Live Recording of “My Man’s Got the Blues”
My Man’s Got the Blues is the cry of Job’s wife after they lost all their children as well as their livelihood.
Quizzes, Trick Questions, and Answers that Aren’t
I read some posts recently related to a quiz that was given (just for fun) on a songwriting board I visit occasionally ( www.christiansongwriters.org ). Most of the posts were in the vein of “my answer was counted wrong, but it’s correct because…” .
Having worked for quite a few years in technical training, I can tell you that writing questions that cannot be miscontrued is one of the hardest things you can do. If you’re successful at it, you are a very good test writer.How you define something makes all the difference in how a question will be interpreted. Most …
Notes on Job
From Walter Brueggamann’s “Introduction to the Old Testament”
· Undated – uses older genres and patterns of speech and fashions them into the most artistic and practical statement of faith in the O.T.
· Challenges the basic premises of Israel’s faith
· Refuses easy resolution
· Composed mostly of lament and hymn, which is pushes to an “emotional, artistic, and theological extremity”
· An immensely sophisticated and artistic work that is removed from any particular historical context or crisis
In “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time”, Marcus Borg says that if we read Job searching for an answer to why good people suffer, we …
One Act Theater
One Act Theater is a song that I wrote the lyrics to over 20 years ago (circa 1986). I was listening a lot to U2’s Joshua Tree release and, as I often do, wrote my own lyrics to several of their tunes… or actually, just used the rhythm and flow of the song to direct my words.
I tried several times unsuccessfully to get music written for the song and figured it would be like most of the other songs I’ve written that mildew in my files with nothing else ever being done with it (I have a long list of song lyrics that …
A Brief History of “Job”
“Job” started for me in 1986 when I was reading the book of Job in the Old Testament for what may have been the first time. I realized it was an epic poem and was struck by its complexity, beauty, and emotional intensity. I decided to see if I could rearrange some of its verses to put them into modern verse that could be sung. Plenty of people had done the same thing with many of the psalms, but I did not know if anyone had attempted to put “Job” to music.
I started at the beginning ( which is a …
Preview Postview Redux
We just came out of a couple of weekends of back to back preview performances. The first was Friday, June 1, at Lakemont Presbyterian Church. We performed in the sanctuary this time, making use of the new speaker system that was installed not long ago. It sounded quite awesome.
Our regular sound technician, Al Milliron, was in Florida with his lovely bride Cathy, so my good friend Bob Williams (owner of Williams Sound Company) agreed to step in and take care of the sound needs. He did a stellar job, of course, and deserves much more thanks than I can give …
2-point takeaway
If there are any main “points” that I think you need to come away from a study of Job with, I think they would be…
1. No matter what you believe to be true ‘about’ God, you could be wrong; and,
2. God is. Deal with it.
The majority of the book of Job, in all of its excellence and poetry, is comprised of Job’s friends extolling the virtues of their particular brand of theology/philosophy/belief system. For the greater part of his life, Job believed pretty much as they did.
But then his experience challenged his belief.
It is precisely in this challenge that God is revealed …
Preview Postview
A preview of “Job: a Postmodern Opera of Biblical Proportions” was presented Sunday night, February 4th in Lakemont’s fellowship hall. We were blessed with a larger than normal crowd in attendance who seemed genuinely appreciative and moved by the performance (were those “whoops” I heard??). Thanks to all who attended.
We rearranged the order of a few of the songs for this preview, plus added some narration to help the overall flow and continuity of the storyline. I think it helped. I have not heard the recording from Sunday night, but overall I think our sound and balance was better than ever. Kudos to Al Milliron …
Job… opening narration
The story of Job is one of the oldest stories known to man and is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible, which is itself a collection of ancient books that mysteriously - mystically - connects our souls to the cosmos.
It is an artistic work of immense sophistication that is removed from any particular historical context or crisis. Its tension strikes a chord that rings throughout history… from ancient Israel’s exile to modern Israel’s Holocaust… from the genocide perpetrated by Genghis Khan’s Mongol warriors to that taking place - today - in Darfur.
Job is a story about a …
She whose name is unspoken
Job’s wife has been much maligned and, in my opinion, misunderstood. Much of that misunderstanding is understandable, I suppose, since she is mentioned in only one verse in the entire book of Job and in that, we are not even told her name. In chapter 2, after all the calamities have fallen on Job and he is sitting in a pile of ashes scraping his sores with a broken piece of pottery, his wife comes to him. Verse 9: “His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
You can see why so …
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