Not only is Goot an awesome name [voted one of the worst band names of 2008], but it is a great band.  Coming from Poughkeepsie, NY (I’ve been there), Goot puts a creative twist to the alternative genre by playing the piano.  I had the opportunity to eat at Jimmy Johns with Alex Goot [front man of Goot] last year and we talked music and life.  Great stuff.  Goot has put their CD Progress up for free download.  It is definitely worth checking out.  Download it here.

Sharing your faith is something that all Christians know they are supposed to do.  So what keeps them from doing it?  I  recently stumbled onto a video where Penn Fraser Jillette, from Penn and Teller, was talking about an experience he had with someone giving him a Bible.  Penn and Teller both believe there is no God and are very vocal about it.  Penn made a statement that really stuck with me.  He said, “How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

Penn said it well.  If we really believe there is a God and believe there is a Hell, what is keeping us from telling others about it?  Makes me think about my life and the people I don’t share my faith with.  For me, it seems like it is harder to talk about God with people I care the most about.  Which makes no sense.  They should be the ones who I am most concerned with.  Just an interesting thought.

Check out the clip

The singer/song writer Zac Seif is the front-man for the new Texas based Satellites.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I keep singing their mellow/catchy tunes.  They have now made their CD free to the world.  What a nice early Christmas present.   

Get Satellites first CD for free!

Our church started a new series last week call Eharmony.God.  The central concept is love God for who he is.  I had the opportunity to open the series up with a sermon called When God Catches Your Eye. Check it out.

I have anticipated the release of The Rocket Summer’s new CD since his last release in the summer of 07.  Since the new CD release has been delayed, a 4 song EP is now available on iTunes to help tidy everyone over.  Bryce Avery is the brains behind The Rocket Summer.  Every sound you hear on the CD is played by Bryce Avery. I have seen The Rocket Summer live many times and each time it has been a new experience.  In one year, I saw them live in 4 different states [Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio].  Needless to say, I dig The Rocket Summer and I dig the new tracks.  Check it out and buy the new EP for $2.99!

Hellogoodbye released their new EP for free!  Hellogoodbye is on tour with Sherwood (the band I posted last week) and Hanson?.  I have listened to these guys for a couple years now and I’m excited to get some new tunes for free.  All you have to do is go to their website and sign up for their newsletter.  As a thank you, they send you a link for a free CD.

Enjoy!

Social Networks have changed the world of communication.  One way it has changed is in advertisements.  It is now easy for us to get a real testimony of a product.  I feel that no matter what is being sold, reviews and testimonies from the common person give the most accurate description of the product.  Example…If my friends are posting positive updates on Facebook or Twitter about a new movie they saw, it makes me want to go watch it.  It does much more for me than a 30sec commercial.

I received an interesting email a couple days ago that shows retailers are catching on.  I simply mentioned a musician called Brooke Waggoner on my blog and Facebook.  I saw her live at Off Broadway [in STL] and she was awesome.  So I posted her on a couple of my weekly mixes.  I then received an email from the band that thanked me for mentioning them.  As a thanks, they sent me a link to a song that was not released to the public yet.

I really think that the world is starting to pay more attention to what other people say on their personal sites and blogs.  I know I am.  This will greatly help some people/companies and destroy others.

What are your thoughts?  What is more appealing to you, comments/reviews from a normal person or a 30 sec commercial?

I have been listening to Sherwood for a couple years now and I have been anticipating their newest CD.  It is now out and Amazon has it on sell for $2.99.  Check it out and buy it!  Great tunes, Great price.

A week ago, I took my students to a weekend retreat at a local camp.  The weekend event was called Ignite and it was organized by seven local student ministers.  It was a great opportunity for me to get to know other ministers in the area so I jumped on the planning team.

During our debrief meetings, the reoccurring theme was “save camp”.  The ministers around our table of Mexican food and salt water were hoping our weekend of Ignite would spark some momentum for the camp (pun intended).  Christian camps have been suffering a bit.  Our younger generation of students are into flashy technology, organization, modern entertainment, and large groups of people, none of which describe a traditional Christian camp.  To help out local camps, it’s not uncommon for churches to drop bigger conferences and pour their resources and students into camp.  All the other ministers at the table decided to do the same for the next year.

I know great things can happen at camp.  It played a key role in my decision to pursue ministry as my career.  But I don’t know if I agree with the “save camp” campaign.  To me, it’s not an issue about saving something.  It’s about what is most beneficial to students.  If it happens to be camp, then great.  If it happens to be something other than camp, great.  It just seems like a lot of unnecessary work.

Any thoughts?

Although I have gotten out of the Pop Punk genre, I just stumbled onto a band called Mathletes that is giving away their debut EP for free.  Although it’s not much my style, it is free and free is good.  Check it out.

Mathletes EP