Worship Matters: Repetition

Kim and I ran across a quote a few years back that seems to come to mind every couple of months. It is a curious quote – the kind that really makes you think, or at least it makes me think a great deal about God.

Something that you will hear from time to time regarding worship & music is that it is repetitious. Most of us have probably heard somebody say, “All this new music we sing at church is nothing more than 7-11 music.” (Meaning we pick 7 words and sing them over 11 times) You also might hear a comment about how often we sing certain songs or even, “I enjoyed your song but didn’t you just sing that very special a couple of months ago?”

I will be honest in that I haven’t heard any of these things at MPCC but I have in other churches and Christian circles. It always makes me think, “What is wrong with repetition?” Throughout our lives we will find songs, food and places (among many other things) that we enjoy and want to experience more than once….over and over in fact. Kim and I vacation at the same beach spot every single year – even in the same condo. So why, with all of this repetition in our lives, does it become touchy in the church or wherever you hear those kinds of things?

Back to that quote….it comes from a renowned English clergyman named GK Chesterton who lived until 1936 as was known as one of the most highly regarded and influential writers of the 20th century. He had some very interesting things to say on the subject of repetition:

“A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy;”

GK Chesterton from His book “Orthodoxy”

Food for thought, huh?

What do you enjoy repeating?

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Here are some of my favorite YouTube videos. Enjoy.

Trading Spaces – Athletes

Today marks the start of a new recurring column here. It’s called Trading Spaces. Are there people you would consider trading spaces with?

Over the next few weeks we will look at several categories. I am open to suggestions but I plan to discuss musicians, actors, politicians, news media personalities and other leaders. Seriously if you have a suggestion shoot me a note.

Today, for the first category, let’s talk Professional Athletes. Who are the pro athletes that you would consider trading spaces with? Who would you like to be for the day?

I have had a bit of a tough time narrowing it down to be quite honest. But I have finally come up with a list. I really do hope that you will take a moment to share yours with me in the comment section.

Here we go:

5. LeBron James – Have you been to Cleveland lately? This dude practically owns the city. It would be cool to walk in his shoes.
4. Shaquille O’Neal – In my opinion he is the biggest personality in sports. Hilarious. His new series “Shaq vs….” is going to be awesome!
3. Tiger Woods – I would love to know what it’s like to hit a golf ball like him. The bank account would be pretty sweet too!
2. Peyton Manning – Our hometown hero. Imagine being him on the day you wipe the field with the Patriots? Epic.
1. Albert Pujols (yes I know, quite a shock huh? – The dude is having a monster year. Imagine hitting a grand slam (or 5) in a sold out Busch Stadium in St. Louis?

Those who nearly made the list: Yadier Molina (Cardinals catcher), Derek Jeter (Yankees shortstop), Y.E. Yang (just kidding but he did stare down Tiger and win), Greg Norman (The Shark has always been a favorite of mine), Michael Jordan (Imagine being vintage MJ knocking down those championship winning shots)

There you have it….my list of the pro athletes I would enjoy trading spaces with for a day. My list is probably fairly obvious.

How about you?

Worship Matters Video Blog – 8.17.09

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5 Worst Movies I’ve Ever Seen

It really amazes me…..Hollywood types continue to bring in sick amounts of money and yet, how often do they really hit one out of the park? I really enjoy watching movies but many of them are just sooooooo bad!

It got me thinking…..what would I rate as the 5 worst movies I have ever seen? I watch a lot of movies so it took me a while to come up with a list. Would you be willing to share yours with me?

Here are the 5 worst movies I have ever seen:

5. Blue Sky (1994 – Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones & Powers Boothe)
4. Blankman (1994 – Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier & Robin Givens)
3. Clifford (1994 – Martin Short, Charles Grodin & Mary Steenburgen)

*Wow, how odd is it that all three of those are from 1994??

2. Year One (2009 – Jack Black & Michael Cera)
1. The Happening (2008 – Mark Wahlberg – “Hey donkey, say hello to your motha’ for me”)

So there’s my list of the 5 worst movies I have ever seen. What about you??