i just got back from Cornerstone yesterday. i thought it was one of the best years in quite a while.
in recent years, it seems that i haven't gone to that many concerts at C'stone. we would get bored and go off the grounds on a regular basis. in fact, some years we went to Walmart in Macomb every day.... but this year was not like that. once C'stone got going, we never left the grounds and i didn't even think about leaving.
the press tent of course kept me busy, but more than that, i was into the music this year. the first thing most people noticed this year that was different, and the first thing i got into was the generator stages. there's been generator stages at Cornerstone for a long time now, but not like this year. there were at least 30 generator stages all set up along the main road on both sides and it was just as crazy as you can imagine. bands constantly playing, one after the other on every stage, whether there was another band right next to them or not. and nearly all the bands were the same: screamo with some breakdowns.... yes there was a lot of mediocre to down right bad music there along "generator row," as i called it. but there were some gems too.....

there was also the return of a few 80's bands that interested me. REZ was fantastic. i always like REZ, but didn't think they could pull it off after so long away from the stage. i was mistaken. the guitars were blazing, Wendi was feeling good and her voice was really strong and fine. even John was obviously practicing. he's a big strong guy and could have hit those drums a little bit harder, but he was pretty much on target all night. and Charlie Peacock came back to Cornerstone after about 12 years. his show was wonderful! he sang the old songs and a couple of new ones that were also good. he had Jimmy A with him as well as Steve Hindalong and Kevin Max. fabulous. and one of the big surprises was DeGarmo and Key. they've been gone for a long time, but they've kept up their chops, fersure. Dana still rocks on guitar and can still sing and preach. they caught Linda by surprise too, with the song "Accepted." she got rather emotional. it was a good old Jesus Music revival....   good times...

i also got into the hard core scene this year. of course Living Sacrifice was ridiculous! but there's a move of the Holy Spirit in the hard core scene that is building like i don't know if i've ever seen before. these bands are serious about God, and prayer, and revival. from what i saw, xDeathstarx, Impending Doom, and Sleeping Giant are at the forefront of it. they are some of the scariest, most brutal bands now, but the shows are so worship filled and anointed.... the second time i saw Sleeping Giant was at the Anchor stage and they had all the Anchor staff come on stage and pray before the show. Thom the singer explained that he felt like the Spirit was not as free there as the other night and that he wanted everyone to start praying and worshiping God. one girl had a vial of oil with her on stage and anointed the band and prayed as the crowd joined in worshiping and Thom began to worship and pray over the mic until the place was noticeably filled with God. once the band got going, the ministry and music was amazing. there's also another wave that's going to hit the hard core scene when Brian "Head" Welsh and Dan Spitz release their separate records. i can hardly wait for those two projects!
it was exciting to me to feel that and see it at Cornerstone this year!

on the non music end of things i also had a good time with Norman and Marie this year. of course spending the week with Linda was great. Shari, Steve, Kyle and Marlene also camped with us. and we met some fun new people that were camping next to us. Nathan and Raul are young and lots of fun. the youth group from NC are good to us as well.

i got to lead a round table discussion at the press tent about "Cornerstone: past, present, and future," with Johnny Herrin, J Robert Parks, John J Thomson, and Doug Van Pelt that turned out ok. it was cool, but we only had an hour and it ended a bit too soon. John Herrin had just brought up and was talking about the roads and showers when we ran out of time. i didn't say it, but that was a great time to rebut his thought that the showers are ok... they are not... but we didn't get to talk about it anymore and that is my only regret of the fest.

after i go through my pictures i'll post some and talk about the fest a bit more.

 

it was a magical night of roots/americana/blues/rock music that T-Bone Burnett has masterfully been putting together with unlikely artists like the god of thunder, Robert Plant, and the honey sweet queen of bluegrass, Allison Krauss. with a terrific band including T-Bone, Buddy Miller, and Stuart Duncan, the sandy haired couple played with songs from the record "Raising Sand" and threw in classics from blues greats, bluegrass greats, and bluesbusters like the one and only Led Zepplin.

 

 

 

 

 

the harmonies were wonderful.

the forceful moaning vocals of Robert Plant trading verses and songs with the lovely soprano of Ms. Krauss was no surprise, but the ease of the performance and the heavenly ethreal feel of the night was. and then there were moments of "Freaky Friday" when the power of Allison Krauss was as on display as was the emotional subtle shading of Robert Plant.

 

lovely!

the material was so good. the atmosphere was amazing. a great night...    it was also very clear that Krauss and Plant were enjoying themselves, and each other. when one was taking a break from the stage they still hung right off to the stage right encouraging each other. nice to see.

 

 

 

 

and Buddy Miller got to tear it up. you know i love Buddy Miller!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

of course success wouldn't change Buddy, he still dresses like a farm worker. of course he is mining out the best guitar parts he can find for this tour.

 

 

SET LIST

1. Rich Woman
2. Leave My Woman Alone
3. Black Dog
4. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
5. Through the Morning, Through the Night
6. So Long, Goodbye to You
7. Fortune Teller
8. In the Mood/Matty Groves/In the Mood
9. Hey Hey What Can I Do?
10. Bon Temps Rouler
11. Shut It Tight
12. Trampled Rose
13. Green Pastures
14. Down To the River To Pray
15. Killing the Blues
16. Nothin’
17. The Battle of Evermore
18. Please Read the Letter
19. Gone, Gone, Gone

ENCORE

1. You Don’t Knock
2. One Woman Man
3. Your Long Journey

 

 

after about 13 years, Friends of Truth Christian Fellowship has closed it's doors, and stopped meeting.

 

we were always a "river church." people flowed through. came and went. except for a few of us die hards. maybe lots of churches are like that, i'm not really sure... we were definitely a deeper, more precise, church than most. we spent a lot of time studying doctrine, Armenianism, Calvinism, and then Christian Universalism. we were digging into Scripture most churches float over. and in some ways that never let us grow too big. but that's who we were, a small church that loved God and dug into Scripture trying to understand the mind and workings of Christ and the Holy Ghost, as best we could.

 
we were also a church of good praise music. i was the worship leader for all of our years of live music, and i've had lots of different praise bands through the years. some years of abundant musicians, and some lean times of just me and a guitar. i think the biggest band i had consisted of a drummer, three guitars, a bass player, and singers. we started out with me on guitar, another guy on twelve string, and a flute player. that was kinda cool too... we ended up with me and Angela with guitars and vocals. but we were always blessed with good music and worship...

for the last Sunday my son Sean, came back on stage with us. he sang with me for many years until he moved away with his family. that was very cool and special!
the last song we did was "Surrender," written by Glenn Kaiser. that song has meant a lot to us as a church and been a favorite of ours for many years, so it was a natural choice to be our last song as a congregation.

so Sunday was good. Wayne's sermon was called "He's a friend of mine." in connection with the church name.... he explained the thinking behind the name choice again and talked about the nature of Truth and friendship and family. he really did a good job for a last service.

Wayne wanted to have communion together and asked me last minute to lead and serve it.
so i told him, "ok, but this is the last time!"    :-)

the mood was not sad or somber really. although underlying emotions were surely there, we were glad to be together this week just like we always were....  and we had a good service for the most part....

we really didn't have any plans on having a get together, or fellowship after church on Sunday,
\but it just happened that way.......
after church we all ended up buying food and going to the new park in Detour to eat together.

Wayne and Barb and family.
Bill and Stephanie and son.
Sean and Laura, Eli and Eva.
me.
Kyle and Marlene.
Angela. Christopher and Christine.
Kenny and Nicole and their three kids.
all had a nice time at the park. we sat, ate, and talked for several hours.

a mixed day of sadness, blessings, reconnecting, frustrations, and fellowship....

as far as FoTCF goes,

just right.

Linda and i went to the Walkersville Southern Railroad today and rode the train. it's about an hour and a half on the train taking some old tracks toward Frederick and then back again. we enjoyed it.

 

Happy Anniversary Sean and Laura!
i love you!

The delta wing design, in which the wings are triangular, offer modern airplanes several advantages that enhance speed and maneuverability. The same concept can be applied on a much smaller scale to paper airplanes.

i just got an especially beautiful birthday card from my wife and thought i'd share....
i hope you don't mind dear....

I said a prayer for you today,
the way I always do,
to thank God for the precious gift
of sharing life with you.

I thanked Him for the way we met,
the way we fell in love,
realizing now that He
was watching from above.

And then I asked
for every special blessing He could send
for you -- my one and only,
my husband and my friend

Happy Birthday
with Love

i stopped by Sean and Laura's yesterday and ate grilled burgers, corn, etc and some ice cream for my birthday.

:-)