WinterJam 2013

Wow, my I have so much spinning through my head right now. For one thing, I'm in a very different place than I would have expected two years ago, in all of life but especially musically speaking. I just got back from WinterJam, which is a tour of several Christian musicians who tour together across the US. And I was able to go with two of the sweetest girls I know, two whose hearts beat to serve the Lord. Holly is one with whom I go to church down at Calvary in WDM, and she's one of the most faithful people I know, one of those behind-the-scenes people who do a lot, but you don't often see them doing it. For one thing, she's in charge of the bulletin, and she's always got it done in good time, ready to go for Sunday morning and all that. She's always at church except when her job requires her to be elsewhere, and doesn't make excuses to miss being with the people of God or to find ways around her responsibilities at church. Stacey is the other one I went with tonight; she's one of those friends I've known forever, and don't really remember when I met her. She's one of those who gives selflessly to those less fortunate, one of the most civically minded people I know. She's one who puts feet to her faith, always looking for opportunities to help anyone who needs it, especially those who don't know where else to look anymore (the homeless, the hungry, the poor and needy). 

(This is outside as we were walking back to the car; there's this statue of hands that you can't see very well lol)

A couple of weeks ago, I bought TobyMac's new CD called Eye On It, and I've been listening to it since then. I took a trip to Memphis to see my old voice teacher, Mr. Knudsen, and on the 10-hour trips there and back, I got to know the music pretty well, and I really like the attitude he puts forward in it. Toby McKeehan is a pretty well known artist who has done very well, and yet he attributes all the glory that's directed toward him directly upward. He comes across as a very selfless individual, and the songs in this CD are, as the title suggests, about pursuing something higher than our own glory and fame.

So this concert is made of many artists, although he's the one who has the most time in it. Newsong was there, Jamie Grace, Matthew West, Jason Castro, etc. And one group I've never heard before tonight, and I'm convinced they are the worst "Christian" artist I've ever heard. The only thing I've ever heard of them is from a friend in college saying "They're so good!" And that comment started me down a journey of thought about what makes an artist or a preacher or a Christian good? Who decides whether they're good or bad, talented or not? And I've come to the conclusion that it's about the connection between faith and life, between doctrine and doing, between Divinity and humanity, between being a hearer of the Word and being a doer of it. 

But to narrow it down to just musicians for now, I do want to say that I think I've been on both sides of the block enough to at least have a clue what I'm talking about. Think of the most conservative person you know, musically speaking. I was more. Those who knew me a couple of years ago remember that even the rock rhythm would make me angry. I hated it with a burning passion. I thought that rock was the devil's passion made physical. I'm serious. 

I've also been on the other side, where I truly liked secular music (Lady GaGa, Beyonce, Jason Derulo, all the Top40 artists, etc), even though I kept that fact hidden from most of my friends and family. 

I also took voice lessons for six years. Not just singing lessons or music lessons, but voice lessons, so I do actually know what good vocality is (even though I can't actually perform it, I do know what it is). That all is only to give credibility to what I say next.

Red is the worst artist I've ever heard. My personal standard for what constitutes "good" music is excellence. Does the musician do what he (or she) does WITH EXCELLENCE? As far as method of music and their own particular slant on what they write and sing is all within the bounds of personal preference, which is why there's disagreement on who is "good" and who is "bad." Follow? But Red is absolutely terrible vocally. I'm willing to grant them that they have more energy and passion than any performer or artist I've ever heard, and perhaps they mean well, but they don't sing. They scream. And okay, that's what heavy metal is, but if they intend to sing about our great God, shouldn't they be understood? I wrote that down in my phone while they were singing. "What's the point in singing if you can't be understood? Tons of energy and zero, absolutely zero, applicable content." In the four songs they, well….screamed, I understood exactly two words. 

Which kind of brings me to the point of it all. If we have a message, shouldn't we attempt to be understood? Maybe RED has some great content in the songs. I honestly don't know, because I couldn't understand them, which I believe makes an artist worthless. Pointless and worthless. They may as well have stayed home eating potato chips on the couch. TobyMac also had some awesome energy in his music, and there were a couple of times he was harder to understand, but his message was both loud AND clear. You've got to have both! And he did. And singing along, I had some of the most fun I've had for awhile : )

(And this is a fairly blurry picture (sorry) of TM absolutely bringing it! Both passion and doctrine melded together in one of the most exciting displays of giving the glory to God I've ever seen!)

I really enjoyed the concert tonight! Having kind of come full circle with my music tastes, I feel like I can enjoy what is really good with a more critical eye, and when something is actually good, I enjoy it more because I know what separates it from the bad. And that separation is constituted by the question of connection, as I said, between faith and life, between knowing and doing, between speaking and being understood. If you've got a message, which at its base is what music is, then you ought to do everything in your power to make that message understandable. 

This isn't the place for debate, and if you disagree, you're entitled to your opinion as much as I am. In this realm, we don't stand on doctrine, but on personal opinion and perspective. Of course it's always good to try as much as possible to make your perspective line up with actual truth, and there are ways to go about that, and I hope and pray that you do, and when you do, we can pursue truth and godliness together, which is one of the great blessings in life, is it not? Thank you as always for taking the time to read these few paragraphs and my thoughts about the concert tonight. I was blessed by it and reminded more about my God through it, and though I swayed from that topic for a bit, that's the point of it all. Music points. It directs and guides and influences. It's a language, one which (the majority of) the artists tonight used skillfully to point our hearts and minds and emotions and thoughts toward our Savior. I do pray for you, dear Reader, that you know Him as I do. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as I do? If not, I invite you to come and join us. Life really is worthless and pointless without Christ, but with him! Oh, with him, he gives life, and not just life, but as….was it James who said? "He came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly!" Come, dear Reader, and join me in this pursuit of our Savior, toward living each day fully and adoring our dear Father together. 

And that is satisfaction : )