While wasting some time this morning watching TV (VH1 Top 20 Countdown) instead of studying (Systematic Theology), I didn’t expect to see this guy (Kid Rock) singing this song (“Amen”) — but there he was right in front of me on the screen, the former husband of Pamela Anderson singing about having “faith in human nature, our creator and our savior; I’m no saint, but I believe in what is right…c’mon now, amen.”
Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for the full lyrics to Kid Rock’s song “Amen.”
I’ve been to a lot of incredible concerts in my lifetime so far, some that I’m still proud to tell people about (like Garth Brooks, Chicago, Jay-Z, Ben Harper and Jack Johnson, just to name a few), and others that I’m now a little bit embarrassed to admit that I attended (so I won’t list any of them here). Concerts can get pretty expensive, but rarely have I let the high cost of a ticket keep me from seeing one of my favorite bands or artists put on a great show. Yet one of my biggest regrets in life so far was not going to a Coldplay concert with one of my roommates during our senior year of college (the video above for “Clocks” is from that tour). In my defense, I wasn’t a huge Coldplay fan back then (I am now), but that shouldn’t have mattered. Sure, I was a college student at the time, so driving to Minneapolis from Iowa on a weeknight (a “school night”) and paying $50 for a concert probably wouldn’t have been a great financial or academic decision, but I should have realized that a band like Coldplay was guaranteed to put on a “that was the best concert I’ve ever been to in my life” type of show. In fact, that’s exactly what my roommate said about the show when he got back from that concert, and five years later, he still says the same thing about that show. I suppose it’s possible that his memory of the show has improved with time, but during that same time period, my regrets about not going have only increased. I wish I had gone to the Coldplay concert at the Target Center in 2003…
I’m not someone who likes to live in regret, I suppose no one does; I just don’t see the point of it — especially as a person of faith who believes in the forgiving power of God’s grace — but if there’s anything we can take from our past mistakes it is wisdom that will help us not repeat them. So today I have a short list of bands and artists who I will do whatever I can to see in concert if I get the chance, regardless of ticket cost or other factors; the list includes Coldplay, U2, Michael Jackson and possibly John Mayer and Kanye West (I would definitely love to see those last two in concert, but I’m just not sure if they’ve achieved “short list” status yet).
Coldplay’s new studio album is rumored to be set for a May ’08 release and according to a post on the band’s website earlier this fall, it’s going to be “the album people will remember them by.” Hopefully the tour for this album will include a stop in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Who is on your short list that you wouldn’t miss seeing in concert for any reason???
I created this video for one of my seminary classes on ministry in a media culture. It’s a collection of photographs, Scripture passages and quotes that I find meaningful; set to the song “Broken” by Lifehouse. As a whole, I think the message of the piece is powerfully simple…God enters into our brokenness and offers us grace, hope, healing and strength. I hope you find it inspiring, affirming, comforting, challenging, or whatever other words you’d use to explain how it moved you to feel or think. If you’d like to share your thoughts in reaction to the video, please leave a comment.
(3/11/08): Thanks for all the comments and emails about this video, it has been cool to hear how it has touched so many people. I never expected this to be anything but a project for class, but I’ve now been asked for permission by a church to use the video during one of their services for Holy Week and we plan to use it in worship at Journey in the coming months as well (if others are interested in using it in worship, please let me know). I made a few small changes, so this is now the second final version of the video (the two earlier versions are still on youtube).
If you read what I wrote last week about my classes this semester, you may remember that one of my classes is on ministry within a pop/media-culture. I don’t have class on Wednesdays, so I’ve been (trying to) studying all day, and when I checked the syllabus for the ministry in media class to see what I was supposed to read before class next week, I was happily surprised to learn that there was no reading assigned, but instead I needed to watch several videos on youtube. Seriously? That’s awesome.
Watching the four videos assigned for class was one of the most enjoyable 30 minutes of homework I can remember. I’m going to share two of them here because I think they offer a fascinating and informative look at the history and evolution of digital technology (and text) as tools for sharing information, with style. Both videos were created by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University.
The Machine is Us/ing Us
Information R/evolution
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.”
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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…
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…
Not even concerts with New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys or NSYNC – each at the height of their fame – could lead to the kind of crazy/irrational behavior by young women that Michael Jackson inspired during his prime (crying, fainting, screaming his name when there’s no chance he’ll hear them). I’m not sure what female fans of Elvis and The Beatles were like, but I think it’s safe to say that there will never be another entertainer – man or woman, of any race – who will generate the kind of mass excitement and hysteria that Michael Jackson created on a regular basis during the 1980s. Here’s an example of MJ at the height of his fame in the video for “Man in the Mirror” from his 1988 film Moonwalker.
Last Friday I finished a two-week intensive course at seminary called “Genesis to Revelation.” It was the only class I took during J-term, and since it was only two weeks long and we had a lot of material to cover (the entire Bible), we met for three hours every afternoon; during which my energetic professor led me and 80 other students on a fly-by tour of the biblical story (focusing on the narratives and giving special attention to the major themes of each book). It was a great course, but I felt like I was cheating because I learned more about the Bible during those two weeks than during any two year span previously. If there was something similar to steroid allegations in the seminary education world – like in professional sports – my classmates and I would have all been accused of using some form of substance, call it a BGH (biblical growth hormone), because the increase in our biblical knowledge was much higher/faster than normal.
I’ll be honest, I don’t read my Bible as often as I like to say I do – and often times when I do read it, the words on the pages seem lifeless, boring and confusing – but this class brought the words to life, the stories were exciting, and it was all explained in a way that I could understand. I found myself taking notes on the pages of books that I had to look up in the table of contents because I had no idea where they were in the Bible (books like Habakkuk, Haggai and Obadiah).
To accomplish the course objective of “exploring approaches to teach a Bible overview in engaging ways,” the final project was to write a session on a book of the Bible that could be used within an overview Bible study. I chose to write my study for young adults on the book of James*, and as an introduction to my study I decided to use the video for Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”. This may be surprising to some people, so here’s how I explained this choice,
“The book of James is an introspective book that challenges readers to take a closer look at themselves and do evaluative thinking around questions like “How am I doing?” in regards to living out their faith. Taking questions like this seriously can be difficult and often raises feelings of personal inadequacy and self-consciousness, so the introduction to this study is somewhat humorous to help ease people into the book and theme of James, and to provide everyone in the group with a similar foundation (since it is not safe to assume that everyone is familiar with the book of James). Since this study is being created for young adults, it seems natural to turn to the world of pop-culture to provide the introduction. It would make the most sense to have a video that is both funny and serious as an introduction, so the best choice is probably a serious video that is from the 1980s (since videos from the 80s are always good for a laugh). For reasons that should become clearer when looking at James 1:23-24, start the study by watching Michael Jackson’s video for the song “Man in the Mirror” from his 1988 movie Moonwalker.”
I’ll save you the time of looking up those verses and include them for you here,
Those who hear God’s teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like.
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*The book of James is perhaps especially controversial for Lutherans–including the granddaddy of all Lutherans, Martin Luther–because it is understood by some people to teach an understanding of faith and justification (or salvation) that are defined by what you believe and what you do to show/prove your beliefs. Luther referred to this as “works-righteousness” and he strongly disagreed with it because he believed that we are saved by “grace alone” through “faith alone.”
A few days ago I wrote a tribute to Chipotle. I mentioned that I once ate two Chipotle burritos in one sitting, but I didn’t explain how or why I did such a stupid (or brilliant?) thing. I was challenged to eat two burritos by a former co-worker (we actually challenged each other). We were both youth directors at the time, so naturally, we decided to turn it into a youth “ministry” event. So, about a dozen people gathered at a local Chipotle the next Friday night to witness the stupidity live…one of the high schoolers from church joined in the eating festivities and another high schooler brought a video camera to document the event. The video was called the “Dos Burrito Challenge” and people loved it when we showed it a few weeks later at our Wednesday night youth service. I had never posted a video on youtube before until today, and I didn’t even know how, but I decided it would be worth figuring it out so I could share these delicious memories with you. I had the video on DVD somewhere, so after digging around my apartment for a while, I found the DVD and ripped it onto my computer. I converted the video file into one of the formats that youtube accepts, uploaded the video, and now it’s online for the whole world to see. Technology is a beautiful thing, huh? So here it is friends, the Dos Burrito Challenge. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed eating it…I mean, making it.
If you’re not familiar with Mat Kearney’s music you need to watch the video for the song “Undeniable” (sorry it’s not just posted here, but I couldn’t find a version of the video on youtube that allowed embedding on other sites). If you want to listen to more of Mat’s music, check out his myspace page and then go to iTunes or your local record store to buy some of his music, it’s great stuff. Kearney is probably best known for having his songs featured on popular TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Laguna Beach, The Hills, Friday Night Lights, One Tree Hill and Scrubs, among others; a special version of the video for his song “Breathe In, Breathe Out” was part of the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy Season 4 and it was also on the latest Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack, Volume 3 (watch the video). Mat Kearney’s music explores the emotions of life and relationships while subtly discussing themes of faith. Take for example the song “Undeniable”… I realize it’s probably about a girl, but read the chorus (lyrics below) and try arguing that it’s not also a statement about the presence and greatness of God, similar to something you’d find in the Psalms (note: Kearney started as a Christian artist and this song was originally on his debut album).
It’s undeniable how brilliant you are
In an unreliable world you shine like a star
It’s unforgettable now that we’ve come this far
It’s unmistakable that you’re undeniable
– Mat Kearney, “Undeniable”
As promised in my previous post, here is the video for “Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy. It’s a great song with a really cool video that I got excited about every time it was on VH1 this fall (remember how exciting it used to be when your favorite song came on the radio? it was kinda like that). I’d like to dedicate this to all the good looking girls I’ve seen in coffee shops over the past few years who I never got the courage to say hello to…
