While you’re waiting…..
By BlackCalvinist | August 16, 2008
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYzPKAVRF4E
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Alive…working…writing ….editing….here’s T4G Part 3….
By BlackCalvinist | July 31, 2008
I’m still editing T4G video, as you’ve noticed. I’ve also filmed several other segments and things I’ll be uploading in due time.
Here’s the last part of the tour through the bookstore - and there’s some great singing at the end as I re-enter the main conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6nexBjiEM
Just enjoy the Star Wars-esque into and exit. 
I was in a mood.
Grad school has been particularly good. I got a 91.25 in the last class I was in and I’m currently floating somewhere around the same average in my current class.
I’ve done some brief writing for The Definition (you know….the Christian Hip Hop album I’ve been due to bring out for almost 2 years now….). Time and experience have matured and calmed me down a bit - I won’t be slacking off in zeal, but I will be choosing my words a bit more carefully.
I’m also a bit more focused now in terms of things that I’ll be doing ministry-wise.
I’m on a deadline to finish video-editing and writing most of my ‘catch up’ articles before Aug. 18 when I return to work.
Lord willing…it’ll get done.
Prayer, as usual.
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The Gathering 7/4/08 and FFF 6/24/08
By BlackCalvinist | July 9, 2008
A little behind on the last broadcast of The Gathering, but it’s up! The latest broadcast discusses the doctrine of Adoption and the implications of it. In addition, we preview new music from Evangel and Voice from both of their upcoming projects. We also interview Evangel for just a few moments.
The Gathering: July 4, 08 - The Doctrine of Adoption
In addition, here’s the FFF message on election from June 27, 2008. Enjoy and be blessed!
Here’s the message from June 27th, 2008.
Date: June 27, 2008
Topic: Election
Speaker: Derek Pulliam
Download | Stream
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T4G08 - Part 2 - More video!
By BlackCalvinist | June 19, 2008
Okay, so I’m finally back to doing the video for T4G08 - here’s some more footage!
Be sure to watch all the way to the end…. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcClYXnVUpA
Topics: conferences and gatherings | 2 Comments »
Video is coming…a LOT of it.
By BlackCalvinist | June 17, 2008
I’m FINALLY importing all of the T4G video (I have about 1.5 hours of video to edit). Random interviews with a TON of folks - some you know, some you don’t! Even a little Deejay Essence, Bob Kauflin and C.J. Mahaney…. and LOTS of good singing.
I’m being transported back in time to April….and it is GOOD.
Interesting - you can see folks are worn down a bit by day three.
Thanks to Mel Duncan, CJ, Bob and MANY others for giving me a few moments of their time at the end of day 2 (when all of us were sleepy) to say a few things on tape.
Theres more…. I’ll upload it all a little at a time.
In addition, it’s a year overdue - Calvinism On The Couch Episode 3 - The Holy Trinity. Imagine, I’m still getting people leaving comments in the section for the first two videos! Video coming shortly….
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Whew…again.
By BlackCalvinist | June 14, 2008
Things never let up. Three days of workshops, time spent with girlfriend, working on paper, spend time with my father (yes, my father) AND my other other brother from NY and MAYBE even my sister….. and I still feel like I’ve just awoke from a beating with iron rods.
Maybe next week I can get some rest ?
It’s cool, though. I was already ‘warned’ that as responsibilities increase, time for rest decreases. Keep me in prayer.
Meanwhile, I have video to upload…..
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School year at an end….praise GOD!
By BlackCalvinist | June 2, 2008
Maaaaan, it’s been a crazy year.
Thankfully, we’re down to the last six days. I have one LAST performance for my kids to do this evening and that will be it. Just waiting patiently for the rest of the day to start up……
I still have much to share in the coming weeks. Just waiting for the year to end so I can be free to write more.
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Whew!
By BlackCalvinist | May 22, 2008
Man, y’all keep me in prayer. May has been RIDICULOUSLY busy. I’m looking forward to the summer break so I can perfect my writing and take care of many outstanding things around here.
Topics: life | 1 Comment »
Technology Education Plan
By BlackCalvinist | May 5, 2008
Sharing another paper from EDU 550.
Introduction
Educational trends have progressed over the past decade toward becoming more technology-oriented. Indeed, one author notes that student use of the internet on the collegiate level has continued to rise over the years, with an average 8 percent increase between 2006 and 2007 (Guess, 2007). These students have been seen using the internet for various purposes including online editions of coursework, interaction with classmates and instructors, research, social networking as well as for a multiplicity of entertainment purposes. With no end in sight to this trend abating, the wise educator will seek to integrate electronic resources as a part of a students’ regular learning.
Many issues and problems immediately arise with this thought. How do we actively engage students electronically and keep them engaged in the use of electronics outside of the school environment? How do we go about teaching students to properly research and use the internet as a resource? How do we go about merging older forms of education with the new technology? Should it be part of the primary instruction or simply a supplement? These questions and more will be addressed during the course of this paper. Additionally, I will point the reader to this authors’ own music resource website as an example of the philosophies contained within this paper. That said, let us begin.
Engaging Students Electronically
Most students below the age of twenty have almost never known a world without some sort of electronic visual interaction. A study released by Drs. Larry D. Rosen and Michelle M. Weil in 2001 demonstrated a link between a students’ lack of ability to pay attention and electronic stimulation (video games, television). They found that both students and adults were more able to stay ‘engaged’ in an electronic activity due to what they called “holding power” (Rosen & Weil, 2001). Numerous studies (including one from Christakis & Zimmerman, et al 2004) indicate that many traditional methods of teaching (which require extended student attention) will not hold student attention for an extended time period if the child has grown up exposed to multiple hours of television and/or video games per day. While it is true that children must learn personal discipline and responsibility, the teacher must also seek to meet the student at their point of engagement and gradually ‘reprogram them’. It then behooves the teacher who wishes to maximize class time to not only learn how to integrate technology into the classroom, but also how to use that technology to convey the same concepts as traditional teaching while causing students to have the least amount of ‘disengagement’ during the process of education.
As an instructor of general music/music survey and instrumental music, I have a twofold dilemma. While it is not difficult to implement electronics with many aspects of my general music classes, the instrumental music classes I teach demand that students sit still for extended periods of time, focus, concentrate and exercise personal discipline. As a result, my general approach to engaging students electronically is to provide supplemental and research-oriented material via the medium of the internet. I have previously discussed my methodology for students using the internet as a virtual library and how they can properly discern reputable resources from dubious ones (Gilliard, 2008). There are a wealth of music history and biographical materials available on the internet in the form of articles and streaming video which the student can be directed to in order to expand his/her understanding of a topic.
Creative and Interactive Software
The next issue in my general music classes is the use of the internet in relation to teaching music theory. Students would learn about rhythmic notation in class, for example. While we may clap and count and engage in other kinesthetic-based activities in the classroom, this needs to be continued at home. Thankfully, there are sites such as ABASoft’s Interactive Music Applications (http://ababasoft.com/music/) which are all available online for free. A virtual drum machine enables students to experiment independently while still applying the same concepts learned in class. In addition, localized free music notation software such as Finale® Music’s Notepad (http://finalemusic.com/notepad/default.aspx) enable students to engage in music composition without the use of pencil and staff paper. Assignments could be given to students for them to use the software as a homework assignment to create a song which would be played in class. This form of authentic assessment simultaneously demonstrates the students’ knowledge of the subject matter and engages them in being creative.
My instrumental music classes present more of a challenge. While they may share some of the same resources for music theory as the general music class, the instrumental students learn the instruments they play by doing. A few music companies such as Neil A. Kjos have met this challenge with the use of the iPas Interactive Practice and Assessment Software, included on CD with many of their instrumental music method books. The company makes a demonstration version (http://www.kjos.com/display.php?f=soe/ipas_software_corner.html) of the software available for free download and evaluation. The software ‘tests’ students by listening to them play and showing them their errors while they play, giving them the opportunity to correct themselves rather than have a teacher constantly remind them of their errors.
Streaming Audio and Video
The latest resource in the line of internet trends has been the advent of streaming audio and video technology. With my instrumental music students, I have been able to direct them to websites such as IMEEM (http://www.imeem.com) for audio versions of some of the music we play in class so that they can hear professional recordings of the songs. In addition, websites like YouTube (http://www.youtube.com), Google Video (http://video.google.com) and AOL Video (http://video.aol.com) have user-uploaded recordings of peers from other areas of the country and the world performing some of the same music they will be performing. Seeing and hearing peers play the same music they are currently working on can sometimes aid students in becoming more comfortable with playing unfamiliar music. The professional recording gives them a reference point and goal to work toward.
Music Resource Website
Directly germane to this discussion is the creation of my own music resource website, Mr. Gilliard’s Music Resource Website (http://www.mrgilliardmusic.com). I have sought to make this site a portal of information for both parents and students by including links to current assignments, classroom expectations and other things. In addition, I have sought to incorporate old methods of teaching (with the teacher as instructor) with some of the newer methods of instruction available (streaming video) by including summary videos of lessons and material taught in class (http://www.youtube.com/MrGilliardMusic). I make these things available to my students so they can use them alongside of review sheets and packets (also downloadable on the site) or listen to professional recordings of songs we are playing in class (also available on site for students to import to their MP3 players or other digital audio device). The site and the constantly growing set of links to other resources are designed to keep the student engaged outside of the classroom by using the very thing they will already spend varied amounts of time on.
Concluding Observations
Caution must still be observed when integrating electronic resources into the classroom. Human beings are social beings and many studies have shown (for example, a decade ago in Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Mukhopadhyay, et. al., 1998) that increased internet usage has a tendency to lead to less social and familial interactions, greater depression and lonliness and an increasing inability in people to operate in the ‘real world’. As an anecdote, I am reminded of a classmate once mentioning that she and some of her younger relatives (nieces and nephews, I believe) were in a car on the way to a sporting event. During the course of the drive, they barely spoke to each other, but instead spent time sending text messages to each other via their cell phones. In our quest to have students become more engaged electronically, we should wisely take into consideration exactly how far we push them into using technology and electronic resources. While the use of technology is good, we dare not let it strip us of the basic things which make us human beings. This is true whether one’s purpose for using the internet is education or simply for social interaction.
References
Guess, A. (September 17, 2007). Students’ Evolving Use of Technology. Retrieved February
15, 2008 from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/it.
Rosen, L. & Weil, M. (2001). Are Computer, Video, and Arcade Games Affecting Children’s
Behavior? An Empirical Study. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from http://www.technostress.com/ADHDVideoGames3.htm.
Christakis, D., Zimmerman, F., DiGuiseppe, D., and McCarty, C. (April 4, 2004). Early
Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children. Peadiatrics, 113. 708-713.
Gilliard, K. (February 2, 2008). Internet Usage in Research. Retrieved February 17, 2008
from http://theologicallycorrect.com/webmaster/blogs/?p=355.
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that
reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53, 1017-1032.
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Reflections and Implications of T4G08 - Part 1
By BlackCalvinist | May 2, 2008
Well, it’s been two weeks since I’ve been home from T4G. The pollen count was up over the weekend, but thankfully God blessed my area with rain to wash most of it away. On Friday night after FFF, I actually *saw* myself grow slowly unable to breathe properly in the course of about 15 minutes standing outside….at night. I think I got ripped off with the $14.99 I spent for Zyrtech-D last night at CVS, but eh. Whatever.
On my way to T4G back on the 15th, I got a chance to do some heavy listening to some podcasts (9 hours will do that for ya), so I caught up on a LOT that I’ve been missing. One particular podcast that caught my ear, so to speak, was the current series by the White Horse Inn on Christless Christianity. Part of their discussion focused on the roots of liberalism in the late 1800’s, gnosticism in the ancient church and how they’ve not only made their way into the church today in mainline denominations, but also how their thoughts of many Christians today….even mostly orthodox ones.
Mark Dever and Al Mohler tied up the loose ends of my understanding and reinforced a lot of what Ken Jones, Rod Rosenbladt and Mike Horton were talking about with their talks at T4G. MacArthur said it a while ago:
The problem is we live in a time when the climate in the church is intolerant of that, when to be discriminating and discerning is not popular. The climate in the church today is actually intolerant toward discernment. It wants everyone to be loving. It wants to elevate love and unity and non-divisive attitudes, don’t say anything against a brother, don’t say anything that is divisive, everyone is entitled to what he wants to believe, let’s be loving, let’s be united. And as I told you last time, Satan knew we wouldn’t liberal theology so he sold us liberal hermeneutics which will eventually get us to their theology. Instead of interpreting the Bible on the basis of a historical grammatical contextual understanding of the text, we are developing a tolerance for every view in the name of love and unity and a non- divisive spirit. That is deadly poison to truth.
The liberal hermeneutical approach often places more of an emphasis on ‘deeds’ (what we do) and less of an emphasis on ‘creeds’, or things that should be believed. It places a greater value on things experienced rather than propositional truth….so that the latter becomes the definer of the former. I see it frequently in many charismatic/pentecostal circles (especially on the issue of ‘God spoke to me’).
But that’s another topic for later….. 16 bars to be precise….
I’d been dealing with (over on a message board) what seemed to be a steady ‘drift’ in the theological expressions of one person whom I once respected as a solid brother in the Lord. Nowadays, though, I have no idea if he really is in the Lord or not. I don’t judge either way on the exact state of his soul, for God may still yet knock him over the head and humble all that pride out of him (yes, there is much I am NOT saying here) so he can repent and turn from his errors, but all I can say is that his profession of faith seems shaky. Dude’s even been endorsing Mr. Paul-Didn’t-Say-That - N.T. Wright. How are you going to endorse a guy on the topic justification who says that Paul’s focus wasn’t how one gets right with God in the book of Galatians and Romans ?
He’s traveled down the road to liberalism and heresy that Horton, Mohler, Dever and others have outlined in their talks and speeches. Dever and Horton in particular - Dever with his talk on ways people try to ‘improve’ the gospel - specifically one of his points on how people ADD social justice to the gospel and/or proclaim it as a PART of the gospel message. It’s not just this guy that I’ve seen it in - I could probably fill two blogposts with quotes from other people on the same message board as well as from other message boards, interactions with believers and clergy from other churches, and so forth.
What happens, more often than not (as all parties pointed out) is that the gospel gets eclipsed by the need for taking care social issues and problems here and now. Things like the verdict in the Sean Bell case (fresh in the news) where the cops shot him 50+ times on his wedding day to feeding the hungry, providing activities for at risk youth. All of these things are items which I could happily and easily serve alongside the NAACP or other organization interested in righting the wrongs done in these areas or making up for the neglect done in these areas.
But none of these things are the gospel. Our primary mission in the world is not and never has been to re-organize the existing social structures. These things may come about as a result of people with renewed minds taking up the resources around them and becoming servants of those less fortunate or those who have been denied justice, but those implications of the gospel are not the gospel itself.
Those talks helped me to solidify a few things in regard to my position on BGLO’s (black greek letter organizations). Those who’ve known me for more than 7 years know that I’m a member of Phi Beta Sigma. Sigma is a good social and community service organization. I have (and continue to have) no problem linking up with it to do work in the community - whether it be through our mentoring program, voter registration drives, collecting money to help with cancer research or helping people to organize and run businesses.
Sigma’s focus is not religious.
That’s an important point in this whole thing. I have no problem walking and working alongside of a civic organization that shares convictions with me. The thing I keep in mind, though, is that they may share them for different reasons than I do. For example, there pro-life lesbian groups who believe that the current trend in research to find a ‘gay gene’ may actually backfire on them, since there will be parents who seek to abort their children based on them having or not having this ‘gay gene’ (if such a thing existed). While we are both on the same side of the issue in terms of the sanctity of human life, we approach it from different angles with different presuppositions and different value systems. Likewise, there are plenty of ‘conservatives’ who share my convictions regarding abortion and the sanctity of life that I could walk and work alongside of. Their reasons for being pro-life may even have a similar biblical basis as mine (Psalm 139). But some of these same people also hate the God of the Bible and are content with their own good works and self-righteousness. They may be ‘morally upright’, but still in need of a Savior just as much as the pagan Wiccan who doesn’t believe that a fetus is a life.
Now I mentioned earlier that my fraternity wasn’t a religious organization. That’s part of my determiner for whether or not I involve myself in a social cause with a particular group. If the group claims to be pro-life on strictly religious grounds (or even primarily on religious grounds), then my beliefs - at the core - need to match theirs.
That’s where I part ways with many who would link up with organizations that are so ‘ecumenical’ that they’ll claim to be doing kingdom work or work in the name of Jesus which is really not an ‘extension’ of the gospel, but rather simply, social work merged in with a faulty understanding of the gospel.
I’m a fan of truth in advertising. So when people present themselves as one thing…be truthful about it. Are your views orthodox ? Don’t act like they are when you know full and well they’ve been condemned and not any of them has had a permanent foothold in church history with anyone other than universally recognized schismatics and heretics.
Applied practically, I look at groups like The Sojourners, whose ‘about us’ link says that they are:
Rooted in the solid ground of prophetic biblical tradition, Sojourners is a progressive Christian voice that preaches not political correctness but compassion, community, and commitment. We refuse to separate personal faith from social justice, prayer from peacemaking, contemplation from action, or spirituality from politics.
Sojourners includes evangelicals, Catholics, Pentecostals and Protestants; liberals and conservatives; blacks, whites, Latinos, and Asians; women and men; young and old. We are Christians who want to follow Jesus, but who also sojourn with others in different faith traditions and all those who are on a spiritual journey. We reach into traditional churches but also out to those who can’t fit into them. Together we seek to discover the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. We invite you to join, to connect, and to act. Welcome to the community.
I ask myself: can I legitimately walk alongside these people ? The doctrinal positions of all of them include those who would biblically be considered non-Christians (both the liberals AND those of other ‘faith traditions’). They call themselves a “committed group of Christians who believe in the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice.” CHRISTIANS is the operative word here. We’ll hold certain things in common doctrinally if we are. But I don’t have ‘the gospel’ in common with an Open Theist and/or a Catholic. The OT has a fundamentally different ‘god’ than I do. Likewise, the Catholic (if he believes the Council of Trent) has a fundamentally different answer to the question of ‘how is a man made right with God?” Those issues necessarily make me NOT brothers with them and NOT in the same camp of faith as ‘Christians’. Spiritually, I am commanded to separate from such (2 Cor. 6:14-18). So I cannot co-labor with the Mormon, JW or Open Theist - not under the context of social work done from a spiritual perspective. We don’t share the same gospel or any basis for unity.
So Mark Dever really helped to put things in perspective regarding the issue of ‘what is the gospel’. There are also issues related to this - what does the authentic Christian life look like ? How does our faith impact our politics ? How should the local church go about serving the local community ?
All of these things are well and fine for future discussions. Believers definitely should pursue social justice and seek to serve the world, city and community around them. But these things should be as a result of believing the biblical gospel. And they should be done arm-in-arm with more believers who hold similar values. No problems with a sound Methodist Church and a PCA church working side-by-side. Both agree on the question of how a man is made right before God - grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone apart from works. Sure, the Methodists may have other details of the gospel a bit flipped, but at heart, every Christian (even the Wesleys, if you listen to their hymns) is a Calvinist.
That covers it for now on this one. I’ll be back to cover other implications as a result of the talks and interactions at T4G over the next few weeks
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