jonathan stegall

Once again, I’d like to present some initial thoughts stemming from our trip to Cornerstone Festival. I think this time there will be more than one post, as there are lots of things to think about.

Thoughts on the Music

Cornerstone, in recent years, has undergone a shift that causes it to have a lot more metal, especially metalcore, than it did in the past. Because my wife and I like metal, this is a good thing and a bad thing. The good is obvious, and the bad comes from the fact that things can get a bit oversaturated, and when this happens the quality can lessen. In a few years, the scenes will shift again and this will change, so it’s best to enjoy the good parts of it.

In any case, for me the best show was Living Sacrifice. The last time I had seen them was Cornerstone 2001, and they were better this year than they were then. It was an incredibly strong show.

Also, for the last several years my wife and I have had the privilege of gradually getting to know Neocracy. They are an amazingly talented death metal band that is constantly improving and writing better music, and great people. They have been informed that they need to come to Atlanta.

Thoughts on Seminars

Cornerstone continues to have amazing seminars every year. Naturally, many of them occur at the same time, and thus it is impossible to catch all of the good ones.

Brad Culver, Mary Culver, and Peter Wohler have been among our favorites since we had the privilege to meet them. They continue to speak into our lives through their seminars and through conversation with them, and they are gracefully willing to share their lives with us.

Several other things are worth saying about these seminars, as well as the seminar by Miroslav Volf and the Jesus for President tour. These, though, will be in additional posts.

Thoughts on other Cornerstones

• 2007

I’ve recently found a site called Christians Confess. I have to say, this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen on the Internet. While the idea of Christians confessing for the wrongs we’ve committed, especially toward non-Christians, is not new, I love seeing it.

Seeing it online, where hopefully many people will see it, is a wonderful thing. It’s been written about in amazing ways. We at Revolution put it on stickers, it’s been spoken of so many times, and the more we speak of it the better chance we actually have of people believing us. We must be sorry, and we must express it. I must be sorry.

Although I find it difficult to write about Cornerstone and cram a week’s worth of thoughts into a post or two, I want to try before it becomes too far in the past.

Thoughts on the Music

This year, Cornerstone had lots of great metal. Lots and lots. There was almost no goth. But between the great metal and the other miscellaneous things, there was still a lot of great music to be seen and heard.

My favorite show this year was No Longer Music. I’ve known about this band and the ministry behind it, Steiger, for several years, but had never seen them. They have created an amazing show, and it goes into amazing places and God does amazing things with it. Since I met Jesus, I have wanted to follow in the footsteps of people like them. More so now, I think.

Thoughts on Seminars

Kiera and I go to a bunch of seminars at each Cornerstone. The hardest part for us is picking which ones we’re going to attend, because there are usually several we’d like to see at any given time. Due to this, we miss some good ones. This year, Shane Claiborne did a seminar that we missed. I hope to be able to see him another time.

David Pierce, the lead singer of No Longer Music, held a powerful seminar. Coming from the position he does, he has a lot of unique stories and experiences to share, and principles from those things. While there were several other amazing seminars that we attended, I think his was the one that I needed to hear the most.

The underground has many unique characteristics; some good and some bad. Sometimes, it’s easy to focus on one or the other, and forget things that might otherwise be seen. This seminar reminded me of this, and I think that’s essential. It reminded me that the way to see the power of God move in the underground is to bring the Cross to the underground. The compassion, the engaging entrance into the lives and troubles of humanity that the Cross represents, is what we have to offer. While this isn’t new at all (since Paul wrote it), and I’ve been blessed to share things like this in other contexts, it’s amazing to hear stories of God moving through this in unexpected places.. in places where I want to be used.

Thoughts on Other Stuff

I think what keeps people coming back to Cornerstone year after year is the community. The opportunity to be around like-minded people, learning from them, having dialogue with them, experiencing God with them, having fun with them, and all of it happening while camping on a 500 acre farm in the middle of nowhere.. miles away from the nearest city. For me, miles away from Internet access. Miles away from the need to be working on stuff.

We tend to see some of the same people each year, and meet new people. I like it that way. Can’t get enough of the things some people have to say, and always love being around them, but it’s always nice to see and hear and meet new ones.

At the risk of being cheesy and sounding overly spiritual, it was today in 1998 that I met Jesus, and I want to reflect on this milestone for a bit. In a story in the Old Testament, the Israelites, in the book of Joshua, have crossed over the Jordan river on dry land. So they could remember this event, God had them place twelve stones in the middle of the river. This is one of my stones.

On April 27, 1998, I was a freshman in high school. I had spent the first couple of years of my time as a teenager doing other things and looking for “something real.” “Something real” is often difficult to find in the church, and I didn’t think it existed there until April 27, 1998 at a small youth service at a relatively small church in the really small town of Salisbury, North Carolina.

I came to experience this through worship music. The idea that God would respond to people seeking him, and make himself known to them in a real way, was totally foreign to my mind at the time. I’m thankful that my relationship with him started in this way. I’ve become much more cynical toward worship music as a genre than I was then, but even in my cynicism I cannot write off the fact that God is able and willing to use it, regardless of the errors that exist in its marketing, or its theology (neither of which, of course, are bad in all worship music or worship artists), or whatever else there may be.

In any case, in the last nine years I’ve attempted to devote my life to experiencing, learning about, learning to love, and learning to be loved by the Jesus I met. That’s manifested itself in so many different ways that I would never have expected, but wouldn’t trade for anything. In addition to that, I’ve increasingly sought to learn how to love the people that Jesus loves; which means, of course, everyone (I know that’s not obvious, even though it should be). Not that I’ve done a wonderful job of it, but there’s a passion that exists in seeking it. In introducing people to the Jesus that I’ve met, rather than the Jesus that’s often pushed in Western society; in helping the poor, the outcast, the disconnected, and the hurting.

Seeking this Jesus has caused my life to be turned upside down several times, in several ways. Amazing ways. Weird ways. As I look back today, I’ve noticed the backward times and the forward times in this journey, and yet I’m unarguably an entirely different person than I was, or than I would have been otherwise. He and I are still on a journey.