Power Has Been Restored!

Omega Levine

Hydro1 worked through the night to restore electricity to Millbrook.  The  wind storm on Thursday knocked down at least 30 very large trees in the village.  Many trees fell on power lines.  All of the roads have been reopened, but the best thing is that we have heat back on in the house!

I had the opportunity to see Parachute Band of New Zealand play at Carruthers Creek Community Church in Ajax, a couple of weeks ago.  Parachute Band is well know for being the resident worship band at the Parachute music festival, held each January in Hamilton, New Zealand.  This dynamic live band, gives an energetic indie-rock slant to worship.  The band provided a full 13 song set  featuring songs from their current release "Love Beyond Measure" and from their previous albums, "Roadmaps and Revelations" and "Technicolor".  

Prime part of the evening was the testimony given by lead vocalist, Omega Levine.  He recounted how a facial deformity from birth had caused him grief by the gibes of classmates.  Re-constructive facial surgery did little to reduce  the taunts.  Even with the support of his Christian parents, Levine felt driven to suicide.  Finally he gave his sorrow to the Lord and felt his burdens lifted from him.  The band followed up with  the song "Mercy" which describes God's mercy to all of us.  This same song has gone on to be re-recorded by Casting Crown.  

Parachute Band on stage at C4

Take the time to listen to this band or better yet, fly to New Zealand and spend a few days at the Parachute Festival instead of Florida next January!

Check out songs by Parachute Band at:

http://www.myspace.com/parachuteband

Carruthers Creek Community Church C4 concert 

information can be found at:

http://www.carrutherscreek.ca/

Question of the day:  "What band have you wished to see perform live, but never had the opportunity?".

My thoughts: I never had the chance to see Five Iron Frenzy before their demise.  Their mix of ska and the genius, but peculiar, lyrics of Reese Roper always grabbed my attention.

What It's All About

David Pearson of Blissed

Christian rock is a relatively new phenomenon.  Its roots began in the midst of the turbulent '60's.  As young people came to know the Lord, they brought along the music that they claimed as their own, rock & roll.  The only change that took place was the preference for lyrics that described their new-found faith.  The beat of the music remained the same.

The purpose of this blog is to speak about my thoughts and feelings of this “genre” of music.  Is it truly a defined genre?  No. The breadth of Christian rock is as broad as that found in the secular (non-Christian) market.  Every style from folk to hardcore metal will be lumped under the same title of Christian rock in this blog.  What makes it “Christian”?  It includes music from performers of the Christian faith.  Lyrically that may mean that their faith is not reflected in the words, but may only reveal their Christian worldview.  Performers such as Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Cockburn may not be considered “Christian” artist in the traditional sense, but they do claim the Lord as their saviour.  Other musicians may still include the archaic view of how many JPM’s (Jesus’ name per minute) can be inserted into their lyrics.

My own introduction to Christian rock took place in the early ‘80’s.  I was introduced to performers such as Randy Stonehill, Mark Heard, Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart, and Larry Norman.  I became a Christian when I gave my heart to the Lord at a Petra concert in 1983 (yes, I’m really old). I have zero musical training, so I can’t make an analytical analysis of a piece of music. I do have an on-going interest (read: obsession) with Christian rock.  I attend numerous Christian concerts every year.  Photos and reviews of these shows will appear in future posts.  I collect music constantly. iTunes tells me I have 34 days of music on my computer.  Album reviews will also take place.  Questions of the day will be yet another topic.

Please give me your views and input.  Feel free to submit your comments to this blog.

Thanks,

Dave