Reintroduction kind of

ATatum · Tadpole Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 24

Hello from North Carolina.I posted a couple posts a few months ago,but I have been just hiding lately.A couple posts lately have really touched my heart and caused me to reexamine a lot of things.I'll try to keep this as short as possible.I got my index finger of my fretting hand caught in an auger a few weeks ago chipped the tip of the bone off and had to have the end stiched back on.So needless to say my playing has been slowed.I was playing some electric at church.On again off again kinda thing.I struggle with hereing that voice telling me you are not good enough(player and person) to be up here,Then feeling like I should be when I'm not.Our church is really growing.The growth is good,It is forcing growth in our music too.The choir director is trying to broaden our sound.She has told me that I am a key to that too.Sometimes I wondered if she ever really listened to me.Any way the point of all this is to say Thanks to Dan Brown and a few others.Your posts have really opened my eyes to the true purpose to why we play.I picked up the guitar a year ago because of people like Joe Satriani.I thought it would be cool to be able to do stuff like that.Now I'll be happy to just make a joyful noise(which noise fits sometimes lol
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PunkStar · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject:

Nice to have you back AT. Sorry to hear about the finger accident, is it healing ok? And best of luck with your church playing.

ATatum · Tadpole Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 24

It is healing slowly but surely.I have been able to start playing some again this week.It is just tender with all that fresh new skin

music wasn't part of me · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:26 pm Post subject: Re: Reintroduction kind of

markm2553 · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:36 am Post subject:

Glad to see you back AT! Exclamation

I pray the healing of your finger continues.

I'm sure your chior director is correct, you are a big part of the music at your Church. Getting our "licks" better takes practice, but getting our hearts in order, takes Jesus. Keep the heart in the right place and the rest will all fall in line. Wink

May God continue to bless YOUR ministry at Church!

Now if you really want to give that finger a work out, drop that electric and pickup a flat top. Very Happy

ATatum · Tadpole Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 24

I'll take all the prayers I can get.I have a ibanez electric acoustic that I play also.We have two acoustic players already in the church.Pluss my oldest son who is practing with us.We have gotten more younger people in the church which is great.We are trying to get into some more contempory prasie & worship music.Something for everyone I guess.So I get to turn on a lil crunch with the electric which I like.We have a few songs that I play some lead harmonies in which is fun.I try to do it tasteful and add to the music.Not to say look I'm cool.I'll have to figure out a way to post an mp3.We do a song called rain dance which has a very native american tribal drum beat to it.The song is about praying for the holy ghost rain to fall.We have also done people get ready by Curtis Mayfield at a special Thanksgiving community service.Kind of like the newsong version.Got to pull off a couple Jeff Beck licks.Didn't mean to right a book.To God Be The Glory

J Dan Brown · Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:50 am Post subject:

A and Music, your posts were a real blessing to me! I could have that seizure I don't come back from today, and my last thought will be that Christ has used broken old Dan for a bit of eye opening. And Mark, thank you and blessings to you for being such a warm and trusting friend. And ATatum, your finger has my intense prayers as well. And I pray for blessings for Eastern Indonesia, Mr. Music!

Now about "being good enough." Sure God wants us to do our best, but we shouldn't "hide out" while learning how to "do right" either seeking His face or praising Him with our gifts. Remember that, as children of God He hears us like a proud Father hearing his child playing violin in publicfor the firsrt time and the actual sound would drive nearby dogs mad, but him hearing it like a perfect Beethoven's 5th. Do your best with prayed up confidence, and God will bless it and it will bless Him!

I learned long ago to quit performing, to ignore who was listening, and to sing directly to and for Him and it was great for my playing and singing.
Blessed, by all around him, Dan

music wasn't part of me · Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject:

[quote="J I learned long ago to quit performing, to ignore who was listening, and to sing directly to and for Him and it was great for my playing and singing.[/quote]

Bold "Long Ago", I just learned that around 6months ago, It's so true that only that way of singing works when it comes to P&W God.....What An Amazing God, He is the Audience!

J Dan Brown · Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks all, for your well wishes and kind words. I feel this place is really growing on me. My prayers of late have been for the Father to really increase activity here with much more vocal, but honest and genuine Christian visitors willing to participate. Look people, we know you're hiding out there! Be brave and join in our discussions. We won't pick on or persecute you, because we're not like that, as we are children of the true God! Follow the moderators rules and all will be well. I have a vision of what this site could become, with much serious and few token prayers and of course if that's God's will.

Mr. Music, it blessed me that you picked those passages from 2nd Corinthians 12 to share with me. After Roman's 8 [still trying to totally understand Romans 7, however ], that's probably one of my favorite chapters in the Word. Paul definately understood that there is no such thing as luck, but only either what the Father wishes or allows to happen. It reminds me of an old song I still do from an early '70's Christian rock group named "Bethlehem" that's written by a Glenn Daniels, called "How Long." I did a medley of a cover of it and another of these guy's songs called "The Low Down, Guilty, Convicted by the Holy Ghost Blues" on my first CD. Both of them are a casual 12-bar blues rock.

The first refrain goes:
"My brother Paul, he prayed three times. "Lord, take my burden away!"
He suffered so long and he suffered so hard, but all he heard was Jesus say: "My grace is sufficient, My grace is sufficient, My grace is sufficient, and you are never alone!"

The second refrain goes:
"Just like brother Paul, we all have our weakness, we all have to struggle along! But in God's plan, we must understand that where we are weak, He is strong! And His grace is sufficient, His grace is sufficient, His grace is sufficient, and We are never alone!"

Blessed, to be considered worthy of a true testing of my weaknesses through which I will be made strong, Dan

"I am a man, made from the dust. You are a King, holy and just!
Help my darkened understanding of the way You move through the life of a son of Your love!"
Fernando Ortega

"Make my life a prayer to You. I wanna do what You want me to. No token prayers, and no white lies, no token prayers and no compromise!
I wanna shine the Light You gave through Your Son You sent to save us from ourselves and our despair. It comforts me to know You're really there." Keith Green c.1979

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALL and the blessings of God thru the following year!
Sincerely, John Daniel Brown, Elm Grove, LA

ATatum · Tadpole Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 24

Thanks to all for the prayers and encouraging words.I'm gonna do my best to lift up the name of Jesus.I was asked tonight to come sit in with a newly forming christian band tonight.They need some one to play some rhythm and acoustic.Soposed to get together after the first of the year.Guess the good Lord wants to see if I'm serious or not.I Hope everyone has a Very Merry CHRISTmas.

George E · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:20 am Post subject:

Leading the music in a Christian worship service is not all that different from leading the spoken portions of a Christian worship service. A complete Christian worship gathering includes the assembled congregation offering praise to God, but it also includes the assembled congregation receiving God's Word. Worship leaders, whether leading musical or non-musical portions of the service, are there to facilitate communications between the worshippers and the Lord in both directions.

Anyone called to write worship songs has a similar call to someone who is called to preach sermons. If a preacher only praised God, and never spoke prophesy, never taught the congregation, never illuminated or explained Scripture, never took Biblical stories and showed how they apply in modern time, that preacher would be a poor excuse for a preacher. Some hymns or worship songs should be sermons. They should perform the same ministry that a sermon performs.

Never forget that when one leads the music in a worship service, one is not only leading the congregation in communicating to God, one is also repeating God's Word back to the congregation.

J Dan Brown · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:50 pm Post subject:

Amen, George! I was blessed and agree with absolutely most of what you said, and perhaps I misunderstood the part I have doubts about. You probably didn't mean it to come across as it did to me. Please forgive me if I didn't hear (or read) you clearly. Now if you mean that all spiritual gifts are necessary and expected in every pastor or preacher or even in all believers, I believe Eph. 4:10-12 and 1 Cor: 12:27-30 directly contradicts that notion.

I wonder at times if the "Spiritual gifts" are over-emphasized, and in every case are not all necessary for Salvation. I don't think I have ever had a prophesy, if you mean like telling a barren woman that she is to bear a child, or knowing someone should cancel a trip because of danger. Now if you mean that I feel that God lead and directed me here and gave me a personal and private vision of what this site could become if more people visited and participated, then I have. But either way, I don't feel that this makes me a better Christian or a "poor excuse" for a believer or for a minister (of music or otherwise.) I have seen countless undeniable miracles in my life; healings and I have seen and experienced "messages" from the Father, usually in the form of an obscure song I had forgotten, that I pulled out on His urging that seemed thta it was exactly what someone needed to hear.

I believe in a total "innerrant" Word of God, (alive, totally complete, perfect and without a hidden secret code Wink

) but you have to pray and seek His face a lot to avoid being confused by the changing of terms through the ages and vague translations. I think (I suppose that it was what I was taught) that the definition of the word "prophet" is different in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old it was a term meaning someone who foretold the coming of Christ, but in the New (obviously, after the coming of Christ) it was someone who, after an "Apostle" started a church, could see forward to what that church would become and receive divine guidance for that church as a "prophet."

Please forgive me if I mistook part of your post to say that without an ability to utilize every spiritual gift mentioned in God's Word on demand, we were made less that a proper preacher or believer, but that is what it sounded like to me. Believe me please, that I am not trying to put you down or corner you in any way, I'm just curious. We're all just kind and patient friends here, right? Forgive me if I failed in asking about this properly and in love or charity (as is the most important gift, right)!
Blessed, by a place to spill my heart and mind, Dan

markm2553 · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:18 am Post subject:

While we are on the subject of leading P&W… Cool

Sunday night our piano players where out, all three! So I got the opportunity to lead the congregation using my guitar. It has been a couple of months, I must admit, I do miss it more that I thought I might.
We ended up singing five, one of my own writing, I was kind of worried how the congregation would except a style so different from what they have grown use to. But the Lord blessed the service and visited us during worship! Exclamation

Only a handful of people had ever heard any of the songs before, they are die hard County/southern Gospel fans, and that’s cool by me. Even with not knowing most of the songs, everyone gave it a shot, and God blessed us all for the effort.

One of our board members after service told me he really didn’t care for some of those songs when he heard them on TV, but really liked them when we sang them together as a congregation. Cool

To God be the Glory!

ATatum · Tadpole Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 24

markm we are experiencing some of the same things at our church.It is mostly older than me people.I say older than me mbecause I don't wanna call anyone old.I'll be there one day.lolThey have been so used to one style of music.Now the church is growing and the music is changing with that growth.I see the looks on some of the faces.When a new song is played.People are slowly coming to realize that it's not about the music,but about you and God.Singing with your heart praise to him.

J Dan Brown · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:56 am Post subject:

Blessings to you both, Mark and A! It is about the music and communication with God! I caused much paranoia and fear at my small Southern Baptist church by suggesting that our tradition of singing three hymns, never more than 3 verses and always standing on the third verse of the first and last hymn sung was maybe a bit more than tradition and we needed to explore more music singing to God than the typical Hymn that sings about God or about things I have never figured out since childhood.To at least explore a compromise of the 2, maybe. It almost destroyed my church by the controversy I caused. We still are old school and I backed off.

My Dad's church had a major split once over building a new sanctuary and the architect placed the organ on the right side of the podium rather than the left which is more traditional and the piano on the left. A new church was started and built with about 50% of the people. Both churches still exist.
Ain't Christianity grand, sometimes?
Blessed, in spite of myself and most of the rest of the world, Dan