Throughout my late high school years, my college years, and even today I hear about a crisis of truth in America. This is mainly an evangelical cry in response to moral subjectivism, postmodernism, and scientific ambiguity. Books upon books have been released such as "True Truth", "The Truth War", "Total Truth", and countless ones on postmodernism to fight the loss of truth in America. Now these scholars mean that absolute truth - something that is reflective of reality whether or not you think so - is slowly becoming instinct because of relativism. Truth, for these people, is the battle ground.
And they have been losing. Our culture has not become wiser about truth, nor has it really cared about these scholar's arguments. Such studies as "The Truth Project" have only helped Christians feel more secure in their faith. This is not bad, but it is not helping the "truth crisis". People more than ever are choosing their own truths, and even in the church this mindset is taking hold. Why is this so?
Jesus gave us the most useful information about this "crisis" and we have let it slip. We have possibly been too calloused by our own scholars on the subject to really take a fresh look at Jesus' words on truth. I believe Jesus would say to us what he said to his disciples years ago:
"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" - John 8:31-32
You see we have taken these verses to mean: "We must tell people the truth; we must fight for truth so that people can be saved and go to heaven." Let me open up our assumptions and point to something that Jesus may be wanting us to get from this.
Why say, "and the truth will set you free?" I think Jesus said this because freedom is an intrinsic desire for human beings. We are in bondage to sin, and we want freedom - or, better yet, we are in bondage to lies, and we want freedom. We want moral freedom, social freedom, and personal freedom. The word that commonly debunks absolute truth nowadays is autonomy.
We find ourselves in a truth crisis because people are searching for freedom. They are searching for freedom from sin by making sin virtuous. They are searching for freedom from oppressive religion by making that the evil. We search for truth in our lives to find freedom. I have seen this in my life constantly. People changed their views to be freed, not to be in truth.
The less we offer the truths of the Gospel for the sake of living in truth and the more we offer the truths of the Gospel for the sake of living in freedom, the more we will find the Gospel being a liberating force in our culture. There is no truth crisis, I believe, because that is not the real problem. The problem is that people want to be freed and look anywhere to get it. Our goal is to offer true freedom.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Day 1 - Drums and Bass
Mike Jackson (drums), Derek Shipley (bass), Ben Cole (tech genius), Savannah (faithful, beautiful wife), and myself decided to record late into the night. It was 3 o'clock before Savannah and I pulled into our driveway, but it was quite worth it. In one night we recorded bass and drums for all 6 songs going on this EP. From the rock, U2 inspired title track, "Redemption Has Come" to the smooth, and easy going "Eternal Spring," everyone felt good with our performances and bad about our poor judgement of an all-nighter.
This night was meaningful to me because it was the beginning of something I've been wanting to do for a long while. I have been wanting to record music; music that matters beyond me. This means its not about me anymore. It is about an idea, or vision, or value now. This isn't a grand adventure, but it is a communal one. I'm inviting others in because it is for others. This project is for the church - not my ego. This does not make this endeavor holier than any artists work. It makes it different and communal but not better. I hope I make this clear; I remind myself constantly of this.
Special thanks to Mike, Derek, Ben, and Savannah for all staying up, having fun with me, and helping a vision become a reality! Also to Curt Sines, from Artisan Drumworks, who let us record with his 10th Anniversary set made out of a rare Brazilian wood affectionately called "Tiger Wood". The set sounded wonderful!
Here are some pics from the evening; at some points you can see the late night taking a hold of us:
This night was meaningful to me because it was the beginning of something I've been wanting to do for a long while. I have been wanting to record music; music that matters beyond me. This means its not about me anymore. It is about an idea, or vision, or value now. This isn't a grand adventure, but it is a communal one. I'm inviting others in because it is for others. This project is for the church - not my ego. This does not make this endeavor holier than any artists work. It makes it different and communal but not better. I hope I make this clear; I remind myself constantly of this.
Special thanks to Mike, Derek, Ben, and Savannah for all staying up, having fun with me, and helping a vision become a reality! Also to Curt Sines, from Artisan Drumworks, who let us record with his 10th Anniversary set made out of a rare Brazilian wood affectionately called "Tiger Wood". The set sounded wonderful!
Here are some pics from the evening; at some points you can see the late night taking a hold of us:
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Returning to the Booth
I am about to embark on a journey that I have not taken in 6 years. Sunday is the first day of me recording songs I have written. These songs are worship songs, so in a sense, I feel like they are not for me but for the church. The goal in writing worship music is to give the church a song that reflects their faith and soul. These songs are not about my expression, although I do think I am expressing quite a lot. These songs are not for the church's expression. These songs are for a body of believers to come together and sing in unity to and about the One for whom they are gathered.
This is where my approach to this little collection of songs is different. Many times they are plural ("we" and not "I"), and talk about God. Sometimes they are plural and talk to God. Savannah calls my songs "creed-like", and I have heard others agree. These songs are not individualistic because what makes church unique is that its a multitude joining together. These songs, in many ways, are meant to be liturgical - to bring the church together under the unifying attribute of the Gospel. There are times, even in the gathering of believers, to sing one-on-one to God. For me, I see the "market" of worship songs flooded with individualism and I wanted to bring community back into the church gathering. I am not saying individualism is wrong; it is equally needed. I just feel like the scales need to be balanced again, especially in the church.
I have not posted in a while because I have been busy. Out of town, working on songs, finishing up school arrangements, and many more things. I want to bring others into this journey this time around. I will be posting pictures, daily accounts, and hopefully video. I'll be posting lyrics as well to help people have some expectations of what this little project will be. Follow me on twitter, and you'll get up-to-date news. This is not going to be fancy, just simple explanations and accounts of what is happening. I know I am not hugely popular person, and I hope I never will be through this because that is not what this is about. I hope people just enjoy my songs, and want to listen to them because they help them see and commune with God. But whoever wishes to be "in" on this thing is more than welcome too.
Prayers are warranted throughout this whole process.
Cheers!
This is where my approach to this little collection of songs is different. Many times they are plural ("we" and not "I"), and talk about God. Sometimes they are plural and talk to God. Savannah calls my songs "creed-like", and I have heard others agree. These songs are not individualistic because what makes church unique is that its a multitude joining together. These songs, in many ways, are meant to be liturgical - to bring the church together under the unifying attribute of the Gospel. There are times, even in the gathering of believers, to sing one-on-one to God. For me, I see the "market" of worship songs flooded with individualism and I wanted to bring community back into the church gathering. I am not saying individualism is wrong; it is equally needed. I just feel like the scales need to be balanced again, especially in the church.
I have not posted in a while because I have been busy. Out of town, working on songs, finishing up school arrangements, and many more things. I want to bring others into this journey this time around. I will be posting pictures, daily accounts, and hopefully video. I'll be posting lyrics as well to help people have some expectations of what this little project will be. Follow me on twitter, and you'll get up-to-date news. This is not going to be fancy, just simple explanations and accounts of what is happening. I know I am not hugely popular person, and I hope I never will be through this because that is not what this is about. I hope people just enjoy my songs, and want to listen to them because they help them see and commune with God. But whoever wishes to be "in" on this thing is more than welcome too.
Prayers are warranted throughout this whole process.
Cheers!