I don't know how you feel about this and I would love some feedback. Maybe I am just old fashioned. I think it should be against the law to use great songs to advertise products. Example: Mr. Gates bought a Rolling Stones song as a promo for Microsoft. I am sure you can think of countless others. Last night, I had enough. I saw a Target ad that used a Beatles song, and to make matters worse, they used it as a play on words. The song was "Hello, Goodbye" and they changed it to "Hello, Good Buy."
That sickened me. Art is art and music is music, for what it was intended for, not to be sold out to a mass marketer who wants to use a well known phrase to sell merchandise. Whoever owns "Hello Goodbye" (Michael Jackson?) did it for the money. Crass commercialism if you ask me. Maybe we should start a campaign.
Having said that, I know that hymn writers have used beer hall songs to go along with their sacred lyrics. But, that is us stealing from them :) dare I say redeeming?
Having said that, I have to confess that I had to think tonight about other written words, namely the Bible. I use scripture in a way it was not intended to be used. It can sometimes be "handy stuff to know" like, "God works all things together for good" or "God is sovereign, I will pray for you." For those of us who are well versed, we can always pull a verse out for the occasion.
So tonight I am thinking about the art of the gospel and what it is intended to portray and how I can be careful to handle the word rightly and divide it well. It is living, active, sharp, does not return void and it is to be held in high esteem.
We often have a low view of the Word I think. We can mark it up, make notes in the margins and treat it like a history or text book. It is the Word of God. I remember growing up as a Catholic and the bible being sacred (maybe past the bounds of good theology) but sacred. Held in high esteem.
So, should we start a campaign to have a higher view of the Word of God, for the glory of the one who wrote it? Just thinking.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
The Intern's iPod
Hey Everyone,I do plan on posting something 'super spiritual' later in the next week, but lately I have felt the need to recommend some C.D.s and Books.The First C.D. comes through our favorite link on the iTunes homepage... The free single of the week.The Kooks come to us from England, and are a great representation of Modern British Rock. Right now you can buy their full C.D. for only 5.99 and there is 16 tracks. If you enjoy the Beatles, the White Stripes, and Jet, then I think this is a good buy for your iPod.
The second Album comes to me as of way of our resident artsy Ministry Assitant, Zoe Hammond. She heard David McMillin this weekend at a local benefit concert. He falls under the "Folk" genre on iTunes, but I don't think that genre fits him very well. If you enjoy Ray Lamontagne, Alexi Murdoch, Derek Webb, Caedmon's Call, or Joe Purdy, then you will greatly appreciate this add on to your library of well written meaningful lyrics.
Buy this Album on iTunes for $9.95
Also please check out the section of Books that we suggest...
HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GOOD DAY!
-The Intern
No words
There are some seasons of the soul that we approach God in worship and find ourselves without words to employ. Perhaps our sin has robbed us of our voice. Perhaps it is sorrow. Perhaps it is loss.
There are other times that we find ourselves with the same problem (no words), but its because God has opened our eyes to see some facet of his beauty or bigger picture of his plan that has left us speechless.
Paul says something of this in Romans 11.33, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"
The verse is telling us that when you dive into the character of God, you never touch bottom. I've meditated on that verse as of late and have asked myself the question: "what does it mean to relate to God in worship?"
I came across a quote this weekend that helped me in putting words to my thoughts.
Although the quote doesn't define what we would consider "normative/ normal" worship, it does remind us that God's Spirit sometimes chooses to pull back the veil and open our eyes to the startling wonder of who God is. My prayer is that we will collectively be ravished by His beauty in a way that words fail us.
The quote is from AW Tozer (1898-1963)
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary lists 550,000 words. And it is a solemn and beautiful thought that in our worship of God there sometimes rush up from the depths of our souls feelings that all this wealth of words is not sufficient to express. To be articulate at certain times we are compelled to fall back upon "Oh!" or "O!"--a primitive exclamatory sound that is hardly a word at all and that scarcely admits of a definition.
Vocabularies are formed by many minds over long periods and are capable of expressing whatever the mind is capable of entertaining. But when the heart, on its knees, moves into the awesome Presence and hears with fear and wonder things not lawful to utter, then the mind falls flat, and words, previously its faithful servants, become weak and totally incapable of telling what the heart hears and sees. In that awful moment the worshiper can only cry "Oh!" And that simple exclamation becomes more eloquent than learned speech and, I have no doubt, is dearer to God than any oratory.
From his book, Born After Midnight, p. 84-85.
There are other times that we find ourselves with the same problem (no words), but its because God has opened our eyes to see some facet of his beauty or bigger picture of his plan that has left us speechless.
Paul says something of this in Romans 11.33, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"
The verse is telling us that when you dive into the character of God, you never touch bottom. I've meditated on that verse as of late and have asked myself the question: "what does it mean to relate to God in worship?"
I came across a quote this weekend that helped me in putting words to my thoughts.
Although the quote doesn't define what we would consider "normative/ normal" worship, it does remind us that God's Spirit sometimes chooses to pull back the veil and open our eyes to the startling wonder of who God is. My prayer is that we will collectively be ravished by His beauty in a way that words fail us.
The quote is from AW Tozer (1898-1963)
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary lists 550,000 words. And it is a solemn and beautiful thought that in our worship of God there sometimes rush up from the depths of our souls feelings that all this wealth of words is not sufficient to express. To be articulate at certain times we are compelled to fall back upon "Oh!" or "O!"--a primitive exclamatory sound that is hardly a word at all and that scarcely admits of a definition.
Vocabularies are formed by many minds over long periods and are capable of expressing whatever the mind is capable of entertaining. But when the heart, on its knees, moves into the awesome Presence and hears with fear and wonder things not lawful to utter, then the mind falls flat, and words, previously its faithful servants, become weak and totally incapable of telling what the heart hears and sees. In that awful moment the worshiper can only cry "Oh!" And that simple exclamation becomes more eloquent than learned speech and, I have no doubt, is dearer to God than any oratory.
From his book, Born After Midnight, p. 84-85.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)