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Thursday, October 27, 2005
OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME?
One of the guys in my acting class is making a
movie. He's hooked up with an independent film company out of Chicago. They are all from India, where the film
industry produces more motion pictures than the U.S. and Great Britain combined. The film is expected to be released
in theaters all over India and in video stores all over the United States. He wants me to play a part in it. Apparently, it's a film about Indian immigrants to the U.S. and how they
find their way to and in America, the struggles, internal and external, that they face. His premise is that a life here
can be made, a good one in fact, but it takes hard work and dedication to the goal to make it happen. A great premise,
I think. It reflects a work ethic from which many native-born Americans could benefit. Not only does he want me to act in this film, he wants to use some of my songs.
They're planning a promotional CD and eventually a soundtrack CD. Imagine! My music being played world-wide!
Sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. We sat and played through the demo's I've done to date, and there are several
that he really likes. But ... He then begins to talk about changes. "It's a secular movie," he says,
"So lines about Jesus have to be re-written." And so on it goes. At first I thought: "Well, maybe a word or two
here or there couldn't hurt." But then, as I thought about it further, it began to really bug me. I plan on speaking with him about this tonight. I have two analogies
which I believe accurately describe the trouble I'm having. The first goes this way: What if a big Hollywood producer came to him, telling him how much he loves
his screenplay, and that he would love to finance the film. The only thing is, he's not too knock-out by the whole
India angle, so he wants to make the movie about immigrants from Canada instead. Great opportunity? Sure.
But it misses the whole point of the movie. This movie is about the struggle that the writer himself has endured and
is intended to be shared primarily with those he wishes to encourage in their own struggle. To remove the India element
is to tear the foundation and purpose out from under the film. Which is exactly what would be done to my songs if we
were to remove the Christian elements from them. The second analogy is this: Imagine you've written a song for your wife.
It's a love song, a very personal song. It hints at very intimate things about your wife that compel your love and devotion
toward her. Now imagine that she comes home one night and finds you singing the song to someone else. I've written
my songs about a love relationship I have with my Savior. I can't now permit those songs to be changed and sung for
some secular purpose. It violates the relationship I have with God. I don't know how he will react to this. I plan on offering him some
other songs, perhaps even to write some new songs for his movie. And if he still wants to use my songs "as is" that's
fine. But I can't let them be used in some kind of spiritually neutered form. Call me a fanatic. Call me an idiologue. Call me a fussy creative
type. But the truth is, it's not my ego that is at stake here. It's my conscience. And, with the celebration
of the Reformation right around the corner, I believe it fitting to quote Martin Luther: "To go against conscience is neither
right nor safe."
Saturday, October 22, 2005
ALL ABOUT SUNDAY
I was sitting in my office before church last Sunday preparing for
service, praying over the sermon, etc., as is my custom. As I was praying, I was suddenly overcome by the desire to
pray for my congregation. Praying for my congregation, of course, is not unusual, but this sudden urge went beyond the
norm.
I was struck by the feeling that I had lost my vision for our little church in Northwest Detroit.
Part of this was due to a struggle to maintain an active Sunday School. We're down to one or two kids and even fewer
teachers. And our superintendent is just about burned completely out, trying to enlist both students and staff.
But I think this sensation was due also to the issues over which our congregation wrangled this Summer. We seem
to have survived it, but the question remains: Now what?
I was simply feeling as though I didn't know what to do next, where and how to lead the congregation.
I didn't have a vision for what God intended for this body of believers or what He intended for me as its pastor.
I say this because some pastors have very clear and specific goals in mind for the congregation
they serve. They want to lead them down very specific paths of ministry to clearly specified destinations.
Some want to mold and shape the worship life of the congregation to reflect something new and
unique. I don't believe my church should go down such a path. I don't particularly believe that worship should
be "new" and "unique." I think that violates the very nature of what worship is supposed to be. Jesus certainly
didn't come to lead the congregations of His day to do something new and unique in terms of public worship. If anything,
He strove to remove the innovations and encroachments that had served to degrade the sanctity of His Father's house.
Some pastors have a vision to build a massive Sunday School with tons of children. They
even schedule their Sunday School during the worship service to accomodate parents who want to "streamline" their Sunday mornings.
I would love to have a huge Sunday School. But I don't have the people to staff it. It's hard to run a Sunday
School with no teachers. Nor do I think it appropriate to remove children from the Divine Service for such a purpose.
Some pastors have big ideas on running special programs at the church, such as singles groups,
youth groups for various ages, and other "special interest" groups that meet the perceived needs of the community. Two
problems here: 1) lack of volunteers to run such groups; and 2) a transient neighborhood in which trying to assess the felt
needs of the community is like trying to nail jello to the wall.
I'm one man trying to serve a small congregation to the best of my ability. What can
this one man do?
And then the thought hit me: What if it's not about special programs, unique worship styles
or having the biggest Sunday School around? Maybe it's not about dreaming big and twisting arms to get the help needed
to impose my vision on these people. Maybe it's simply doing what this one man can do better than he's ever done it
before. Maybe the place where I'm supposed to lead these people is the cross, to the feet of Jesus, to repentance and
forgiveness, in as real and vibrant a way as I am able. In other words, maybe it's all about Sunday. Maybe it's
all about the Mass, the Divine Service, that setting in which God has promised to meet us and change us, molding us into the
image of His Son.
If that's true, I need to spend more time and energy ensuring that what happens on Sunday morning
is the highest quality I, with God's help, can provide. If it's all about Sunday, then Sunday must be as close to perfect
as is humanly possible. I've always considered myself to be a good preacher. But I need to be a great preacher,
if it's all about Sunday. And this means more than the crafting of an excellent sermon. It also means peak "performance"
in the pulpit. In the past I have read through my sermons a few times during the week, to make sure I have the words
under my belt. But if it's all about Sunday, then I need to do more than that. I need to practice more in order
to be able to preach the sermon without a hitch, timing every inflected tone, executing every pause, scripting every bodily
movement, including hand gestures, facial expressions, and the like, in order to facilitate the full impact of the words God
has given me to communicate to those entrusted to my care. "Good enough" must never be good enough. Nothing short
of perfect, to the best of my ability, is to be accepted.
This is a challenge that I can meet. I don't have to rely on a staff of volunteers or
a particular number of attendees to pull this off. All that is needed is my own dedication and commitment to the goal.
This is a specific goal that is attainable. It is within my power to reach it, or at the very least, to strive for it.
And I do not intend to strive for such a goal in order that people will say of me: "My, what
a wonderful job our pastor is doing." For if I achieve perfection, or anything remotely close to it, real success will
be seen in how little is actually noticed by my congregants. For true perfection will mean that I become transparent
and the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be in full view. I want to preach in such a way that the words take "center stage"
and the message rules the day. I'm not looking for accolades. I want the Word of God to have its full impact.
I want to remove the barriers, to clear the path, to plow the row, so to speak, for the Holy Spirit, and I don't think that
happens without taking care to make sure that I am not getting in the way. Every stutter, every missed timing, every
flaw in emphasis adds another stumbling block. I wish to remove as many as I can. And that takes concerted effort.
In the long run, I see that I do have a vision for this congregation. It's all
about Sunday. It's all about the Divine Service. It's about showing Jesus to my people in the absolute best way
I know how. From the first words of the Invocation through the last words of the Benediction, this is my pledge,
this is my commitment for Sunday and for every service of worship in my congregation. May God grant me His grace to
fulfill what He has appointed me to do in keeping with the vision He has given.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
GLITCH
This may sound strange, but I really hate to get new computer equipment.
Don't misunderstand, I love having faster speeds, greater storgae capacity, and all the other bells and whistles that come
with a new computer, but, man, what a pain to get everything switched over and reconfigured!
It all started a couple of weeks ago for me. I was right in the middle of recording the
vocals for a song called "I Give It All to You," in which I sing TONS of backing vocals. This is the most ambitious
vocal project I've done to date. 36 voices back-up the rather emotionally charged lead vocal. It starts with four
voices in the second half of the verse. Two measures later it goes to eight. Two measures after that it goes to
12. By the time we get to the chorus, there is a 16-voice four-part choir of me. :) In the second chorus there
is a counter-melody added, consisting of 12 voices, for a total of 28. In the third chorus another counter melody enters,
adding yet 8 more voices! In the end there are 37 "me's" all singing at once.
Well, in the midst of recording all this, the hard drive on my desktop computer just wouldn't
process the files anymore. It would simply stop playing and recording. And it was making all kinds of noise.
So ... I stopped what I was doing, and spent the next week or so backing up EVERYTHING on the hard drive to DVD-R, while
the hard drive still worked. Thank God, I salvaged everything. In the meantime, I ordered a new computer.
It came a week ago yesterday, and I was so excited, but nothing worked right yet. And,
of course, by the time I figured out that I couldn't figure out how to get the software settings established on my own, it
was too late to call tech support, so I had to wait until Monday. Grrr! So, last weekend I hated my new computer.
However ...
Monday I called tech support, got everything squared away in about 10 minutes, and away I went!
I finished the demo for "I Give It All to You," and then went on to finish yet another demo after that ... "The Puzzle
Master."
"The Puzzle Master" is quite a bit simpler than "I Give It All to You." The Puzzle Master
has four voices TOTAL. And I used absolutely NO processing AT ALL on the vocals. No reverb, no chorus, no EQ ...
nothing! It is straight off the mic, as is. Sounds pretty kewl. Nice change of pace.
So, needless to say, I love my new computer now that everything is set-up and operating within
normal parameters. And ... side "1" of the album -- demo-wise -- is done! I've added the transitions
and placed everything in order so I can listen to the entire first-half sequence and hear what the overall impact will be
like. I am very please with it so far!
Next I will work on "Big Little Man," followed by "My Home Is You," followed by "At Least a
Thousand Reasons." All the instrumentals for these demos are ready for adding vocals. After that, I have to write
one more song, and the writing phase of the album will be complete. Then it will just be a matter of getting these produced
in the big studio.
So ... despite the temporary glitch in the process, the album marches ahead, and I am stepping
closer and closer to fulfilling a life-long dream. Thanks be to God!
Friday, October 7, 2005
PIC OF THE DAY
Apple pickin' with the Mann family. Here Michael (a.k.a. Dad)
helps little Clarisse contribute to the cause while Rozelle and Grace do their part to fill the quota. Later we went
on a hay-ride and the kids fed the animals. The trip was capped-off with a visit to the donut-and-cider stand where
we shared our goodies with the local yellow-jackets! Pizza and a movie back at the house made for a pleasant conclusion
to a very enjoyable day!
12:08 am edt
Thursday, October 6, 2005
THANK GOD I'M FREE!!
It's time for me to post this one. The lyrics were posted back in
June when the song was written, but, as we've begun work on this song in the studio, and it's been my practice to add a demo
each month, it's T.G.I.F.'s turn to show up on the "Me" Stuff page.
You should hear how this is shaping up in the studio version! I can't
wait to get back to work on it. In the meantime, I'm working on the new demos, with a brief-but-annoying interruption due
to an impending hard-drive crash, resolved by the purchase of a new computer. Of, as you know, this involves back-ups, etc.,
etc., blah-blah-blah.
Anyways, the album is beginning to take shape. It's been a great deal
of fun to work on. So, give T.G.I.F. a listen and enjoy!
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