a new doxology

I want to share a few thoughts and video links on Kanye West’s antics and achievements at the Grammys on Sunday. Kanye won four Grammys, including Best Solo Rap Song (”Stronger”) and Best Rap Album (”Graduation”). I thought his mega-production performance of “Stronger” was really cool and his stripped-down performance of “Hey Mama” was pretty emotional, but nothing was as memorable as Kanye’s acceptance speech for Best Rap Album during which the producers of the Grammys started playing the “wrap it up” music, but in a forcefully persuasive tone that only Kanye could pull off, he silenced the music (and got an ovation for doing so) by saying, “it would be in good taste to stop the music” and then went on to dedicate the award to his mother who recently passed away. It was a fascinating moment bring together Kanye’s full-range of personality…respect, arrogance, passion and emotion.

To celebrate Kanye’s big night at the Grammys (only Amy Winehouse won more awards, with five), here’s a video from one of Mr. West’s first hit songs, “Jesus Walks’ (which is my favorite song to do karaoke, no joke). This is actually the third version of the song’s music video, which is incredible since most songs are lucky to get one video, but Kanye is unique like that; I guess two videos just weren’t enough for him. I’m glad he made this version because it offers an interesting perspective of someone’s idea of what it looks like to have Jesus walking with us during our everyday lives.

“I ain’t here to argue about his facial features / or here to convert atheists into believers / I’m just trying to say the way schools need teachers / the way Kathy Lee needed Regis / that’s the way I need Jesus.”

_________________________________________________________

I apologize if any of the links lead to deleted videos. I’ll try to update them if any of the videos disappear, otherwise you can probably find the videos on youtube.

Update (February 18, 2008): I just checked the links to the videos of Kanye at the Grammy’s and realized all three have already  been removed due to copyright issues (in less than a week). I’ll do some searching and see what I can find…

Good news TV fans: the WGA (Writers Guild of America) has reached a tentative deal with the major motion picture companies and television producers, which means that the strike that has nearly frozen all non-reality television shows for the past three months could finally be over soon. How soon you ask? According to many news sources, including this article from Variety, the necessary people to sign the new deal are together in meetings tonight and tomorrow in LA, so the 10,500 striking writers could be back at work on Monday if everyone can come to an agreement. Here’s a quote from Variety that I think offers the best news in all of this,

The resolution of the strike will enable TV networks to salvage the remaining TV season and pilot season along with permitting scribes to begin working again on film scripts. The end to the strike would also permit the Academy Awards telecast on Feb. 24 to proceed without disruption.

This means that shows like Scrubs (which is one of my personal favorites) that are in their final season may still get to wrap things up this year.

I realize this might sound like an inappropriate request, but if you are a person who prays, please ask Jesus to help TV addicts like me get our shows back soon.

I want to share and respond to some of the comments I’ve received about the “Yes We Can” video of Obama’s speech that I posted earlier this week. First, I’d like to restate - perhaps more clearly this time - that by sharing the video I was in no way endorsing a specific candidate or political party. Notice that the first things I wrote in Monday’s entry were that I am not into politics, never have been and am not even sure who I am going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. I’d also like to tell anyone reading this that I don’t want anewdoxology to become a political blog. I can see why it may have appeared that I was trying to venture into the topic of politics by posting that video, but really, the only reason I shared the video for “Yes We Can” is because of the many connections it has with the world of popular culture (since it featured several musicians, actors and other recognizable “famous people”). The fact that Barack’s speech is incredibly inspiring and gave me goosebumps probably played a role in why I decided to share it, but it was really more about what the creator of the song/video (will.i.am) wrote in his explanation,

it inspired me…
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world…
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world…
and take a “leap” towards change…
and hope that others become inspired to do the same…
change themselves..
change their greed…
change their fears…
(…)
I produced [shared] this song to share my new found inspiration and how I’ve been moved…
I hope this song will make you feel…
love…
and think…
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me…
that’s all…

With that being said, I want to pass along a few comments and links that some of you have shared with me in response to Obama, the “Yes We Can” video and how it all connects with the ideas of hope, love and change (that I personally happen to associate with God and my faith).

From an article by Michael Chabon in the Washington Post, but borrowed here by one of my seminary professors (Mary Hess) from her blog, this quote is about the fear involved in supporting and voting for Obama.

“But the most pitiable fear of all is the fear of disappointment, of having our hearts broken and our hopes dashed by this radiant, humane politician who seems not just with his words but with every step he takes, simply by the fact of his running at all, to promise so much for our country, for our future and for the eventual state of our national soul. I say “pitiable” because this fear of disappointment, which I hear underlying so many of the doubts that people express to me, is ultimately a fear of finding out the truth about ourselves and the extent of the mess that we have gotten ourselves into. If we do fight for Obama, work for him, believe in him, vote for him, and the man goes down to defeat by the big-money machines and the merchants of fear, then what hope will we have left to hold on to?

Thus in the name of preserving hope do we disdain it. That is how a phobocracy maintains its grip on power.

To support Obama, we must permit ourselves to feel hope, to acknowledge the possibility that we can aspire as a nation to be more than merely secure or predominant. We must allow ourselves to believe in Obama, not blindly or unquestioningly as we might believe in some demagogue or figurehead but as we believe in the comfort we take in our families, in the pleasure of good company, in the blessings of peace and liberty, in any thing that requires us to put our trust in the best part of ourselves and others. That kind of belief is a revolutionary act. It holds the power, in time, to overturn and repair all the damage that our fear has driven us to inflict on ourselves and the world.”

A theologian might suggest that this is what we mean, in part, by “eschatological hope.”

I don’t want the connection Hess makes between Chabon’s quote and Christian theology to be lost because people don’t understand a confusing theological term, so here’s a quick teaching moment on eschatological hope…in my best understanding this term refers to the hope Christians have that Jesus Christ will return to make things right on earth (including our personal salvation). This is a very basic definition, and is in no way complete, but eschatology is the name for the area of study within theology that is concerned with the final events of the world (including, but not limited to, the return of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the renewal of creation, the final judgment, the establishment of the kingdom of God and the fulfillment of all God’s promises). I asked Mary to explain how she was using the term in her post and she said that she was “noting the resonance to a form of hope that can not be proven, that indeed is often not demonstrable in human terms, but exists nonetheless and draws us out to live LOVE.” Meaning, the hope Chabon (and many others in America, including will.i.am and the other celebrities in his video) have that Obama will deliver the change that he has been promising in his campaign is not something that can be proven any more than Christians can prove that Jesus Christ will return to earth at the end of history and deliver the promises we believe God has made for all of creation, but just because it can’t be proven does not mean we can not or should not hope for and support the idea of those things happening.

Fox News ran an interesting article to read alongside Chabon’s article, this one was written by Father Jonathan Morris (a Catholic priest typically known as simply “Father Jonathan”) on the Virtue of Contemplation on Super Tuesday. Father Jonathan is a regular contributor to FOX News and is perhaps best known for being Mel Gibson’s theological advisor during the making of The Passion of the Christ. You might not agree with everything he writes, but I think he offers an interesting perspective on how we should view politics within our culture, especially for people of faith in God.

Thanks to my friend Paul for passing on the article from Father Jonathan, and also for writing several comments in response to the Obama speech/song. I decided not to share his comments on anewdoxology only because they are very political in nature, and like I wrote above, I don’t want this to become a political blog.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you’ll continue sharing your thoughts in response to anything on this site.

Today is my last first day of school EVER…probably. Let me clarify what I mean…today is the first day of spring semester at Luther Seminary, where I have been a student since 2006, and from where I will graduate and receive a master’s degree (in Theology & Pop-Culture) this coming Memorial Day weekend. I added the modifier “probably” at the end of the first sentence because I have made that statement once before in life — on my last first day of college — because I never thought I’d go back to school after getting my bachelor’s degree. But the saying goes, “never say never,” and I’d assume that whoever first said that also meant it to mean “never say ever,” since never and ever are often synonymous. I highly doubt I will go back to school again, either for another M.A. or the life-stealing Ph.D, but who knows. Never say (n)ever.

Looking back on my experiences as a seminary student so far, it’s been an interesting personal and educational adventure. Please don’t misunderstand that to mean it has been anything but a positive experience, but there’s been a lot of “stuff” involved beside just going to class and studying. For instance, it was a major life change going from working full-time at a church (and loving my job, for the most part), making decent money (relatively speaking for someone recently out of college and working at a church) and basically feeling comfortable in life (even being able to put money into savings every month) … to being a full-time student (after a three year break from school, a break I thought would last the rest of my life), making basically no money (except the small amount I made as a barista at Caribou–until I quit after only two months, and then the money I made donating plasma for a year–a job that caused my mom and many others to worry about/for me), yet still feeling relatively comfortable in my life (even though I have been stealing from myself by spending the money I put in savings to buy things like rent, gas, and of course macaroni and peanut butter & jelly).

So here I am, about to start my final semester of seminary. Four classes, an independent study and an optional audited course are all that stands between me and a piece of paper stating that I am more intelligent than I was before…supposedly. I have taken some great courses in my three semesters and two J-terms at seminary thus far, but looking at my schedule (and even reading the syllabuses, or is it syllabi? that’s a weird word, huh?) and the courses I’ll be taking over the next four months or so, I think I’m probably more excited about this semester than any of the others. The courses I’m taking sound really interesting, they’re being taught by excellent professors and if I’m able to learn even 53% of the stuff I’m hoping to, it’s going to be a great semester. I’m sure you can count on reading about some of the things I’m studying as the semester goes on, and I actually think that some of my assignments (papers, projects, videos) might end up on here. In fact, the major writing assignment for one of my classes is to create/write a blog in which I “reflect theologically on popular culture.” Done and done.

In case you’re interested, here’s a list of the courses I’m taking along with the things I’m most excited about each…

• Singleness, Marriage and Family – the focus of this class is to develop a biblical and theological understanding that will allow me to help individuals, couples and families deal with the realities (struggles, joys and everything in between) of life, with some attention given to scientific approaches of counseling.
• The Spirit, the Church and the Triune God — the final installment of the three core systematic theology courses, the others being “Creation and the Triune God” and “Jesus the Savior and the Triune God” (both of which I’ve already taken). In this Trilogy, there is a course focused on each part of the Trinity, and each studies what theologians throughout history have written about the Father, Son and Spirit; but then the challenge becomes turning that new knowledge into understanding and then practice for ministry and life, which is my favorite part of the class.
• Proactive Ministry in a Media Culture — this is the course where my blog will temporarily become “homework.” The class is going to focus on issues like media literacy, social networking, religion and violence in media, the shape of education in a media culture, and the question “what is ‘real’ anymore?” We are also going to create two short videos documenting faith stories/journeys as assignments for class. The only negative thing about this class is that it meets on Monday nights during the games for my basketball league.
• Ministry for the Sake of the World — this course serves as my senior seminar for my degree program, so much of the work will draw on writings and learning from previous courses as I attempt to bring it all together into an explainable vision/mission strategy for transformational ministry with younger people (the MTV generation) in a world influenced by pop-culture. Reading through the syllabus for this course, I was drawn to a sentence stating that the objective of the course is to “utilize a theology of hope as a compass for moving [young adult] ministry out into the world to witness to the Gospel and care for all of God’s creation.” I really like that objective. I also like the writing assignment from this course to pick either a song or a scene from a movie or TV show that has led me to feel something deeply and then (in two pages) explore why I feel the way I do when listening to (or watching) it, and what questions does this song or scene seem to ask me?
• The Meaning Project: faith & facebook (independent study) — I mentioned this study in a previous post about social networking (I also included a video of Demetri Martin from The Daily Show). Basically, the study is an examination of how things like social networking sites, reality television, music, movies and other “texts” of pop-culture influence the faith and values of college-aged young people (18-22 year olds). To help with the project, I spent two weeks this past summer at a Bible camp interviewing counselors and conducting surveys. There’s no excuse for why I am just now working to finish the study, I guess I’ve just been lazy, but I’m excited to finally focus some time to work on it and see how it turns out.
• Ethics I (course audit) — I am probably going to attend this class, but most likely won’t do any of the work (which means I also won’t get credit for it, which pretty much defines what it means to “audit” a class). I don’t actually need this class to graduate, but I’ve wanted to take it for a while, and since I’m already taking four classes and doing an independent study, I thought it would be better/easier to just go to class to learn what I could from lectures (and not have the pressure of doing all the reading or writing the papers). About the course, according to the academic catalog, it’s “an overview of various ways that Christians make moral arguments and decisions. The focus is on methods and models important for moral discourse and the relationship of theological ethics and its biblical, historical, and confessional sources to insights from philosophy and other disciplines.”

Well, I should probably stop writing about my classes and actually drive to campus so I’m not late for class.

I’m not into politics. I never have been. I don’t have loyalty to a specific political party and I don’t know who I’m going to vote for in the upcoming election. I actually haven’t even given it much thought yet. I do, however, follow pop-culture and its influence on the faith, lives and values of younger people. So when a friend emailed me the video for the song “Yes We Can” by will.i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas) this morning, it got me thinking about politics and the upcoming election in a way that was real to me. You see, the song and video were inspired by Barack Obama’s speech following the recent New Hampshire primary. will.i.am was inspired by the speech, and in response to it he wanted to do something (anything) to share the inspiration he felt with others… so, in only 48 hours, with the help of a few filmmakers, some friends and several friends of friends, he put the speech to music and brought together several celebrities to help make the song into a powerful music video. The song isn’t about Democrats or Republicans or specific issues, and it’s not even about getting people to vote for a particular candidate (although it might seem that way since it’s a speech by Obama). It’s about taking a look at yourself and the country/world you live in and realizing that you/we can and will be part of the change that needs to happen. It’s about having hope that things will be better tomorrow than they were today… and it’s also a reminder to give thanks for the people who made today better than yesterday. To put it in the words of Jesus, it’s about God’s kingdom coming and God’s will being done “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Here’s a portion of will.i.am’s explanation of “Yes We Can” from his website…

I reflected on my life…
and the blessings I have…
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings…

and I’m not talking about a “black thing”
I’m talking about a “human thing” me as a “person”
an American…

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King…
Kennedy…
and Lincoln…
and all the others that have fought for what we have today…

what America is “supposed” to be…

freedom…
equality…
and truth…

and thats not what we have today…
we think we are free…
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions…

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for…

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech…
like many great speeches…
that one moved me…
because words and ideas are powerful…

It made me think…
and realize that today we have “very few” leaders…
maybe none…

but that speech…

it inspired me…
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world…
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world…
and take a “leap” towards change…
and hope that others become inspired to do the same…
change themselves..
change their greed…
change their fears…
and if we “change that”
“then hey”..
we got something right…???…

1 week later after the speech settled in me…
I began making this song…
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song…
because that speech effected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time…

it spoke to me…

because words and ideas are powerful…

I just wanted to add a melody to those words…
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over…

so i let it..

I wasn’t afraid to stand for something…
to stand for “change”…
I wasn’t afraid of “fear”…
it was pure inspiration…

(…)

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens…
incredible things happen…
love happens..
(and with that combination)

“love, and inspiration”

change happens…

“change for the better”
Inspiration breeds change…

“Positive change”…

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today…
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above…
It’s all scary…

Martin Luther King didn’t have experience to lead…
Kennedy didn’t have experience to lead…
Susan B. Anthony…
Nelson Mandella…
Rosa Parks…
Gandhi…
Anne Frank…
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today…

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today…

they just need “desire, strength, courage ability, and passion” to change…
and to stand for something even when people say it’s not possible…

America would not be here “today” if we didn’t stand and fight for
change “yesterday”…
Everything we have as a “people” is because of the “people” who fought for
change…
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I’m not trying to convince people to see things how i do…
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I’ve been moved…
I hope this song will make you feel…
love…
and think…
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me…

that’s all…

Being a “Christian” — or whatever name people of Jesus-style faith prefer to call themselves (e.g. “believers” or “followers”) — is not always easy or fun. It gets complicated, difficult and confusing to live “like Jesus,” and at times it just doesn’t seem worth the effort. I know this to be the case because I’ve been a Christian my entire life, and it’s been difficult the whole time. I get annoyed by preachers who teach about Jesus and preach about what it means to be one of his followers by making the Gospel into a rule book and Jesus is the ultimate example that we are supposed to imitate in every way, all the time. Call me a heretic, but I just don’t think that’s how it works, plus it’s not possible. Jesus was God. I believe that to be true. Jesus was a human. I also believe that to be true. Yet just because Jesus knew what it meant to be a human being doesn’t cancel out the fact that the dude was also the Almighty, and so even though he understood the tension we feel living between the temptations to do bad even though we knew we should do good, he was God incarnate, a perfect human who was without sin. Except of course, when he went to the cross to bear the punishment of all our sin (past, present and future); and all those sins were crucified with him–in him–so that we do not have to face the punishment (death) that we deserve.

This is the end of my sermon,

and the beginning of someone else’s.

Vince Antonucci is author of the book I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt (Baker, 200 . The book came out today, but Relevant Magazine ran an excerpt from it a few months ago under the title “When Faith Gets Boring.” I think it’s fantastic and I thought it’d be appropriate to run an excerpt of the excerpt here (an excerpt-squared, as it were). Please take note that any ellipses are my own, so whenever you see dot-dot-dot (or “…”) it means that I skipped over something to shorten what I’m sharing here. You can get a copy of Vince’s book on amazon or read the full excerpt on Relevant. Here’s a little sample…

Excerpt of an excerpt from I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Vince Antonucci (Baker, Relevant)

Walking through the front door of a church building [for the first time] was like passing through a portal to a different world. So much was unfamiliar. For the first time I heard about “propitiation,” “puppet ministry” and “potluck suppers.” I stood for “fellowship,” knelt for prayer and sat on a hard wooden bench (which they called a “pew”). I saw more polyester in one morning than I had my entire life. I experienced church snack time, which consisted of little pieces of cracker and small plastic shot glasses of grape juice. A man explained that we would be singing hymns 11, 52, 17 and 63. I almost yelled out, “Bingo!”

But it’s now 17 years later. I’ve gotten married. I have two kids. I’ve gained a few pounds. And I’ve gone from having never walked into a church to having 17 years’ worth of Sundays in church buildings. And with all that experience (not to mention the few extra pounds) under my belt, I can tell you that there is something very familiar about most of the Christians I’ve met. Unfortunately, it’s not that they remind me of the people who populate the pages of Scripture…

But when I look around at Christians today, I see people who just wear a T-shirt for an adventure they’ve missed out on. We’re missing the journey. We’re stuck in the same dull routine. We’re missing out on the joy and fear and laughter and doubt and mystery and confusion of following Jesus, of taking great risks for God, of praying dangerous prayers, even of being spiritually attacked…
Read the rest of this entry »