Speed trap in Waldo, FL

I posted earlier about what I thought a speed trap means to visitors--more or less, don't do business here because we'll take advantage of you--and today I got somewhat unexpected confirmation that the city of Waldo, Florida was losing its police department due to declining property tax and ticket revenues.  It's especially worth noting because Waldo lies about ten miles from Gainesville (Go Gators) and should therefore benefit somewhat from the U. of Florida. 

However, I would guess that thousands of former students whose rent money was taken by the speed trap on their way home to Jacksonville decided, for some odd reason, that they'd start their business or live elsewhere, and the city is now finding out that a speed trap can be a very, very expensive way to raise revenue.  It was striking, when looking at the town's pictures on Google maps, how barren a town right at the intersection of two four lane highways can be in a state without an income tax.

Serves you right, Waldo.  Now elect a mayor who understands how to treat visitors.  Things might get better in a hurry.

A dilemma

At this point, I am torn on whether my favorite Michigan football coach is Rich Rodriguez or Brady Hoke.  RichRod had the advantage until last weekend's shellacking by the Gophers, so now I'm warming up to Hoke.

And not that my heritage of being born south of Columbus and having matriculated from Michigan State have anything to do with this, but if this pattern keeps up, I'm one of Hoke's biggest fans. 

In Praise of Harvest Bible Chapel

This will probably not be the type of praise Mr. MacDonald wants, but it's worth noting that his teaching on music is something of a "Rosetta Stone" in deciphering the problems with modern music.  Let's go back to what Challies notes;  that MacDonald notes that music ought to be addressed to God, not about God, that it ought to be simple and repetitive, and that it ought to be emotionally driven--and finally express itself physically.

Now, let's apply this to the text of Psalm 1.  Does God follow the formula MacDonald prescribes?

Answer; not by a long shot.  Psalm 1 is about the relationship of man to God and does not use the 1st or 2nd person at all.  Like many Psalms, it's all in the third person.  Moreover, its six verses are similar in complexity to the hymns so disdained by MacDonald, and there is no repetition at all.  In fact, apart from refrains, few if any of the Psalms utilize much repetition.  Finally, the Psalm--like most Psalms--is not emotionally driven.  The emotion--comfort, gratitude, etc..--is supposed to flow from the circumstances and acts of God described in the Psalm.  And an incitation to movement?  Not at all.  If we are blessed, that invites repose.

Now an interesting fact is that, whether influenced by MacDonald or not, or possibly vice versa, most modern church music, including a great portion of revivalist camp songs, more or less follows MacDonald's model.  Simple, emotive, repetitive, and a tremendous use of the 1st and 2nd person, and an outright invitation to move. 

And so it would seem that, whatever God intended by His example in Psalms, most modern Christian composers are missing it.  And if that lesson is important, we're quite a bit poorer for it.

Now since God does not give specific commands in music, there is presumably some wiggle room here, but going forward, I'm going to attempt some thoughts on what is truly important in music to be used in the church.

An addendum on the debate about church music

In my comments about the debate between traditional and modern music in the church, I've tried my best to abstain from using one of the oldest arguments in the book; that modern music is too often doctrinally shallow and emotionally driven.  More or less, I've seen it as a cheap shot.

Well, as a rule, I'll still hold off from using it, but it is worth noting that James MacDonald all but admits it in his book, "Vertical Church", as reviewed by Tim Challies.   Keep it simple, repetitive, and emotionally driven, because all that doctrine of old hymns is like drinking from the fire hose.

OK, let's test that hypothesis by looking at the first verse of one of my favorites, "Amazing Grace."

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

 Now I can confess that we need to define grace, wretch, lost, found, blind, and seeing, and perhaps poetic language is a bit difficult in our prose-heavy society that considers Executive Order 13423 to be an essential part of learning literature, but for someone who can read at a 6th grade level, this should not be an insuperable challenge.  It certainly does not require the gift of glossolalia.

In short, what we have here is a music ministry designed for people with at best a 4th grade reading level (Chicago Public Schools graduates I guess), and a preaching ministry that will not help congregants to understand these concepts.  In other words, it's a church model designed to keep congregants in spiritual infancy--if even that. 

So if your church is using Harvest Bible Chapel products to guide music or other ministries, you may want to ask some serious questions.