Anatomy of a Song...

Hello, friends!

Catalyst, the Central Region's Spring Conference is almost here, which means that it is time for one thing... SONG PARODY TIME!!!

Some of you may know this already, but I apparently have a gift for writing song parodies, especially in the form of conference welcome songs and IV staff goodbye tributes. Think of me as "Weird Al" Yankovich except with more Jesus and less hair. The best that I can remember, my first song parody was actually a re-write of "Unashamed Love" written for Parent's Appreciation at my high school youth group. However, things really didn't get going until my intern year on staff (2007-2008), when I wrote a goodbye song for Jon Wang, a tribute to Ashley Smith, and "Conference Time," my parody of possibly the greatesst song ever conceived by man as a promo for our Regional Fall Conference. Since then, I have been the Central Region go to guy for all these bad boys. Apparently, a Central Region function isn't a Central Region function without a welcome song parody anymore.

I was thinking about this year's Catalyst parody (I'll tell you about it after the conference) and it made me think about the Gospel. Seriously, it really did. Allow me to break it down.

As I look back on my various song parodies, I have noticed that you can group my songs into 2 categories. The first category is songs that I want to do. These songs have tons of words, are pretty quickly paced, and make me stretch my lyrical chops. "One Week" by BNL is one of my favorites, but it didn't play well. The second category are songs that students/staff like to hear. These songs are usually much simpler and usually of the pop variety. I did "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars for our Fall Conference last semester and it was a hit. These songs are fun, but they aren't as much fun as the first category. The trick for me is to realize that these songs aren't actually for me. They are for students and staff to feel welcome at these functions.

Do you see where I am going with this as far as the Gospel goes (or discipleship for that matter). I have a certain style. I like to do things a certain way. I have things that connect with me and things that don't. But, apparently, not everyone is like me. So, I can plan a great training for student leaders in my eyes, but if I am not taking the students into account and actually giving that MORE weight than my preferences, then I am short changing the student experience. If I am presenting the Gospel to students in a cookie cutter kind of way because that is how I came to believe, then I am making a huge mistake and doing the students a disservice.

Much of this is a reminder from my time at Multi-Ethnic Staff Conference, but seen a different way.  I suppose sometimes I need to learn things a few times, yeah?  =0). 

One final note: I am a bit of a musician, but one of the joys of these projects has been working with other staff to have fun and add some musicality to what would otherwise be a silly little ditty.  Andrea "Legend" Emerson was my first co-musician, and I have done projects with Chioma "DQueen" Chukwu, Allison "Glenoak" Schafer, and Sherami "No Nickname Needed" Hinders.  For the past few years, all my songs have been accompanied by Kale "Charlamagne" Uzzle, an incredible musician and a great harmonizer.  Thanks, friends! 

Prayer points:
- There are still a few days left in the school year, but the weather, and my head, are making it difficult to get to campus.  Please pray for good health these next few days as I work to finish strong. 
- Like I said, Catalyst is right around the corner!  If you would like to give scholararships to ACF students, you can do so here.  Please pray that God will be preparing the hearts of those who will be attending, including our non-Christian students, our International students, and our student leaders. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam