pray-er types

I decided last week as I was praying with many different people that I wanted to do a blog about different praying styles. I think my interest in such a touchy subject began in high school when a friend of mine somehow picked up a small quirk in the language in her prayers. It mildly amused me, then i quickly chastised myself for ever having been so irreverent as to laugh at the way someone prays.

However, as reverently as possible, I wanted to share with you, how, over the years, I've found many different quirky ways people pray. Anyone who wants to tell me that I'm just being sacrilegious and i need to focus on God- try to grow a funny bone or something. This is just for fun and I actually hope someone will laugh with me on this as the may actually realize they know someone who prays like that... or because i've gone ludicrously over the edge.

1. The "Father God" pray-er- we all have probably at one point in time or another seen one of these. They are the person who every other word of the prayer comes out as "Father God" so a small tidbit of the prayer may look like- "we just ask, Father God, that you, Father God, would put your hand, Father God, on this worship time, Father God,..." actually funny stuff when you retrospect it, but I don't encourage anyone to laugh during prayer time! (Also, closely associated with the "Father God" pray-er is the "Lord God" pray-er- simply replacing Father with Lord, but to the same result)
2. The low pray-er- you probably know this person, too. The person who kinda 'gets in the zone' when praying and their voice just changes. It becomes REALLY soft, often times at a higher pitch. something about his/her prayer just seems so fervent when the pitch raises and the decibel level decreases. I find myself in this trap sometimes, and then laugh at myself when i'm out of it. (consequently, thanks to Seinfeld for the name of this- just like the "low talker" no one could hear)
3. the "best-friend" pray-er- this guy prays like he's just talking to his best friend. He says "uhhh..." about a million times in a 2 minute prayer. And they say stuff that makes some more "religious" people kinda cringe. But it's actually really cool because these people don't have a clue what they're 'supposed' to do- they just pray what's on their hearts. But kinda funny when they pray stuff like "Uhh.... God, give me the... uh.... strength to... uh... love You more... and, uh... stuff"
4. the "all-powerful" pray-er- this girl still reads only the King James version of the Bible that was written in 1612 and therefore, finds it completely irreverent to address God in ways other than "Thee" or "Thou". The prayers are very magnificent with lots of grandeur in the delivery. They fill the room with the person's volume and fervency. There are small hesitations in the prayer that are not looking for words, but simply to add to the effect of the prayer. Unfortunately, funny as some may find this later, this type of pray-er is dying out slowly as the church becomes more 'irreverent'.
5. The "written" pray-er- while at college, I found myself experiencing written prayers during chapel. I heard much criticism of this, and to the opposite- almost no one actively supporting it (although there may have been many who did so, but did not voice their support). It's mildly amusing to think of some people who write their prayers out before praying them- which actually makes it praying twice. I think i'd laugh really hard to know someone sat down and tweaked the prayer to make sure the right words were said- this almost implies more thought into the way an audience or group of people hears the prayer because the scriptures are clear that God knows our hearts and thoughts and the words we use are not as important as the time we set aside. But, to the credit of this, i know that chapel at Messiah was always a very crowded time- trying to facilitate a real experience in only 45 minutes that included a chapel speaker on almost any given tuesday or thursday. Having been the organizer for an elective chapel, i know how hard it was to try and do so many different things in that time.
   

So, there they are. What I was able to think of off the top of my head. Did i miss any? or did you resonate with some of these? Do you know some of these? am i just being sacrilegious?

Top 5 Concerts

Having been to one of the best concerts i can remember, i have decided to do this post. First, i want to share some of the quality of memorable concerts.

first- sing-a-bility. the better i know the band, the better the concert can be. unknown bands can barely be given high marks because i don't know the music (and loudness usually makes it better, in general) and the enjoy-able factor is lessened usually. noteable exception to this is the band "Disciple" whom i've never heard of, and is a little heavier than my usual taste, but did a great concert regardless. not top 5 worthy, but good.

second- as noted above, volume. concerts that don't make my clothes vibrate on me, particularly from the bass or kick drum, are not worth my time. that is, if it's a rock concert. the "Shane & Shane" worship night at my college church calls to mind a different type of concert that was still great.

thirdly- blending of the old and new- especially on a concert tour when they're promoting a new disc- if they do too much old stuff, no one is enticed to listened to the new stuff and if they do only new stuff, everyone gets bored and goes home.

fourth- overall general feeling, including stage presence of the band. 'nuff said.

with all that said, i do want to mention this- this list excludes the music festivals i've been to- Creation, Purple Door, Kingdom Bound- they've had some GREAT concerts- some of them comparable to the best. but too many to remember between the many different years i've been to these festivals.

now the list:
1. Audio Adrenaline- venue- Messiah College. My favorite Christian band of all time. I cannot argue that, especially when considering the nostalgia factor. they were not on tour so their set list was whatever they wanted it to be- old, new, audience suggestions (Although they didn't listen to me yelling "scum sweetheart"). but they stuck to the best stuff and went out from there. excellent.

2. Switchfoot- Main1 Arts Center in Medford, OR. the concert described below. look at previous post to see why this one ranks up there.

3. Five Iron Frenzy- Performing Arts Center at Lancaster Mennonite High School. I went to this concert by myself- couldn't find anyone in my dorm to go with me, but ended up hanging out with the "Rock For Life" booth guys. this concert had some good lead up, but far and away, one of my favorite bands doing an excellent show. capped off by the ever excellent "Every New Day" song, but also by getting my picture taken with the band who was just hanging around afterward. also, them holding my sign saying they liked my band...

4. Supertones- Forum in Woodstock, New Brunswick. Getting harder to remember all the concerts that were far and above. However, the Supertones were one of my favorite bands from their first album. I have been disappointed of late, but this concert in 1999 was off the charts. my youth pastor, as i was a youth leader by then, was not taking a group so I took a group of kids from the group in my mom's van. it was worth all of it. And their "worship" set in the middle was totally novel then, and very visibly and extension of their hearts.

5. Third Day- Giant Center in Hershey PA. This concert was pretty decent. it's harder and harder for me to like Third Day, not for their music but due to other factors. But this was before that, and the concert, while it was good, would not be in the top 5 save for this one thing- the company was the best company i've ever had- Rachel. She and i went together and that made this concert.

noteable achievers- the Kutless concert i went to a year ago- "Hearts of the Innocent" Tour- where the band Disciple opened for them. Also, first Newsboys concert i went to- when i liked them and it was the first time (of 5) that i saw this particular concert. Audio Adrenaline at Cincy '98 was also quite good.

Switchfoot Concert review

tonight, i witnessed one of the best concerts i have ever been to. hands down. see my next post which will recount what makes a good concert and what my top 5 are. but here, i wanted to break down the concert a little.

first, the disappointment. the band opening for Switchfoot was named "Copeland" and they were ok. they were drummerless, making just two acoustic guitars. it was kinda Shane & Shane-esque, but not to their level. The voice was alright and i was pretty pleased with the guitar work of the 2nd player. But in general, a bit of a letdown and i'd really like to hear them with a drummer before making any final judgements.

2nd on the sad scale- the concert was supposed to start at 7- it didn't start till 7:25. and while Copeland only played for about 20 minutes, it was almost 8:20 till Switchfoot finally came on. that made for a lot of standing around. the venue was nice and all- like a large night club, but the floor was concrete so it was tough to stand on.

Switchfoot enters, people scream. sometimes, i wonder if the screaming is louder actually than the music. So they start to play and it's nice and loud, very peppy. I can't honestly remember the order of some of the songs, all i can say is that as far as concerts go, these guys know how to translate their good studio work onto the stage (something bands like Jars of Clay had a hard time doing early on). It sounds just like the "Nothing is Sound" and "OH! Gravity" albums from which the first few songs come.

I would honestly compare this concert to an Audio Adrenaline concert i've been to. They have an excellent album that is the standard by which everything else they do is compared. and so far, they're measuring up to "The Beautiful Letdown" pretty well, although I hardly know the albums since the same way. But, it's like Audio Adrenaline's "Bloom"- if they do a lot of songs from there and add a few here or there, they can't go wrong.

Well, that's the feeling I got. a good smattering of their albums, but in general, center it all around the best complete album they've done. They played well, had excellent stage presence and just in general, made the audience feel a part of the show and not simply spectators.

Notable things:
inclusions- "Learning to Breathe"- from their self-proclaimed early years album by the same title, this song apparently was voted on their website to be in the concert. good song, loved to play it on the radio when i was a DJ in college. ahhh... memories. also, "Twenty-Four", one of my favorite songs of theirs. done just with the acoustic and in such a way that you could hear the audience singing along loudly. excellent.

exclusions- almost "Dare You to Move" until they did it in the encore, which plays into the idea that they planned the encore. "Chem 6a", a classic song from the "Legend of Chin" album that seems to make its way around, even being joked around on the guitar by one of the "Copeland" guitarists... Also, "On Fire", a light song off "the Beautiful Letdown" that just sings of serenity and beauty.

other notes- one kid actually brought a lighter into the concert. i'm not sure how he got it past security and they appeared to take it from him, but for the early part of the slower songs, this kid was waving his lighter... i felt like i was in 80s heaven or something... (and the dragon comes in the niiiiiiight!)

This concert ranks an A+ on the concert-o-meter. with classics like "Gone", "This is Your Life", "Stars", "Meant to Live" and new classics like "OH! Gravity" along side the other songs you know you know but just can't put your finger on it- this concert was great.