He should do this with “American Pie,” or anything by Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan… come to think of it, most folk or Western ballads could probably use the Tim Hawkins treatment. And there may be a few southern gospel songs that could use trimming too… Any other suggestions?

God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother… The second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male…God appoints all the priests in the Old Testament to be men; the Son of God came into the world to be a man; He chose 12 men to be His apostles; the apostles appointed that the overseers of the Church be men; and when it came to marriage they taught that the husband should be the head. Now, from all of that I conclude that God has given Christianity a masculine feel.

Well. You can just imagine the howls of indignation from Rachel Held Evans and her ilk. Of course Piper is spot-on, but naturally many will disagree.

Meanwhile, a certain blogger who shall not be named has offered his own take on the controversy as it relates to southern gospel. As an English professor and a post-modernist, his reaction is really rather typical. But it’s tricky. It’s slimy in a subtle way. So today I’d like to unpack it a bit for the benefit of my readers.

You see, when a liberal encounters something that clashes with his preferred political tastes—whether it’s in literature, in the culture, in the Church, or what have you–he can react in one of two ways. First, he can have an immediate negative knee-jerk response, i.e. “Such-and-such is terrible because it’s [fill-in-the-blank--sexist, racist, etc.] We must write books and articles shouting from the rooftops how terrible such-and-such/so-and-so is.”

Or, he can say, “Well… such-and-such seems bad on its face. But under the surface, there are all kinds of fascinating tensions and sub-texts that make it far more complicated and nuanced than the average layman might think. Really, we can’t be too simplistic, and having made a study of these underlying tensions, I’ve concluded that such-and-such should be received positively, whether it was meant to be or not.”

For example, consider this in the area of literary criticism. A passage of Shakespeare annoys the first group of liberals because they think it’s sexist. Up goes the cry, “Shakespeare is sexist!” But along come the post-modernists to say, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. I think you’re unaware of the sub-texts. Really, when you get under the surface of this passage, you discover that Shakespeare isn’t a sexist after all.” Because the Muse is liberal, you see, and because Shakespeare is great, Shakespeare must be a liberal at the end of it all. Otherwise he couldn’t create such great art. His artistic impulses are carrying him leftward whether he wills them to or not. So they do a post-modern “reading” of Shakespeare in order to “find” what they think has to be there.

This is what passes for respected intellectualism in the disaster that is our modern educational system—a disaster that would be laughable if it weren’t so profoundly and harmfully influential. And it’s what our blogger who shan’t be named is doing with southern gospel. In fact, it’s exactly what he’s doing with southern gospel. He begins by taking Piper’s quote as a sort of evangelical template for accepted gender roles. But then he says that even though fundamentalists would like to believe things are that simple, because such a foundation of “absolutes” gives them “security,” things are not as they seem. He then discusses ways in which he sees southern gospel “upending” the standards of this traditional template, e.g., the popularity of groups with a female lead singer, the fan love for tenor singers (“the man who sings like a woman”), and emotional songwriting (like Marshall Hall’s “When I Cry”).

Now of course that’s a lot of… I’m going to restrain myself here… baloney sausage. But you have to get inside the post-modernist’s head to see how this works. Yes, it’s twisted. Yes, it’s ridiculous. But you see, they’ve got to find the… here comes the word… “subversive” forces at work in whatever they’re analyzing. (That word by the way is explicitly used in the blurb for said blogger’s upcoming book, which should be a textbook example of this kind of analysis in its full glory.) The southern gospel culture isn’t so sexist and hypocritical after all. It’s so much more interesting than that. It has to be.

Let me close with a candid word from my own experience: One of the reasons why I was initially attracted to southern gospel was because it seemed like a much “manlier” genre than, say, CCM or praise and worship. Or, to be more specific, what CCM and P & W have become in the last decade or so. I was so sick of the effeminate singing, the effeminate songs, the cheap emotionalism. I was sick of dudes with bad hair and torn-up jeans singing love songs to Jesus. But when I watched this video clip, I felt like I was standing in front of an open door. There was a whole world of music out there that I had never explored. And it looked promising. Much more promising. From there, the rest is history. (And please, for those of you who just can’t wait to spill your insinuations about how southern gospel is really infested with homos… save it. I’m not denying that there may indeed be some, nor am I denying that this is a problem if true. But pointless gossip is worse than pointless. I for one am content to enjoy the many perfectly normal men who are singing good, manly music.)

So, that’s about the closest you’re going to get to a review of our blogger’s upcoming book from me. I have no intention of wasting pennies or seconds on it, because I can already recognize it for the insignificant bit of post-modern clap-trap that it is. If you were planning to spend your own time and money in that way, it’s none of my concern. (And I know that Daniel Mount is bravely volunteering to do so for the purposes of reviewing it.) However, I do encourage you to spend that time and money elsewhere. I believe it will be better spent that way.

*The second piece of NQC news, which I am MUCH more excited about, is a GVB Reunion showcase encore. It was such a smash last year somebody had the bright idea of bringing it back. Guy Penrod apparently WILL be at NQC, but so far it’s too early to specify who will or won’t take part in the showcase. However, I think it’s safe to say that there will be many eyebrows raised and questions asked if Guy doesn’t participate. Hopefully this means they can stage songs they didn’t stage last year, like “I Believe In a Hill Called Mount Calvary,” “The Old Rugged Cross Made the Difference,” or “It is Finished.”

As for the other no-shows last year (including former tenors Jonathan Pierce and Terry Franklin), I think it’s an open question whether they’ll come, but I would be very happy if Terry could somehow squeeze it in around his worldwide ministry schedule. I joked on Swain’s blog that fingers crossed, Terry won’t be in Uzbekistan or something during NQC week. His voice is still supple and strong after all these years, and he would add immensely to the showcase.

*Devin McGlamery had surgery on his left pectoral muscle this week and is recovering at home. He’s still in a lot of pain, and he’s been fighting nausea on top of that, so continue to keep him in your prayers.

*Want to see Wayne Haun smile? Finally, you can. Shhhhhh, no comments on the fishiness of the photo.

*Poet Voices: I will be watching one of their re-launch concerts this evening and writing something up afterwards. Who’s planning to be there with me? [Update: The concert for Saturday night has been canceled.] [Further Update: Technical problems plagued the ASGM team, and they were unable to broadcast on the 19th either. I don't know if the 17th was a success or not.]

*I didn’t watch the Grammys, and I don’t really give a hoot about Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj or whoever has been making recent Grammy headlines. Perverted products of a perverted culture. Though I am disgusted by liberal Christian attempts to guilt-trip other Christians into “forgiving” Chris Brown, just like the Grammys “forgave” (read: re-marketed) him. Number one, why exactly do WE have to forgive Chris Brown, especially when some of us barely give any thought to his existence, and number two, since when has renewed elevation and celebration coupled with trivialization of past wrongs become the new definition of “forgiveness?”

Meanwhile, the really big news from the Grammys as far as I’m concerned is that Laura Story’s song “Blessings” captured top honors in the “Contemporary Christian Song” category. I am blown away. Not only am I blown away by the fact that a good quality Christian song became popular enough to be nominated for a Grammy (especially looking at a few of the other nominees), but I’m blown away that it actually WON. Way to go Laura. You can read a nice piece on her win here, which also details some of the backstory that inspired the song. In celebration of her victory, here is “Blessings”:

I hear this is also becoming a popular worship song, so the wasteland that is contemporary P & W has gotten a little boost in quality too.

If you could pick just three favorite contemporary praise songs—your ripest picks—what would they be and why? (Note: I am using “contemporary” loosely. It seems only fair to allow you to pick stuff from the 90s/80s, since southern gospel has such a rich history. This means you can include something like “Great Is the Lord.”)

If you could pick just three favorite southern gospel songs—again, prime cuts—what would they be and why?

Now let me ask another question: If you tried to compare the worship songs with the gospel songs in terms of quality, do you think you could? Or would you feel like it was an apples and oranges question?

Here is a harder question. Try it with HYMNS and southern gospel. Three hymns, three southern gospel songs. Can you do it now?

So what’s new in southern gospel or the world in general? Let’s see…

*It’s not too late to win a free online ticket to a Poet Voices concert. Follow the link here.

*The mother of all Best of Johnny Cash collections is in the works. Hat tip, DBM, read more about it here.

*Southern Gospel Critique really is all the way back now, and we SINCERELY hope they’re never hacked again!

*From assorted Facebook posts, it looks like Devin McGlamery of Signature Sound hurt himself while lifting weights and tore a muscle in his chest. He wasn’t present at their most recent concert [Update: Actually he was there and did sing a song, but sat out most of the evening.], and it looks as though he’ll need surgery. Keep Devin in your prayers! Ouch.

*Speaking of Signature Sound, their brand new album Here We Are Again is now available at all retail outlets. Go get it! It’s really good. I expect most of you have already read my review, but in case not, read it here.

*David Bruce Murray is just going ahead and saying it: Ernie Phillips… the Kingsmen… reunited… as Bill Gaither would say, why not?

*In the world of politics, Obama’s outrageous new health-care regulations have united Christians across the country in protest. The Senate Democrats successfully blocked a Republican attempt to repeal it. Big surprise there. This news item has happened to coincide with the fact that Susan G. Komen allowed itself to be arm-twisted into continuing to fund Planned Parenthood. You know that passage about crying “peace, peace” when there is no peace? Yeah, about that…

*Either I’m too tired to keep looking, or it’s been a quiet week. I’m guessing both. So I will leave you with… Paul Simon. This was the first song I heard from Graceland, and from that moment, I was hooked. As a matter of fact, that album just celebrated its 25th anniversary. There was something about the music of the song, it just put inexplicable tears of joy in my eyes because it was so richly infectious. I don’t know whether it was the horns, or the bass, or the “Ta-na-na-na-na…” or the wonderful, impossible blending of them all together.

Does everybody know what I’m talking about? I mean everybody here know exactly what I’m talking about?

***

It’s an open thread, which means you can talk about something else besides Paul Simon if you want to.

Basically, here’s my question: What’s all the fuss about with this guy? For those of you who may not know, he’s a crooning swing-pop sensation who sings “throwback jazz” in the style of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And he appears to have quite a few fans within Southern Gospel. In fact, I don’t keep up with the secular music scene, so that was how I first heard about him. And it was all rave reviews. So I thought I would check him out.

My conclusion was that he has some nice chops. But let’s just say his personality and ideas of comedy leave a lot to be desired.

I’ve browsed through numerous concert reviews from all different venues where people have consistently described his jokes as “R-rated.” On several different occasions, he’s even singled out small kids in the audience in some way (pointing them out, getting a picture with them, etc.) and then turned right around and done “the finger” or dropped the f-bomb. He also jokes about the fact that people think he’s gay, sometimes saying that even though he isn’t, he would be “very proud of it” if he was. And all that is just the tip of the iceberg. I should add that this kind of behavior has been noted even by people who are giving him positive reviews—they seem to think it’s funny.

There’s another thing I know some people might be able to brush away, but I think it’s worth mentioning as well. Granted his music and music videos may be tame by certain standards, but the vid for the song “Haven’t Met You Yet” features Michael lounging around with some cute chick on a bed in the middle of a grocery store. Fully clad, but still. I’d feel weird if my 10-year-old put it up for her Facebook status (which a 10-year-old I know of actually did).

However, whatever your opinion may be on that, I think a lot of his Christian fans who’ve never been to a concert of his (or who’ve caught him on a good night, as one gospel singer did) may simply be unaware of the kind of show he consistently delivers. The consensus: NOT a family-appropriate one. And I don’t know about you, but that really lowers my respect for him and makes me disinclined to listen to his music, even if I think he has some talent. It just makes me appreciate performers who have real class all the more.

Now let me clarify something before going further: I’m not against listening to secular artists. My ipod is loaded with them. Sure, Billy Joel isn’t exactly a model of morality. But he’s not aiming for the demographic Michael Buble is aiming for. And I can’t appreciate the kind of artist who markets himself to a wide age range, attracts families with children to his concerts, and then proceeds to frat-boy his way around the stage with no regard for that demographic whatsoever. If you’re going to be crude and obscene, at least don’t pretend to be the classy, family-friendly type in the image you project to the market.

And you know, the sad thing is that I can see why he’s popular. I can see why a lot of people like his music, and the reason is that his style hearkens back to a more innocent time. It’s different from the junky hip-hop and club disco and electro what-not that’s circulating around these days. People associate his music with class, elegance, and style. Would that he personally embodied those characteristics in the way he acts when he’s not singing. And tell the truth, it’s difficult not to sense that he’s immensely pleased with himself even when he sings—very much of an “Anything you can sing, I can sing smoother” attitude.

So bottom line is… if you see some of your favorite gospel singers tweeting about Buble, and you don’t happen to recognize the name… it’s a lot of hype over a guy who doesn’t deserve it. Take my word for it.

Ronald Reagan

Today is the 101st anniversary of the birth of my all-time favorite President (as you can see on my “About” page). His name has become legend. If I were to say it among a random group of Americans, anyone would know immediately who I’m talking about. But fewer people are familiar with who Ronald Reagan was before he became President, particularly before he began his political career.

Ronald Reagan spent most of his young life in Hollywood, carving out a respectable niche for himself while rubbing shoulders with a lot of famous stars. He was never a great actor, yet he had charisma and a natural presence on screen that endeared him to viewers. But more importantly, he built a reputation as a genuinely nice guy. He offered advice, but it was never the kind of “advice” that was designed to put him in the spotlight. He was always helping the other actors, always working with a mind to what was best for the picture as a whole.

In 1949, he worked in a brilliant film called The Hasty Heart. It came at a low point in his life and his career, but he turned in one of his most memorable performances. However, it became clear that the real star of the picture was a young rookie actor named Richard Todd (who would earn a richly deserved Oscar nod for his moving portrayal of the lead character, a young soldier who doesn’t know he’s dying). Was Reagan jealous? Looking back, Todd recalls that Reagan “couldn’t have been nicer to a complete unknown.”  Interestingly, there’s a letter Reagan wrote while he was President where he says almost the exact same thing about working with Humphrey Bogart in the late 30s. Bogart was established, but Reagan was just starting out. Yet Reagan recalls, coincidentally with almost the exact same wording Todd used, that Bogart “couldn’t have been more helpful to a beginner like myself.” Not every actor was this generous and humble (Errol Flynn for one had a rather different attitude towards Reagan, particularly when Reagan started to get more fan mail than he did), but Bogie was. That little “chain” intrigued me: Established Bogart encourages young Reagan, and then a decade and a half later an established Reagan turns around and pays it forward to another young actor.

That sort of chain can be forged anywhere. No matter what your field is, when you invest yourself in the young “unknowns,” the young “beginners,” you have no idea what that simple kindness might mean for somebody years down the road. That young “beginner” you helped will never forget what you did for him, and one day when he makes a name for himself, he may well turn around and pass your gift along to someone else. It can even happen in southern gospel. Humility is the key. The moment you start thinking it’s all about you is the moment you stop giving of yourself to others. Reagan was a team player in the best sense of the word.

Another notable characteristic of the young Reagan was that he was always committed to doing his best in whatever he did, no matter how small. I’d like to quote from something he wrote just before going off to the army reserves in 1942. It was a magazine essay that he titled “How to Make Yourself Important.” But the title was really a bit of a joke. Listen to what Reagan has to say here:

I hold that all this business about making yourself important by means of externals is no good. Clothes, being seen in the Right Places, show, swank–No! … Nor do I believe that you have to be a standout from your fellow men in order to make your mark in the world. Average will do it. Certainly if I am to serve as my own guinea pig for this little homily, it will have to do it…..

Lots of kids write and ask my advice about how to make their mark in an indifferent world….So what I’d like to tell ‘em is this: Look, you must love what you are doing. You must think what you are doing is important because if it’s important to you, you can bet your last ducat that other people will think so, too. It may take time, but they’ll get around to it…

Reagan goes on to talk about playing “B” pictures and working his way up:

Thanks to some good advice from a guy named Pat O’Brien [the actor who played Knute Rockne in Reagan's breakout film], I played those “B’s” as if they were “A’s.” You see, the boss only goes by results. If I do a part carelessly because I doubt its importance, no one is going to write a subtitle explaining that Ronald Reagan didn’t feel the part was important, therefore he didn’t give it very much….

And at the end, he talks about his future:

Uncle Sam has called me, a  Reserve Officer in the Cavalry, and I’m going off to war, still true to my precepts: (a) to love what you are doing with all your heart and soul and (b) to believe what you are doing is important.

Again, so true, for everything in life—including music. Are you a talented young singer looking for an opportunity to show what you can do? Are you a little-known group patiently waiting for your big break? Then take Reagan’s youthful advice to heart: Love what you’re doing, and play the “Bs” like they’re “As.” If you’re a hopeful teenager, and somebody invites you to sing at a nursing home, go and give it everything you’ve got. If your small trio or quartet is invited to sing at a church and only two dozen people show up, sing like you’re on mainstage at NQC. If you truly believe that you are doing something important, people will see that, and more importantly God will see that. If you are faithful in a few things, wherever God has planted you, then He will reward you with many things.

*Speaking of fellow bloggers, I’m happy to report that both Southern Gospel Critique and Musicscribe are back up and running after recovering from various issues (the one was re-grouping after a virus attack, the other was re-locating). They both look pretty spiffy too. [UPDATE: As of late Saturday evening, Southern Gospel Critique once again appears to have a malware issue. I hope they're able to resolve it again as soon as possible.] [Further update: Adam and Brian have decided to delete the whole site and start from scratch. It's safe to click on the link again, but the site will look blank until they've imported all their old posts back. I'm sorry you guys! I feel for you!]

*Southern Gospel Blog has a new look as well. Maybe it’s just me but it seems a tad… white.

*George Bev Shea turned 103 this week! February 1st, to be exact. Via Minnesota SG Fan, here is a clip from early December of the legend singing “How Great Thou Art.” (The video was taken by popular Christian author Randy Alcorn.) I remember the shock my mom and dad had recently when they realized George Bev Shea was still around. “I mean, like, we remember him from HIGHSCHOOL.”

*Speaking of when mom and dad were in highschool (or at least college)… Ferris Bueller is BAAAAAACK. Why bother with multiple ads during the Super Bowl when they could just roll this one over and over? Even if the basic message seems to boil down to “You become Matthew Broderick if you buy a CR-V.” Results may vary there…

*Popular Christian author and speaker Eric Metaxas appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast this week and gave a speech laced with humor and some surprisingly direct proclamations of conservative ideals. Although it could have been strengthened in some places (he’s good, but he’s no Mother Theresa), I thought that overall it was a solid and impressive presentation. Watch and enjoy it via an embed on Denny Burk’s site here.

*So James MacDonald decided to film himself doing a post-mortem with some black pastor friends over the T. D. Jakes brou-ha-ha, apparently so they could pat him on the back. I was truly shocked by the blatant racism of some of their comments, and others are too. Watch the video here and read Carl Trueman’s appropriately unimpressed and acerbic recap here.

*A gold-mine of videos from a recent Mark Trammell Quartet concert with new/old tenor Eric Phillips was posted just a few days ago. Unfortunately, the audio quality isn’t as good as it could be, but video is great. Here’s “Wedding Music.” Watch others in related videos, including “Gloryroad.” I love Mark Trammell’s intro to Eric in “Gloryroad”: “This is one of the most requested songs he did when he was here, and I learned to despise it as much as any song I’ve ever sung. But somebody seems to like it, so we’re gonna do it, and if you don’t mind, just endure…”

*Speaking of tenors named Phillips, Ernie Phillips has been making a comeback filling in with the Kingsmen. We sure wouldn’t mind it if he decided to stick around. Here is the video that’s generated the most buzz over the week—a stunning performance of “God Saw a Cross.” I’ll be honest, I knew Ernie was a great singer, but I didn’t know he had this in him. Once again, you’ll have to put up with slightly muddy audio, particularly on the bridge, but it’s worth it. Man, I wish I could have been in the audience for this:

(I know most readers of this blog are already familiar with the song, but for the benefit of those reading who aren’t, the lyrics for the bridge say:

And when I finally gave my heart to Jesus
From that moment of time until forever
When God sees me He only sees the cross)