Tag: Christian Music
In 2012 I began teaching a course called “Christianity & the Arts,” and in 2014 I published a book on the same subject but directed specifically toward music, entitled Resonate: Enjoying God’s Gift of Music. In the process of researching for both the class and the book, I ended...
Christians—evangelical Christians—are those who have a sense of urgency about spreading the gospel. So when a Christian is handed a microphone, he or she knows what to do with it. That microphone, that platform, that position of influence, is to be used for the sake of the gospel.
That’s as...
Music is unquestionably a gift from God. He didn’t have to create us with the ability to hear, much less to hear sounds so exquisite that we’re moved to tears. And yet he created the complex physics of sound and enabled our brains to interpret all of the beauty...
This great quote is attributed to Elvis Costello: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Indeed.
That’s one of art’s greatest characteristics. It defies description. It resists paraphrase. So when it comes to writing about something as complex, subtly nuanced, and experience-driven as music, you may as well be...
A while back, Billy Corgan, rock legend and frontman of the band The Smashing Pumpkins, gave an interview in which he said that God is the future of rock n’ roll and acknowledges that this is what he has been exploring in his music lately. See the interview below: Those...
Music matters. Though we tend to think of music as simple entertainment, we should actually think critically about our music. Why? Because people believe what they sing. Because of this, I’m going to share my thoughts on a particular band.
I am accustomed to writing reviews for academic books not...
God, as the Creator, chose to make human beings creative. Creativity is no accidental side effect of being human—a thought that I believe plagues the subconscious thoughts of many Christians. No, God endowed us with creativity so that we would use that divinely engrained gift in cultivating his world...
I’ve written a fair amount about Christian music, and also about the Christian Music Industry (both the positive and the negative). One of the major weaknesses of “Christian Music” as an industry is that it can’t account for all of the solid music being created by solid Christians. It’s...
The Welcome Wagon made a pretty big splash in 2008 when they released their first album under the wing of Sufjan Stevens. The album came out on Sufjan’s label, and Sufjan himself produced and even arranged much of the album. This was enough to gain the band attention, but...
Yesterday I shared a couple of critiques of the Christian Music Industry. But let’s not try to do away with the Christian Music Industry just yet. More needs to be said. There are some positive aspects to having a Christian Music Industry.
On the Positive Side
A couple of good musician...