Lady Ranger’s Freshman Volleyball: Sadie Meyer

CATS: Jonson Henry

All State Music Students

student of the month

youth, october 7, 2010

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Invictus

Inspirational true story about Nelson Mandella and the South African rugby team.  PG-13 for brief strong language.  This is a story about forgiveness, reconciliation, and understanding the person you thought you hated.  Great performance by Morgan Freeman.

I thank whatever gods may be / For my unconquerable soul. / I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul. [poem INVICTUS from movie, used by Mandella]

“We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them, because we hate them.” ~ CHARLES CALEB COLTON

Bridges or Walls?

I had an odd phone call the other day.  The caller introduced some unfamiliar ideas to me about their world view.  My knee-jerk reaction was to respond with how those ideas are different than believing in Jesus.  I resisted the urge and instead looked for ways that those far out ideas were similar to believing in Jesus.  But why?

It far easier to build a wall – just start piling up any old thing you find.  For some reason we gravitate to this kind of thinking; you are different from me in the following ways… But what does that accomplish?  Separation.  Distinction.  Alienation.

It is far more challenging to build a bridge – you really have to think hard about how you will connect two islands, how you will build a relationship.  And what does that accomplish?  Relationship.  Connection.  Inclusion.

Faith cannot grow in the vacuum of separation.  Sadly we have succumbed to the idea that being right is more important than being in relationship and we have alienated people from Jesus.

So today as you are mingling with, working alongside of, or running into that person who is so different from you work hard and building a bridge of affinity.

Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time

Produced by Disney with a strong Disney feel – not too graphic in regards to violence and sensuality and no rough language, but it still has a little too much action for little kids.  It is classic Disney in the sense of a strong tale of good versus evil with the good wining in the end.

Every movie has a message.  Some movies have a clear central message with many underline messages.  Others are more subtle.  ”Family is more than blood” and “trust your heart over your head” are a couple of the messages my family came away with.

I enjoyed the plot, action, special affects, character development, twist, and morals.  I only wish that the main hero were not quite so invulnerable and just a tad bit more believable.  I was happy to be able to watch an action movie with some humor and not be surprised by any crude content.  This was a great movie to talk about as a family afterward (which is a great habit to develop).

Eat 2 Live or Live 2 Eat

“Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you.”

Pretty wild statement.  The gist of this use of hyperbole by Jesus is that we need to be in daily relation with him.  We need to connect with him just like we need to eat food to sustain our bodies, but how do we do that?  Prayer and reading scripture are the two Sunday School answers, but they lack meaning unless we probe for more detail.

Prayer.  It is a conversation with God.  Does it need to be verbal?  That would only be a one way deal, so no, it doesn’t need to be verbal, but speaking out loud can help us stay focused.  Can we use art to communicate?  A picture can hold a thousand words.  Can a walk in the woods be spending time with God?  Absolutely.  The exercise clears our minds and the scenery reminds us of God creativity and largeness, both facilitate thoughts heavenwards.  Writing is another tool, but how do you use it?  I like to reflect on what is happening currently in my life on paper – a visual representation of what I see God doing and what I may be struggling with.  The list can go on describing multiple ways we can ‘pray’.

Scripture reading.  God’s words directed towards us.  I’ve read through the Bible multiple times by myself and with my family.  It has served as a great springboard for important conversations about life and what God is up to.  I prefer to read very short segments that I can meditate on and listen to what God is saying to me and reminding me about.  I definitely avoid some of the books in the Bible like Leviticus that will bog one down in a cesspool of historical detail.

“Worship”

1. Music is one of many mediums to be used to ‘connect’ with God.  Music can set a mood or create an environment where people can experience (become more aware of) God.  Music can convey a message to us and to God.  There exist many other mediums, such as: nature, meditation, scripture, books, art, service, etc.

2. ‘Worship music’ and ‘worship’ through singing has been over-rated.  Our lifestyle and our hearts are far more significant, we are ‘living sacrifices’.  I’ve been in emotionally charged church services that were abusive – manipulation was used, psycho-spiritual confusion was fostered, and innocent people are taught unhealthy ways of feeling and thinking that lead to spiritual insecurity.  I was at an outdoor ‘worship concert’ once where one of the leaders said, “I’ve seen many of you more excited at a football game.  Now stand up and get loud for God!”  Tell me, what is wrong with that kind of thinking?  Many of the Old Testament prophets record God saying, “you worship me with your sacrifices, but your hearts are far from me”.  Some people don’t connect musically either and we need to recognize that.  Some people turn worship into a highly feminine touch-feely thing that puts too much emphasis on how we feel during a ‘worship’ service.

3. I prefer to not subscribe to the category of ‘christian music’.  There is good music and bad music; music quality is determined by its composition and performance and lyrics.  Sadly, there are ‘Christian musicians’ out there who play ‘christian music’ but live un-Christian lifestyles.  Notice how much of church culture takes advantage of marketing to its own culture in order to sell their product too.  I love jazz and flemenco and often discover music that is ‘heavenly’ in its composition and performance and sometimes even its lyrical quality.

4. Less is more.  When you watch and listen to large professional groups you will quickly notice that they give each other lots of room to play.  The more instruments and vocals you have the less each has to contribute in order to keep the whole from turning into musical mush.

5. Variety is good.  Too often I observe churches all playing evangelical mush.  It all sounds the same and not very good either.  Why are we not hearing more distinctive styles like blues, latin, country, rock, jazz, etc.?

6. I’m not ego-centric in my style; I enjoy raising up leaders.  I’m replaceable and want to help others learn to lead music in a faith community.  This provides stability by not making the music dependent upon one main person.  This provided variety since each leader will have their own style and the congregation learns to appreciate different styles instead of being intolerant.  Each musician should be helping someone else to learn music and do what they are doing because change happens.

7. Young people should be a part of the music.  The body of Christ is made up of young and old and we should have representatives from all age groups helping with the music.  We do a disservice to young people by sending them off into their own age segregated groups.  Let’s include them sooner than later.