Starting Riots and Heading East!

Hey Guys,

Well, where to begin? We just arrived in Istanbul after five crazy days in Lebanon! I could wrıte a 100 page blog on Lebanon alone, but I wıll try to summarıze. We played three shows, two outdoors, and one in a small club. Beirut, where we played all three shows, ıs a crazy city, vibrant and alive, and yet ıntensely sad...the people are constantly opressed by political, and relıgıous vıolence. If there ıs any place that needs the healıng power of Jesus Chrıst it's Lebanon. All three shows were a major battle. Technıcally thıngs were very dıffıcult, and we were constantly changıng plans due to last mınute cancellatıons. Before goıng to Lebanon, we really felt God wanted to connect us wıth ınfluentıal people who would open up doors for us to spread the Gospel.

On the first day in Beirut, we ended up meetıng a women by the name of Maı Lın, who by far exceeded our expectatıons. Thanks to thıs completely random encounter, we were able to connect wıth extremely ınfluentıal fıgures ın the Lebanese medıa ıncludıng the head of Vırgın Records. We expect many more oportunıtıes to come out of the contacts God gave us.

At our last concert we were forced to cancel the show 5 mınutes before goıng on, pack up, and leave ımmedıately due to threats of vıolence. The show was the second of two shows we played ın the parkıng lot of a church ın Beırut. Members of the church, who had seen our show the nıght before, were upset wıth the 'radıcal' nature of our performance, and forced us to cancel the show. Ultımately, the mılıtary were called ın, and several fıghts broke out ın ın front of the church.

I felt angry! I had to explaın to a group of young punks that we could not perform for them because the church was upset. These guys, dressed ın black, rejected by the church, were not able to hear the message of Chrıst because the church was upset at how we presented the Gospel!

We left Lebanon amazed at what God had done, and frustrated wıth how the church reacted. The realıty ın Lebanon ıs that the conservatıve church rejects the very people were tryıng to reach. The fıght for theır salvatıon comes from muslıms and chrıstıans alıke!

We are really excıted about the chance to come back to Lebanon, and we feel strongly that Steıger should have a long term Steıger base ın Beırut!

Please pray that thıs wıll happen.

We are now begınnıng our tour ın Turkey, I wıll update more later.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

No where rocks like LEBANON!

Hey team,
Its a breezy Sunday afternoon, and while the rest of the team is meeting discussing future direction, I am 'resting' due to the cold I have contracted. Fear not, It is only mild, and I should be fine by the time we leave for Lebanon....TOMORROW! I'm really excited, the beginning of this tour has been good, but really, really slow! It's time for some action! That being said, we all approach this next phase with confidence, and yet a total awareness of how much we NEED God with us. In many ways none of us know what to expect, so the unknown is a little intimidating. Nevertheless, we felt clearly God's call to Lebanon, so we go expecting great things!
please pray for us!
-ben

Rocking the Slot!

Hey Everyone!
I am a week into the tour, and believe it or not this is the first time I've been able to get online! What to say...well the tour has been great so far. We played our first show at the Slot Art Festival two nights ago! We played on a Saturday night and around 4,000 people were at our show, it was by far the biggest crowed I've played in front of. Technically it was a rough show. A lot went wrong, especially in the beginning, but all in all it wasn't too bad. After the show around 400 people responded to give their lives to God. Many members of the band were able to have conversations with people who made, in some cases, first time decisions to follow Jesus. It was a really encouraging night, and God reminded us that it is His power, and not our show that changes people's lives. Despite our imperfections, and technically difficulties, God moved powerfully and this was amazing to be apart of.

We are now at the Steiger Gathering about two hours drive from where we played our show. We will be here for a week, and than we head for Beirut, Lebanon. We are very excited for the rest of the tour, and desperately need YOUR prayer support.

Things to pray for:
- the promoters in Lebanon, and Turkey as they continue to organize concerts amidst much resistance, and difficulty. For wisdom about where to play, and how to present Christ effectively.
- for unity in our band
- for protection as we are going to proclaim Christ in areas hostile to Christianity.
-FOR MANY TO FIND JESUS AND BE SET FREE!

I will try to update as much as possible.

Love you all!

-ben

2008 No Longer Music "inner monitors & dancing girls" tour!

At the end of my last post in this blog, I was convinced that its days were over, I made one last proclamation to the world, and assumed it was as good as dead. Abandoned, it lay fallow. Fortunately, for all six of you who looked at it last year, I have reconsidered, and have decided to resurrect it, last time I felt it went mostly unread, nevertheless if it becomes nothing more than a digital diary for me, than maybe it will all be worth it...

That being said, the rumors are true, I am leaving for Europe on another No Longer Music Tour. We will be going to 8 countries, playing 22 shows, and we expect to see God do amazing things on this tour. Included in those 8 countries are: poland, Lebanon, Turkey, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, and the USA. The exact details of each country are unknown, but again as mentioned earlier, we anticipate that God will give us the chance to share his hope and life with thousands of people throughout the tour.

I will try to post regularly, and will mention specific prayer request along the way.

Thanks, and God Bless

-ben