I’ve discovered a show on the Sundance channel that’s pretty awesome. I usually avoid the Sundance channel. It’s too much like NPR with pictures. I’m afraid if I watch too long I’ll turn into a liberal, relativist tree hugger. However, this show rocks.
Abbey Road is a recording studio in London made famous by the Beatles. They have started having musical artists come and do live shows in the studio. Each episode features 3 different artists, each one does 2 or 3 tunes. The variety of acts is what I like; everything from Wynton Marsalis to Iron Maiden (I kid you not).
Here’s a sample from a recent episode with Dave Matthews. Good stuff.
I preached on the subject of Faith this weekend and came across a nice quote in the study notes in my Bible for Hebrews chapter 11.
The same faith that enables some to escape trouble, enables others to endure it. The same faith that delivers some from death, enables others to die victoriously. Faith is not a bridge over troubled waters, but a pathway through them.
I think the Word of Faith preacher-hucksters have had a stronger effect on our understanding of faith than we would like to admit. I find that quite often when we talk about faith, we mean something different than what Jesus meant. We think of God as a big coin slot in the sky and faith is a shiny golden coin. All we have to do is drop the coin in the slot and out comes a new house, 3 well-behaved kids, and a Bently to drive them to private school in.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about worship. I’m of the opinion that most of what we struggle with in regards to sin really comes down to a worship issue. It comes down to a question of who/what is our object of worship. We find out what that is by asking motivation questions. Who/what are we sacrificing for?
A great example is fear. I think fear is a kind of worship. If I’m afraid of failure, then I will allow “failure” to determine what I do and do not do. I will obey it like a god. My thoughts, time, money, and energy will go to it. Every decision I make will be submitted to it. Eventually, my life will be built around avoiding even the possibility of failure. Fear is worship.
This sheds new light for me on the concept of “fearing God” too.
We would like to address all our fans, our friends and people around the world who have faithfully supported Delirious?
After 14 albums, thousands of shows in front of millions of people, and many extraordinary memories, we have decided that at the end of 2009 we will take a break from recording and playing as a band.
Our decision was triggered by a request from Martin to be released from the band to pursue new projects including his work with CompassionArt and the desire to be at home more with Anna and his children. We have of course honoured this request and made a decision together that now is the time to end this chapter of our lives.
We will continue to play and be excited about our current tours and bookings but will not be adding many more over the coming 17 months..
We are all so deeply grateful to our incredible fans who have sung the songs and allowed Delirious? the privilege of providing the soundtrack to many lives over the years. From the school hall in Littlehampton to the stadiums of the world we have many stories to tell our children’s children. Delirious also would not be what it is without our amazing wives and families, and our gratitude to them is immense. We will now move forward to the next part of our lives where new challenges unfold and greater stories will be written.
We want to make it absolutely clear that although this decision has been extremely painful and difficult, we are still great friends and our respect for each other is unquestionable. We love playing in this band together and know that even though 2009 will bring an end to this current journey, there will be more adventures together in years to come.
We always used to say that we were ‘taking it wherever it goes’. The music ended up going further and deeper than we could ever have dreamed, yet we are now at a point where our creative futures will spread out and take on different journeys.
Thanks again for believing in us through all these years. We believe the best is yet to come.
Jon, Martin, Paul, Stu G and Tim
I’m really bummed out, but this decision makes me respect them even more. God rarely gives us the same assignment for life. He moves us in and out of things, and knowing when to quit and go to the next thing is just as important as knowing when to start.
Delirious has been a kind of a oasis of reality and creativity in the middle of a deluge of over-produced mile-wide-inch-deep Christian music (especially in the “praise and worship” genre). They will be missed.
Sorry about the “dead air” here lately…Â I’m not dead, just busy!
I just read this article from John Piper about why someone without much truth can act in a more Godly manner than someone with a lot of truth. This is something I have been pondering since the Todd Bentley “outpouring” began in Lakeland, Florida. I don’t believe he is an unGodly man. Meaning, I don’t see in him a desire to con people, get rich off people, or be a celebrity. However, there are some very valid concerns about his doctrine and use of scripture. He has recently made an attempt to answer the critics but didn’t seem to answer any of the real questions.
Off Topic - Here is a critique of Bentley’s letter. I don’t know anything about this blogger, but the review of Bentley’s letter is very thorough and I agree with much of it. It’s long, but if you are wrestling over what to think of all this it may help.
So, then, a valid question comes up: “Why would God use Bentley to do all these miracles if we can’t trust his teaching?”
Though he doesn’t address this specifically, I think Piper points us in the right direction. What do you think? How would you answer this question?
[tags]todd bentley, lakeland, outpouring, john piper, truth, godliness[/tags]
I'm a pastor, father, web developer, writer, and rabid pontificator. Speak slowly and enjoy the madness.
