IUP Voices of Joy myvictory.org

I can't tell you the last time I read or heard a positive story involving a College or University. Recently we were shocked by the tragedy at Virigna Tech as well as the countless stories of Universities dealing with sexual assaults and Alcohol related issues. Every time an athlete, student or teacher gets involved in bad or criminal behavior, there follows a series of school examination/documentaries. Should the media cover these stories? Absolutely.

Here' a story about one College Choir and has taken almost 20 years to develop. Led by Dr. Rev Melvin Jenkins and Rev. David Hanson, the IUP Vocies of JOY choir has been a beacon of light for Indiana County and surrounding communities. Now on the heals of their debut CD and DVD, the IUP Voices of Joy have etched in stone a marker. This marker represents all that have gone before, the hardships, fellowships, friendships, etc al,

The students themselves represents a vast range of cultures, talents, skills, hopes, and faiths captured forever in this journey called "There is No Turning Back" Now you can view some of the clips by clicking the links below. You can also share your comments so that world can see them. Most importantly you can share the links with friends and family.

One of the goals of this project is to take it National. If you can help, we'd love to hear from you.

It takes a great deal of resourses and funding to take that step. So please take a moment to check out the clips, visit the website and share a comment. The "No Turning Back" project is good news. It's important news when it comes to what has been happening on this particular campus for more than 2 decades. We do hope that you purchase the CD when it comes out in a few weeks. Right now, you can order the DVD sampler for a small donation. All that is received stays here in Indiana County. I've had the pleasure of getting to know them, videoing them, laughing with them and practicing with them. It's been a pleasure and a growth experience. They have been blessed and you will too, once you realize that there is NO Turning Back.

For more information follow the links below.
view DVD clips

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0foh32vGaQw
Portal
http://www.myvictory.org/
Thank you for reading,

http://www.arts.iup.edu/share/fac.html - Melvin Jenkinss

Melvin A. Jenkins, choral director, is currently an associate professor and educational advisor in the Department of Developmental Studies at IUP. He is the founder and director of the IUP Voices of Joy gospel choir and has been involved with a number of gospel groups in the Philadelphia area. Dr. Jenkins is a self-taught musician and song writer with over thirty years of experience in gospel music. He is also an accomplished musician, having mastered the saxophone, guitar, drums, bass, and vocals. He is currently working on a CD project with the Voices of Joy titled “There is No Turning Back” scheduled for release later this year.

A Mother's Day Song

Heidi Maxell a native of Indiana County now live in North Carolina. she and her music has been featured on the Acoustic Hour Radio show before with her song Pensylvannia. Kitty Henry shared this incredible talent with me.

On Sunday, Mother's Day. we set it up so that Heidi would call into the radio show and say a few words and intro her new Mother's Day song. Heidi's Mother, Family and Friends were all listening when the song was aired for the first time on The Acoustic Hour Radio. You can hear the song and the entire show by downloading it at www.acoustichour.com

The song went over well. Everyone enjoyed the song and, I was told by Heidi's Dad after the show that Mom was in tears.. The Acoustic Hour Radio Show was honored to be part of this Mother's Day Gift. ...May we add, to all the Mothers, GrandMothers, Guardians ect... this song is for you as well.

In the true spirit of Love, Appreciation, Respect, and Humility.. we as children can never really give back all that is giving to us.. but we can for a moment in time, stop and say .. Thank you!
Keep writing those songs Heidi.

I found You Chuck Maiden LA

If I ask 10 people on the street, who Chuck Maiden is, my guess is that no one would get it right. That’s because, most times when you ask people on the street that type of question, it's either because the person did something really big, or was just added to the list of stupid humans.

Well, if you are listener to the acoustic hour radio show, you'd know who Chuck Maiden was. He is an outstanding singer songwriter from LA. We have featured him on our show several times and he has written, what I think is, close to the "perfect song." You don't believe me? Go to his website and listen to the song titled “I found you” Go to http://www.chuckmaiden.com/ It plays right on his site and you'll see what all the fuss is about. He also has a Myspace site. myspace.com/chuckmaiden.

You can go to www.acoustichour.com and download the last show he did on our air. Either way, check him out.

The other thing that makes my professional relationship with Chuck so cool is that he has invited several outstanding LA artists and musicians to be on the Acoustic Hour Radio show. Julie Gribble, Wit's End, Bill Reveles and Nathaniel Street-west. Our listeners in this region have had the opportunity to hear music that they most likely would have never been exposed to, had it not been for Chuck Maiden.

Chuck's home is more than 2211 miles from Indiana PA. They are 3 hours behind us in time. But he jumps at the chance to share his talents on our air. He is also and professional Artists with credits on the TV program "King of the Hill" Yep, he's big time and still takes the time for the little people :)

During his last visit to the Acoustic Hour, he spoke of his daughters 3(yrs) birthday party. He's a proud dad and is living the dream with his family and career. Chuck is a keeper and it's always a joy to have him on our air. He will be back on the show mid-summer with more new music and great stories.

I just recieved an email from him about a possible new guest for the show. Luis Oliart is his name and he also has a place on myspace.

On what station can you get a sampling of local and regional artists and musicians on both coasts? The Acoustic Hour is a good start. Tune in Sunday Mornings 9:00am on AM1160WCCS
It's the acoustic hour radio show. If you can't get the station check the website for the show downloads.

Grit Rally 2007 St. Thomas More IUP – my thoughts

I guess for most people, they didn't even know that this event was even held this weekend. For those who don't know, JD Varner hosts this Men's fellowship event every year. I think this is either the 4th or 5th year. The event has taken place in various churches around Indiana County. It’s usually held on the first Saturday in May.

I've been a part of it for several years. JD asked that I lead worship for the event and I of course accepted.

As anyone knows, planning for events like this takes a great deal of time, teamwork, prayer, money and talent. I don't know much it actually cost to put on an event like this, but I know it does cost more than average. The event usually features Men of the area speaking and providing their testimonies about their faith. There is usually on Keynote speaker. Lou Teeper, Steve Wolfe and Jeff Smith spoke this year. They all gave excellent and heartfelt presentations.
Last year Gold Star Pastor James McCaulley spoke. He is the Pastor who lost his some in war last year. He name was Sergeant Randy McCaulley.

Over the years, young boys, teens, young adults, older adults and seniors have taken the time to share and spend that Saturday morning at the rally. By the way Girt is taken from the word Integrity. People always ask about that.

Anyways, one concern has always been the actual number of people in attendance. This year’s attendance was low. I did find that strange, because many know about the Grit Rally and are very supportive of having it. I know that weekends have become almost added work days for families. Also, lots of other events, benefits do happen to fall on the same days. This years events was matched with, Relay for Life and several IUP events.

This year’s event was special. Our Worship team consisted on several teenagers. Alex Pruszenski, 17 Nick Hudak, 13, Kaleb 15 and Lance Wolfe 13. Alex added the guitar, Nick sang a solo tune and backup vocals, Kaleb played the bass, and Lance played the saxophone.

When I contacted them about helping with worship they all said yes! They didn't hesitate, or ask questions. They all wanted to be a part of the event. Kaleb and Alex were in it last year and knew what to expect. Nick and Lance were new to performing at the event.

Unfortunately Alex wasn't able to stay to whole event. But he did make the effort and I was glad to see him there. He played for a short time but had to leave. I thank him for his desire and willingness to want to be there in the first place. He is a very talented singer songwriter and guitarist. You will be hearing more about him.

Kaleb who, 2 years ago, didn't play any instruments, played bass for the worship groups. Also the week before that Kaleb also played bass for the Men’s Retreat at Camp Mantowagon in Saxton PA. Kaleb’s dad said after the event “He (Kaleb) continues to amaze me!”. I agree with him 100%. He gets better and better every time he picks up the guitar, and you can see the confidence in his eyes. Last year he played on a few songs, this year, He was the lead bass player. One more thing.. I was told by his proud father that Kaleb has also played bass for the group Faithful Friends out of Homer City. You've never heard of the Faith Friends Quartet? Visit faithfulfriendsquartet.com When I first hear them, I tought that they were a singing group visiting from Nashville.

Nick had a lot of fun being in the worship group. He is 13 and his voice is still changing. When he gets excited, his voices really changes. The funny thing was, Nick wanted to sing "Long black train" It's a cool county song, but it's sung very low. So Nick has to really work to get his pitch right in order to sing the song. He practiced and practiced and when time came to sing the song, he nailed it. Everyone there was impressed. Dr. Tony Atwater was so impressed that he spent time with Nick and his father after the event. Way to go Nick.

Lance probably had one of the most difficult roles in the worship group. He has to learn a song he'd never heard of and had to learn it by ear. Now for us ear music learners, that's not hard at all. But Lance is classically trained and reads music. He's a real pro at it. Then after Lance transposed and learned the song, he had to play it with us. So basically we could only practice the song after Lance had figured it out. Talk about cutting it close. Anways, Lance came through with flying colors. He learned the song and had help with transposing it in his key. How cool was that? Then came the practice time with us seasoned musicians, It was really funny... we struggled and finally caught up to where Lance was at. Now you might ask, why choose a a song like that and go through all this?

Well, here's the answer. Below is the song and the words to it. Read it. Then you'll see why the song was chosen.

Carry You
Amy Grant

Lay down your burden
I will carry you
I will carry you my child, my child
Lay down your burden
I will carry you
I will carry you my child, my child

Cause I can walk on water
Calm a restless sea
I’ve done a thousand things you’ve never done
And I’m really watching
While you struggle on your own
Call my name, I’ll come

chorus

I give vision to the blind
I can raise the dead
I’ve seen the darker side of hell
And I’ve returned
I’ve seen those sleepless nights
And count every tear you cry
Some lessons hurt to learn

Chorus

It's a beautiful song and I wanted Lance to match his talents with it. He did an incredible job!

The worship music selected was inspired from my friends at the Nazarene church, Dave, Kevin and Rob. They had invited me a Chris Tomlin concert a several weeks ago and I've been a big fan ever since. Several of the songs featured during the event were written by Chris Tomin. Our last song was Amazing Grace.. With Chris's lyrics

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God my Savoir has ransomed me
and like the flood, His mercy reins
Unending love, Amazing Grace

(I got a chance to see him concert do this song..wow)

It was though His grace, that Kevin McCullough donated his time and energy to do the PowerPoint presentation for the worship event. He even brought all the equipment. How proud he was to see his son Kaleb playing bass with us, how proud we all were to have them both there...

Proud eyes looked upon these kids this day..!

Oh and Chuck Potthast.. not only did he sing and play of his own songs but ran the sound for the event. Did I mention he used his own equipment? Chuck has a DVD of his song come to the table, but for some reason he doesn't let anyone see it:) hum.....!

One other thing, Dominic joined us on stage to sing Shout to the Lord. That was neat...to have one of the Grit Rally planners up on stage praising God through song.

so I am thankful for the friendships, commitments and talents of all those involved. My task was to bring the worship team together and have them ready. By the grace of God I was able to do that.. and I need to tell you that I saw 3 or I should say 4 proud dads standing in amazement. Amazed at what God has done and continues to do, Amazed at the blessings that they have received and, Amazed at their children's involvement in the Men of Integrity Rally. If that doesn’t get your life going, then you need to just stay in bed; and of course tune on the radio and listen for the live broadcast 105.1FM

And finally. A great deal of good news happened at this event. Ask Lou Teeper. He'll tell you so...
Thanks, Lou, Steve, and Jeff for your words and insights. We heard you, they heard you and out there on the internet, they heard you as well.

Why would JD Varner continue to host a God centered, Men's Fellowship event in Indiana County? Should he?

God bless all.

Feel free to comment.

The Grit Rally

Here's a question

If you had 2 doors infront of you and you had to choose one in order to continue life, which one would you choose?

Door 1 ---$1000,000 A new Car, A new house, 3 Trips to anywhere in the world, Free college for 3 of your kids, oh and last but not least free food for life at 2 local restaurants

Door 2 --- The secret to life!

Which door would you choose?

Are you busy this coming Saturday?

I know that you probably have a lot to do this weekend, and of course, your schedule is packed. But if you can, come join us for a time a fellowship and music. Men you know, and Men who are doing great things for Indiana County will be there.

Every year JD hold this Mens fellowship retreat in Indiana county. I don't know how many years he's beeing holding them, but I've been involved at least 3 years. JD requests that I lead the worship. So every year, I call on my friends and thus we have a worship group called " The git band." This years group of talented musicians more on the younger side. Lance Wolfe 13, Nick Hudak, 13 Kalaeb 15, Alex Prusenski 17, Barry, Brian and I are the old guys.

Men are invited this Saturday at the Newman Center on Oakland ave. @ 8:00am. It's runs till about 12:00 The progam will feature some great speakers and a super worship enviornment. If you have stop by...

Place St Thomas More, Newman Center

1200 Oakland AveIndiana, PA 15701

(724) 463-2277

Time : 8:00am-12:00

Kaleb McCuulough

So who'd thought that Kaleb would even read my blog. I didn't know that he could read( Just Kidding) anyways.. He pointed out yesterday at the Grit rally Men's worship practice, that Steve twisted a horseshoe to make the Heart and not a poll.

He was right, it was a horseshoe. I brough it into work and showed it to some of the employees and told them about Steve. Most of them tried to bend the horseshoe, and then gave up very quickly. I took some pics of the event and may post them here in a few days.

It would have been cool if Kaleb had left a comment on the blog, like you are suppose to. But maybe in the future when he figures out how it works he will :)

The Strongest Redneck in America

Have you ever heard of Steve McGranahan? Well, I hadn't until I attended a Men's retreat on the Campus of Mantowagon in Saxon Pa. I was invited to Lead worship this past weekend by a friend of my named Kevin MCcullough (Faithful Friends out of Homer City). Anyways, Steve was the featured speaker for the weekend. Helping me with worship was a group of new friends Edgar and Eric and Mark. They were awesome to know and as well as outstanding musicians.
Kaleb McCuulough, Kevin's son also played in the worship band. This young man gets better everytime he picks up the bass guitar.

After we finished the worship session on Friday night, Steve took the stage. Af first appearances he looked like a weightlifter, a really big one. First thing you notice is his arms, they were massive. Anyways.. Steve gives all the Glory to God and his presentations were outstanding.

The first session/testimony involved Steve tearing a deck of cards in half with his bear hands. During the hour long session he probably ripped about 15 decks of cars. At the end, he actually put 2 decks together and ripped them apart. Hey you just don't see that every day. Steve told us that he was abit under the weather. Man, if that's under the weather, I couldn't imagine what 100% was like...

This man of God put on 3 more sessions, with each being even more intense. All the while Steve bent, broke, twisted, chewed, and crushed all sorts of things. It was unbelievable!

During Saturday nights session Steve twisted a steel pole into the shape of a heart... And told the audience... that Jesus wants your heart. When I approached the front to finish with worship.. he handed it to me. I will treasure it and what he said always.

During Steve's presentations he talked about "The Prayer of Jabez" and Fisher of Men. It just so happens that I have a great friend of mine who sings and has songs titled Prayer of Jabez and Fishers of Men. His name is Tim Malchak.

I sent both of them emails with hopes that they connect. If you'd like more information you can contact.

This all happened because a friend invited me to spend the weekend with other men for fellowship. What a great time and what a great friend we have in Jesus.

Kevin MCcuullough http://www.faithfulfriendsquartet.com/
Steve McGranahan http://www.stevemcgranahan.com/
Tim Malchak http://www.timmalchak.com/
MarkOrelland FALLIN' FORWARD MINISTRIES http://www.fallforward.info/
Edgar and Eric mailto:hERREVELATION@AOL.COM