Psalm 8

It’s been 4 weeks that I’ve been stewing on this Psalm and I’ve found it difficult to comprehend which seems odd, because on the surface it’s rather simple. There are a few main questions that have risen to the surface for me. What exactly is “majesty”? Do I have an adequate understanding of God’s majesty? And is the middle portion of the song referring to mankind in general or Jesus specifically?

Majesty In Babies

David was obviously overcome by God’s majesty. That’s the theme of the Psalm. He opens and closes in 9 short verses with an exclamation,

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (more…)

Psalm 4

Just like in the third Psalm, here we find David in distress yet again. He is experiencing fierce opposition from his enemies who taunt and deride him. David was no stranger to such opposition, to enemies who desired his death and the death of his people, the LORD’s people. And so here we meet David, not stressed, but peaceful, trusting fully in God.

Righteousness

It’s God’s righteousness David first appeals to, and he does so with a powerful confidence, “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!”

Here, righteousness isn’t limited conceptually to wisdom but also includes justice, vindication and rescue. (Isa 54:17, Jer 23:6). It recognizes God as author, witness, maintainer and rewarder. It’s rich with imagery of God who hears, judges, and acts. It implies perpetual presence and attention to every detail. David’s understanding of God isn’t confined but expanded, and multiplied by the testimony of God’s past mercies in the recognition that “You have given relief.” And so, with unwavering confidence, trusting in the author of righteousness, he throws himself humbly before the Father. (more…)

The Polyphonic Spree, Showbox, Seattle, October 18, 2007.

The Polyphonic Spree are here for your soul. Not in that way. No, they have an agenda that front man Tim DeLaughter articulates clearly after the encore (which was three songs, beginning with Nirvana’s Lithium.wow) “We hope this has been worth every penny spent for your big.fat..soul.” The crowd goes wild. Apparently, it has.

I’m struck at the honesty of this band who is generally known for their happy, positive vibe. DeLaughter is the principal songwriter and his songs are positive because he acknowledges and embraces that we live in a fallen world. The existence of pain and suffering serve his ultimate message, “everything’s alright.together we’re alright.” We’re alright because we are, not because of anything outside ourselves, in ourselves, or what we do. A refreshing message so close to truth. Refreshing because answers inside and outside the church can be vague and too often come down to salvation through works or morality. DeLaughter’s philosophy gets to the heart where it’s possible that works and morality are the result of identity and not the other way around. In this regard, he may get it more than some Christians. Here’s a case where the culture paints a picture that we Christians should learn from. We should definitely embrace salvation through identity.

However close to the truth, it’s incomplete, because ultimately we’re not alright. We’re all in the same boat because we’re all sons & daughters of Adam. Essentially, we are rebels against our true Father and without Jesus are appointed to His wrath. The gospel is bad news before it’s good news. It becomes good news when Christ opens our eyes to truly see His work on the cross, His blood shed, His resurrection to reconcile us to the Father. We die to ourselves and take on His identity. We’re not alright because we are. We’re alright because He is. I can’t help but wonder what Tim DeLaughter would say to that.

But the Polyphonic Spree are wholly sincere, engaging and seemingly represent their beliefs well, character that should challenge any of us who follow Jesus. And the crowd perceives it. Right in front of me, the entire show, there’s a frat-boy jock with his two girlfriends. They’re shaking booty, he’s dancing/marching, leading a solo processional all over the floor, just like DeLaughter. At what other rock show would you see this? The giant 400lb man to my right has his arms raised, jumping up and down, just like DeLaughter. That doesn’t happen at rock shows, but is usually relegated to charismatic churches (and questions certainly arise at the possibility of the Polyphonic Spree as satire). Clearly, the Polyphonic Spree commands the affection of their fans. Was it worth every penny spent for our big, fat souls? No. But it was worth every penny spent for a dang fine rock show.

Last week Jentry (my wife) and I saw Spoon play to a sold-out crowd at the Showbox in downtown Seattle. Though I am a fan, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Granted, I’m a sucker for this band. And though I discovered them late (in the last year), Spoon have been a significant discovery for me. Their most recent release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a strong album. It opens with a classic Spoon-ish chord progression on Don’t Make Me A Target, the type of 2-string, rhythmic strumming found on Pedro the Lion records, but with a bluesy twist. And from the beginning singer Brit Daniels had me hooked. The guitar tone, the understated instrumentation, his oddball take on soul, all come together right off the bat. After that, it took a few spins for the rest of the album to grow on me. The obvious highlights are the reverby Cherry Bomb, and The Underdog with it’s super-catchy horn melodies.

The show was good. Not amazing, but solid. The band has a very interesting presence. They are very complimentary in the sense that Brit holds everybody captive with his voice and frantic moves, while the band just do what they do. And they’re really good at it. At one point during the show Brit pauses asking the fan in the front row where they got “that shirt?” He follows with, “That’s my favorite Prince record!” A favorite Prince record! Wow!

But then, that makes a lot of sense. I’ve known there had to be something beyond the simple, easily identifiable layers of Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger I’ve heard in his voice. I had wondered if it was Bob Dylan….maybe. But then he mentioned Prince, and it came together. Brit’s got soul. He sings the heck out of every track and does it in his own unique way. I bet he also has a favorite Michael Jackson record!

But the greatest thing about Spoon is how much they do with so little. Overall, their instrumentation is sparse, the kind of stuff a 3-piece could bang out in a garage. But somehow they make it sound big and full. Part of it may be Brit’s guitar tone, which is the combination of a vintage Gibson 335 and a Vox AC-30. It’s just dirty. But the songs themselves allow that tone to work beautifully. Though they tend toward similar tempos and beats, any guitarist who watches his hands will notice he rarely deviates from the use of the same simple chord structures song after song.

In the end, Spoon are simply good. I should’ve known. And that’s what Jentry and I talked about as we walked away from the Showbox, up the street to our car.

The Resurgence conference is approaching (Sep. 17 & 18). I’ll be doing a sick-sesh on Songwriting. As I’ve spoken with many of you over the years, I’ve found that most people view the act of songwriting as either completely mysterious or something done by “other people” somewhere else. Very few actually write their own material. Our vision is to see more worship leaders writing their own material as indigenous expressions of their specific cultures. That’s where you come in…

I’d really love some input on topics to cover during this sick songwriting sesh. Let’s start this sick sesh now so that we’ve got some good momentum come September. What questions do you guys have about songwriting?

Dungen Ta Det Lugnt (2004, Subliminal Sounds)
The culinary arts are all about pairings.  Sweet & salty, light & heavy, creamy & flaky.  The pairings are contrasts that compliment each other, causing an entirely new and flavorful dish.  Anyone who has ever experimented with their own pairings knows that they are very subtle and sometimes can go terribly wrong, like a peanut butter & tuna sandwich.

Musical influences work the same way.  Sometimes a sound emerges that is such an unlikely pairing, you simply have to hear it.you have to taste it.  That is definitely the case with Dungen (pronounced “doo-ngen”), the pride of Stockholm, Sweden. Their pairing is equal parts Jimi Hendrix and Sigur Ros.  At least, that’s what I heard my first time through their 2004 release Ta Det Lugnt, which translates to “Take it easy,” in English. 

Never you mind the odd pairing, because Jimi and Sigur Ros are only two of many of the inspired flavors on this reverby classicrock release.  There are hints of Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, My Morning Jacket, and The Doors just to name a few (the list could literally take up a page).  Ta Det Lugnt is their third release after a brief stint on major label Virgin Records, whom they left because the major label vibe didn’t feel right.   However, applause is due any record label releasing Dungen in U.S.  Not only does the band not speak (or sing) a word of English, but a good portion of the album is instrumental, two factors that ordinarily would ensure obscurity for such a release.  But not this one, because.IT ROCKS.  Just ask Wolfmother, who took them on tour last year; or the massive Bonaroo crowd they sent fumbling to recall the current decade. 

The thing is, the classic rock vibe is front and center, but the total sound is fresh.  The production sounds like Jimi’s Are You Experienced without sounding sparse.  Melodies go all over the place, but always resolve, never leaving you behind.  If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself walking around singing the melodies, making up your own words, hours & days after your last spin.  After all, I don’t speak Swedish.  But that’s not a barrier for this album because it stands on its own musically. 

I’ve been thinking about Good Friday. Why do we call it Good Friday anyway?

A few weeks ago I began putting together a list of songs to choose from for our annual Good Friday service at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Mostly hymns because hymns are good at the bloody and violent aspects of the cross, which is essential to the theme. Hymns are also really good at one other thing that, to me, seems out of place during the Good Friday service: Hope. Or, more clearly, the result of the finished work on the cross complete with the resurrection 3 days later. This is at the center of Christian hope: that Jesus lived a sinless life and conquered death and therefore has something of pure and true value to offer us. But focusing on the hope while trying to grasp the gravity of Jesus’ death may going too far if we’re trying to understand what happened on the 1st day.

The idea goes like this. We focus on the death of Christ, the devastating act it was, and the ensuing confusion that must have taken place directly after. I thought he was the Messiah!? But now he’s dead! We attempt to understand the loss. We mourn. We reflect. Some people cry. Some weep. Others internalize it. You know, we all respond differently. But then the band plays and leads us in songs that, no matter how bloody they are, seemingly always end in resurrection and hope!

Ordinarily, this is good.

But Good Friday is different.

I think we should leave devastated. Let down. Maybe even depressed. After all, that’s how the disciples left. “And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.” (Luke 23:48-49) Not so much a hopeful image.

If the goal is to put ourselves in their shoes, then we need songs that end in death. We need songs that end in injustice, the killing of the innocent man. We need songs that highlight our participation in the crucifixion because, after all, if we have committed one sin, then Jesus died for it, and therefore was put on the cross by our own dirty hands.

We must think highly of Jesus’ death. It’s the only way we can truly rejoice on the 3rd day when we gather to celebrate His resurrection, restoring our hope, restoring our affection, and glorifying God like the angels do in heaven, “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever, amen.”
 

As one of the seven current worship music leaders, I often wrestle with this question.  Of the seven, I’m one of the few with a long history of leading music in the church.  In the past, I’ve used many contemporary praise & worship songs and yet today I’m one of the most consistent songwriters at Mars Hill.  I can explain why I stopped looking to contemporary church culture for praise songs. 
 
At Mars Hill we chose to not use mainstream contemporary Christian music for three main reasons.  The first reason is their theological content is often pretty minimal.  Of course, there are exceptions, but generally this is true.  For the ones that do contain good theology, there’s a second obstacle we have to pay to use them (due to publishing laws).  Since we live in a place where songwriters and creative people abound, we’ve simply not considered paying for worship music a viable option. Instead, we opt to write our own music and rearrange old hymns.  (more…)