I had definitely had been called, though I am still struggling with it.
When I felt called in high school, I had read a kiddy biography of Billy Graham (I think it was my brother’s) because our Youth group was going to His Crusade at the time and I wanted to know more about him and not have to read so much. (Side note: I think I read it after the Crusade actually...I don’t remember for sure though...it’s a sign that I’m getting too old. I can tell that because in one of the section that Dr. Whitley taught he asked if anyone had used a record player and one other person besides myself raised their hand. Next year I’ll have 6 more years to go till I’m 30...oh how time flies). Anyways, I read that book and remember thinking that I could do something like that, because I liked to help other people. We went to Billy Graham’s Crusade in Charlotte and I enjoyed it so much that I went back the next night when it was the senior citizens’ turn to go.
After I had the thought that I could do something like Billy Graham, I thought that God was calling me to be a preacher, but I felt like how could that be---I mean I’m shy, so how can a shy person who finds it hard to talk to even persons he is close to---be a preacher. Me! Be a preacher! Ha, God must be joking! I wasn’t quick to ignore it totally though, because one night I went outside and preached out loud whatever was on my mind and let it disappear into the darkness of the night. It must’ve been a funny sight to anyone who saw me yelling about God, Heaven and Hell, Jesus and this, that and the other. I later thought that I’d wait and see what God wants me to do, because I was unsure that that was the direction.
So my Freshman year here at Campbell, I came into school as a History major, because I decided I wanted to be an archaeologist. I’ve always loved history anyways, because it always was my favorite subject in school, so I thought great be an archaeologist like Indiana Jones. (I have the jacket, hat and bullwhip, so that makes me Indiana Jones to some degree)! I then had a rough time with my history classes here and Dr. Martin (Jim Martin) wasn’t much help. He put me in some of the hardest classes at the same time, so I did well my first semester here but by my second semester here I wasn’t doing as well. Before I even came, my mom suggested that I should major in Religion, but I was still trying to figure out my call at that time. I had Dr. Ballard my first semester for Intro. To Christianity and enjoyed that class so much that it planted another seed of interest in me. I then asked Dr. Martin if I could take another Religion class instead of Government my second semester and it just so happened that I got Dr. Ballard again. He is responsible for my changing majors, but before that I went through a lot of thinking. I think a lot, especially in the shower, when there’s time and at night before bed.
Not only did I have to struggle with these decisions but I also had to go from having a single room my first semester here to having a roommate my second semester here. It was hard enough to cope with these struggles, but then my roommate turned out to be a pot head and he got arrested and kicked out of my room. He blamed his getting kicked out on me. He said that I ‘kicked him out for being too loud,’ which was untrue because if anyone was loud it was me with my late night Rock & Roll listening. I didn’t even care what he did, because I understand why people use drugs and they do them for different reasons. Anyways, he spread a lot of “Rumours” (Fleetwood Mac reference) about me, when it was his on fault for getting kicked out of my room. So for me that was a very weird year for me, but I got through it with thinking and a lot of prayer, of course, I got through it just fine as well.
I thought about my Religion classes that I had that year a lot and every night I seemed to have discovered something new and so I’d write my discoveries down in song format---both secular and sacred. I didn’t mention it before, but I have been writing song lyrics since high school, but I was making up stuff before then in my head but paid little mind to it. I wish I had written them down. I actually remember one that my sis and I made up together while walking on the beach---we were staying at a neighbor of ours beach house at Myrtle Beach---we have a place at Wrightsville Beach but we were at Myrtle Beach that time, because we were offered the place and took the opportunity. I must have been around 5 or so, because my sister was still in a stroller and I don’t think my brother was born yet, but I can’t recall if that is accurate or not.
Anyways, we made up this short little ditty: I was semi-singing: “Sarah Reese’s Pieces, walking down the street/Sarah Reese’s Pieces, walking down the street” and my sister joint in with: “La, la, la, amiga/La, la, la, amiga” and that was our little song! Not much too it on surface value but now that I’m older I understand what I was doing. It is about being homesick to some extent because I was thinking about Sarah, our babysitter at the time (she still comes to our house, but now she’s more or less just the housekeeper). So that explains the Sarah part, the Reese’s Pieces part was because I like Reese’s Pieces and I guess Sarah did too, also, I may have just eaten Reese’s Pieces as well. The walking down the street part is easier to explain, we were walking down the beach, so that was that. My sister’s part is basically explained as her trying to copy me, but she was too little then to comprehend many words, but I’m not sure I’d have to ask her what her part means. Our song could also be about a made walking down the street. I was thinking about Sarah, because my dad was playing with a mop earlier so it made Sarah come to mind.
These were just a few of the pieces of the puzzle that I’m just beginning to see. By my Sophomore year here, I began to see how God was leading me to being a writer, because I wrote and still write all the time, so I put two and two together and began to realize that maybe writing is what I should pursue. God gave me the talent, so why not use it for Him---besides English is one of my favorite subjects. I’ve enjoyed all my English classes here, except for Dr. Shelly’s class. Dr. Tate has been the most helpful to me in the English department here and he is like the Dr. Ballard figure for me here in that department.
This semester has taught me a lot more about God’s call and I am still discovering new things and writing up a storm though sometimes I still question things. I have yet a lot more to learn about my life, but I have been through so much already. I often wonder if life really matters, because I’ve been at death’s door more than once and you can die anytime, so why bother with life---this is one of many spiritual frustrations that I’ve had, along with trying to get out of school but finding I haven’t accomplished much. This is my fifth year here and I’m tired of school, but I keep pressing on. However, it seems the more I keep going, the more it seems that I’m gone to be stuck here. I did a forty-three page research paper for Senior Seminar this year, but it was all in vain. These are the kind of things that add to my spiritual frustrations.
You see, I had missed two classes of Senior Seminar already for being sick and I was trying to print up my research paper for that class, but was having printer problems, so I was faced with a lose-lose situation. Either way I would fail, if I should up without my paper or if I skipped. I hadn’t planned on these problems, but it happened. I was editing my paper and needed to re-edit some more and so I started trying to print my paper at 3 o’clock in the afternoon on the Thursday that it was due, which gave me plenty of time to print it, if it worked right. But it didn’t work right, first, my printer wouldn’t print the page numbers and then it wouldn’t print the pictures for my presentation. It finally printed right at 3 am on Friday. I had printed copies for everyone in my class as part of my presentation and in all that time I wasted two packs of computer paper, so just about 1,000 sheets of computer paper were wasted and thrown all over my room. I wanted to just lay there in die and bury myself under all that paper.
I went to explain my absence from class to Dr. Greene that Friday, in hopes that he would understand, but to no avail---he failed me, so I wasted a lot of money, time and effort on that class. Oh well, I guess, I’ll just have to retake Senior Seminar with you next semester, Dr. J. Anyways, these Cat Stevens like lyrics seem to best describe my feelings at the time when I was dealing with that situation and what all I went through with Dr. Greene:

I MAY DIE, TONIGHT
(Currin)

He said: “you’ve missed one day---over the line,
You’ve fouled it up pretty well, this time.”
So what’s the use of working hard, anyway,
Day after day, only to end up in an early grave?
Why must useless bureaucratic rules count for anything,
Just because you say they should, say they should?

Well, I’ve been out looking for the meaning
Of that one myself and still you keep saying: “the boy’s done no good,”
“The boy’s no good.” I wish you would realize
That life doesn’t go on to be classified
By matters of whether or not you’re absent just one measly time,
Over the line, over the line, you stepped over the line.

‘Cause I know for sure that what’s fair isn’t measured by time,
It’s measured by how well you use your mind.
He said: “work hard and you’ll get behind
A desk like mine, a desk like mine.”
But why work to sink low, to lose your wealth and become poor
Then lose your health and sink further down in life for sure?

Because I don’t want to fade away, I don’t want to be that kind of man
To make so many plans, when no one really gives a damn,
Anyway, anyway---where nothing really matters what you’ve done,
The further down you go along, the harder it is to get out of where you’ve come
Through the gray snow descending in your brain, wherever you may go---
There’ll be thunder pounding on your head about to explode, so row your boat

Anywhere. I’ve found it hard to turn back time, to seek comfort in my mind,
Because for what it’s worth, the more I think, the more pain
It brings, so what does it matter anyway, when all my thoughts are in vain, they’re in vain.
He said: “you don’t know what you did, you shouldn’t have missed, this time.”
But why face the wrath of society, when I was bound to lose, either way,
Whether or not I made it across the finishing line that day?

He said: “you’ve missed one day---over the line,
You’ve fouled it up pretty well, this time.
I wish you the best, I wish you success,
But what’s done is done; you missed, you failed the test.”
But why make that the reason why I’m still searching for the purpose of my life?
For I may die, tonight....

© 2002T/H Songs, Inc.
© 2002 GB Lyrics, C.O.

As I mentioned before, sometimes I wonder if everything is worth all the effort, especially school, because you can put so much into something and go so little out of it either that or no one pays any interest. I get things out of school, mind you, it’s just that I’ve done so much with little reward for what I’ve done. Oh yeah, this summer I sent some lyrics into this place and at least got a letter of interest back, but it was too expensive to have that person set my lyrics to music. I have been getting into music composition myself lately and have composed some pretty nice things for a beginner. I, also, did set some lyrics to one of my compositions, but I’m still pretty much in an experimental phase. Anyways, I’ve learned a lot and I’m still learning a lot.
I’ve learnt that God can use me in any way he wants with my writing abilities, I don’t have to be tied down to just sacred stuff, I can write secular stuff as well and end up in a U2 type deal. An example of how I’ve applied what I’ve learnt in school and of my faith can be shown best in these two songs that I wrote:

TALKIN’ RELIGIOUS TROUBLE BLUES
(Currin)

The night was looming quietly over the land as everyone prepared for the fall
The church folks were all drilling through a doctrinal wall
Now, I was standing there assessing the scene, must have been a hazy dream
All of a sudden someone spoke said: “the devil is in humanity”
Told me I must be gone, back on across that waterfall

I took my boat, I drew a moat, drew up some of that water stream
Thinking about all those hypocrites falling over to foreign countries
While those foreigners are starving and begging on the streets
The evangelists are getting fat off of feed and all their collected money
And those poor hungered foreign souls die unsaved at their feet

Well, religion is a funny thing, causes so many people to fight
Over everything, now, what’s dark and what’s light
And what’s wrong and what’s right
Evil is a mystery, how could something so bad come from something so good
Someone said to me: “the devil’s got his hold on you” I dunno, but evil would

So I ran out of that room, my clothes, all tattered and torn
Cast out into religion’s ill blowing storm
Like a child that never even had a chance of being born
Oh, what causes people to do the things that they do
Must be some kind of other god-like force outside of creation breaking thru

Well, if there is one and only God and He creates all things
Then where did that other force come from, from heaven falling
Into our world, well God is good and all that He creates is good
So where did the devil come from if he causes bad in the neighborhood
Did he create himself or did God create bad all along from nothing

Then someone said: “all these questions in your mind are a sign
That you’ve already been damned to burn in hell for all times”
Well, who said hell was even fire or below, deep inside the dirt
And who said heaven was in the sky above the earth
And who said that either one was even a place outside of time

Well, I walked on down that road to Jerusalem, the road was hard
And weary like all those spiritual pains in my heart
Well, I know it was all those preachers and lawyers of the world
That nailed Jesus up on that heavy cross as the clouds whirled
Around in the sky and that holy veil ripped and split apart

Well, I hurt easy, I can’t even swallow my pride
I’m cast adrift, right here amongst the Great Divide
Then someone said: “you can’t be human, because you’re a Religion
Major, you can’t even have bitterness and ill feelings
Religion majors aren’t suppose to feel like humans” then all the tides

Of humanity fell all around me and choked me around the neck
Swallowed me up inside, it’s to other people, I can’t connect
So I kept on going through that river of life
Thinking ‘bout all the world’s miseries, all the world’s strife
And all those things that people keep hidden up inside

You know the devil is the world’s scapegoat, an excuse to use
Whenever they don’t want to admit when they’re wrong and untrue
Someone said: “the devil made me do it,” when it was they, themselves
Whom did what they did all along, because they couldn’t pull through
And handle their life being pushed up on someone else’s shelve

Then some philosophical misogynist gynecologist stood up
Said: “I’ve got the Truth” but all those people stoned him to death, because
They didn’t want to hear it, the Truth hurts worse than all the pains
The world could ever bring inside our bones, brains and our veins
Well, there’s too many hateful people without love, it’s insane

Someone else said: “Adam and Eve were real” but if incest is a sin
Then what about them, how could they bear all the world’s men
All the world’s races and if Jesus is the only righteous person ever
Then what about Job, how could he be righteous too, no he never
Could be, unless the Bible contradicts itself just like all persons

Do---well, some people said the devil made Hitler kill all those Jews
But I think it was religious brainwashing, I dunno about you
Even Luther, Protestantism’s patron saint, hated Jewish people
And he was another man of the fair church, of the fair steeple
I dunno what his problem was, unless it was religious untruth

Others claim that Catholics aren’t even Christians
But Catholic people were Christians, way before them
Then some people claim to live in our skin and bones is a sin
But skin and bones is the mark of being human
Well, everyone is human too, but even so you can have religion

Whatever religion you want too, to get you by
Until the day, whatever date it is, that you may die
Well, you haven’t felt anything till you’ve walked in someone else’s shoes
Felt all their pains, seen through all the different sides of their Blues
Well, Jesus did just that and He gave all His life

© 2001 T/H Songs, Inc.
© 2001 GB Lyrics, C.O.

ELECTRIC GHOST-LAND
(Currin)

My love is like the grave, I want to enter in
And rise above it, when we begin a-new
So my love, let me die in you, tonight, in your eyes of blue
So that I may become alive, once again
Let me in your temple to taste the wine
For it’s there that I’ve been seeking for to find

Eyes like rain and lips like smoke
In you lies my only hope
Building up and destroying time
Is the only way to make up your mind
In this electric ghost land, where we wander and fall

My colors have all gone gray from trying to find my way
The more you push me away, the harder I’ll try
To reach you with my intimate prayer inside
For you can kick the darkness outta the night, until it bleeds like the day
In this electric ghost land, where we wander and fall

It’s a little too much for me, a simple touch helps me to feel
For in your eyes like wine, I have found what is real
There the Truth and the Light shine
In the colors of your mind like a sacred sunshine
In this electric ghost land, where we wander and fall

My love is like the grave, I want to enter in
And rise above it, when we begin a new life
So my love, let me die in you, in your arms, tonight
So that I may become alive, once again
Let me in your temple to taste the wine
For it’s there that I’ve been seeking for to find

In you, I’ve found my salvation, my celebration
My benediction, my conviction, my holiday
My first aid, my secret dreams, my convocation
For in you all my fears and pains are taken away
In this electric ghost land, where we stumble and fall

In you, I’ve found the shelter over my head
The comforter for my bed, my broken piece of bread
In you, there’s a communion of faith that tears away all doubt
In you, I’ve found my exit, my only way out
In this electric ghost land, where we stumble and fall

In you, my candle can be set a-glow through an icy winter rain, through snow
Selfless deliverer, fill up my flask with your soul’s wine
Self-full giver, I’m standing at your bars, save me from dying
For you are the only one that I really want to know
In this electric ghost land, where we stumble and fall

My love is like the grave, yeah, my love is like the grave, I want to enter in
And rise above it, rise above it, when we begin once more
So my love, let me die in you, die in you, tonight, it’s all I’m living for
(To be tied down to you, so that I may be truly free)
So that I may become alive, become alive, once again
(And so that we can become what we were made to be)
Let me in your temple to taste the wine, your sweetly divine wine
For it’s there that I’ve been seeking for to find, seeking for to find..............

© 2002 T/H Songs, Inc.
© 2002 GB Lyrics, C.O.

The first song is a Woody Guthriesque song that should be the anthem for every Religion Major who deals with sharing what they’ve learned in school with people in their church, but they find out that those people don’t have as free of a mind as they do. The second song is one I wrote for my Senior Seminar presentation and uses the Lazarus theme and the Christian theme of resurrection in a way to illustrate symbolically the spirituality of love and sex.
In conclusion, this is just a long brief summary of what I’ve learnt this semester and semesters before about ministries and God’s call and how I’ve applied some of what I’ve learnt to my life.


-------------------------------
Forgive the typos---this was a rough draft.

A JOURNEY COMPLETED

A JOURNEY COMPLETED

---In Sincere Christian Sympathy,
On Marie’s Grandmother’s Passing
Saturday, January 20th, 2007.

Who is it that gazes,
Upon the vast limitless void?
There is a Light here.
You have disappeared and
Have become one with that Light.
A star has been formed,
In honor of your name.

You are gone from your journey,
But your journey will not be forgotten!
Your life will live on,
In your loved ones!

We have erected towers of silence---
Come, now, let us remember
The one, who has passed
Through the gates!

The journey, now, being completed---
A soul retreats back into the sky
And guards against
The cruel armor of the night.
We all stand---
Joined with God.

PEARL HARBOR

PEARL HARBOR
(Currin)

-----Bill Mallonee influenced. A complex metaphysical song, indeed.

Despondent, withdrawn
Well, the bone is hard to chew, when the skin gets thrown
I’m leveled, I’m down
Mellowed out, but still hanging around
It was a surprise attack, when all the planes came in
In a blinding flash of morning light and
Like Pearl Harbor, I’m destroyed
But no one can rob me of my joy

Well, I’m shell-shocked and battered
By the water and I don’t know, if it exactly mattered
But next time, I go diving, in the harbor for pearl and light
I’ll make sure that, when I come up for air, I hang on tight
Love is a battlefield, I’ve heard someone say
The more I feel, the more I know it to be true, these days
It’s hard sometimes, it’s rough
But the weight of the world comes with a delicate touch

Lay to waste these fields and ruin, so that something new may grow
Strong are the arms that can gently embrace then gently let go
Well, the mines were laid from the very first
I guess, it was just Your blessing, just my curse
That I couldn’t hear the roar of the engines, on those planes
When they dropped those bombs of blood-stained, painful acid rain
So like Pearl Harbor, I’ve been destroyed
But no one can rob me of my joy

Well, now, on this shoreline and harbor of the heart
I still can find traces of those pearls and a part
It could be a slight deviation, on my account
It’s a hard road that learns to climb the Sermon, on the Mount
Whose wound is as deep as the sea
And sting brings, about inner ecstasy
If I could turn back the clock, an arm or two
Would it still work out the same or change everything, but the Truth?

It was an infamous day of just biding my time
You were slipping away, God knows, I must’ve been blind
I saw You hover, above the waves like a hurricane
I was reaching out though sinking like the rain
No one warned me, in time, to escape
This onslaught of mercy, this onslaught of grace
And just as Pearl Harbor, I’m destroyed
But no one can rob me of my joy

You live your life with no regret, live life with no fear
Sow seeds, along the harbor and among your bloom of tears
Reap songs and pearls of joy that come, in the end
Though I know, it’s a bittersweet price to pay, my friend
I was climbing Jacob’s Ladder as you were stealing light forth from the stars
You were building walls and moats, but I’ve always known where you are
Well, Patience and Hope are virtues, I’m catching up on
They’ve been my only friends, ever-since, You’ve been gone

Oh, and just like Pearl Harbor, now, I’ve been destroyed
But no one can rob me of my joy
For the little things, in life, that get tossed and lost
Are part of the reason God rose a Cross

Oh, now, and just like Pearl Harbor, I’ve been destroyed
But no one can rob me of my joy
For the little things, in life, that get tossed and lost
Are part of the reason God rose a Cross



©2006 T/H Songs, INC. & GB Lyrics, CO

HIGHER SKIES

HIGHER SKIES
(Currin)

I’ve been through an empire burlesque, now, I’m looking to get back to higher skies
And it’s you, I can see God’s face reflected, in the deep dark mysterious pools of your eyes
Oh, can’t you see that pink flashing, upon the ribbon of the dawn?
You kept me hanging on, at least for the storm
Now, the tides are cutting, across the valleys hidden within the heart
Eroding the spaces, changing the faces inside and it’s you---from me I don’t want to be blown apart

Where are you, oh my love, tonight ---come forth from the rock from where you hide
I want to see you from all angles, shake and hit you from all sides
Look out your window---that nightingale calling
It’s only me---and it’s for you for whom I’m falling

In the fields of the lilies of the valley and Rose of Sharon---that’s where you and I should lie
And I’m just busy here looking to get back to higher skies
And it’s you, you are the one, whom I’m now feeling inside
Oh, you, you’ve got a hold, on me---you run, through my veins straight to my heart
And who am I, if I can’t face a day with you and I being apart?
And who are we, if we have to keep everything covered up, in the dark?

Now, there’s a rainbow---and it’s painted there, across your smile
Oh, and if you need someone---I’m willing to go that extra mile
Now, there has got to be a better way than running from all that we’ve been looking for
And who are you to lead me on---and who am I to let you down?
Now, it’s time to get to where all the hurting---nurses all those wounds mature
Where the scars crumble into one another and we rise up from the ground

Oh, but where are you, tonight, my love---come out from the tower, in which you hide
For I want to see you from all angles, shake and hit you from all sides
Oh, and I’m just sitting here looking to get back to higher skies
Now, the lion must lie down with the lamb, in the heart, where true love resides

Oh, all the lakes have now frozen---I’m trying to cross to get to you, on the other side
Now, Truth is a straight and narrow arrow, in the night, that really flies
So open up the hidden depths of your mind, let that wavelength in
Where Love is all there is and everything begins again
For I want to drink from the baptismal pools of your eyes---drink up that light
So come over here, oh my darlin’---come over here and hold me tight

Oh, where are you, oh my love, tonight---come down from the tree that you’ve climbed
For I can hear that clock ticking---I can hear those bells chime
Oh, but you keep building up walls---well, who needs walls, anyway?
For isn’t it better to see life with another---any time of the day?

All for you---I’m wet with dew---my curls are dripping with the spray of the night
Now, I don’t want to die, before I reach that place of you and I
Tell me what’s hidden, in your heart---am I a part of it or not?
Well, if not then why do you keep me hanging onto a lie---is that all you got?
Oh, I just want you to write me, on your page---you don’t have to fake up to me
I know just who you really are---and I’m just trying to get back to higher skies and be

Oh, where are you, tonight, oh my love---come down from the mountain, which you’ve climbed
For I can hear that clock ticking---I can hear those bells chime
I just want to hold you for awhile and dream within your eyes
For together, you and I can get back to higher skies

You know my soul is chasing you down, in every place that you may hide
It’s only---Dear---because it is longing to be by your side
Share a little faith---for we could be jumping, over mountains and hills
Come away, now, arise---let us be heading now and go lying, in the fields
In my dreams, I always see you here, Dear---you always appear, on a cloud of smoke
Oh, now, how I wish you were blowing, over here---for it is in you that I hope

But where are you, oh my love, tonight ---come forth from the rock from where you hide
I want to see you from all angles, shake and hit you from all sides
Look out your window---that nightingale calling
It’s only me---and it’s for you for whom I’m falling

It’s only me---and I’m trying, trying to get back to higher skies
Oh my love, you and I could now be flying, flying to get back to higher skies……..







©2006 T/H Songs, INC. & GB Lyrics, CO