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Christian Guitar Resources
Monthly e-Newsletter - August 2002
This month:
This month,
Jc is here with the latest news from the CGR website.
Well folks, things here at CGR have been going along
pretty good. There are some changes in the works though, like a possible
name change to get more people interested in the site. Mickey's been
considering the address
ChristianMusicStop.com, so be sure to let him know what you think.
Also new to the site, Luke, has started an off-site chat room made
especially for Christian Guitar Resources. So, if you like chat rooms,
make sure you check it out! You can find out all you want about the CGR
Chat by
clicking here.
That's about it for now. But remember that there are always New Tabs, CD
Reviews, and Devotionals always being added to the CGR site. So check 'em
out!
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Michael W. Smith is set to release his second praise & worship CD on October 22. The project is imaginatively titled, Worship Again. This will be Smith's 16th CD release in his long music career.
Rebecca St. James recently ended her six-month sabbatical in Australia. Her thoughts: "I am an idealist, a dreamer, a romantic. I think I had dreamed that my 6 month sabbatical would be a renewing, God-focused, fun-filled, vision building time, but it was even beyond what I could have dreamed...I am pumped about what is to come!"
Relient K has recorded a Veggietales song to be on the upcoming movie soundtrack for Jonah: A Veggietales Movie. The movie will come out this fall, as will the soundtrack, but you can buy the single of the Relient K song for $1.99, or download it here:
http://www.gotee.com/audio/Pirates.mp3
P.O.D. currently leads nominees for the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards with six nominations. The nominations are for "Alive" (Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Viewer's Choice, Best Direction, and Best Special Effects) and "Youth of the Nation" (Best Rock Video). Since signing onto Atlantic Records, the group has sold an amazing 5 million records.
dc Talk's Kevin Max announced at a recent press conference that he would no longer perform solo at Christian music festivals. Instead, he intends to pursue audiences disenfranchised by the church, such as the growing gay community.
Festival Con Dios is back in session this September and October with a new line-up of musicians, more sports, worship, and comedy. Artists include Audio Adrenaline, Toby
Mac, Pillar, The Benjamin Gate, and more. Activities on the sports front include laser tag, jousting, and sumo wrestling.
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Climbing - Going to a new relationship with God.
(Acoustic87)
"Do I have to?"
That's what we all usually say when we face doing some thing difficult and
time consuming...especially when we don't see the benefit. Like having to
climb up a steep, rocky hill. Like doing personal bible study. Like
talking with God seriously about our self.
Yeah, God does want you to go to the next level with Him. It's up to you
and it's tough. But, wow, it is worth the time and effort.
Ephesians 4:15 says "Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things
grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."
Draw a small mountain on a piece of paper. If you and God were to pinpoint
your location on this mountain that bests describes where your
relationship is, where would it be? Draw a little mountain climber at that
point.
Why did you locate your relationship here?
Talk to God now and ask him to help you improve your relationship with
him.
Mathew 17:20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the
truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this
mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be
impossible for you."
For devotions, check out
http://www.benefactor.idz.net.
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JBL Control 25AV Speakers
At just 9.3 in x 7.4 in x 6.3 in and weighing 9 pounds each, these
speakers are one of the most natural and accurate sounding speakers I've
ever listened to from the 'small speaker' category.
They come in pairs, in either black or white and includes a 'wall
mounting bracket' that has something which resembles a golf ball which
is connect to the end of a short steel rod that mounts onto a wall
mounting plate. The speaker connects to bare wire (up to 8 gauge) and
comes with plastic speaker connecting plate cover which can be screwed
on a seal to protect the speaker wire connection from theft and rain
since they are also outdoor speakers.
Also, the speakers have built in transformers for 60W, 30W, 15W, 7.5W
taps at 70V and 60W, 30W, 15W taps at 100V which will let you daisy
chain many speakers together without loosing much quality. There is also
a metal very strong stainless steel grill that protects the front of the
speaker and the whole speaker is Video shielded you can use them near
video monitors or projectors.
There are also many different mounting options available where you can
form a 6 speaker 360 degree cluster, or mount with ceiling brackets or
use 3 speaker wall cluster brackets which allow you to angle 3 speakers
either vertically or horizontally so that they produce a very wide
coverage.
How the mounting system work is that there is a plastic cover at the
back of the speaker which you cut out. You then insert the ball end of
the mounting bracket into the hole at the back of the speaker and pop
out the plastic logo in the front of the speaker. There is a hex wrench
provided with the speakers and you simply stick the wrench inside the
whole and turn to either release or lock the speaker in place. My only
beef with this is that once you cut out the hole, it's permanent. So if
you are demo'ing these speakers or if you don't intend to keep them then
don't cut the plastic plate off.
When my church was planning to replace our old speakers, I had a chance
to order a demo pair of the JBL Control 25AVs. My first impression was
that they looked too small and weak. That was until I had them in my hot
little hands.
Although small, not much bigger than your mid-sized computer speakers,
these speakers proved to be amazingly powerful. These speakers are rated
at 200 Watts (continuous program capacity) each with a frequency
response of 70Hz-23KHz and when I hooked up the pair to our 2x 500 Watt
amp, I was able to turn it up to around 80% without getting any
distortion. In the last couple months, I was able to play lots of
different styles on music through these speakers.
After demo'ing these speakers, I was very impressed with the realism in
the reproduction of warm sounding vocals, acoustic guitars, flutes and
orchestras. The only problem is that the very low end of the frequency
spectrum is lacking and although you may not notice it at first, it
becomes somewhat apparent when you play music CDs with lots of drums and
bass guitars and organ. When play such heavy bass material, there
doesn't seam to be any distortion but you do lose the 'oomph'. Also
don't expect any body shaking bass, for that you will need to add a
subwoofer.
Overall however, these speakers are still quite good and you will still
be able to hear all the bass from kick drums and bass guitars, it's just
that you don't get the chest thumping power you'll get from a concert
system. I also found that you need to cut 2-3dB at the 250hz range when
cranking up the speaker because the bass would get just a little muddy.
Because of the combination of small size and high power output, these
speakers are very well suited to places with low ceilings (my church
sanctuary being one of them) and under church balconies. They're also
great for fill speakers to cover areas where the main house speakers are
lacking.
To end off, I think these would make amazing home theatre speakers (much
better than Bose) provided you have a subwoofer to help with some bass
and at $240 (Canadian) a each, they are worth every penny.
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Acoustic87 had a chance to interview Joel Engle, the
creator of SPIN (Student Praise
Interactive Network). We thought we'd share it with you!
Q: What made you want to become who you are
today?
A: When I was a teenager I began listening to a guy named
Keith Green. His music touched my life so deeply and glorified Christ so
greatly that I wanted to do the same thing with my life.
Q: Why did you create Spin and what are some of the things you
want to teach young worship leaders?
A: First of all, our music resource company SPIN is totally a
God-thing. My wife and I started it in 1997 to help churches experience
a fresh and relevant worship encounter with God through music. We wanted
to impact not just the musical side of praise and worship but the
philosophical and theological side as well. We simply saw God at work
and obeyed Him.
Secondly, I would want to teach young worship leaders that leading
worship is a spiritual thing and not a musical thing. That doesn't mean
that we don't strive to be the best musicians that we can be, but it
means that if we are not daily depending on Christ as our life-source
and walking intimately with Him we will never be true worship leaders.
It is about overflow. It is about Christ living His life through us. It
is about dying to our self-centeredness and living by faith in God.
Q: If some one asked you what the meaning of worship is what
would you tell them?
A: The actual Hebrew word for worship in the Old Testament means
"bowing down." To worship God is to bow down to Him as the Lord of our
lives and to yield our allegiance, our existence, and our affections to
Him as our Sovereign King.
Q: What is the most amazing thing about leading worship?
A: There is nothing more incredible in life than to see a
heart transformed before your eyes. To me that is the greatest miracle
of all! When I am depending on God as I lead worship and I am looking to
be a part of His work, I am privileged to see Him change the lives of
those who encounter His awesomeness and His goodness.
Q: What do you have to tell future worship leaders?
A: Worship leading is ministry not entertainment. It is a
calling not a career. It is a way of life not a way to make a living.
Those who go by the name worship leader will have to give a greater
accountability to God because of the word "leader". God is more
interested in what you become in Him that what you do for Him.
For more interviews and worship leader resources check out
http://www.benefactor.idz.net!
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"I Lost My Soul" (by Mr.
Jeffrey F. Knipple)
In a recent article, Mike Yacondi, a prominent minister
and missionary, wrote about a period of his life when he "lost his
soul".
Receiving a calling early in his life, he had ministered
for over 30 years in many different and successful ministries. He states
his background was from a "wonderful evangelical tradition" but he also
now realizes that tradition was "where souls were for saving, not for
community converting souls and once converted, left alone." "Souls were
too mystical, too subjective, too ambiguous, too, you know,
contemporary."
"But a few months ago I realized I had lost mine." he
admits. Like many of us in the busyness of his cluttered life, he lost
his "spirituality". Making time for his church business, time for
personal business, time for exercise, budgeting, shopping, even
recreation. But no time set aside "to build our personal relationship
with God", as God intended for us all. We are forced to and become very
good at taking care of the "day to day" tasks of the world, but are we
taking care of the things that God calls us to?
For Reverend Yacondi, his problem had grown to a level
where he admitted himself into a health community in Toronto. After
three days, engrossed in prayer to his God (as he had done many years
ago when he began his ministries and had no personal success to boast
of), he "found his God, himself, and his soul" by "strengthening my
spirituality".
Just how do we grow and strengthen our spirituality?
There are many Christian courses of study, books, and devotionals
available to help in this area (with interest I would be happy to pursue
material and instructors to provide this opportunity in the future). But
here are a few ideas which came out of my wife’s August copy of
"Christian Woman":
-
Start a "Thank You God" devotional book where at the
end of the day you reflect and write down a few blessings God provided
you that day.
-
Write God a letter each week. Just like an exercise
regime, take 10 minutes a day to pray and talk to God as the personal
friend He intends to be.
-
Talk to good friends about how God has worked in your
life the past week.
-
Listen to Christian music while you soak in a hot tub.
-
Volunteer agencies the stronger they grow.
-
Working with Christian Youth groups or attending Bible
Studies (many find that the more they serve God through their churches
the closer they come to God).
What becomes very apparent early is that "strengthening
and growing spirituality" is a personal thing and that: God has provided
the opportunity for all to enjoy a wonderful personal relationship with
Him, it is up to you to find a personal method which will allow this
relationship to grow. Which approach will work best for you? Only you
will know, and only after you have made an effort to find the right one
for you. Set aside time right now, to "to find your soul".
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Thanks to JesusFreak1234 for the following weird CGR
quotes.
"Quick, expensive the thread up!" (scott)
"Arr, Matey! 'Tas always been 'armless fun 'n games!"
(mr.squirrel)
"There should definitely be a death penalty for the referrer if a mod
messes up. That will slow people down from referring every time they get
a chance..." (Phil)
"Travis clinches the award, I actually LOLed at that, something very
few CGRers can achieve." (scott)
"Guys, I haven't been totally honest with you. I'm obsessed
with...Llamas! My room is filled with llama stuff! Llama bed sheets,
llama wallpaper, I even have llama..oh, I cant even say it! It's too
much! Will you guys still talk to me?" (paradigm)
"Vote Tim and Donny before somebody loses a toe!" (?)
"My brother is so weird." (bobthecockroach)
"Do hamsters swim in Jell-O? No.........? Oops...." (h.m.murdock)
"I will be fair. I am an HONORABLE judge, you know." (skye)
"Everyone hangs out here. Even the weirdedest person here. That's
me!!" (jesusfreak1234)
"Those CGR Quotes that JesusFreak1234 submitted were
hard on my spell checker..." (Andy the Geek)
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Multifarious Blips of Semi-Relevant Information and
Assorted Recommendations
Greetings and salutations fellow CGRers! This shall be
my first column of sorts in this e-publication known as the CGR
newsletter. I just volunteered for this position a few hours before the
deadline of material for this newsletter, so please forgive me for being
so brief. It isn’t out of laziness, I assure you, although I may be lazy
in addition...
Anyway, this column will basically deal with whatever I
deem interesting/necessary and/or at least somewhat relevant to
Christianity, music, both or whatever. I will make recommendations of
books, websites, music, etc. At times I might even be so bold as to
attempt to write something myself for you to read.
This month’s recommendations:
Theology
http://www.desiringgod.org/ --
An excellent site with sound theology from John Piper
http://www.freebooks.com/sidefrm2.htm -- You can download free books
from this website here, thus making it possible to feed your mind while
not going to totally broke (great for poor high school kids and even
poorer college students). Turn off that idiot box for once and get to
reading! TV kills brain cells 'ya know! ;-)
For your computer
Many of you are far more advanced than I when it comes to computers.
However, if you are not (God help you) these sites might be useful:
http://www.winmx.com -- For
downloading music this is the best program I have ever seen by far! It
brings up a vast array of results for everything, even relatively
obscure bands. I have used many programs (iMesh, KaZaA, gnucleus,
Morpheus, etc) and none of them worked as well as WinMX. What’s more, at
least iMesh and Kazaa have spyware and WinMX does not.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com --
Speaking of spyware, if you have iMesh or KaZaA, you have spyware on
your comp. Even if you don’t have those programs your internet use could
still be under surveillance (and having your information sold) by
spyware. Download Ad-aware to cleanse this rubbish from your computer at
once. It is, of course, totally free.
That’s all I have for you this issue, kids. I will probably have more
time between now and last moth than I did between a few hours ago and
now so expect a lot more next time. Feel free to give feedback, ask
questions, make comments, or send hate mail to
PleasuresPain@broken.org
or just PM me. Hope to see you around on the boards.
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If you would like to help with the newsletter please go
to the "Site
Announcements" forum and post in the thread titled "CGR
Newsletter Staff."
Our thanks to everyone who contributed to the
newsletter!
Newsletter Staff:
Acoustic87 (editor)
Andy the Geek
Jc
JesusFreak007
JesusFreak1234
Travis
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