Hymnology

Here are four hymns I recorded today.

they were all done in one take so there are some mistakes here and there. oh well.

Art & Theology - William Blake's "Proverbs of Hell"

Proverbs of Hell is an amazing look at the ideas of a man who believed that Man is basically good. As I mentioned in the intro post below, Religion was a major opponent to the Romantic movement of which William Blake was a major contributor. This piece, "Proverbs of Hell," is just a part of one of Blake's larger works, "Marriage of Heaven and Hell." This was a collection of poetry and prose pieces describing his views on the traditional concepts of Heaven and Hell as well as comments on Religion in general. To be short: Blake was very anti-religion. To be clear: Blake believed in God or at least a god, but he hated religion. Throughout Blake's poetry and prose, including "Proverbs of Hell," one can clearly see his belief in and appreciation for a loving, merciful God, but his disdain for hateful, restrictive religious people. Is it wrong to hate religion? No. I, myself, am not a big fan of what religion has become. In fact, I have taught on the dangers of religion many times. However, Blake speaks against many of the clear lessons of Scripture and the teachings of Jesus himself. This is where Blake and I part ways. Blake was not a Christian, but God chose him to spread His truth anyway.

I urge you to look up this entire piece and read it. It will smack you around. There are some very clear Humanistic ideas here like "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom", "No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings", and "He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence." There are also some proverbs here that go against classic Christian thinking as well as scripture like "As the plow follows words, so God rewards prayers." He's saying that just as much as the plow listens to our requests for it to move, that is how much God cares for our prayers. However, there are also some very wise statements here that transcend both humanism and religion.

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship." I'm sure there are many ways one can take this statement, but what I see him saying here is that a bird and a spider naturally know to make a nest to live in and a web to catch their food. Who taught them that? In the same way, humanity seeks out other people to share life with. To take it a step further, man seeks out someone or something to fill a deeper need than humanity can fulfill. People disappoint. People leave. People die. So people who rely on people are constantly left disappointed. People who rely on God for fulfillment are never left alone.

He also deals with very simple truth that man often forgets. "If others had not been foolish, we should be so." Rather than giving credit to the many geniuses and great leaders throughout history for the many great advancements of humanity, he gives it to the foolish. He credits their mistakes and failed ideas as the reason for man's accomplishments. If we hadn't had examples of what not to do, we would have persisted in those mistakes rather than trying to become better. Interesting idea.

He also recognizes the complexity of both man and nature. "One thought, fills immensity." "To create a little flower is the labour of ages."

He even credits the creator for the beauty of this world as well as taking a shot at the behavior police also known as the religious.
"The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
The nakedness of woman is the work of God."

I could easily spend months studying and writing about this piece. It is full of ideas to argue for and against. I love looking at the wisdom of man and filtering out that which is false and focusing on the truth that God has infused into culture. The whole world gives praise to God. Even those that think they are praising man or themselves are used for God's glory. I urge you to seek out God's truth in odd places.
Keep coming back to this blog to find more examples of God's truth in unlikely places.

Art & Theology - William Blake's "Proverbs of Hell" intro

When most of us hear the word "Romantic" we think of elaborate shows of affection and love between people --roses, letters, fancy dinners, etc. However, in the case of our subject, William Blake, the term, Romantic, takes on a very different meaning. Blake was a Romantic in that he was a part of what I believe to be the most fruitful literary movement in history, the Romantic Era. I will spare you the many details surrounding this movement, so know that what I have chosen to share is critical to this week's subject. The Romantic movement was a response to the Industrial Revolution that spread throughout Europe in the early 19th century. As the whole world began to turn from nature and rely on technology, the Romantics tried to remind them of the value and beauty of the natural elements of this world. William Blake, one of the early Romantics, spent much of his literary career giving value to not only Nature but simple Humanity. He believed in simple pleasures and simple desires.
Religion was one of the Romantics biggest opponents. Religion taught that the earth is evil and all that is in it. And that we are only made good by giving up our earthly desires to devote ourselves to an invisible god. Being good was the ultimate goal. Romanticism said that happiness rather than goodness is the ultimate goal. Fulfilling all of your earthly desires was your purpose on this Earth. They reminded everyone that the beauty of a field covered in lilies held in it more wisdom than all the books of the earth. Both of these institutions got close to truth, but ended up missing it. By putting "goodness" as the ultimate goal, Religion bred a group of pious hypocrites who dragged the name of God through the mud by calling themselves Christians. By touting happiness as the ultimate goal, Romantics bred a group of disillusioned young people who discovered that earthly happiness is temporary and will never fulfill you.

Art & Theology - Intro

     

     Great art; I mean the exciting, outstandingly beautiful, and horrifyingly authentic kind of art, is often a bearer of great truths about the human condition. The Christian community, however, has neglected much of this art, because it’s been deemed "inappropriate", "obscene”, or “secular.” Meaning that if it doesn’t directly deal with a religious theme, and deal with it in a nice, respectful way, it’s not okay to like it. This is a ridiculous notion. John Calvin, a 16^th century theologian and principal figure in the development of the system of christian theology later called Calvinism, had this to say about this issue, "All truth is from God; and consequently, if wicked men have said anything that is true and just, we ought not to reject it; for it has come from God." -John Calvin, The Institutes, II, 2, 15.

     As an English major in college, I spent a lot of my formal education studying secular writing. Luckily, I went to an amazing school, Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL, where the professors encouraged us to find God’s truth in everything from Homer’s Odyssey to Eminem’s The Way I Am. As long as the Christian community continues to reject “secular” art simply because it’s not “christian” we are rejecting God’s truth just because it isn’t packaged like we would expect. Since when has God been predictable? Since when has God tried to fit into our box rather than us fit into His?

     For the next few weeks, I will be writing a series of blog entries under the title Art & Theology. In this series I will be attempting to expose my readers to some of the great art humanity has produced in an attempt to draw out God's truth, like poison from a wound. No matter the source, C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, Lady Gaga, or Van Gogh, truth belongs to God. So, in that vein, I will be showing you some of my favorite art –poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, song, film, and theatre, even T.V. –and revealing to you the truth that I see there. If you disagree with or wish to add to anything I say here, please feel free to add comments or criticisms below in the comment section. I’m excited about opening a dialogue that can benefit all who read it.

Christmas is Weird

 Observe this picture.


Do you see what's happening here?


Santa Claus is kneeling in front of Jesus. 


Does anyone else see a problem with this?




     My mother-in-law came and decorated our house for Christmas this year. We had just moved into a new house and so we didn't have time to put up a tree or anything so she graciously offered to come up and help out. She brought with her boxes filled with random knick-knacks to put around the house. One of them, which she decided should go right on our coffee table, was this lovely item. I didn't recognize it right away, but after walking by it a dozen times, I really looked at it and realized just how ridiculous this item really is. And that it symbolizes something really interesting about our culture. There is so much wrong with this thing, I don't know where to begin.
First.
Let's start with the not-so-obvious. Why does Jesus, a Jew from Nazareth, look like he's Irish? Red hair? Super pale skin? Why? Why is it so important to so many people to make Jesus into a "white" man? Can Americans really not handle worshiping a savior with a brown tint to His skin?
Next.
A much more obvious question... Did Santa travel back in time to get there? St. Nicholas is supposed to have been born in Patara, an ancient city in Turkey, between 260-280 AD. How did he make it to this particular event that happened 280 years before his birth?
Last one.
I'm all for putting the Christ back in Christmas, but I think it's important to remember that Christmas is a hijacked holiday. We don't have to join together the old traditions with the new, Santa being the old, and Jesus' birth being the new. It's okay to recognize where Christmas really came from. And it's not a happy story.
Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25.  During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the week-long celebration.  The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.”  Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week.  At the festival’s conclusion, December 25^th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman. 
Sound like Christmas to you?
Of course Christians eventually changed this festival by declaring Jesus' birth, which no one can clearly pinpoint, was to be celebrated on the 25th of December. It took a few centuries for this to really catch on, but eventually Christianity was able to wrench away this horrible festival from the pagans and turned it into what it is today. 
In conclusion.
Christmas is great, but don't take it too seriously. It's just a made-up holiday. Don't forget that.

What does art do to you?

She's staring at you, isn't she? She does that to me all the time. Go ahead. Order a drink. She can mix you a great Shirley Temple. Don't take an orange, though. They are for display only.

What you are looking at is my favorite painting. If you were to add up the amount of time I have spent sitting, studying this painting, it might equal about two whole days of my life --just staring. I have written papers about this painting. It's a good painting. It's called "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" and was painted in 1881-1882 by Edouard Manet. If you were to ask me what I love so much about this painting, I would have a lot to say. I'd probably pause for a second, stare at it, and then go off on how much apathy I see in her beautiful face, but yet there is so much desperation, angst, and brokenness behind that apathy. It's like she's stuck behind that bar for the rest of her life pretending to enjoy mixing drinks and pouring champagne for rich Frenchmen for the rest of eternity. To me she seems like the symbol of all the pleasure-seeking world. I'm sure she was excited to work there at first. She probably loved how glamorous it all was. She probably loved how much men would flirt with her and tell her how beautiful she was. She probably loved getting all dressed up, setting up the bar just right, putting out fresh fruit and flowers, just waiting for all the classy French couples to come in to the glamorous Folies-Bergère to dance and drink their troubles away. But just as everything on this Earth will do one day, it all began to lose its luster. And while that bar may have once felt like a gateway to a world of pleasure and constant excitement, it soon began to feel like a prison. And while all the people once seemed so glamorous, the flirtatious compliments so exciting, the music so beautiful, the sights and smells so intriguing, new, and wonderfully sublime it all became empty, blank, even depressing. This is the face of a woman who is truly trapped in a life she thought would free her. She is all of us who thought that what the world has to offer would satisfy us, but all it does is disappoint. All the time.
Don't be afraid to be moved by art. That's what it's for.

Aliens!!!I

I decided to video blog this time. Enjoy.

What Do You Do on the Toilet?

     I just got back from the bathroom. Take a moment to get past the image and let's move on.

...

Almost ready?

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Okay. Welcome back.
I can't sit on the toilet for more than three seconds without feeling bored. I always bring my phone or a book I'm reading. If I forget either of those two things, I'll find myself dabbling into things I would never do otherwise. I'll maybe pick up a People magazine and see what the Kardashians are up to. Or I'll clean out my wallet. I've even found myself brushing my teeth on the toilet just to save time. I just can't seem to sit there doing nothing ... well not nothing, but you know.
The point I'm making is that I think I've become addicted to entertainment. If I can't even handle sitting on the toilet for two minutes without being entertained, I think that is a sign of a problem. How did this happen, I've asked myself. I used to be able to sit places without having things to do. And what about the rest of us? What did people do on the toilet before games on our phones, books, magazines, wallets to clean out, etc? Did they just sit there? I wish I could do that. I want to be able to do that. I hate being addicted to anything. From now on, I will begin the process of breaking this addiction. And I'm going to start on the toilet. I will no longer feed my addiction by keeping myself entertained while I am doing my business. Maybe one day I won't need to use stumbleupon on my phone while I watch TV. Then maybe I won't need to watch 30 Rock episodes on my computer while I eat my lunch at my desk. Maybe I'll just enjoy those things without having to over-entertain myself.
I challenge you all to do the same. Let's break the addiction!!

The Bible!

     I have two things I'd like to share with you today. First, I think you should all know that my favorite aquatic buddy, Sushi, has decided to leave the comfort of his home with me and seek a better life for himself. If anyone sees him out there, let him know I miss him and he's welcome back anytime.

     Now to the main point. This last week while I was preparing my message on John the Baptist, I couldn't escape this idea that occasionally the Bible reads a bit like a Musical. I sort of used this idea in this weekend's message, The Musical (click to listen if you missed it), but I think this idea has a lot more potential. My sister is really into musicals and I've talked to her about writing a musical together on the life of Mary mother of Jesus. I think there is a lot of potential to a half fictional/half Biblical story about one of the most interesting women in the world. What was it like trying to raise God Himself as a child? What did the neighbors think? How did this affect her relationship with Joseph? What did her parents think? Anyways, you just wait. One day this story will be told and I hate to say it, but I think it'll make a great musical.

Holy Spirit? Who dat?

      If you've ever read the book of Acts, been to church a few times, known a preacher or strong man or woman of God, or if you've caught a preacher on TV once or twice for kicks (very common among the kids these days...), then you've probably heard about the Holy Spirit. You may have heard it called Holy Ghost or just The Spirit, but no matter what you call it, I assume that most people don't really understand this third piece of the Trinity. I'm not going to attempt to use the next few lines to define the Holy Spirit because that may take more words than you're wiling to read. What I want to say to you today is that if you're among that large group of people who call themselves believers or Christians and you don't know much about the Holy Spirit, then you're missing out on 1/3 of who God really is. I'm not specifically talking about speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, or other gifts given by the Holy Spirit. I'm talking about getting to know a very important part of who God really is. Here are a few simple tips to help:

1. When you pray, don't be afraid to speak directly to the Holy Spirit. Call upon it for help, power, strength, discipline, love for the unlovable, words when you have none, knowledge you've not gained, etc.
2. Seek the scriptures. Don't just look in the New Testament either. Go to Biblegateway.com and type in Holy Spirit as a search. Or just try spirit and see what you get, then read around those verses.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal itself to you. Never underestimate the power of simple requests to God. "Help me." "I'm tired. Give me strength." "Reveal the meaning of this scripture to me."

When Christ left this world, He left the Holy Spirit here on Earth. There is power in this gift that if you aren't tapped into, you're missing out. Don't miss out. Seek it out.

Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people on this Earth: beach people and mountain people. If you had to pick between one of those two places to spend the rest of your life, where would it be? For me, I'm a beach person. I love mountains. I've stood in the middle of the Alps and stared in awe at the amazing peaks and snow-covered beauty provided by God's awesome creation, but put me on a beach and I'm home. No matter what season it is, I could sit on a beach and just watch the ocean breathe in and out all day. Because I'm a Christian, I get an added bonus. As I gawk at this awesome beauty, I feel closer to my creator. It's like if you brought a friend to an art exhibit where your work was being shown, and that friend just loved your work and wanted to sit and gaze at your work for hours on end. Wouldn't you feel much closer to that friend? That's how I think God reacts when we are taken aback by His beautiful creation. But if that same friend fell in love with your work, but gave you no credit or didn't acknowledge that it was even you who made it, then we have a problem. When you see something beautiful in God's creation, let Him know. Tell Him how beautiful it is. Thank Him. Praise Him for it. Don't praise creation; praise the creator. He'll appreciate it.

Thursday Freestyle

Wednesday Freestyle

Tuesday Freestyle

Monday Freestlye

A Challenge

I've been reading a lot lately. For one of my classes I'm taking, I have to read a bunch of books on leadership and apply the knowledge to church leadership and growth. Boring! Right? Maybe to some, but I am getting really excited about this stuff. The stories of great companies like Walgreens and Gilette accompanied by the stories of great leaders like Billy Graham and Teddy Roosevelt have enormous potential for modern-church application. Words like humility, sacrifice, uncompromising excellence, and passion jump out of the pages and smack me in the face. God's mark is on all truly great things. Where there is truth, you have found God also.  I see the love and work of Christ in the story of the billionaire CEO and Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard. Though the astounding success of his business afforded him great wealth and opportunity, he never moved out of the house he and his wife built together in 1957. Upon meeting this man, you would have no idea of the billions of dollars that were at his disposal. And after his death, he gave it all away to a charitable foundation. He did not allow his money or success to define him. How many of us follow that model? How many of us let our passion, our sacrifice, our uncompromising excellence, or, above all, our humility define us? My guess would be very few. My message for you today is to, with the help of the Holy Spirit in your life, seek after these qualities. Seek after them as if this is your last chance to leave a positive mark on this Earth. PASSION. SACRIFICE. UNCOMPROMISING EXCELLENCE. HUMILITY.

SIFAT Video and Last Week's Lesson

The Call of Abram II from Nick Robinson on Vimeo.

Video Blog 5-24

Video Blog 5-19

Video Blog 5-10