Transitory Psychosis

I’m back, after a long silence in this space. My return is just in time for my annual gripe session about the songs of the season. It’s the Christmas season again and the carols are playing, and playing, and playing, and….

Don’t get me wrong, I love celebrating Christ’s birth. I love gift-giving. I love fun time with family. But I don’t love a lot of Christmas music.

I do enjoy a bit of the old standards: Joy to the World, Silent Night, O Come O Come Emmanuel, etc. I also enjoy hearing these done in a fresh way from time to time: Mannheim Steamroller has some interesting instrumental. I’ve heard Phil Keaggy do a few as well.

I even enjoy a few Christmas novelty songs, in small doses: I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ for Christmas (heard that the other day for the first time in years), I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (once or twice is plenty), Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, etc.

I even enjoy a few of the more contemporary secular Christmas tunes: Merry Christmas Darling (the Carpenters classic), Tender Tennessee Christmas, etc.

What I DON’T enjoy are the lame Christmas songs and the six weeks of 24-hour nothing-but-Christmas-music-radio-stations. So what are the lame songs (IMO)? Here are some that are grating on me this year.

Christmas Shoes–okay once or twice a few years ago. Enough already. Change the channel immediately.
Little Drummer Boy–drum this one right out of town, for good. Never heard a good version. Never.
Any Christmas song done by an aging rocker or pop star trying to hang on to a career.
Any re-re-re-re-re-re-recording of a Christmas “favorite”–how many versions do we need of Mary Did You Know?
If Only, the uber-lame spoken word song about the guy and the flock of birds–a good story once, not the 1000th time.
Any Christmas song with bad theology (i.e., We Three Kings–the Bible never says there were three or that they were kings.)
Any good Christmas song done poorly–the champ is O Holy Night, a good song, butchered relentlessly.

I’m anything but a Scrooge, believe me. I just grow weary of the same old songs of the season–usually by the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Come on, musicians! Give us some fresh stuff! The old story never gets old and we even like the old songs, to a degree. But I ache for some fresh tunes.

At what age should parents have the “sex talk” with their kids? Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of answers to that question. This week I’ve heard of one parent who has scheduled a date for “the talk” with their 13-year-old son. I’ve heard others say it should be no later than 14.

Let me preface my remarks by saying I do not profess to be an expert on this issue, nor do I claim to have done this perfectly with my own kids. However, I do have some experience in dealing with this issue as a parent, pastor, and informal counselor.

That said, if you are waiting for any age that ends with “teen” to talk to your kids about sex, you are too late. In fact, if you are waiting until the double-digit years to bring up the subject, you’re too late. In addition, if you think having the “sex talk” is both the beginning and the end of the discussion of this issue, you’re mistaken.
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I need to fly more often. Interesting stuff seems to happen when I fly. (See my previous post.) On one of last weekend’s three flights, I heard an annoying noise. It sounded like a radio station bleeding through on the plane’s speaker system. It was mostly bass and drums that I heard, but it was even audible when the pilot came on the speaker to say we were beginning our descent.

The noise continued as the flight attendants began bustling about the cabin, picking up trash, telling people to raise their seat backs, etc. Then, about three or four rows up, I saw a flight attendant trying to get another passenger’s attention. When she did, he removed an ear bud to listen. “You’ll have to shut that off and take those out for landing,” she said. He nodded and complied. When he did, the annoying noise I’d been hearing ceased.
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It’s interesting to me that a good portion of the Bible is devoted to music. Although we do not have the musical score, the book of Psalms is literally a book of 150 songs. In addition, there are several other songs recorded in Scripture as well as occasions in which songs were used. Of course, not every song mentioned or implied in Scripture is spoken of positively and God even refuses to hear the music of those who are dishonoring him (Amos 5:23).
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As I noted in the previous post, God apparently loves music. So what kind of music does God love? Now there’s a loaded question for you; and lots of people have answers. Usually, the answers are a defense of the kind of music we love and a rejection of the type we can’t stand.

In my years in church, I’ve heard people defend and attack virtually every kind of music—especially whatever is used in worship. In fact, I know of many people who choose their church on the basis of the music used. Some want only the high church hymns, others want nothing but four part harmonies. Some loathe anything that hints of contemporary Christian music, others won’t settle for anything else.
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I’ve had a lifelong love of music. That’s why I was particularly interested in Zephaniah 3:17. Zephaniah was an Old Testament prophet who warned Israel, in no uncertain terms, of the judgment that would result if they did not change their ways. At the end of the book that bears his name, there is good news—in spite of the coming judgment, God would preserve a remnant of the people who chose to do right.

In the midst of this positive note, we find this interesting verse about the singing God:
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It’s not too often that I have an interest in a TV show–especially one I haven’t actually seen. But, the Fox network show “The Next Great American Band” has captured my attention. This show is basically American Idol with bands rather than individual vocalists.

However, one of the bands remaining on the show is Denver and the Mile High Orchestra–a Christian band. Utilizing an amped up big band sound (think Brian Setzer), this band has performed original music and rearranged well known Christian songs for some time now. Personally, I find them to be one of the more original-sounding groups around.
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