Tag Archives: Your Neighbor’s Hymnal
Top 10 Albums of 2012
Hard to believe that it is *that* time of year again, but here we are closing out 2012 and with it comes the attempt to tier the music that has overwhelmed (and at times underwhelmed) our hearts and souls these past 12 months. It has been a year with some surprises to be sure – from the horse dancing glee of Psy with “Gangnam Style” to the recent (so-called) reunion of Nirvana … There’s more to read here.
PCUSA and Here Comes the Sun: Listening for the music
This past weekend I had the chance to speak to the Seattle Presbytery as part of their Presbyfest event for laity, deacons, ruling and teaching elders. Needless to say, the conversations from the Fellowship meeting in Orlando and the formation of the Evangelical Covenant Order (ECO) was weighing on people. I wrote a bit about the recent discussions in a previous blog posting, but at this event … There’s more to read here.
U2 and Bonhoeffer’s cantus firmus: why we need music in our theology
In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison, he develops an amazing reflection on the power of music to shape and transform theology. Given that I just finished a book on pop music and that I think most naturally in metaphors and similes (perhaps one of the reasons why parables of Jesus always made sense to me and the Epistles of Paul leave me generally dry and parched) Bonhoeffer’s … There’s more to read here.
R.E.M. R.I.P. – It’s the end of the world as we know it… and I feel fine.
Music fans across the blogosphere posted and reposted the news that longtime Athens, Georgia band R.E.M. had decided, in their words, to “call it a day” and disband for the foreseeable future. As Michael Stipe said on their website:
A wise man once said–’the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave.’ We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk
3 Things U2 has that the Church needs: Life after Emergent and the “Iron Maypole” movements
“What can I give back to God for the blessings he poured out on me? What can I give back to God for the blessings he poured out on me? I lift high the Cup of Salvation as a toast to our Father To follow through on a promise I made to you from the heart…”
– Bono’s intro to “Where the Streets Have No Name”, U2 in Boston, Elevation
Lenten music: Bonhoeffer, Dead Poet’s Society and the gift of being an alternative song
I wanted to share a portion of a letter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer written to his friend Eberhard Bethge while Bonhoeffer was in prison. Taproot Theatre is currently showing a marvelous dramatization of Bonhoeffer’s last days called “The Beams are Creaking” and it led me to re-read his Letters and Papers from Prison. Given that I just finished a book on pop music and that I think most naturally in … There’s more to read here.
