Here's the Bean. Where are the People?

One of the first rules you learn in mid level writing is to identify your audience. Then the rest of the test should be in a voice and style to communicate well to that particular group. If you are reading this, you are in one of two groups: you are a member of Sojourn or you weren’t at Essential Bean on Friday. That is to say there weren’t that many people there!

It was a nice evening with great weather on a holiday weekend. I guess that means nobody was up for coffee.

The band performed well, no major snafus. One thing that bothered me is that we couldn’t leave the mixer alone. Maybe we need a Ronco mixer that you just, “Set it and forget it!”

That being said, I believe Tim was recording our performance which will be interesting for me to hear myself with the group instead of hearing Denny. I want to be in two places at once, listening and playing.

I think the group is making progress toward the goal of a clean, tight, rehearsed sound with a great message. Those friends that did make it out were full of compliments on just such improvements.

Hope to see you at Festival, Downtown Grand Rapids, June 2 at 5:45pm on the City Stage!

John

www.sojournband.com

Mocha-N-Music

WARNING- This entry is part diary entry, part performance report, and part critique. I guess another way of saying ‘blog’ since I have no idea who my audience is!

Sojourn performed at Mocha-N-Music in Hudsonville last night. It was an unseasonably cold, seasonably rainy evening. It was great to walk in from the cold rain to the warm cinnamon/chocolate/coffee flavored air of the shop.

We began setting up with our special guest, Jim Cash, and found some challenges with sound equipment. It seemed that none of us were comfortable with the ‘stage’ acoustics and being able to hear themselves with the group. I know I couldn’t hear much, but it seemed to sound good out front which is all that matters.

It was great to start playing and see all the familiar folks come in. I’m thankful to see the Wells Angels folks, the Hudsonville ‘fan club’, and my co-workers. Everyone seemed to really engage with the band and respond especially when Jim was on lead guitar. The room seemed almost silent when Adam was introducing our song, For Today, speaking of the return of Christ. I’m glad we found so many ears willing to listen.

The music turned out a little different than we expected. We each had our moments of folly but that is why I like live music. Since I have been playing with Adam, Dean and Tim; this was our tightest show to date. We keep growing together musically and I am learning their unspoken language of musical interpretation. Tim was jamming on a couple of his solos that he played a little different, probably just excited by all the folks that came out. Dean was solid as a rock; a master of his instrument. Adam gave everything he had, as always, and didn’t hold any of his energy back. What a fun addition to the sound it was to have Jim Cash on lead. Jim was classy on his parts mimicking his work on the album and going one step further.

A couple of my favorite musical moments were in Old Man when Adam has a fade in vocal, one of my favorite songs Sometimes We Weep, and how fun it was to play loud on our more rock oriented songs.

After we performed I heard some great things about the products that Marten and the staff were serving. I was looking forward to enjoying some of my wife’s chocolate mint smoothie at the break only to find that she had finished it because it was so good! I later had one myself and it was very refreshing. I look forward to coming to play some more music and to have another smoothie!

Thanks to everyone that came out. It is so much more enjoyable to play with people in the room!

John
www.SojournBand.com

"Why I Don't Believe"

I've heard an answer to that question on several occasions. Typically, the reason people give me is, on the surface, based on a rational view of facts. Yet, when I dig a little closer I find that at all times an "unbelievers" view is first based on certain key suppositions.

Here's a few:
1) There is no God. If there is a God, the Bible hasn't accurately recorded who he is.
2) A book as old as the Bible, can't have possibly been accurately preserved.
3) The Bible is full of contradictions

These positions that people often take sound as if they are born out of a vast weight of evidence, but at their core is simply a "leap of faith". In other words, I've heard, "A book that old can't possibly be accurately preserved." That is a supposition. The person who holds it to be true figures it has to be true because it feels true. Often no evidence or rational thought will convince them otherwise.

Frankly, the verdict on the Bible has been in for years. There is far too much evidence on the reliability of the Bible to report here. Challenges such as Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" won't topple the authority and veracity of scripture any more than a mouse could nock over the Washington Monument.

It comes down to this: people believe what they want to believe. If some one wants to believe that the Bible is to old to be properly preserved and translated, then no amount of evidence will dissuade them. If some one wants to believe there is no God, that is what they will believe. You might give them a convincing rational for the existence of God and the veracity of the Bible, but their rejoinder may still be, "But there couldn't possibly be. . . "

An individual who is willing to take the time and effort to fully investigate the claims of Jesus Christ and the message of the Bible, will come face to face with the truth: Jesus is God in the flesh. He entered into history and paid for human sin so that we would not have to pay the price ourselves. Accepting Christ as God and savior, opens the door to have a relationship with Him, and to eternal life with Him.

At that point, regardless of the proofs, you'll still have to decide if you are willing to believe. Saddly, many will face the truth of Christ and say, "I just can't believe it."

So much for intellectual honesty.

Adam