Hey loyal readers, I just thought that I'd let you know that we've been having some problems getting our website updated, which is why there have not been any new concert dates posted recently. We actually have quite a few new ones that need to be posted, and if we can't straighten this web page thing out soon I'll just post the latest ones here on our blog temporarily. We are looking to soon rebuild our website so that we will be able to update it ourselves and not rely on someone from Texas to do it for us. Up until now, He's done a fantastic job, but lately his work is demanding so much of his time that he hasn't been able to post the updates that I have been e-mailing him. For now, keep an eye on our schedule, and if no new dates are posted soon, I'll put them up here to keep everyone informed.



-Stephen

A Freshman No More

Hooray! It's official: my brother Stephen and I have completed our freshman year of college! And guess what: they're gonna let us back in next fall! I couldn't hardly believe it either. Anyway, It's been a really exciting year, and part is kinda sorry its over with. But, there's a bigger part of me that says
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!" I love school and all, but there's just something about that free air that isn't polluted by the smell of midterms and finals. Ask any college student and they'll tell you that you wind up writing so many papers, tests, quizzes, and what-not that you get finger cramps. Oh well, that's life....or is it pork reins??? Oh well, next fall I'll be heading back to the world of macadamia, and I'll get to do it all over again. Gotta go now: finger cramp.

Check out our website, http://www.foresterministries.com/ , to see all about us.

-Joshua

New ministry update

This has proven to be the most exciting year ever for both our lives and our ministry. We are wrapping up our second semester of college at Midwestern Baptist College this week.....and boy, are we ready for a break! I have really been busy from all the things that have been going on lately. Looking back on our past two semesters, it seems that Josh and I are almost always doing something besides just going to classes. Not only that, but everything that we get involved in seems to have a lot that needs doing, and in some cases leads to some other assignment or activity.
Take the gospel music concert that we hosted in March. Every Thursday between 12:00pm when day classes ended to somewhere before 6:00 pm when night classes started, I was in the basement with friends recording soundtracks for the concert. We had the concert, and my quartet sang and did very well. We were good enough that Mrs. Sally Welch, head of the music department, started using us for music events that she was in charge of at the college. This lead to us singing for chapel services at the school's annual competition week for the 'Cross America conference (an annual event where Christian school kids from everywhere come to compete in sports, music, and preaching competitions). We did well enough there that we were asked to sing for a "Youth 4 Truth" teen event being held at the college later on. That day two pastors approached me about having the quartet come to their church for special events, and we are waiting to see if they will book us, and our success at that meeting finally led to the quartet being featured in our last two choir performances.
While going through this semester, we were also filming a special comedy video on the side titled "Super Dorks". It was about three idiots who overhear a young preacher practicing his sermon about "the power of God", but they mistakenly think that it is God telling them that they have super powers! I got to play the fourth guy, an schemer who knows the truth about their powers but plays along to use those nuts for my own evil agenda!
But of course, we spent several weeks filming it and it took up a lot of time and energy.
We have also received a number of new bookings that should be posted any day now. We have been thrilled with the number of bookings that have flown in lately, and Lord willing, there will be many more to come!
I am considering buying some expensive recording equipment soon, with the hopes of starting my own studio like my older brother Mark. Once I learned how to use it and got some experience, I could use it to do some of the work on my own CDs and eventually other people's recordings as well.
A lot has been happening lately, and we have gotten a little tired from balancing all of this work with stuff going on in school, ministry, Dairy Queen, and other things, but it has been an awesome ride, and now that school is ending things will be easier but still very busy.
Be sure to check foresterministries.com for more bookings being posted soon and for new Cds for sale sometime this summer.

Whew! I need a nap!
-Stephen

Tiny Town

This past Sunday my brother and I went with our college choir to sing at a church. The town we went to was so small it made Mayberry look like the Big Apple on Saturday night, if ya know what I mean. If you tripped, you fell right over the county line. The place was so small and sleepy, cops would arrest you for aggravated assault if you sneezed on somebody. You don't even WANT to know how many years you could get for jaywalking! Anyway, I saw a sign as we passed through town for a new "sub division" (my guess would be a vacant lot with cardboard boxes). The sign said "New Homes Starting at $40,000!". I'm thinking the only home you're gonna get in this economy for forty grand is your choice of a bedroom OR a bathroom! Either that, or every night would seem like you and your spouse had a fight because every night you would literally be sleeping in the doghouse.

Anyway, don't forget to look on our website at www.foresterministries.com to see our booking updates, CD info, and more!

-Joshua

Sorry, Bill

I was thinking the other day that so many of the singers from the Gaither videos, the "Homecoming Friends", have gone on to be with the Lord, that heaven must be getting to look like a Gaither video! I'll bet when the rapture happens, Bill Gaither with get it on video. You're not supposed to be able to take it with you, but God may have to fight Gaither over that camera. I can see it now: "Pearly Gates Homecoming"; "Singin' With The Saints (Heaven Style)"; "A Crystal Sea Homecoming". The commercials will all say, "Eternity may last forever, but this deal won't! See all your homecoming favorites for just one golden street brick!" Unfortunately for Gaither, we'll just be able to see the singers in person whenever we want. Sorry, Bill.

Be sure to check out our website at http://www.foresterministries.com/ and take a look at our CDs and our schedule!

-Joshua

Hey everybody, I managed to find some time through all the craziness of my world that I call life to update you all on the latest ministry happenings. I have to back up a bit, but here we go,
On Mar.15, we were at a church in Mt. Morris that was absolutely a blast to perform for. They really seemed to enjoy everything, and they were one of the best laughing churches that we have been to in a while. We had a wonderful time and we agreed that that place would be great for a live recording someday.
Also, we just wrapped up that concert at Midwestern Baptist College. We had to make some adjustments here and there to make things work, but everything turned out great and we had a wonderful night. Josh was in rare form with his comedy, and we had a couple of other fellows doing some two-man comedy that night who were also hilarious. I sang with a men's ensemble and a quartet called "The Abiding Grace Quartet", and I think it went very well. We were able to raise some money for the college student body fund, and I'd love to do it there again sometime.
We are gearing up to make new CDs, and hope to have them available by mid-summer. See us on the web at www.foresterministries.com.

-Stephen

I Hate Hallmark

I have decided that Mother's Day cards are the worst cards in the world because of one thing: mothers cannot know if their kid is being sincere. All Mother's Day cards say something like:
To The Most Wonderful Mother In The World!!!!
A mother doesn't know if her kid is serious because ALL of the cards say something like that! I think someone needs to invent a new kind of card; no one has to buy it, it just needs to be there so sincerity in the other cards can be detected. Somebody needs to make a card that says, "I hated my childhood; thinking of becoming a serial killer. Signed, (your name here)."
Father's day cards are completely different, though. Those are easy to buy because dads give you a different side to your childhood. You don't have to worry about being sincere with a Father's Day card. Just buy something that says, "Happy Father's Day, Dad: Childhood With You Was A GAS!"

Our ministry, on a more spiritual note, is going quite well. We did a concert for a dinner in Mulliken Michigan this past Saturday, and boy, can those ladies COOK!:) I don't care if they're married or not, I'll wait in line.

Also, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago! I am now the big one-double-O! (The two Os stacked on top of each other make an eight) I can't believe I'm finally eighteen! Darn it, I just missed the election. Oh well, be sure to see our website at http://www.foresterministries.com/ to see all about us.

-Joshua
P.S.- Look over the past colors I've used to sign my blogs and see if you can guess what my favorite color is. The winner will receive: ......bragging rights. (Whoopie!)