Sometimes I wonder why most Christian worship music cannot hobble anywhere close to Delirious?: a band that has consistently produced quality records for years. With a fine mixture of songs that rock and songs with a gentle melody, Delirious? combines a passion worn on their sleeves with imaginative lyrics on their latest release: The Mission Bell.
Most Christian artists haven’t figured out how to really rock or how to slow things down without resorting to cheesy, sentimental melodramatic mush. If you listen to most Christian lyrics, you’ll hear the same collection of words used in every other Christian song reshuffled, lest we confuse God by worshipping him with new metaphors and adjectives.
Just about every mainstream worship mix CD evidences this glaring deficiency, but fortunately Delirious? breaks the mold of Christian artist clones. Beginning with a simple, but powerful call to worship with “Stronger,” they jump right into the meat of the album with “Now is the Time,” a Christian pep rally neatly bundled into a fantastic song.
“Here I am Send Me” is a creative tour of God’s revelation throughout scripture with a strong application for today that manages to take a familiar concept and make it fresh. “Solid Rock” and “Our God Reigns” take older songs and completely revamp them, causing me to even forget that I’ve heard them countless times in church.
The momentum of the album comes to a head with “Paint the Town Red.” Though the metaphor is a bit grisly, it works well enough and the song is flat out one of the best I’ve ever heard from a Christian artist, taking the prize in the raw energy category for sure. I’m trying to make myself only listen to it once a day, lest I drive it into the ground.
E-mail newsletters are becoming very popular of late as a way of communicating with friends, customers, potential customers, or members of a particular community. Whether the goal is keeping in touch, building interest in a project, or sharing local news, e-mail newsletters should do a few things well, such as passing information efficiently and being readable. Unfortunately, many of the newsletters I receive do not fit into this category.
Common Sense Rules for E-mail Newsletters:
I have officially moved inamirrordimly onto it’s fourth major theme in its 2.5 year existence: minyx 2.0 light. I hope that each time I make this kind of switch it’s a move toward greater simplicity and ease of use, which I think is the case with minyx.
There are still some Google ads floating around at the bottom of the sidebar, but overall I’m pretty pleased with the Minyx theme. I feel like I can put a lot of stuff on the page without it feeling too cluttered. I’m especially into white backgrounds of late and ensuring that the main content is off to the left in a good position for reading.
Of course if you’re reading this via a feed, these changes mean absolutely nothing to you, but at least it keeps me out of trouble . . . or from getting a good night’s sleep. I have the solace that Todd Hiestand, a friend, web designer, and online chia pet, gave this theme his blessing.
If you’re going to live to please others, you may as well be selective.
The other day I was sharing the Gospel, and centered my thoughts on Jesus’ message in the Nazareth synagogue. Though I used to work my way down the Romans Road–we are sinners, the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus, believe in this message–I have focused lately on the message of Jesus.
Though the message of Jesus certainly implies the mechanics of salvation detailed in the letters of Paul, I find it most helpful to steal the sermons of Jesus when sharing the Gospel. Remember that the book of Romans, the book Christians typically draw from when explaining salvation, was addressed to a church, not to people who were new to Christianity. Jesus clearly states the goal of salvation: reconciliation and healing. The better phrase for that is: God’s Kingdom.
Even if we still had telephones and electricity, I felt like I had entered the stone age at work yesterday when we couldn’t use our computers and our water was shut off. Water and computers have become the very bread and butter of life at an office. Without them we wander lost. Let me explain.
For many people working in an office, the computer has been as essential the telephone is in the home–and for some people as essential as a cell phone. Speaking for myself, all of my work is now on a computer. I very rarely print out documents and file them, especially because my physical filing system leaves much to be desired. The filing system on my computer on the other hand is excellent, and typically backed up on a CD.
When the computers had to stay shut off for roughly an hour or so yesterday, employees wandered about aimlessly. Some ate lunch (around 10:30 am) and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I could do without my computer, a task that consumed more time than accomplishing the work I dug up. When all else fails, the break room or kitchen is the best move.
But without water, we were stymied from social interaction around a cup of coffee. There was no water available to make it. And so the wanderers continued to make their rounds, while others shuffled through the bits of paper on their desks, looking for anything to do.
Within a few hours the well was pumping water afresh and the computers were humming, and life was just as it should be. Nevertheless, our brief return to the “Stone Age” was a reminder of just how fragile our modern world can be.
::IN A MIRROR DIMLY::
Welcome to the blogging home of Ed Cyzewski: freelance writer, theologian, nonprofit employee, resident of Vermont.
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