40th Anniversary of Ichthus

Wilmore, Ky. is the site for the annual Christian music festival, Ichthus. This year, from June 10-13, Ichthus will be celebrating its 40th birthday.

This year many changes and special events will take place honoring the 40th anniversary. The festival is increasing its normal number of stages from 3 to 7. The festival will keep the main stage, edge stage, and deep end stage, and also add four more stages to the list. Ichthus 2009 will feature over 111 bands, including Skillet, Disciple, Family Force 5, Hawk Nelson, Sanctus Real, and Kutless.

Family Force 5 live at Ichthus 2008



John Cooper (lead singer of Skillet) live at Ichthus 2008


Key speakers for the event will include Bob Lenz, Pete Hise, Shane Claiborne, and Justin Lookadoo. The festival will also feature rock climbing, swimming, mission opportunities, and a Saturday night communion service.

Jeremiah Massengale, a long time fan and supporter of Ichthus, is very excited about the 40th anniversary.

"As this year marks the 40th anniversary of Ichthus, tens of thousands of people will no doubt descend on Wilmore, Kentucky to see the most popular acts in Christian music. But hopefully they'll do more than that. Hopefully, through maybe a message or song, they'll experience Jesus Christ in a new way that will really impact their lives for years to come," said Massengale.

Payment plans for tickets are now available online at Ichthus' official website. The website features a variety of payment options and prices for tickets.

Ichthus was the first Christian music festival in the United States. It began in 1970 as a response to the popular Woodstock Festival. Ichthus' main goal was to give teenagers and youth as an alternative to the lifestyles and music of secular society. Over the years, the staff at Ichthus has continued to put Christ at the center of the festival. As a result, thousands of young men and women have been deeply impacted and changed by the ministry of Ichthus.

crowd at Ichthus 2008 taken from Ichthus official website

Dear Diary

"Dear Diary" is the third album released by Christian punk rockers, FM Static, a side project of two members of the Christian hard rock band, Thousand Foot Krutch. FM Static is led by

Trevor McNevan (lead singer and guitar) and Steve Augustine (drums).

While on tour, as Thousand Foot Krutch, lead singer Trevor McNevan began writing for the new record. McNevan came up with the idea to make their latest album, a concept album.

"This is the first concept album I've worked on, and it was a ton of fun. It felt theatrical from the start. I imagined this high school boy, new in town, writing through life's big questions about faith and fitting in as he grows up towards college," says McNevan.

"Dear Diary" is based around a high school boy who moves to a new town. Each song represents a different diary entry of the boy as he is experiencing love, anger, sadness, and faith in this new town. In between each song, in the liner notes, a short back-story is also told about the teenager.

The first two songs on the album introduce us to an unnamed boy who writes diary entries about his feelings living in a new town. "Boy Moves To A New Town With An Optimistic Outlook" is about the boy looking ahead to what could possibly be a new beginning in his life. The second song, "The Unavoidable Battle Of Feeling On The Outside," is about the boy feeling like an outsider in high school and deciding to try and stick it out.

The album then takes a turn when the main character meets the girl living across the street. "Boy Meets Girl (And Vice Versa)" is a fun song about the boy falling in love with his next door neighbor.

A few songs later, the album takes a drastic turn. The girl's father commits suicide, and the girl and the mother decide to move away. The next few songs are emotional diary entries about feeling helpess and alone in troubled times. The boy is crying out to God to help him and his neighbors get through these hard times.

The album does not end on a sad note though. The album comes full circle when the boy graduates from high school and decides to go to college. "The Shinding (Off To College)" is a fun, heartfelt song about the new experiences of being in college.

The music on this album directly parallels with the emotions portrayed in each song. The fun, happy songs have driving guitars and drums. The serious and sad songs are filled with slow melodies and simple piano chords.

Trevor McNevan and Steve Augustine have put together a powerful, emotional, and heartfelt album. The main fans of FM Static, teenagers and college students, will no doubt fully accept and identify with this record.

According to McNevan, this album is a true coming of age story. "What listeners can ultimately expect is a rocking, melodically-charged coming-of-age story that somehow combines the creative vibe of independent films like "Juno" and "Napoleon Dynamite," a dash of "High School Musical" charm, and the altogether rare element of uncensored faith."

Overall, this is truly a groundbreaking album. Never before has a Christian punk rock band put together an album of this scope and magnitude. FM Static takes a simple coming-of-age story and transforms it into a story about love, faith, grief, and God. This album is the first great Christian punk rock album of the year.

Steve Augustine(drums) pictured left and Trevor McNevan (vocals and guitars) pictured right

All Trevor McNevan quotes were taken from FM Static's biography at toothandnail.com.

For the Love Of Russia

Coy Webb pictured bottom left with members of the FBC mission team

Coy Webb truly has a heart for reaching the lost around the world. Webb has been on sixteen mission trips to countries such as Brazil, Poland, Tanzania, Nicaragua, Georgia, and Mexico. However, Webb's true passion is for the people of Russia.

"Yes, I believe I truly have a heart for Russia," stated Webb.

Glenn Hickey, a member of First Baptist Church and friend of Coy Webb, has been on three trips to Russia. He believes Webb has a heart for overseas missions. "Coy has a heart for any country he goes to, including Russia," stated Hickey.

Russia is a vast country. It is the world's largest country and it is twice the size of any other country in the other world. Russia even stretches across 11 time zones. Within this vast land, Russia has many different practicing religions. The dominant religion within Russia is the Russian Orthodox Church. The second biggest religion within Russia is Muslim. Only about 1% of the nation is Protestant.

The Russian Orthodox Church's doctrine is vastly different than the Protestant faith. "The Russian Orthodox Church believes in Jesus Christ, but their faith is about works. They do not stress a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church also mixes in some folk and traditional rituals and practices as well," stated Webb. For this reason, Webb felt God was directing him toward ministering to the people of Russia.

"I felt that God was directing me to Russia because there is such a spiritual need there. Only 1% of the people are believers [Christians]," stated Webb.

Coy Webb's first trip to Russia came in April of 1992. He was leading a team of Christians from the First Baptist Church of Monticello, Kentucky. On this trip, the team went to build a church in Sosnovy Bor and also do evangelism. Webb and the team had to resort to using many primitive construction techniques while building the church.

"We had to toss bricks up on the roof for someone to catch one at a time. I was up on the second floor scaffold laying brick. I also used a sledgehammer to break up huge rocks to make gravel, " stated Webb.

Webb was excited about building the church. "I was very excited to help build a physical structure for the Russians that would serve as a witness to the community," said Webb.

Along with construction, Webb also preached at the Sosnovy Bor Baptist Church twice and assisted in door-to-door distribution of Bibles. While witnessing to the Russians, Webb and the team led 7 people to Christ.

The town the mission team was visiting was very close to a nuclear power plant. Due to the close proximity of the town to the plant, the Russian national government limits the number of people entering the town. In order to enter the town, the mission team had to give the police their passports.

"When we first got to the town, the security took away our passports and visas. We were told to never give away our passports, but we had to do that in order to get in. I was a bit anxious about giving away my passport, but we [mission team] had no choice," stated Webb.

The second trip to Russia was two years later in May of 1994. The primary goal of this trip was to build another church in Nizhny Novgorod and also do evangelism. Webb also helped pass out Bibles on the street.

The second trip was very special to Webb because he was able to visit the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. Webb, along with the other mission team members and some Russian friends, sang Amazing Grace in front of Lenin's tomb in the Red Square. "We [Americans] sang Amazing Grace in English while the Russians sang it in Russian," said Webb.

Webb was moved by his experience at the Red Square. "It was a very surreal moment to sing Amazing Grace at a place where Atheism was promoted," said Webb.

Webb's third trip to Russia came in December 2006. The mission team went to several orphanages and delivered Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes to the children. According to Samaritan's Purse official website, their goal is to bring joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoeboxes. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoeboxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe.

Webb also gave a presentation at each of the orphanages telling the children and the staff how they could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. While they were there, Webb and the team led 50 people to Christ.

The final trip to Russia came in October of 2008. On this trip, Webb and the mission team visited children's shelters and also did home evangelism. While at the shelters, the team performed with puppets, clowns, and music. Webb also developed and taught a discipleship class to new Christians in Russia. In this final trip, Webb and the team from Monticello helped bring 35 people to know Christ.

Coy Webb has been greatly impacted and moved by his four trips to Russia. "Russia is still a land recovering from decades of oppression. From my first to last trip, I am seeing signs of the economic climate increasing, but spiritually Russia is still a very dark nation. The church [Protest Church in Russia] has undergone a great deal of persecution. Their stories have moved me to consider my commitment to Christ," stated Webb.

Hickey says he would go anywhere in the world with Webb. "I would go with him anywhere. He is always confident on trips. He is a very spiritual man and amazing things always happen when he is there," stated Hickey.

Coy Webb has been on a total of four trips to Russia with the First Baptist Church of Monticello, Kentucky. Coy Webb truly has a heart and passion for the lost people of Russia. Coy Webb is even preparing to go to Russia for the fifth time in 2010.

Glenn Hickey pictured far left and Coy Webb pictured center praying with Russians and members of the FBC mission team