All You Need Is a Red Guitar, Three Chords and the Truth

Saw this the other day. Maybe rock n roll can really change the world.

Mega pastor and sometime celeb explains how Bono is helping lead Christians into the fray of fighting global poverty and injustice.


http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/08/19/bill-hybels-what-bono-taught-me-about-fighting-poverty.html

No Line on the Horizon

Satan loves a bomb scare, but he won't scare you

Only love can heal such a scar


Shouting to the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light

Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady

God is love

Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak



Lines from U2's new album "No Line On the Horizon." One song is "Unknown Caller" about a broken and searching man receiving texts messages with no service, but from who? Cleary the Biblical allusion "Be still and know that I am God" is in play here, and like most U2 albums, God (and Christian faith) plays a big part of the album.

U2 have typically done things in threes. From the post-punk, new wave, garageness of "Boy," "October," and "War"to the Americana inpsired gospel of "The Unforgettable Fire," "The Joshua Tree," and "Rattle and Hum," to the postmodern, disco-electronica, pessimistic irony of "Achtung Baby," "Zooropa," and "Pop," U2 are currently finishing out the end of their current thematic cylce. What began in 2000 with the boundless optimism and energy of "All That You Can't Leave Behind"comes to frution in "No Line" with the bands most spiritual and dare I say "Christian" album. I mean if a line like "Where might we find the lamb as white as snow" isn't overt enough for you, then what is?

God, Biblibal references, and faith have always played a big part in all of U2's work. For a band that has been overly critiqued in the evangelical world as not being "Christian"enough, there body of work boasts a depth of theological insight and spiritual authenticity for those who have been paying close enough attention. Bono has said its important to "Listen over the rhythm that's confusing you" and for many who have taken the time to listen, wrestle, and spend quality time with their work, there have been ample instances of God being "in the house."

"No Line" is nothing short of a call to "stand up for" your God, live a life of faith or "vision over visibility," and ultimately to magnify the creator. Its an honest and unabashed call to faith, as if Bono has appointed himself the worship leader of the world (as if he hasn't done this already).

Musically it sounds like U2 but certainly in a different direction, there are alot of world music influences here, and the usual atmospheric pop symphonics that come from working with Damiel Lanois, but there are also some just good old hard driving rock songs. Gospel and hymnn music also play a strong part in the musical progression of the album. "Moment of Surrender" has a strong gospel groove and chorus, while "Magnificent" and "White As Snow" both feel like modern day re-workings of old hymns.

Overall its a great album, and it should be listened to as an album. Frankly, I think it might be one of U2's best up there with "Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby." It is at times daring and new but always feels like U2, casting itself backwards into the U2 cannon referencing previous themes, sounds, and lyrics. Clearly U2 is telling a narrative throught their music and its progression, and in "No Line" they are pointing to the comedy of life and the world, or that the world will end in comedy, or will end happily Another blogger explains this concept much better here: http://theologykungfu.blogspot.com/2009/03/comedy-of-u2s-no-line-on-horizon.html


Over the next weeks I will take some time to dive into each song, addressing their meanings and theological wieght.

A Hole In Our Gospel

26,000 children under the age of 5 die every day from poverty. They die from totally preventable causes. Its a shocking a statistic, there are many more just like it. Rich Stearns the president of World Vision recently wrote a book challenging the church to well.. get off its rear and start taking the Bible and Jesus seriously and their commands to love and serve the poor. Its a good read.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/juneweb-only/123.53.0.html

So what can you do? What can I do?

Evangelicals and Catholics Together

Here is an interesting read. Its an interview with Charles Colson, one of the key players in ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together). He has alot of good and interesting things to say, even pointing out that the Pope is Augustinian.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/januaryweb-only/103-51.0.html

Ok, and restarting the blog here, so keep looking back for more stuff more frequently.

Peace

Movies You Need to See

I know, I know. It has been awhile since I last posted. Two kids will do that to you, especially when one is a newborn. The good news is that I have some time to write now, and also I caught up on all the great movies of the last year. So here in no particular order are some movies you need to see...

There Will Be Blood- Simply a powerful movie. Everything works here, the music, the writing, the cinematography, and Daniel Day Lewis is of course brilliant. This is the story about two men, their greed and lust for power, and how ultimately it destroys them both, as they show they are both willing to sell their souls for the gold they hope they can gain. The final line of the movie is a poetic flourish fitting this tour de force.

No Country For Old Men- A tense and taught chase movie that contemplates the abscence of God in a violent world. Excellent acting and a story line that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Bardem is creepy and Jones brings pathos and longing to this film and to humanity.

Juno- A great comedy that avoids the trite twists and turns that we would usually see in movies like this.

Dan in Real Life- Steve Carrell shows some range in probably the best Hollywood style romantic comedy in recent years. This one is funny and feels fresh.

The Darjeeling Limited- Bittersweet story of three brothers trying to mend their lives and relationships on a train in India. Wes Anderson takes us on a spritual journey again, heals our souls, and gives us lots to look at in the kalaidescope spinning of India.

Michael Clayton- George Clooney is the man. Here he plays a middle aged bagman, fixer cum lawyer, with gambling and financial issues and less than a worthy character. He gets the chance to redeem himself. This is a movie that asks some tough moral questions and shows a man agonizing over doing the right thing.

Le Vie En Rose- Marion Cotillard is amazing playing the life of the tragic French singer Edith Piaf. A sad movie about a talented but sad life.

The Lives of Others- Older German movie dwelving into the abuses of the East German state polices spying and meddling in the lives of normal people. One man, beginning to see the cracks in the system and its corruption, has to make a moral choice of whether to interfere or not.

Gone Baby Gone- Solid effort from Ben Affleck about private investigators searching for a kidnapped child. Tons of questions relating to justice, morality, ends justifying the means, and making the right choice in a fallen world are brought up here. Some of the movie is hard to beleive but the final understated scene will leave you haunted for days.

Zodiac- A historical movie spanning over a decade... I though for sure this one would fall flat, but in the end it works great, telling the troubling story of a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco and the men who tried to catch him, but never did.

Ratatouille- Creative, inspiring, and lots of fun.

I'm Not There- A Bob Dylan fan's movie as it should be told. This is a surrealistic, impressionistic film where six different actors play the varying life stages of Dylan. His music is seemlessly blended throughout. I want to see this one again. For the uninitatied this will be a confusing movie.

More on it later.

Ok and here are a few other movies I really liked:

3:10 To Yuma
American Gangster
The Simpsons Movie
The Bourne Ultimatum
Amazing Grace
Volver

Best of...

Ok, its that time of the year, the end of it anyways, when everyone is putting out "Best of ..." lists. Well, I haven't had as much time this year to keep up with all the music and movies coming out this year. Actually, I have hardly seen any new movies, but I have a lot I want to see.

I have kept more current musically and can reccommend some new albums this year. So here is my list of some of my favorite albums this year, in no particular order.

The Scene of the Crime, Bettye Lavette and The Drive by Truckers
Great soul/blues album. Bettye has a tremendous voice, distinct, dirty, and beautiful all at the same time. The Drive by Truckers, out of tremendous respect, lay down a great southern rock album with twinges of blues and R&B for the world weary wisdom of a legend like Bettye. What real rock music should sound like.

The Once Soundtrack, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
If you haven't seen the movie, you should. A kind of Lost in Translation set in Europe, where two strangers meet, fall in love, write and play beautiful music for less than a week and then move one from each other. The music is stunning, a series of break-up/relationship songs sung with profound depth by Hansard and highlighted by the Irglova's delicate voice and piano work. Its a beautiful and evocative album.

Blue Sky Blue, Wilco
Alt-country, modern hipsters put another great album out. After two almost avant-garde, experiments in sound, Wilco tones this one down to its more folk and jazz sensibilities. There are still the un-expected turns in sound and melody that Wilco likes to throw at us, but there are also some pretty folk and pop moments here too. All in all, its another strong album not made for radio.

Ok and some movies that I have really enjoyed this year...

Ratatouille
Oceans 13
Once
The Darjeeling Limited
Paris I Love You

And some ones I really want to see...
There Will Be Blood
American Gangster
Gone Baby Gone
I'm Not There
3:10 To Yuma
No Country For Old Men

Back at It

Ok, its been a crazy couple of months and my blogging activity has been way down. My son is now 5 months old and life is getting more stable. So the blog is back on, and I hope to post more regularly in the year ahead. As for now here are some tidbits of things that are coming to the blog and well just some randon stuff.

Peace.

Coming soon...

Finish up the Power of the Gospel in the 21st Century series.

Review of "The Darjeeling Limited."

A look at the music of Bob Dylan.

A look at some of the other good music and movies out there.

And some interesting things to mull over in the next few days...

"I was born along way from where I was supposed to be. I was just trying to get home."- Bob Dylan

"Money doesn't talk, it swears."- also Bob Dylan

Mega Trends

Ok, sorry. I have been away for awhile. Our son Mathis was born just five weeks ago, so our time preparing for that and then well trying to keep our heads above water since the birth, have kept me busy. But things are returning to normal.

So back to the blog...

A few more things to consider are two mega-trends so to speak, that are going on in our world. These mega-trends although not always prevelant in our thinking and day to day conversation, basically influence the entire world, from the coffee we drink to the movies we watch to who is what our next door neighbor's son thinks.

These two trends are post-modernism and gobalization.

In the Christian world we often want to reduce everything down to a good or bad equation. We ask, if something is Christian or good and should be accepted, or if it is bad and should be rejected. This is a fundamental problem, because post-modernism and globalization are part of our world culture, they are the context we live in. We can not escape them. Naturally, there are some aspects of both that are positive and negative. As such, both of these trends need to be viewed as neutral, in that they are the context we live in and minister in. Post-modernism and globalization like any context (modernism, US consumerism, etc.), are both dangerous to the gospel, while also providing salient points of connection for ministry. As Christians we need to oppose the aspects of these trends that are anti-Christian and dangerous, but we can also embrace aspects that are helpful and even possibly Christian. In a word, we need to be careful students of our world and culture, retaining our distinctly Christian belief and mission while incarnating the gospel of Christ's love relevantly.

More to come...