Who is jars of clay

It's got to receive that. That's what the song is to me - 'come bring it all, you'll find an answer. Said Haseltine, "This is the first record that we've tried to even tackle some of what we've been experiencing in Africa in an actual song. There's a very fine line between writing a song that does more to strip away dignity from the people, to objectify their poverty or their experience.

And it doesn't necessarily give a good communication of their real humanity and their real strengths. And I think that's what happens when you write story songs about a little kid who's sitting in Africa on a dirt pile, living in impoverished conditions.

You can't really do that very well and really connect to people to make a difference. But the Western ideas aren't really the better ones; and it really takes Africans owning their place and their community to speak and to serve and to love people well.

So that song is part critique of the way the Western world has approached Africa; and, then, the other side is our confessional, trying to be repentant of what we have done to perpetuate some of those bad forms of seeking justice. And I've gone in and said that thing that I've spoken against in that song.

I've been that. Which is why the song had to simply not be a criticism but also had to be a confession. I grew up in Massachusetts, and there were two black girls in my class. The only thing I knew about them was that their hair was different, their skin was different. So I would always engage with them on a level of being the white guy who feels sorry for them and wanted to help them out of their situation. I was still holding onto control in that relationship.

And I wasn't meeting them on a level where we could actually be friends and I could actually listen to what they were saying and they could even hear what I was saying. The only way I could go in there is as the white guy that's ignored them for so long and, thus, has been part of the problem; or as the white guy who's going in to save them from their circumstances.

And, again, those scenarios are both the wrong way to go in there. And I did - that's [my] first experience of going to Africa.

Fortunately, I didn't have any money when I went, and I didn't really have much of an idea. So I had to go just to listen - I wasn't there to do anything. And, as difficult as it was for me, it was the greatest gift because all I could do was sit with people and take it in. There wasn't anything I could say because I didn't know enough about their situation. It was a humbling place to be, but one that afforded the opportunity to say, 'We need to hear from you how you want to build your communities.

What is your culture like? It's very freeing to go to Africa as a person that considers myself equal, if not completely unqualified to be there. I feel like I get to Africa, and I shrink down. I become this guy that's so out of my element; I don't know where to eat or even go to the bathroom in these places. They have to instruct me - and that's a really great place to be.

Also, there's one non-original song on the album. Commented Dan, "That was a scary song to try to do. All of these aspects go in to the song and when we finished, we thought it was good, but it was really scary that we did it this way.

He said, 'Julie's going to think this is just an amazing gift. Now the album is out and selling by the bus load. Despite some success with the singles "Five Candles" and "Crazy Times," however, Much Afraid didn't gain the same level of mainstream exposure as its predecessor.

Nonetheless, the band's Christian audience remained loyal, sending the effort If I Left the Zoo produced by Dennis Herring , who'd also worked with Counting Crows to gold status. By this time, Savage had left the band's concert lineup in order to back Jaci Velasquez , and was replaced by Joe Porter. Redemption Songs followed in early , comprised of the band's take on significant church hymns and popular spirituals, and Jars of Clay returned in fall with Good Monsters.

Three albums arrived the following year -- the compilation Essential Jars of Clay , Live Monsters , and the holiday-themed Christmas Songs -- while saw the band release another studio album, Long Fall Back to Earth , whose sound paid homage to such '80s icons as Tears for Fears and the Cure. The band continued that trend, following up with The Shelter in , which they promoted by touring the US in as part of the massive Rock And Worship Roadshow.

After some downtime, they hit the studio again in , travelling to Portland, OR to work with Tucker Martine. The renowned producer brought a slightly grungier, bass-heavy sound to their next album, Inland , which was slated for release in August AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age. Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy. Energetic Happy Hypnotic. Eventually, some members of the Christian press picked up his take on the subject — one that has become more and more a source of generational divide among Christians.

Charisma News sounded a bit panicked in a piece called " the Shattering of Jars of Clay: ". Because most people read and interpret scripture wrong. Perhaps this is the root of your problem? Is the Bible not clear about anything? Jesus being the only Savior and Lord? Adultery being bad? Fidelity being good? Shall I list more items that are abundantly clear in Scripture?

The Christian Post's Crossmap blog chided Haseltine with this response : "Scripture also addresses homosexual behavior in both the Old and New Testaments, warning that immoral sexual activity will lead to death and eternal damnation. Some Christian radio stations reportedly pulled his music from rotation in response to this thoughts on Twitter, and some former fans deleted Jars of Clay from their playlists. All the while, Haseltine tweeted about same-sex marriage for days, dropping in and out of an active conversation with his followers with new thoughts on why there's basically no good argument against allowing same-sex couples to marry:.

You're refuting yourself. You are headed nowhere fast friend. Consider and repent. Why does it matter to so many? What's at stake? What year is this? No empathy in so many of the comments I've received. What if it was your son? Your daughter? Would that change the tone of the convo? So many gay couples display more loving characteristics and healthy relationship practices than most traditional married couples