The Tweet Choir @ Microsoft’s 2012 Press Conference
Tonight I was listening to MacBreak Weekly and they were talking about Microsoft’s use of a gospel choir to sing tweets during the Microsoft keynote. I love me some gospel music and the idea of words about tech set to the sound that floats my boat got me googling.
Here it is …
Read MoreGrowing Up in an Integrated Church
I’m practicing getting comfortable in FRONT of the camera. This is a story about growing up in an integrated church in South Arkansas when there were not many integrated churches in the south. One Sunday morning, Pastor Jim thought someone had a song. An old black woman stood up and started singing just about the best gospel lyrics I’ve ever heard.
He’s sweet I know
He’s sweet I know
Dark clouds may rise
Strong winds may blow
But I’ll tell the world
Where ever I go
I have found a savior and
He’s sweet I know
I don’t know why that song never crossed over to white churches. Now maybe it’s time?
Read MoreHe is Amazing
This is one of my favorite gospel songs sung by one of the best, but under-appreciated gospel singers I’ve ever heard, Tata Vega. I first heard her on a Cinemax special with Andrae Crouch. This is my theme song for now…
Buy the CD from Amazon, if you like it.
Read MoreThe Inadvertently Funniest Gospel Song I Know
My favorite kind of music is Southern Gospel. This video is a song called, “Look for Me” by Rusty Goodman. It’s a lovely song, but it makes me laugh every time I hear it because it’s telling someone to look for them in heaven, but not right away.
It says, when you get to heaven … “Look for me, for I will be there too” and then it points out that there is no hurry, “When you’ve BEEN there a thousand years or MAYBE EVEN two! Look for me for I will be there too. It’s kind of like, “Yeah, I know we’re going to spend eternity in Heaven together and everything, but I’d prefer it if you take your time looking me up.”
Read MoreBrian McLaren
Brian McLaren is a liberal pastor who writes books that upset conservative Christians. My Christian friends who prefer democrats tend to like Brian, and my Christian friends who prefer republicans tend to think he is a heretic.
I don’t really have an opinion about him. I’m probably more inclined to disagree with him politically, but the one thing I know is that my friends who read his books love God and do more to help the poor than the friends who call him a heretic.
Last night, I watched a video of a group of conservative theologians sitting on a stage tearing Brian’s latest book apart. They seemed to really enjoy themselves as the repeatedly called Brian out on hermeneutical errors. The smugness on that stage looked and sounded much more like the religious leaders who wanted Jesus killed and out of the way than the ones who wanted to do what He said to do.
I’m not good at the thing I think we’re called to do as Christians yet, but I’m working on it. We’re called to love and take care of hurting people. Jesus didn’t say the world would know us by our spot on theology. He said they’d know us by our love. Disagree or agree with Brian all you want, but don’t get dressed up and turn on cameras to spend an evening on a stage talking about him. I guarantee that there are people those guys on that stage could have been loving one-on-one like Jesus did, but instead they turned the gospel into sideline commentary to make themselves feel superior.
I’ve been more guilty of emphatically believing what I believe than anyone. Being right isn’t all that important. Sharing the transformative love of God matters more than politics and it matters more than hermeneutics so let’s just get over ourselves.
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