Winter Jam has come and gone yet again. For those of you who don’t know, Winter Jam is a concert that brings a wide variety of mostly well known Christian artists together for a bunch of performances all in one. What follows summarizes my thoughts on this year’s event:
Loves
- I love when the body of Christ comes together.
- I love the sacrifice of standing in line in the cold for a seat (no advanced ticketing).
- I love when Newsong performs “Arise, My Love”. I’m not sure any one song performance tops this one each year.
- I LOVE the fact that young people get to see some of their favorite artists live.
- I love the fact that the event shares the truth of the Gospel each and every year in a clear and easy to understand way.
Like
- I do like the platform Winter Jam has to promote causes and events throughout Christianity.
- I like the $10 general admission price idea.
- I like the production value. This is not just a concert, but a well put together (and complicated) production. They do it well with so many moving pieces and parts. And somehow, the have very little trouble with their sound even with all the different groups performing.
Dislike
- I don’t like the fact they take an offering. They should just raise the price and allow groups more time to play their songs.
- I really dislike the tactic in the offering of telling basically the same story every year of someone who gave their last $20 and then God blessed them. At some point you lose credibility when you tell the same story. There may be some story like that happened at some point, but I simply don’t think it’s true that the same story happens every year. Silly me, I value truth.
- I wish Winter Jam would affirm the local church. They do a thing where they value pastors and youth leaders, inviting them to a special meeting where they get to meet some of the artists or something (I’ve never gone to that).
- But even after they ask people to decide to follow Christ, the encouragement steps to grow in your faith involve getting a book or stopping by a table. Getting baptized or connecting into a local church don’t come across. Why?
- This event needs the local church for its success. Why not give a little back in encouraging what people do in their local churches?