Just Because It Made Me Feel Better.

Earlier this year, I admitted to my quarter-life crisis. I began to panic when the question, "What am I even good at?" popped into my head. And so, the post linked above...

This crisis has nagged me since well before I got married, but my responsibility for another person has at times intensified the anxiety.

Instead of simply caving into the fear (let's call it what it is, right?), I worked on a song for over a year and thought you might like to hear the final result. Here's The Summer Country performing "All Of The Best".




All Of The Best


Twenty-seven, in an entry level job
Working part-time with uncertain hours
And you're thinking how success comes to the young
And you wonder why you never got so far
The world can seem so cruel
When you feel overlooked
But you trust
Good things will come

Now you're praying
You're pleading with the Lord
And He hears you
He's given you His word
So you tell Him how you want to be a man
And provide for a health insurance plan
But there's no certainty
Except in Him who you believe
And you trust
Good things will come

You say, "All of the best now,
"All of the best now will be mine.
"One day, all of the best now
"All of the best now will be mine.
"Will soon be mine."

Twenty-eight now and pulling salary
Nine-to-five and every weekend free
How're you feeling wearing that shirt and tie?
Does it strangle? Does it make you want to...
Die to everything you knew
With everything He's given you
Can't you trust
Good things will come?

And say...

The Politics Of Fame And Glory - How I realized my self-righteousness was driven by a fear.

If you've read this weblog for the past few months, you might know that I play in a band called the Summer Country. I feel comfortable talking to you about this because there are only, like, twenty of you, and half of you share my last name.

In the past, I've written about false humility and musicians getting more credit than they deserve. I haven't forgotten. Between those two ideas, I live in tension. I don't think I should receive the adoration all who see me, but I don't think I suck either.

So far, this tension has led me to become a terrible self-promoter. I may have mentioned that before, too. Whenever I'm challenged to do something more with the music, I quote Proverbs 27:2. "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." Not only is that simply great advice on how to keep yourself from arrogance, it ends the discussion with most people. And it's a discussion I don't like to have with them.

Tonight I asked myself why. Why don't I want to talk about what I do? Why don't I want to listen to the people telling me I should learn how to promote myself?

It took less than a minute to realize it's because I'm afraid of my image. Isn't that dumb? I rail against self-promotion because I don't like the idea of selling myself. The underlying, unspoken motivation comes from living in Nashville and hating how other people sound when they constantly self-promote. And I don't want to sound like those guys. But isn't that just as bad? Aren't we all trying to look cool, even if we have different reasons?

I'd be selfish either way. I don't know how to change it just yet, but I realize something does have to change.

Unless you have some great advice for my situation, I'll finish today's post with a song I wrote. I don't want to be famous, but I want people to listen.

Thoughts In Song Form - (Shout out to Greg Privett!)

In addition to today's post, I thought I'd let the Press readers hear a song I wrote about this topic.

The Summer County
Optimistic Streak

Here's the thing
I've got an optimistic streak
I know that everything's going to go down perfectly
Because my Lord
He is perfect, but
Even Jesus found Himself covered in blood and dust

And these minor chords
Are found in major keys
In the kind of ways that make you want to sing
How it's going to be better tomorrow
Just you see

I'm working hard
And I'm waiting patiently
I'm wading through the space and the commas and ellipses
But I don't feel brave
Even though my book will read
Of how I overcame all the troubles that weighed on me

And the hero's death
Gives context to the scene
In a way that makes you shout triumphantly
How it's going to be better tomorrow

Think What You Want, This Isn't A Commercial - Opening a discussion on the idea of "relevant".

Francis Shaeffer once wrote, "If a man goes overseas for any length of time we would expect him to learn the language of the country to which he is going. More than this is needed, however, if he is really to communicate with the people among whom he is living. He must learn another language - that of the thought-forms of the people to whom he speaks. Only so will he have real communication with them and to them. So it is with the Christian church. Its responsibility is not only to hold to the basic, scriptural principles of the Christian faith, but to communicate these unchanging truths "into" the generation in which it is living."

I've thought about this all weekend. The Nashville campus of Lifehouse Church recently moved into a building and some of us are beginning to ask, "How can we do more to reach out to our community now that we have a home?"

For my part, this has reignited my enthusiasm to start The Summer Country Podcast. About a year ago, my band had this great idea: We'll start a podcast to tell people about what excites our band without talking about our band. As we developed the idea, it became clear we wanted to specifically focus on exciting things going on in Nashville. Aside from anyone listening, I think it'll do for us what Schaeffer describes.

All that said, how do you feel about the word "relevant" in the context of Christian living, mission, etc?

Doing What Those Guys Did - Finding motiviation through heroes.

When my friends and I formed our band, The Summer Country, we spent a day discussing vision. Why did we want to play music in Nashville? What impact did we see ourselves having on the city? How did we want to achieve our goals?

During this discussion, we wrestled through the idea of merchandise. What would we make to sell and why? For the last seven years, all I had ever wanted to sell were recordings and books. I never even entertained the idea I would once again make the standard rock and roll Tshirt/sticker/button spread. If selling records exclusively was good enough for Fugazi, it was good enough for me.

Eventually, I conceded. We could in the future make non-record or book merchandise to sell. But I made a condition. For every normal business decision The Summer Country made, I reserved the right to do one punk thing. If we made Tshirts, for example, I would also have stencils made of our logo. Not that I'm encouraging anyone to commit vandalism. They could spray their car hood or the back of a hoodie. They could create their own merchandise without having to buy it from me.

So the point of that story is this: I have musical heroes. I look up to Fugazi, Piebald and Meneguar for what they created and how they created it. When it comes to music, I want to do the kinds of things those guys do. I know in the past I've talked about people turning musicians into idols, but I read something in James which made me rethink the subject of admiration.

James 5:10-11 says, "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured." Then he uses Job as the example. Later, in verses 16-18, James writes, "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit."

It's okay to have heroes. We should find inspiration in what others do. Paul once wrote, "Follow me as I follow Christ." But looking at the condition of the church in America, and definitely the church in Nashville, I wonder how many people here really admire the heroes of the Bible. If we look up to Elijah, David, and Paul, wouldn't we see more people doing what they did? Would it become normal for us to meet a Christian who wanted to tell people about Jesus, pray for them, and expect to see results?

Maybe we would see a change in the dead religious culture of Christianity if we found inspiration from heroes in the Bible. And I don't mean that in a daily-devotional inspiration way where we feel good in the morning as we read about what other men did in the past. I mean it in a way where we allow the stories of godly men to motivate us into action. I want to see Christians read the Book and do what those guys did.

Two Ways For The Church To Treat The Past.

I broke up my solo project, IKAIK, after thirteen years. My relationship with the members got weird after all those years. Things just had to change. Now I have a solid, reliable group of dudes to play with me. We're called The Summer Country.

For the thirty or so people who kept up with IKAIK, the new stuff might sound very much like another version of "Isaiah-plus-band". The difference isn't so much the music as it is the focus of this group. For one, I plan on having the same drummer, bassist, and lead guitar for some time. No more revolving door of talented but otherwise occupied friends. For two, the four of us all have a similar vision for our place in Nashville. We want to encourage and influence the spiritual and cultural renewal of our city.

With that in mind, I've worked on a song called "A History Lesson At The End Of The World". In it, I talk about how people tend to forget that the old days were just as crappy as these days. Nostalgia can cause a person to assume they haven't made or won't make any progress in life. They think about how the weather wasn't so crazy ten years ago (when, come on, it totally was), how their high school/college sweetheart was better than nothing, and how we might never have another Great Awakening or Billy Graham.

But maybe that's okay. Maybe we don't want things to be the way they were. Why don't we have an attitude of "Things are different now, so let's work to make the present even better than past." When asked what he would do if the world were to end tomorrow, Martin Luther answered, "I would plant a tree today."

If the world were to end tomorrow, I would still write a song or a weblog post today.

Going back to the Nehemiah 9 thing, much of the prayer looks at the past. God continued to bless His people and show them mercy in spite of their constant unfaithfulness. The leaders praying recognize God's justice in sending them into exile and hardship. This stirs them to makes decisions and a covenant for holiness in chapter 10.

My question is this: in your own life or that of your church, do you look to the past because it feels like the only bright spot of your history, or do you try to learn from your mistakes like the leaders in Nehemiah?