The Joys of Fatherhood

Fatherhood Fail:

So, about a week ago, I was watching T.V. with the kids playing in the next room. I was actually channel surfing during the commercials of the NFL playoffs. Well, some show was making copious use of the "beep" in the place of profanity. . . so Sam comes running in. . . "What is that beeping!!" (when I say copious use. . . . I mean. . . copious)

And, in what will go down as one of the great fatherhood answers of all time, I come up with this gem: "That's a noise that people make on t.v." (which isn't a complete lie. . I'll get to this later). ouch.

Provi from the next room: "Dad, do you want me to tell him?" (Provi has yet to grasp that there are things that she knows because she's 9 and not 5).
double ouch.

So, I told Sam it meant that the people weren't talking nice and were using bad words. (hmmm. . might have been a good first answer).

Sam now is intrigued by the "beep". . he came running in yesterday "Are those guys not talking right??" no, Sam. . no they aren't.

I'm against the "beep". They're starting to use the beep as a point of dialogue in shows now. If you don't believe me. . watch Comedy Central. Comedians are using the "beep" to make stuff funny. Some of them wouldn't have jobs if we went back to the "mute/silence" for profanity on T.V. Trust me. . . way, way less funny. The Daily Show has actually used the "beep" so good that they've turned it into an art form.

Anyway. . down with the beep. . .let's hear the mute, then we'll see how funny and creative we really are!!??

Fatherhood goodness:

A letter written by Eden at School this week:

Dear Hady, (Haiti)

Hi! How are you. I Hrd on the nos(news) that thar whus a rthcwick (earthquake).

Is ivre thing oca? I hop yis (yes).

Your Friend,
Eden

Needless to say, I'm keeping that one. What a sweetheart. I haven't had the heart to tell her that everything is not okay. But, we've been praying for Haiti.

It's the ups and downs, you know? I love being a dad.

Aaron

A National Embarassment; a Historical Tragedy pt. 2

Now for something with a little more vigor and emotion. Here are two posts from Kevin DeYoung about:

a) various state fetal homicide laws (you know. . .the laws that make Roe vs. Wade look ridiculous. . . which it is)

b) the exodus of workers from the abortion industry (inside Rev. DeYoung's article is a link to the entire article from The Weekly Standard. . . . .it's heartbreaking, but really good. . . .it's worth a read.)


Lord, I pray that we would reject insanity, inane laws, judicial inconsistency, and barbarism and do what is right as a country. Though I don't expect the USA to become a Christian nation, nor would that please You, . . .I ask that we could make right what has gone very wrong on this issue, even step by step as Dr. Forsythe so wisely says. I pray for all Americans to see Abortion as a non-political, non-medical issue, but as a moral issue so that we can see clearly our error. And Lord, for those that have had abortions or who have participated in the abortion industry, may you pursue them with Your grace, Your healing, and Your truth. Amen.

A National Embarassment; a Historical Tragedy pt. 1

Since it is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, I'm going to a full-court press (via links) on this issue.

A reminder to all of us: Abortion is not a political issue. Politicians of different stripes have things to say and opinions to contribute. But, let me just say, if you're offended by the mention of a magazine or the affiliations of certain folks offering opinions. . . and are ignoring the merits of the argument based on that. . . . than you need to think a little deeper about Abortion and all of the implications of the most horrendous decision in the history of the Supreme Court (judicially, morally, practically and otherwise).

but I digress. . . .

Here's a great interview Justin Taylor did with Clarke Forsythe. Mr. Forsythe is wicked smart. . . this is worth a careful, non-distracted reading.

It's hard for me to get excited about some of the things he says because he's honest about how deep the rabbit hole goes on Roe vs. Wade. But, he speaks the truth about our government, and even if we don't like it, we'd probably do good to heed this man's advice.

The Sanctity and Greatness of a Short Life

So, I've been a bit long-winded and preachy lately. I thought I would shut up and let a 99 day old stud teach us all a bit about the preciousness of life. This weekend is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. This video says it all.

99 Balloons from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Worship lyric misconceptions: We have a mediator

Hey, we made it to part 2 1/2 of this series! I"m giving myself a pat on the back. . . . . . .

It's important to remember as we gather to worship that we need,. . . and have. . . .a mediator: Jesus Christ. Jesus has accomplished redemption for us, He bore our sin on the Cross, He tore the curtain in two, and made a way to the Father through us.

If you go to many church services (my own,. . .too often unfortunately) you can forget that you need a mediator. We can kind of "run" into God's presence without remembering what Jesus did so that we can sing and encounter the Holy God. I don't think this necessarily means that we need confession as the first act of every service, or that we have to start with slow songs, etc. . . . . . But, in some way, we need to remember that we need a mediator, and that we have the perfect one, in Jesus.

Now, more troubling, is that we can misplace who or what the mediator is. You can get the impression, through lengthy instrumental solos, constant background music, meaningless lyrics, etc. . . that music mediates the presence of God. In fact, folks will often exclaim to the worship leader or worship team "That music really brought me into God's presence this morning". This is a well-meaning comment. . . but patently wrong. Music is a tool that God created to enable our words and our emotions to lift up and exalt Him. Music is a tool in the hands of skillful artists that can be used as an act of worship to exalt God. But, music is not our mediator, Jesus is. If folks think they "need" music to enter into God's presence, or that they can't pray, sing, really connect to God, etc. . without music,. . . . that's a problem. There's no greater presence of God that happens because of music.

I don't doubt that making intricate, beautiful, instrumental music is an act of worship. (Beethoven, Bach, anyone?). But, as the gathered people of God, in corporate worship, we have something to say to God. . .we have something to say to each other, we have words that are important. Contrary to popular church practice and literature, you cannot communicate the gospel without words.

As stated earlier, you can praise God with your instruments alone (no words). . . the Psalms command us to do that. In corporate worship, however. . .I think these times need to always be purposeful, defined, and pastorally led. The substance of our worship, when we're together, are words, text, attributes of God, etc. .

I've seen a few examples, in current worship music (again, I'm defining this narrowly. . .as songs that are written for us to sing together as God's people, at church) of folks trying to mediate the presence of God with music (at least, it seems so. .. ). It seems like they're divining the Holy Spirit to come and speak, or bringing down God's presence with dramatic musical background.

Let me be clear. . I"m not anti- background music (I use it all the time), or anti-silence, etc. . . . .

Here's what I want to say: when you write a worship song (see definition above) the lyrics aren't just important. The lyrics actually make your song usable or non-usable in church. It's not a pop-music preference like "I like the music" or "I like the lyrics". Songs for the church are all about the lyrics; set effectively to music, yes, but not just cool music that says "Holy" 50 times. I laughed out loud when at the end of a VH1 Divas concert they closed with a "gospel" number which consisted of Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and Celine Dion singing the word "Jesus" with various melismas about 200 times. Setting aside how non-gospel and non-heavenly such a sound was. . :) . it wasn't really that "gospel" or "worshipful" either. (not their intent, I know)

The emotions that music can conjure up are wonderful, and need to be appropriate to (you guessed it) what the lyrics say. Rich Mullins famously rebuffed a fan who said she felt the Holy Spirit come during a song: "no, I think that was the kick drum". This is an important distinction.

Jesus is our mediator. Let's write lyrics that focus people on Him, and music that gives emotion to lyrics of gratitude, awe, worship, and wonder of who He is.

Late Night

I've develped kind of a morbid curiosity into the whole late night drama between Conan, Leno, and NBC.

An upside to all of this is some of the best insult/burn comedy that's ever been on T.V. I give you this multi-clip link to enjoy. Especially the 2nd clip with Jimmy Kimmel and the 3rd clip of Conan's monologue. This, unfortunately :) is my kind of humor, I love insult comedy. There are some off-color jokes here, so apologies for that. . . . . fair warning. Enjoy.

Update: the 2nd Conan clip is gross. . . I'm sorry it's part of this link. The intro/insults jokes of each clip are the best. : )

I want to see ELI

Go Denzel!