Alive (Music Festival)

I know that most of my readers already know about our plans to go to Alive Music festival this year. 

Let me give you newcomers a little more info on the event.

ALive is in Canton Ohio. It is hosted by Clay Park, a camping and hiking park mainly. 

The main attraction are of course... the bands. Alive will feature one of their best main stage lineups this year with bands like Anberlin, Switchfoot and David Crowder just to name a few.

There is a little something for everyone at Alive even if your not a big music fan. They have a huge swimming area, basketball courts, a mini skatepark and more. 

The cost in total is $165.00.  A $110.00 ticket purchase down payment is due by April 5th. This down payment will reserve your spot on the trip.  The rest of the money ($55.00) will be due on May 24th.  Money that is paid will NOT be able to be refunded. 

For more info on the actual event go to alive.org 

Or email me  regeneration@churcht.org

Sometimes in life it's hard to remember which things are important. 

We get so caught up with what is going on and what we are doing; this makes us, more often than not, forget people!  We get so consumed with "things" so much so that we neglect the most important things in this life; people!  We let stuff, junk control what we do and how we react instead of something with a beating heart.

Sometimes the things that are just junk play a bigger part in our life than what they should be allowed to.  

   I wash my car a lot, inside and out about twice a week. Yes I'm a clean freak. But what if I washed y car instead of being with someone who is important to me.  Is there any commonsense in that?  Even if I spend so much time with one "material" object will I ever receive love from that "thing"? NO! 

What I'm saying is lets love the things that should be loved, and maintain the rest.

Allies

Allies is this Wednesday

 4496 ST. RT. 180 Kingston Ohio (740)6552600.

7 - 8:30

Grades 7th-12th are invited  

Damien Jurado (Caught in Trees)

If you haven't caught on yet I don't really appreciate all the hype that the media gives to some talentless artists while the real saviors of music get neglected because they're not in and out of drug rehab, or neglected to show tooooo much skin at the latest awards show.  

Well, I will give the pure rockers credit non the less. 

    Damien Jurado is one of the best songwriters of our time. Listen to His newest album (Caught in Trees) and you'll see exactly what I mean. 

It's a a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It's a hard sound to describe or compare. The vocals are classic rock, and the music is lighthearted but motivated. 

I haven't given the album an entire listen, however I have a pretty reliable source that says the content is pretty good. Give it a preview on itunes, or check it out at your local FYE. 

         Let me know what you think of it.  

Really???

Really... Is there anything worth while anymore?

Let me explain. I just checked out itunes' top purchased albums. The first one I clicked on was labeled with a parental advisory warning. Since it was the number one album I figured "I might as well". As I glanced at which song I should take a gander at first, a title caught my eye; "F**k You" was the song that captured my attention. It obviously did the same for many other itunes goers since it was the most popular song listed on the number one album purchased on itunes. 

Needless to say I didn't really listen to the album in-depth. 

Let me say it again.... WOW. 

I just don't get it. let me back up. It's myself that I don't get!!... maybe? Because I (we) hear things like this all the time right? So why is it such a big deal? You say "I hear a lot worse things than that just at school". That's probably very true, however, there is a difference between something you are subject to and something you allow yourself to entertain. 

Maybe you fall on the side of the fence that says "words are words, and they're just man made words at that, who really cares".  Who benefits from this kind of approach? Why is it necessary to go there. 

It makes me made when people are advocates for freedom of speech except the speech that calls them into check with something that's apart of their lifestyle. They want to speak freely, but could care less about your right to freely speak. 

It goes deeper than just a song, that's what I'm getting at. 

And really for me, it's more than just a word. It's an action against someone and it's a movement towards desensitization. Maybe some of us are glad. Maybe some of us realize that becoming desensitized means to this "minor" stuff means that we will eventually be dealing with much greater issues. 

Is there a solution? 

I think so!

Philippians  4:8

Think about it!?

To Write Love on Her Arms (Suicide Prevention)

Sometimes we get to caught up in the politics of Christianity (okay, maybe a little more than sometimes).  We look forward to debating what music a Christian should or should not listen to, and what movies a Christian should or should not watch.  These things should be discussed; but I can't help but feel as if these topics of discussion override what we should really be focusing on.

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people who deal with depression and self inflicted injury.  They are making a difference in a big way in my mind. To have a goal to save a life is much more (in my opinion) honorable than converting your friend from "secular" to "Christian" entertainment (if there is such a thing). 

Maybe the next time one of these heated debates comes up about "What Would Jesus Watch" you can refocus and realize that there is a bigger picture to what we are commanded to do than just argue within our own ranks.  We were created to LOVE.  So... Let's spread the love and major on the majors, and minor on the minors. 

Check out the organization  @ twloha.com  

A Day to Remember (Homesick)

A Day to Remember debuted their first in 2005, since then they have taken a backseat to mainstream rock but the talent is first class. 

Their latest album sounds like a little bit of everything. They posses all the main food-groups of rock (Just a little joking).  I have not had time to preview the whole album, but they sound good enough for you to check out on your own time. 

The band somewhat resembles Emery, a staple to the underground progressive rock scene since 2004. 

Since I haven't yet listened to the entire album I cannot recommend anything for it yet... However, it does sound pretty good. Check it out on itunes or in the store before you buy it.  

Why is it still SNOWING?

Really, after Christmas isn't it suppose to be warm and sunny? Why is it 15 degrees right now? 

If you know me well enough you know that I don't really like the cold. I want it to be summer all year long. Shorts, flip-flops and T-shirts. That is the closest to heaven that I can be while I'm still on earth. 

I'm convinced that when God comes back he will first take us to a tropical paradise before we enter through the Pearly Gates.

I'm just kidding (obviously) about that last part. I do believe Heaven may actually look a lot like Fiji however. 

Summer come soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Fray (Self Titled)

It comes out tomorrow... Buy it!