Needless to say, not everything found in the comments posted here are points of view I approve of or agree with. This site is meant to express my point of view. Check out all the spiritual themes in her words: I came upon a child of god There was to have been a Woodstock 2019 concert in a few days’ time, but that was cancelled for various reasons. Lang had begun negotiations … This summer marks 50 years since 400,000 people flocked to a field in upstate New York for "an Aquarian explosion" of "peace and music". John 18.36. It offers reflective and incisive commentary on a wide range of issues, helping to sort through the maze of competing opinions, worldviews, ideologies and value systems. Previous page. I have written about this in more detail here: billmuehlenberg.com/2014/11/07/the-rolling-stones-the-end-of-the-hippy-dream-and-my-story/. It is the celestial Word of God that holds the universe together, and it is that Word that we must align ourselves to. There was a tremendous feeling of euphoria and the adrenaline of unbridled freedom in the air. Woodstock 50 festival officially cancelled. That is not how you solve all the world’s problems. "People thought you were a nerd, or stupid, or strange.". That’s encouraging. While the festival-goers we spoke to remembered Woodstock positively, not everyone looks back so fondly on the weekend. Um, no, not quite. Sign up here to stay up-to-date about our 50/50 draws! So it was a disaster in terms of being a sound business venture, but the 1970 documentary film Woodstock helped organisers to pay off their debts. The Jesus Revolution was God’s antidote to the counterfeit revolution of the time. It changed the music business and it energized activists. "If you are anything like me, the mud of Woodstock still squishes between your toes.". Readers of this piece who are younger may only know of it as some interesting bit of ancient history that you heard about somewhere along the way. Jim Shelley was back at home in "pre-Springsteen" New Jersey for the summer after his first year at university in the conservative Midwest. Many thanks for helping to make this ministry possible and helping it to continue. Praise God. by Christine Salins. Account #: 613094 FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00. I am aware of only one who came out later saying he had become a Christian: Carlos Santana. Like other Woodstock veterans, Weissberg believes it was a moment in time that could not be repeated today (efforts to stage a Woodstock 50 anniversary festival crumbled at the end of July). We could seek for a better world, and pine for times of harmony and brotherhood and peace. billmuehlenberg.com/2014/11/07/the-rolling-stones-the-end-of-the-hippy-dream-and-my-story/, billmuehlenberg.com/2012/06/27/coming-home-my-testimony-part-1/, www.thecitypages.com/news-opinion/wisconsin%E2%80%99s-woodstock/, www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/may/how-god-saved-rock-and-roll-legend-santana-from-7-suicide-attempts, https://billmuehlenberg.com/2018/01/15/great-leaders-unhappy-childhoods/, Scripture, the State, and Resisting Authority. Read about our approach to external linking. "That in my mind was when the Woodstock generation took flight and for the first time I felt I belonged," he says. His experience emboldened him and his then girlfriend - now wife - not to conform. ‘It stopped the clock for three days’ Everything Woodstock promised but could not deliver on is found when lost sinners (such as myself) lay down their arms and submit to the lordship of Christ in faith and repentance. Patrick and Maria married shortly after the festival and are now grandparents. I’m going on down to Yasgur’s farm "I was 19, I didn't think it would have a lasting impact on my life. Woodstock: 50 Years of Peace and Music by Daniel Bukszpan Hardcover $22.76. NBC Today's Harry Smith relives Woodstock. One day multitudes from all times and all places will gather around the throne of God for the greatest festival ever. Woodstock seemed to embody everything we wanted life to be: peace, love, and rock and roll. Glenn's long hair and questioning of the Vietnam War was "most unpalatable" to his parents. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. "The attitudes I had before I went to Woodstock, which were so out of place back home, were confirmed when I was there. The concert itself turned small rural towns into crowded messes with miles’ long traffic jams that actually became parking lots. "But I wasn't the only person not to smoke. All others will come crashing down. Required fields are marked *. Even so, I have come to appreciate and enjoy much of the music that didn’t die with Miss American Pie. American journalist Hendrik Hertzberg wrote in 1989 that the only true ecstasy to be found at Woodstock was "getting the hell out of there". So many hippies and counter-culturalists of the late 60s and early 70s came to know Christ as well. Such hedonism cannot achieve any lasting social goods, and can only degenerate into carnal, fleshly and selfish lifestyles that are out of control. I was depressed and suicidal, and it really is amazing that I made it. Details. "That rotting smell hung in the air. Indeed, just a few months later the dream came crashing down at another major rock event – Altamont in California, just east of San Francisco. I was the only man to be in the delivery room. Festival alumni look back at three days of peace, love and music on August 16-18, 1969. Although the … If you want to contribute financially, here are two methods: For those wishing to contribute to this ministry by direct debit, here are our banking details: Westpac Banking Corporation Their lives were cut far too short, while I have made it thus far. That is as true of entire cultures as it is of individuals. And even though we had a lot of peace and rock and roll at Woodstock, what we really had was a whole lot of hedonism. I was straight and guess I hadn't had the opportunity. Bill, I appreciate your reflection on Woodstock as you are one of my peers. Exactly 50 years ago this week we had an event that defined a generation. He pointed out the obvious: when storms come, only one house will last. The "suburban white Catholic kid" was questioning the legitimacy of the Vietnam War and started to think "the direction the country was heading in politically was wrong". It certainly is the stuff of memories. Mankind’s fall into sin has resulted in a distortion of God’s image in all of us. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. ", "Woodstock really was as fabulous as it was cracked up to be. “get ourselves back to the garden” unless Jesus leads the way EDEN is not the garden we will find. You must state your full name to have your comments posted. A gala 50 th Anniversary Woodstock festival had been planned for Watkins Glen Raceway, 150 miles west of here. But just getting high and listening to music does not make for a satisfactory and worthwhile life. People didn't agree with my views on the war," he says. Two years after the original Woodstock I became a Christian, so that was the end of my radical hippy days – more or less (see my testimony that I link to below). Thanks Jeremy. Just prior to its cancellation, it was announced the event had been reduced from three days to one day. First, we are all made in the image of God. The gardens man finds his way too are often full of corpse flowers – beautiful but stinks to high heaven! CultureWatch is a faith ministry and I get no salary. Yes, that’s correct Bill, as you wrote above,…” without the Prince of Peace (the Lord Jesus Christ) there will never be peace on earth.” Producer Andy Zax has spent years organizing and reconstructing the audio into a near-complete chronological archive — realizing that the festival’s storied legacy is only a partial picture of what happened, his goal is to present Woodstock … Comments which are simply attacks on myself, or are done in bad taste, or use rude language, or are possibly defamatory will not be posted. Man’s attempts at spirituality just do not compare to God’s chosen means of us getting right with him. If you were like me, people didn't like you. It was all about personal peace and happiness, about getting high, about free sex, about pleasure of all sorts. I remember it was not pleasant.". It was a chance encounter on a park bench that led him to ride his Honda motorbike to Woodstock. ‘We saw so many others who looked like us, talked like us, and thought like us’ In Matthew 7:24-27 he spoke about building a house upon the rock, and building on shifting sand. And this he told me Jimmy Steinfeldt: Tell me about your experience at Woodstock. Many said things like: we can now answer the latter and it isn’t a good answer. Glenn Weiser was a 17-year-old high-school student studying classical guitar in 1969 - but he loved rock 'n' roll. As mentioned, I did not make it to Woodstock – I was in too much of a state of being constantly stoned back then to even consider going. I recount some of these heady days in my personal testimony: billmuehlenberg.com/2012/06/27/coming-home-my-testimony-part-1/, And there actually was a Wisconsin Woodstock that I went to over a weekend in late June 1970. It was either three days of madness and chaos, or three days of heaven on earth, depending on your point of view. Acoustic performers included John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, Melanie, Richie Havens and Joan Baez. Glenn and a group of his "starry-eyed hippie" friends travelled to the festival from New Jersey. Baron Wolman: There’s the thought of Woodstock and there’s the legend of Woodstock. Happy writing! WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION (2019) 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings.) I hadn’t seen it before and learned some things I hadn’t known about the event. She expresses questionable theological views, but refreshingly realistic un-naive attitudes. Patrick and the girl, Maria, spent the weekend together. Share them in fb land. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Transgenderism, the Bible, and Christianity. Just when I was at the very end of my rope, he stepped in and changed my life forever. That in part explains why – at least for a few short days – one could find so much caring and sharing going on. Music is a gift to us from a good good God. "I didn't do drugs at that point. Jesus said that His Kingdom is not of this world. Many people are asking, “Where is our culture heading?” This website is devoted to exploring the major cultural, social and political issues of the day. Prayers for the ministry Bill. Obviously as a Christian, I must also think about the 50th anniversary of Woodstock from a spiritual point of view. WOODSTOCK CELEBRATES 50 YEARS WITH COMPREHENSIVE 38-CD DELUXE BOXED SET. The fact that we are talking about it 50 years after the event says it means something in people’s eyes. Indeed, my own story testifies to this. I’m going to camp out on the land So Glad you where delivered from that junk brother. Woodstock Hospital is a full-service community hospital providing state-of-the-art healthcare in Oxford County. "I remember looking around at the crowds of people like me and thinking, 'Look how many of us there are'.". When the organizers of Woodstock's 50th anniversary festival put the rock band Hollis Brown on the lineup, lead singer Mike Montali was elated. "I immediately felt the shackles of a lifetime of repression lift from my shoulders. It could not work, and I didn’t. Standing at the Abyss: Reclaiming Civilisation, “Christian” Colleges - Another One Bites the Dust. I remember the christian artist Leon Patillo who used to be in Santana’s band in the 70s before becoming a christian and christian recording artist. Purchase at Amazon.com Rather than an attendee at the centre of a hazy hippie haven, he sees himself as victim of a "massive, teeming, squalid mess [of]... colossal traffic jams, torrential rain, reeking portable johns, barely edible food, and sprawling, disorganised crowds". Haven ’ t known about the 50th anniversary of Woodstock from a spiritual of. 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