Conversation w/ Dustin Re: Passion 2013

Dustin, I'm thankful for you as a friend and learning counter-part personage. I might not be able to do my prayers with a koine greek New Testament in the morning like you, but I think I've read at least as much Jeremy Begbie. Ahem....

Your comments on The Twelve guest blog are generous and thoughtful. If anything you demonstrate to those outside of the contemporary worship and evangelical circles that there are some inside who are self-critical and wrestling to get it right. I fear that most on the outside assume the contemporary evangelical scene is a loud, popular-culture-acquiescing monolith. You burst that bubble. I pray I do too.

And I hope that your candid reflections also demonstrate to some (perhaps the students I lead) that my initial reflections on Passion 2013 are not as heavy handed as they might seem. As I've said before to you, how can we love the church enough to critique it?

Thanks again for reading and sharing. Much love!

Thoughts on the Passion Conferences, An Addendum

In the 11^th hour of Thursday night I was asked toguest blog for The Twelve, a blog associated with Perspectives, a Journal ofReformed Thought. In the wee hours I put down some thoughts about the Passionworship movement since I’d been thinking about their conference that day. I want to offer one more reflection on my friend Charlie Hall here that wouldn’t fit in the brief word length of the other piece.

On the last day of the Passion conference I attended in the late ‘90s, I walked down to the stage with the college students who were with me from the church where Charlie and I were leaders. After seeing his face and goatee so massively displayed on the enormous video screens above, it was a relief to watch him turn to us and retreat from the many other conference attendees/fans who were vying for his attention.

The stage was some five or six feet high. Charlie sat down on its edge with his legs crossed to say hello. I have never seen Charlie be anything on stage that he isn’t off stage. The same was true for that conference. Still, it was good to look my brother in the face and know him. The surreality of the stage and the enormity of the venue were finished like waking from a funky dream, and there he was again, a bona fide human being.

While I don’t keep up with him much anymore, all that I know and continue to witness of Charlie’s ministry continues to inspire. He is an honest relief. While my Reformed and Charismatic selves are conflicted, Charlie has pressed on for a couple decades with a simplicity and purity and a thoughtfulness that lends gravity and trustworthiness to Passion. I get overwhelmed with all that can come off as sensational, emotional and sentimental in contemporary worship circles, and then there’s Charlie and Dustin and Quint, still doing their thing.

Here is the other ordinary neighbor page....except this one is plural to include Susanna. We're getting everything all synced up between our sites and with bandcamp where you can purchase our record and her books. You can also find us on facebook....yada...yada...yada..... Internet marketing blitzzzz on this release because we have two boys and won't be able to get out to play and support the record properly.

I don't know if I've been more stoked about anything I've worked on. The goal was to make a record I would want to listen to and hopefully that love will be interesting to others. We'll see. If you do take a listen and enjoy it, please spread the word and help us find some more listeners a fb post, a tweet etc.

I'll share more later. Right now Casper, Shepherd and I are all sick. Sus is healthy thankfully.

Peace

Here We Go - Ordinary Neighbors

Here We Go - Ordinary Neighbors from Joshua Banner on Vimeo.

RECORD COMING SOON

God Is The Dream - Ordinary Neighbors from Joshua Banner on Vimeo.

New Song 1 Peter 6:6-8

Sus and I wrote a little piece based on 1 Peter 5:6-8 for the Verses Project that Joel Limpic and others have put together. The challenge was to write a song without any changes in the original bible passage. We fudged in one little place. Even though the arrangement and mix was done really quickly, this song can give you a glimpse into the sound of The Necessary Dark even though it isn't necessarily worship or devotional in nature.

CHECK IT OUT HERE

A Dose of Techno-Pessimism: The Problem(s) With the Smartphones

It's up online here.

I'm glad to get some of these thoughts down. I'm really interested in those who disagree with me and might be optimistic about these things. Please, please continue the conversation in the comments below or email me.