Reader Aaron submitted a link to a wonderful blog-post by Carlos Whittaker (the Worship Minister at the Buckhead campus of North Point church in Atlanta), telling us:

I found this wonderful story about a spontaneous worship by a homeless man while a church was shooting a video. It was so uplifting and amazing how the homeless man is already saved and worshiping and realizes his purpose and place in life despite how many of us might complain about it.

In Carlos’ article, he describes a recent situation, where he was recording part of an EPK for an album he was recording, when a homeless man came up and sat down with him…

Thanks for the tip, Aaron!

One of the nice Thanksgiving traditions in my household (followed more, I think for Zan’s benefit than mine) is that it is officially the first day it’s OK to play Christmas music around the house/in the car.  As such, I spend a little bit of time browsing through my Christmas music, checking out the set lists I’ll be accompanying at church in the next month, and creating some play-lists for the car.

I also got to wondering what everyone else listens to in the way of music for this season in which we celebrate Christ’s birth (even though his actual birth date was more likely in September).  In that spirit, I’m sharing some of my favorite songs/albums in the hopes you’ll share yours with me (including links to check them out, if available).

Albums:

1. Andrew Peterson: Behold the Lamb of God:  By far, this is my favorite Christmas album, and it’s the only one that is exempt from the “Only between Thanksgiving and Dec. 25″ rule (above).  BtLoG, itself, aside from a couple of instrumental pieces, is not traditional Christmas music, but is all set around the story of the coming of Jesus – from the birth of Moses, through the kings of Israel and the writings of Isaiah, and into the events told in the Gospels.  In many ways, the music is one continuous 45-minute work that builds and tells a story, building on the emotion and yearning of the people involved.  Andrew (and a number of Nashville musicians) travel each December, performing this piece, along with some of their own music.  If they’re stopping near you, I’d highly recommend them!  [If you're interested, you can also listen to the entire thing - legally - here.]

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Recently, in the modern worship service at my church, we have introduced a “new” song – How He Loves Us, by John Mark McMillan.  Since it was on the new David Crowder Band album, I was familiar with the song, itself, and the lyrics, and thought they were quite moving.  Playing the song (I am the keyboardist in our worship band), I think the most difficult thing with How He Loves Us is that the picture it paints of God and the way the final crescendo focuses on His love and grace, I really want it to keep on going (and going), but (as a musician in a band) I’ve got to stay with the other guys and bring it to an end.

Somehow, in times like that, I think about Moses.  Not the Moses, leading the children of Israel.  The Moses leading a bunch of sheep in the desert, coming across a burning bush and discovering the presence of God – in direct communication with Him.  In his talk with God, Moses sounds so tentative and reluctant to carry our his mission, coming up with all sorts of excuses to stay out in the wilderness.  And I wonder – was it all reluctance to do what he was asked, or was it partially a reluctance to leave the direct presence and communion with God, there with that burning bush?

And I think about John – the “disciple Jesus loved”.  John, a kid who was probably only 15 or 16 when Jesus was crucified.  John, whose Gospel did not just seek to recount the events of Jesus’ life, but whose Gospel stands apart from the other three – an attempt to theologically explain Jesus through a lens of intense devotion and love.  John – the only disciple to die of old age.  How he must have longed for his short time on earth with Jesus to have never ended.

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It’s easy to see the ills of the sin of partiality when we think of differentiating between fellow believers based on race or wealth or appearance in the context of our own communities, those we actually see or with whom we interact.

But how should the command to show no partiality as we hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. James 2) affect our view of those we never see… of believers who are commies or wear towels on their heads?

The title of this post is a chant I heard in a movie. In the context, men were training for the military. The implied question was “How long will we need to fight?” And the answer – “…until all the commies and towel-heads are all dead!”

The obvious offensiveness of the reference aside, it’s easy to understand how this attitude is spun in the context of a Cold-War or War on Terror. And certainly nations such as ours have the need to defend themselves.

Yet, as we study the application of our faith and the command to treat all believers with equal respect and dignity – it makes me wonder how the church, how American Christians, should think and react when our nation undertakes policies that a) benefit us as believers in THIS country while b) adversely effecting believers in THAT country. And do I even think of the ramifications to them? Where is the balancing point between being citizen of a country and a member of a body?

This need for balance is aptly illustrated by the monumental work One Nation Under God, by Jon McNaughton. The work is truly monumental, and the thought McNaughton put into his work impressive… if not thoroughly unbiblical and misguided. I would offer a rebuttal, but Greg Boyd offers what I think is a fine rebuttal in his post “Painted Idolatry.” Boyd has other views that render him controversial, that said, his rebuttal to the idolatry and quite possibly the blasphemy of McNaughton stands on it’s own merit.

While supporting my country and its right to exist without threat… while celebrating the good that my country has done and even God’s involvement in that – I am challenged to remind myself that I am not so much an American Christian as I am a member of the Body of Christ who happens to live in America. The difference may be nuanced in semantics, but the ramifications should be far reaching.

UPDATE: If you follow the link that says you can ask the artist a question he has a rebuttal to Boyd. And while McNaughton makes some good points about people defending their freedoms – he fails to address Boyd’s (and my) objection to his tying the Savior to nationalistic endeavors.

Suggested to me by my son…

For a bit better vocal performance passed my way this week, here’s John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting) at this year’s Jerry Lewis Telethon (which I didn’t even realize was still going on) performing Augie Nieto:

Have a great weekend!

-Rich Mullins (October 21, 1955 – September 19, 1997)

I’ve played in various worship bands over the last ten years or so, and because of that I find myself in the position of knowing a lot of worship songs that I don’t particularly care for.  It’s not that I find myself disagreeing with them, really, or that I think every song needs to be theological treatise.  It’s just that good songwriting is somewhat of a rarity both in the Church and outside of it.  So when I do find a worship song or album that is exceptional, I think it’s worth pointing out.

I picked up Ten Shekel Shirt’s newest album, Jubilee, this week, and I have to say it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite worship albums.  I think the thing that sets it apart from other albums is that the groups principle songwriter, Lamont Hiebert, made a choice on this album to get away from songs that are just about “me and Jesus” and focus on some larger themes of injustice, slavery, redemption, and deliverence.  It also doesn’t hurt that the instrumentation is well done.

The one song that I can’t get out my head is called “You Rescue”.

You Rescue
Ten Shekel Shirt

Some choices I have made brought pain
But you will never stop restoring what’s been lost
So I will boast of Your saving deeds
And I will rave of Your glory

‘Cause You rescue
You redeem
You save
You intervene
You rescue
You redeem
Our lives’ stories

Damage done to me was not Your dream
Innocence has died but is risen from the dead
So I will boast
Of your saving deeds
And I will shout of Your glory

‘Cause You rescue
You redeem
You save
You intervene
You rescue
You redeem
Our lives’ stories

Come rescue
And redeem
Come save
And intervene
Come rescue
And redeem
Our lives’ stories

I pray that this song is a blessing to you, and I pray that we will remember that our calling is to join with God as works to bring beauty, restoration, and redemption to a fallen world.

My son introduced me to this gem, a send-up of the 90’s Boy-Bands.

Probably the only improvement that could be made to this parody would be if there were more feeling (over)poured into it.

This got me thinking – in the Christian music market, much of the truly creative, artistically excellent music rarely receives airplay on Christian music stations, in favor of blandish pap and recycled “classics”.  What would a Christian version of “Title of the Song” look like?  What might the lyrics be?  What would it sound like?  Who would record it?

Ah, the possibilities…

As I was driving into work this morning, I pulled up Charlie Hall’s September through November album on my Ipod, and I was brought back to the evening I was in attendance when he was doing this tour a few years ago.  The one thing that I remember most vividly was that his keyboard player read a meditation on Isaiah 9 that just blew me away.  I know that Isaiah 9 is a passage we normally associate with Christmas, but I think it’s even more applicable now as we are in the Lenten season heading toward Easter.  The following is the meditation piece just captures the heart of the Gospel in a way that is simply beautiful.   It was written by Joshua Banner (I hope that is the correct link), whom I sadly know little about.  Anyway, I hope it’s a blessing to you.

Meditation on Isaiah 9
by Joshua Banner

Unto us a child is born
unto all of us
unto the widow
unto the homeless
the addict
the AIDS patient
unto us the football captain
and the drag queen
unto us the politician
the factory blue collar
us the single mother
the crack baby
and unto us the affluent suburbanite
unto us the Goth
the hippie
the rocker
the alternative and underground
unto us in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue
and unto all of us in between
unto us in the gutters of Calcutta
unto the Muslim
and the Jew
the Buddhist
the Krishna and the Hindu
unto us the fatherless
unto the heavenly fatherless

For unto us a child is born
a son is given
and a secret revolution begun.
This is what the prophets had been preparing for.

They said his name would be,
“Most Beautiful Wisdom”
“the Highest of Heaven’s Secrets”

his name would be
“the God who continually bends over backwards for you”
“the God who gets down on his hands and knees”
“the God who would become silly and mis-understood”
“the God who would be mocked- – the God whose name
would be taken in vain.”

He would be called
“the God of underdogs”

“the God of the powerless and unspiritual”

“the God of those who cannot pray or fast”

And there would be no end to him and his
underdog weaklings or their secret
there would be no end even
while the nations continue to rage on
even as ethnos rises against ethnos
even as valleys are filled with dead bones
and rivers run with blood
even as violence runs through our streets
and schools and hearts
covering us like a thick fog
Even in this dark land of weak people
the God who bends over backwards
will shine forth like a great light
as the dawning of a new day
letting his secret spread forth with healing and joy.

Drop the mirror and let it shatter
Crush the hourglass and stop the clocks ticking
stand still
hold your breath
anticipate—imagine
your wildest dreams.
Sell everything and buy the farm
Come with me, cover your eyes and hold out your hands
stop your weeping
stop your groans
the fast is over.

Let the celebration begin
the father has come
He has sent his son
Unto us He has been born
even unto us.

It seems only fitting that we have a Christmas Version of the “Learning to Listen” series, where we examine what non-Christian voices in the world observe about life, God, Jesus, his bride – or any combination of the above. Lest weaker brothers stumble, we are not fully advocating any artists, music or messages, nor are we fully endorsing anything/everything about them. We’re just trying to observe, in the same fashion as Paul on Mars Hill, the icons of the culture and how we might apply them to our own walk or to teaching about the truth of God.

In this installment, I’d like to examine “The Rebel Jesus” by Jackson Browne, first recorded with the Chieftains for their 1991 Christmas album (which I own and enjoy) called “The Bells of Dublin”.  Below is a studio solo version (I wish I could find a good Chieftains version, but it will do):

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They’ll be gathering around the hearths and tales
Giving thanks for all gods graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well they call him by the prince of peace
And they call him by the savior
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they’ve turned the nature that I worshiped in
From a temple to a robbers den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgment
For Ive no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.

While Browne seems to have a dark, cynical view of Christians and the church, it is hard to argue with him, sitting here warm and safe in America.  Christmas, as a holiday, has taken on a life of its own that is far removed from Christ (one of the reasons I’ve written the De-Sanitization series), but the world looks on and sees massive cathedrals with the homeless sleeping in their shadows. It sees a health & wealth gospel providing limos, jets and jacuzzis for its practitioners, while more than a billion people are sickened from a lack of clean water.  It sees Christians hit just as hard, in the same numbers, as everyone else by the greedy behavior of overextended and sub-prime borrowing, unable to adequately assist in a time of poverty.

And it sees Jesus – for better or worse – as someone completely different from those who are called by his name.

But which is worse:

1) Sitting ignorant of how our actions appear to the world around us.
2) Understanding how we look, but turning an unsympathetic eye, because it’s not our problem.
3) Feeling paralyzed and guilty, but still doing nothing about it.

I have to admit, I often find myself in boat #3.  And while I do, the world is looking on and wondering why I, who claim the title of one who follows Jesus, sometimes seem to act more like those he rebelled against than fellow rebels in his cause.

But it doesn’t take all that much to turn things around.

I have been greatly appreciative and thankful for some of the high-profile efforts in the chruch, where it has been trying to demonstrate Jesus’ love an compassion.  One example of this has been with the mission to end AIDS in Africa, with Rick Warren and Bill Hybels as a public faces of the church – not for their own glory, but to try to demonstrate the kinds of things the church could be doing in the world that would give demonstrable flesh to the spirit we claim.  Another has been with the efforts to provide clean drinking water to impoverished communities in South America and Africa, where multiple Christian churches and individuals (like Rob Bell in the Everything is Spiritual tour, which supported WaterAid) have spearheaded efforts.

Let us be part of the rebellion, with the Rebel Jesus at the fore, and not part of the Empire, which seeks power, material wealth and insulation.

Let us be on the side of the Rebel Jesus…