U2, Too Good!!

100,000 people standing up, hands in the air, singing to their fullest, "Amazing grace how sweet the sound," led by Bono is enough to send a chill down the spine. At the U2 360 Degree concert at the Texas Stadium this past Monday they led into "Where Streets Have No Name" with this great hymn. Be on the lookout for blogs and You Tube videos devoted to finding deep significance in this as people try to make it some profound statement of the band's faith, but I'm not going to do that. I'm just jazzed about the concert and was personally touched by that particular set.

Most of us will never have the opportunity to set foot in the new Cowboys stadium, seeing as NFL ticket prices continue to climb to heights that will soon be obtainable only upon refinancing your house that just lost half its value, so let me just say that the stadium is an architectural and engineering wonder. You walk into the behemoth and are actually at the top of the second tier of bleachers. The field looms some 75-100 feet below ground level with bleachers stacked above it several hundreds of feet. There is no post to block any seat from having a clear view of the field, just a massive expanse that could probably develop its own weather patters if left unattended.

For the concert, U2's stage made this massive enclosure seem almost cramped. The stage's top spire rose to near equal height with the stadium's flat panel display, the largest in the world, that hangs from the roof of the stadium. Its four legs created an arch that enveloped the stage and made what was probably a 50-yard total stage diameter appear puny and insignificant. Above the band was a circular screen composed of hundreds (thousands?) of independent LCD displays that could be joined to form one continuous screen or could be stretched from the of the arches towards the surface of the stage.

So, in the midst of a monumental stage inside a marvelous stadium U2 entered to the deafening cheers of 100,000 fans. They did a great selection of music that wasn't restricted to No Line on the Horizon, but provided a smattering of music from the breadth of their extensive repertoire. The fans were so numerous and enthusiastic that at one point even Bono, who typically is un-phased by massive crowds, said, "Wow, that's a lot of people." The energy level of both the crowd and the band didn't waiver, but only built as the night continued.

This was my first major concert. Previously, the largest crowd I'd been a part of for a concert probably numbered about 3000. That's likely why I've dedicated so many words to describing the event last night. They still have a few more stops left on their tour, so if U2 is coming to a town reasonably near you I recommend finding tickets (if they aren't sold out yet).

"I believe in the Kingdom Come, then all the colors will bleed into one, bleed into one, but yes I'm still running. You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains, carried the cross of my shame, of my shame, you know I believe it..."

~may Yahweh be praised...

Here's to Good Music

I’ve had music on the mind quite a bit lately. Part of that may be because I just received my tickets for a U2 concert at the Cowboy’s new stadium in Arlington. With a capacity for 100+ thousand people, it should prove to be a concert to remember. That isn’t for several months, though.

Even more exciting for me was the opportunity to attend an Andrew Peterson concert today on campus here at the seminary. As a singer/songwriter myself, I have been greatly influenced by AP’s songwriting style and it was a treat to listen to his show and then talk with him afterwards. One of the most encouraging aspects of the concert was that he forgot the words to a couple songs while he was mid-song. Now I know you may be scolding me and accusing me for delighting in the struggles of another, but I have had that happen in one of my own concerts. It was relieving to realize that even those who are experienced with sharing music in a concert setting are struck with the mental quibbles that cause lyrics to leave one lacking the next line. If for some reason you haven’t gotten around to listening to any of Andrew Peterson’s latest albums, I highly recommend you pick them up. Even if you don’t like his music style, buy the CD for the opportunity to read the lyrics. God has gifted him with the ability to craft words that draft pictures more vibrant than the finest painting.

With the semester winding to a close, I’m looking forward to more opportunities to work on my own music. There are several songs I’ve been whittling away at through these last months, but without sufficient time to focus on them they’ve remained ideas and thoughts but still lack any musical quality. Hopefully that will change in the months to come. I’ll keep you posted...

Learning From the Past

Picture: the carving above is a representation of the god Baal defeating the 7-headed leviathan sea monster (a.k.a., Yom, the chaotic sea god).

My favorite course this semester is the Old Testament elective I’m taking. It’s called “Israel Religion in Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) Context.” I know... I know... to call this my favorite course is to admit to being a bit nerdy and geeky, but given the topic I’ll gladly admit to that. Allow me to explain a little about this course and about what makes it so interesting to me.

To best understand what the Bible is teaching you must understand the culture in which it is written. Since we are not in 10th century BC Israel it is impossible to observe the culture first hand, which means we need to immerse ourselves within that culture in different ways. One of the ways to do that is to study the literature from cultures that are temporally, linguistically and geographically proximate to Israel. These cultures include Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Ugarit, to name a few. For the course I’m taking we’ve been studying the literature of these cultures and applying that knowledge to our understanding of the biblical texts. The sources of literature have included pyramid and coffin texts from Egypt, including the Book of the Dead, the Enuma Elish, which is the Mesopotamian creation account, the Baal Cycle from Ugarit, and other mythical and poetic writings from cultures with which Israel would have interacted.

In class today, Dr. Hilber’s lecture provided a tremendous example of why this is so interesting to me and why it is a valuable area of study for the church today. Consider Psalm 29. Without thinking of anything other than the english text we read this passage seems to be a simple declaration of God’s power and strength. While the strength and power of Yahweh is definitely in view there is so much more working “behind the scenes” that we miss if we aren’t familiar with other ANE cultures and writings. What we learned today and what the study of ANE literature helps to unveil is that this psalm is not a simple declaration that God is strong, but is in fact an argument, or polemic, against Baal worship and a declaration that Yahweh God is the God whom the Israelites should esteem and not Baal, one of the gods of the neighboring regions.

Perhaps a comparison will help. By pointing out these similarities I am not implying that these specific phrases are in some way direct parallels or quotations, but rather trying to illustrate the point that the psalmist of Psalm 29 very likely had the Baal myth in mind when composing the Psalm and chose language that would help the reader realize the overall point that Yahweh God is powerful and the only deity worthy of worship. The Baal Cycle is from Ugarit, which is a society that lived north of Israel and is contemporaneous with the Israel we read about in the Old Testament. The Baal Cycle itself is the story of Baal, the storm God, conquering Yom, the chaotic sea god, and his resultant claim of kingship over the other deities in the Ugarit pantheon. I’m taking these Baal passages from the book: Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, edited by Simon B. Parker and part of the SBL Writings form the Ancient World Series (published by the Society of Biblical Literature in 1997).

Ps 29:5 - the voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars; Yahweh breaks the cedars of Lebanon

Baal Cycle: He sends to Lebanon for its wood, to Siryon for its choicest cedar

Ps 29:6 - the voice of Yahweh is powerful; the voice of Yahweh is full of majesty

Baal Cycle: Baal recites the issue of his lips, his holy voice the earth shakes

Ps 29:7a - the voice of Yahweh flashes forth flames of fire

Baal Cycle: May he (Baal) flash to the earth lightning

Ps 29:7b- the voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness

Baal Cycle: Baal gives vent to his holy voice... the high places of the earth shake

Ps 29:10 - Yahweh sits enthroned over the flood; Yahweh sits enthroned as king forever

Baal Cycle: Let Baal be enthroned on his royal throne, on the resting place the throne of his dominion

This is just one small example of what you can find throughout the Old Testament and is by no means exhaustive. There are other outstanding examples of this in the account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, in the creation account in Genesis, throughout the book of Job, and in the prophetic books.

So here’s my point, when the Old Testament was written there was a specific culture to which it was written. Specific metaphors were used to portray concepts that would impact the reader so they could better remember and be influenced by the writing. In the comparison above the writer doesn’t simply say “hey, Yahweh is strong and mighty,” instead he provides a strong polemic against Baal and for the worship of Yahweh and says “anything the surrounding nations claim Baal can do, Yahweh can do, and can do better.” To fully understand the Old Testament we must immerse ourselves in the culture of the Old Testament as best we can.

We serve an amazing God; a God whom is more powerful than any other perception of deity that mankind can develop.

May Yahweh be honored through our lives!