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What is this? A Catholic church having an evangelical, dare-we-say HIP Christian rock concert? YES! It's official: Come hear the bands Lift, Restoration Praise, and Once within Heaven at The Newman Center (think of it as the smaller version of The Chapel at CrossPoint), Wednesday, Sept. 8th, at 7pm. The night is called "Praise Kraze," admission is free, and it's a chance to hang out with your friends- what is not to like? The Newman Center is located on the North Campus of UB at the end of Skinnersville Rd. (not too far from Sweet Home Rd.)

Join your favorite characters as Theatre in the Mist in conjunction with The Edwin Mellen Press presents THE WIZARD OF OZ by L. Frank Baum at Niagara Falls High School starting September 17th and running through September 25th. The Wicked Witch will be played by LISA LEONE from Kingdom Bound Ministries. $1 from every ticket sold is to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of WNY! General admission is $12. Seniors (62+) and Students admission is $10, and Child (12 & under) admission is $6. Shows are Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. More info: http://www.theatreinthemist.org/

Kingdom Bound Ministries presents the 30 Seconds To Change - A Night to Benefit Haiti concert event...Oct. 30th...with Christian rock bands Building 429, MikesChair, and Abandon...at The Chapel at CrossPoint in Getzville, NY...doors open 6:30pm...music starts 7pm...info? Call 716-633-1117...buy tix online here: itickets.com

Kingdom Bound Ministries is bringing the Hungry for Love Tour to Western New York. Come hear three Christian bands: Sanctus Real, Leeland, and The Afters...at Roberts Wesleyan College's Voller Athletic Center, Nov. 5th, doors open at 6:30pm, music starts at 7pm...cal 716-633-1117 for info or visit: http://www.itickets.com/events/246137/Rochester_NY/Hungry_For_Love_.html to get your tix online.

G'day all Y'all. Morning, Evening, Noon or Night, I bid you welcome to this day!! After all it is a day that the Lord had made....amen? As He's given the day, so will He provide blessings that will encourage and bless you as you walk thru this 24 hour period. Let us all rejoice and be glad for all that He has provided today!!

Recently, as I prayed for Kingdom Bound, all it is, has been and will be, the Lord kinda showed me another interesting picture from my experience at the festival over the years....and how it represents our lives.

The Worship Tent (WT), where I helped to minister, is exactly that, a tent. It is lotsamany feet long and a notquitesomany feet wide. Most of the area is given for chairs for those who come and worship. Part of it is partitioned off for the stage/worship area and an area behind for crew, artists and speakers to do and to get ready to do what they do. The tent came with canvas sides to shelter those inside from strong winds and rain'n'stuff. On the other hand, when it's sunny and warm outside, that canvas dwelling/meeting place can begin to get quite hot. Altho I didn't take my degree'o'thingy with me, I know there were just too many degrees, for good health, in there on certain days!! This would cause all the men to sweat and the ladies to perspire.....a bit!! :>))

Consequently, it became a morning routine, for a team of young men and gals, to stop by and roll up the sides.....all the way around this lotsamany feet long tent.....even to the notquitesomany feet wide areas. This would allow cool and refreshing breezes, when available, to blow thru. These breezes would try to empty out the many excess degrees and bring some respite to the heat and the humidity. One thing we prayed daily was that God would crack open the doors to His Treasuries of breezes and let'em flow thru our worship arena. He never failed us....Praise His Name!!

What came to my mind as I was praying is that our lives can be a lot like that WT with the sides down. As long as the sides are down, or the doors closed, none of God's refreshing can get thru. Degrees hang around and warm the place up. Also, those things that are not of God may begin to decay and stink up the place. I know that if I don't empty my trash after I throw some vegetables in it, it doesn't take long for some odors to rise up and make the surrounding air kindasorta tainted....K? At least that's what my daughter used to tell me.....it always took awhile for me to notice.....must be a guy thing!! :>))

When we open ourselves to the Lord's gaze or ministry, when we, in effect, roll up our "sides" to allow others access to our lives, then we begin to get aired out and refreshed....amen? If we don't do this, then we get all hot'n'stinky and become worse and worse and no one wants to deal with us....amen?? CanIgetawitness???? God created all of us for fellowship.....with Him and also with each other!! That's how He's designed us. We all have gifts and anointings that will bless others that we're around. Contrary to what Frank Sinatra told us, we're not "built" to do it our way!! We are all being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, who never turned anyone away but welcomed all, even when He was physically tired....amen?

So, I will leave this with you. Is your life seemingly hot and stinky or are you cool and refreshed?? Perhaps you need to open up a bit more. Don't get me wrong, I'm preaching to myself as well. I guess I have a tendency to keep my flaps down a bit......but I've been given a breath of fresh air and I like it.....so I'm trying to roll up my sides more often. Join me will'ya?? Have a sides up and refreshing day in Christ!! .......jack/uj/dd jack york

SPIRIT SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (SSA)
"To Activate, Train, Nurture, Increase, and Release worshippers for the glory of Jesus Christ!"
A ministry of Healing Tree Music
CALL ~ 716.867.7177

Spirit School of the Arts classes are open NOW for enrollment for ages 6-100. The fall semester starts Sept. 23 and finishes Nov. 11th.

Classes are held on Thursday evenings at Tree of Life Fellowship, 6090 Broadway, in Lancaster.

THE FOLLOWING is the list of THIS SEMESTER'S EXCITING CLASSES:

ART FOR FUN: ages 9 to Adult and (6-8 welcome with an adult/teen partner)
Working with a variety of mediums such as acrylics, water color, charcoal etc... and having a blast doing it! God's creation teaches us so much about color, texture, shading, and light. This is a great class to take with a friend or family member. You can purchase your own supplies (canvas, brushes, sketch pad, acrylics, watercolor, watercolor paper etc.) or share with the group for a huge savings and only pay additional $15. Starting Time: 4:15-4:55

PROPHETIC ART: (Ages 13 and up with some art experience)
Learning to express God's invisible realm on paper/canvas. Explore descriptions of symbolism and meanings of colors. Discover expression inspired through scripture and song. Supplies to bring: sketch pad, a medium you are comfortable with (oil pastels, pastels, color pencils etc) 8x10 or 16x20 art pad, pencil, and a notebook and folder. (Note: the first week of class bring only your notebook and pencil) Time 5:45-6:25

*CROCHETING CLASS: Learn a craft that is an art and fun! Stitches taught: chain, single and double crochet and reading patterns. There will be individual and a group project for a ministry to cancer patients. Supplies will be provided. Time: 7:15-7:55

DANCE FOR KIDS: (ages 6-11) Dance, banners and sign language are all a part of this exciting class as the students learn new and powerful expressions of worship! Time 6:30-7:10

DANCE I: (ages 12 and up- no experience necessary) Expressions of Worship Dancing and Faith and Freedom! Explore the meaning of fitness in body, mind and spirit through God's grace. Time: 7:15-7:55

DANCE II: (ages 12 and up- for those who feel some rhythm and want to sweat!) Expressions of Worship Dancing in Faith and Freedom! Getting in shape body, mind, and spirit through God's grace! Time: 8:00-8:40

DRAMA- THE ART OF ACTING: Learning the art of facial expressions, body language, improvisation and involving others. This class WILL take you out of your comfort zone and you will be amazed at what you can do! Time: 6:30-7:10

GUITAR I: (9 to adult) Begin to learn lead and rhythm guitar. By the end of the session (with some practice) you will be surprised how many choruses you will be able to play! Supplies needed: guitar, tuner, 3-ring binder, notebook and a pencil. ($4 additional if you want to keep your lesson book.) Time: 7:15-7:55 MORE ADVANCED PLAYERS if there is interest we can have a class or private lessons available for you!

*PREGNANT/NEW MOMS: Ever wish you had someone to talk to? This is a very encouraging class to give insight and comfort and to relieve stress. Discussions include: pregnancy, labor and delivery, balancing family life and the first few months at home with the wonderful gift that God is giving you! Time 6:30-7:10

Buffalo’s WDCX, 99.5 FM, is a powerful, well-established radio station, with 110,000 watts, which means its signal is heard just as good in Buffalo as in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where many, many listeners are located. In an effort to expand their reach even more, WDCX 990 AM in Rochester was recently added, so the station has many listeners to the east of Buffalo as well.

While WDCX broadcasts a lot of preaching programs and church services, perhaps their most popular show is one with local flavor: NBL, or “Neil Boron Live.” Weekdays from 3pm-6pm, NBL is an engaging talk show hosted by Neil Boron, with help from soccer player Jesse Pohle, producer, and Regent University grad Steve Napoli, engineer.  

Neil brings a unique perspective to the microphone because he is a former pastor with Amherst Baptist Church. It is not uncommon to hear Neil praying out loud and on-the-spot with guests and those who call-in with comments or questions.

He often has Jill Kelly on his show, at least once a month, to offer a female perspective on issues, and the worship duo Benji & Jenna Cowart, from The Chapel at CrossPoint, a mega-church in suburban Buffalo, often provide live music for NBL.

Wednesdays are “Worship Wednesdays,” when you’ll primarily hear music from artists like WDCX/Western New York favorites NewWorldSon and Relevant Worship during the program, and Fridays are “Fun Fridays,” when Neil and the crew often get people smiling or laughing with topics that are, well, fun! Oftentimes Neil will ask listeners to call-in with amusing memories of their families growing up. On other days of the week, Neil usually interviews book authors and ministry workers, as well as famous recording artists.

Jane Denton never spoke a word to me, but none-the-less she radiated God's joy and love when I spoke to her. You see, Jane was in a wheelchair, paralyzed, and unable to speak. I have no idea what was "wrong" with her, but suffice it to say that she was in bad shape physically. She required constant care on the part of companions who tended to her every need. She always had a napkin in her mouth, to catch the drool because I don't think she could keep her drool in. Amazingly, she was able to move one arm and hand, and she had this board of letters and words on it, that kind of looked like a computer keyboard. She would point with a pencil to the words or phrases she wanted to communicate. I can't tell you how many times she pointed to "P.T.L.," which stood for "Praise The Lord." Now if she could praise Him in her less than ideal circumstances, who was I to complain about my problems?

I loved talking with Jane. I think our mutual friend Pam Walck said Jane had not one but two PhDs! Jane looked a lot like my own Grandma Weber, and unlike Grandma Weber, Jane seemed to almost always be smiling when I was around her. She especially loved it when I sang to her-- she loved the old pop-jazz tunes I did, like "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Five Foot Two."

A few weeks ago I went to see Jane in the hospital, and she was in rough shape. It was the last time I'd see her alive. In Intensive Care on the top of the Erie County Medical Center, I bravely dressed up in the hospital gown and hat to protect her from my germs, and I went in and sang to her one last time. She managed a smile, even though I think she had had a stroke. I could tell she was happy to see me, even after all the pain she had been through. But she was exhausted-- the hospital was barely feeding her; barely keeping her alive. Her health care proxy, or whatever they call it, came in this past weekend and said, "Turn off the ventilator." And then Jane passed away. I was and am sad that she's no longer here with us, but then our mutual friend Pam Walck wrote this email, putting it all in perspective:

"Jane passed away last evening, 8-16-10. Very sad to see her leave this earth, but so ecstastic she is in Heaven with Jesus, rejoicing, meeting Moses, Abraham, and her Christ-following friends/family. It has truly been such a privilege to know a woman who trusted Jesus so completely. As her friend Patrick said, she would ride in freezing cold temperatures in the wheelchair van and when asked how she was her answer was always, "I'm highly blessed and favored by the Lord." What an example she set!

When she met others that didn't know Jesus, she wanted to get them saved. She was a prayer warrior too. On the back of her wheelchair was a sticker, "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem." She never wanted her coat or anything covering that, so all could see.

I remember how I went with her and Patrick  throughout the nearly all Jewish apartment building she lived in and delived bags of candy with Happy Hanukkah and a message about Jesus. She never stopped trying to bless others.

The most wonderful thing about Jane was her kind, warm spirit, and friendship. Despite her physical limitations, she lived a very full life and you just knew how different she was because Jesus shined through her!"

Well said Pam, well said. I will remember Jane Denton as someone who spoke louder than words. Here was a woman who should have been miserable, bitter, and angry at God and at the world. Yet depsite being stuck in a wheelchair, needing constant care, and not being able to audibly speak, she "said" more with her life than most people ever will. Jane Denton showed me that even in our most dire time, when we feel beat up and unable to speak, the Lord is still the Lord, and He is still able to shine through us, no matter what we look like or the physical limitations we might have.

Rest In Peace dear Jane-- many people will miss you! --Mark Weber

Buffalo is blessed with many talented musicians, and Brotha Perry is one of them. He produced a CD called "Lawd Ha' Mercy," a collection of instrumental inspirational songs, with unique takes on "His Eye Is On The Sparrow," "Precious Lord," and other Gospel classics. If you like smooth jazz, chances are you'd appreciate this album and Brotha Perry, who also keeps busy producing music for other artists when he's not creating his own. BuffaloChristian.com had a chance to catch up with Brotha Perry and find out more about him. Enjoy the interview!

Q) If you had to sum yourself up to someone in two sentences, if they asked, "Who is Brotha Perry?" then what would you tell them?

A) I'd tell them I'm every bit of a Pisces and a hopeless musician that loves the Lord.

Q) Is the keyboard your main instrument? Talk about your musical capabilities-- what instruments do you play and what's your favorite and why?

A) I dont consider myself a keyboard player; I'm a church organist... I know the general term of today is keyboardist. I've been an organist for over 30 years so I guess that a Hammond B3 is my main instrument of choice. 

I started out playing guitar when I was 5-years-old. I found an old cigar box and some rubber bands and I made a guitar out of it. I don't remember what it sounded like but I was playin' it everyday. I started playing a trumpet in the 3rd grade. I didn't do good at all with it cause I didn't really understand the concept, so I just never played the right notes with the right fingering.

In 5th grade I started taking drum lessons-- I had a pair of sticks and a practice pad. The teacher gave me a rhythm method book, and I had weekly lessons. I did better at that.

When I got to junior high I started playing tenor sax, and I got pretty good at it, so I made it to the All-City Orchestra back in the 1960s and a few of us kids started an all-brass band-- we knew two songs-- "Green Onions" and "Tell Mama"-- and we played them in the school talent show. Jerry Livingston, a Buffalonian known as a bass player today,  played trombone back then, and I played tenor sax in this band.

I went to high school and the music teacher wouldn't give me a sax-- they made me play a trombone. I didn't really care for it, but I played it anyway, and got into the all-high band.

I think I got my first guitar when I was in the 8th grade, and that's when music really started to take shape; I played guitar for many years as my main instrument. When I was 17 I started picking out little tunes on a piano-- we didn't own a piano, so I would sneak into the Salem United Church across the street from my house, and learn to play songs I heard on the radio-- these weren't gospel songs either, but the pastor didn't say anything and they knew I had snuck in. I guess God touched their hearts and they let me practice, now that I think about it. So I played guitar while learning to play organ, and I played drums at a local church during my teenage years. So to sum it up, I started with guitar, then drums, and then organ, which has been my main instrument for years.

Nathan Salter runs a music school, is a music minister at his church in Buffalo, heads up a youth music camp each summer, and still finds time to record his own original music, touring around the world.

The thirtysomething dad is known in Western New York as someone who ushers in the presence of the Lord when he preaches, plays drums or keys, and directs singers and fellow musicians in a powerful, anointed way.

To experience a "concert" of Nathan's is to enter into a direct pipeline to God, whereas he encourages you to lift up your hands, to cry out to God, to ask Him for whatever is pressing on your mind-- help with your health, finances, relationships, etc.

If you leave a Nathan Salter concert unchanged then you chose not to take part; you chose not to connect with God.

For Nathan, music is a way for us to connect with the Almighty. With that in mind, he writes and performs different types of music in order to connect with all sorts of people and help them praise, worship, rejoice, and personally declare their faith.

Nathan is unique because he attracts every color and age there is, from inner city black youth to grey-haired white suburbanites. His multi-cultural praise and worship music ranges from clap your hands/stomp your feet black Gospel music to ethereal smooth jazz, and then some. Once in a while, guitars are featured, or other instruments like the violin or harp.

If you're familiar with Donald Lawrence or Martha Munizzi, then you'll have someone to compare Nathan and his music to; if not, know that he's uniquely suited for such a time as this whereas he can adapt to different audiences all the while staying consistent with who he is.

Every Saturday evening an RV travels the streets of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York, searching for people in need. It moves up and down drug infested areas of the inner city seeking men, women, and children whose lives have been abused by drugs, alcohol, domestic abuse, and prostitution. The RV carries prepared food, bags of toiletries, clothing, blankets, kids’ toys, and other things, to meet people’s needs where they’re at in life.

This is “The Magdalene Project.”

The mission of the Magdalene Project is to seek out people who have lost hope; the purpose of the project is to share the love of Jesus with them. At the heart of the Magdalene Project is Joanne Lorenzo, who got the idea for the ministry while driving around Niagara Falls, praying one Thursday night years ago.

“I saw a girl walking down Eighteenth Street and it was quite obvious that she was working the streets. She had her face set like flint so I knew in my heart she was putting on a false front for a broken heart,” says Lorenzo. “My heart went out to her and I decided to talk to her. I opened my window and said, ‘I'm praying for you.’ Amazingly, she started to cry, and she said, ‘thank you,’ and walked away in tears. Her name was Karen.”

When he’s not the judge in Corfu, New York, dealing with people who sped through Pembroke and on other roads near Darien Lake, Robert Alexander is also an ordained minister and popular author. His book, “Half Heaven, Half Heartache,” was named after a Gene Pitney song he used to sing as a teen.

“The part where Gene sang ‘take away this heartache and make my life a Heaven on earth’ always reminded me of how good my life once was and how it had been torn to shreds,” says Alexander.

Heartache started for Alexander, who was adopted at birth by a Christian family, when his stepfather abandoned his mother, running off to New Mexico. That was when Alexander's life started to unravel.

Life got worse when Alexander became a biker. Looking back, he remembers that everything he experienced as a biker was “bad, sin at its reprobate worst.”  The biker culture he used to be a part of it was something he can now say was “dark, dark, dark,” adding “the spirit of Antichrist prevails and the best part of it was leaving it.”

Everything changed for the better when Alexander became a born-again Christian.

“I have never had a bad day in Jesus,” he says. “I lost my big high profile job, all my money, all my play things, cars, vans, boats and almost every other worldly thing and I love it. I have to trust God for everything I have and He never fails. He is also the father who never abandons me.”

Pastor Tim Ayers is new to the area, but ready to build an old, small church in East Aurora into the Southtowns' newest thriving megachurch. Buffalo Christian asked him 9 questions; here are his answers...

1) You host a radio show on WECK 1230 AM. When is it, and what's it about? The show runs from 7am to 8am every Sunday. It is on a secular radio station because it is designed to reach the secular audience. The show is called Journey.

2) You're a church pastor? What's the church and where is it? First Baptist Church of East Aurora and it is at 591 Porterville Rd in East Aurora.

3) What is your goal as a pastor of that church in East Aurora? To impact lives for Christ in a big way.

4) How is Western New York different from Chicago and Florida, where you've lived before? Western NY has an East Coast influence that makes it a beautiful and easy place to live. Florida was very transient and everyone came from somewhere else. Chicago, of course, has a more suburbanite, Midwest feel to it. It is a friendly place but I find WNY to be even friendlier. Since I grew up in Western PA I find WNY a lot flatter.

5) What's Western New York's biggest challenge, in your opinion? I think it faces the same battles that the Pittsburgh area faced. Economically, Buffalo needs to recreate itself with new industry and those who live here need to get over the fact that isn't how it used to be. For a church leader, the challenge is the same everywhere. People think they are Christians because they went to a Christian church. Loyalty to the ministries of the church are no longer there. In most cases, we have lost our influence on society. My job is to earn the right to influence the society around me and I have to do that one soul at a time.

6) You know a lot of Christian music artists-- got a favorite story to share? Most people know Rich Mullins' song, Awesome God. Rich was doing an acapella concert with his band for my youth group. They were sitting in my living room when his manager walked in. She had just gotten the finished copy of the video for Awesome God. Rich saw it for the first time in my family room. A month later we did a concert with Rich and sponsored an Awesome God choir contest. People sent their tapes of them singing Awesome God into the Christian radio station. We then selected a group of them. The promo was so good that we sold out the concert times 2 a few days before and couldn't add a show. We had people sitting on the stage, in the band pit, in the aisles, in the back, in the hallway. They were everywhere.

7) If you weren't a pastor, you'd be a ___? Cartoonist

8) How in the world are churches going to reach texting teens? By texting them. Take people where they are and move them towards where Christ wants them to be.

9) Anything else you'd like people to know about you? Authored 17 books including the bestselling series Spinechillers Mysteries for Thomas Nelson Publishing under the pen name Fred E. Katz. Don't ask why that name. I thought it was dumb, but they were paying me.

Here at BuffaloChristian.com we get about 20 emails a day! One of them, from Jesse Holka, had this to say and we liked it so much we thought you should read it.

The next time you feel like GOD can't use YOU, just remember...
> >>>
> >>> * Noah was a drunk
> >>> * Abraham was too old
> >>> * Isaac was a daydreamer
> >>> * Jacob was a liar
> >>> * Leah was ugly
> >>> * Joseph was abused
> >>> * Moses had a stuttering problem
> >>> * Gideon was afraid
> >>> * Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer
> >>> * Rahab was a prostitute
> >>> * Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
> >>> * David had an affair and was a murderer
> >>> * Elijah was suicidal
> >>> * Isaiah preached naked
> >>> * Jonah ran from God
> >>> * Naomi was a widow
> >>> * Job went bankrupt
> >>> * John the Baptist ate bugs
> >>> * Peter denied Christ
> >>> * The Disciples fell asleep while praying
> >>> * Martha worried about everything
> >>> * The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
> >>> * Zaccheus was too small
> >>> * Paul was too religious
> >>> * Timothy had an ulcer...AND
> >>> * Lazarus was dead!
> >>>
> >>> No more excuses now!
> >>> God can use you to your full potential.
> >>> Besides you aren't the message,
> >>> you are just the messenger. God bless.