Kanye West at the Nokia

Last night Nina and I got to visit the Nokia Theater to go see Kanye West in his “Glow in the Dark Tour.” I was telling Nina that I must be the only ordained minister going to the concert! Ministers don’t really listen to rap I’m assuming. But I’ve loved hip-hop from my teenage years (as my diminishing accent betrays).

First off the Nokia Theater is a wonderful venue. It’s super sleek, accessible and the acoustics are terrific. I would imagine that artists are going to start preferring to play at Nokia than the cavernous Staples Center right across from it. The concert attracted a lot of younger, early twenty-something people. I was surprised at the dearth of African Americans at the concert. They were far more white and asian people in attendance. It speaks to question of rising ticket prices and accessibility of tickets for the diverse demographics of Los Angeles.

The concert featured a few openers: Lupe Fiasco, NERD and Rhianna. They were alright butt their music doesn’t really appeal to me as much. It took a good TWO HOURS before Kanye finally took the stage. By that time many in attendance were intoxicated and anxious. Mr. West definitely didn’t disappoint. The concert was in the form of a “rock opera” where Kanye was aboard a spaceship that crashed in an unknown universe. His mission was to return home and provide entertainment for a universe that had lost its way.

What I admire about Kanye West is his ability to transcend the genre of rap. He takes a rap concert and makes it into theatre. He takes a genre that has devolved into violence, sex and drugs and transforms it musically and lyrically. He infuses a lot of his music with jazz, rock and classic and modern R&B. His last records includes a chorus by Coldplay. It’s not like this hasn’t been down before but it’s never been done to this level of excellence. He lyrics are not only clever but introspective. He realizes in his lyrics the personal contradictions that he feels with his success, frustrations and failures. Where modern hip-hop artists like Common can bring us back to the essence of hip-hop, Kanye shows his ability to at times transcend the genre. Even artistically he brings in the famed modern artist Murakami. It’s a perfect fit because Murakami explores the ideas of high and low art and merges into category defying whole. Many of West’s background sets recalled Murakami including a plastic doll that he talks to in the middle of the concert. Artistically West really breaks new ground for the rap genre.

Having said that of course West has his flaws and limitations. He’s worldview isn’t necessary Christian even though “Jesus Walks.” But he gives us an interesting glimpse into culture, class, human struggle, and the blending of different categories of art. But most of all I just think he’s a lot of fun.

Filed under: Art, Music

The Jazz of God

With the conclusion of the questioning Christianity series, I’m beginning a new one called, “The Jazz of God.” It seems like a rather peculiar title I know. The subheading is, “Finding God in Unexpected Places.” This is a series of studies that I’ve thought about for quite a while. It seems that most Christians only spend a few moments a day thinking about God. It’s directly related to the study of the Bible, prayer or worship. But if all of life was created by God, then all of life is in someway a reflection of Him. I want to explore the way that even the mundane aspects of our lives are charged with the “grandeur of God.” I want to find in the ordinary, the extraordinary. Here is the list of dates and topics I’ll be addressing:

April 6th: Creation/Nature
April 13th: Work
April 20th: Beauty/Art
April 27th: Music
May 4th: Stories/Movies/Literature

May 11th Break
May 18th Food
May 25th Love
June 1st: Community
June 8th: Home

Filed under: Sermon

Confessions of a Angeleno Church Planter

It’s quite a challenge planting a church from a group of two people with no money or initial church support.  But it’s even more of a challenge to plant a church in Los Angeles. This city has a rich history of great churches and religious movements. The Azusa Street Revival which can be credited as starting the modern pentecostal movement started right in Little Tokyo. But these are hard days to grow spirituality in the City of Angels.

Church plants are generally very difficult. Statistics vary to the degree but almost invariably most church plants fail. But when you add a difficult context to church planting it becomes almost impossible. Here are a couple of difficulties:

Los Angeles is a consumer culture. This can be fairly said of most of the United States but I would say it has particular relevance in Los Angeles.  I wouldn’t say it’s a Hollywood effect per se. I would say Angelenos are unfairly characterized as shallow and image conscious. But on a relative scale some of it holds true. One of the most popular places in Los Angeles is “the Grove.” It’s a small suburban outdoor mall in the middle of Los Angeles. People look sleek, fashion-conscious and on the move. From the movies, to concerts to performances everything has a very high production value. When you translate this to the church, people also value high production in their church services. This almost invariably means a highly accomplished band, a very entertaining pastor and a  stylized look and feel. But the only churches capable of this kind of production is the mega-church. That’s why you see that most of Los Angles is dominated by a few mega-churches.

Consumer cultures are also very difficult because it means very low commitment. People will stay as long as they are happy, but will leave when they feel their needs are not being met. There are people who are always “shopping for churches.” Some people have been wandering the aisles for years in Los Angeles! If church plants require a lot of up-front commitment, and consumer cultures cannot provide many people along those lines, small church plants will invariable struggle in Los Angeles.

The second issue is a generational one. Many of the people at our church are second generation Asian-Americans. They come from a tradition of people who have long valued prayer, hard-work and commitment. But these same attributes are not often found in the following generation. The book of Judges gives us these same dynamics. Often generationally there is a shift from believing faith to indifference and idolatry. The reason is that we often take the benefits of the first generation for granted. We have benefited from our parents’ commitment and sacrifice by having a relatively easy life and sacrifice-free existence in life and in church. But this easily leads to a lack of front-line prayer and zeal. When you add all of these factors into the process of church planting it leads you to this: it ain’t easy.

What gives me hope? The more I look at the context of Los Angeles with its culture and idolatry, the more I realize that I need to be here.  That may mean being a Jeremiah and preaching to a unresponsive people or it can mean something else. I would immediately leave the ministry if I didn’t believe in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit called me into the ministry and particular to this context in Los Angeles. But the spirit is also the power, the wind, the fire that carries the lifeless spirits of men and makes them alive. The Spirit is that person that moves in midst of an idolatrous generation and city and brings new life. I have no chance by myself. I have every resource in the Spirit’s ministry. And it’s here in this city that I ask for God’s spirit to once again move. Anybody want to join me?

Filed under: City, personal