The gang at the caboose: KC, me, Marcie, Chad, Leann, and Meghan (Dan, Stacey, and Hilary had to leave early)
I just got back from a wonderful weekend playing in the snow with some awesome friends at my aunt and uncle’s cabin (which is actually a renovated caboose) up at Snoqualmie Pass. It was the perfect weekend to relax and enjoy some time just hanging out with my friends.
To see most of the pictures that I took, you can see my At the Caboose - February 2006 page. Hopefully I will get some of the pictures others took and post them there as well.
Thanks for the wonderful weekend guys!
-Matt Jones
PS: A big congratulations to John Van Deusen who won the final of EMP’s SoundOff! I do wish I could have seen their performance, but, as winners for the contest, will get to perform at this year’s Bumbershoot so I will hopefully see them there. (Click to see pictures from John Van Deusen’s semifinal show.) If you would like to see John and the boys of the Lonely Forest, you can see them, AND the Pale Pacific(!!) along with another 10 (or so) bands at Bellingham’s UpFest this coming Friday (March 3rd). Check it out!
Off to Snoqualmie Pass for the weekend for some fun in the snow. Catch ya on the flip side.
-Matt Jones
A few weeks ago I noticed that 40 had something called coComments up on his side bar that looked interesting. Over the past few weeks (although I have been quite busy lately, but I’m not dead!) I have been using it a bit and I really enjoy how it works. Essentially coComments allows you to keep track of comments you have made on other blogs (or your own as well). I have found that in browsing blogs I may leave a comment and then forget that I made it and never come back to it. coComments allows you to track the conversations and either have them posted in a sidebar or a separate page. You have control over how much is displayed. It is a pretty new service and they are still working out some of the bugs, but overall it has been quite helpful. If you aren’t a blogger but comment on blogs, you might find this useful as well.I have created a page: Matt Jones’ Blog Comments so you can see where I have recently commented. I also have a page at coComment that will display the different conversations. Check it out!
Cheers,
-Matt Jones
Today I gave my first sermon on Philippians 1:12-20 for my Preaching and Worship class. I was pretty nervous about it, but I think it went well overall. I have never really preached before, so trying to speak God’s Word for 20+ minutes in a meaningful way was quite a task, especially when this has been a frustrating week! I was offered some very helpful criticisms as well as nice encouragements. The tutorial leader was surprised that I had never preached before which was quite a compliment I think. People were also able to point out things that I didn’t think of that would be important to think about before preaching before a church audience (like my issues with TBN, Rick Warren, and WWJD). I am really greatful for the opportunity to preach and have some feedback from my peers. If you read this and have anything to offer, it would be greatly appreciated as well. You can either view the sermon Philippians 1:12-20 in PDF format or read the text below the “more”.
I am off to souther Washington for President’s Day weekend so will be back on Monday sometime. Hopefully I will have two books read and two papers started by then… we will see…
In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. (!!)
-Matt Jones
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The end of last week and the beginning of this week has brought with it a case of lethargy. I just haven’t been motivated to do anything. This might night be a huge issue except that I preach on Thursday for class and have two papers due next week but won’t be around at all this weekend and Jae will be over next week to check out Regent. All of a sudden two classes seem like a lot! I am not really sure why I feel so lethargic, might just be some mid term blues, might be that it is Valentine’s day (although I am not really worried about that), might be that my laptop crashed this weekend and all but my “Regent stuff” backups work - yes, as of right now, most of the work in my four terms at Regent have been lost. Sucky. So prayer that I would snap out of this and also for preaching on Thursday would be greatly appreciated. It is beautiful out today so I might go read in a park… that may help. Thank God that He alone is sufficient!
Cheers,
-Matt Jones
John Van Deusen and the Lonely Forest talk to the cameras about their win at EMP’s second Sound Off semifinal.
This past Saturday night I got to see the second semifinal for EMP‘s Sound Off competition. I went because I really enjoy John Van Deusen‘s music but wasn’t expecting too much from the other two groups. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the ability and talent of all three bands. The first was a solo act by Marquetta Miller, a singer/songwriter from Alaska. She had a very lovely voice and played the guitar quite well. I felt a little bad for her because it seemed she was better suited for a coffee house atmosphere as opposed to the rock band scene, but regardless she did quite well. The other group that played was Dynamik, a rock band with a great sound. These guys were quite passionate about their music and that definitely came across on stage. That being said, I am quite pleased to say that John Van Deusen and the Lonely Forest will be heading to the Sound Off finals on February 25th on the EMP main stage! John’s show was, simply put, amazing. They were definitely in the groove and I think the audience and the judges could feel that. I think the two things that really clinched their victory was technical ability and especially creativity. All the guys in the group are amazingly skilled especially that of John (who seems to be the creative force behind the group). The creativity and variety of the songs, I think, also led to a sure victory. While the other two groups were quite talented, their songs, for the most part, weren’t extremely different from one to the next, at time almost blurring together. The Lonely Forest has a pretty broad range of styles, lyrics, and sound making them fun and pleasing to listen to. I am bummed that I will not be able to see their performance on the 25th (as I will be out of town), but I am pretty confident that they will take the champtionship and, as part of that win, perform at Bumbershoot in early September. I was also able to pick up The Lonely Forest’s new self-titled EP (look for a review of that in the next week or two), which seems to be pretty good (although I am still looking forward to a full length CD!).
This was a great night of music and I highly recommend seeing the final semifinal (February 18th) as well as the final. You should also check out all three artists from this weekend as you will, no doubt, be pleasantly surprised! Visit: John Van Duesen - webpage - myspace. Marquetta Miller - webpage - myspace. Dynamik - webpage - myspace.
For some pictures (and a few vid clips, images are clickable for larger versions), see below the “fold”.
Cheers,
-Matt Jones
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