You go easy little doves; i'll be fine

i need no money, i need no one to understand, but i need your love...

There is always something magical about meeting one of your favorite artists. That is, when such favorite artist is actually nice and fits a good chunk of if not all of your mental image of how such a person would act. Well, this past week, before seeing Brooke Waggoner perform at a rather small venue (Grace College), I was able to meet her and chat for several minutes. I felt like a giddy nerdy fan who has to restrain himself crossing into the dreaded territory of obnoxious fan.

But meeting Brooke also just put a stronger mental image behind the person so invested in her absolutely gorgeous music. While Brooke has to be (yes Sam Haist, this is objective, not subjective) one of the best musicians at coming up with piano and string(ed?) arrangements, she has some songs that just grab you instantly. For example, Hush If you Must may be my favorite song ever made (which can be found on her website, www.brookewaggonermusic.com). She also has a CD coming out on October 6 (digitally), which I cannot wait for and has such an instantaneously catchy song, called Go Easy Little Doves, I'll be Fine (also found on her website). She simply belts it vocally on that song. But more than just a few songs, Brooke is able to put together simply beautiful CD's, which grow on you over time until the whole thing does something in your soul. Anyways, please, please, please check her out and I hope you are not disappointed!

Bat for Lashes and the Divine Order

As the quirky title suggests, this blog post will be about two things. The first, is issues concerns a musical artist I recently discovered, while the second thing discussing my musings on the divine order of the Bible. Completely unrelated topics, but, hey, this can be a "choose your own adventure" type of blog.

First, after hearing several pretty good reviews, I recently purchased the album "Two Suns" by Bat for Lashes. Looking at the album cover, I expected something experimental and trippy similar to a female version of antony and the johnsons, though natasha kahn (the lead singer of bat for lashes) is probably not nearly as messed up as antony. But I have thoroughly enjoyed natasha kahn and her band's album for several reasons. First, natasha's voice is simply mesmerizing. While on parts of the record it can sound almost gothic, on songs such as daniel (my personal favorite), her vocal chords warm for a beautiful pop song. Second, many times she reminds me of cat power, my favorite female vocalists. Songs like "moon and moon" and "traveling woman" have a minimalist instrumentation and vocal overlay sounding a lot like cat power. Third, her lyrics are incredible, though often dark. Like the hold steady, natasha creates a character (pearl) that carries throughout the album. In the song siren song, pearl is introduced, citing her willingness to love despite her wickedness. The song pearl's dream then carries through a vision of pearl's. Finally, as the album has an overarching theme of love and loss (and of broken relationships), pearl ultimately dies in the big sleep. I would recommend listening to her music on her website as well as reading this excellent article from spin magazine.

Second, something I've been thinking of a lot recently is the divine order of the Bible. The Bible is first meant to be read objectively and then subjectively. Too many times we read the Bible looking to feel a certain way about some issue or another, but that is not the case. Granted, the Bible creates feelings through being objective, but these feelings are a result of objective facts and statements. You may be saying, "nathan, you're going in circles, not making any sense" and perhaps the following quote by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones will help: "most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself." What if each and every day, despite feeling happy or sad or depressed or bubbly, we allowed the power of the cross and the wonderful nature of grace to dominate our lives??? Everything changes. I probably haven't painted a very clear picture, but I encourage you all to read "The Cross Centered Life" by C. J. Mahaney. It's a small, 86 page book, but Mahaney is a man truly humbled and broken by what Jesus did on the cross and what we did as sinners to put him there. The chapter out of which most of my ideas come is chapter 5.

That's all for now. Just some of my pondering.

Church and Ed Stetzer = Awesome.

So I just finished reading Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer. It was one of the most detailed books I've ever read, but is a wonderful, God-inspired resource for church planters everywhere (as well as those who care about church planting). Ed lays out many of the details behind planting a church as well as Biblical qualifications for leaders and whatnot. But most importantly, a church should reach people in culture while being Biblically sound. In addition, church planters should rely most heavily on Jesus and the gospel as the power behind their church.

However, one of the things which the Lord laid on my heart while reading this book is the necessity of evangelism in every Christian's life (particularly evangelism through developing relationships). The Great Commission has always made me uncomfortable and I think this is why: evangelism is the hardest practice for me to put in my life as a Christian. What I mean to say is that while I can humbly come before God in prayer and serve through actions and whatnot, it's so hard for me to seek out building relationships with others (particularly non-Christians) that eventually lead to evangelism (and do NOT end there). But this is something that is essential for church planting. As Ed Stetzer puts it, "it's easier to start a church by drawing Christians from other churches than to win new disciples from the community." But church plants should be seeking to draw most of their members from new converts. So interesting, yet so scripturally relevant. Anyways, I know I barely scratched the surface, but those are just my (initial) thoughts.

Psalm 127:1 - Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Best Albums of 2009 (Thus Far)

This, in many ways, is a good blog to look back on at the end of the year to compare the wonderful albums yet to be released with the fantastic albums already released this year. So I've thought of my top four so far this year and will now present them from 4 to 1.

4. It's Blitz! by the Yeah Yeah Yeah's - a completely revamped sound, but a change for the better. noteworthy tracks include hysteric and runaway.

3. Middle Cylone by Neko Case - Case has finally developed into a stand-alone artist, with a fantastic smattering of fanciful, imaginative songs. noteworthy tracks include fever, magpie to the morning, prison girls, and pretty much the whole album.

2. Hazards of Love by the Decemberists - as a concept album, this album tells a story, but takes a while to grow on you. by far their most ambitious project yet to date, I would also declare it their best. As a concept album, there really are no stand-alone tracks.

1. Wait for Me by Moby - possibly his best since Play (so in about 10 years). A beautiful mix of instrumental tracks as well as those with vocals, wait for me bleeds themes of mortality and loss. Noteworthy tracks include Shot in the back of the head, Mistake, and Jltf.

P. S. I know Sam might yell at me for not putting Wilco (the album) on here. And while it's a good album, I don't (personally) think it's among the best so far this year.

An interesting quote on Rob Bell

...that I think may offend some. though i think it's quite insightful (for all y'all who don't live in or near Grand Rapids, this may not be that applicable) and true.

"I think there is (ironically) a peculiar cultural reason that helps to explain Bell's remarkable "success": he is located in Grand Rapids. The city is populated by large numbers of Dutch Reformed believers who have been well catechized and indoctrinated, but who were brought up in churches that increasingly feel old-fashioned and culturally dated. When such Christians are exposed to Bell, not only do they feel and enjoy the pulse of something contemporary, they are inclined to read their strong Christian assumptions into what he is doing. The see his "Nooma" video on forgiveness, say, and read in a lot of Christian assumptions, making the video quite a powerful tool. But if a biblically-illiterate New Yorker were seeing the same clip, I doubt that he or she would find much in it that is distinctively Christian. In other words, as Bell has progressed, he has provided less and less material that is distinctively gospel-shaped, or even Christian. I suspect he would be neither popular nor effective in either Seattle or New York. The irony, then, is that in allegedly reaching out to a new generation of non-Christians, in the Grand Rapids environment a fair bit of his success can be credited to the fact that he is in reality reaching out to substantial numbers of disgruntled (former) conservatives who are (unknowingly) bringing a lot of their Christian baggage with them."
-D. A. Carson (in an e-mail to Mark Driscoll). That is quite well-said.

Moby: to what do I owe this honor?

So, as some may recall, Moby used to be my favorite musical artist. I was as crazy about Moby as a porker on a harley is crazy for a Mickey-Dees double cheeseburger. Or, perhaps more appealing and more accurate, as crazy about Moby as a hawk is about cottage cheese. Or, to avoid the food analogies, as emo kids are about tight pants.

However, due to his super-opinionated nature and the fact that last night wore off after a while as a semi-forgettable album, I kind of gave up on Moby. Replacing the whole in my heart for Moby were artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Cat Power, and most recently Amanda Palmer (whose twitter posts are hilarious). However, both Paste Magazine and npr labeled Moby's newest, Wait for Me, as his best in 10 years (since Play). And a good friend told me that he completely agrees. So I'm giving it a shot--especially since it was only $3.99 on Amazon. Maybe for some of you (such as those who made the paper mache head of moby for me), your hope in my love for Moby will be restored.

On another note, I'm reading Mark Driscoll's most recent, entitled Religion Saves and Nine Other Misconceptions. I highly recommend it. In answering nine popular questions his "web viewers" had, Driscoll is both Biblical and inspiring. He can write on such topics as Birth Control and Humor in sermons that most Christians don't even think about (but should). And he writes in such a clear, concise, and most-importantly Biblically-inspired manner. So pick yourselves up a copy and start reading it!

Excuses, Half-Truths, and Fortified Wine

Summer comes and along with that arrival is my launch into the twitter world. I could spend hours on twitter...but alas, that would be a waste of my time and probably sinful in all the other things I would be avoiding. But, hey, if Amanda Palmer can twitter so much and still find time to blog, then anyone can.

Recently, I finished the book "Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins we Tolerate" by Jerry Bridges. The book begins by approaching the magnitude of sin, something that is so often left out in today's society. However, we must also realize that just as much as the cross was done by us and by our sins, it was also done for us. So there is this beautiful balance between acknowledging our sin and embracing Christ as our mediator. (Lots of this terminology regarding the cross comes from C. J. Mahaney books and sermons). Jerry Bridges then launches into respectable sins, those sins we so often lose sight of in the big picture sins (abortion, homosexuality, etc.). But just as real, and just as grave in that they separate us from God, are sins like anger, envy, judgmentalism, ungodliness (the root of all sin), pride, etc. If God is allowed to work through the book, it is a humbling experience. I encourage all Christians everywhere to read the book as it is simply phenomenal.

In Nathan's music world, tomorrow I will be seeing the Hold Steady in downtown Chicago with Sam. The Hold Steady confronts the drug, alcohol, sex, and religious scenes head on, singing of stories of hopelessness and helplessness. But instead of leaving it at that, the Hold Steady sings of redemption (such as in my favorite song of theirs, How a Resurrection Really Feels). And they write some of the best lyrics (period). Check this excerpt out from How a Resurrection Really Feels:

her parents named her halleluiah, the kids all called her holly. if she scared you then she's sorry. she's been stranded at these parties. these parties they start lovely but they get druggy and they get ugly and they get bloody. the priest just kinda laughed. the deacon caught a draft. she crashed into the easter mass with her hair done up in broken glass. she was limping left on broken heels. when she said father can i tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?