Best Line of Argument on Contemporary Worship Music
The most helpful stuff on contemporary worship music I've read comes from those trained to discern the meaning of cultural forms (semiotics). That's why media ecologists like T. David Gordon are so insightful. I'm not the prophet he is, but see his article, "The Imminent Decline of Contemporary Worship Music: Eight Reasons." One point that has stuck with me: One generation cannot successfully “compete” with 50 generations of hymn-writers; such a generation would need to be fifty times as...
A False Dichotomy on Ferguson?
I've been looking for wisdom on events in Ferguson. I have tried not to confuse my white, redheaded, middle class perspective with a truly biblical perspective—not least because I have to preach on Sundays to a (tiny) half-black congregation, and I'd better speak as an oracle of God and not of the GOP. Or of the NAACP. Not that the GOP and NAACP (or white, middle-class redheads) have no wisdom to offer. But I'd prefer to listen to wisdom that is more reliably pure, peaceable, gentle, open to...
Good Kindle Deals
There have been some really great Kindle deals on worthwhile books this last week. What did I actually buy? Somehow I managed to say no to the strong temptation to add to my collection of evangelical Amish romance novels, and I got the books below instead. These first two are still, as of this posting, just 99 cents. Grab them both—I've heard good things about An Infinite Journey, and I've heard great things about Love into Light (written by my sister and brother-in-law's pastor and the...
Carols from Kings
Have you ever heard a boy soprano? In real life they quaver a lot, but in Britain they're awesome—especially together. I sort of knew this from CDs I got in college, but it wasn't until I got a DVD and saw the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols sung by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge that it really hit me how remarkable these young boys were—or rather, how remarkable is the centuries-long tradition in which they are participating. I've watched the "Carols from Kings" DVD a hundred...
The Nude Beach Principle
The myth of neutrality is one of the most important ideas a Christian can get hold of in this secular age. Here's a concrete example of that illusion, provided by excellent Catholic writer Anthony Esolen in "The Illusion of Neutrality": Suppose that Surftown has one beautiful beach, where young and old, boys and girls, single people and whole families, have been used to relax, go swimming, and have picnics. Now suppose that a small group of nudists petitions the town council to allow for nude...