Oncourse: 20th Anniversary Special

EVANGEL UNIVERSITY boldly christian. unquestionably academic.

• ATMOSPHERE – Every student, faculty and staff member has made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

• FINANCIAL AID – This year, Evangel students will receive more than $30 million in scholarships and financial aid.

• CHECK US OUT – In addition to rigorous academics and championship athletics, at Evangel, you will also make lifelong friends and prepare to fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

WELCOME TO PHOENIX

VISIT OUR BOOTHS IN THE FINE ARTS HALL AND THE MAIN EXHIBIT HALL!

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1.800.EVANGEL

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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Biopsychology* Criminal Justice Family Relations* Psychology Social Work Sociology* BUSINESS Accounting Economics** Finance Human Resource Management* International Business* Management Marketing Public Administration COMMUNICATION Advertising/Public Relations Applied Communication* (similar to Speech) Broadcasting Communication Studies Digital Arts Electronic Media* Film Journalism Photography* EDUCATION Early Childhood Education Elementary Education Middle School Education Secondary Education Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, English, French, Health, Math, Music, Phys. Ed., Social Studies, Spanish, Theatre/Speech Special Education* HUMANITIES Art (Graphic Design, Fine Arts) English French** Humanities* Spanish Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)* Theatre Arts Theatre/Music Writing* KINESIOLOGY Exercise Science Athletic Training Health* Personal Training* Physical Education Recreation Sports Administration* LEADERSHIP Leadership* Leadership Scholar Program MUSIC Church Music Music Education Music Industry (Music Business, Recording Tech.)

Music Performance Bassoon, Cello, Clarinet, Classical Guitar, Flute, Harp, Horn, Oboe, Organ, Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, String Bass, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Viola, Violin, Voice Worship Leadership SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Biology Biological Chemistry Chemistry Computer Information Systems Computer Science Environmental Science General Science* Mathematics Medical Technology Nursing/Health Care Physical Science* Physics* SOCIAL SCIENCE Anthropology* Church History* Government/Political Science History Intercultural Studies** International and Multicultural Studies International Relations* Legal Studies Military Science Public Administration Social Sciences THEOLOGY Biblical Languages Biblical Studies Greek* Hebrew* Jewish Studies* Missions Studies Philosophy**

PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS Pre-Chiropractic • Pre-Dentistry • Pre-Engineering Pre-Law • Pre-Medicine • Pre-Occupational Therapy Pre-Optometry • Pre-Pharmacy • Pre-Physician Assistant Pre-Physical Therapy • Pre-Seminary • Pre-Veterinary *offered as a minor **offered as a concentration or minor

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

RECYCLED WISDOM FROM THE CLASS OF ‘91

by AMBER WEIGAND-BUCKLEY

B

ye-bye big hair, hello Gen X grunge and Simply Irresistible “Teen Spirit.”

Sandwiched between Berlin Wall crumble and heated Gulf tension, a magazine that’s been the subject of college textbook pages jumpstarted a cultural phenomenon which continues to keep generations of teens ONCOURSE. It was the summer of 1991. I was a new high school grad taking the next step as a journalism major at Evangel College (now University) to make the dreams penned in my high school memory book, to become a Christian magazine editor, reality.

Now it’s ironic to flip through the pages of my yearbook 20 years later and see the faces and styles. The princess formals I remember from my prom are front-and-center in the DEB display window. I can’t help but think, If I’d kept my dress, it might be worth something.

But I know one thing I have kept that is worth something, and it is not a boomerang trend like hammer pants, leg warmers or slot-

ted sunglasses. It’s the ancient truth planted long ago that’s recycled and rooted deeper through the ages.

It is family -my home- that was focused on prayer and trusting Jesus. Seeing a mom and dad who persevered through the good and bad because faith in a Savior overwrote everything that came their way. It is in the strategic words of my brothers and sisters that remind me not to look back on the past with “whys” and “what-ifs,” but to thank God that He daily prepares us with the skills to help others who need Him- if we are faithful to let Him take the wheel.

It is Tabatha, my lifetime BFF I met in my ninth grade American History class. Under the heading “what makes us friends,” my younger self penned the words:“We really relate to each other, talk about anything and comfort each other by praying together.”

It is Melinda, my mentor and the founding editor of OC. She inspired me to continue the legacy - to empower students to live boldly for Jesus. She allowed me to grow in my gifts and coached me in the weak areas. Most of all, she helped me realize I wasn’t holding the success or failure of something that was God’s to begin with.

It is Steve, my youth pastor - now part of my national youth ministries family - an encourager in the day-to-day, with Facebook thumbsups, office pop-ins, text messages and prayer times. He models what it is like to pour love into the lives of his kids, no matter how old they get, reminding me that He Who created the universe has me at the center of His heart making me who I am.

It is Philip, my husband of 17 years, who encourages me to face the day with a humble spirit and a passion to serve and care for others, expecting nothing in return. God can use everything we have - and even our have-nots to bless and minister to others. We live only in proportion to what we give away in selfless acts of sacrificial love.

It is Saffron, Imogen and Penelope - my young daughters, growing and discovering the Who-ness of Jesus Christ. They help me rekindle childlike wonder and inspire God-sized dreams. They remind me that Jesus sees His children’s imperfect ways as a sign of dependence, not weakness. I trust that He anticipates my needs even before I ask. I know His plans for me are what mustard-seed miracles are made of.

It is in sharing the stories of the Mike

Durbins, Hannah Masons, Jordan Eliases, Amy Meltons - and the list goes on - that I’ve been inspired for 14 of 20 years to, as TobyMac said in a 2010 OC interview, “be a better person; to walk more passionately, to serve others, to love God. As you serve others, you will inspire others to serve. As you love God, you will inspire others to love.”

Where do you see yourself 20 years from now? Praying that your name will boldly inspire another Amber to make Jesus known.

Thank you to all the OC friends, fans and supporters who’ve STAYED ONCOURSE to win, build and send students for the cause of Jesus Christ.

Looking forward to a God-normous future.

Until He Comes!

Find Amber’s “What We Hearted in ’91 on p. 16 Follow @ONCOURSEGIRL ON TWITTER FOR MORE ANCIENT TRUTH FROM VINTAGE OC

Where Amber’s @ONCOURSEGIRL journalism career began: The original High Times journalism lab from 1986-1991... Still in use over 20 years later.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 3

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PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 5

H I S T O R Y

by AMBER WEIGAND-BUCKLEY

A C D C

LEGACY OF WORSHIP, OMPASSION AND ALL THAT ELIRIOUS?’ MARTIN SMITH AN LEAVE BEHIND

British invasion of Christian music transformed the face of modern worship. But it wasn’t about the charisma and charm of a bunch of guys with cool haircuts and matching suits. It was in the posture of prayer that a teenage Martin Smith (@martinsmithtv) shared with God, “If there is any way I can be involved in changing how music is in church, I would love to do that.”

For 17 years, as the lead singer for the Dove Award-winning and Grammy-nominated worship band Delirious?, Martin motivated a generation of historymakers to action — to make a mark on the world for Jesus Christ. Now he, along with wife Anna (@annasmithtv—author of Meet Mrs. Smith) and their six children are focused on the line where the creative meets a grassroots need—through the ministry of CompassionArt, a charity that “raises money to help breathe life into the poorest communities, restoring hope and igniting justice.”

I had a chance to get on the phone with Martin after the release of his new book, Delirious: My Journey with the Band, a Growing Family and an Army of Historymakers.

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M A K E R

A M B E R ( @ O N C O U R S E G I R L ) : Take me back to the mind of a teenage Martin Smith.

What hopes or dreams were in your future?

MARTIN

: Well, I remember sitting in church hearing the organist lead the hymns. I was thinking, “I would really love it to change sometime.” I have a great respect for that music and everything really, but it was just that me and my friends wouldn’t really get it. So I remember having that conversation with God. I felt the start of my journey in writing songs and the music. Looking back over 20 to 25 years, it all started with that prayer.

AMBER: It’s pretty safe to say that the music of Delirious? is probably one of the most influential in changing the face of music and the whole charismatic renewal of the UK, of Europe and across the world. Before then I don’t think historymaker was even a recognized word. How did you see God moving that influence at that time?

MARTIN: Well I certainly think you don’t see it until afterwards, do you? Because at the time you are just trying to follow God and do the best you can and stay in the middle of what He is asking you to do. So I think all we try to do is do the very, very best with what He has given us. And that’s true, isn’t it? You do the best you can; you can’t look back too much.

You just keep going and doing what God has asked you to do that day.

AMBER: Tell me about a time in your life that imprinted you—changing your perception on how you view the world.

MARTIN: For me it would be when the band started to travel to some of the poorer areas like India, Cambodia, Africa and Indonesia, places like that. You suddenly are awakened to the feeling that we have things handed to us on a plate, including education and stuff like that.

So I really think it stirred me, stirred us as a family to really be people that wanted to help and not just be building across a land pile—not just to keep looking outwards. I really think it’s great for our own children.

AMBER: Tell me about a time when you were walking in obedience and God said, “This is not the way this is going to play out.”

MARTIN: I think towards the end of the band, Delirious? We knew we were in God’s will to be doing what we were doing, but I knew in the last year that there were shifts coming. I knew I had to be obedient then to sort of do the right thing there. So it’s a constant journey, isn’t it? Just because things are hard doesn’t mean that you’re in the wrong place. Some things are hard because life is hard. But it’s different when you know you’ve got to come out of something; that’s a different emotion.

AMBER: Do you still see music as being as big of a focus now that CompassionArt is a bigger part of the picture for you and Anna?

MARTIN: Music is still very much a huge focus, but I guess your capacity grows, doesn’t it? It’s the same with having more and more children. You don’t know where you get the time or the energy.

AMBER: (Laughing) You would know that very well.

MARTIN: I think music is a very large part of our life, but of course it’s not the only thing. So we have to juggle a lot of plates and each day try to figure out what our priorities are.

AMBER: As teens, sometimes it’s hard to shift out of everything that’s happening in your own life and the challenges. How has a focus on compassion played out in your own kids’ lives?

MARTIN: We live in a very privileged tradition to have clean, running water and food, and have service and medical care, and the list goes on and on. The more I travel, I’ve actually noticed that a large part of the world doesn’t have that. So I think it’s really important as part of our children’s education that they grow up realizing that we have incredible debt to give back to society. That we need to give our lives back to serving God and giving our lives to communities that are much worse off. It runs through the heart of the gospel. It’s that Christ saved us so that we could go save others essentially.

AMBER: How would you encourage students to continue to be the HISTORYMAKERS? MARTIN: We just want to do whatever God has called us to, be obedient and not make it too complicated. I think that’s what happens the older you get; things become more and more complicated. I’m not sure they need to be. My advice to any teenager is “seize the moment.” You’ve got very little responsibility, very little to hold back. You know, Psalm 24 says, “keep your hands clean” and just go for it. Those are the days when you can run as fast as you want.

AMBER: Yes. If Martin Smith could leave just one thought to be heralded down to the next generation, what would that one thing be?

MARTIN: Wow. (Pause) That’s a great question. I think that He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. I think if we really trusted that, we would live extraordinary lives.

AMBER first met the Delirious? guys in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1998 at the beginning of their first U.S. tour and has been a delirious? fan ever since. Tweet your comments or questions @ONCOURSEGIRL.

PHOENIX PHOENIX 2011 2011 EDITION EDITION 77

GRIT

MARKED FOR L I F E

t

By Crystal Woodman Miller with Ashley Wiersma

he Colorado skies are hazy and gray on this early spring morning. The sound of my father’s heavy-duty pickup truck pulling out of our driveway interrupts what has been a deep sleep. I twitch my cheek and wonder where my good-morning kiss is as I try to remember why he is leaving so early today. It’s his busy season, I decide. Maybe he has a meeting before his landscaping appointments. I stuff my pillow farther under my chin, propping my head up so I can make out the numbers on the clock. It proudly beams that it’s 6:32. Ugh, 17 minutes late already, and I’m still not out of bed.

I flop onto my back, suddenly enamored by the way the shadows are hitting the ceiling above me. I gotta get up, I think. “Okay, get going,” I say, groaning. Groggily padding into the bathroom, I stick a toothbrush in my mouth to kick off the daily routine. I step into the hot shower and am jolted awake by the strong sense that today will not be an ordinary day. What is it? I wonder as I point my face toward the showerhead. It’s my dad, I realize as my heart sinks. Something bad is going to happen to him today, I just know it. A car accident? My mind trails off as I try to decode the eerie premonition. I can’t shake the anxious feelings, but I know I have to get moving if I stand half a chance of being on time for first period.

Clothes. I need clothes. I hop unsteadily into my favorite jeans,

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thrusting my feet into a pair of cute sandals as I pull on a greenand-navy-striped sweater tank and a navy fleece jacket. I comb my wet shoulder-length blondish brown hair and hastily brush on mascara as I hustle around my room shoving stuff into my backpack. I’m so scattered today.

Maybe I’m still coming down off prom, I think in my own defense.

I eye my French-manicured nails, left-over from the dance just a few nights ago. They still look so good! I relish the memory of feeling like a princess in my stark white tea-length gown.

Mom interrupts my thoughts of James and friends and laughter and dancing as she cranes her head around my open bedroom door. “Gotta run, sweetie,” she says as she blows me a kiss.

I’m in too big of a rush to ask why she’s dressed up so early in the morning, so I opt instead for a quick response. “Bye, Mom. I love you!” I holler, meaning it.

Wheeling around to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything, I glance at my beloved alarm clock once more. 7:24, the numbers glare. No breakfast today—again.

“Four hours till lunch,” I mutter to myself. “I can make it.”

At the first stoplight en route to school, my morning turns from bad to worse as I remember I’m supposed to take a make-up physics exam this afternoon.

When am I going to study for this stupid test? It’s today! How could I have forgotten that? The light turns to green as I land a plan. Lunch! I’ll make Seth and Sara ask me review questions all period. I’ll be fine. We’ll hit the library instead of going off-campus to eat, and they’ll make sure I’m ready. I crank up the radio again and head toward Columbine.

It’s 7:35 as I pull into my assigned parking spot in the lot designated for juniors, a little late but probably not enough to land me in trouble. My toes freeze as I step out of my car into what is now a cool drizzle and head for

the entrance. April in the Rockies, I remember. You never know what you’re going to get. I wrap my fleece jacket tighter around me, wishing I had made a wiser shoe selection.

First period is drudgery but finally ends. I walk into second period—math class—and ease into my desk; finally waking up after my good night’s rest was cut short. My friends and I stop chatting as the monitor in the corner buzzes to life with today’s video announcements. Today’s anchors are a couple of kids from media class who were selected to host the broadcast on our school’s Rebel News Network.

Seeing nothing that intrigues us about today’s news, my girlfriends and I giggle back to life, only half-listening to today’s lunch menu, the location of the baseball team’s next game and when yearbooks will be available.

As usual, the broadcast ends with a ticker-tape quote across the bottom of the screen that is running to really bad techno pop today.

I look up as it crawls across the monitor: … April … 20 … 1999 … You’ll … wish … you … weren’t … here … today …

CRYSTAL WOODMAN and her friends were under the only table not hit by gunfire from the shooters.

Reprinted from the Fall 2006 ONCOURSE.

Excerpted from Marked for Life

by Crystal Woodman Miller with Ashley Wiersma copyright 2006.

FACE

by JENNIFER TAYLOR

HANNAH MASON

Birthdate: December 10, 1998 Hometown: Montgomery, AL Occupation: Student / Campus Missionary

P

aul wrote, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Last school year, 12-yearold Hannah Mason put that verse into action when she started a Youth Alive (YA) club (yausa.com) at Garret Elementary School in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.

“I felt like I had done a lot for the community, that I was a good Christian, but I thought I could do something better,” Hannah says. “It was something that I just felt called to do.”

As the daughter of District Youth Directors Steve and Crystal Mason, Hannah was familiar with the concept of a YA club. The Masons encouraged her and gave her instruction, but Hannah was instrumental in taking crucial first steps. She lined up a faculty leader, asked friends to come and requested to meet with her principal. According to Ben Russell, Youth Alive Missionary in Alabama, Hannah truly launched this club on her own.

But Hannah’s success did not come without opposition.

Students tried to discourage her and the principal didn’t originally support the club. But Hannah focused on the positives, and refused to give up. Hannah learned her rights as a Christian on campus and kept pressing for the club.

Her determination paid off and the principal gave the club a green light.

She held her first meeting on a Tuesday in February 2010. “I thought I was going to have like eight people come, but it turned out that 40 people came,” Hannah says. She spoke about “God’s Perfect Love,” a resource

she found on the YA Campus Clubs digisource.

In this process, Hannah has seen some hurdles even her Christian classmates have to overcome about their faith. “Some kids just don’t understand,” Hannah says. “We can’t be a Christian at one moment and play [the next moment] like we’re not.”

Because Hannah obeyed God’s will lives have changed. “One girl came up to me. She said she wanted me to pray for her because her parents were going through a divorce,” Hannah says. “She was upset all the time.

She wasn’t a Christian so I prayed with her. Then, two weeks later, she came back and said, ‘My parents decided it would be best not to get a divorce. My dad came to Christ, so that led me to Christ too.’”

The group continued to meet for 20 minutes every Tuesday and flourished. Hannah delivered most of the messages using devotionals from yausa.com. Just over three months later, there was an overflow of students. “There were people already in the classroom waiting when I walked in,” Hannah says. “A person helped outside doing traffic duty so people could come in. There were so many that people sat on the floor and waited outside in order to listen to me.”

Hannah has truly made her mark on the Garrett Elementary School campus. Though she will attend a new school this fall, she has already found leaders to continue the club. Hannah hopes to repeat her success at her next school.

“There were people already in the classroom waiting when I walked in,” Hannah says. “A person helped outside doing traffic duty so people could come in.

There were so many that people sat on the floor and waited outside in order to listen to me.”

JENNIFER TAYLOR is a freelance writer in Springfield, Missouri, and also works as a National Fine Arts Festival Clerk.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 9

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by NATHAN WEBSTER

walked into the church building to the sounds of hymns of glorious praises sung by the choir. People in their Sunday best greeted each other with smiles. I wondered, Does anybody care that I’m lost? I’m just looking for somebody to show me how to get to Sunday school.

What do you do when visitors come to your church? Do you ignore them and wait for the “official greeters” to welcome them? What do you think teen visitors do when they see somebody who looks their age? I tried it out and visited a couple churches to see how a visiting teen would be treated. I was Undercover Visitor!

At the first church, I went to the front lobby to find out where I could go for Sunday school.

The greeter at the door was very friendly, and the woman in the information booth was nice. She gave me directions. I walked into the wrong class. The teacher kindly directed me next door to the high school class. Once there, I sat in the back. Nobody even noticed me or acknowledged that I was there. Talk about feeling rejected, man. I wished I was under cover.

A couple days later, the pastor sent me a letter to thank me for coming. A nice touch, but it was a little late.

The second church I observed was on a Wednesday night. After dressing in my special Undercover Visitor suit—jeans and a casual shirt—I walked in the front doors and was greeted by a bright smiling face and a handshake. The greeter stopped a youth member who was headed to the gym where the youth met and asked him to escort me to the youth service. I was introduced to a couple of people and made to feel like a friend. I then met the youth pastor and the youth sponsors. A group of youth playing hackey sack asked me to hack with them.

During the service, the youth pastor invited me to introduce myself, tell where I went to school and share a little about myself.

Everybody got up to shake hands with the visitors. This was fun. The youth pastor asked

I

if anybody could name all of the visitors and what was said about them. One guy did, and he won a T-shirt.

After youth service, a group going to Taco Bell invited me to go with them. It was a fun evening, and I enjoyed hanging out with all my new friends. I got a letter on Friday saying that they were glad I had visited and would like to see me back again.

I visited the third church on a Sunday evening during the youth service. I walked in, and two people came up to me, said hi and introduced themselves. I knew a couple in this church, and they introduced me to all of their friends.

During the prayer time, it was cool to hear most of the youth pray for a guy who was going away for a while. A lot of love radiated from the small group. The youth leader announced that they had a visitor and asked my name. The youth all said, “Hello Joe*.” The leader asked for my address so he could keep in touch with me. After he started the Bible lesson, about five minutes into it, he realized they had another visitor he hadn’t recognized. He stopped the Bible study to introduce the other visitor. When the service was over, I went to talk to the leader. He treated me like a friend.

The youth at that church really knew how to make a person feel welcome.

Being Undercover Visitor in different churches wasn’t too hard for me. I knew what to expect in church, so I didn’t feel too out of place. But, not knowing people made me unsure if I would be accepted or not. I hoped each time that somebody would take me under his wing, show me around and introduce me to the group.

What about teens who aren’t in church regularly or are coming to church for the first time in their life? What do they think?

Romans 12:13 tells us to “share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

We should especially reach out to people who don’t look very clean and polished or appear as though they have never seen a Bible. Like what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:7: “You are only looking on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ as much as he.” Look deeper for what visitors might be searching for by coming to church. They may need a friend. They may need to know God. Why not do as God does in 1 Samuel 16:7: “Man looks at the outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Next time you see visitors in your church, take them under your wing and make them feel as if they are already a friend. Say hello, find

out about them and introduce them to all of your friends. Listen for their heart, whatever their outward appearance is.

This concludes Undercover Visitor’s first mission report. You never know when he’ll show up at your church! Be ready.

HOW TO WELCOME VISITORS TALK TO THEM. Even shy people—especially shy people—need someone to notice them, to ask their name and invite them to sit with you.

TAKE VISITORS’ POLAROID PHOTOS (WITH THEIR PERMISSION OF COURSE).

The youth pastor/leader may want one to make it easier to remember visitors’ names and faces. Post the photos with their names somewhere so the youth won’t forget faces and names. Use the photos to remember to pray for visitors.

INCLUDE VISITORS IN LESSON/BIBLE STUDY DISCUSSIONS. Make a point of saying, “So, Tom, do you have an opinion or experience you would like to share?”

FIND OUT WHERE VISITORS GO TO SCHOOL, AND FOLLOW UP BY FINDING THEM AT SCHOOL, JUST TO SAY HI. Don’t forget to use their names when you’re talking to them. That shows they’re important to you.

INTRODUCE VISITORS TO OTHER PEOPLE. POST SIGNS AND HAVE GREETERS AROUND THE CHURCH TO DIRECT VISITORS. INVITE VISITORS BACK TO A SPECIFIC ACTIVITY. GIVE THEM A CALL OR SEND A POSTCARD. Former Evangel student NATE WEBSTER

was the original OC undercover visitor.

Article originally appeared in the Spring 1995 edition.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 11

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“I didn’t have a clue what I was doing next, and loved that,” Peter says. “I’d been doing 100-plus shows a year, writing, then finishing a record for more than a decade. It was good, but it was a merry-go-round that was never going to stop.”

by MELISSA RIDDLE CHALOS

Imagine taking your life’s work—two decades of successful touring, with over 7 million albums sold and 25 number 1 hits—a big part of your identity, and handing it over. This was the choice Peter Furler made. And it has forever changed him.

Set for release on June 21, Peter Furler’s first-ever solo CD, on fire, is what washed up on the shore in the wake of this choice.

THE BIG JUMP Best known as the front man of newsboys, a band he founded as a teenager in Australia, Peter handed the group over to his bandmates in 2009, convinced that God had a new road for him and his wife, Summer. The decision was two years in the making.

“We’d been living in an RV, traveling to all the newsboys’ dates, 110,000 miles all across North America,” Peter explains. We had a lot of time to talk, to assess where we were in life. In all that, I felt God telling me to ‘let the ground rest, let the creative process and the music rest...I’ll give you something better.’”

Peter stepped away from newsboys without an ounce of anxiety, fully supportive of the band. He sold his shares in Inpop, a label he’d co-founded in 1999. He and Summer sold their house, their cars and just about everything else but his studio equipment and moved to the Gulf of Florida.

The freedom to slow down, to make choices, taught Peter a valuable lesson. “Artistically and creatively, I began see that God didn’t make the horse to win at the races, but for His pleasure - to watch it run,” Peter explains. “I had a definite yearning to get back to nature, to express myself creatively, to do something just for the joy of it.”

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES...

And so he did. When the surfing wasn’t optimal, Peter began painting, a form of expression he’d always been interested in. And he began writing, not sitting around with a guitar trying to make something happen but keeping track of ideas as they’d come.

and all knowing yearns deeply for us.... He cares for us individually, where we are.”

On fire features 11 vibrant, contagious anthems—quirky pop melodies and driving guitars with unforgettable lyrical hooks. With powerful, corporate worship songs, long a hallmark of Peter’s music career (“He Reigns,” “It Is You”), on fire reflects the freedom and joy of a man at peace in his own skin—a man who has discovered the depth of his calling.

DEEP DOWN DISCOVERY

“I’m at this place in my life,” Peter says,” where I’m not caring so much what people think, and not in an arrogant way, just knowing who I am and why I’m on the planet. As a man, I’m meant to stay faithful to my wife, to love her, to look after her, to take care of her. Beyond that, my role in music has become more focused. I know deep down that God has given me gifts to use for life. I write songs. I have a gift for melody and words, and I’m here to use that to encourage those who hear them.”

“ T H E S O N G S N E V E R R E A L LY S T O P P E D . T H E Y KEPT COMING. I’D TAKE A LONG WALK, AND A SONG WOULD COME INTO MY HEAD,” P E T E R S AY S . “ I ’ D H AV E M Y L I T T L E R E C O R D E R , S O I ’ D R E C O R D I T. I D I D N ’ T T H I N K A N Y T H I N G O F I T; I ’ D J U S T A LWAY S R E C O R D E D LY R I C S A N D S O N G I D E A S L I K E T H AT. ” “The songs never really stopped. They kept coming. I’d take a long walk, and a song would come into my head,” Peter says. “I’d have my little recorder, so I’d record it. I didn’t think anything of it; I’d just always recorded lyrics and song ideas like that.”

“I could feel the Lord leading my steps...and that this was just another part of my journey,” Peter explains. “ My expectations have already been met - just the joy of making music, making something out of nothing.”

“You feel the pain of the world, but you never push mine aside... / and you reach for me...”

“I feel a bit like Forest Gump in all this,” says Peter. “You run off the porch, run to the county line, then on to the state line and then you’re gonna run to the ocean...all for the discovery of it. Living as a free spirit, not letting the things of this life tether us down, not planning my future a year in advance.... Life is far more adventurous this way. on fire is the music that comes from living that.”

Read the full story, as well as a review of on fire, at oncourse. ag.org.

“Reach,” a song that has already become a Billboard hit single, struck a very personal chord with Peter. “We all need to be reminded that God is personal,” he says. “The One who created the heaven, the One who is everywhere

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 13

VINTAGE

by matt wilkie

C

arman. If we used his whole name, you wouldn’t know who we were writing about. Like Napoleon, Snoopy Shaq, Carman is a legend.

He’s played the two largest concerts in Christian music history.

He owns a flock of Dove Awards and 12 albums. Songs and videos flow for him like blood through his veins. Today, Carman Domenic Licciardello [Who?] is playing to ONCOURSE readers. Make him feel welcome. He’s a little intimidated.

Carman told me he’s more at home in front of a huge audience

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than one-on-one. “There’s a certain personality with an audience. You relate to a crowd. There’s a different type of personality to a person oneon-one,” he said. At concerts there are people who “fold their arms and listen. If they’re in an audience full of people and a good majority of them are into what you’re doing, that majority can sway that person. But if it’s just you and the person, he can never be swayed.”

Now the radically-saved, addicted-to-Jesus, standard-setting champion of the divine Champion, is about to start a RIOT! Scheduled for release this month is Carman’s newest album entitled, RIOT, which stands for “Righteous Invasion Of Truth.”

This latest treat for Carman fans covers the musical spectrum from the “East L.A. Latino style-sort of techno big band - to country, along the lines of the boot-scootin’ boogie to a 60s sitcom sound with a little bit of the B52s and 007 mixed in to give it some drama and drive!” There could even be some… opera??? “Actually it will fit,” Carman assured me. “It’s really funny.”

Carman won’t write and record a song about anything until he seeks and senses God’s plan.

“Why write about questions if you don’t have the answers to go along with the questions?” he asked. “You just bring people into the mess. I write about what I know or what I go through, and at times there are some negative things. You have to have a resolution. Who knows? A kid might be listening to that song over and over again and get depressed every time, if you don’t offer an answer.”

RIOT continues Carman’s commitment to answer questions, not just ask them. ‘No Monsters’ is about watching television - a horror flick – and not realizing the spirits are associated with it,” Carman said. “The ‘monsters’ take up residence in your home and heart and stubbornly resist being kicked out.” Another “RIOT” number explains seven ways to praise and worship God based on God’s Word in the Old Testament.

When Carman offers God’s answers, people listen. Last October’s concert at Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, drew over 71,000 fans – a record for Christian music. This superceded the Thriller record he set of over 50,000 people who attended a South African concert.

Thousands accepted Christ when the musical evangelist prayed with the masses. “It was a momentous time for me,” Carman remembers. “I’ve always wanted to do stadiums and see them full of people worshiping the Lord. I want to not only minister to the whole Christian community, but I want to win the lost to Christ. The best way I’ve found to win the lost is to lift up Jesus.”

The “North-South-East-West Stadium Tour”

next on Carman’s schedule will enlarge the dream to include four stadium locations.

Meanwhile, “I want to do Christian movies,” Carman offered, just in case we thought he might be running out of dreams. “I feel like that’s a great medium to communicate the gospel. Satan has really taken over the entertainment industry.

I was in L.A. recently talking with some writers and going over a script.”

Carman described a two-part video with story line and music, “Part One of the video should be out the day after Christmas; Part Two at the end of the spring tour. In the video, I play the part of a police officer who is a Christian and has to deal with some difficult issues. There are a lot of thrills and chills and spills in learning how to do that.”

Singer, preacher, songwriter, actor. But no star treatment necessary. He’s still on a first-name basis. Anyway, who can say Licciardello?

Mr. Wilkie, On Course music columnist, interviewed Carman at the Dove Awards in April. Mr. Wilkie is now widely known as Matt.

Reprinted from the Fall 1995 ONCOURSE.

FINE ARTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? “I was a Fine Arts participant for six years and am currently a working actor in Miami, Florida. My work includes Theater and Film/TV, as well as commercials for Pepsi, Colgate, Pet Supermarket, Florida Anti-Smoking and more. Fine Arts gave me the opportunity to grow and become confident in my gifts, while getting closer to God and giving me experiences I will never forget.”

– Aaron Goldenberg “From 2006-2010, I participated in Fine Arts Festival.

I was in the North Texas District and advanced to the Orlando09 national festival, where my photography placed 2nd, and the Christian band I was in received merit. God blessed me with gifts that easily transitioned from Fine Arts into the real world. Since Fine Arts, I’ve started my own photography business, Analog Exposure. I’m going to school to study Music Business.

This summer I have plans to intern for Bonded Records in Orlando, and I plan on working in the music industry for my career. The gifts that God blessed me with that I used through Fine Arts shaped who I am today and paved the way for my future.”

– Jace Kartye

ONE One of the youth pastors knew about Elizabeth’s home life, yet accepted her fully. His pastoral love and efforts kept her eyes on the potential that God had for her life. Elizabeth sought great comfort from her newfound church family.

Another area that helped her process through the pain in her life was journaling. She would write things down to try to understand how to deal with them. She even kept her journal by her bed, always within arm’s reach.

One night when she was 13 she woke up to find pages and pages filled in her journal. She groggily remembered writing something during the night but had no clear memory. As

the different issues on her heart - being an abused and molested child and how God could use her past to bring hope and encouragement to others. She was memorizing James 1:1 at the time: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

She still had to endure her home life, as things never changed until her parents separated during her senior year in high school. Even though she was succeeding in the ministry world and being made a new creation, it was hard to break out of the mold of what she had always experienced with her parents. She strongly vowed to never be like them, though she lived with

she looked through the pages of this nocturnal entry, she was completely blown away. It was as if God’s hand had guided hers as she slept.

She excitedly brought the beautiful writings to her youth pastor. He told her with all seriousness that she needed to study at Fine Arts. He told her that what she had written was a sermon and she needed to develop her gift.

The Fine Arts ministry believes that every person has a gift. The program gives kids a chance to explore every avenue and discover how God might use them. It offers training in preaching, video, drama, sign language, art, music and band.

At Fine Arts Elizabeth was surrounded by people who saw her with an amazing future. The message that God gave her that night she titled, “One Life, One Chance.” It dealt with

their constant criticism.

Fine Arts helped Elizabeth break out of that mold. Eventually her new identity began to take root. She went on to intern at Fine Arts and currently serves as a director working with the youth. At 22, she loves her life, her students and the perspective that she has gained.

Elizabeth shares that every experience that she endured - her home life, the abuse, each struggle - are now the greatest gifts she has to offer. Her message for young people is that God can heal you, He can use you, He makes it all worth it.

ELIZABETH FISHER is a freelance writer and speaker. She recently relocated to Sarasota, Florida, where she leads post-abortive healing groups, works with teens and young adults and is part of the Spiritual Spa ministry team. Read more about her ministry at bealiveminstry.com.

by elizabeth fisher

God’s plans for our lives defy all odds. There is nothing He cannot do, and there are no obstacles He cannot move for those He has called.

Elizabeth Beckett is a prime testimony to this truth. Her childhood was a combination of abuse and neglect with an alcoholic, drug dealing father and a mother caught in the grips of prostitution. God’s hand on Elizabeth’s life was apparent from a young age.

Elizabeth recalls being invited to church by her neighbors when she was 11. She was shocked by the kind offer to get out of her house and responded with a resounding yes. She had no idea what to expect. It was difficult at first to get used to, as she had never experienced people so accepting and warm. She accepted Christ the first night she attended.

“BE CAREFUL WHO YOU LET WRITE YOUR FUTURE!” There is always someone who wants to write your story. It is up to you to decide who that will be.

God has given each and every person gifts. It is up to you to allow Him to develop those gifts within you.

You must allow God to write on the blank pages of your life.

You don’t have to be bound by your past.

You don’t have to live like your peers.

You are different from your parents.

And you alone will stand at the end of your life and be accountable .

Let God take your story and craft a masterpiece.

To learn more about the Fine Arts visit faf.ag.org.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 15

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PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 17 PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 17

1. Sunglasses They just look cool in any decade.

2. The Chicago Bulls Somehow we could all jump higher in our Air Jordans. Thank you, Michael, for the pump action high tops.

3. Sonic the Hedgehog This little blue guy made his debut on Super Nintendo screens across the nation and has been in our hearts ever since.

4. Terminator 2: Judgement Day He’ll be back as the governor of California and then comes the judgement.

5. Hammer Pants You REALLY can’t touch these. Ohhh ohhh ohhh ohh.

6. Steve Urkel Gotta dig those suspenders. The Urk had his own doll, breakfast cereal and presidential campaign in the works.

7. Brick Cell Flip Phones The five pounds of pure communication power was pretty fly and could inflict serious damage if used in self-defense. “Can you hear me now?”

8. Matt Foley Motivational Speaker SNL’s Chris Farley had us all in fear of living in a van down by the river.

9. Tightrolled Jeans They weren’t rolled correctly if you could still feel your feet.

10. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Let’s admit it. Some of us watched the video for this hit song, by breakout grunge band Nirvana, secretly wondering what it had to do with deodorant.

11. The Fresh Prince America fell in love with Philly-native Will (Smith) and his counterpart DJ Jazzy Jeff when they relocated to Bel Air in this tv sitcom that ran over six seasons.

12. Honda Accords These cars were a preppy signature and ruled the road along with the Ford Taurus.

13. Carman We were “radically” saved and addicted to Jesus all while doing extravagant human videos about it.

14. Coca-Cola Classic Because after a year of taste-testing New Coke we decided we didn’t want the original formula messed with.

15. Bye-Bye Big Hair It would be a gradual process, but kids would finally begin slowing down Ozone layer depletion by reducing the amount of Aqua Net in the atmosphere.

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TRUTH

WHO ARE YOU BECOMING?

by LINDSEY MORTON, 15 YEARS OLD

God gave me a dream to see others won to Him, which He turned into a reality. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (NIV). In that chapter, the words “by faith” are mentioned 19 times. When we have faith, we’ll experience the results.

While attending a Vision High convention, God placed a burden upon my heart for the people of my school.

My passion continued to grow that summer as I prayed.

The high school I attended has a Youth Alive Bible club. During the previous years’ meetings, fewer than 10 people attended. I knew the meetings didn’t draw student curiosity or interest.

But, I wanted more for my school. Encouraging the people who were already Christians was not enough. I wanted to do more to reach the people who were without Jesus. All the members of Youth Alive worked together to meet our goal: to give every student the opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel before graduation.

Once we figured out our goals, we needed a strategy. We decided to work on a monthly basis. The first week of each month we planned, the second week we prepared, the third week we prayed, and the last week we preached. Our first month, we received permission from the principle to meet in the auditorium. We knew we needed to get people’s attention, so we invited the Hellfighters, Strike Force and Reggie Dabbs. We also offered free food.

I had no idea what God had in store for our first meeting. We prayed and believed God, and He came through with a great crowd that day. We had prepared enough food for 100 people that day, yet miraculously 160 people were able to eat. Once again, Youth Alive was in action.

God also provided me with many opportunities to witness to students through the activities I participated in at school.

As captain of our school’s cheerleading squad, I had the chance to invite one of the girls on the squad to my youth group, Special FX. She came, and God touched her life. With tear-filled eyes we prayed together, and she accepted Christ. God also gave me favor with the administration in our school district through positions I held on Student Council.

God has a special purpose for every person. As Ephesians 4:7-13 tells us, it doesn’t matter what type of person you are, God wants to use you. Do not allow your popularity or lack of qualifications discourage you from doing what God has called you to do. God does not call the qualified, but He qualifies the called. Remember Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (NIV).

LINDSEY MORTON (now CROSTEN) wrote this article for OC when she was on the 1998 National Student Advisory Council. She now lives in Lakeland, Florida, and is a wife to Jonathan and a mom to 3-year-old Maddie.

In 1998, I was asked to be a part of the National Student Advisory Council. I was 15 and knew “everything.” I’d just helped launch a Christian club at my school, felt called to ministry and was on fire for Jesus.

Fast forward 13 years. I’ve graduated from high school and college, married my college sweetheart, bought a house and had a baby (who’s 3 this summer). Some days I feel far away from that girl who was turning the world upside down, and other days it’s like she’s right beside me, cheering me on in this marathon of life.

Through the roller coaster of the last 13 years my perspective on life, love and Jesus has grown and is still developing into a deeper understanding of what being a Christian means. I’ve learned God’s timing isn’t ours, and sometimes we have to wait for His promises. My new favorite author, Mark Batterson, sums it up: “God’s primary concern is who you’re becoming.” I’ve learned God loves us unconditionally, no matter how good or bad we are, but our relationship with Him suffers when we disobey. I’ve learned Jesus really is the best friend I could ever have. There have been countless nights where there has been nothing I can do, and all I have to do is lean on Him to know I am not the author and finisher of my faith, He is. As a serious control freak, this is one of the hardest parts of my faith journey. I’m discovering that His desires for me are so much greater than I could ever imagine and shortcutting His plan equals disaster.

Life after high school is full of opportunities. Students come through our youth group and I remember what it was like to be in that place, but I also know what it’s like on the other side. It’s so easy to lose faith after high school.

Freedom beckons and support systems are distanced. We find ourselves in the world, and if we don’t guard ourselves, we can get lost. Make spending daily time with God a priority. You can’t hear His voice if you aren’t listening for it. Surround yourself with people who love Jesus passionately and are sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Don’t be afraid to wait on God. Trust, above all, that He is faithful and won’t lead you into anything that He can’t lead you out of.

—Lindsey Morton Crosten

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 19

by JOSH WELLBORN

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O

nce upon a time, before the iPod, music came primarily through the radio and was bound by the protocol of commercial viability. That meant there wasn’t room for much experimentation in the music industry. Artists were selected based on a record label’s ability to make money, not whether or not people liked them. There was no “American Idol,” YouTube or file sharing to allow the people to determine what became popular.

Christian music in particular suffered from this problem. Christian bands either sounded like the sweet, mellow sounds playing in the minivans of 30- to- 40-year-old soccer moms or a milder version of heavy metal that had over-stayed its welcome.

The genre needed a project that could convince the “old school” that the “new school” was in session. When old and young alike heard the 1995 release Jesus Freak, they knew it was something special. The CD (the title track in particular) represented a convergence of hiphop, rock and alternative DNA that were the honest contribution of the trio that is dcTalk.

Members Toby McKeehan (aka TobyMac), Michael Tait and Kevin Max did for Christian music what Kurt Cobain and Nirvana did for secular music—they changed the direction of a genre. dcTalk paved the way for new hip-hop and rock/alternative acts, that were not finding a platform in Christian music, by giving the big labels a proven sound and point of reference to guage newcomers.

Now 10 years since the group’s last major release, they don’t consider themselves having broken up, just on hiatus. Athough there have been no new releases from dcTalk, Jesus Freak (the song and the CD) continues to be an anthem to the Christian sub-culture. In the ‘90s, its popularity gave way to a whole franchise of products to help Christians become Jesus Freaks.

The book, The Jesus Freaks, tells the stories and testimonies of Christians from all over the world, past and present, who have been persecuted, tortured or martyred for their Christian beliefs, helping to propel even more believers

“SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY INTO

into the Jesus Freak state of mind.

The CD and book, along with dcTalk’s spot in the Billy Graham Association’s crusades, spawned a movement among listeners worldwide. Jesus Freak became lifestyle for evangelicals everywhere.

Youth pastors and youth conference organizers adopted the name as a theme and challenged students to be Jesus Freaks in their homes, schools and communities.

Sixteen years later the song is still a regular part of the concert set list for both TobyMac and the Newsboys, the latter of which Tait sings lead.

TobyMac is quick to point out that the origin of the term “Jesus Freak” comes from followers of the 1960s-1970s Jesus Movement.

Elton John even mentions Jesus Freaks in his 1971 song “Tiny Dancer.” What solidified the term for him was when he read one of the definitions of the word “freak” as: “an ardent enthusiast.”

The song itself is the creative child of multiple artists and producers. It was in a rental car in Florida that TobyMac was listening to a new beat by Mark Heimermann (whom TobyMac refers to as “the fourth member of dcTalk”) and inspiration took shape. He stopped at one of his favorite seafood restaurants, called Heimermann on a payphone and sang the lyrics that were coming to life.

Along with some of the industry’s greatest musicians at the time, Michael and Kevin brought vocals to the track that became as much a part of its identity as the trademark guitar chords. “Michael and Kevin are the greatest vocalists I’ve ever worked with, written with, performed with…. They have God-given talent that took the song to the next level,” says TobyMac. Upon the first public performance of “Jesus Freak” to an audience in South Africa, it was clear to dcTalk that the song was something special. “It was the right message at the right time. God orchestrated us all at one time to use our gifts to point people toward the hope that He has offered us,” TobyMac explains.

Even the secular music industry took notice.

The album reached number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart. Director Simon Maxwell, known for directing videos for bands like Nine Inch Nails, took on the music video for “Jesus Freak.”

TobyMac says it was the passion behind the message of the song that attracted Simon to the project.

In 2009 music fans rejoiced when it was

A KID’S HEART IS THROUGH HIS HEADPHONES...“JESUS FREAK” IS STILL CHALLENGING STUDENTS TO LIVE A LIFE THAT IS EXTREME FOR JESUS.” announced that Michael Tait would become the new lead singer of the Newsboys. dcTalk and Newsboys dominated the contemporary Christian music scene for the majority of the past two decades and had been good-natured rivals since their early days touring together.

Michael now performs “Jesus Freak” with his new bandmates to the delight of fans. Rapper, KJ-52 has joined in with Newsboys, delivering the song to a new generation of Jesus Freaks.

“Sometimes the only way into a kid’s heart is through his headphones,” says Michael as he explains how the potent message of “Jesus Freak” is still challenging students to live a life that is extreme for Jesus.

KJ-52 is the perfect addition to the “Jesus Freak” family. A major part of his ministry has been on a program called Fire Starters, a discipleship ministry for students (youth.ag.org/fire/firestarter). KJ has been a Jesus Freak ever since his high school days.

“Early on I felt like, ‘If I don’t share the gospel with this person, they’re going to hell.’ I’m not sure that is biblical, but I try to temper relational ministry with that same zeal,” says KJ-52.

The members of dcTalk will be the first to tell you that the song is a direct deposit from the Holy Spirit. No one could have predicted the scope with which the song and message have challenged a generation. “One of my secrets is that I know I’m not that good. I recognize my need for God. I want that part of me to be hollow so He can put songs in me. I’m not a good enough rapper, [except] when it’s God breathing through [me],” TobyMac explains.

For those who embrace the Jesus Freak lifestyle TobyMac encourages them to live out what they believe, not cower or shy away, but live boldly. “We have to live what we believe.

When you do that, people tend to be drawn in.

When you love well and you don’t compromise they really come looking. You become a freak for all the right reasons. This Jesus thing starts to make sense when it looks like Jesus.”

Former DJ JOSH WELLBORN was on the air live with TobyMac for the 1995 broadcast release of “Jesus Freak.”

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 21

THROWBACK

by dean anderson

D

uring the early ‘70s thousands of kids experienced momentary panic and terror when they came home to a empty house, thinking they’d been “left behind.”

That fear came from watching 1972’s “A Thief in the Night,” a Christian film that is still making a difference in lives and culture.

“Thief” told the story of a woman (Patty Myers played by Patty Dunning) who awakes one morning to find that her husband has suddenly vanished along with millions of people around the world. The film brings to life Matthew 24: 36-44, the events of the Second Coming of Christ, the Rapture (“one will be taken and one will be left”) which comes like a “Thief in the Night (title drop).” Patty faces the nightmare of a one-world totalitarian government in the time of the Great Tribulation.

In the film, flashbacks present a group of friends who are told about Jesus—His death to pay for our sins and the coming punishment of the world for those who deny Jesus. A few in the group (Patty’s husband for one) trust in Jesus. Others mock the whole idea of God’s prophecies, especially that there is real evil in the world that will be punished.

But Patty simply puts off her decision for another day, which proves a costly choice.

Though there is some debate between Christians of different denominational backgrounds about the sequence of events of the Second Coming, the film and its sequels present the view generally taught in Assembly of God churches—that at any moment God will take all of

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His people from the planet, and following will be seven years of great suffering that is mercifully brought to an end with Christ’s return to earth.

There had been Christian films before, but “Thief” was different.

It used the conventions of science fiction and horror to bring to life the biblical message of sudden judgment coming to those who decide against following Jesus. Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye have cited the film as an inspiration for their Left Behind series. Russ Doughten Films made three sequels to the film and hopes to make more.

The film was made for a mere $60,000 (compared to the $16 million used to make a “low budget” film like “Soul Surfer”) and it made back millions. But the makers didn’t create the film to make money.

They made it to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who had never heard it or who thought they could always put off making a decision for Christ to another day.

And in that they succeeded.

Over 300 million people around the world have seen “Thief in the Night.” “Underground” copies appeared in Communist countries during the Cold War, and it has turned up on YouTube. When the film came out, its makers developed a program to share Christ with viewers and their records show that six million people have made decisions for Christ through the Spirit’s work through their ministry.

Some have worried that the film and others like it are made to scare people into becoming Christians.

Thom Rachford (an actor in the film and now a Vice President of RS Films) responded to that criticism by saying, “Look at John 3:16. Jesus said, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so those who believe in Him shall not perish.’ What is He talking about when he says ‘perish’ but the judgment to come?”

This film may look a little corny today (though it holds up better than I expected), and the ‘70s fashions are truly frightening. But the message that we must trust in

Christ before it is too late is still important. That’s a message we need to bring to the world and pray that they will receive it.

For more info on “Thief in the Night” and to watch the full movie follow the links at oncourse.ag.org.

Author DEAN ANDERSON had childhood nightmares about being left behind after watching this film. Good Bible teaching and less Mexican food before bedtime helped him overcome this.

Forty years after “Thief in the Night,” there are still people boldly proclaiming the message of Christ’s Second Coming and the Judgment to come.

Evangelist Ray Comfort is one of those people. When Kirk Cameron was making the 2002 “Tribulation Force” sequel to “Left Behind,” he asked Ray to work on the screenplay to ensure a clear presentation of the gospel message.

Ray has responded to those who worry about the gospel as a “Get Out of Hell Free Card.” He agrees we should not use fear alone to scare people into God’s kingdom, but that we need to also remind people of God’s law in the Ten Commandments so that they wouldn’t be “fear-filled Christians,” though the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but “tear-filled Christians,” repenting of their sin.

Find two tools for sharing Christ with your friends at Ray’s Web site, livingwater.com. One tool is the podcast at the site, “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” (it’s a freebie). Another is Ray’s book, The Defender’s Guide for Life’s Toughest Questions.

SMASH

by RACHEL COLLINS

J

im Munroe leads a daring and innovative entertainment experiment. This strategy partners with churches and Christian organizations to go onto public high school and secular college campuses and challenge students on what they believe to be real. The effort culminates in an evening that not only bewilders and amazes the audience of mostly non-believers but also leads them to question what they believe to be true.

I caught up with Jim during a busy touring schedule to find out his thoughts on what students are facing today. How do Christians determine truth from lies? The fake from reality?

How do we live our lives for Christ?

“As Christians, we’re bombarded with all kinds of lifestyles and viewpoints,” Jim shares. “It’s so easy to feel ungrounded or disconnected from God in the face of challenging but contrary beliefs. From the outside, things that contradict Scripture may appear to be true, but in reality, they are not. This is even more difficult when we’ve been led to believe something all of our lives. As an atheist, Jesus did not make sense to me, but as I began to investigate the claims of Christ and reevaluate my life experiences, I began to uncover the Truth.”

Jim shares how his current stage production compares with the spiritual journey that so many are on. “The art form of an illusionist is a lot like life. People don’t know how you performed the

trick on stage, but they know there is an answer. In life, our spiritual lives feel like a lot of guessing. We know there is an answer and deep down inside we know that there is just one answer (2 + 2 cannot equal 4 and 5).

Non-Christians know this, but the bombardment of opinions leaves them feeling ungrounded and confused. Their life experiences sometimes lead them to conclude one thing when, in reality, they’ve been deceived. These people tend to gravitate to ideology that helps them feel most grounded and secure, and they dig in there hoping they are right. This effort brings people to all kinds of erroneous beliefs such as atheism, buddhism, agnosticism, relativism, scientology, mormonism, etc. They are not certain of themselves, but they have to believe in something. It’s just like the audience members who are baffled by my shows. They try and guess my tricks after a show. Many leave confident they’ve figured it out; they are sometimes close but almost never right.”

Jim believes that as Christians, we need to be aware of our own vulnerabilities. Apart from Christ and our faith, we can be deceived. So Christians need to study God’s Word, invest time in books that take us deeper in our relationship with Christ, spend time with other believers who’s experiences and life stories can deepen our faith and be prepared to discern truth from fiction.

Jim’s foundation in Christ was tested recently when he was diagnosed with Leukemia, a deadly form of cancer of the blood or bone marrow resulting in a dangerous increase of white blood

cells. “When death stares at you in the face, you have little room to hold onto things that are meaningless,” shares Jim. Battling cancer can open your eyes to what is true and real in your life.”

Jim miraculously survived Leukemia, but He grew deeper in his relationship with Jesus through this experience. “I was able to let go of a lot of the attitudes, beliefs and even sins that I held on to before this experience. They weren’t real. They were man-made illusions that I had allowed myself to believe. “When you choose to surrender to God’s reality for your life...you

learn to live your life with Him as the definer.”

Jim’s final challenge to students is to live your life in service to others. “People will see Jesus better by how you live for Christ then by what you preach.” Referencing Acts 1, he says, “I think that we should be more concerned about serving and doing and being the hands and feet of Jesus in this world we live in.”

For more information on Jim Munroe or his unique ministry, visit WhatIsTheMaze.com RACHEL COLLINS is a journalism major at Evangel University (Sprinfield, Missouri).

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 23

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PRE CIOUS? what’s your

by mike parker

ave you ever met someone who was sweet, loving and kind, and then encountered that same person years later only to find them different, dark, paranoid and unable to relate to the world or anyone in it?

Did you ever wonder how that person arrived at such a wretched destination? Millions have encountered at least one person like that—at least on the silver screen. In Peter Jackson’s movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, we met the animated character Gollum. Voiced by actor Andy Serkis, Gollum was a pathetic and repulsive creature who had only one passion, his “precious.” Eventually, we discovered Gollum’s past. He was a gentle, Hobbit-like creature before becoming addicted to the power of the One Ring.

“At the end of ‘The Two Towers,’ we think we know who Smeagol/Gollum is,” Andy says.

“Gollum is the revengeful, dark part of his personality, and Smeagol is the innocent one that has re-emerged. I don’t know if people picked up on it. But in the opening sequence of the third movie, ‘Return of the King,’ when Smeagol and Deagal find the ring, it is not a clear-cut case of Smeagol murdering his cousin.

There’s a fight involved. It is like two children in a playground who find a ticket to the World Cup. They are so engrossed in this powerful thing that they both want, it becomes the center of this fight. In the end, it gets out of control, and they can’t release their desire for this thing. Smeagol, the child, ends up killing another child.”

Andy admits it would have been easy to judge a character like Gollum and to play him as a cut-and-dried villain. But by relating the Ring’s evil influence on Gollum to the way a drug controls an addict, Andy was able to inject a different level of “humanity” into the character.

H

“Frodo says to Gandalf, ‘Bilbo should have killed Gollum when he had the chance,’” Andy says, “And Gandalf replies, ‘Be careful how you deal out judgment. Many that live deserve death and some that die deserve life.’ The reason there has been a lot of connection to Gollum is because people have not judged him immediately.

People say, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ They wonder, How would I have dealt with the responsibility of this very powerful drug thrust upon me? Would I have the moral stature to deal with it? Most people wouldn’t be able to deal with it. Most people would have been consumed by the power of it.”

really don’t like. They might be friends that do things we don’t like, or they might be people that just make your day bad and are hard to deal with, but you feel pity for them because you know that they can’t help themselves.

Multiply that by 100, and that is Gollum; that is someone suffering from addiction.”

Andy credits his portrayal of Gollum with giving him a greater understanding of the destructive power of addictions. “I have friends who were addicts,” he says. “I know people recovering from alcoholism. I know people who fight that fight every day. They really are heroes in their own right for dealing with it.

“What is important is not giving pity, but just being nonjudgmental, believing that there is a redeeming quality in every single human being.”

“You don’t normally get addicted in a day,” he (Andy Serkis) warns. “An event happens. The ring lands in your lap, and it begins to change you.”

Andy contends that everyone has addictions, though some are more destructive than others.

Drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, television and even work can control some aspects of your life.

“You don’t normally get addicted in a day,” he warns. “An event happens. The ring lands in your lap, and it begins to change you. It can be as simple as jealousy because a friend got a job you wish you had. At first you can’t believe you have these feelings. But it begins to eat into you, and then it begins to compound and build, and before you know it you have become this monster. It can happen to anyone, but it normally happens when we choose to channel all our energy into something very dark and destructive.”

At one point in the film, Frodo explains to Sam why he keeps Gollum with them. “I have to believe that he can come back,” he says, knowing that he too bears the same burden that twisted Smeagol into Gollum.

“Frodo was looking at someone well down that line of suffering from that burden,” Andy explains. “It is so tragic to see someone who can’t help himself. We all know people that we

MIKE PARKER is a writer and actor. He and wife Paula own buddyhollywood.com, an arts and entertainment Web site, and regularly contribute movie reviews to ONCOURSE magazine.

For insight and help for addiction and lifecontrolling problems go to teenchallengeinternational.com.

Did you know…

A c c o r d i n g t o a n i m d b . c o m “A l l-T i m e W o r l d w i d e B o x O f f i c e ” l i s t, t h e “ L O T R ” trilogy brought in a combined total of $2,911,519,252.

Article originally appeared in the 2004 Waiting Room outreach edition of ONCOURSE.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 25

K N O W 26 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org 26 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

Y O U R

T R U T H

om’s revelation to me that my parents were not actually my parents hit me like a sack of rocks. I began a journey of revelation that was far from what I had expected in my life. Over the following years and months, I began to learn the real story of the woman who did not want me as her son.

Her name was Vera, and she attended school on the north side of town in Knoxville, Tennessee. At the ripe old age of 14, she became pregnant with a little boy named Keith. He is my brother, although I have never met him, and I have no idea where he is or what his life is like. The young mother had Keith and kept him while still living with her parents.

Her story became more complicated when she became pregnant again the next year—with twins. She went home and told her parents the news. They were furious with her as the sun set on that, no doubt, impossible day. The next morning, she got up and went to school as usual, leaving her infant son in her parents’ care. When the school bell rang, Vera made her way back home carrying a bag full of books and a heart full of worry.

Little did she know, her Tuesday was just beginning.

She climbed the front porch steps only to hear the screaming of her little boy inside. As she opened the door, she beheld the unthinkable: The house was completely empty, except for her little baby, crying desperately for his mama.

They had moved while she was at school. They took everything. Furniture. Food. Appliances. They even took Vera’s clothes with them. They left no note. No forwarding address.

No hope. From that day forward, she never saw nor heard from her parents again.

Life had changed, and Vera was in way over her head. Pregnant. Unemployed. Single mother. Homeless. She found her way to a halfway house in Knoxville until her twins were born. She lived there until the twins were 3 months old. That was when the program director where they were living told her that the rules of the home prohibited them from staying because the children were too old.

Vera’s options were simple. Simple, but not easy. She could either give up her children to the Department of Children’s Services and continue living at the home or she could launch out on her own with her kids. She loved her kids. She decided to try it alone.

Someone helped her secure lodging at an old, abandoned farm on the outskirts of town. She took her precious babies and moved them into a chicken coop. No running water. No electricity. Her life was in trouble, but she faced it the best she could alone.

M

Her daily routine was extreme. She woke up every day at 2:30 a.m. and hauled her three children down the road to a local gas station. In the filthy bathroom of that convenience store, she bathed her little darlings and prepared them for the day. Then she continued on foot with her babies all the way to a local daycare, where she dropped them off. From there, she traipsed off to work at two different jobs as a waitress—back-to-back shifts in different restaurants.

With the miniscule amount of money she earned at her jobs, she paid her daycare bill. Daycare was her babies’ lifeline. There they had safety, shelter and food. She would swing by late in the evening, pick up her kids and take them back to the dilapidated chicken coop. Then at 2:30 the next morning, she would begin the entire process again. That was her existence.

Then, as often happens, she faced a season of sickness, no doubt exacerbated by her personal exhaustion and unhygienic living conditions. When she missed work, she lacked the money she needed to pay for her children’s daycare. No daycare would mean no food or shelter for the kids and no babysitters so she could work. Her budget was so tight that the whole process hinged on a mere $20—the price of her babies’ survival.

Vera was desperate. She began seeking options, but none presented themselves. Finally, she revealed her dilemma to a male “friend.” He presented her with an option.

As I pause to reflect on the story as told to me by my foster mother, I realize that my story is exclusively mine. However, its theme encompasses the lives of millions. It is about identity.

Value. Millions of daughters across the world are desperate to find their own value, because, for some cruel reason, no one has bothered to tell them. Naomi certainly did not understand hers at first. I was about to learn the extent of my own.

From REGGIE: You Can’t Change Your Past, But You Can Change Your Future

By Reggie Dabbs (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2011). Excerpted with permission from Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Read “REGGIE DABBS: A Day in the Life of the Original Campus Missionary” at oncourse.ag.org.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 27 PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 27

LAUGH

recently took a trip. The day before my trip I noticed some gray in my beard, so I went to WalMart for that men’s beard dye to cover it. I found the kind you brush on, but it only came in brown or black—not my own color—red. I then noticed a sale on regular hair dye—two for one, which did come in my color and was cheaper. Not wanting to miss a sale, I purchased them. I then carefully ignored the directions on the box and applied the dye to my beard and eyebrows. It took a mere 25 minutes to soak in before I rinsed—only to discover that it had turned my eyebrows, beard and mustache a neon orange. Not bright orange, mind you, but neon. I looked at the box of Level 3 Hair Dye No. 69 and read that the shade was called “Luscious Mango.” It looked ridiculous.

I was still in shock over my now neon beard when my friend Ernie called from the video store to say that the comedy I’d been wanting had arrived. He was holding it, but I needed to hurry. Obviously, I was hesitant to go, and I didn’t want my friend seeing the condition of my beard and eyebrows, knowing he would make fun of me.

I told Ernie I would be right there, but convinced him to bring me the video and I would pay him from my truck. He reluctantly, but curiously agreed.

As a locally known comedian, I didn’t want to be seen with my now neon beard. So I got the bright idea to dig my ski mask out of the winter clothing bag. I put it on, hopped in my truck and drove off. It was 4 p.m. on a hot Tennessee day. I sweated like crazy! The video store was close, so I hoped to make it there without any problems. And I almost did.

I had to drive by the Sevierville Police Station on my way. A police officer noticed me as I passed and followed me. Apparently, a driver wearing a ski mask in the middle of the summer makes cops suspicious. The officer followed me into the video store parking lot and hit his flashing lights. I was stunned when I saw them and even more stunned to hear him blare over

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28 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

the megaphone, “Step out of the car with your hands up!”

Hearing the commotion, Ernie stepped outside to investigate. He arrived just in time—the officer now had me out of my truck and told me to remove my mask. Feeling somewhat frightened, I did exactly that. The officer looked at me quizzically and asked, “What seems to be the problem?”

I responded by gesturing to my face and meekly saying the only two words I could think of, “Luscious Mango.”

The officer started laughing, “Hey aren’t you that comedian guy?”

“Yes,” I replied, “and I’m working on some new material.”

“What happened to your face?”

“That’s the material.”

The officer let me off with a warning. “From now on, I suggest you read all labels before applying anything to your face.”

“Yes, officer.”

That evening, I went to the store for some brown hair dye, thinking it would lighten the neon orange. It turned my beard a freaky purple instead. I called another friend Rob and asked him to bring me some blond dye to lighten the purple, and dyed it again. This time my face was burning, but I was determined to leave the color on to fix things. The final result was a light purple with neon orange sprinkles and several splotchy facial burns. I finally shaved the whole thing—eyebrows and all—but left stubble in place to cover it up. The next morning I walked through the Knoxville airport (bound for New York) with a face covered with painful purplishorange scabs.

I learned a valuable lesson with this embarrassing experience: There’s more to worry about in life than just appearance. And as soon as they grow back, I’ll have the gray hairs to prove it.

TORRY MARTIN is an award-winning actor, author, comedian, humor columnist and screenwriter. He has also written several episodes of the audio drama “Adventures in

Article originally appeared in the 2004 Waiting Room outreach edition of ONCOURSE.

SOUNDCHECK

by ERIC BRASWELL

B

randon Bee just released his sophomore contemporary Christian album, Inside These Walls. Brandon’s mark on the Christian world as an adult has been as a worship leader and as a producer, but he is no stranger to the stage as a performer. “I actually started out in a singing family touring around the United States.” The Singing Bees—they later changed their name to The Family Bee—toured the country visiting churches and fairs. “We were just showing family values and presenting Jesus that way.”

By the time he was 18, Brandon was burned out, but he had learned about producing music through his parents and his family’s travels, and he moved to Nashville to produce secular music. “I wasn’t really following the Lord super-strong around that time.

But God did something through my wife. She started to go to church, and she started having me go to this church regularly, and they needed somebody to lead worship. Well, at the time I wasn’t really in the right mind to lead worship, but I also didn’t know what the right mind was, so it didn’t really matter to me what the right mind was. I just knew I was going to do music. It was an outlet of music, and I was producing music and hadn’t been performing it much, so I started performing it.”

That position as a worship leader in Nashville led to another one in Seattle. This is where Brandon finally learned the difference between performance and leading worship. “God totally grabbed hold of

me at that time. That church had an intense Bible study every Thursday night. We spent twoand-a-half years going through the Old Testament from Exodus all the way through 2 Samuel or something. I had to lead worship every Thursday night. And I hated it. But I realized at the end of those couple of years how much knowledge came from it, and I started falling in love with Jesus again. I started realizing that people were just playing Rock Band up on stage in church. I started hating the fact that it wasn’t really about God anymore, but it was about the leader and about how good his voice is or how good the songs that he wrote are. I started really seeking what it would look like to be a biblical worship leader—somebody who literally leads congregations into a true worship experience.”

In a quest to discover how to be the best worship leader he could be, Brandon started touring again. “I went on a sabbatical for two weeks and took my family on the road. I had friends who were worship leaders in different areas and I said, ‘Hey, what would it look like if I came and led worship in your church?’ It wasn’t about me trying to show my music to anybody. I wanted to see how other congregations worship; my goal was to become a better worship leader.”

Now, Brandon’s musical career has, in a sense, come full circle. While he started out performing worship music, he now leads his audiences in worship even when performing his own music.

“What’s the difference now—for me—between a worship leader and an artist? I actually think of myself more as a worship leader than as an artist. I just happened to write a bunch of my own worship songs. That’s what makes me an artist.” Even those songs that lyrically have God as neither the subject nor the object are, to Brandon, worship. “[With] secular music and Christian music, I think we all write worship music and every single song is a borderline worship song. The thing is choosing what you’re worshiping.”

ERIC BRASWELL is a God-worshipper and a contributor to ONCOURSE Magazine. Check out his blog, “Manliness is next to Godliness,” at oncourse.ag.org.

WHAT’S BEING SAID ABOUT BRANDON BEE “Laced and wrapped around our hearts like the white satin that Jesus leaves our souls in, Brandon Bee’s music is crisp, clean, refreshing and warm. If I could hear love, it would sound like Bee’s music.”

— Joshua Wienczkowski of Transparent Christian Magazine.

“Well known as a producer and a sought-after worship leader at churches and conferences across the country, Bee’s unique brand of pop/rock worship

music has earned him a growing legion of fans.” — Andrew Greenhalgh of soul-audio.com.

“His debut album, This Is The Revolution, garnered significant praise from critics, and after releasing a follow-up EP, is ready to drop his sophomore record with Save The City Records, Inside These Walls. Full of pop hooks and honest worship, Bee may gain some more praise for this one as well.” — Scott Fryberger of Jesusfreakhideout.com

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 29

HEARING THE

GOD’S

MIDST

OF

VOICE THE

by mAC POWELL

30 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

IN NOISE

“GIVE ME A REVELATION SHOW ME WHAT TO DO CAUSE I’VE B E E N T RY I N G T O F I N D M Y WAY I HAVEN’T GOT A CLUE T E L L M E S H O U L D I S TAY H E R E OR DO I NEED TO MOVE GIVE ME A REVELATION I’VE GOT NOTHING WITHOUT YOU...” hose lines from Third Day’s chart-topping hit “Revelaspeaking encouragement into people’s lives. tion” speak of seeking God’s direction in the midst of NUMBER FOUR in the revelation process is prayer. God wants us to life’s complexities. utilize our prayer life to full capacity by asking Him questions. He wants Like all of us, Third Day’s lead vocalist Mac Powell has us to have a relationship with Him. Prayer is a two-way conversation. So spent his share of time seeking God’s will and waiting for often we feel like prayer is talking to God and it is, but that is only half of a revelation. it. It’s also listening to what God has to say. No matter if we are 9 or 19 In the following article, Mac shares his thoughts on how we can all draw or 90 years old, as humans, we will always have questions and struggles. closer to our Heavenly Father.

At the same time, through those questions, fears and struggles, we will One day I started thinking about the book of Revelation and word always have a God who wants to talk to us in those times. He will give us revelation. What is that term and how does it affect me? I started realizing strength and help us through. So be encouraged and know that things do that it’s a lot more than just prophecy that God gives to his people of a get better. future event. It’s the daily guidance and wisdom that we need when we go THE ROAD THAT’S UNCERTAIN through those times of uncertainty.

Struggles are part of life. You don’t reach a certain age and then all of a The song “Revelation” wasn’t supposed to be on the last record. We sudden everything is fine. You will have struggles and it’s all relative. My had finished recording but knew we needed a couple more ballads. Mark 9-year-old daughter, Scout, has burdens that she carries. She has struggles Lee came over to my house to try come up with something different. As in her life. I look at them and sometimes think ‘that’s not a big deal,’ he was leaving I said, “Hey I’ve got this song idea. Maybe we could use it because she’s dealing with thoughts like, How do I look in school? or on the next record.” After I played it he said, “I think you need to really Someone’s picking on me. finish that, it’s a great song.” So it not only became a song that made the It’s really important at an early age that we realize and understand life record, it became the title and the theme of the whole album. doesn’t get easier. In some instances, it gets harder. Overall, it’s just life.

In order to see God’s revelation, all you have to do really is to look We will have hard times, but we will always have a God there to help us around. It says in the first chapter of Romans that God is evident in His in those hard times. creation. We can look around to see the world, trees and sky. We can see YOU’RE HOLDING ALL THE ANSWERS God’s revelation—His fingerprint everywhere we look.

There is something that I realized recently. It’s nothing new; I knew it, There are four main witnesses to how God reveals Himself to us. but it’s just really kind of coming to life to me more than before. God is NUMBER ONE is through His Spirit. He can speak to us through the alive and Jesus is alive. As silly as that sounds, so often we think as Jesus Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, connecting with our spirits. in terms of the historical Jesus.

NUMBER TWO is through His Word, the Bible. Through the things that We think of Him being born as a baby and being a 33-year-old that gave are written in the Bible, God reveals Truth to us. We can receive a lot of His life away. In one moment, we think of the miracles and Bible stories encouragement, direction and wisdom through His Word. and and thank Him for it. Then in the next breath, we go on our way and NUMBER THREE is tied to belonging to the body of Christ—the we forget that God is the same as He was 2,000 years ago. He healed a Church. Hebrews 10:25 warns against “forsaking the assembling of blind man. He can heal a blind man today. He still works miracles. ourselves together” (NKJV). Don’t give up on meeting together. The Not to sound like I’m too charismatic, but just as He encouraged the only way for us to be strong in our faith and Christian walk is with the woman at the well—knowing her more than she knew herself—He accountability and support of other believers. We can’t do it on our own. knows and encourages us. He knows what’s going on. It’s easy to forget The old saying goes: ‘No man is an island.’ No one can run this race, that. We say it, but we don’t understand it. And we don’t really believe it. live this life knowing the fullness of joy and true happiness I think about the scene in the movie “Talladega Nights,” without the body of Christ. When I spend time with my where Will Farrell is saying ‘Baby Jesus’ when he’s praying. family, my children and other believers, it’s evident that He is It makes me laugh because it’s funny that he likes to address working and doing great things. baby Jesus in his prayers because he says it’s his favorite God gives us these little hints every once in a while. These Jesus. But as Christians, we’re the same way. We think about revelations can show up in an email from somebody at just the historical Jesus and don’t live in Him today. He is alive MAC POWELL is frontman for the the right time. It could be through an unexpected phone call today, and He is still working. He’s still saving lives, healing Platinum selling GRAMMY and or just by flipping on the TV and seeing an inspiring show. hearts. That’s a revelation that should change your life daily.

Dove Award winning rock band Third Day. The band released While it’s great to be on the receiving end of these revelait’s debut self-titled album on This article originally appeared in the tions, when we allow God’s Holy Spirit to bring somebody Reunion Records in 1996 which ONCOURSE SPRING/SUMMER 2009 hit Gold selling status. Their most to our minds and follow through, it’s taken full circle and we issue. recent album Move was released in October 2010. They are prescan find fulfillment in being the hands and feet of Jesus and

T

ently on the Make Your Move Tour. For dates and info check out Thirdday.com

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 31

OCCOLLEGE

CREATIO INSTITUTE I m p a c t i n g

S t u d e n t s ,

C o m m u n i t y

by christy rowden

CREATIO HAS BECOME MY PASSION BECAUSE I AM CALLED TO MINISTRY IN MAINSTREAM MUSIC WITHIN A&R (ARTIST AND REPERTOIRE). JEFF LOCKHART, STEVE SMITH AND JOYCE CULPEPPER-SMITH ALL UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS MORE OUT THERE WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC THAN CHRISTIAN MUSIC AND THAT THERE IS A MINISTRY IN THAT. CREATIO IS INNOVATIVE AND THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME TO ENTER INTO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. I AM HAPPY AND BLESSED TO BE THEIR FIRST GRADUATE IN MAY 2012.

– JOE GANNON, NORTHWEST UNIVERSITY

Be sure to stop by the Northwest University— Creatio booth at National Fine Arts Festival in Phoenix for more information.

32 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

&

K i n g d o m

n Fall 2010, Northwest University (NU) in Kirkland, Washington, unveiled the Creatio Institute.

If you’re looking for a college where you can explore recording arts or music business, NU may be your perfect destination.

Jeff Lockhart, Executive Director of Creatio, tells us more about the program. After graduating from NU in 1989, Jeff has served as a youth pastor, Public Relations Director at NU, a broker for Edward Jones and Vice President for Development at NU. He’s also a professional musician in a Beatles cover band, Creme Tangerine, which plays 40 to 50 shows a year at large corporate and pro sports events.

Through Creatio, Jeff is able to combine his passions for NU, music and business and share them with students.

I

Q: What is Creatio and why was it started?

A: I believe in the power of music and what young people can do with God’s call on their lives. Before Creatio, NU had a solid music program but no environments to stimulate recording.

I started working on the business plan that became Creatio: a Bachelor of Arts in Recording Arts; a BA in Music Industry; a top-notch commercial enterprise that serves as a “teaching hospital” for students and brings revenue back to the program; and a community outreach for teenagers, which became URock. (For more about URock, read the extended interview at ONCOURSE Online oncourse.ag.org.)

NU is the only college on the west coast that offers these programs in a four-year, accredited, evangelical Christian context. Also, once the final phase of Creatio is completed, it will be the largest recording facility north of San Francisco.

Q: What does the word Creatio mean?

A: It is Latin for “to create from nothing.” The spiritual connotations are redemption, creativity and imagina-

W i t h

t h e

A r t s

tion. It sums up nicely in one word all we are trying to do.

Q: How did everything come together for Creatio and URock to begin?

A: It was a total God thing. The new Bachelor’s degrees, the studio, the commercial business and URock all came together in under 18 months.

The biggest blessing was that a sister church, Cedar Park Assemblies of God (also in Kirkland), that had invested in a world-class recording studio, decided to move out of that business. When the Seattle Seahawks facility came back into our possession, we decided to put the studio there. I met Steve Smith (35-year recording veteran in Los Angeles and Seattle, pioneer of motion picture recording in Seattle, two-time GRAMMY Award winner for DCTalk and Steven Curtis Chapman, and owner of 25 gold records), and hired him first as a consultant and then as our Creative Director.

Q: What careers does Creatio prepare students for?

A: Our language is technology, media and music, so we want to be in the forefront of training leaders with those tools for the church and the marketplace—not just for performing music, but also in the areas of recording, producing, retail, publishing, copyright, licensing, video game audio, motion picture audio, etc.

Q: What is your vision for the future of Creatio?

A: As a University we want to impact our culture. We have every intention of being the place of choice on the west coast for students in this field.

We have aligned ourselves with the right people and are gunning for the kind of program and facilities that bless our students, bless our revenue situation and continue to shine light and credibility on our University.

CHRISTINA ROWDEN is the former administrative assistant for The Alliance for AG Higher Education and OCCOLLEGE editor.

PHOENIX 2011 EDITION 33

CONTENTS 03 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 04 HISTORY OF ONCOURSE COVERS

06 HISTORYMAKER AN INTERVIEW WITH DELIRIOUS? FRONTMAN MARTIN SMITH

12 PETER FURLER IS ON FIRE 14 CARMAN STARTS A RIOT

16 WHAT WE LOVED IN ‘91 19 TRUTH 22 THIEF IN THE NIGHT 23 MAZE JIM MUNROE

20 30

08 GRIT COLUMBINE 09 FACE HANNAH MASON 10 UNDERCOVER VISITOR 15 ONE ELIZABETH BECKETT

24 PRECIOUS

JESUS

26 REGGIE DABBS

FREAKS

28 LAUGH

34 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

THIRD DAY

REVEL

ATIONS

29 SOUNDCHECK BRANDON BEE

National Youth Ministries Team JAY MOONEY, NATIONAL YOUTH DIRECTOR STEVE PULIS, STUDENT OUTREACH DIRECTOR ROD WHITLOCK, STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP DIRECTOR CHET CAUDILL, STUDENT MISSIONS DIRECTOR Editorial Team STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP DIRECTOR ROD WHITLOCK EDITOR AMBER WEIGAND-BUCKLEY INTERNS RACHEL COLLINS & KRISTEN HIGGINS OCCOLLEGE EDITOR CHRISTY ROWDEN COPY EDITOR/WEB ASSISTANT HEATHER VAN ALLEN ADVERTISING Amber Weigand-Buckley DESIGNER JOSH CARTER WEB MANAGEMENT CHRIS GERRINGER EDITORIAL ADVISORY TEAM MELANIE BUSH, JOSH CARTER, CHRIS GERRINGER, CHRISTY ROWDEN, ABBY SMITH, JACK TREWERN, AMBER WEIGAND- BUCKLEY, ROD WHITLOCK AND MARY WINSLOW. COVER design: josh carter; Photos courtesy of bec Recordings, emi cmg records and Inpop records, PHOTOS COURTESY OF: Philip Buckley, Carman ministries, David cook publishers, Flower Pentecostal heritage center, LeftBehind.com., Torry Martin, Navpress, Northwest College, Crystal mason, Save the City Records, Serkis.com, Sony/Provident music , Springfield central hS : The High Times, Thomas Nelson and whatisthemaze.com.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Printed in the USA. oncourse.ag.org join oncourse friends and fans on facebook follow@oncourseGirl on twitter myspace.com/oncoursemagazine get oc unboxed at momentum.ag.org ‘library’

32 OCCOLLEGE 2010 & 2011 Evangelical Press Award of merit