What is happening to the church? U2charist?

I sometimes joke around that I have to be careful about leaving places, because bad things (or just things) happen while I'm gone. For example, I leave home for one week in the summer and my parents sell our car. I leave home for 3 months at college (up until fall break) and they change the wallpaper on the first set of stairs. I leave Moscow for the summer and the Bucer's "smoking room" is no longer a smoking room! You get the idea.

Now, I've only been gone two weeks and the First United Methodist Church of Pensacola does something crazy. And apparently they are not the first.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a huge U2 fan. It's almost ridiculous how much I like them. But the reason that I like their music is exactly because their music does not sound right as a praise chorus. The music was not designed for any kind of corporate worship - except if you can call a concert that (which you can't by the way, not even at a "Third Day" concert).

It's quite ironic that U2 songs are going to be sung in a church service. U2 is a very individualistic band when it comes to church affiliation. They intentionally separated themselves from the contemporary Christian scene, at a time when they would have gained lots of fans quickly from that medium. That's a very good thing, because that would have killed their music.

The PNJ says that the church will be singing "Beautiful day", "Where the Streets have no Name", "One", "With or Without You", and "Still haven't found what I'm looking for." One? That's a great song, but it's about breaking up (just ask Bono). If you are going to sing U2 songs in church, why not sing "40" or "Yahweh"?

And it's called a U2charist. That's catchy, but I don't approve of turning the Lord's Communion into a pun.

It's an interesting idea, but I get nervous anytime I hear of a novel idea for a worship service. And when I hear the idea I almost always think "what the heck are they thinking?" Here we go again.

Favorite lyrics from U2's "No Line On the Horizon"

Yeah, I know I just posted on U2's new album but I've got to share some more of my favorite snippets of lyrics.

"Moment of Surrender": At the moment of surrender / Of vision over visibility / I did not notice the passers-by / And they did not notice me / I was speeding on the subway / Through the stations of the cross / Every eye looking every other way / Counted down ‘til the Pentecost /

"I'll Go Crazy if I don't Go Crazy Tonight": The right to appear ridiculous is something
I hold dear / Oh, but a change of heart comes slow / It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain / As you start out the climb / Listen for me, I’ll be shouting / We’re gonna make it all the way to the light

"Stand Up Comedy": The DNA lottery may have left you smart / But can you stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart / I can stand up for hope, faith, love / But while I’m getting over certainty / Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady / Out from under your beds / C’mon ye people / Stand up for your love / Love love love love love… / I gotta stand up to ego but my ego’s not really the enemy / It’s like a small child crossing an eight lane highway / On a voyage of discovery / Stand up to rock stars, Napolean is in high heels / Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas

"White As Snow": Once I knew there was a love divine / Then came a time I thought it knew me not / Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not / Only the lamb as white as snow [. . .] As boys we would go hunting in the woods / To sleep the night shooting out the stars / Now the wolves are every passing stranger / Every face we cannot know / If only a heart could be as white as snow / If only a heart could be as white as snow

"Breathe": I’ve found grace inside a sound / I found grace, it’s all that I found / And I can breathe / Breathe now

"Cedars of Lebanon": The worst of us are a long drawn out confession / The best of us are geniuses of compression

You've got to hear this

Because this is "Magnificent": I was born to sing for you / I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up / And sing whatever song you wanted me to / I give you back my voice / From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise… Only love, only love can leave such a mark / But only love, only love can heal such a scar / Justified till we die, you and I will magnify / The Magnificent


Only U2 can pull off this kind of cultural subversion. At the end of this month they will go on tour, and they will sing this song. And tens of thousands of people will be singing these verses. And they will return to their cars, still singing the refrain. I think it will be glorious.


Perhaps the fools among them will think that this is just a normal love song. About just a normal, perishable lover who causes Bono to sing these words. It does work on this level.

Maybe they know that U2 is a christian band, but love the songs and are prepared to ignore the "religion." This is good music.

It really doesn't matter. The very stones themselves are crying out. Don't let them outdo us. Praise the LORD!

You can hear the difference. . .

So, I am a big fan of Elton John. Here's a picture of him, to make sure that we are thinking of the same person:








Incidentally, I could have gone my whole life without seeing Elton John in a Donald Duck costume (and you could have too, had you not read this post). However, there is no going back; that time has past. We all have seen it, and it is time for us to just move on.

[The article I ripped this picture out of made me laugh. It's just talking about Elton John's latest trouble related to perversion, and then it includes that picture right in the middle like an illustration. There was no warning, nothing like "Speaking of Elton John, here he is playing the piano dressed as Donald Duck." It just pops it in and carries on as if nothing had happened. "Boom! Here he is!"]

Right, moving on. . . I was just comparing Elton John's song "Believe" with U2's "God Part 2." It's amazing to me that they can say essentially the same words "I believe in Love" and yet mean something completely different.

Elton John is essentially despairing with a smile on his face. Bernie Taupin writes "I believe in love/it's all we've got" and Elton John sees the tragedy. He puts it into a minor key. The kind of love that Elton John wants "don't mean a thing" (cf. "I want Love). This love can't be a reason for joy. It can't really be a reason for anything, if you aren't willing to give anything up for it.

U2 sings about a love that means everything. It's a powerful antidote to all the poisons of the world, and it is a perfect preamble to "Bullet the Blue Sky."

Get on your boots

Let me tell you what just made my day, if you haven't guessed already. U2 JUST DID!!! That is right. The first single released from U2's album No Line On the Horizon, "Get on Your Boots" is seriously blowing me away. I've already listened to it 3 times in a row. I'm going to write a full scale review once the album comes out. Right now, I just want to share my jubilation and maybe some of you shall share it with me.

Peace 

Why I listen to Green Day and U2

Most people don't have a problem that I listen to the rock band U2 a good bit. U2 is generally a pretty wholesome band, and they are mostly Christian (all except Adam Clayton). This doesn't really describe them very well, but you sort of get the idea.









Green Day, on the other hand, is not as wholesome as we might like. Here's a picture of them:


Now here's the problem most people have with Green Day: they are punk. Also, they sound angry a lot, they are not Christians, they curse sometimes in their lyrics, and they look weird (this all kind of goes along with being punk).

Okay people, I hear you but let me explain why bands like Green Day are necessary in the music industry.

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that there are a lot of run-down buildings that need to be demolished. They are pretty old and historic and they represent a lot of tradition for some people. At some point, though, we need someone to knock those buildings down. That's Green Day. They are the demolition crew. They come in with sledgehammers and knock at corrupt America and traditions steeped in injustice. While they are at it, they also attack traditional religion and start to criticize the Christian faith (this is the point where we pay them their wages, take their sledgehammers away from them, and confiscate the keys to the wrecking ball).

This is all well and good, but what happens after they get carried away? Someone needs to build and put beautiful buildings up where before there was only decrepit, moldy, and condemned public housing projects. Who is going to do this? Bands like U2.

I see U2 as a band that primarily tries to replace the old vestiges of hate with love. Even when they were being more experimental and postmodern in the 90's they were using different means of achieving the same goal (primarily irony). It is hard to go to a U2 concert without being confronted about the suffering of the world. Bono may ask "Am I bugging you? I don't mean to bug ya". The audience may reply "Yes" cut it out and play the music; but his point is ultimately taken. I can't think of a better way of getting the message of love across to 4o,ooo people at once; because 40,000 people are singing along to a song that questions "how long, how long must we sing this song."

This is not to say that hate will ever disappear, or even that there never is a place for hate. But if we keep replacing it with love, surely the world will run out, right? Perhaps not, but Christians, fools to the world, can keep trying.

My first rhetoric declamation paper

“Please. . . please… please… Get up off your knees.” Booyah! You need to stop praying. This is from the chorus of U2’s song “Please.” It’s from their album “Pop”; if you haven’t heard of it it’s probably because (ironically) it’s not one of their more popular albums. In this album, Bono took the strategy of addressing his listeners in the second person. This is the musical equivalent of preaching. It’s one thing to be criticized for swearing, drinking too much, or not tithing. I can understand that. It’s another to be hammered for praying. So, is Bono being fair? We can say with certainty that praying to the Father (in general) is a good thing. In this case, I don’t think Bono is really saying that we should stop praying. His point is a very good one. He is in effect pleading that it is not enough to say, in the language of the Book of James, “Go in Peace, be warmed and filled.” It’s easy for us to get on our knees and pray that someone else would help those poor starving children in Africa. But if we really want to see a change in the world we must first become the arms and legs of Christ in the world. As arms and legs we must feel the needs and pains of the body and respond with both sympathy and action. This is hard, but it is our Christian calling. Let’s get off our knees, and do some good.

So, this was my first original composition for my freshman rhetoric declamations for NSA. My delivery wasn't quite as good as I had hoped that it would be; probably because I had only gotten 3 hrs. of sleep the night before and by that time I was exhausted. It wasn't terrible, but I apparently was stiff and did something weird with my knee (probably my left, not quite sure).

Man, was that ever a long afternoon.