ApologetiX Easter Update
Sun., Apr. 11. 2004 1:22pm EDT
1. What Easter Means to Me
2. Next Weekend: Three Concerts in CA (Palmdale, El Cajon, Riverside)
3. Two Weeks Out: Footville WI
4. Philly Farewell Concert for WZZD's Timmy D.
5. Upcoming Concerts (New Ones in Cleveland & Philadelphia)
6. Penn State
7. Update from Karl's Wife, Deb
8. If You Ordered Through Our Recent Sale
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) here.
Happy Resurrection Day! Thanks to all of you who came to see us last weekend in Johnson City NY and State College PA. FYI, that proposed boycott in Johnson City appeared to do nothing to impede attendance; we had a great turnout. We even had an extra treat for our audience; one of our speakers caught on fire, and we weren't even playing the Who! Nothing dangerous, though, so don't worry.
Also, whether you came to see us at Penn State or you missed it, we have big news for anybody in that area, and surrounding states. We're tentatively scheduled to return in the fall with a lot other bands you know, such as Jars of Clay, Relient K, Delirious? (Doesn't that question mark just drive you crazy? Maybe that's why they're called "delirious") and Switchfoot. There's more to tell you about that, so make sure you read the section on it below.
I considered writing a new Easter e-mail message to you, and then I remembered something I put in the newsletter two years ago that really summed up my sentiments. We've added 25,000 subscribers to this newsletter since then, so it will be brand new for over 70 percent of you, and I've edited it to conserve space. Hope it encourages you! Here it is:
1. WHAT EASTER MEANS TO ME
When I was in grade school, something always made Easter stand out to me. Christmas had presents, decorations, carols and snow, but Easter gradually became my favorite. I distinctly remember singing 'Jesus Christ is Risen Today" (a.k.a. 'Christ Our Lord is Risen Today") very joyously at the end of church every Easter Sunday. Now, I confess I was always joyous when church was over, but on Easter Sunday, I was especially joyous, because even back then, I knew that Christ's resurrection was something really special.
Although I am first and foremost a born-again Christian, and I currently attend a Christian & Missionary Alliance church, I grew up in a Catholic home. I took Lent pretty seriously. I remember even giving up TV for Lent in eighth grade! I hated fasting and abstaining from meat on Fridays, but Lent always made me long to know God better. I also remember Easter in fifth grade, when my three older sisters, Jeannine, Kris and Gayle, all got packages of baseball cards in their Easter baskets, and I had to trade them some of my hard-earned candy to get what was rightfully mine! That was the same year we got the 'Jesus Christ Superstar" album.
I loved watching and listening to 'Jesus Christ Superstar," 'Godspell," and 'Jesus of Nazareth." I wasn't quite sure what I believed, but I figured that if the Gospel story was true, I would have loved to be one of Christ's disciples " to see His miracles firsthand and to have Him look me in the eye, call me by name and choose me to follow Him. Little did I know what God had in store for me. In the spring of 1985, I got a taste of it, when I played one of Jesus' disciples in a production of 'Godspell." I don't think many of us cast members were born-again Christians, but we really were all affected by playing Christ's disciples.
It wasn't until early 1988, though, when I really finally got my wish " to become a disciple of Christ " something more than just somebody who watched Him from afar in the crowd. It was early 1988 when I heard Him call my name, and when I realized that He had chosen me to follow Him. And I've seen many of His miracles firsthand now. As a former shy kid who still remembers what it was like to be picked last in grade-school gym class, I am still in awe that the Captain of our Salvation chose me to be on His team.
I just want to encourage all of you " whether you have found Christ or whether you're not sure " He is really there, and He really loves you. And once He gets hold of you, He never lets go. I'm not talking about some warm and fuzzy, hazy feeling. There is a real person named Jesus Christ, God the Son, who came in the flesh and lives eternally, and, because He is God, He is omnipresent, and can indeed come to live inside your heart. My life has a B.C./A.D. line just like the timeline of history. Before Christ actually came, people knew about Him, because He had been prophesied for over a thousand years in the Old Testament, but all they could do was put their hope in Him, because He hadn't yet arrived into their lives, and they weren't really sure what He would be like. Once He came, though, things were very different for people who called themselves believers.
The same thing happened to me. When people saw the change in my life back in 1988, they figured it was another of my phases or fads ("like New Coke or Shaun Cassidy"), because I was a person who was pretty passionate about whatever I got into, whether it was baseball cards, comic books, music, whatever. But now it's over 16 years later, and I believe more strongly than ever. I am more aware of my own weakness and sinfulness than ever ... but I am also more aware of His grace, His strength, His sufficiency and His love than ever. There is no turning back. As a wise person once said, 'Once you see truth, you can't un-see it." He is risen indeed!
2. NEXT WEEKEND: THREE CONCERTS IN CA (PALMDALE, EL CAJON, RIVERSIDE)
Friday, April 16, 2004 7:30 PM
Tickets $15 Advance, $18 Door, $13 for youth groups of 10 or more
Purchase through www.ccauthority.com
HORIZON COMMUNITY CHURCH
1850 E. Avenue R
Palmdale, CA 93550
CONTACT: Steve Stucky 661-272-3955
EMAIL: scstucky@abcglobal.net
SATURDAY, April 17, 2004 6:00 PM
Tickets $10 Advance $15 Door,
Youth Pastors get in free when they bring GROUPS of 10 or more at $10 Each
EL CAJON WESLEYAN CHURCH
1500 E. Lexington
El Cajon, CA 92019
PHONE: 619-440-4452
WEB SITE: www.welovethisplace.com
To Get Tickets: tickets@welovethisplace.com AND
Christian Heritage College Bookstore
2100 Greenfield Drive,
El Cajon, CA 92019,
1-619-590-1720,
bookstore@christianheritage.edu
Sunday, April 18, 2004 at 4:15 PM
Rock Stage (we have the longest timeslot of all bands!)
Admission Free, Parking $6
ORANGE BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
Historic Downtown Riverside city streets stretching over 30 blocks
Riverside, California
WEB SITE www.orangeblossomfestival.org
3. TWO WEEKS OUT: FOOTVILLE WI
Saturday, April 24, 2004 Time 11:00 am
FREE Event
FOOTVILLE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Footville, WI
CONTACT: Paul Roberts 608-876-6736 OR
Tracy Case 608-876-4262
EMAIL taccase@aol.com
4. PHILLY FAREWELL CONCERT FOR WZZD'S TIMMY D
We were very saddened to hear recently that one of our favorite Christian music stations, WZZD in Philadelphia, was going to an all-conservative talk format. WZZD has been one of our biggest supporters over the years, thanks largely to the efforts of one of our favorite Christian-radio personalities in the world, morning-show host Tim "Timmy D." DeMoss.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with radio stations changing formats, many WZZD listeners didn't know about the change until the day it occurred. Consequently, most of them never got to say goodbye to Timmy D. We'd like to do our part to fix that, so we're planning a special farewell concert at a site to be announced in the Philly/Jersey area on May
8. Watch our website and upcoming newsletters for more details.
5. UPCOMING CONCERTS (INCLUDING NEW ONES IN CLEVELAND & PHILADELPHIA)
This list adds concerts frequently, so stay tuned for more info. For the full details on all of the concerts below, please go to http://www.apologetix.com/tour.html and scroll to the bottom.
To inquire about booking a concert, please contact
Kathleen Burke
booking@apologetix.com
Burke Communications
949-770-3001 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST).
Apr 16 - Palmdale CA Apr 17 - El Cajon CA Apr 18 - Riverside CA Apr 24 - Footville WI Apr 30 - Angola IN May 01 - Pensacola FL May 07 - Cleveland OH (pending final approval) May 08 - Philadelphia TBA May 14 - Mesa, AZ (now open to the public!) May 15 - Mesa, AZ Jun 4 - Chattanooga, TN Jun 12 - Milwaukee WI Jun 27 - Springfield IL
6. APOLOGETIX AT PENN STATE WITH JARS, RELIANT K, SWITCHFOOT & DELIRIOUS?
As we mentioned earlier, ApologetiX is tentatively scheduled to return to Penn State University this fall with 11 different Christian rock bands, including Jars of Clay, Reliant K, Delirious? and Switchfoot. The Rock Invasion 2004 music festival is scheduled to be a two-day concert event in the middle of Penn State campus on the weekend of September 25-26.
Concert chairman Andrew Shaffer says the concert committee's goals are "to reach out to the non-Christians at our campus, to build unity among the Christians from the different fellowship groups at Penn State, and to get incoming freshmen and high school students plugged into a fellowship group so that they are able to stand strong in their faith after making the transition from high school to college. Once they are at the concert, we plan to immerse these students in a Gospel-saturated environment for two days, and to do everything possible to get them personally connected with a Christian friend (and hopefully a fellowship group) at the University.
"To make the Rock Invasion concert ministry as effective as possible," Andrew adds, "we want to have as many students as possible come to the concert weekend -- so we are making the concert "donations only" instead of selling tickets. By offering a free concert with our proposed band lineup, we expect to bring as many as 15,000 high school and college students to the HUB lawn for the concert weekend."
Because they are making the Rock Invasion free to the public, Andrew and his committee need to raise a lot of money to take care of expenses. If you would like more information about The Rock Invasion 2004, please visit their website at www.therockinvasion.com. The "Help Out" page has the information about their grassroots fundraising campaign. You can also call send email to concertteam@therockinvasion.com.
7. UPDATE FROM KARL'S WIFE, DEB
Thank you all so much for your continuous love and prayers for my grandma (Pauline) this past year. On Saturday, April 3, 2004, Gran went to be with the Lord. Though we're grieving her loss, we're so thankful that she's no longer in pain and having to go through so many treatments for her cancer. She was an amazing woman, a pillar of strength, and an incredible example to all of us. We love and miss her so much, and thank God for every moment we had with her here on Earth. Thanks again for all your prayers - they meant so much to her and our family.
Deb & Karl Messner and Family
8. IF YOUR ORDERED THROUGH OUR RECENT SALE
If you ordered through our recent $7 CD sale, you should receive your order very soon. We had a slight delay because of the absolute abundance of orders received in the past two weeks. On top of this, Karl's wife, Deb, who has been coordinating that special sale (this sale wasn't done through the company that normally handles our website orders), had to take time off this week because of her grandmother passing away.
Apologetically,
J.
-- J. Jackson Lead Singer/Lyricist ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) www.apologetix.com j@apologetix.com
Luke 24:36-39
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
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