3SN Top 50

Those of you who follow the 3SN blog are getting something a little extra this week for the 3SN TOP 50!
You're getting the whole Top 50 list, early, so you can get a jump on downloading all the best music. Happy holidays!
 Kyle Jenkins

50. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Wide is the gate
49. 7eventh Time Down - Wait for you
48. Phinehas - The deepest of graves
47. Southbound Fearing - Vale tudo
46. Project 86 - Omerta's sons
45. Sumerlin - The fallback
44. Cord of 3 - The edge
43. Fallstar - Shallow believer
42. We As Human - Strike back
41. Disciple - Outlaws
40. For All Eternity - Vacant room
39. I Anthem - Fighting gravity
38. Nine Lashes - Break the world
37. Lastwatch - The countdown
36. Random Hero - Freakshow
35. Skillet - Not gonna die
34. The Almost - I'm down
33. Disciple - The one
32. Ashes Remain - End of me
31. Memphis May Fire - Prove me right
30. Spoken - Through it all
29. I Am Empire - Sing
28. Phinehas - Panhammer
27. Project 86 - New transmission
26. Fit For A King - Bitter end
25. August Burns Red - Provision
24. The Wedding - In the end
23. Silverline - Vicious
22. Decyfer Down - Fight to win
21. Red - Die for you
20. Random Hero - Mercy
19. Righteous Vendetta - The fire inside
18. Wolves At The Gate - Slaves
17. Project 86 - Off the grid
16. Fit For A King - Skin & bones
15. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Remember me
14. I Am Empire - Gravity bomb
13. The Classic Crime - Glass houses
12. POD - Higher
11. Oh, Sleeper - The pitch
10. Love & Death - Meltdown
9. For Today - Crown of thorns
8. Icon For Hire - Cynics & critics
7. Silverline - Lights out
6. Thousand Foot Krutch - Light up the sky

5. Disciple - Once and for all
4. Skillet - Sick of it
3. The Almost - Ghost
2. Red - Perfect life
1. August Burns Red - Fault line

Christmas music

I know the cool thing to do is to complain, but..
I don't actually hate Christmas music. This is the time of year where the Christmas tunes are smothering the airwaves, and without fail, the complaints start. I get it, I don't really like it, but it doesn't really ruin my day. If you don't like it, don't listen to it. You'd think people don't know how to use an iPod considering how cheesed people get.
I've been having to learn a lot of Christmas tunes for church lately, and here's what I've discovered.. even if you don't like the traditional Christmas song, there's probably a band out there who's done a cover of that song and made it sound rad. My church, Connexus, is pretty culturally relevant with our music, and we tend to get a bit heavier than most churches with stuff like this. Even though I thought it couldn't be done, you can add some guitar hooks and make it sound like pretty much any other modern worship tune. I've come to appreciate a lot of it.

However, this will always be the best Christmas music.
















What's your favorite (or least favorite) Christmas tune?

Back from the dead

After two and a half weeks in a sickly nightmare, I've finally gotten out of bed, and can finally return to work now that I won't infect everyone at LIFE100.3. I've been watching quite a bit of youtube throughout all this, so here are the latest in LOUD music videos.

If this video reminds you of Underoath, that's because it was directed by none other than Daniel Davidson, previously of Underoath. I'm not really a huge fan of this kind of video, but I appreciate that they're trying something different.
I get shivers at 2:50, every time. Powerful lyrics.

See... Very Underoathy. 

I discovered a band recently called Beartooth, and they're absolutely incredible. I went to see them in Toronto recently and had a good chat with the drummer about their faith and how they as a band try to reach people. You might recognize the frontman as Caleb Shomo, formerly of Attack Attack!. These guys have released two videos already, and considering they as a band only officially have four songs released (they played all of them at the show, aswell as a new one), that's pretty sweet.

Fit For A King. Always good. Not really too much I can say here, these guys are just plain awesome. The stick toss at 1:12 is pretty much the dirtiest thing I've ever seen. 

Kyle Jenkins

3SN Concert guide

FOR TODAY will be at the Opera House with FIT FOR A KING in Toronto on Tuesday, February 11th. If you go to that show and fall in love, go see them again on the Vans Warped Tour, coming to the Molson Canadian Ampitheatre on July 4th. If you missed it, go check out For Today's new tune "Fight The Silence", and a remixed and remastered release of FFAK's 2011 album "Descendants".

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, THE GHOST INSIDE, and TEXAS IN JULY will be at the Pheonix Concert Theatre in Toronto for the long awaited 8:18 Tour.

I just saw August Burns Red, Blessthefall and Beartooth at the Sound Academy. ABR never fails to impress, even with this being my fourth time seeing them. Honestly though, the highlight for me was seeing BEARTOOTH and then chatting with the drummer later that night. These guys are reaching kids with the gospel in the only way they know how; making killer music, and being real. 

Caleb Shomo, formerly of ATTACK ATTACK!, has brought lyrics to the table that are just too honest, humble, and aggressive to ignore. Watch out for this band, and go check out "Go Be The Voice" and "I Have A Problem" from the bands ep, "Sick". Both songs have the Kyle Jenkins seal of approval.

Now you're updated. 

  Kyle Jenkins

Why I hate winter / complaint party

All my life, I have had an absolute hatred for snow. Because I am cold and bitter, here are a list of totally valid reason why winter, and the snow, sucks.

-It's cold
-The snow gets inside every crevice of your clothing
-I have to buy all these winter clothes. They're expensive. I don't like expensive.
-Driving is a miserable experience, and I love driving
-In relation to the last one, winter is literally trying kill you. Don't you dare get in that car
-I can't go for runs outside
-It's cold
-Winter tires cost like $600. Why is that even necessary
-Stuffy noses
-You're always either too hot, or too cold. You cannot master wearing layers, it is impossible
-We all live like vampires because it's dark by 5pm
-The Flu
-It's cold
-Winter clothes always seem to smell bad. Why?
-My cats won't go outside anymore, so winter is even sucky for cats, and everyone loves cats, therefore you cannot love winter
-Gotta shovel that driveway, AND half the road in front of your driveway because they haven't invented snowplows that don't create snow fortresses of impenetrability in front of your driveway yet
-Dry lips. If you don't have lip chap, lets be honest, kissing is just terrible
-I can't feel my face
-It's cold
-I can't longboard
-Ice has turned the sidewalks into a twisted game of real-life minesweeper
-It's really cold

Do I need to go on? No.
Winter is terrible, and we should all just stop what we're doing, and hibernate.

Kyle Jenkins

The Walking Dead

People often ask me why I watch The Walking Dead. I guess it's often assumed that anyone who watches it is doing so just to see people get ripped apart by zombies, because, what other reason could there be? Okay, yeah, it has loads of gore. It's commonplace to see someone get their leg hacked off, a chunk of their arm bitten off, or a zombie ripped in two. But honestly, I don't really love that stuff. It adds to the overall creepy and dangerous theme of the show, but that's not why I watch.

The characters in this show are amazing. Diverse, constantly changing, full of emotion, and representative of how most of us think people would really respond to a disaster. This isn't a band of fearless zombie murdering machines bent on revenge, most of them are just normal people trying to keep loved ones alive and sane in the midst of it all. 

My favorite character (as I'll tell anyone who will listen) is a guy called Daryl.

Say hello to Daryl.

This guy wasn't treated so great by his parents as a kid. Having to fend for himself most of the time, neglected, beaten, abused, he turned into a pretty bad dude, and him and his brother would steal from you, and if you still had your teeth after they were done with you, you were lucky.
Cue zombie apocalypse. (I'm going to avoid spoilers moving forward, you're welcome)
Daryl winds up being part of a larger group when everything on earth goes south, yknow, people eating eachother and everything. He goes from being a total loser, to a leader who has to turn against his own brother and his old ways. He's not as tough and emotionless as he had made himself before, and this comes out as he gets attached to other characters on the show, often putting himself at risk for those he cares about (which lately, is everyone he meets). He's still a bit rough around the edges though, and you don't want to get him mad, or this guy will totally throw you into a pit of walkers. This actually winds up being an asset, when things need to be dealt with.
He's pretty much the epitome of a badass. Also, the epitome of how to be a really nice guy. Also he rides a motorcycle and his weapon of choice is a crossbow, so he's also a silent ninja. Did I mention he really likes kids? Oh, and he really respects women.

So basically, Daryl's great, and you should watch The Walking Dead. It's honestly the best show I've ever watched, and it will change your life, no word of a lie.

Kyle Jenkins

The super SWEET ZONE of wonder and destiny

August Burns Red will be releasing “Foreign and Familiar” on December 3^rd, and documentary 2 years in the making. Here's a preview. 

For Today has a new album coming next year, and you can get a taste of that with their new track, “Fight the silence”. 

Vocalist of The Devil Wears Prada Mike Hranica has released a book titled “Home for grave”, a fictional story inspired by the bands song of the same name, “Home for grave”.

Impending Doom has released a video for Doomsday; That track will be on their album “Death will reign”, out November 5^th. 

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is working on their fourth full length album, which will be appropriately titled "4". The band has also welcomed back former guitarist Matt Carter.

The Devil wear prada has released a video for “First Sight” in support of their new album, 8:18. Don’t miss their headliner at the phoenix concert theatre December 20, supported by Texas in July, The Ghost inside, and Volumes. 

August burns red will be in Toronto at The Sound Academy on November 28^th with Blessthefall, Defeater and Beartooth. That’s a show you’re not going to want to miss. Tickets are $40. 

Kyle Jenkins

Serving

So lately I've been seeking after ways to serve, and do things that are actually good for me. I guess over the last couple weeks I've been working like crazy, 7 days a week, and it got me thinking about the ways I spend my time when I'm not working. Honestly, time seems to get allotted to video games, Tv, Hanging out, way more often than it goes towards practicing songs I need to know for church, preparing for work, reading (something I used to do like crazy), exercising, ministering to people, etc. Just trying to be proactive and use my time wisely.
How to you use your time? Are there things you want to do, but you just don't seem to be able to tear yourself away from The TV?

PS, This whole "staying away from video games" thing is going to get REALLY difficult what with the Xbox One coming out soon. Yikes.

New car.

Over the last year since I got my G2, I've been driving a 99 Grand am. I knew it wasn't the most solid car in terms of mechanical integrity, but I was hoping it would last longer than this. Brake lines are gone, Sway bar is broken, All engine lights are on, Rust is getting worse fast, tie rods are toast, and there are a number of other things I can't recall that the mechanic said. Price to fix? 2000 - 3000.

Nope.

So I'm buying a 2012 Ford Fusion on Friday. All the bells and whistles, sunroof, bluetooth, fog lights, sport kit, keyless entry, metallic black with flecks of blues/greens, low profile tires, 17 inch rims.. It's a sweet lookin car and I'm pretty excited about it. Add ground effects, some nice rims and some 20% window tint and we're good to go. 

The best part will be the lack of thoughts like "I wonder if my car will break down again tomorrow"?

The worst part will be the monthly payments an increased insurance. Woooo.

Now -

 After I add some upgrades -

14 years.

Tonight, at 9pm, 3SN takes one more step towards manhood. Or, womanhood. Or whatever. Man, where does the time go? 14 years the beast has been bringing loud to the airwaves, and we're not done yet. 3SN is taking names, kicking demons in the knees, and pushing them out the door. 
"The past 3 years I didn't believe in anything - I didn't live for anything. I got started skipping school and got into really bad habits that put me into a lot of trouble in the end. During these situations, I was depressed and angry at the world. I didn't know what to believe, or who to turn to. I didn't talk to anyone. 
One night I came across 3SN and stayed for my love of metal. As I listened to it more, the more I loved it, and the more I wanted to get to know God, and reach out. I contacted Kyle Jenkins and got more resource information. Thanks to 3SN I am now out of my habits, found Jesus and am living for him. I am a much happier, and well spirited person now. 
Thanks LIFE 100.3's 3SN & Kyle Jenkins for leading me to God and guiding me in the right direction. Blessings, Kianna."


Has 3SN affected you? Brought you closer to God? Answered some questions?  Post it below!

Kyle Jenkins 3SN

3SN concert guide!

You can thank me for this later, after you enjoy all these delicious concerts.
-Kyle Jenkins 3SN

Relient K
October 18
Church on the Queensway

Manic drive, The Almost, Rapture ruckus
October 19
Hershey Centre

Being As An Ocean, Senses Fail,
For The Fallen Dreams, Expire
Oct 19
Virgin Mobile Mod club

Gideon, Bleeding Through,
Winds Of Plague, Oceano, Sworn In
Nov 7
Phoenix Concert Theatre

Periphery, Dead Letter Circus, 12 Foot Ninja
Nov 11
The Opera House

The Word Alive, I See Stars, Crown The Empire,
Get Scared, Dayshell, Palisades
Nov 12
The Opera House

Icon For Hire
Nov 14
Virgin Mobile Mod Club

Paramore, Lights, Hellogoodbye
Nov 20
Theatre at the ACC

August Burns Red,
Blessthefall, Beartooth, Defeater
Nov 28
Sound academy

The Devil Wears Prada, Texas In July, The Ghost Inside, Volumes
Dec 20
Phoenix Concert Theatre

Renewal

After a few months of things in my life being really crazy, I finally feel like I'm getting a hold of everything. It all seems a lot more manageable with a few things off my back. Oh man, and my time management has gotten so much better. I'm not awesome at it yet, but I'm getting there. No more "up till 4am every night playing Halo".. Okay, well most nights I don't. Gotta live a little.

Sometimes work feels so much like, well... work. I've been trying to find ways to enjoy "work" and I'm actually having a lot of success. I work full time as a house painter, and it's really not the most glorious job of all time, but I'm trying to look forward from what i'm doing now, and reminding myself what it's all for. That could be small things, like buying the next guitar, or big things, like starting a family one day. It's a new perspective I guess, and it's a better view than just staring down at the billionth wall I have to paint. 

My Ipod!

This is what I've been listening to lately! Enjoy :)

Guitar gear

For those of you who don't know, I play in some worship bands! I have a passion for worship, and when I say that, I'm not just saying "I really dig hillsong united", or "I like going to crazy worship conferences". I love being a part of bringing people towards Christ through surrender, vulnerability, and a desire to encounter the Lord through music that glorifies him. I also love music in general, and I love to serve. I like being able to play for people and have them enjoy it, and I love to learn. I'm blessed that I get to have all of those things with the churches that I serve with.

This is a look into the gear that I use when I lead worship. Feel free to ask questions, tell me my choice of guitars and pedals sucks, etc.

Gibson Les Paul, as shown in the picture below

94 Japanese Telecaster

My pedals, as shown above

From left to right
Boss DD6
TC Hall of Fame
Boss TR2
Ibanez Super Tube
Ibanez TS9
MXR Custom Badass Overdrive
Korg Pitchblack
Boss Rc3
Ernie Ball Volume

For my electric, I use a Vox AC15 (All-tube amp, not to be confused with the similar solid state VoxAC line) Great amp, very warm, very clean. It doesn't have a lot of tone options coming from the board built into this, but I just build my tone starting with an almost clean setting, the Top boost at about 40%, and stack overdrive pedals to get whatever sound I want.

For Acoustic and Vocals, I use a VoxAGA30. I don't know much about it yet, just bought a few weeks ago. So far I've just been using a loop station with Acoustic and vocals through it, and I like it. A little quieter than I might like, but for the price (Under 300) and the size, it's loud, and it doesn't distort (much) at high volumes.

That's my electric rig. I might go into my acoustics and other gear in a different post. Ciao!

Proverbs 3:1-2

"My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you."

Okay, I want to start this off on a very practical note. I have trouble with making time for things I need to make time for. I often catch myself saying "I don't have time", yet I just spent 4 hours on my Xbox.

Now listen, I'm not saying this is a complete solution for my time management problem, because it runs deeper than all this; it's about priorities. But for the last month or so, I schedule EVERYTHING. My iPhone calendar is such a blessing. Everything from when I know I need to set time aside to practice songs for church, to commitments like hanging out with friends. Somehow, when I look at it all in front of me, day to day, I find it much harder to avoid things and make excuses. It's almost like when it gets to the next day, and I look back and see all of the things I didn't do that I told others (and myself) that I would do, I really see, not to sound mystic or anything, the passing of time, and how I let that pass by. I'm more aware of my failing in that moment, because when I open my calendar at the beginning of every day, I have to look at it.

This isn't just to make myself feel guilty, I realize I'm far from perfect. This is about being intentional.

I highly recommend it. Schedule. Use a calendar. You'll thank me later.

I feel busy lately, but really I'm not all that busy; I've just been letting things pile up. In all that confusion and discomfort, I let my relationship with God slip. I've actually stopped paying attention to the sin in my life and stopped looking to God to help me remove it. Above anything else, I need to make time for Him. I think if I honor God with an intimate and personal relationship, he'll make sure I have time for the things I need to be doing. I want to be teachable, and I want to be willing to drop everything like James and John. Christ called them, and they left everything they knew, in faith that Christ would look after them. I mean seriously, they left families and jobs, commitments and comfort, for Jesus. I want to be able to drop all of my "plans" to follow when he calls.

   Kyle Jenkins

"My son, do not forget my teaching..."

Believing in Matthew 5:11-12

I've always been pretty soft when it comes to people talking about me behind my back. I was never the popular guy in school, and over the years I've developed a thicker skin. I've always been insecure about my looks, and try to put in to the back of my mind. Although, it still cuts deep when someone says something about me that isn't cool, especially if I know it's not true.

What gets me even worse, is when I don't even know who the person is. Maybe it's just some random guy in school that saw me with a girl he liked, and decided to target me. Sometimes it's that guy from work you've never talked to, and suddenly you hear that they don't like you, and you're like... what?

This time, it was a faceless, nameless, anonymous, blogger comment.

I won't paraphrase, I'll just paste exactly what they said.
Disclaimer: If you reeeally don't like foul language, don't read ahead. 

Anonymous said...
"You're such a pretentious dick.
If people like you go to heaven, I'm glad I won't be there."

I have no idea what triggered this person anger in my last blog. Either they know me and just don't like my point of view, or they saw the blog, and got upset. Either way, I won't pretend like I understand the motive.

I've received comments like this before, on the blog, on facebook, email, text, you name it. Sometimes I did something while on a worship team that someone didn't like. Maybe someone didn't like the way I pray on 3SN's "Prayer time" (that actually happened). This time though.. I really don't know.

I'm pretty confident that I'm not a pretentious guy, and I have people commend me on my ability to accept others as they are, so on the one hand I'm like, okay, this person obviously needs to pull things together a little bit better, or they're seeing me in a bad light or something. On the other hand, I'm thinking, did I really hurt this person? If I did, I feel terrible. It's made all the more frustrating because I'll probably never know who this was, or why they said what they did.

So I'm left without an easy solution here, because as thick as my skin might get, these things are still going to get through. All I can do is keep trying to become the man of God I know I should be, and look to his word.

This time, his word says this.

Matthew 5:11-12
"11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

  If a few harsh words from the mouths of people who don't know my heart are going to push me a little bit closer to where David, John, and Moses are kneeling before God.. bring it on.

Kyle Jenkins 3SN

How do you deal with being hurt by the words and actions of others?
Comments below!

Forward motion.

  Sometimes I find it hard to get over things. I mean seriously, I grab onto things that happen in the past. I grab on to them and go "no no no no no, that didn't go well. Do over. DO OVER!" I grab on to things that went great, because I think I'll never have anything as good as what I had then.

  What am I left with at the end of all my struggles? Nothing, because those things are gone, and all my passion, energy and faith stayed there, where I left them.

This scripture speaks pretty powerfully to my situation. 

Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

  This scripture is amazing and encouraging, but it's made even more relevant to me (and a little ironic) in that I actually create my own suffering.
  By gripping the past tight, and not leaving room for God to do his thing, I'm creating my own suffering and saying to God, "I don't believe in what you have for me in the future."

  Do I seriously not think that God is using my situation? If I don't believe in what he's doing now and in my future, how can I possibly claim to others that he was active in my past?

  It's not about whether things that went good or bad in my past were my fault, or anyone else's fault. They happened, and God doesn't tell us he's going to make life easy, or fix everything, or give us what we want (and what we probably like to think is best).

  Not only is it remarkably difficult to place blame on someone and be satisfied with that, but it's not our place to try to dictate the fates and decisions of others.

Life sucks sometimes. C'est la vie. 
Coming to terms with that, and finding the good in the mess, is a beautiful thing. 
Give me your thoughts in the comments!

   Kyle Jenkins 3SN

///the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.///

What I did today.

Uhhhh, I walked around at kempenfest for a bit. Not really a ton of fun. Just a bunch of people selling over-priced knick-knacks.
I saw a poster at a booth that I wanted to buy. Price tag $400.
Nope.

I went to this booth that they had at kempenfest where you can make fajitas for free. I like Fajitas, and I like free. Here's the Recipe:

I went to this Poutine place on main st. Triple pulled pork poutine. Pretty much the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.



I also messed around with my new loop pedal.

For whatever reason, the text has texted blue and it's underlined.

I can't get rid of it because this Blogger website hates me, so I guess we're just going to deal with it.

I had some pretty good time in worship today too, before coming in to 3SN. I'm going to be overseeing a  young adults worship ministry this year, and I was figuring out what songs I wanted to introduce. Wound up zoning out for an hour or so to Hillsong's "Glorious Ruins" album. God is good.

I also just started up a painting company, so I had to take a few calls regarding that.
WARNING : Shameless self promotion ahead.

Revelation Design. Based out of Barrie. We're like, really really good at painting.

Call me. 705 717 8462.

I also teach guitar. 705 717 8462. Cool.

Finally, I walked into the LIFE100.3 office to do 3SN, and find some ... Oh, hold on. 

Nevermind. Fixed the blue/underline issue.
Ya, walked into the LIFE office to find some kind of Videogame-apalooza going. LIFE100.3 employees working hard.. to kill of of the alien invaders.

That's it, a day in the LIFE.

My iPod.

These songs are getting me through life right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KqjY05SNM0
Glorious Ruins - Hillsong
After listening to the "Glorious ruins" album, go figure that "Glorious ruins" is the track that hits me the most. I've been slightly behind on hillsong lately. I was still listening to and playing "God is able" and in the time between that and now they've released what, 3 albums? Jeez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1paTrimD6O4
The Finisher - Oh, Sleeper
Powerful track about telling the Devil to go jump in a lake. I like it.

A few songs by Ed Sheeran, Lego house, A team, etc.. Those don't really emotionally help me or anything, they're just great songs musically.

Also, about a dozen songs by U2.
U2 is good times.

Warped tour! Part 1

So this is going to wind up having a few parts. There's no way I'm going to type and/or remember everything that happened yesterday.

So first things first, I got an interview with Micah Kinard of Oh, Sleeper. You'll hear that interview soon on 3SN and I'll get some pictures up. Look forward to it! The guy was so inspiring.

I ran around for half the day in a unicorn mask.

Sup.

I talked to Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red, and communicated with The Chariot aswell. I tried to get interviews with them, and they were interested, but because this is a canadian date, it wasn't possible. The reason for that is most of these guys have american cell phones, so no service in canada. So while they're here, it's virtually impossible to hold them to a commitment that isn't directly related to critical warped tour stuff. Lame, but what can you do. I had to convince Micah to meet me (for an unnofficial interview which isn't even allowed, so he was awesome for agreeing to it) at a stage across the venue where we would go find somewhere quiet to chat. The guy actually came, in the pouring rain, all of us looking like wet dogs.

Then the dude pretty much blew the minds of my photographer and I, because this guy is smart. Like, really smart.
So at first, he's super reserved, like he hasn't decided if we're legit yet, probably thought we were kidnapping him. Then the guy opens up, starts to talk, and.. bam. You're going to have to listen to 3SN to get what I'm throwing down.

Commitment

Lately I've been making some observations on my own commitment to prayer and spending time with God. 

I find when I workout and run, I make the most progress when I stick to a schedule, usually it's 5 evenings a week. I know that's obvious, but there's something that happens when I skip a day: it's suddenly so much easier to miss this next day. Maybe the day after that one I won't feel so terrible about missing it. Next thing I know, I haven't gone for a week. 

I've deffinitely been finding that I have a similar experience if I don't get with God on a regular basis, it just stops being a priority. Even though some people may think that having a routine for something that they think should be "spontaneous" and "spiritual" isn't neccesary, I disagree. We're called to honor God with our time, and for me to do that, I know that I have to dedicate time every day, or I just won't do it.

Cool dreams.

So I had my first obviously biblical dream a few nights ago, and it's not exactly hard to interpret.

 So I'm standing there, and I have this bag in my hand (I don't know what was in it, not important), and some guy comes up, shoves me, and grabbed a handful of whatever is in the bag. I wanted to go in a rage and ruin that guy day, and then in the dream I thought to myself, "Jesus wouldn't do that". 

 So I turned to the guy, offered him the bag, and said, "if you wanted it, you could have just asked. I have enough for us both." He immediately became relaxed, the conflict stopped, and the dream ended.

 This is actually so significant, and here's why. I have been so unbelievably bitter, so upset at different people in my life for the way they treated me, the way they lied (My parents, my ex, and a few leadership figures). I have basically been bent on revenge, the method being just loathing these people, making them know how much I hate them. 

 God has been working my heart over the last few months, and I can see the way that I cause my own pain to multiply, how I prolong suffering. 

 Jesus took all our hatred, our accusations, our blades on his back, watched us turn from him and cast him away,  and as we were turning our backs from him, he turned to God and said

 "Forgive them, they know not what they do".  

 I'll be seeking after that kind of forgiveness in the coming weeks.

Kyle Jenkins

Centred YA

So, I've been hanging around a young adults group at emmanuel in barrie. I've been searching for a group for a long time that meets regularily and does worship, and this group has that. But here's what's awesome. 

EVERYONE is fantastic. I came to centred on my own, and after the first night I'd pretty well spoken to everyone who was there. It's been cool to meet so many genuine people. The worship is great, the messages are relatable. If you're a young person looking for a place to hang out, I highly reccommend Centred young adults. 7pm Sundays @ Emmanuel.

New friends

So lately I started hanging out with some people. Actually, I started hanging out with loads of new people. I met a whole group of people from a young adults group and like everybody plays guitar, it's fantastic. I met a bunch of peeps from another young adults group, and they're all super on fire for God, and I've had the honor or leading some worship for them. I went to a Pentecostal district youth rally with a youth pastor I used to serve under, and met even more awesome people. Not to mention I seem to be running into christians randomly in really odd ways, every day.
God is super encouraging right when you need him to be. I was about ready to accept that there aren't a lot of people around here who actually give a damn, and then God just pulled me right out of it. I'm so thankful for the lessons I'm learning, and how patient God is through everything that's going on.
Never more than I can handle, but he pushes me just close enough to the edge of the cliff, so that I run back to him.

Servant heart

I have often been told that I have a servant heart. I know what it means and I know that it's a good thing. I seek out ways to help people, to make their lives easier, look for new areas I can serve in the church, junk like that. I like that kinda stuff. But there is a serious lesson that I have had to learn.

I am taking away from any potential spiritual growth I might have by serving the church instead of the Lord.

I get so focused on helping people, that I don't help myself, or look to God in everything I do. I haven't spent time with God "for no reason" in months. I never just hangout with my bible like I used to. I have seen my attitude and my effectiveness in almost everything I do suffer as a result. I always look to him in my time of need and in my selfish desires.

God works from the inside out, and if I want him to use me, I need to humble myself and find him again. I have been wanting for so long to feel the faith that I felt when I was saved 3 years ago, and yet I find it so hard to take 5 minutes out of my day to get it back.

Headaches.

It really is true that when things go wrong, EVERYTHING goes wrong. But here's the catch, not only are a lot of things not going the way I'd like, but I'm also pressed with a lot of really hard choices right now. Choices that could change a lot in my life.
I've decided to make these blogs brutally honest. Might be a nice release. I don't talk about these things with people, and I don't really want to, so I'll just spew it all out into the internet and whoever reads it, reads it. Here goes.

Things that are bugging me right now: Being the Ex-boyfriend to an Ex-girlfriend who I'm pretty sure I'm still in love with. Finding a good full time job that doesn't drive me crazy. Finding a church with theology I agree with, where I don't feel judged.

Those three things, primarily the first, have been absolutely ripping me up over the last few months. Sometimes it's just suffocating, and I know that God has a plan in all of it, but I always find myself saying, "God, why not now?". I'm learning very quickly that the Christian life (been saved only 4 years) is not easy and it's not a feel-good solution to every problem in life.

Oh yeah, my car is on the verge of death again and isn't really fit to drive, but I have no other means of getting around. So... yup. Pretty frustrating.

A job opportunity just came up, and I can't figure out whether to take it on account of all the driving involved, and the money isn't even that good.

I find it hard to "complain", because I know that I'm better off than 90% of society. But sometimes things just suck, and there's not an easy solution, and that sucks too, and it's easy to fall into a pattern of laziness/self-pity. I used to do that, not so much anymore. Now I just get really, really frustrated.
Sometimes it's hard to remember God in the times where the world just wants to kick you when you're down.

3am

 It's 3am and I'm tired. I should probably be sleeping, but I can't. I am honestly just so fired up about the next few years of my life. I don't really know why, other than that I know God has his hand in all of it.
  I've been in a funk over the past 6 months or so because of a past relationship that lasted a few years. I thought she was "the one". I was very wrong, and that has been hard to take. I've had a hard time just getting out of bed and going to work. Most days since she hasn't been around, I just feel frozen in place, never moving forward or making any progress at all, and I have been so bitter towards God, thinking that he let all of this happen.
  Recently God has blessed me with an eternal perspective, which simply means that I can see past all the things in this world that will fade, and die, and look beyond to where God is waiting in his perfect majesty. So often I have paired my self-worth with the success of my relationships, and my career choices. Not anymore. I have to be responsible for myself and my own choices and that's it, and look to God in everything. I'm pretty stoked to start moving forward. God is good.

3am. Work tomorrow is going to suck.

Pre-warped jitters

I am so stoked for this years line-up. Here's a list of the bands I'm planning on seeing.

My 2013 warped tour list:
(kinda in order of how much I want to see each band, I may seriously go to a second warped date so I can see every band)

Memphis May Fire (3SN)
August Burns Red (3SN)
The Chariot (3SN)
Oh! Sleeper (3SN)
Crown The Empire
Blessthefall
Sleeping With Sirens
Chiodos
letlive.
VersaEmerge
Forever The Sickest Kids
Upon a Burning Body

Warped 2012 with Nolan Danvers

Tonight Alive
We Came As Romans
Bring Me The Horizon
Silverstein
Like Moths To Flames
Stick To Your Guns
Hands Like Houses
Motion City Soundtrack
Go Radio
Anarbor
Goldfinger



Happy Easter!

iBlog numero uno

So I'm stealing Scott Jackson's idea for giving you lovely people a look at what's on my iPod.

Mine is cooler because I thought of a clever name. These blogs will be called "iBlogs". BOOM.

So Memphis May Fire just got added to the 3SN playlist. If you're wondering what songs..
-Vices
-Prove me right
-The sinner
-The redeemed
You're welcome. :)

I've been listening to their older stuff lately, like the "Sleepwalking" album. The album speaks the same messages as the more recent albums, but has a very southern rock feel in the guitar. A few months ago I was hooked on "The Hollow". The album titles and songs tell a story, they're all called "The sinner", "The victim", "The commanded", you get the idea.

I've also been going back with For Today a bit,  the "Breaker" album is on at least once a day in my car. Go listen to "Arm the masses", and listen for the scream that's used towards the last quarter of the song.. blew my mind. The interludes are also powerful stuff.

Lastly, I've been listening to everything Underoath.. okay maybe not their really really old stuff, can't say I'm a fan of that first album. I love listening to how their sound has changed and improved over the years. Sad that their time has come to an end, I'm just hoping that we'll see the UO guys in other bands soon, maybe even some of them together.

-Kyle Jenkins

I don't like having stuff.

I have been getting really weird lately about owning things. I can't handle having all this stuff that I don't use very often. I want my guitars, longboard, laptop, sure. But that paintball gun, it's been sitting there a year. Why do I still have that hockey jersey? I don't like hockey. Why do I have all these books that I will never bother reading again. Not to mention the clothes that I don't wear. I haven't used those games in forever.
I've been reading about the disciples quite a bit and how they gave up everything to follow Christ, but it wasn't just their material possessions. They had to give up the lives they led, their families, they had to give up their uncertainty and their doubt, and most of all, their sinful ways. There's a lot that I have to give up to be able to follow God as I'm meant to, and getting rid of all this junk is kinda symbolic for me I guess. I need to start honoring God by doing things on time and being organized, and I'm hoping it'll help with that, too. TLC my bedroom, which will help clean up my mind, and then my life, hopefully.
-Kyle

Lessons

So I got this job, about two months ago, and it was pretty decent, don't get me wrong, selling water softeners isn't exactly a glamorous life, but it was pretty good money, and I was good at it.

Here's the kicker though. The company I was working for was a wreck at the beginning and couldn't get their act together for a while, so I was without work for 3 1/2 weeks after being hired. I had to wait around for all that time while they set up shop. They get things going, and I start working. The boss likes me. Tells me I'm going to start training other employees and reporting to him directly. Sweet. So some time passes, and I'm told that I "have a gift for sales". He wants to start showing me the ropes of being a sales manager. Okay, even better, sounds good to me. 

The result of all of this was me having to deal with the guy one on one like crazy, and what did I learn from it? I'm not okay with selling my soul to make money. I had to make the call of whether to quit because I couldn't handle the dishonestly/racism & stereotyping in this type of posistion, or to keep going despite my best judgement. 

I'm happy to say I made the choice to quit. I am now looking for full time work again, and even though that sucks, there's something bittersweet about it. That Toby Mac lyrics comes to mind "I don't want to gain the whole world, but lose my soul". I wish I could have learnt this lesson in a way that took less time, but Gods timing is better than mine. 

-Kyle Jenkins

Texas In July concert

THE BANDS:
Of Mice & Men
Woe is me
TEXAS IN JULY
Volumes
Capture the crown

THE VENUE:
The Sound Academy in Toronto

I don't really have a lot to say about most of the bands except for Texas In July. Of Mice & Men put on a great show, though I'm not really one for their messages. The opening band, Capture The Crown.. the clean vocals were unbearable. They use a lot of Auto-tune on the CD, I guess now I can see why.

Texas In July, however.. Incredible. Great songs choices, and they actually sounded good, and when you're talking about metal bands playing live, that means something. I did some crowdsurfing in a morphsuit and I think I might of kicked a few people in the head. Whoops.

Now, the interesting part of the evening. During the Of Mice & Men set, I was in the moshpit, and some guy thought it was a brilliant idea to start twirling around as if he was trying to evolve into a tornado. The result was his fist hitting me in the eye, and the ring on said fist cutting my face. Thanks, bro.

I found myself in the emerge room with blood everywhere and what was apparently a minor concussion; I didn't even know what venue I was at for a few minutes, and had a bit of trouble remembering what a "wallet" was when they asked me to get my ID. 

-Kyle Jenkins

This one goes out to the bloggers

I love reading blogs. It's kinda hard due to my raging ADHD to actually sit down and write one of my own consistently, but some of you can really write. There's this whole culture of blogging people that I wasn't even aware of, it's so much more elegant than the dynamic of something like facebook.
So yeah. You're cool. Keep writing.
For being awesome, I'm going to give you some info on the new band we're adding to the 3SN playlist this week. The lead singer is a red haired/bearded dude by the name of Matty Mullins. Super cool guy that I got to chat with at warped tour last summer. What's the band?
MEMPHIS
MAY
FIRE
I am so stoked to put them on the airwaves, you have no idea. 3SN has been getting some killer music lately. Tune in this Saturday @ 9PM and listen for 4 MMF tracks.
Awwwwww yeeeaaahhh
-Kyle Jenkins

Underoath concert

So glad I got to see Underoath. One more thing to check off the bucketlist.
Overall, the concert was pretty amazing. As cities burn, Me without you and Letlive. opened the show, and to be honest I was just waiting for them to finish playing so that UO could start. The opening acts, to me, seemed pretty pretty generic. The exception to that would be Me without you, they did a folky-rock-thing with a bit of screaming, an accordion, some bongos, and some weird dancing and hand movements that made me think of Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Kinda like Mumford and sons crossed with The killers and The almost.. I guess.

Underoath did a fourteen song set, and a three song encore. No disappointment there. Lots of songs from albums dating back to like 2005 like "They're only chasing safety", no complaints about that either. Overall they just killed it and it's saddening to know that they're finished. The only thing that bugged me a bit was that at some points, the guitar was just kindof.. muddy. Hard to enjoy the good lead riffs when you can't hear them over the drums, rhythm and bass.

Also it would have been nice if Aaron gillespie was there.. just saying.

Oh yeah, my friend and I wore morphsuits to the show, mine red, his white. We definitely drew a lot of attention, got in trouble with some security, and I got my butt grabbed a couple times while wearing it by some girls that obviously don't understand physical boundaries with strangers. But more or less, good times. My neck still hurts a lot. I think I might be getting old.

We got lost on the way back from the concert and wound up almost getting arrested for driving infractions on the one way streets of toronto, like 9 times. They really need to mark those things better. Maybe set up a booth or something to inform the people that don't live in Toronto that they are LITERALLY EVERYWHERE and sometimes just to make your day suck a bit more there are some streets that you can only turn onto BETWEEN 4 AND 6 PM OR SOMETHING.

I MEAN REALLY TORONTO IS THAT EVEN NECESSARY

LOUD concert update

So the next couple months are pretty stacked with good concerts, some of which I'll list here, and I'm including some non-christian bands! Most of them are Metal and Hardcore. Just be mindful of what you listen to.

All time low/Yellowcard
Sound Academy, Toronto
January 17th

Underoath/ Mewithoutyou/ As cities burn/ Letlive
Sound Academy, Toronto
January 18th

A Past Unknown
Club Saggitarius, Brantford
January 26

Whitechapel/ Emmure/ A plot in you/ Obey the brave/ Unearth
Danforth music hall, Toronto
February 6th

Of Mice & Men/ Texas in July/ Woe is me/ Volumes/ Capture the crown
Pheonix concert theatre, Toronto
February 10th

Jesus Culture
Church on the queensway, Toronto
February 12th

Demon Hunter/ In flames/ All shall perish/ Battlecross
Guelph concert theatre, Guelph
February 27th

Every time I die/ Hundredth/ Acacia strain/ Vanna/ No bragging rights
Opera house, Toronto
March 6th

As I lay dying/ The devil wears prada/ For today/ The chariot
Sound Academy, Toronto
March 23rd

Now you don't have to go searching for all of those all over the internet like I did.. You're welcome! 

Tune in Saturday for more info!

-Kyle Jenkins