Jim Ierley
Glendale, AZ

Music

Album(s) of the Year: All the Roadrunning by Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris. Instant classic. Knopfler and Harris’s vocal blend is a match made in heaven. Their unmistakable voices and storytelling come together to make this album cinematic.

Music “Find(s) of the Year”: The work of Matthew Garrison, son of Jimmy Garrison (John Coltrane’s bassist). When jazz bass players put forth solo albums, comparisons to Jaco Pastorius are inevitable. With the release of Jaco’s stunning self titled album at age 24, he became the black hole of which no electric bass player afterward can totally break free (not that they should). Enter Matthew Garrison with his self-titled album. While never abandoning the bass’s foundational role, he forges a melodic role for the bass that is truly his own. He produces his music to include modern soundscapes and complex rhythms. There’s not a trace of gimmickry in his playing, and one can easily forget that it’s the bass that is carrying the music because he’s crafting the overall themes so adeptly. Check out some live video clips from his DVD/CD. Get autographed CD’s directly from his site.

Song of the Year: “How Can I Thank You” from Dream Again by Phil Keaggy. This song brought a tear to my eye when I heard Phil sing it in concert. In his own words, “This was written to my other sister, Mary Ellen for leading me to the Lord 46 years ago, the week following my mom’s tragic car accident, which took her life.” As I heard this song, I reflected on how God used this very dark time to gift Phil with salvation and to literally make his name great among the nations through Phil’s decades of music.

Back Catalogue(s) of the Year: Mark Knopfler. I was propelled into his solo stuff after the Emmylou Harris collaboration. I had always liked the guy with Dire Straits, but it’s been fun to see how much of the Roadrunning album draws from his solo style.

Artist/Performer of the Year: Phil Keaggy. Let’s just say that proliphic should be the new spelling of that word. In 2006 he toured and released four albums. Though two of those albums were primarily tweaks of the Keaggy personal archive, he continues to refresh himself and cover more musical ground than any other guitarist on the planet. I continue to be amazed at how this man displays both jaw-dropping talent AND meek, God-honoring character. A study of music history would show how rarely these two qualities intersect.

Misc. music thoughts for 2006: The greatest thing to happen to my listening in 2006 was my subscription to URGE unlimited music downloads for my portable player. It allowed me to concentrate on being a music listener, finding and enjoying tons of new music rather than just a being a CD collector.

Movies

Movie(s) of the Year: True 2006 pick: Glory Road. 2005 release that I saw in 2006: Walk the Line. These movies featured tremendous acting and faithful storytelling of real life. They both resonated in showing the ugliness of sin and the goodness of common grace.

Movie “Find(s) of the Year”: Babette’s Feast. This foreign language film was recommended by the White Horse Inn guys for its tale of a grateful refugee and her religious hosts who think themselves too godly to receive the extravagant feast she prepares for them. All in all, it’s a movie centered on preparations for a single meal and is completely in Danish (I recommend enabling the English track). If you can get past those seemingly large hurdles, you will find a superb story that serves up a great message about Christ and our response to Him (though not explicitly).

Actor/Actress of the Year: Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. Their acting was superb, but I was dually impressed with their abilities to appropriate the singing voices of the Cash couple.

Misc. movie thoughts for 2006: Hollywood continues to underwhelm by its inability to provide even 5 new movies that impress me in a whole year. Would anyone second my motion to make the Academy Awards a four year event like the World Cup? The annual self pat on the back is really pathetic considering the output.

Reading

Book “Find(s) of the Year”: Practical Religion by J.C. Ryle. Though I waded into this book years ago, I found myself wanting to give it a real treatment. It’s now on the shortlist of books that I will keep rereading to wake me up from my worldliness and show me the preeminence of Christ in all things.

Misc. reading thoughts for 2006: As a parent of toddlers, I consider myself in exile when it comes to reading. I’ve decided not to buy more books, but to rather reread a few proven books until I start seeing the impact of them. No fault in the books, plenty of fault in me.

Pop Culture

Person of the Year: John Piper. Cancer gave him a great opportunity to test the worth of his doctrine this year. God was truly glorified. I loved his prayer right before leaving the pulpit that God would use his absence to do the most mighty things in the history of that church, demonstrating that God is not reliant on a famous big-shot preacher. (PS: Let there be no doubt about John Piper’s inclusion in this category as evidenced by this).

Pop Culture Moment(s) Or Trend of the Year: For good or for evil, this is the year that user-generated content took control over the internet. Witness the dramatic impact of YouTube, MySpace, and most notably ColossiansThreeSixteen (CTS). For proof, check this NY Times article. If you can’t find CTS in there, just check the CTS Google ranking for “Brent Thomas” (quotes included). Fickle teens are already tiring of MySpace, so 2007 should be an interesting year to watch in pop tech. Who will endure? Will Google and NewsCorp’s mega-purchases of YouTube and MySpace pay off? Is CTS next on the acquisition list? PS: Gmail rocks and makes e-mail 10 times more manageable.

Misc. cultural thoughts for 2006: Pop culture is just that, popular. Ick… I remain saddened by the trash heap that we all must sift through. Without even trying, I know things about celebrities that I never wanted to know, and the only TV I watch is Austin City Limits when I’m lucky. Darn Internet headlines.

Faith

What theological Truth(s) has particularly “hit home” for you this past year? Through the heart-seeking and solid biblical preaching of J.C. Ryle, John Piper, and my own Pastor Bill Phillips I’ve really seen the importance of prayer and my need to repent for living as a functional atheist by not bathing my life in prayer.

What have you been meditating on throughout the year? Like many before me, I have found the Psalms to be perfect in leading me into prayer and meditation on our good God and Savior. I struggle to make prayer my priority. Though it seems obvious, faith and prayer seem to go hand in hand, serving also as gauges of the relative measure of each.

In what areas have you grown the most this year and why? God has used several close calls with the health of immediate family and increased job pressure to get it through my cranium that I am dependent on Him. I am thankful for his undeserved mercies in sparing me deep suffering on these two fronts. I hope to be strong in faith and less self reliant in the coming year.