Tom Schwegler offers insight into why contemporary music makes congregational singing difficult over on the Internet Monk’s blog.

I think Schwegler is right on. I’ve always had a problem with finding a way to incorporate contemporary music in such a way that it’s good for the congregation. I think Schwegler put some of my own thoughts into the words I couldn’t find. His points sum up my own thoughts:

Complexity: Many contemporary songs are made for soloists, not congregations. Nothing is worse to me than a passionate band singing for the congregation. That just irks me. It makes true the charge of entertainment worship.

Less information: As someone who doesn’t read music, but can generally follow notes (most of the time), I find it quite annoying to go into a church and hear a song I’ve never heard before and expect to sing it. Sometimes I can; sometimes I can’t. I want to see the music.

More oral tradition:It also vexes me to hear a worship leader sing a song contrary to the way you might hear it on CCM. I want to know what I am singing before I start singing or at least have a road map.

Chords vs. tunes: I’ve always been fond of a piano or organ (mostly piano) leading worship (Forrest is trying to convince me a guitar and drums are better, but now I’ve obtained newly read ammunition!). I’ve never understood why I felt that guitar didn’t work as well for leading congregational music, but I think Schwegler’s right in asserting it’s because guitars play chords, not tunes. It may also be that I am partial to piano over guitars; I hardly ever see anyone play an acoustic guitar in a way that doesn’t sound cheap when it comes to worship. My wife assures me that it’s just because I’ve never been in a church that plays acoustic guitars well, but I think it’s because my Catholic-Lutheran upbringing has given me a particular standard of what music should sound like.

I’ve probably said this a million times, but Rachel’s family is freakishly musical. Her sister Rebekah plays viola and used to play flute. Isaiah can play everything well (really), but he has the musical drive of a potato. Rachel, of course, is a violinist. Matthew is a ridiculously good drummer (you can see him play here). Her brother Nathan just started playing guitar (though I recall him playing Toccata in Fugue D at the fair on a random piano when he was like 8–a song taught to him by his then 12-year-old brother, Andrew). And then there’s Esther, who is like a little Rachel in personality, and the gem of our hearts.

Esther started playing piano a couple of months ago, and after about ten lessons came up with this song which she named “Panther.”

I was just listening to Rebecca St. James and Todd Agnew sing “Our Great God,” and it just reminded me how thankful I feel right now.

We’ve had a ton of bills lately with the new table (we outgrew the old one), computer (it died), washer and dryer (they were dying together), computer, midwife, doula, tuition, and visits from family. God has provided a lot of money to meet those bills. I mean a lot. Close to $10,000 in the last three weeks. (I broke a Black Friday sales record and received my overload pay from teaching all in the last three weeks.) That almost covers everything (yeah, they add up). What would normally have been a stressful time has not been that bad.

I have a beautiful new son. The birth was incredible. It couldn’t have gone any more perfectly. The doula was incredible when it came to supporting Rachel. The whole time Rachel was in labor, I kept thanking God for her. The midwife was great too, but let the doula pretty much handle things.

My daughter continues to grow in her relationship to Christ. She amazes me sometimes.

I’m glad to be in a church where we can chant, receive communion every week, feel loved, and our children can commune. We’ve actually been able to develop a relationship with a fellow congregation member (though in its early stages, it’s nice to be able to connect to someone other than the pastor and his family). The lady is a bit older than us, but her youngest son is close to Kyrie’s age.

My class this semester will be taught by Reggie Kidd, and it’s on my favorite subject. How great is that? I’ve been able to finish most of the books (I saved the best ones for last, so woohoo).

I’ve had off of work for three straight days. I don’t think I’ve had more than one day in a row off since August (and even then I was usually working on my day off). It’s been a time of healing and rest (though I must say I am wiped out from all the work I am doing–but it’s different work, so in a big way, it’s restful).

We have family coming to visit. Forrest and Rebekah will be here in less than two weeks. The Enloe family also plans to come by. Mommy and daddy plan on coming in February. It will be so nice to have company again, and it’s nice to have a table that will fit everyone (tightly though!).

I love how all of our close friends’ families are growing. Exponential growth is nice when it involves friends.

We are planning to stay our entire summer in Spokane, if possible. Actually, it would be nice to just move up there, so maybe a job can fall in our laps (pretty please!).

It’s Advent. The long green season is fully over.

Oh, Lord remind us once again of your wonderful works. Hallelujah! Glory be to our great God.

Okay, so SNL just did a hilarious short video, combining a rap with the 1982 hit “And I Ran (So Far Away)” by Flock of Seagulls and changing the lyrics to apply to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I’ll have to post the link as soon as it’s up online.

Update: Here’s the clip. So disturbing.

If you haven’t heard this, you should: http://www.myspace.com/trudawgma

Tru Dawgma – Straight Tribbin’

Eschatological know-how, not evangelical lowbrow
Postmodern cash cow
Revelation based on canonization
The millennial nation looms in dispensation
I spit pedagogy orthodoxy
Prima manifesto in the incarnation proxy
Imprimatur, my roots be the hypostatic union
The theocratic fusion, infusin’

Portiuncula mentalities be waxin’
Straight tribulation factions gaining esoteric traction
No apology, my strict epistemology
Will influence doxology and put you in a quandary
Infralapsarian… tribulation prose
Makes me wary and your pragmatism’s blatantly exposed
I Didache your Tim Lahaye while rapture spankin’ Jerry Jenkins…
Now cogitate this great awakenin’

Hook
Tribba-what (what?), Tribba-who (who?)
Flex eschatological like straight tribbahs do (2x)

Rapture, comin’ at ya, gonna fetch ya, gonna catch ya
I be a theocrat with exegesis comin’ natural
Ontology gazes in the wake of Armageddon
Pleroma in soma, not a disconnected remnant
Reviviscence is valid and callus as operatum
While your unbelief and disposition won’t even fade Him
Cardiognosis, He knows your thoughts and your dreams
Like the Sadducees, your heresy is leaking out the seams

What, what, who? Henotheistic views
Are romanticized, sanitized, still ain’t true
But from the parthenogenesis to the Parousia
We got imputed righteousness until the day we meet up
Since the ascension we got metaphysical nominalists
Refer to Postulates for obedientialis
Hidden like the pseudepigrapha in the
Deuterocanonical pack – the apost-hata’s back!

I’ll be leaving Florida in a few hours, and as usual, I’ve gotten to see some glimpses of God’s glory. Friday was Bob Webber’s memorial service. This was the memorial service that the family chose to attend. It was good to see Joanne again, to see that love she has for Bob. You know how they say some couples were “made for each other”? It’s that way with Bob and Joanne. When Jim Hart asked her if she’d rather be called Bob’s wife or widow, she replied, “Wife.” I was standing right next to her and heard her mutter under her breath, “Forever and ever.”

The mother of one of my classmates passed away suddenly on Monday. My classmate handled it with great faith. His father was diagnosed with terminal cancer on the last day of last term and was supposed to be in heavenly glory by this term, so this has been a bit backwards for the family. She had gone into the hospital on Wednesday and seemed fine on Thursday. She found out that a hole in her esophagus. This, in turn, caused acid to leak into her blood and poison it, causing her organs to shut down. She started taking a turn for the worse on Sunday while we were at the beach. By Monday, they were going to take her off the ventilator by evening, but she didn’t make it that long. It was shocking to me how quickly it all happened. I guess that with her husband dying of cancer, she probably didn’t feel the need to fight for her life. My classmate kept saying, “She always said she didn’t want to live without dad; now she doesn’t have to.”

Another classmate who had missed last semester (due to a viral heart attack) was back again this semester. He told the story of how, through misdiagnosis and wrong treatment, his blood was thinned to the point of leaking out of his stomach. He woke up in a puddle of blood (after having been changing bandages for several days). He thought he was going to die, so he prayed with his father, who is also a pastor (I believe). When he came back into the room five minutes later to take him to the hospital, there was a crusty scab that looked like it had been there for days. Incredible.

On Sunday I hit the beach after worship and stayed in the water a couple hours longer than everyone else. After the beach, I went to a worship service. Brian McLaren was the celebrant, and I had a good chat with him on the glories of teaching English (He was an English prof. Before going into the ministry and then public speaking). He reminded me once again why my background is oh so useful for what I hope to do in the future. Of all the well-known pastors and theologians I’ve met over the years, I have to say that McLaren is probably the most approachable. He’s had this “Hey, guys, what’s going on? Can I play?” smile on his face for the last three days.

Hmmm…I’m too distracted to blog anything else.

Kyrie loves to sing songs. She likes to sing the alphabet song, but mostly babbles it. You’ll hear A and B and that’s about it. She has such a sweet voice. Watch a little clip of her singing here .

As I was on my work this morning, I happened to have some Christian music on. Then, a miracle happened. I heard two songs in a row that I liked. I did some research to find out the names of the songs. The first one was called Held by Natalie Grant made me think of Salem. I found it on myspace, though it sounded better on the radio.

The second song was called The Real Jesus. I couldn’t find the song online to hear it again, but I found the lyrics. I did find the band’s myspace page, and I really liked another song called Remember Me with eucharistic overtones.

Update: I found a corny video someone made that has the music of the song playing to it. You have to go here and scroll down til you see the video that goes with The Real Jesus. At points in the song, the vocal resemblance to Freddie Mercury and the early Queen songs is weird.

Every once in awhile, you’ll get friend requests from musical artists trying to advertise their music by having you add them as a friend. Usually they’re okay or not good at all. But I got one this morning from an independent Australian artist by the name of Selena Cross. She has incredible vocals. You should seriously go listen to some of her music on her page. I especially like “I’m not lost” and “Do as the Angels Do.”

The Von Trapp Children came to town to perform with the Monroe Symphony orchestra. It was cool being able to accompany them; they’re amazingly talented. Their voices really are so great — it makes American Idol look even more crappy this year (as if it needed that). I am so glad the concert is over, though. I’ve been struggling with a cold and I feel like I’m getting a sinus infection. My teeth are throbbing. I’m staying home from church tomorrow because I’m just getting worse. It was kind of torturous to get through rehearsals and the concert, but the “boss” of the orchestra would’ve been extremely frustrated with me if I skipped out on another concert. I missed the last two. But anyway, I feel such huge relief now. I hope to get some sleep, maybe tomorrow morning while Rick and Kyrie are at church.