She Really Just Needs One Honest Friend

Dependency on God

I had another one of those "Only God could have pulled that off" moments this morning (I seem to have a lot of those these days).

I actually made it through another weekend of singing at Newpointe!!!

You see... I have a medical condition that causes chronic hoarseness... and for a vocalist... that is not a good thing. I have my vocal chords checked on a regular basis by my ENT... and I am told (every time) that my chords are strong and healthy (no nodes or cancer). That is great news every time I hear it... but there is still a lot of inflammation and irritation around the chords that causes the hoarseness. I have been treated for this condition over the past 5 years or so. As a matter of fact... I just had another endoscopy about 2 weeks ago... and I have to go in this next week for some further testing in Akron (They are going to leave a probe in my esophagus for 24 hours to monitor the muscle strength and the amount of acid that is there. Auuughh!). BTW: I am really dreading this one. Please keep me in your prayers.

I am pretty sure that these experiences are God's way of reminding me that, aside from Him, I am weak and helpless. You see... there was a day when I was just the opposite. I was "young and cocky". I felt like I could conquer the world. Oh... you've been there too. Maybe it wasn't singing... but for you maybe it was athletic or academic achievements. I was a studio BGV arranger and vocal leader. At times... I had to be in the studio from 9:00 AM until 2 or 3:00 AM (straight through without any strain on my vocal chords at all). It was awesome!

Today... I often experience hoarseness and even a loss of my voice on Saturday night (which really causes a lot of stress when I know that I need to be able to lead the next morning) Somehow I always find a "supernatural" strength to get through the services... and then my voice just goes away again for the rest of the week. It is pretty amazing how that works! It is like God is saying "I'll give you just enough to do what I need you to do for me this morning." For me... it is just a constant reminder of my total dependency on God. It is a very humbling experience... and one that causes me to TRUST Him more and more. Do I still worry that my voice won't be there when I open my mouth on Sunday morning? Sure... but I always look back and wonder why I ever worried at all. God is so faithful.

I believe that God is going to give the doctors wisdom to find the best way to treat this condition... or that He is going to just deliver me from it all together. Whichever happens... because I can look back at God's faithfulness over the years (and He has a pretty good track record)... I will always trust... and I will always remain completely dependent on Him. I know (without a doubt) where my strength (voice) comes from.

“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10)

Billy Joel

Hey! Check out who is on the cover of the newest Keyboard magazine!

It's BILLY JOEL!

Pretty cool... huh? I just blogged about him 2 days ago... and today... he is on the cover of my newest Keyboard magazine. It has been over 30 years since "The Stranger" (his first big record) was released... and Billy is still going strong.

McTomlin

Hey... it's going to be a McTomlin weekend at NewPointe. This Sunday morning... we are opening with a Fleetwood Mac song... closing with a TobyMac song and using 3 of Chris Tomlin's songs in the worship set. So it's a McTomlin weekend (no... it wasn't intentional)! But don't miss it!!!!

(OK... so maybe I do need to get a life)

RandomStuf: (catchin' up)

RandomStuf #1: I have gone way too many days without blogging. I think I actually experienced blog withdrawal. Here's the deal: I just got back from Nashville where we celebrated my Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary! Is that amazing or what?!?! 50 years! WOW! It was a great event and lot's of friends and family came (from everywhere) to congratulate them. My folks had an absolute BLAST! Of course that is what the event was all about. A marriage that lasts 50+ years is amazing these days. I am so proud of them!

RandomStuf#2: Famous Dave's ROCKS!!!! I got to eat there with my family while in Nashville this past weekend! It just gets better and better!

RandomStuf #3: The new David Crowder* Band CD is out! And get this... Ted Nugent plays on it! Evidently... Ted and his wife moved to Texas a while back... and Ted's wife started attending David's church in Waco. Long story short: They hooked up... and "The Nuge"... "The Motor City Mad Man" himself is actually playing on David's new project! Pretty wild huh? Check it out... the CD is called REMEDY (a very cool concept for a CD title... and a very cool song on the CD.)! The project sounds great and has some very "interesting" moments... but would you expect anything less of DC*B?

RandomStuf #4: Dinosaurs still exist... in Kentucky! Auuuggh!!!













RandomStuf #5: Aly loves Hummers. As I have mentioned before... she wants to someday own a black Hummer (with pink airbrushed flames). Well... we spotted a Hummer stretch limo in a restaurant parking lot the other night in Nashville. So... I got Aly and her cousin, Madison to stand beside it for a photo. Well... while they were "posing" beside the Hummer... the driver came out of the restaurant behind us and hit the unlock button on his key FOB. The Hummer lit up like a Christmas tree... and the girls took off running! It was pretty funny! Well... we visited with the driver for a while. We all had questions for him... like how much does it cost to rent a Hummer limo? (Answer: $150.00 an hour - with a 4 hour minimum). As long as the limo was... we wondered if it was hard to turn corners or maneuver through traffic? (Answer: He said that the Greyhound bus that was parked behind the limo had a better turning radius than this limo.) OK... so we just had to know if any big country music stars had rented the limo recently. (Answer: Yes... Gretchen Wilson, Aaron Tippin and then also some of the Tennessee Titan's wives. Not all at the same time... although they probably could have fit!). Even though the girls did not recognize any of those people... they were still fascinated with the vehicle.

SO THEN... he invited us to take a look around inside! WOW! It was amazing! Here... just check out the inside!









RandomStuf#6: I was listening to my "Essential Billy Joel" collection on my iPOD while driving to Nashville the other day. Yes... I am a fan (if you can't tell). I have studied the stylings of Stevie, Elton, Ray, Bruce and many other great pianists over the years... but Billy still amazes me and here's why:

OK... so hitting a homerun is one of the most athletic feats in the game of baseball... correct? AND... dunking a basketball is right up there with the most amazing feats in basketball... correct?

WELL... (stay with me here)

To me... in the music industry... it is just as impressive to record a song with only a piano and a microphone... and end up with a number one hit. Every day... record labels spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on one cut from a project. Billy walked into a studio and probably recorded "She's Got A Way" in one take. Think about it... no studio musicians to pay, probably 15 minutes of studio time to record (more to mix... but still!) and yet the song got the same results as a big money single. I am still absolutely blown away by Billy Joel. He is "the dude"!

More RandomStuf to come!

Chipotle!

We made a trip to Canton tonight to pick up a few supplies for my Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary celebration coming up this next weekend in Nashville. While we were there... we ate at Chipotle. Man, Oh, Man... a burrito as big as your head! WOW! Was it ever awesome! It was April's first time. She loved it!

OK... what do you think: A Chipotle in Dover/New Philly? Good idea?

A Healthy Team

A podiatrist... a teacher... a customer service representative... a couple high school /college students... a software developer... and several other everyday folks make up the worship team at NewPointe. You will not find one professional musician in the mix... and yet these folks come together every week to make some pretty happenin' music for all our environments. Pretty cool... huh? I love it! Believe me... they are some of the most dedicated volunteers that I have ever met. They absolutely inspire me every week. What is the secret to keeping volunteer musicians excited about their ministry? What are some things that we can do to energize them?

1. Constantly remind them of the fact that what they are doing is fulfilling the church's vision and mission. Newpointe's mission is "to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ".
2. Talk about (and reinforce) a set of values on a regular basis. Talk about things like excellence, spiritual growth, authenticity, evaluation, leadership, creativity, etc...
3. Give them training opportunities to grow and develop musically (both personally and as a team).
4. Give them music that is exciting, relevant and challenging to work with. Musicians will play whatever you put in front of them... but if they are not being challenged, they will get bored and find another place to serve. The most energizing experience for a vocalist/musician is to see and know that their music is connecting with the audience... and that it is changing people's lives.
5. Share stories of the awesome things that are happening in your church that are a direct result of their ministry. Encourage a positive atmosphere on your team. Negativity is a real momentum killer. Focus on "what is right in the world".
6. Leave margin for creative expression from the team. Be open to creative ideas that could improve the song.
7. Have fun! If your rehearsals are boring... you will have a hard time hanging on to really good musicians. A happy and fulfilled team is a healthy team. BTW: If you are doing boring music... you will have a really hard time hanging on to great musicians as well (And yes... there is a lot of boring church music out there - at least the way it is performed).

Well... there are so many more important dynamics to a healthy team of artists to talk about... but I'll just have to stop there. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to minister along side of some of the most talented and creative vocalists/musicians anywhere!

NewPointe Worship Team: YOU ROCK!

Creativity @ NewPointe

Creativity was in the air so thick last night at NewPointe... that you could have cut it with a knife. Everywhere that you walked through the building... creative people were brainstorming, dreaming, planning and creating some very cool stuff to be used to minister to the people who check out our different environments each and every week.

In the KidStuf "green room"... a group of people met to "brainstorm" for a series coming up later this fall. It was a sort of "focus group" of creative folks from our community... formed to generate ideas of what people might think about the topic that we will be discussing. None of the folks that were in that group actually attend NewPointe. Most probably do not even attend church anywhere. But there they were... throwing out ideas for songs, movies, quotes etc... From what I have been told... some great ideas came out of that meeting.

Then... just up the hall... in the conference room... there was a creative team brainstorming ideas for our next Married Life LIVE event. I have already heard what the theme is... and it is going to be AWESOME! If you have never attended Married Life LIVE... DON'T MISS THIS ONE!

So back to the creative team: If you were to listen in on that meeting, you would have heard phrases like "Yeah... and what if we..." or "How about..." or "Let's try..." all over the room. THAT is what a creative TEAM is all about. I can't wait to see what they have come up with.

In the Main Auditorium... the stage was buzzing with Visual Arts Team members hard at work constructing the stage set for a new series (The Secret Revealed) that starts this coming weekend at NewPointe. Now... I am not going to give anything away... but all I will say is this: It is definitely the most ambitious stage set ever created at NewPointe. You will just have to be here this weekend to see it for yourself. It is going to be very cool!

We are so blessed to have so many creative thinkers at NewPointe. It is so inspiring to be around them all. I really believe that this is only the beginning.

Creativity breeds creativity...

... and I just believe that more and more artists from all over Tuscarawas and Holmes counties will come to be a part of the exciting things that are happening at NewPointe.

The greatest days are ahead!

Enthusiasm

You may think that I need to "get a life" after I share this... but one of my all time favorite TV personalities was...

Steve Irwin

Yes... The Crocodile Hunter was one of my favorite TV shows. Do you want to know why? Well... for one (in case you couldn't tell by now) I LOVE animals. When I was a kid... I wanted to be a Marine Biologist when I grew up. I must have read the first volume ("A" for animals) of the World Book Encyclopedia over a hundred times. I think that I mainly watched Steve's show to see what he was going to do next. I could never quite figure out if he was amazingly brave... or incredibly stupid. Either way... I was always fascinated with Steve Irwin. You could just see how absolutely passionate he was about saving animals. So that is why Steve was such an inspiration to me. I found myself wishing that I could be as enthusiastic about what I do... as Steve was about saving animals. What was it that set him apart from any other naturalist on TV? It was a contagious enthusiasm... a real zeal for life... and for what he was created to do.

en·thu·si·asm θuziˌæzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[en-thoo-zee-az-uhm]

–noun

1.	absorbing or controlling possession of the mind by any interest or pursuit; lively interest: He shows marked enthusiasm for his studies.

2.	an occupation, activity, or pursuit in which such interest is shown: Hunting is his latest enthusiasm.

3.	any of various forms of extreme religious devotion, usually associated with intense emotionalism and a break with orthodoxy.

[Origin: 1570–80; <>enthūsiasmus <>enthousiasmós, equiv. to enthousí(a) possession by a god (énthous, var. of éntheos having a god within, equiv. to en- en-² + -thous, -theos god-possessing + -ia y³) + -asmos, var., after vowel stems, of -ismos -ism]

—Synonyms 1. eagerness, warmth, fervor, zeal, ardor, passion, devotion.

—Antonyms 1. indifference.

That's awesome!!! en-thu-si-asm: "Having a God within" (of course there is only ONE God). Imagine that... one of my favorite words in the dictionary... and the origin is... GOD. The root of the word enthusiasm (en-theos) actually means "in God". Perry Noble (Pastor of NewSpring Church) says that the reason that most people don't have a zest for life... is because they don't know God. WOW! So if Steve Irwin could be that enthusiastic about animals... shouldn't we (who claim to be Christ followers) have an even greater passion for life... since we were created to be the living definition of enthusiasm?



This weekend at NewPointe we start a new series called "The Secret Revealed". During this series we are going to be taking a look at CHARACTER. Real Godly character can only come from abiding in Christ. When we are abiding in Christ... we can do everything in life with...

enthusiasm

Beautiful Day

This had to be one of the most beautiful days of the year. The sky was blue the sun was shining and it was around 75 degrees all day. You can't stay indoors on a day like this... so we loaded up the van and headed out to the lake. Yup... we spent the whole day fishing and kayaking out at Atwood Lake. It was an incredible day!





We didn't catch a lot of fish... but it sure was great to be outdoors. I actually caught the first fish of the day... of course... I couldn't really even bring myself to call it a fish... it was more like a minnow. April caught the biggest... still not a "keeper". APRIL IS... but not the fish.













I did get to enjoy my kayak out on the lake today.









It was pretty windy today... so the lake was covered with sailboats. I felt kind of like that "minnow" out there in the middle of all those boats. It was a lot of fun to ride through their wakes though.






We had a little excitement at the lake today too. They landed a Med Flight helicopter in a field right next to our tent. As a matter of fact... the pilot had to radio down to the paramedics to ask us to move away from the tent because he was afraid that we were to close to the landing site! Now... that's close! It was pretty cool to see the medical team in action in an emergency situation like that.

THEN... as if that was not enough excitement for one day... a reporter/photographer with the Carrollton newspaper came by and took photos of Aly and me as we were fishing. She was just reporting on the beautiful day at Atwood Lake... and I guess now we are going to be a part of her story. Pretty cool... huh? She said that she is going to mail us a copy of the newspaper. I'll have to include that in a later post.

Well... I had better get. We have a really big day tomorrow at NewPointe. There will be lots of great music... including Switchfoot's "Dare You To Move". I can't wait! Dave D'Angelo is speaking and I just know that it is going to be a powerful morning.