A Music Video Tour Through My Past

So, a comment on facebook made me take a trip down memory lane. I was really into a Christian music? rap? group when I was growing up called DC Talk. You may have heard of one of the members: Toby Mac. Anyway, here's my story told through Youtube:

I first saw them on the Arsenio Hall show performing this song

Then I bought the CD "Free at Last" and couldn't get enough of this song (a remake of the dooby brothers classic)... especially after seeing them open up for Michael W. Smith:

However, the track that lasted the longest off that album was "The Hardway"

Then Jesus Freak Came out and they figured out how to make pretty cool music videos. This one was directed by the same guy who directed a REALLY vulgar Nine Inch Nails video around the same time:

This video was played on MTV and everyone said it was going to be their "crossover" into mainstream, but that never materialized.

Then they released their final full-scale album that had one of my favorite videos... consume me (a guy I knew in college thought it said "You can sue me")

Before you go, watch their first video ever... it's pretty funny.

A Prayer

Posted this on facebook first.

God, bless our nation and our new leader. Turn our nation's heart towards you the author and perfecter of justice, peace, and change. Put in place the right advisers and grant your wisdom to our new President Barack Obama.

Music and Poetry

This morning I was dancing around with my son to some of my favorite songs, and I was overwhelmed by the depth of meaning in many of them. There are some things that are not best expressed in treatise or logical argument. For me, even proper sentence structure breaks down at times. I find over and over again the deepest truths are often expressed in poetry or song (which is many times just poetry set to music). I feel that the best songs are those that touch on some universal human experience, and draw out emotion and conclusion without stating them directly.

In honor of great song writing, here is a song that talks about being a follower of Christ rather than a Christian. It's by Mutemath:

Come on, can’t I dream for one day
There’s nothing that can’t be done
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone

‘Cause I know there’s got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical

I’ve lived through my share of misfortune
And I’ve worked in the blazing sun
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone

Cause I know there’s got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical, the typical, the typical, uh huh

I'm the typical
I'm the typical
Can I break the spell of the typical

Because it’s dragging me down
I’d like to know about when
When does it all turn around

I'm just the typical
I'm just the typical

Yeah I know there’s got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical
The typical, the typical, uh huh

Of the typical
Break the spell (of the typical)
Break the spell (of the typical)
Can I break the spell of the typical, of the typical
I'm just the typical

In the words of Cake: I want a girl with the right eye locations (I'm glad Laura meets this one)

An Amazing Poem

By one of my favorite Poets: Kevin Max Smith

Jesus in the Arena

Johnny Cash
on a Billy Graham Stage
Inner City Buses pulled up on the pavement
it doesn't run like that at all these days
there's no more funk in the soul cages
representing the Nazarene
with a Jesus Freak tee
and some ripped up jeans
but deep inside
those holes aren't dreams
but empty eyes
with a list of schemes
from the record company and the Church board
they learned to take the song from the source
turn them into banners
and anthems for the worst
type of narrowminded gimps
that limp about on borrowed verses
so give them back independence
give them back some reverence
historical precedence
coinage for some relevance
to put in their pockets
and use for the future
instead of being used up, sutured
like a monster
robotic, and devoid of real posture...
Jesus in The Arena
Give us Freedom.

My thoughts exactly.

Selfishness

It's been almost a year since I blogged, and it's been interesting getting back in to the bloging groove. When I was super into blogging, I read the blogs of all my friends all the time, but when I stopped updating my blog, it was like I assumed my friends stopped as well. That was not the case; in fact, the whole time I had been not bloging, my friends had been blogging away despite my lack of attention.

It's always random stuff like that that reveals my selfishness to me. Today I was reading the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4. Probably because of my recent selfishness revelation, I noticed something that had not always stood out. Every temptation Jesus faces in that passage is at its root a selfish temptation. And the more I thought about it the more I realized that all sin has selfishness at its core. We are either putting our plans before God's, our wants before the needs of the poor, or our image/reputation before the happiness of others. It's all the same: selfishness.

So, as I go on this mission trip to Texas, I am hoping that God will use this to break me of my selfishness again. Maybe this time it won't take blogging to reveal to me when I've slipped back into that well-worn selfishness groove that feels so normal. And maybe my next blog post can top this one for blog-derivative use (10 uses of 'blog-" oops... 11 now).