So I don’t listen to Christian radio any more, but Becky had it on in the van over the weekend, and on Sunday morning when I started the van to head to church, this song came on, and it’s driving me crazy. I’ve been frustrated with shallow and trite lyrics before, but I think this song takes the cake. To be fair, I’ll quote the whole song:
Some people tell me that I look kind of funny
My nose is red and the braces didn’t work at all
They say the clothes I wear are all out of fashion
I don’t fit in and should be shopping at a different mall
I studied classical piano when I could’ve been playing guitar
I used to drive an El Camino and I’m not even sure it’s a car(chorus)
I’m not cool but that’s okay
My God loves me anyway
I’m not cool but that’s alright
I’m still precious in His sight
I’m not cool but I don’t care
How I’m supposed to do my hair
I’m not cool but that’s okay
My God loves me anywayIt doesn’t matter if I know all the lingo
He dosen’t mind if I’m not hanging with a certain crowd
Some people still believe in building image
But I am fine and that’s a worry I can do without
I used to wish I was athletic but football was never my game
I met some friends in mathematics but no one can spell my last namechorus
He says that I am one of a kind
And I don’t have to try to be somebody else
He believes in me and says I’m free to be myself
I can be myself(I’m Not Cool – Scott Krippayne)
Becky has warned me that ripping on this song will just make me come across as a music snob. I’m probably guilty as charged… but I’ve gotta say something. In no particular order:
First thought: This could be the theme song for all of Christian Radio these days. The music they play is so out-of-date and repetitive… don’t get me started. It’s the same stuff I was hearing on Christian radio when I listened to it back in high school. And I graduated high school in 1995.
Second thought: There’s a fine line between saying “it’s OK if I’m not cool” and saying “I don’t need to be culturally relevant”. I understand what Krippayne is trying to say with the song. It’s supposed to be an encouragement to that poor socially-inept person who feels “uncool” and rejected by their peers. OK, great. But it’s a very short trip from that to saying “it doesn’t matter whether I’m in touch culturally or not”, which is a much shakier proposition. It seems to me that we do need to be culturally relevant; we’re not doing the Gospel any favors by intimating that only geeks and losers believe. Yeah, there’s a balance to be struck, but this song takes me way out past the edge of where I’m comfortable balancing.
Third thought: If it’s really OK to be uncool, why are the words and music written in a style that is attempting to be contemporary? Why not write it as a Gregorian chant or as Uzbekistani folk music or as hideous 70’s disco? Apparently it’s OK to be uncool unless you’re a CCM musician. Then you’ve gotta try to be, but the odds are you’ll fail miserably.
I can’t deny that the basic message of the song (“God loves me just as I am”) is true; it’s really the insipidity that kills me. Let me share, in closing, a song that does a far better job at eloquently sharing the wonder of God’s love for us. Brother Scott, you might take a lesson or two from Andrew Peterson.
What’s that on the ground?
It’s what’s left of my heart
Somebody named Jesus
Broke it to pieces
And planted the shardsAnd they’re coming up green
They’re coming in bloom
I can hardly believe
This is all coming trueJust as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
He showed me the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He doesAll of my life
I’ve held on to this fear
Its thistles and vines
Ensnare and entwine
What flowers appearedIt’s the fear that I’ll fall
One too many times
It’s the fear that His love
Is no better than mine(but He says that)
Just as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
He showed me the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He doesIt’s time now to harvest
What little that grew
This man they call Jesus
Who planted the seeds
Has come for the fruitAnd the best that I’ve got
Isn’t nearly enough
He’s glad for the crop
But it’s me that He lovesJust as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
The same as the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does
Just as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
The same as the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does(Just As I Am – Andrew Peterson)
Google Reader has fixed one of the major annoyances I had with it. Until today, when you subscribed to a new feed, it left it uncategorized; then you had to go to a separate screen and choose where you wanted to file that feed. Too many steps.
This morning when I subscribed to a feed, it gave me a little bar at the top of the screen asking which folder I wanted to file it in. Wonderful! Much, much better.
Now if only I could sort oldest-to-newest…
I just posted a short piece on our church website about blogging and how to get started reading blogs. If you’re reading this, you’re already reading blogs, so you don’t need the first part of the article. However, I thought I’d cross-post some of my reading list here; you have probably read some of these blogs already, but there may be a new one or two in the list. Enjoy!
Between Two Worlds – Justin Taylor is an editor at Crossway Books, and was before that a staff member at John Piper’s Desiring God Ministries. Justin is a frequent and informative blogger. This is a must-read blog.
Colossians 3:16 – This blog is written by the pastor of a church very near the town where I lived in Texas. He writes about music, theology, and has a weekly roundup that includes poetry!
Corner Table Online – This blog is written by some friends of mine. Their self-description: “We are young. We are writers. We are not satisfied with the way life is covered by the current crop of culture publications. We thought we could do better.” Worth reading.
Internet Monk – Michael Spencer is a Baptist pastor and teacher at a Baptist school in Kentucky. He is often controversial, but I have resonated more with and found more insight in his writing than in any other blogger of late.
Sacred Journey – Mark Traphagen is a forty-something seminary student in Philadelphia. He writes thoughtfully and shares from his life.
Worship Matters – Bob Kauflin is a long-time songwriter and musician. He is now the worship pastor at Sovereign Grace church outside of Washington, DC. He has good insights on doing music ministry.
Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key – OK, I have to plug my own blog here. Definitely the weakest of all that have been listed here… but you’ll find out a little more about me.
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Geof saw this, he linked it; I read it, now I’m linking it, too. Maybe when I get a little free time I can upgrade my comments page.(tags: wordpress)
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A chance to get a couple of free books, just for reviewing the previews? I'm on it.
Yard work isn’t my favorite task; it’s one of those things that gets done because it needs to be done, not because I really want to do it. But there is something increasingly pleasant about the pattern of life as I see it develop year after year. This will be our third autumn in this house, and so the third season of cold afternoons raking until dark, brisk Saturdays cleaning out gutters, and warm cups of tea waiting for me back in the house. When the raking gets long I will take comfort in the knowledge that in just a few weeks all the leaves will have fallen, the bags will have been collected, and all that will remain in this year’s outdoor maintenance is to prepare the snowblower for its season of work.
They say time speeds up as you get older, and I can understand why they say so. Children have a particular way of making time fly. Wasn’t it just yesterday that little girl was born? Today she sits up on her own, sports two teeth, and grabs everything in sight. Wasn’t it just recently I graduated from college? And yet the new grads at work this year look like mere children. When did I get old? What I am starting to see, though, is the joy in the patterns of life across the years.
Laura is old enough to attend Sunday School this fall, and she came up a few weeks ago chattering “day, night. day, night”. She’s learned about all the other things God created, too, but she has been stuck on “day, night”. At night when we pray I’ve been reinforcing to her that we’re praying to God who made day and night, sun, moon and stars (also favorites of hers!), and who made her. At her young age, I’m sure “day, night” seems like a long time; but even now she can start to learn the patterns that God has so beautifully designed for us. And before too long she’ll be out helping rake the leaves, mow the grass, and shovel the snow.
Writing this suddenly I feel old. I can take some short-lived comfort in the knowledge that my 30th birthday is still nearly 5 months off, but I know that it will come all too soon. (Some of my readers will say that 30 isn’t old – humor me for a minute.) I can be content, though, in knowing that the God who designs and upholds the days, seasons, and years has designed them for me, and me for them. And I can enjoy living them and passing the lessons of life on to my little girls. God is good.
My mother-in-law left a comment a few days ago letting me know that the sidebar doesn’t show up correctly for her. I’m assuming this is because she’s using Internet Explorer 6. So, I sat down tonight to fix it. But first, I thought, let’s download the brand-spanking-new IE7 and see what it looks like.
So, one download and a loooooong install later, I check it in IE7… and it looks just fine. So, they fixed something in there somewhere that makes this place look a lot nicer. Kind of them, huh? So I won’t bother trying to fix the theme now for IE6. Mom-in-law Carol, of course you should be using Firefox, but if you’re gonna use IE, just wait for your IE7 update and then you’ll see my blog in all the beauty it’s designed to have. 
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One of two articles by J. Budziszewski that JT links to… good stuff.
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The other article.
Last night I was headed to bed at a relatively early hour, and as I prepared to go to sleep I decided I’d get up and run this morning. I haven’t run much lately, and I need to. This morning was going to be relatively warm, good for running.
Then the Bears staged an amazing comeback and won the football game. I had to keep watching. The game ended at 11 PM, I figured I’d still be OK.
Then Laura woke up at 3 AM. And again at 4:30 AM. She pitched a fit when I told her she had to go back to sleep. I left her in her crib. At 5:00 she was back awake. So I brought her into our bed. She was awake until 5:30 when I finally got up to get ready for work. By 6:20 when I was leaving the house she was finally sleeping. Hopefully she sleeps in a while.
Needless to say, I didn’t get any running done this morning. And I think I’ll be finding something to drink with caffine in it here very soon now.
Children are an amazing blessing. But that doesn’t mean they won’t keep you up at night one way or another.
Last night I was headed to bed at a relatively early hour, and as I prepared to go to sleep I decided I’d get up and run this morning. I haven’t run much lately, and I need to. This morning was going to be relatively warm, good for running.
Then the Bears staged an amazing comeback and won the football game. I had to keep watching. The game ended at 11 PM, I figured I’d still be OK.
Then Laura woke up at 3 AM. And again at 4:30 AM. She pitched a fit when I told her she had to go back to sleep. I left her in her crib. At 5:00 she was back awake. So I brought her into our bed. She was awake until 5:30 when I finally got up to get ready for work. By 6:20 when I was leaving the house she was finally sleeping. Hopefully she sleeps in a while.
Needless to say, I didn’t get any running done this morning. And I think I’ll be finding something to drink with caffine in it here very soon now.
Children are an amazing blessing. But that doesn’t mean they won’t keep you up at night one way or another.