Wow! What an amazing night last night was!
First, I attended the first full audience screening of an amazing, 4-star rating (In My Humble Opinion) movie called Killer Diller. Oh my, it brought a smile to my face. A down on his luck young car stealin' guitar player gets sent by a judge to a small Baptist school's halfway house, led by a stiff and awkward "Church Lady" type played brilliantly by Fred Willard. This kid discovers a special boy who drives around in an invisible Plymouth and can play the meanest blues piano he's heard. He quickly turns the band playing dirges from the hymnal into the Killer Diller Blues Band. Awesome stuff. Niki Crawford's amazing voice drapes the solid tunes perfectly.
If that wasn't enough, I followed that by walking over to the Alamo Draft House for a screening of Antones: House of the Blues, an amazing documentary that is a real history lesson about the founding fathers of rock and roll. It really underlined the impact one person that cares can have. Clifford Antone's club is responsible for so much life and music history. If it wasn't for his club, so many people wouldn't know and respect their musical heritage; and Austin wouldn't be known for its Sixth Street live music setting. Amazing archival footage of these greats (Muddy Waters, BB King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and dozens more). Oh my! Such a rich historical tapestry. It was a trip to sit three rows behind Jimmie Vaughan and hear him ask questions of the producer after the screening. Fabulous. It really made me feel ten feet tall and satisfied that Austin is my home.
Then, to top it all off, I walked by Joe's Generic Bar to see my uncle Alan Haynes play some blues guitar. What a perfect night! I so love the blues. The soul when someone's letting it all hang out (vocally or instrumentally) is just unbeatable.
On the PDL side of things, it was a great chapter about the kind of worship God is pleased with -- that being the kind of worship that has all of us in it. I have heard a lot of the arguments that guy in the red suit has brought to me: "Oh, are you going to lift your hands just because the song says to? You are a puppet, not a worshiper!" Ha ha. What a punk. He's got yellowed coffee stains on his stupid red outfit. His head looks a little crushed, too. I have long held the conviction that I want to worship in spirit and truth, and one thing that means to me is to align myself with the words of the song. If it says, "I kneel before You" or "I fall on my knees," I do just that. In this way, my body is lining up and living the truth in the words. To not do so, on the otherhand, would be singing a lie -- dishonest worship. Sometimes I'm tough on myself, but I can handle it. It's funny, but I get perturbed sometimes with some of the songs our church sings frequently. Some of these, "I raise my hands" lines are in verses that get repeated and then refrained 4 times near the end of the song. It turns my worship into a workout! Ha ha. I love worship. I hope that the wonderful experience that I've been able to have can be shared by many many more Christians. I believe that, while worship is many things and not just music, many people in the body of Christ haven't experienced the joy I have. Now, I understand that the charismatic style of worship that I've become accustomed to is just one little narrow style of worship and is not for everyone's personality. But, if I can share a little secret, there's something to this style of worship. Style issues aside, the enthusiastic and expressive forms of worship are incredible. The feel-goodie feelings experienced are just a little insignificant byproduct. After all, the worship is for the King. It needs to be said, of course, that solemn, silent, and what seems like non-expressive worship is still very beautiful and awesome in its own right. There ain't no right way to worship, that's for sure. I just don't mind going on record to say that there sure is something special going on in the body of Christ in our age.
Thank God for the blues and what is called the "negro spirituals." Our beautiful brothers and sisters of color have given the body of Christ an incredible gift. I wish some of the inspiration for the blues of our age had not come from the suffering by the hands of people of my skin color. If I could re-write history, I'd love to wipe out that suffering. But history, like it or not, is done and over. The result of much of that suffering has resulted in sweet wine, like grapes crushed by the weight of a press. Pentecostal and loud, rockin' worship is a beautiful expression of the soul. God's mercy has been poured out and reflected in such a wonderful way with so much great music. I'm so happy to be able to hear some of this great stuff. Praise God for the opportunities to "discover" all types of arts and music. Wow.
Of special note in today's chapter was the information about songwriter Matt Redmon. He is well known in contemporary worship circles, and his song "Heart of Worship" has a great story behind it. His pastor forbid anyone from singing in worship for a time period, so they could all learn other ways to worship. This sheds more light on the verse, "I'll bring you more than a song, because a song in itself is not what you require..."
A cherished brother made comment on yesterday's blog about an open mic opportunity that came and went. He brought up some beautiful points about how some of the silent things going on in that context were God pleasing and like worship. It's so cool to have an awareness of enternal and spiritual things in our every day life situations.
--#81 (made lots of loud noises crashing into #44's helmet in practice)
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 17, 2004 10:40 AM