{"id":3686,"date":"2007-10-27T11:55:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-27T11:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html"},"modified":"2007-10-27T11:55:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-27T11:55:00","slug":"brian-mclaren-songwriter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html","title":{"rendered":"Brian McLaren, Songwriter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So, Brian McLaren has written some songs of praise to be used in worship services. Here&#8217;s a video explaining the concept and the thought behind each of the songs.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><object height=\"366\" width=\"425\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/pLD0z9uAVNY&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0\"><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/pLD0z9uAVNY&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" height=\"366\" width=\"425\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>\n<p>I commend him for his desire to broaden the scope of Christian praise music to include current events &#8212; he wrote songs that are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/Let%27sConfess.pdf\">relevant to Christians today<\/a>.  I like that he&#8217;s taken themes like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/WithKindness.pdf\">kindness<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/SeekJustice.pdf\">justice<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/GodBlessthePoor.pdf\">the poor<\/a> (it&#8217;s a song of prayer for the rich and the poor) and made them into songs.  These are themes that the Christian should focus on and contemplate what they look like in their own life.  Though <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/Canticle.pdf\">this one<\/a> is a little wacky he appears to be confirming that God is sovereign over all. And <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/InYourCrucifixion.pdf\">this one<\/a> is a song that I would love to sing in church because it&#8217;s so Christ centered and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/MajestyandPower.pdf\">this one<\/a> is pretty good too.Some of the songs are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/HymnofRemorse.pdf\">gratuitous<\/a> and I probably wouldn&#8217;t bother singing it if the music director forced it on us and I totally don&#8217;t agree with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/LoveandJustice.pdf\">this one<\/a>.Here&#8217;s the video of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.restorationvillage.com\/chord%20charts\/Atheist.pdf\">one of his more controversial songs<\/a>.  He&#8217;s using &#8220;atheist&#8221; in a similar way that the Roman government did when Christians refused to worship Caesar:<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><object height=\"355\" width=\"425\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/bSm0VyHGH40&amp;rel=1\"><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/bSm0VyHGH40&amp;rel=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" height=\"355\" width=\"425\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>\n<blockquote><\/blockquote>\n<p>Knowing that McClaren has problems with the doctrines of grace I would have a problem with this caricature of it and wouldn&#8217;t want to sing it during the service:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I am an atheist when it comes to the view of the chosen few, who judge and condemnall who differ them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What we really believe in is a chosen multitude and the truthfulness of word of God:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"verse-num\" id=\"v49001011-1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gnpcb.org\/esv\/search\/?q=Ephesians+1%3A11\">Ephesians 1:11<\/a> <\/span>In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, <span class=\"verse-num\" id=\"v49001012-1\">12 <\/span>so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.<span class=\"search-result-head\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gnpcb.org\/esv\/search\/?q=1+Peter+2%3A9\">1 Peter 2:9<\/a> <\/span> But you are a <span class=\"search-term-1\">chose<\/span>n race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gnpcb.org\/esv\/search\/?q=Revelation+7%3A9\">Revelation 7:9<\/a> After this I looked, and behold, a great <span class=\"search-term-1\">multitude<\/span> that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>BTW, I have a suggestion for those who intend to sing these songs in worship, don&#8217;t repeat these stanzas as many times as suggested:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I can&#8217;t believe what they believe but I believe in you (4X)I can&#8217;t believe what they believe but I believe in you (4X)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Too repetitive!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, Brian McLaren has written some songs of praise to be used in worship services. Here&#8217;s a video explaining the concept and the thought behind each of the songs. I commend him for his desire to broaden the scope of Christian praise music to include current events &#8212; he wrote songs that are relevant to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":307,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[419,209,11,87],"class_list":["post-3686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-under-the-sun","tag-christianity","tag-music","tag-religion","tag-resources"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Brian McLaren, Songwriter - Reformed Chicks Blabbing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brian McLaren, Songwriter - Reformed Chicks Blabbing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So, Brian McLaren has written some songs of praise to be used in worship services. 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Here&#8217;s a video explaining the concept and the thought behind each of the songs. I commend him for his desire to broaden the scope of Christian praise music to include current events &#8212; he wrote songs that are relevant to&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html","og_site_name":"Reformed Chicks Blabbing","article_published_time":"2007-10-27T11:55:00+00:00","author":"michele","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html","name":"Brian McLaren, Songwriter - Reformed Chicks Blabbing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-10-27T11:55:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-10-27T11:55:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/#\/schema\/person\/8de1e1f06613d0c6f3bd8a276ac94ab0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/10\/brian-mclaren-songwriter.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Brian McLaren, Songwriter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/","name":"Reformed Chicks Blabbing","description":"Politics and current events from a Reformed perspective, by Michele McGinty","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/#\/schema\/person\/8de1e1f06613d0c6f3bd8a276ac94ab0","name":"michele","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"michele"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/author\/michele"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}