From Thoughts to Keystrokes

Announcing... Hymn of the Week!

2009-09-21T21:14:00.009-05:00

Hymns. We all sing them. Some of us tote them around on our iPods; some of us read them out of the hymnal for personal edification, but do we really know what a good hymn is? Have we all asked what kinds of hymns we should be singing and meditating on? Well, I am going to try to post a new hymn every week and since we always come up with the most original names here at FTTK I'll call these post the "Hymn of the Week". Depending on what I find and the time I have to write these post I will endeavor to explain a little about the hymn such as its history, tunes, key elements, and so on. As a disclaimer, I will openly admit that I do not have all the answers when it comes to the subject of Church music, specifically the area of hymnody. I will say, however, that we have well over 800 years of Church music tradition that we can model our practices after.

I have a couple main reasons for posting these hymns each week. First of all, I have an extreme frustration with some/most of the songs that are being accepted into both our corporate and personal worship. Some of the most sickening and disgusting forms of "Christian" songs have replaced the Church's traditional hymns. I earnestly believe these "Christian" songs have no place in any form of biblical worship. My second reason would be, I love to find hymns that are jam-packed with solid theology and that are paired with appropriate tunes.

Saying all this, I will endeavor to supply a good hymn every week for you (as few as you might be if any at all) to chew, munch and mentally digest. Enjoy!

Soli Deo Gloria

Bach's Theology, Music and What They Imply

2009-02-17T21:20:00.006-06:00

Johann Sebastian Bach, a well known composer, is not always accredited for his staunch Lutheran theology, beliefs, and his love to write music for the glory of God. Some may think of Bach as a musical genius ( which he indeed was) or as a dry and boring composer of the dark ages, but I think of him as a Church musician, a composer full of creative genius that he used to worship the Lord. I would like to point out Bach's devout beliefs and how he shows, through his music, the great truths and doctrines of the Bible.

First, I must start out with a brief and compact summery of Bach's life and background. Most know that Bach was born in 1685 into a long legacy of German composers. Even though his legacy dates back almost two centuries, Bach became the climax of this great chain of composers. Bach's family originated in the town of Wechmar Germany, the same area of Martin Luther's origin. His protestant family had moved to Wechmar from Hungry to escape Roman Catholic oppression. When Bach was ten years old his father died and he went to live with his older brother, Johann Christoph Bach. During this time Bach rapidly advanced in music and later received a scholarship from the well known secondary school in Luneburg. At age seventeen, Bach unsuccessfully applied for a job as organist in Sangerhausen. Later Bach obtained a position as a minor musician in the court of Wiemar. Bach climbed the “corporate” ladder quickly and soon afterward he was made church organist in the small town of Arnstadt. Also, in the Court of Wiemar, he is promoted to the rank of Concertmaster. Bach doesn't stay in Wiemar long though, the position as cantor of Leipzig became available and he moved into this position. Even though the position of cantor at the Thomas-Schule and director of the main churches in Leipzig was one of the most prominent musical positions of the time in the Lutheran Realm, Bach soon became disillusioned by fellow workers and found himself looking for a new position. He found a new position in Danzig as court musician and it is here that he gets married twice. His first wife, Maria Barbra died after bearing seven children. Soon after Maria's death Bach married again to Anna Magdalena with whom he had twenty more children, but only nine survived.

Bach was deeply interested in theology and the study of the Bible. His library consisted of two sets of Luther's Works, one in German and one in Latin, and a number of miscellaneous writings and some works by well known Lutheran theologians of the day. Luther was a major influence on Bach and Bach's works. Luther often accredited music for the inspiration for preaching, calling it "the greatest gift of God which has often induced and inspired me to preach.” In 1542, Luther wrote a preface to a book of funeral hymns which stated his view on music quite well, "We have put this music on the living and Holy Word of God in order to sing, praise, and honor it. We want the beautiful art of music to be properly used to serve our dear Creator and his Christians. He is thereby praised and honored and we are made better and stronger in faith when his Holy Word is impressed on our hearts by sweet music." Obviously Luther valued music as a thing to be cherished and used properly. Luther even went on to say in other writings that, every seminary student or anyone who was studying to go into the ministry should have a wholesome and thorough understanding of music. This same mindset was inherited by Bach, who also thought church music was a thing to be embrace and used properly. He went on to carry out the task of bringing high and holy music to the Church.

As I have already, stated, Bach's music was greatly influenced by Luther and the reformation. I expressed Luther's view on music, I would now like to explain Bach's biblical views in light of this. Bach, we know, had a very thorough understanding of theology because he was approved by Johann Schmidt, professor of theology at Leipzig, as satisfactorily answering all the questions relating to biblical theology which aligned with the Book of Concord. Another proof we have of Bach's religion is his Bible, this Bible was rediscovered in the 1930's in the home of a farmer. The Farmer and his family were using it as a family Bible. This Bible was later given to Concordia Seminary where it was forgotten until a few years ago when Dr. Thomas Rossin translated the notes Bach wrote in the margins of the Bible during his life. These note absolutely solidify the rumor of Bach's belief in Christ. With this said, we now can see Bach's outlook on his music.
In many of Bach's compositions he illustrates his theology, such as doctrine of the Trinity and the relation of Law and Grace. These doctrines are again essential doctrines of Luther and his writings.

The doctrine of the Trinity is the first doctrine I would like to unearth from Bach's compositions. This doctrine is one of Bach's favorite doctrines to expound upon in his music. Bach illustrates this doctrine in his one hundredth and seventy-sixth cantata. Composed for Trinity Sunday in 1725, this cantata portrays the trinity by using three oboes in successive order. Bach's mass in B minor is another work in which he expounds on this doctrine. In this piece Bach symbolizes the trinity in the Kyrie movement by using three sectional fugal counterpoint voices (soprano, alto and tenor) this is one of the most magnificent and beautiful illustrations of the Trinity. The Gloria movement further illustrates through the test when Bach uses triplets and parallel thirds while the voices sing Gloria Patri ( Glory be to the Father), Gloria Fillio (Glory be to the Son), and Gloria et Spirimi Soneto ( Glory be to the Holy Spirit).

Many of Bach's Cantatas are based on the distinction of the Law and the Gospel. Most of them start out by stating man's problem of sin and judgment, Bach would then go on to give the answer to man's problem. Cantata 106 illustrates this, it starts out with the opening statement Es ist der alte Bund: Mensch, du müßt ("It is an old decree/law that you, O man, must die" ) this is usually stylized in a dark legalistic fugue. The Cantata comes to its conclusion with the words Ja, komm, Herr Jesu (“Yeah, come Lord Jesus”) this is sung by a soprano that separates from the the rest of the voices and instruments and in a sense freely floats away from the rest of the group. Notice that even though Bach uses some text to reveal the doctrine or truth to the listener, most of the revealing is done through the music itself not the texts. Text infatuation is a problem within Evangelical circles, the majority of evangelicals refuse to recognize a song as “Sacred” unless it uses some cool text that appeals to their doctrine, I will speak of this in more detail later.

One of my favorite choral works is the Passion According to St. Mathew. This work is so powerful even, if you can't understand the dialog going on, the music speaks for itself! The passion was written after a well known choral melody of the era named Agnus Dei which was sung for Good Friday. On its first performance, the people in the congregation that would not even need to hear the words of the song to understand what it this beautiful work implied. The opening to this piece is the most magnificent. It is so high and big that the tension and anticipation will just build in you the sense that this was composed for something far greater than any audience. The passion's message is also very powerful. It speaks of how Christ, the bridegroom, has become a lamb to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. This is one of Bach's best illustrations of his Christological Hermeneutic.

I have already mentioned Bach's Mass in B Minor and since some might be asking the questions about its catholic origins and how this meshes with Bach's protestant stature, I will now go on to explain it farther. This mass is rather tricky to understand Bach's reason for writing it. It seems that Bach was trying to write a catholic mass. In some of the main movements we get a very catholic ambiance but in other movements we get the normal Protestant Bach that we see in the cantatas.

The main movement that is most known and most catholic in the dialog is the credo movement. This movement is based on the Nicaean Creed.

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
In the Credo Bach quotes almost right out of the creed stating “God of God” and “Light of Light” “Begotten not Made.”

This mass even though it is rather catholic, Bach, as far as I can tell, does not forsake any of his protestant beliefs, he simply uses common beliefs and doctrines such as the virgin birth which make it have a catholic color. I also conclude that this was written for a job as a musician not as a work in which Bach lets his Lutheran flags fly. But we must also remember what I said in the previous paragraphs, how Bach expounds many a time on the law and the gospel, this essentially in it self explains and testifies of Bach's protestantism.

We have now seen Bach's doctrinal views and how he displays them though his compositions. We have seen his view on the Trinity and how he thoroughly enjoyed placing this doctrine at the focal point of many of his works and his beautiful illustration of how the law and the gospel work together, we also have seen Bach's Christological views in his Passion of St. Mathew. All these doctrines are not only illustrated in words and texts, but they are completed and brought to a point of conveying the works message more throughly through Bach's magnificent use of music to convey his love for these doctrines.

Today Christian music tends not to uphold the high standard of Bach but it settles for what the perverted culture has to offer. Bach's music is more than just dry and boring, as some might say, but it is full of life because Bach himself had life in Christ and Bach conveyed this through his music. Bach obviously put a lot of thought and energy into his writings so they are, unlike todays music, intellectual. It is now fashionable in todays culture and (now unfortunately in today's “Christian” or evangelical culture) to dismiss the intellectual and to embrace the emotions. Another problem with today's Christian music is that we embrace the past cultures music and make our songs and hymns sound like ballroom tunes or something that would have been heard at a dance or at a maybe a hippie rock concert fifty or so years ago. This is not the answer, as so many people think, because I don't think that the urge to jump up and dance while singing a hymn during a worship service is very wholesome or respectful (plus it is just hideous). Also, to associate the past culture of the hippies is very dishonoring to God.

The dismissal of Bach's music from the church is one of the greatest disfavors that the Church has done to its music. In a sense, we have shot ourselves in the foot by holding back the greatness of this music in our worship. We have used music to bend peoples moods and affections toward some mystical feeling or “spiritual high” instead of using the music in a way to convey a doctrinally sound message through not only words, but music also. Music is not mainly for edification of the ourselves as we are partaking in music, but it is ultimately for worship and the glory of God. As I have mentioned earlier most evangelicals conservative and liberal alike are “Text infatuated” by this I simply mean that they believe that the only sacred music is textual music. If music is meant for worship then why must it directly speak to ourselves through words. Worship not meant to Glorify God? Then Why should we insist on having are pitiful little lyrics applied to every part of music within the church. I am in no way denouncing the place of Hymns in our Worship, I believe they hold a very important role, but I reject the assumption that every special music number or offertory must draw back to some hymn or sacred song. Most of the “arrangements” that I must endure are extremely hideous, if only we could replace them with the occasional fugue or prelude. I do not appose all forms of hymn arrangements but I do wish that some of them could be replaced with some serious music

Another reason I believe this dismissal of Bach's music is wrong is because it is built on the argument that Bach cannot be understood by the average person. There are two instances that I know of that proves this argument wrong. First, persecuted Christians that used to live in the former USSR, tell stories of times when they would listen to Bach for comfort during times of extreme trials and persecution. These Christians most likely did not even know Latin or German but the music of Bach conveyed the message so well that the Christians found comfort in it. Secondly, missionaries in Japan tell of times, after the second world war, when Bach's works were being performed in a city ( where Christ was not preached). After the concert the audience would walk away with questions about God and who he was and what He did and why Bach wrote that music for God. These are only two instances of when and how Bach's music affected people in a spiritual way and I am sure there are many more.

All this to say that Bach indeed indeed was a Christian musician and wrote all his music to the glory of God. Also, we as Christians should use this music in our worship and not just write it off as not worthy or too dry, because it is not and has never been. Bach would usually write S.D.G (Solo Deo Gloria “To God Alone, the Glory”) at the end of his pieces to express his desire to glorify God with his music. After his death one of his relatives went though all of Bach's manuscripts and made sixty volumes of works that Bach wrote during his life. Since Bach did not make a distinction between secular and sacred, all of these works were written for the glory of God and to the glory of God.

Alrighty Then...

2009-02-06T12:55:00.000-06:00

This is great! I now have a blogging app for my iPod touch. You know what that means: way more activity for FTTK.

Yes, I do plan on posting semi-regularly now. We'll see how it all works out, but I think you can expect me to write something up whenever I get a random thought. (I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing). Still, it should be fun. No, this isn't a promise for a blog post a week or anything like that, but it may be that a post (or more!) a week comes from this. We'll just have to wait and see...

Anyway, no Ben and I aren't dead. Just to kill those rumors. Though, it's not like anyone reads this...

Soli Deo Gloria!
//.Joey

It's Called Christmas

2008-12-06T13:28:00.005-06:00

Ever since the fall of man, man has tried to doubt and detest the existence of God in all areas of life. Recently around this time of year there has been a trend in saying “Happy Holidays” “Merry X-Mas” or "Seasons Greetings." Although at a first glance these common phrases might not seem to insult at the very nature of CHRISTMAS, but they do! In our society the name Christmas is seen as a bad word because it is not open enough to suit all cults and religions alike very well. Even though Christmas is about the birth of Christ, a Buddhist Monk or even an atheist such as Richard Dawkins would not like to celebrate a holiday that involves any implications of the real meaning of this Christian holiday. Yet some Christians just ignore the Happy Holiday signs and ecumenical billboards and just keep on going about their “Holiday” business in their favorite stores and shops that are set up for the “Holiday Season.” Their shopping is apparently more important to them than the blasphemy plastered every were. To the true Christian, the demoting of the celebration of Christ's birth should at least make us irate because of our eternal debt to the one who gave us life because we had none. We were guilty before the throne of God and deserved eternal damnation but God sent his Son to this earth on Christmas day to die on the cross, so that we, though repentance and faith can be forgiven for all the crimes we did against Him. At this we should uphold the name Christmas by telling others the reason for its worthiness to be called Christmas.

Just a Quick Post

2008-09-16T21:38:00.005-05:00

As of today We're famous. Nah, not really. But--it was a honor to have our church's efforts highlighted in the Living Waters (AKA Way of the Master's) Weekly Update.

First off you can see it Here.

Secondly, go to the new Norway Evangelism Team blog. It'll show you a little of what it was like. (Listen to the audio stuff it's really cool!)

Third, please pray for the people we witnessed to. We were out there Friday to Sunday from about 4PM to sometimes as late as 12AM every day. We talked to several hundred people throughout that weekend. Some were moved to tears, others got mad and started yelling, but all the people we talked to got the gospel. So please pray for them.

-Joey

Points to Ponder

2008-08-06T11:47:00.003-05:00

I recently have been reading a book on the puritans by J.I. Packer. As I was reading I came across these seven points of Justification.

Every man faces the judgment seat of God, and must answer to God for himself. The church cannot shield him form this.
Every man is a sinner by nature and practice, an nonconformist so far as God's law is concerned, and there for can only expect God's wrath and rejection
Justification is God's judicial act of pardoning the guilty sinner, accepting him as righteous, and receiving him as a son.
The source of justification is grace, not human effort of or initiative.
The ground of justification, here and now is Christs vicarious righteousness and blood-shedding, not our own merit.
The means of justification, here and now, is faith in Jesus Christ.
The fruit of faith, the evidence of its' reality, is a manifested repentance and a life of good work.

These points I guess really stuck out to me because this is what I got to tell about last weekend. For the past few months Joey and I along with other people from our church have been meeting every Monday night for a bible study done by The Way of The Master on personal evangelism. Last weekend we got to go out and practice what we had learned. We each got a few opportunities to present the gospel clearly to the lost and we even had one person that got the opportunity to preach to some teens. As we look at these points we as Christians should see the reason for taking the Gospel to the lost because God is the just judge and every human will be judged and all of us have broken Gods law but we as Christians have the good news of Christ's payment so the that we can be pardoned.

Ben

The 4th of the 7th

2008-07-04T23:05:00.003-05:00

Freedom... The word probably doesn't effect us much... I mean really effect us. I suppose I could go on about the freedoms we have in Christ-- and don't get me wrong, those are incredibly important, but that's not quite what I want to focus on. I want to focus on the freedom each person has. Sure, we celebrate freedom with fireworks, Red, White & Blue, and so on, but really, we live like we deserve all that we can get... Yet, do we deserve any of it?

See, while we light off all our noise makers we sometimes forget to remember we don't deserve any of what we have. Even those living in a third world country have more than they really deserve. Romans tells us that that we all have sinned and the wages of those sins is death. While that's hard to swallow we each know it's true... Our conscience tells us so.

When we listen to our conscience, and compare our standards to God's we see that (according to the Ten Commandments) we are liers, thieves, adulterers (at least at heart), blasphemers, dishonoring to parents, covetous, and worst of all idolaters. To use a Todd Friel-ism God should thump us- thump us hard...

Yet God lets us all live. He doesn't strike us dead on the first violation like it seems He should. What's even more tremendous is that Christ came and took what we deserve on Himself... That's freedom-Life-- and even better life in Christ.

A criminal who isn't in jail is what we would call free, at least until he's finally caught. A sinner not in hell is free, for a time. God mercifully gives someone to the end of their life to repent. Still, both should be serving their sentence. Now, a criminal who had his fine payed is freed from the sentence... and the Christian that is justified is free from hell. Not only that but the Christian is free to now glorify God. That is freedom.

Still, to think of the fact that God lets us all still live should humble us all. It should drive us to our knees in thankfulness. So like I said before the we have so, so much more than we deserve--even if we were to be a pig farmer in South America somewhere, it's better than the punishment we should be getting.

Life is freedom. Life in Christ is truly free.

Springfest

2008-04-29T10:54:00.004-05:00

While we wait for Ben to put something up, let me tell you about my weekend. Last Saturday (the 26th) our youth group went to Northland for what they call Springfest.

The night before, all the boys were at the Carpenter's house, where we played video games and Ben and I put up this Blog. We had snacks and a few of us even stayed yup 'till almost 4 AM. Yeah, that alone was quite fun. After waking up and getting ready we all headed over to Northland. It was snowing at this time...

Once there we met up with the rest of the group. From there we headed off to be registered. After Bryan signed us all up we headed into the gym for our orientation. Trever Gearhart, as always, was a wonderfully entertaining announcer, Game-show host, prize giver, and so on. (Those of you who know him know what I mean).

After getting all the rules and the basics of what we were to do we were all freed to go and try some of the activities. Jordan and the littler boys went and tried a few things while Ben and I went off to Northland's coffee shop: The Daily Grind. My sister, Jessie had already beat us there with her friends, but still the grind was at least warm.

I said it was snowing when we left for Northland, but what I didn't mention was the wind. That day it was incredibly windy. If you were outside for really any length of time at all it wouldn't be long before your cheeks and hands were numb from the cold. So much for Springfest...

After finishing up our Frappes it was about time for the first session to start, so we ventured out into the cold and made our way back to they Gym.

Here's where it gets good. It was now time for Kevin Brownfield to come up and give his first message: Guilty.

After being at Springfest for not much more then an hour or so, we could tell there were many people that may call themselves Christian, but in all reality they really weren't. On occasion you'd hear someone blaspheme when they lost a game (or just get really excited) or sometimes you'd overhear a conversation that you know is wrong. Worldly styles in dress, and a mocking toward the rules and preaching all pointed to the fact that this message was indeed necessary. There were people there who knew not our Lord.

So, after a few songs, Kevin Brownfield came up to the pulpit. Quite simply he starts out with some of his testimony then he goes into the 10 Commandments. One by one by one he went through and explained them. "You're guilty of not having God First!" and indeed we are. "You're guilty of dishonoring your parents!" indeed we are. "You're guilty of idolatry, not setting aside a day for God, blasphemy, hatred, lust, lying, stealing, and coveting! You're Guilty!" And indeed, we all are. If we're truly honest with our self we have broken these commandments in some way, whether stealing time, blaspheming with our actions, or what ever. We're all guilty.

He went on to explain that there is an eternal punishment for all our transgressions. We're guilty and that means we all deserve death--Spiritual Death. Our good works can't out weigh our bad, that'd be like a scale with a black hole holding down one side and you trying to out weigh that with feathers. It's impossible. We cannot save ourselves from Hell.

Just as a little side note: Isn't that amazing? Salvation truly does not depend on us--we don't have to worry about being good enough, believing enough, or speaking in tongues to get to heaven. We're not in a state like the Catholics who are never sure, but hope they get to go. Salvation does not depend on us. If anyone is truly honest with themselves they know that they aren't good enough. Yet God still saves--while we were yet sinners He died for us. That is miraculous.

Kevin Brownfield didn't leave us there though. He brought us to the Cross. "The one thing I still do not Understand--," he started, "The thing I do not understand is why God saved Me! Why would God send his perfect Son and pour out His wrath on him so that I can go free?" I ask the same question. Why did God do that? Really. I know for a fact that no one ever is worth Salvation, not Patriarchs like Abraham or Moses, not the Apostles Paul or Peter, not great preachers like C. H. Spurgeon or John MacArthur, and especially not me. No one is worthy of so great a salvation, and yet... it's free to all who repent of their sins and believe on the work God has done. He died in the place of us. He died for me.

Kevin Brownfield, rightly pointed out that if you claim to be forgiven, and yet your life is filled with sin--if it is a lifestyle--you are not saved. Christ completely transforms you so that the sin you once loved you now hate, and if that has never happened, you are not saved...

Mr. Brownfield then ended with an invitation, and while I hate that system I do think it was done rightly. There was no twisting arms of false promises, but rather "If you know you aren't a Christian, and want to talk to someone about it then go ahead to the back." All the while I was praying for people to repent.

I find that that's probably the best thing you can do in an invitation if you know you're right with God--pray. Pray that God will work in the hearts of those who are not saved and pray that wisdom will be given to the counselors so that they don't just take some one through a prayer, but that they show that Salvation is Repentance and Faith--Salvation isn't something that'll just that 5 minutes-- it will take the rest of your life. Pray that God comes down.

After the session we all went back into the cold snowy outdoors. we played a few games of dodgeball as a youth group. then it was time for Lunch. The dining hall had cooked up a bunch of Pizzas (Enough for about 1,700 Teens) and with that fact in mind it was pretty good stuff.

After The Pizza we played a few rounds of Human Foosball. then it was time for the workshops. We had a few choices as to who we could hear for this session. We could go listen to Coach Wehry in the gym (who we listen to the end of... it was "are you a Metal of Honor Super soldier or are you a little green army man?" Kinda shallow there..) or we could have gone to Pastor Belford's session "I've fallen and can't get up" (We tried... but his session was already full), the Girls had a thing with Mrs. Belford, there was some other session with Matt Williams and finally, there was the one we went to "How do I know I can trust the Bible" with Kevin Brownfield.

This session was also very good. His basic out line was like this:

How do we know the Bible is true?

Experience
Science
Prophesy
Miracles
Life of Christ

Basically, he started out with the weakest argument (Experience--"it has changed me personally") and built up from there. He showed how the Bible is scientifically accurate. Also, he showed how prophecy has been fulfilled. Next, how Miracles can be true (If God made everything than why can't he do a miracle?). Finally he showed how everything comes together with Christ. How Christ fulfilled so many prophecies and how the whole Bible points to him. The "scarlet thread" I believe is what Spurgeon called it. At the end there was a little Q&A session that went quite off track, but over all I think this was very helpful for those who may not know what to say when someone challenges the Bible's veracity.

For the last game session, there was a giant game of "Big Ball." Those who have gone to the Wilds or to Northland Camp know this game. All the teens were split up into groups (Yellow or Green) when they first arrived at Springfest, so for this game we had the yellow team and the green team. it was split up even further by age group (Jr. High and Sr. High) and by gender (You know this division already, I should hope). The goal was for all the yellow people to push these giant balls across the playing area toward one side, and for the green players to push the ball over on to the opposite side. It was quite fun, and we won both the cheering competitions (Most likely because I had my little brother Davy on my shoulders) and all the Big Ball Games. Yeah... it was quite interesting playing with about 1/4 of 1700 people at once. Lots of people in small space...

After that giant game was the final session. Trever once again hosted some "Game shows" where he asked random people random questions. The whole atmosphere was very fun. (Oh, and for those of you who know, and care, Yes, we did get Trever to do the Cone-head Song... again!)

After all the mini-games we started the session. We sang a few songs there was some special music, then Kevin Brownfield spoke his last message for the day.

Mr. Brownfield told us of how mountain climbers have to prepare for years to climb Mount Everest, how that has to be what consumes them entirely. He then spoke on how we too need to live vertically. We need to "Set our affections on things above" as his Colossians passage said. We need to, put on the new man and take off the old.

Again, this we a very powerful sermon and again, it show how true Christians behave and how there may be many who call themselves Christian, yet are not. It was truly a blessing to hear this preached to such a large crowd that seemed to need it. It's always a blessing to hear the word of God preached rightly.

Finally after the invitation was all done we were all sent on our way with a sack lunch. We were all ready to fall asleep standing up. We had spent the day running all over Northland's campus, trying to stay warm, playing active games, and best of all listening to God's word. It was well worth it all. I'm just sad I won't get to go next year.

Still, I love it when these camp events are filled with the Word of God. I pray that those who heard it and have not yet been changed by it will not escape and put it out of their minds, but that it would constantly be a reminder that they need God.

I also hope that this post was a blessing to you. Sure, there are things I could have nitpicked about (Bluegrass style music, the Collage recruiting tables in the back, and so on) but I won't. Overall it was a very good day. The Gospel went out clearly, I'm happy about that.

Facebook Photo Album

-Joey Markham

From Thoughts To Keystrokes

2008-04-25T23:02:00.005-05:00

Everybody, welcome to From Thoughts to Keystrokes.

In late December, Ben and I had the idea for a team blog where we can post our thoughts about anything. (Yes, the inspiration did come from my sister Jessie's JENgirls, that now has all it's team together). Anyway, it took several months of vaguely batting back and forth names and ideas untill one night (on about try #547) we decided on "From Thoughts to Keystrokes."

My sister agreed to make us this wonderful template that you see here. It took a few brain-storming sessions, but we managed to settle on a few themes and colors for the graphics and on she went designing. It took her a while (due to school and other activities) to get everything put together, but finally it all was set. Ben and I filled in the little boxes she set up for us and put together some pages for reference. Now, we're all set.

Everything is ready for us to go live.

I think with the next few posts we do you'll see From Thoughts to Keystrokes take shape. 'Till then I hope you enjoy visiting our links to various websites we appreciate.

Thanks for the read and we hope you come back to see what's new!

-Joey Markham

FAQ

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is this blog called "From Thoughts to Keystrokes"?

Well, it literally took months to come up with a name. Virtually everything we tried had been taken already. Finally, during a brainstorming session we settled on "From Thoughts to Keystrokes" because that's what we wanted this to be--our thoughts out in text.

Who are you?

Ben and Joey are two teens that go to Norway Baptist Church (Norway, MI). Each writer has his own specialties and preferences, but both want to have a place to post their thoughts. So, they created this Blog together.

Can I join the Team?

Currently we're not looking for anyone specifically, however if you are interested in contributing with us feel free to send one of us an e-mail or something and let us know.

Guide to Commenting on this Blog

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One of the things we really look for our readers to do is comment on our blog. Your feed back is very appreciated--even when you think we're wrong. A Healthy debate is always welcome. Still there are some guidelines we'd like to stress as we will be enforcing them.

No Swearing.
No linking to inappropriate websites.
No Trolling. (As said, debates are fine but if it regresses into an insult war it will stop).
No Flaming. (The Biblical term for this is Slander...)

Well, that's pretty much it for the rules. It is nice to know your name, so please do leave it when you comment (At least your first one), and remember when you comment it is fair game for anyone else to reply--not just us.

Anyway, please do head the rules and feel free to comment on anything you'd like. Have Fun!

-Joey & Ben

What We're About

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So, just what is "From Thoughts to Keystrokes" about anyways?

Well, for starters, we're about God. 1 Corinthians 10 states, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God," and that is what we strive to do in this blog. Commonly We'll post things explicitly about the Scripture, and how it applies to various situations, but then again it's not all we'll post about.

On occasion one of us may do a post on a particular hobby, or maybe a random musing, but like the verse above states, it will all be for God's glory. Nothing will be profane, blasphemous, or intentionally unedifying. In fact it will be the opposite. Everything we post will be for the stimulation of the mind, building up of the faith, or edification of the soul.

You as the reader can hold us to this standard (and we pray that you do). So feel free to leave us a comment or send us an e-mail telling us how to do better, because we're by no means perfect, so if you catch a typo, or even something that maybe we shouldn't have said feel free to let us know and we'll do our best to get right on it.

It is our goal to serve God and to serve You with this Blog, and we pray that it does.

Enjoy!
-Joey & Ben