Remonstrans
Good Night!
11/07/07
Good Night!
Well, I've come back to my desk to find several genuinely disturbing things.
First of all there was this—as though I needed more reason to hate the season.
It's hard to say which is my least favorite song; they are all about as charming as finding a severed head under the Christmas tree. I think if someone held a dull knife to my throat I would have to say Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. That goofball piano-bar-in-the-manger arrangement could ruin a wise man's Christmas. Kenon Renfrow reminds me of a Christmas jack-o-lantern: there's just some vague incongruity that is hard to put your finger on.
Dr. Fro, as he is known among his friends, is on the piano pedagogy faculty at Bob Jones University where it is reported that the more insightful staff member looks down on Patch the Pirate's chanties. And a seasonal Ho ho ho! to all, and to all a good night.
But it's still a tough choice. I keep thinking of that ditzy little music box/electric piano version of Still, Still, Still. If there were a loaded shotgun in the room, it's the trigger I would put my finger on.
What is it with these fundamentalists? Have they no standards at all?! They make Mannheim Steamroller look like the Magi.
Winter Wonderland is a real gem destined to be a Christmas classic wherever Christ is held dear. It is about as appealing as a razor blade in a fruit cake—but it is easy to dance to.
Ken's hobbies include dirt biking, air boating, snake hunting in the Everglades, classic cars and antique clocks. So it's another fundamentalist renaissance man, basically.
He charges $16.98 for this CD.
Seventeen dollars!
You could get Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, Op. 12 for $5.65 at CD Universe. Or the Michael Praetorius Christmas Vespers for $14.38.
Seventeen dollars! Just think how much gas that could put in your dirt bike.
I'm just grateful these people are serious.
If I had a degree from Bob Jones University, I'd use it to light ye olde Yule log.
Trackback address for this post:
Comments, Trackbacks, Pingbacks:
1 Comment from: JamesR [Visitor] 
Isn't their religious music about as fluffy? I reference for example the music they were promoting in their last newsletter from sacredaudio.com (Soundforth). It was for a pianist named Gregg Howlett. I listened to the samples and it was definitely emotional fluff.
Permalink
11/07/07 @ 08:01 2 Comment from: dissidens [Member]
“…about as fluffy”?
Santa Claus gives out toys, or so it has been reported to me, to all the children of the world. That, by my reckoning, would qualify as generous, but not nearly as generous as calling Renfrow’s work “fluffy”.
And there is a place for fluffy. Immature females like fluffy; I could see myself giving something fluffy to a four year old girl. I would not give this CD to anyone. I would not want anyone to think of the Advent this way.
There seems to be a determined hostility toward masculinity in Greenville, S.C. I think this explains all the talk about guns, dirt bikes, snakes and such. I think the shrinks call it compensation. I really don’t know how men in that circle are expected to act in the presence of beauty; they give every impression that when confronted with the sublime or the transcendent they are to become feminine.
If a man lacking in gravitas wants to say something “precious” about the holidays, I think we should let him. I don’t think we should encourage him or pay him, but we should not stop him. We should consider his noises and think quietly to ourselves, “There but for the grace of God…”
But if he attempts to trivialize spiritual things, I think he should be left severely alone. I think it should be stopped.
So in a word, I don’t call it fluffy, I call it idolatrous.
But what can you tell the little nutcracker soldiers at the Fortress of Faith?
Santa Claus gives out toys, or so it has been reported to me, to all the children of the world. That, by my reckoning, would qualify as generous, but not nearly as generous as calling Renfrow’s work “fluffy”.
And there is a place for fluffy. Immature females like fluffy; I could see myself giving something fluffy to a four year old girl. I would not give this CD to anyone. I would not want anyone to think of the Advent this way.
There seems to be a determined hostility toward masculinity in Greenville, S.C. I think this explains all the talk about guns, dirt bikes, snakes and such. I think the shrinks call it compensation. I really don’t know how men in that circle are expected to act in the presence of beauty; they give every impression that when confronted with the sublime or the transcendent they are to become feminine.
If a man lacking in gravitas wants to say something “precious” about the holidays, I think we should let him. I don’t think we should encourage him or pay him, but we should not stop him. We should consider his noises and think quietly to ourselves, “There but for the grace of God…”
But if he attempts to trivialize spiritual things, I think he should be left severely alone. I think it should be stopped.
So in a word, I don’t call it fluffy, I call it idolatrous.
But what can you tell the little nutcracker soldiers at the Fortress of Faith?
Permalink
11/07/07 @ 10:22 3 Comment from: exlibris [Member]
But, ya' see this is sort of shtick in the world of modern music. It seems to be a leftover from when the recording industry positively left anything other than pop/rock/country out of their repertoire (somewhere in the 70's to 80's). I remember looking hither and yon for a good recording of Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave and only coming close to finding it in old Deutsch Grammaphone LP's.
Recently, we seem to find much better recordings and even sheet music laying around (thanks to BMG and MHS). This begs the question why do institutions like this put up classifying as art what would barely pass muster in Junior High Band? It's as if they watched "Mr. Holland's Opus" one too many times and thought that this was a modern allegory of J.S. Bach's career.
They don't really know the difference between Bach and Barber Shop.
Recently, we seem to find much better recordings and even sheet music laying around (thanks to BMG and MHS). This begs the question why do institutions like this put up classifying as art what would barely pass muster in Junior High Band? It's as if they watched "Mr. Holland's Opus" one too many times and thought that this was a modern allegory of J.S. Bach's career.
They don't really know the difference between Bach and Barber Shop.
Permalink
11/07/07 @ 14:52 4 Comment from: Jonathan [Visitor] · http://www.gmail.com
· http://www.gmail.com
If you haven't talked to my teacher, Dr. Renfrow. Then I think you should all remove your comments until having confronted him. Phil. 1-2. How about some unity around the Gospel?
Permalink
11/07/07 @ 19:10 5 Comment from: a hungry soul [Member]
Jonathan, what does the music on Dr. Renfrow's CD have to do with the Gospel and whether or not we have unity around the Gospel?
While you are at Bob Jones, may I kindly suggest that you pay careful attention in your English classes? You owe it to your arguments to state them in such a way that your grammar does not distract your reader from the point which you wish to argue.
While you are at Bob Jones, may I kindly suggest that you pay careful attention in your English classes? You owe it to your arguments to state them in such a way that your grammar does not distract your reader from the point which you wish to argue.
Permalink
11/07/07 @ 19:39 6 Comment from: Austin [Visitor]
While you are at Bob Jones, may I kindly suggest that you pay careful attention in your English classes? You owe it to your arguments to state them in such a way that your grammar does not distract your reader from the point which you wish to argue.
To be fair, an off-topic grammatical critique should include exlibris's comment, which demonstrates ignorance both of what it means to beg the question and of the proper use of "laying."
Just as the grammar of exlibris and Jonathan does not characterize all librarians and BJU alumni, respectively, so too one can't attribute Renfrow's musical tastes to all of the BJU music faculty.
Permalink
11/07/07 @ 22:50 7 Comment from: dissidens [Member]
exlibris:
This all presents an interesting window to fundamentalism. It never really was about the good and beautiful, it was always about market forces. This is why we must teach children how to distinguish music from schtick. It is clear that there is no accountability at the supply end and very little discrimination at the demand end.
We are outraged at St. Patch the Beloved Pirate, we are scandalized by Calvary’s Blood and the shabby Oscar Wilde, we shudder at Pettit’s Skunk Holler Praze Band, we reject Renfrow’s Kick Line Christmas…sooner or later the thoughtful—or should I say serious—separatist will be forced to answer a simple question: by what set of concessions did we get to this point? We need to ask the defenders of this calamity at what point they think a line was crossed.
But I think we should pack a large lunch.
This all presents an interesting window to fundamentalism. It never really was about the good and beautiful, it was always about market forces. This is why we must teach children how to distinguish music from schtick. It is clear that there is no accountability at the supply end and very little discrimination at the demand end.
We are outraged at St. Patch the Beloved Pirate, we are scandalized by Calvary’s Blood and the shabby Oscar Wilde, we shudder at Pettit’s Skunk Holler Praze Band, we reject Renfrow’s Kick Line Christmas…sooner or later the thoughtful—or should I say serious—separatist will be forced to answer a simple question: by what set of concessions did we get to this point? We need to ask the defenders of this calamity at what point they think a line was crossed.
But I think we should pack a large lunch.
Permalink
11/08/07 @ 06:34 8 Comment from: a hungry soul [Member]
[Sigh] Wow, Austin, I must have missed the post where Dissidens made you a moderator on Remonstrans! ;)
I was sincere in my counsel to Jonathan. Am I remembering correctly that two sentence fragments in an English assignment at BJU would earn one a failing grade? Fairness by no means requires that I henceforth edit the posts of every adult member and scold them for their shortcomings.
Dissidens, I do apologize for the digression from the subject at hand, which is serious and worthy of much sober reflection. I wholeheartedly agree with you that we must teach our children to distinguish between music and schtick. One of the best ways we have found for doing so is by giving them a steady diet of the very best music, so as to shape their taste and affection for that which is true and excellent.
I was sincere in my counsel to Jonathan. Am I remembering correctly that two sentence fragments in an English assignment at BJU would earn one a failing grade? Fairness by no means requires that I henceforth edit the posts of every adult member and scold them for their shortcomings.
Dissidens, I do apologize for the digression from the subject at hand, which is serious and worthy of much sober reflection. I wholeheartedly agree with you that we must teach our children to distinguish between music and schtick. One of the best ways we have found for doing so is by giving them a steady diet of the very best music, so as to shape their taste and affection for that which is true and excellent.
Permalink
11/08/07 @ 08:09 9 Comment from: danofsteel [Member]
We need to ask the defenders of this calamity at what point they think a line was crossed.They can't stay "tight" with BJU if they find fault with its music (or anything else it does). Then again, if BJU does it, then no line has been crossed by definition.
That's the way it works. Separation is about "us" and "them" - not right and wrong.
Permalink
11/08/07 @ 08:48 10 Comment from: dissidens [Member]
hungry:
No problem.
But yah, this is where it’s at. Bob Jones University and fellowshipping service organizations continue to demonstrate that a) if your kid doesn’t leave home with a Christian sensibility, he will not get it while in their care, b) no one need be held accountable for the trash they extrude, and c) the defenders of this rubbish are not inclined to take seriously the objections of those they claim to serve.
I go back to our very first post: “Today’s Christianity is an eccentric thing, an ad hoc something or other intended to meet some parochial enthusiasm or some idiosyncratic taste.
dan:
It is revealing that when these examples of fundamentalist shabbiness are produced all we get is this wheeze that the whole movement is not like Tim Fisher, Kenon Renfrow, Pettit, Galkin, Patch, Dave Jaspers…you’d think these names represented some fringe, ostracized malcontents long banished from the hallowed confines of the righteous.
There is a lot that doesn’t “check” in this movement, but these guys do. It seemed good to the administration at BJU to place Renfrow in the classroom. It is not a “good” vs. “bad” kind of movement; it is very much an “us” vs. “them” kind of movement.
No problem.
But yah, this is where it’s at. Bob Jones University and fellowshipping service organizations continue to demonstrate that a) if your kid doesn’t leave home with a Christian sensibility, he will not get it while in their care, b) no one need be held accountable for the trash they extrude, and c) the defenders of this rubbish are not inclined to take seriously the objections of those they claim to serve.
I go back to our very first post: “Today’s Christianity is an eccentric thing, an ad hoc something or other intended to meet some parochial enthusiasm or some idiosyncratic taste.
dan:
It is revealing that when these examples of fundamentalist shabbiness are produced all we get is this wheeze that the whole movement is not like Tim Fisher, Kenon Renfrow, Pettit, Galkin, Patch, Dave Jaspers…you’d think these names represented some fringe, ostracized malcontents long banished from the hallowed confines of the righteous.
There is a lot that doesn’t “check” in this movement, but these guys do. It seemed good to the administration at BJU to place Renfrow in the classroom. It is not a “good” vs. “bad” kind of movement; it is very much an “us” vs. “them” kind of movement.
Permalink
11/08/07 @ 11:29 11 Comment from: blackmambaprof [Visitor]
Hungry soul: We all make grammatical errors in our posts sometimes. I've made them. You have a pronoun/antecedent error in yours. I find comma splices in Dissidens' posts sometimes (there's one in this thread, although it might pass on stylistic grounds). Jonathan's post is definitely written poorly.
But if you raise the topic of one's grammar only when you disagree with him, of course that opens you to the charge of being unfair--which is similar to Dissidens' basic charge against fundamentalists in the first place. Hopefully your advice will urge Jonathan to greater righteousness and grammatical accuracy though.
But if you raise the topic of one's grammar only when you disagree with him, of course that opens you to the charge of being unfair--which is similar to Dissidens' basic charge against fundamentalists in the first place. Hopefully your advice will urge Jonathan to greater righteousness and grammatical accuracy though.
Permalink
11/08/07 @ 11:46 12 Comment from: a hungry soul [Member]
Blackmambaprof, you are correct that my post had a pronoun/antecedent error which I should have caught before posting. Thank you. You have, however, entirely missed my (much) larger point. This is not a game of "gotcha" anymore than it is a discussion of "fairness" or "agreement/disagreement." Students should be taught how to construct their arguments both grammatically and logically so as to maximize persuasion and minimize distraction. It should have been quite obvious to any discerning reader that I was speaking to an exceedingly narrow category of people which could not possibly have included Dissidens and exlibris unless they are BJU college students named Jonathan.
Is it not interesting how many side topics people would prefer to explore rather than discussing the quality or lack thereof of Majesty Music's offerings? For some of us, this is not a game, but a deadly serious battle for the souls, piety, and discernment of our (and others') children. May God help us.
Is it not interesting how many side topics people would prefer to explore rather than discussing the quality or lack thereof of Majesty Music's offerings? For some of us, this is not a game, but a deadly serious battle for the souls, piety, and discernment of our (and others') children. May God help us.
Permalink
11/08/07 @ 12:30 Leave a comment:
Remonstrans
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | > >> | |||||
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | ||||||
Misc
Archives
- August 2008
- ChristianityTuesday: Yes, SIR!
- Yes, We Have No Cuisine
- Eliot Spills The Beans
- ChristianityTuesday: Wascally Wabbits
- Searching For Answers
- We Do Mock Revivals Because We Cannot Produce Real Ones
- ChristianityTuesday: Getting With The Program
- Laughable Yet Serious
- Certainty Or Certainty About Certain Things
- ChristianityTuesday: Monday Drool
- Why It Matters
- An Update
- July 2008
- ChristianityTuesday: Funday Fool
- A More Applicable Application
- Hell Is Other People
- ChristianityTuesday: Catch and Release
- Three Yahoos In Three Hats
- On His Loneliness
- ChristianityTuesday: Tit or Tat?
- An Unforgivably Serious Man
- Untroubled
- ChristianityTuesday: This or That?
- Ask Yourself
- A Simpleton Emotes
- ChristianityTuesday: A Magazine of Antithetical Conscription
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- In Reply To Kevin Corcoran
- Trucker Frank, Webisode 2
- Couch Potatoes
- The Ethos Of Emergence
- Ben Stein Talks With Monsters
- Rich And Layered
- The Heart Of Darkness
- In Reply To Billybob And His Many Friends
- Lighting up Frank
- The Remonstrans Billboard
- My Journey
- Take Me Out Of The Ballgame
- Beaks And Talons
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- Blest Remonstrans
- Doran Comments
- Who's To Blame?
- Tardy Discernments
- Still No Place For Truth
- Preach The Gospel To Every Creature
- The Real Nonsense
- From Columbia to Clearwater
- Your Shabby Culture
- The Power Of Liturgy
- Imagine
- Lord Of The Dance
- Mind The Goo
- Where Have All The Theologians Gone?
- Evangelical Engagement
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- Semi-digestible and Quasi-orthodox
- Getting Happy
- Fundamentalism (Updated)
- At Cafe Perplexa
- Faith, Hope and Popcorn
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
- (Parenthetically)
- Still Getting Over It
- Hirelings
- Illustrated Proverbs
- q.e.d.
- Can We Fix The Pulpit?
- Locked Out
- Shepherding in the Modern Age
- Stragedy
- Shepherds and Wolves
- Wake Up
- I Almost Never Cry at Weddings
- J. Gresham, J. Frank, and Favorable Conditions
- December 2005
- November 2005
- “I Will Come Into Him”
- Come To Your Church
- Come and Shine
- Come Now
- Thanksgiving Proclamation
- Come
- Salt Mines
- Oo-rah!
- Nachtlied
- Quotes to Laugh At
- Church-Music
- Little Brown Church in the Wasteland
- Illustrated Proverbs
- A Dark Past and a Bleak Future
- True Greatness
- Imagining
- Imagining Redemption
- Acts of Desecration
- Renovations.....
- October 2005
- Imagining Truth
- Corporate vs. Private Worship?
- Thoughts For A Quieter Moment
- Cathedral By The Sea
- Contemporary Christian Music
- from Richard Baxter
- Some General Answers
- Illustrated Proverbs
- What You Can Do
- Cleanse Your Palate
- Plum Sizzle on a British Landrace
- Jury Duty
- Message and Metaphor
- On Becoming Serious
- Mercy Again
- The Gift of Irony
- To Worship
- Ouch
- Prayer for Joe
- Kazoo Lieder
- All Things Cheap and Cheesy
- Evening in Paradise
- Home Again
- Worship
- September 2005
- Stolen Worship
- Illustrated Proverbs
- Evangelical Antinomianism
- They're Being Serious Again
- Why Bach?
- Once Again
- Fixed
- Survey Of Young Fundamentalists - A Bad Beginning
- Illustrated Proverbs
- Serious Is As Serious Does
- Nota Bene
- Two Items of Business:
- A Must Read
- Christian Liberty: the Last Christian Virtue
- Drinking from the Well of Christian Liberty
- Ideas Have Consequences
- August 2005
- From the Pastor's Desk . . .
- Beauty Is Not Skin Deep
- For Contemplation
- Somewhat Misunderstandable
- Disappearing Convergences
- Our Perennial Predilection
- Blame the Tech Guy
- Unrecoverable Worship
- Disordering Our Affections
- More Lost Worship
- Hope
- Worship is Never Accidental
- Great Amusements
- None of God, All of Self
- Religious Affections By Jonathan Edwards
- July 2005
- Point of Clarification
- Morimur
- Not My Church, Not My God
- Shepherd or Swineherd?
- Bumpkin Apostates
- Relief!
- "By this all will know that you are My disciples"
- Rules to be Observed in Singing of Psalms
- "Untutored But Vigorous"
- Lost Worship
- Be not conformed to this world either....
- Outward and Inward Morality
- Surveys II
- Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut
- June 2005
- May 2005
- Saying the Wrong Things About Joy
- C.S. Lewis
- Can We Be Serious?
- Borrowing the Philistine Method of Transport
- Playing With Fire
- John Piper
- Dissidens comment worth noting...
- John Nelson Darby
- Little To Offer
- Machen on Separation
- Surveys - I
- A Short Chat
- We Apologize
- H. A. Ironside
- The Same Pleasures
- If I May Be So Bold
- Did God Ever Express An Interest In How He Was Worshipped?
- Beginners in the Examined Life?
- What Those Numbers Mean
- What Place is This?
- A.W. Tozer
- Note to Self:
- April 2005
- March 2005
Search
Categories
- All
- Cafe Perplexa (10)
- Old Main (535)
- Background (1)
- Landfill (0)
- News (0)
- SupportDocs (1)
Linkblog
Remonstrans Articles
XML Feeds
What is RSS?
Who's Online?
- Guest Users: 73
powered by
