D.A. Carson and Vertical Horizon

I've been writing these for a little while, but now I'll start posting some here. Short reviews of music, literature, and media that I force into 75 words or less. They're a fun exercise, and you get more of what I think about, for instance, the things that graduate from my "Currently Reading" box on the right.

D.A. Carson
Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church:
Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (2005)
(genre: Church and Culture; Theology; Critique)

The New Testament research professor’s appraisal of authors Brian McLaren and Dan Kimball opens with olive-branch humility and qualified praise of emergent church emphasis on experiential and ecumenical spirituality. Carson’s historical and academic breadth (well-footnoted) brings must-read cautions to the dialogue, but turns in later chapters, carrying an increasingly shrill tone that eventually misses the point, ironically calling theological fouls too fastidious for the works he critiques.

Vertical Horizon
Go (2005)
(genre: Pop Rock)

Five years after Everything You Want, Vertical Horizon reminds us that they still exist with the John Shanks (Michelle Branch) produced Go. Stereo-surround harmonies still trump the ’69 Marshall guitar amp, tipping the scales to pop hooks over any real thrash. I’m a sucker for catchy, but until mid-30’s Matt Scannell rises above his pre-teen lyrical constructions (I need you ~ I want you), Vertical will rarely find my playlist.