Is there theology in new music?

A friend of mine, Michael Jay, recently posted on Facebook a beautiful tribute to the theology found in hymns. In fact, he said he thought the theology in hymns was richer than the theology in formal statements of faith.

This has created quite a firestorm, because some of his friends objected, citing the lack of depth in some of today’s contemporary songs. So here are my questions (looking for comments): what contemporary songs have great theology? And can you think of traditional hymns that are shallow in the theology department?

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Modular Work-life

Well, it finally happened: I am now working three part-time jobs all at the same time. I call this my modular work-life.

I work for the Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Church as a consultant for Intentional Interim Ministry. I work for Barclay College as an online instructor. I work for New Hope Christian College as an adjunct instructor.

I call this a “modular work-life” partly because I need a title to help me adjust to the new reality. The new reality for many of us is that full-time jobs are disappearing quickly. It has seemed clear to me for awhile that if I wanted a livable income, I would have to put together a life around several part-time jobs.

The word “modular” focuses on the fact that I can give precise help for concrete needs in various employers. Each of these employers is responding to their own new realities. Rather than hiring a large number of generalists full-time and hope they can adequately fulfill the needs of the employer, they are hiring specialists for very specific needs.

When I have helped these three employers accomplish their specific needs, my employment with them will conclude. What I hope for is that when these tasks are complete, each of my employers will have another need I can meet.

This is not the life I thought I signed up for. However, it does make life interesting, and I really dislike boredom.

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Negative Pleasure

I learned about this concept from my wife. She read an article that advocated paying attention to negative pleasures. “Negative Pleasures” are not about enjoying bad things; but rather, appreciating the bad things one is not experiencing.

For instance, have you thanked God today that your country is not occupied by a foreign army? That would be a negative pleasure. If you are as fortunate, have you thanked the Lord that you have not gone through foreclosure this past year (with earnest prayers for those who have)?

My negative pleasure today is that I have no back pain. A month ago, I could not get out of bed due to the incredible pain in my lower back. I went to doctors, chiropractors, pills, vitamins, and still was bent over like a pretzel for five days.

But today, I move in any direction as far as I want to go and don’t even think about my back. What a wonderful “negative pleasure!”

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Team Work and Practicalities

Today I am reading Called to Reach: Equipping Cross-Cultural Disciplers by William R. Yount & Mike Barnett. This is the text for the class I am helping to teach at New Hope Christian College.

“Teaching Teams” is a major theme in the chapter on “Developing a Relational Character.” As I read the book, I received a new insight on why the disciples did so well in carrying forward the gospel after Jesus left them for heaven. We often wonder why such a bunch of ordinary people accomplished extraordinary results. One of the reasons is that Jesus took three years forming the twelve into a self-supporting team. When pressure was directed at the gospel, the leaders of the church closed ranks, built each other up, and responded as a team. Even Peter would have failed as an individual, but as a team, they were unstoppable.

In missions, the goal is for the missionary to eventually leave a self-sustaining church. Whenever that happens, it happens for the same reason in the 21st century as it did the 1st: we have created a team that incarnates God’s truth in  loving mutual support.

I am also reading Conquering the Content: A Step-by-Step Guide to Online Course Design. This is not as exciting as the above-mentioned book, but it is very helpful. It takes the great concepts I just learned about online education and converts them into a step-by-step process for organizing an online course. Personally, I need both approaches: the philosophical overview, and this practical hand guide. How often do we present just one or other, and shortchange the people we are ministering to?

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Suffering Pastors

We do not like to suffer, usually we do not like to hear about other people’s suffering; yet it is in suffering that we grow spiritually and it is through shared suffering that we grow community.

Out of Ur blog features these contradictory responses to suffering in an article that also promotes a “Fail Epic Pastor Conference.”

Our visceral response to the  idea that someone would consider inviting pastors to a conference about and for failed pastors highlights how suffering/failure adverse we are.

Paul said God’s work was perfected through the apostle’s weakness. James said we should rejoice at the imminent growth when we suffer. Yet our pro-comfort society pushes us to flee suffering and to deny the presence of what pain we can’t avoid.

Elton Trueblood once wrote a book on Christian community called The Company of the Committed.” The above article and truth it exposes makes me interested in finding a “Fellowship of the Failed.”

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Holy Planning

If you ever wondered how to do church planning in a spiritual manner, I have a book for you.

Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann doesn’t try to separate business approaches and spiritual discernment: it finds a unique way to combine them.

The main plea of the book is for church leaders to create on-going spiritual conversations about what is important to them, and what future they believe God is calling their church to. Many styles of spiritual discernment are explained:  Ignatian, Methodist, African and Quaker.

But the book also covers what (besides number of bodies) makes different sized churches different from each other. It offers two creative ways to explore a church’s history. Rendle and Mann talk about what really happens when a pastor asks a congregation to complete survey. Twenty-three appendices cover everything from “Types of Planning” to “A Short Guide to Lectio Divina.”

This would be a wonderful book if you just wanted to explore deepening the Christian spirituality of groups. It would be a fine book if you just wanted to follow a sound strategic planning process. And it is gold for those who seek a spiritually grounded planning process.

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Rotary Phone Ministry in an iPhone World

Humans have an unlimited ability to hold opposite mentalities at the same time. I enjoy making fun of the inconsistencies of others, and I really laugh when someone points out my own inconsistencies.

But have you noticed that church people are comfortable living in the new millennium in every sphere — except church? I noticed this recently at a church meeting. The group was discussing church structure in 1960’s terms, but they all had their iPhones in front of them. They were practicing “Rotary Phone Ministry in an iPhone World.”

Now, some people refuse to leave the 20th century on any level, and I have little problem with that. What intrigues me is that most people in traditional churches have moved from rotary phones to iPhones, from buying books at the local store to Amazon.com, from cooking meals from scratch to microwave meals. They easily update every part of their life — except their church life.

I would never abandon or modify our theology or Bible-based convictions. But I think it wise to change our understanding of when and how often people should come to a church building. (Actually, I still like church buildings, which makes me a dinosaur myself!)

Can you think of friends who have updated every part of their lives except how to “do church”?

Have you found a way to help people accept the ways in church ministry changes, just like the rest of life?

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Politics, Patriot, and Planning

I’m reading some of George W. Bush’s Decision Points. It seems that people either love W. or hate him. Personally, I find him likable as a person, even though he made many decisions that I disagreed with.

Bush is no more concerned with defending himself in the book than he was as president. If you liked him, you will like the book. If you didn’t like him, the book most likely will not change your mind. What I am enjoying is the personal side of someone who’s public side was always very visible. It reminds me that the politicians we watch on TV are real people.

I wonder if politics would be more civil if politicians always remembered that their opponents had spouses, dogs, and loved to get away for the weekend. I am quite certain that church disagreements would come to quicker resolution if we treated each other with the respect due to brothers and sisters in the Lord.

I’m also reading The Last Patriot by Brad Thor. This is a birthday present from my daughter. Its a great suspense novel filled with politics, exotic locations, and history.

Finally, I’m reading Holy Conversations by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. Rendle and Mann describe a strategic planning process for churches that is fully spiritual without abandoning any of the sound thinking found in secular planning research. They believe that planning should spin out of conversations about “what is truly important to us — what could we do that would add meaning to our lives?”

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More Good News

Scot McKnight just posted more good news for the church: it seems that teens tend to look to their relatives as their role models. We often think we need to young entertainers to gain the ear of young people. The fact is, they are already listening to us — parents, Sunday School teachers, youth leaders and extended family.

Now the only issue is,”are we taking advantage of the opportunities we have to forge significant relationships with teenagers?”

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Pain, Pain, Go Away

This is one of those when I feel I’d be doing much better without a body. I have tennis elbow that incapacitates my right arm. Today I went to the chiropractor because I cannot stand up long enough to walk to the restroom.

Paul said God gave him a thorn in the flesh. I don’t know that my pains are from God, but I certainly feel like I have several thorns in the flesh.

Paul also said that God is glorified by using someone ridden with physical difficulty. Today I want to say, “That probably includes just about everyone.” If we only followed Christ or reached out to others on days when our personal life was perfect, there would very little holiness and even less ministry in our world.

If I were a bigger person, I would say “don’t feel sorry for me.” But I’ll take the sympathy. More than that, though, is this: whenever you see someone making progress in their Christian life or serving others sacrificially, thank God for his grace. Because in some way (probably unknown to you) they are working on the spiritual plane in spite of physical pain.

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