Saturday, July 25, 2009

Here I go again-

Sewing (or sowing? I can never get that right.) discord among the brethren.
When it comes to Christian Music, I have a station I listen to more than others. But I must make this comment, and I don't mean to paint with a broad brush, but I am, so there:
CHRISTIAN RADIO IS DORKY. PURE AND SIMPLE, IT IS DORKY.
It's not the artists, mostly. There are some songs that are played on these stations that, simply put, sound like they were taken from radio jingles. I hear Scott Krippayne's "I Wanna Sing," and on the last line of the chorus I sing "US Postal Service- We Deliver For You," because it's the same music! The other example is Pocket Full of Rocks' "You Are Welcome Here." I feel bad, because they sing it with such passion. But the chorus sounds like a cheesy supermarket ad from the 90s. The last line is "You are welcome here, Mighty God!" - instead, I sing "You are welcome here - Harris Teeter!"
The station I listen to also features the most annoying DJ in the morning hours. I know there are things he has to say and promote, it's part of the job. I understand. There are things I have to sell, or I lose my job. But the way he says it, it's like nails on a chalkboard! His Wednesday weather forecasts always include the lines "on your way to church." I don't go to church Wednesdays. Am I less of a Christian?!? And quit telling jokes! You're not funny! You're an old dork! Just play the music, and tell us who's singing, so I can sell their CDs!
Sorry. I'm calming down. OK. The music is mostly good. It's repetitive, sure, but it's good. It's a better mix than the other stations. But each one I've encountered has the same problem: Dorky DJs. You can't escape them in the Christian market. But some are worse than others.
One more rant before I finish: Each genre of Christian music has "that" artist. In Southern Gospel, it's Ivan Parker. I call him "Mr. Gospel Mullet" and "the Robert Goulet of Gospel Music." He'll sing ANYTHING! In contemporary music, it's Phillips, Craig, & Dean. A friend of mine, David, calls them "the Michael Bolton of Christian music- they'll sing anything-and ruin it!" How ironic is it that Ivan Parker has now released a PC&D song? He has recorded "Favorite Song of All."
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Facebook, Yearbooks, and the Book

Recently, I finally took the plunge.
I joined Facebook.
Sheyna had been telling me for months that I needed to join, because that’s where everyone was. MySpace was for the younger set. For months I held out. Well, Last month I finally indulged.
Boy, am I glad I did.
One of the most fun aspects of Facebook is the photos. You get to see what your friends look like now, how they’ve changed, and how their lives have changed. Some have also put photos in from days gone by, including some yearbook photos. Talk about a trip! Naturally, it makes me want to dig out my yearbooks, the old scanner my father-in-law gave me (along with the really old computer I use to type these up with-but I am thankful) and put some on there myself.
Another recent happening is my nephews sent their high school yearbook from this year with me to imprint their names. Of course I looked at them. The clubs are WAY different than my time there. What is a Skills club? Can you go into the room, say “I got skills,” and they let you in? They have an anime club now! But I must say, the faculty section was the most interesting, because that is where time stands still. You see teachers still there when I went there, teachers still there when MY BROTHER went there (he graduated in 1986!), and teachers who were students with me! Some look no different. Some have shown signs of age. One looked like he ate himself! He’s doubled in size!
Then, of course, there is the student section. I can’t believe nephews I held as little babies when I was in high school are now in high school, listening to music, playing football, running track, having girlfriends…wow. At the same time, my little baby is now a talkative three-year-old with a wild imagination, driving a toy ambulance all over the place behind me. Time has a funny way of doing that.
But that’s the joy of pictures and the high school yearbook. There, time holds. To me, it makes me long for things that don’t change so much. It makes me thankful for a relationship with Jesus, because he has not and will not change. Hebrews 13:8 declares it: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
Now that’s quite a picture.