My guest blogger today is my 15 year old son, Will (pictured). He is an award winning writer and I am glad to have him share with you today. And the answer is NO- with the exceptions of MCR and Switchfoot I have no idea who these bands are! I hope you enjoy this change of pace...
Hey everybody. I am taking over for the day, contaminating the blog with all things shiny. Anyway, I’m gonna talk to you today about 97x Next Big Thing, a rock concert event that took place on Sunday of this past weekend. I was one of the thousands in attendance for the show, so I’ll give you a play by play of the 14-hour long event.
The gates opened at 10 AM and we all filed in to see two local bands on the second stage. Set it Off and Not Tonight Josephine were both fairly good and got everybody ready for the real deal. The first band to rear its head was American Bang, a new hippie style rock band with ferocious guitars shredding through their set in the vein of good old fashioned southern rock. The frontman’s voice was somewhat drowned out by the instruments, but it really wasn’t important as the guitars and drums ripped through the crowd anyway.
Next up was Finger Eleven on the main stage, one of those bands no one thinks they know, but in reality you’ve heard at least one of their songs on the radio at one point or another. There set was enjoyable, if not the most energetic, and they played the two songs that I knew, so I was happy.
Then came Neon Trees, a new band whose massive hit single Animal is ruling the airwaves right now. They emerged on the second stage and despite initial technical difficulties the lead singer, Tyler, owned the crowd within minutes. With his incredible vocals, mike spins, jokes and theatricality, Neon was immediately a standout best of the day-so-far to me and my group. Tyler even went so far as to call out audience members who began to leave after Animal was belted out- in his own unique hysterical way.
Switchfoot (the biggest name so far) was then on the main stage. Switchfoot has been around for a few years now, and it shows, in a good way. They not only executed hit songs such as Meant to Live and The Sound with precision, but also definitely got the crowd into it, with Jon Foreman entering the crowd for a full two songs of the set.
Next on the second stage was the hard rock group A Day to Remember. This was definitely the set with the most moshes so far of the day, considering that they are basically a scream-o band. Not exactly my cup of joe, but it was a good, fast paced set and they were definitely pumped to be here.
The new group founded and produced by Randy Jackson, Paper Tongues, was up next on the main stage. Lead singer Aswan North emerged in all leather and owned the stage, reminiscent of a very young Freddie Mercury. He was very crowd friendly and interactive and able to hit notes that others there couldn’t even dream of. The highlight of the set came with their hit single Get Higher, when Aswan told us all that their bassist had just had a relative die and that it was our heavenly mission to reach said relative by breaking the sound barrier. EPIC.
Against Me! was next, but sorry, I missed out on their set. The Dirty Heads, reggae rockers were up next. In my humble opinion, they sucked. It was only reggae for one song, the rest was white rap that would make Vanilla Ice cringe.
Then came Sick Puppies, rock regulars at NBT. I know their name may make you laugh, but they are actually quite the talented group with a wide range of song types. They definitely got the crowd going in the amphitheater and considering that from here on out, all bets were off, they kicked the second half of the day off with the bang.
They were followed by Cage the Elephant. I knew a few of their songs going in and thought they could do very well. I very much enjoyed their set, but it was only because of how awful it was. The lead singer was clearly tripping on something. The entire set I couldn’t make out a single word, much less even find a song I recognized. He fell of the stage at one point and seemed to be having seizures the entire time, screeching into the microphone.
Next was Chevelle, a finely tuned alternative band that was very enjoyable with a good set list. At this point, the pit, where I was, was pushing forward so much that my group couldn’t really move the whole set. However, the NBT regulars were a very solid act and extremely enjoyable. The Black Keys emerged next and offered a much needed change of pace. The two man band made up of a drummer and a singing guitarist put out a psychedelic, mellow kind of show that wasn’t well-received by some of the wilder audience members- but I loved it. They definitely earned the Grammys they are currently nominated for.
Then came the time the world was waiting for. Just from looking around hours ago, at 10 AM. It was clear who the thousands had really come to see. From their killjoy masks and laser beams to their MCR shirts, My Chemical Romance was clearly the anticipated fan favorite, and I can’t say that I wasn’t among those super pumped for them to close out the incredible day. My Chemical Romance entered to their brand new hit single Na Na Na… -and the second lead singer Gerard Way even appeared, the crowd was up off the floor. For the rest of the hour and a half long set, the crowd did not stop moving, jumping with every command. At times the crowd’s cheering was so loud that you could hardly hear Gerard. Thongs were thrown on stage. Fan-made shirts and banners were risen all over the amphitheater. It was clear that the crowd was having the time of their life, and so was the band. Blasting through old and new hits, MCR owned the stage and owned the festival, making everything else look like an opening act in comparison.
It was an awesome day and MCR offered up a fantastical, other-worldly, amazing finale and it was well worth it to be one of the thousands packed into the amphitheater. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Today's favorite Christmas song is I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by All Star United. It is featured on the compilation Happy Christmas, Vol. 2, a weird collection of songs from mostly obscure (and now defunct) Christian bands. There are few songs that give me such a rush of joy during what can be a stressful time of year. I cannot listen to this song and do anything other than celebrate the joy that the season of the birth of Jesus should bring to us all. I guarantee this tune will make your toes tap and your mouth smile!
I should also tell you that Santa Claus and I are very close. I served as one of his "helpers" at a couple of malls in NC in the early 1980's. I quite often played Santa at youth group Christmas parties. I even filled in for Old Saint Nick at an Express Lube in Kissimmee for a couple of years, so kids could get pictures taken with Santa while parents got an oil change (Thanks, Craig Lynch, for that unique opportunity!). Some of you may think that my only connection with Kris Kringle was our body size (tru dat) but the facts are I just loved being such an important part of the Christmas season for so many over the years. So today, as you listen to this song (which is most joyful- and triumphant!) you will also see a Santa Claus Parade. These Ho-Ho's all have one thing in common- they are all ME! The youth in the pictures are mostly from FUMC-K and Wesley Memorial UMC, with a few others thrown in for good measure. I hope watching this will help kick-start your Christmas spirit- making it certainly helped mine. I'll see you all tomorrow for a guest blog from my son Will (that's him pictured with Santa and friends at top- before his writing days!). Have a blessed day!
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
On the video that Colleen Martin and the youth of FUMC-Kissimmee made for me when I left for the Union Church of Hinsdale, Eric Jacobsen left me a message he meant as a joke. He told me how much he would miss me, and then told me to "have fun with all the rich people" in Hinsdale. By that point we knew that UC was a wealthy church, but our feeble minds could not conceive just how wealthy. I mentioned yesterday that the former CEO of Marriott was a member; it seemed most everyone was CEO or owner of some company. Even the guy who founded the DeVry Universities was a member. But when people would ask me later on just how much money those folks really had, there was one story I could tell that summed it all up- 3 Porsches.
There was a young woman in the church who was not active in the youth program, but whom I knew because her parents were on one of the committees I worked with. Like many of the students of the community, at age 16 she had been presented with a car worth more than most of the houses I have lived in- a brand new 2000 Porsche. It was very similar to the one pictured, but it was blue. She had been driving it a few months when I met her. Several weeks after that she and a friend were out late one night and had an accident. They were both fine, but the car was a mess. So her parents bought her a new one. Less that three months later she totalled that Porsche racing it in a parking lot. She stopped by my office one afternoon when her parents were at the church for a meeting and told me she was afraid she might not get another new car. She needn't have worried. Porsche #3 was already ordered, it turned out. I was dumbfounded. What kind of life lessons were those parents teaching their teenager? Money might not buy happiness, but it sure seemed like this was a community committed to testing that truth.
It wasn't just the material things, it was a philosophy of life. The University Of Illinois was not good enough; you had to go to Harvard. Church was something you did when you had no tickets to the Bears game, after you had taken your weekend SAT prep class, and after you had completed more important social activities. Anything less than an Ivy League school and owning your own company and you would be a failure. The whole attitude that had young people going on mission trips because it would look good on a college application was prevalent in every area of life. And I just didn't get it...
I didn't speak their language (or drive their cars- Marilyn and I were sharing a Ford Taurus Station Wagon that I finally sold this past spring), but I knew what they needed. Jesus, the man of no reputation and no home, could speak to their condition. I just had to get someone to listen. And much to my surprise, I began to find a small group of students that was hungry for scripture. More on that in the days to come...
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
In November of 2000 I attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta. This was my first convention as Youth Pastor of the Union Church of Hinsdale, and I accompanied by David Knecht. David, you may recall, was the head of the search committee that brought me to UC. He was a man in his forties who had built and sold a computer company, and now had lots of time on his hands. He was giving that time to serve God, and especially the youth of UC. I liked David a lot and was glad he was going to his first NYWC. Funny story- we were to stay at a Marriott in Atlanta for the convention, and when the former CEO of Marriott, who was a member at UC, found out he wanted to upgrade us to a luxury suite. I said no thanks, explaining to him that youth workers staying in a luxury suite would be the targets of many jokes and quite possibly an investigation...
As David and I flew to Atlanta, settled in to our meager accommodations (HA!) and begin to explore the NYWC, a question that had been nagging me through my first 8 months at UC came to the forefront of my mind. Why had David not applied for the job I now had? He knew the people and culture of UC that so frustrated me; he was one of them. He clearly loved Jesus, students and student ministry. At the convention he was like a kid in a toy store; everything amazed him! I recognized it in him because it had been true for me for so many years. He soaked up everything. I introduced him to many of the legends of youth ministry, and he was a little starstruck. He loved the seminars, the speakers, the music- everything! And to complete his experience, I made sure he got his first ever Chick-fil-A sandwich. David. like so many before him, was now addicted to the NYWC.
At some point during that week I had a chat with an old friend, who had known me a long time and who had been in ministry a long time. I shared with him some of my frustrations, and specifically my thoughts about David being the right person for the job I currently had. As we talked, Todd reminded me that 15 years earlier I had taken a job with the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends. After a short time at that ministry I had similar feelings about Chris Jorgensen who had volunteered years with the youth there, only to see me get the job she wanted. I realized when I left NEYM that God's purpose for me there had been to prepare things for Chris. I was there 9 months, and then she got the job and served them brilliantly for many years. Like an offensive lineman in football, sometimes our ministry is just to plow the road for someone else. John the Baptist did it for Jesus. I had done it for Chris. And now, my friend was saying, maybe I was at UC to get everything set up and ready for David to succeed. It was, in many ways, a hard pill to swallow. I had moved my family thousands of miles so I could be a "star." I had gone to UC to be a "savior," not a set-up man. But those were my reasons. Perhaps God had a different design in mind.
We left Atlanta to fly back to Chicago for Thanksgiving, and my prayers had now changed. I just wanted to be used. No more dreams of glory. If I was there to plant the tree instead of harvest the fruit, so be it- I just wanted to serve God. I was going to work just as hard as I had been, but now I had a new direction. If I was indeed there to plow the road, then I was going to keep cutting a wide path for Jesus.
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
Everyone has their personal favorites when it comes to Christmas music. We all have certain CDs and songs that are "must hear" each and every Christmas season, and I thought I would share 7 of mine with you today. Your tastes may be very different, and I hope many of you will leave comments telling me of your Christmas classics! Not included on this list are two of my favorites from years gone by that I have yet to purchase on CD or I-Tunes- John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas and The Beach Boys Christmas Album. But I highly recommend them both! On with the countdown:
- A Christmas Album- Amy Grant- Amy's first (of many) Christmas project, this is the one we look for every year when we start pulling out the holiday music. It includes such classic recordings as Tennessee Christmas, Emmanuel, Love Has Come and my personal favorite (it will get its' own blog post in a couple of weeks) Heirloom.
- City On A Hill: It's Christmas Time- Various Artists- I mentioned this album and its' title track on my post It's Christmas Time, but there is so much great music by so many great artists on this project. Caedmon's Call sing Babe In the Straw; Michael Tait and Leigh Nash perform O Holy Night; and Jars of Clay do Bethlehem Town. A very worshipful Christmas album.
- A Very Special Christmas- Various Artists- Where else can you find Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Run-D.M.C., John Mellencamp and Madonna on the same Christmas album? No where! Among my many favs on this one are Bryan Adam's Run Rudolph Run, the Pointer Sisters' Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and U2's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). It's been around since 1987, and it is still be best of the series.
- Christmas- Michael W. Smith- This was MWS's first Christmas effort as well. As you can tell, I love the originals! Another very worshipful project, the album mixes originals and classics to great effect. It would be required listening for me every year if the only song on it was All Is Well. Song always gives me chills.
- Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand- Relient K- Great stuff from the punk/pop band that never fails to make me smile! Their high-speed version of 12 Days of Christmas is irresistible, and Angels We Have Heard On High will rock your world! I Celebrate the Day just might be the best Christmas song written in the last 10 years. Plus, their note-by-note, word-for-word copy of the Beach Boy's version of Auld Lang Syne is absolutely perfect. Celebrate the day!
- The Lost And Found Christmas Album- Lost And Found- OK, so I am probably by myself on this one- it is an acquired taste. Even Michael Bridges, the lead singer of this duo, says that this is the CD you play at a Christmas party when you are ready for the guests to go home! Still, I love No Room, Mary, Mary and O Come All Ye Faithful. Different, yet wonderful- Stein Auf!!!
- Christmas Island- Jimmy Buffett- If you are going to survive Christmas in Florida, the you have to listen to a little Jimmy. This 1996 collection includes a few traditional Christmas songs and some great island tunes as well. The title track, Ho Ho Ho (And a Bottle of Rum), Mele Kalikimaka and a remake of John Lennon's Happy Christmas (War Is Over) are among my favorites.
So there you are- 7 of my favorites to listen to this time of year! Let me hear yours, either by clicking the little comment button or by e-mailing me at Youthguy07@aol.com Have a great day and as always, I'll be here again tomorrow!
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
I heard Tony Campolo say many years ago that "too often people come to us looking for Jesus and we give them church. If the church doesn't give them Jesus, then do we really have anything to offer?" After a few months at the Union Church of Hinsdale, it was apparent to me that far too often people were coming for "church." The radical, life-changing Jesus was too often missing from the things we did. In fact, the church seemed quite afraid of Jesus, choosing to study his words without ever seeking to follow Him. The more I prayed about what my role should be at UC, the clearer the answer was. I was there to push the limits. I was there to raise the bar. I was there to make sure this large church began to give people Jesus.
So how did I do it? Let me first say that I was not a prophet or some sort of Christian superhero, and I didn't accomplish anything miraculous. I just made a conscious decision to remind the staff, the committees I worked with, and most importantly the youth of the church as to why we were there. In staff meetings I was constantly questioning the way we did things, wanting to know how we were helping our congregation experience worship and experience Jesus. I questioned how the community around us saw our church- it seemed to me most of them hardly noticed us. We lived next door to a guy named Paul Allen, a pastor in another church in town. He told me once that after 5 years of living there he still knew nothing about what UC stood for. I decided it was time to step out in faith and show our church and the community what it looked like to live boldly for Jesus. And as always, there were no better ambassadors than the youth.
Hinsdale Middle School was located directly across the street from the church. One of the guys who had been attending our middle school group (TNT) was in a band made up of his peers from HMS, and I began talking to him abut doing an outdoor concert after school on church grounds. We put it together and put out tons of publicity. In addition to the live band I got Domino's to give us 50 large pizzas. Several hundred students came to hear the music- but they also heard a short message about the love of God whose name is Jesus. It was a great afternoon that created quite a stir in the community. And it got the church talking about what we could do next...
A month or so later I brought my old friends Spooky Tuesday to UC, where they played for out students and a few others in the overflow of the worship room. It was without a doubt the most radical, rocking event ever to be held inside that church. I kept pushing for more contemporary music in worship. I challenged the staff to keep finding ways to remind our members of how radical the teachings of Jesus were, and that we were called to follow his example. I don't know that I was making much of difference- but I was living out one of the basics of ministry I had learned from J. David Stone way back in 1978- "we are called to be faithful, not successful." And that was what mattered most to me. I still was battling with why God had sent me to Illinois. But if people were going to come to UC while I was there, I was going to make sure I gave them Jesus!
A few other things were going on in the student ministry that were giving me hope as well. I'll get on to those stories next week. Have a blessed weekend!
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
Things were very hit & miss during my first summer in Hinsdale, IL. I met some wonderful people and found a great Chinese restaurant (The Jade Dragon; see picture) within walking distance of the church, but I really had very little to do. As I mentioned on Wednesday, by the middle of the summer of 2000 I was already talking with other churches about leaving the Union Church of Hinsdale. I had only been there a few months, yet the situation seemed so different from what I had expected. But as I explored opportunities in Las Vegas (Marilyn wouldn't even let me interview; she remembered only interviewing in Kissimmee for "the fun of it," and there was no way she was moving to Vegas!) and all over Florida I was still not feeling led to leave. Even a call from my old pal and fast talker Dr. Tommy Dunbar (now at a new church) didn't feel right. I felt like God had brought me to Illinois and that I still had work to do. So I kept working. It was a summer full of hits & misses.
A perfect example of how up and down things felt was worship at UC. I really enjoyed the people I worked with on staff, and Dick Nye gave me opportunity to be a part of the preaching schedule. I had only given the message on Sunday morning once in 6 years in Kissimmee because the general expectation was that the Senior Pastor (John Willis or The Pastor Who Shall Not Be Named) would preach if he was in town. When he wasn't, we had a wealth of associate pastor types (during my years at FUMC-K this list included Donna Heck, Richard Boss, Rodney Wallace, Cathy Thacker and Tom Nelson) who were gifted and were anxious for opportunities to speak. Plus we had a tremendous resources in some of the Lay Leaders of that church. As often occurs, the youth pastor was at the bottom of the list. At Union Church in the summer of 2000, the staff decided to do a series on King David, from childhood to death. Each of us- myself, Dick, Mark Toole and Barbara Cathey- were assigned scripture telling sections of the story, so I got to preach once a month. Plus it was a great collaboration, as each sermon needed to link to the previous week's message as well as to the one to follow. I loved it. This was a big hit.
Other things about worship at UC were not as exciting. The music was beautiful (they had a paid choir member in each section) but extremely traditional. Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee was practically contemporary. They had several excellent handbell choirs, and they played often. OFTEN. I suggested some more modern hymns and songs on a few occasions in worship planning meetings, but was always met with the "we will not dumb down worship for our congregation" argument. I still have no idea what that means- except that it meant that Michael Surrat, the church organist and handbell choir director, was not going to let go of music selection. Especially not for a guitar player. UC was also a much more "open" church than any I had worked with since my days in New England. They were seeking to welcome the Gay & Lesbian community, which I applauded. Jesus came for everyone. They were also VERY hung up on being gender inclusive in everything they did. God was not to be referred to as "He." Lyrics to songs had to be changed to make certain this did not happen. While this was not an issue I cared about personally, I understood that having God always be male in our imagery can be a problem for those who have had serious issues with males in their personal lives. I just couldn't see how 200 year old song lyrics were suddenly inappropriate. And I did draw the line when some began to try to make Jesus gender neutral. He was, after all, a MAN who walked the earth! These things felt like they were distractions from the goal of reaching others in Jesus' name. They were misses...
This is what life at UC was like for me. I enjoyed so many of the people, but their way of doing things- summers off for the student ministry and some of the above issues- kept me from ever feeling at home. I prayed every day that God would show me how to lift up the name of Jesus among these wealthy folks, and I kept getting a clear answer: Keep pushing the limits! And so that is what I did. Come back tomorrow to learn how.
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
