Greenbelt Music Reviews

If you look closely you might be able to find three of my reviews in the Cross Rhythms’ Greenbelt music reviews this year. I reviewed Grace’s performance of Landskapes, the King\Cave Project and Transcendence. Just search the pages for Dancin' Dave Derbyshire.  

The Two Halligans

I just got back from a gig by the Two Halligans. A great pairing of two excellent Christian musicians Rob Halligan and Bob Halligan playing guitars and keyboard to twenty or thirty of us squashed into a living room in a house just down the road.

Many thanks to Mike Rimmer for setting this up.

David Matthew on the Hymn 'Love Divine'

Charles Wesley’s hymn ‘Love Divine, All Love’s Excelling’ is an enduring favourite at weddings and funerals. My old friend David Matthew has just published an analysis of its lyrics under the title of ‘Charles's Off-Day ’.

Many years ago I seem to remember singing this hymn in my Pentecostal church on Pentecost Sunday. I think some of my Pentecostal friends interpreted it as someone seeking the baptism in the Spirit. I always thought this was strange considering it was a Wesleyan hymn.

David shows that this hymn probably is about an idea of a second experience following conversion, but one that they called ‘entire sanctification’. Some have even gone as far as saying that this experience could result in sinless perfection in this life. This was never a popular doctrine. So over the years the words have been tweaked to hide the real meaning - leaving us with some puzzling lyrics.

Worship Star

I think this song just one of the signs of a growing restlessness about contemporary worship. It satirises the temptation for Christian musicians to make money by writing new worship songs with the same old clichés.

Recently, Mike Rimmer wrote an hard hitting article, on the Cross Rhythms site, lamenting the demise of music ministry and trying to inspire people to something better. Mike had just posted a link to Worship Star on his facebook status - saying that the song summed up how he was feeling about this topic - when co-incidentally I was looking at a post on Jonny Baker’s blog that pointed to a couple of articles on a site called Music Academy. In a similar vain, Jonny was struck by an article about being bored with contemporary worship and one by Brian McLaren that made some positive suggestions about worship songs.

Anyway, I commented to Jonny about this video. He thought it was hilarious and reposted the link. I hope you enjoy it.

Related post: The Future Direction of Worship

Spring Harvest

For a few days over the Easter weekend we went to Spring Harvest at Butlins in Minehead. We were pleased that there was plenty for our little daughter Callie. We could drop her off in her own sessions for three hours each morning. The Butlin’s activities were also open to us such as a fairground, swimming pool, climbing frames, etc. So it was just as much a holiday as a conference. But still I was hoping for a little more than just 'lively' worship and 'inspiring' sermons in the meetings.

In the mornings we chose the Encounter Bible Studies. Russ Parker who is part of the Northumbria Community had some interesting stories to tell about how God had spoken to him and used him in various settings. I was glad that the preaching was accompanied by PowerPoint and short videos often featuring Christian music and compilations of scenes from movies or slides. Russ also had a couple of violinists who played for us and led us in songs and hymns. And there was a short time for group work and feedback.

After a break there was a choice of sessions that unpacked the study guide on the theme of being an apprentice of Jesus. I went to a couple of these sessions and found that it was good to have the talks broken up with activities again. But I found all these teaching sessions a bit too much really. So one morning I went to the chapel to be quiet, read the Bible and pray in the first session. I also found the Prayer House, which for me was the best find of the week. For a couple of the second sessions I was in there praying at the various prayer stations, writing on the prayer wall and relaxing in God’s presence.

In the afternoons I went to the art workshops and spend some time with Callie taking her on the dodgems, adventure golf and soft play area as well as taking her to a multi-sensory worship workshop. My niece Hannah had also found the Prayer House and recommended going to one of their meditations while Nettes watched Callie. I discovered that this was really an alternative worship service – with video, prayers and responses and a worship activity. If I was to go to Spring Harvest again I would do one of these every day.

We went half board so we had dinner and breakfast at the Butlins' diner. They were excellent for your traditional British meat and two veg. But there was not so much choice on the veggie options, healthy options or international cuisine all of which I tend to prefer. So I usually joined the queue for the salad bar. But the 'all you can eat' policy meant that we always had plenty.

In the evenings I took turns with Nettes to be with Callie in her session and put her to bed - I found it very special to take the bread and wine with Callie one evening. But this meant that I only got a couple of full evenings out as the first day we were just settling in. One evening I spent in the Encounter Café that ran as an alternative to the main celebration. There was music, audience interaction, chat, games and a five minute preach as well as making these plasticine models! The other evening I went to the Readings and Reflections - another service with Russ Parker. I also went to see Sue Rinaldi and comedian Joe Fisher. But these gigs didn’t start until 10:30 so this gave me a couple of hours in the Sun and Moon where I could quietly read my study guide with a pint.

All this meant there was one venue we had not gone to when it came to the last day – the Big Top. I did see something of it the night before on our chalet TV. During the meeting two artists who I knew from the art workshops were painting a huge picture at the back of the stage. And anyone could come up and do some art beside the stage. So on the last morning it was the Big Top. I looked around the artwork that was there. But apart from the art I was not as impressed with this venue as much as the others I had seen - especially the Prayer House. There were some familiar contemporary worship songs. And finally we were aptly sent off with a sermon on ‘Go!’

Spring Harvest this year was probably a one off for us - although next year’s does look interesting. The title is ‘Different Eyes - Living Distinctly in a Time of Uncertainty’. We were grabbed by the themes of social justice and ethical issues such as fair trade that are going to be covered. Perhaps we should have waited a year?

Some Writing

Just in case you were wondering I am not the David Derbyshire who writes as a science correspondent for British newspapers such as the Mail and the Telegraph. People ask because he does sometimes write about psychology - the subject I teach.

But I do have a few writings out there, as well as on this blog. I have just submitting another review to Amazon for Stuart Murray’s Beyond Tithing.

Also I have four new music reviews published on the Cross Rhythms site. You can find links to all my music reviews on My Cross Rhythms page.

And, soon I might be writing some content on our church’s website.

Time With God

I have now added a set of photos on flickr for last weekend's Time With God. Please feel free to have a look and read some of the 'writing on the wall' and 'washing line' prayers.

For those that don't know, for a few years now our church has done a 24 hour stint - every 6 months or so - where our centre is open for people to spend some time with God. People have the option of candles, music and the chance to write on the wall – actually on flipchart paper that we blu-tack on the wall. Two or three years ago we started bringing in art materials too and on one occasion we had some prayer stations including last time the idea of writing or drawing your prayers and pegging them to a washing line. We have always said that how people spend the time is between them and God. But this time the feeling was that at least some of the time was to be spent in intercession for the world.

So last weekend we were busy bringing in more candles and throws and beanbags. We provided people with loads of suggestions for prayer including local items and information on international issues such as the current financial crisis. Helen made displays about Christians that we have relationship with including some in Zimbabwe. We used visual prompts such as a globe and maps. For example, Nettes & I laid out an activity to turn weapons fashioned out of tinfoil into ploughshares as people prayed for peace. We also placed some herbs in the kitchen to eat while people could read a meditation on slavery and a prayer for those enslaved today.

Steve Watts, our elder, was excited about finding a set of ‘soaking’ CDs that someone had loaned to us for the time. He soon began to meditate on God relaxing on a beanbag. Through the night we were praying, worshipping and producing pieces of abstract art. People came and went in the early hours of the morning. I had a good time praying with Jackie early in the morning about liberation and we were writing out things that we wanted to get rid of in our own lives as well as in the world - such as fear, insecurity and poverty - and throwing them in a waste bin. On Saturday, Nettes and Callie went and Callie took part by painting a picture of heaven and by praying for China. Callie is only five.

We received some really positive comments about the event and hope to do this again later in the year.

Zehnder

I have had a few new reviews of mine added to the Cross Rhythms site. This means that as well as my carols I’ve had a couple of good gospel albums to listen to over Christmas. But recently I’ve also been listening to the album Going Up? by Zehnder. Thanks to Mike Morrell of the Ooze for sending me a copy.

Zehnder is a Christian band from Los Angeles led by twins Tim and Tom Zehnder. Going Up? is mainly upbeat rootsy pop rock but with a range of instruments and styles mixed in. You may be surprised to here the touch of choral and the touch of world music in there. Zehnder are good but what makes the album for me are their lyrics rather than their voices. I’m not sure why the track that they are pushing is Spirit Born - based on John 3 – but you can get that on a free download from their site. Perhaps it’s just because it is so catchy but I can't help wondering if it's to ensure they get recognition by born again evangelicals.

Anyway for me, the more downbeat track I Believe is the stand out of this album. The lyrics show a degree of honesty about struggling with faith that is very rare in Christian music:

In times of war, in times of doubt,
In desperate times you scream about.
In times of pain and times of loss,
Those desperate times up on the cross.

I believe, help my unbelief. I believe, help my unbelief.

In times of joy and times of bliss,
On sunny days you never miss.
The times with you, together free,
Bring Heaven here with certainty.

I believe, help my unbelief. I believe, help my unbelief.

And oh the grief, to say goodbye,
Sing out wailing through labored sigh.
Swing white hot fury to black despair,
Dare you to find your God in there!

I believe, help my unbelief. I believe, help my unbelief.

You can buy the album from from CD Baby or from Zehnder themselves.

Babylon Halt

My latest reviews for Cross Rhythms are now on the site - they’re the ones marked ‘New’ on My Cross Rhythms page. Among them is a review of Babylon Halt - an excellent new album from Secret Archives of the Vatican. If you go into the review you can see that Vince Millett of the band is offering a free copy of the CD to readers. I’ve got to give my review copy back so I’ve just gone into Broken Drum Records, emailed them from the contact page and asked for my free copy. Why don’t you do the same? Don't forget to mention that you read about it on my review.

The Future Direction of Worship

On Thurday and Friday Jonny Baker took part in a symposium on worship at the London School of Theology. I know Jonny through CMS events and worship sessions at Greenbelt but mainly through his blog. He has been asked to be part on a panel of experts on worship that also includes among others Graham Kendrick and Joel Edwards. They are discussing the future direction of worship. To help Jonny out I left a couple of comments on this blog here - a long with a lot of other people - the gist of which Jonny tried to weave into his contributions.

Jonny has outlined some of the thoughts of his fellow panellists here, some of his own contributions here, and his summary of the arguments here. I am following this with great interest and commenting on it as it goes - sometimes with more than one comment on a post. There are some very open and honest thoughts in this discussion, some of which I think are pertinent to our worship experiences in Church Alive. Of course I am not denying that we have some good times of worship - I just want to go further.

Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Greenbelt 08

Highlights for me at this year’s Greenbelt Festival included Molten Meditation - a fusion of charismatic and contemplative worship lead by Robin Vincent. As well as in his own session, I saw Robin Vincent in the Proost Lounge – a showcase of new talent from this label who were celebrating their first anniversary. But apart from this I didn’t get to much music. For one thing the Performance Café was always packed out. Does taking part in the hymn singing at the beer tent count? It was amazing.

So what did I get to?

Ikon led what was really an 18 point sermon on lessons they had learnt as a church. It lasted an hour and half but it was brilliant. Every point had a visual illustration and/or activity associated with it - pillows, balloons, video, discussions and lots of laughs.

This year I went to a couple of new venues:

1. St Ethelburga’s Tent where I did a little biblical meditation and heard a discussion on whether Eastern religions could give us any insights into Christianity and…

2, The Breathing Space Yurt where I took part into an insightful yet whimsical event called a Tea Ritual where we heard stories, quotes and demonstrations centred around the hospitality of drinking tea. Then we served each other a genteel cuppa.

Also I deliberately made Callie a priority, queuing to get her into the Children’s Festival and taking her to events such as an all-age service called Trinity Twister on Sunday morning, where we learnt about the trinity, played twister and took communion.

I’ve now downloaded a couple of excellent talks that I missed while I was with Callie: Jenny Baker on gender roles and Brian McLaren on post-colonialism. I might blog about them later and perhaps mention one or two more things.

As usual it was a great time.

Glastonbury

We’ve just got back from a weekend at Glastonbury where we went for the arts festival in our circle of churches. As we did last year, we braved the bank holiday traffic, climbed Glastonbury Tor – this time the easy way, visited the mediation gardens and the Abbey as well as dipping into Glastonbury’s Café culture. For Nettes the high spot was seeing Lynne Robertson Hay’s one woman show, for me it was hearing Bosch at the barbeque on Monday.

The Future Of Christian Music

I found this article by Charlie Peacock about the future of Christian music. Mike Rimmer who had just got back from the States said it was causing quite a stir. I think what Charlie Peacock says in this article makes a lot sense. Christian music does appear to be aimed too much at youth and so many people grow out of it. I wonder if Christian music not designed to be used by the church would be better off side by side with other music of its own genre rather than being marketed just to Christians. That is the way he sees it going anyway. Any thoughts?

Greenbelt 2007 - Part One

Greenbelt was amazing, as usual. For us as a family it ran really well. We got there set on Friday morning, get set up and had time to look at our programmes. I registered Callie for the Children’s festival and put her to bed while Nettes looked around and listened to Billy Bragg.

I slept really well and spent the next morning, after a coffee at the Tank – Greenbelt's Cybercafé – exploring the exhibitions and shops and stumbling across a guy teaching some kids how to do graffiti. And in the afternoon I went to a service on the grass at the arena – the sort of second/overflow stage. We sat in groups and were given numbered envelopes with instructions which we followed to the numbers on the screen. There were icebreakers, discussion questions and activities including breaking of bread.

In the evening I went to Soul Space - a room at the highest point of the festival for some evening prayers in the theme of the four seasons. Then after failing to get into Bassline Circus I decided to go to ‘The God Delusion’. Although very philosophical and not easy to get my head round it was presented in a way that kept my interest – with stories, puppets and a giant woman with wearing woollen clothes that were unravelling – a picture of how your faith can unravel with doubts and questions but rather than lead to nothing can be re-knitted into something new. Picture by Becky Garrison

Normally I would head off to the tent at ten o’clock but somehow I was awake enough to listen to a gig by Lies Damn Lies and go to the start of Christian Aid’s candle lit vigil for climate change. Of course this meant I was tired the next morning. But we still got to the main communion service albeit the overflow in the arena. I got us a couple of cups of chai from the Tiny Tea Tent and enjoyed the graphics on the screen which we would have missed if we had been in the mainstage area.

To be continued...

Off to Greenbelt 2007

What is Greenbelt? For the uninitiated think of a cross between Glastonbury Festival and a Bible Week and add in some creative worship. It all takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse. One thing that I like a lot is the café culture. A couple of good places that I’ve found to hang out are the Performance Café and the NewForms Café. In the Performance Café there are a number of Christian musicians that I wouldn’t mind seeing after scanning their profiles on the Crossrhythms website. The NewForms Café host two or three creative worship services that I wouldn’t mind going to and it would also be good if Callie could get to these as there are a couple of family services.

This year I want to make sure that Nettes get to see what she wants to. So I’ll be getting up really early to pack the car. When we get there I’ll help set up the tents as much as possible and encourage Nettes to look at the programme in the afternoon and beleive me it takes some looking at - as you have so much choice and need to plan in times to just chill. I want my choices to fit around Nettes and queuing up to get Callie into the children’s festival. I think in the last couple of years I’ve been so excited about what was happening that I didn’t actually give as much thought to Nettes and Callie. It’s probably understandable since it was all new to me, but this year I’m determined to be more thoughtful.

Cross Rhythms Reviews

Cross Rhythms Homepage

David Derbyshire reviews albums on Crossrhythms under the name Dancin' Dave Derbyshire. He teaches psychology part time at Sutton Coldfield College and is a part time stay at home dad. He is an active member of Church Alive - a church that meets in an urban community centre and in people's homes.

David's reviews on Cross Rhythms:

Abundant Life: How Loved --- 8/10 Pop
The Afters, Mercy Me & Sonic Flood: Three --- 8/10 Rock
Bebo Norman: The Best Of Bebo Norman - Great Light Of The World ---9/10 Pop
Bethany Dillon: Waking Up --- 8/10 Pop
Bishop G.E. Patterson: Having Church With The Saints --- 8/10 Gospel
Boomshots: The Best Of The Underground --- 7/10 Hip-hop
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir: I'll Say Yes --- 5/10 Gospel
Carman - Two For One: The Standard/Mission 3:16 --- 7/10 Pop Chosen - That's Not Funny --- 8/10 Hip-Hop
Donald Lawrence Presents The TriCity Singers: The Grand Finale Encourage Yourself --- 8/10 Gospel
Dr Onionskin: Live & Kickin --- 6/10 Dance/Electronic
The Clark Sisters - The Definitive Gospel Collection --- 7/10 Gospel Eve: In The Waiting --- 6/10 Pop
Four Kornerz: Gonna Make It --- 9/10 R&B
Isaiah Katumwa - Sinza ---9/10 Jazz - New
Mission Six: Superhero --- 8/10 Pop
Larry Norman: Confiscated --- 8/10 Jesus Music
LeJuene Thompson - Metamorphosis --- 8/10 R&B
Rebirth - Episode 6 --- 8/10 R&B - New
Kierra Sheard - Bold Right Life --- 9/10 R&B - New
Paul Simon & Friends: A Night Of Gospel Glory --- 7/10 Gospel
Secret Archives of the Vatican - Babylon Halt --- 9/10 Dance/Electronic
Shawnte: So Faithful --- 8/10 Gospel
Shirley Caesar - The Definitive Gospel Collection --- 7/10 Gospel
Steve Jones: No Looking Back --- 6/10 Rock
Strive: The Story before --- 8/10 Rock
The Revolve Tour: Inside Out --- 9/10 Pop
ThingamaKid: Giggle Toons --- 6/10 Children’s
Toby Mac: Made To Love --- 9/10 Pop
Various - Songs 4 Worship Holy Ground Special Edition --- 5/10 Pop
Greg Wollan - Architect Of Beauty --- 8/10 Roots/Acoustic - New

Articles on which David has commented

Signs Of The Times
The Forida Outpouring With Todd Bentley
The Golden Compass
Equality Act (Sexual Orientation Regulations) 2007

Favourite Presenters
Mike Rimmer