Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Eugene Peterson, Author of The Message Bible

so some of u may know about the january series at calvin college.  it’s basically a series of talks by influential people from all over the world.  well, one of the speakers calvin invited was Eugene Peterson.  he’s the guy who wrote The Message Bible.  i know several people back home in hong kong who read that translation.  although i missed his january series talk, i was there for the open forum with Eugene Peterson held in the Calvin Theological Seminary.  it was really neat hearing him talk about topics ranging from Blockbuster DVD membership cards to the intended usage of The Message Bible.  the man had some pretty remarkable insights, and my roommate, ian, wrote down plenty of quotes.  i’ll include some of them…

Quote #1 ”Keeping the Sabbath is the most repeated commandment”

amen to that!  i can totally back that up from life experience.  reflecting on my first semester, life was pretty busy.  it wasn’t too bad though.  coming into college, i expected a lot of stress and late nights doing homework.  none of that really happened… i think the latest i ever slept was 3 am.  and that was doing a paper that i forgot to plan for.  i think managing time well and knowing when to say “no thanks” when people ask you to hang out really helps.  well, actually, the previous sentence is entirely true.  there are times when i just need to buckle down and do homework.  sunday is playday… no homework, no nothing.  just a day for church and fellowship.  sunday becomes so much more… it’s a day of refreshment, a day when i can “recharge” for the next week.  i think that really helped me in my first semester.  i’ve also learned that the amount of sleep you get each night has a direct correlation with the grades you get in school.  those students who always sleep early and wake up for breakfast usually do well at school.  i dunno why it’s that way, but it’s just an observation i’ve made in the first semester!

 

Quote #2 “The strongest allies in keeping pastoral identity were found in artists”

it was interesting how he drew parallels between the two.  he initially talked about visual artists like painters, but then he later included artists like musicians.  being a musician myself, i really identified with his words.  he talked about how artists are very personal and local.  they’re focused on the here and now, much like pastors.  i can definitely see that.  there are bands now that use their music as a tool for communicating their political views.  some use their lyrics to identify with their listening audience. 

a recent album i bought, P.O.D’s new album called “Testify”, really has a strong message.  their Christian roots are really evident in this album, and the music’s great.  guest artists include an Orthodox Jew, Matisyahu.  their album art includes snippets of lyrics from their songs in tattoo artwork.  Christianity is really evident in lyrics, especially “Jah of Jacob is deserving of my Love.”  P.O.D frequently uses the word Jah for God.


Quote #3 “The lust for novelty in the church is dangerous”

i definitely agree that it’s dangerous.  let’s take the hot topic of traditional and contemporary music worship.  i personally grew up in environments that treasured both.  when i went to my dad’s Chinese church in Medicine Hat, Alberta, we sang classic hymns with piano backing.  in hong kong, i went to an Anglican church that almost exclusively sang contemporary worship music like Hillsongs.  i see some churches that exclusively sing one style of the other.  i think that lust for novelty in music worship becomes very dangerous when we begin feeling that one type of music worship is better than the other.  they’re simply different.  we don’t need our preference of music worship to create divisions in the church.  besides, the lyrics in hymns kick contemporary worship lyrics anyday, while as a drummer, the beats from contemporary worship rocks my socks off!  both styles have their pros and cons, but that doesn’t mean i can’t appreciate both.

 

Posted by Nehe555 on 01/25 at 08:11 PM
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