Making The Way Clear
I was doing well. Had the first band rehearsal for the new project. It went really well. I had plans rolling in my head. It was looking pretty nice. Then, I asked someone to give me some advice on something that I’d written. The advice he gave me was excellent advice and direction. But I got his advice just as I was in the midst of fighting with the flu. Yeah… I caught that nasty bug that’s been going around. So, feeling yucky already, I found my emotions totally out of whack. At the same time, my wife was out of town tending to some family business. So, I was home alone, feeling physically miserable, emotionally vulnerable… and I got sucker punched by the enemy.
Lemme tellya… it’s been quite some years since I’d faced that kind of crisis of faith. I was suddenly fearful… nervous… leery… just downright scared. I was praying, “God, what am I dong here? Why am I trying to record another project? I know I don’t have the money. I know I can’t pull this off. I’m going to wind up with egg in my face… and I know that won’t bring you any glory.” I was ready to throw my hands in.
The next morning, I woke up, still sick. I got myself into the mood for writing. I figured, whether I was recording the project or not, I needed to finish the songs that I was working on. So, I started working on this song, “Bigger Than I Imagined.” The song was inspired by our Europe tour. We were in Potenza visiting Father Don Franco’s office, seeing the figurines he had acquired from countries all over the world… all celebrating the birth of our Lord. Seeing this clear representation of the global reach of the Gospel I gained a new perspective of how big God is. I just started telling God, “I thought I knew how great You were but You are much bigger than I imagined.” As we traveled to the next city, I started writing the chorus of the song.
So, as I’m thinking about this experience, and about the amazing view of the Alps as we were flying into Milan, Italy… and the snow-capped mountains, and the flight over to the island of Sardinia… the lyrics started to flow… “Even if I climb the highest mountain peak… or sail to an island – far out in the deep… no matter where I am, I’ll find You right there – answering prayer. You are so much bigger – bigger than I imagined. You are so much greater than my mind can see…”
Once I finished writing the song, I called up one of my songwriter friends, Beth Champion-Mason, to bounce the lyrics and tune off her for her critical ear. She shared a few great suggestions and gave her approval. That felt great!
Then out of the clear blue, I got a call from Jonathan DuBose, Jr… yes, THE Jonathan DuBose, Jr. He was responding to a call I’d placed to him a couple weeks earlier. I’d left a voicemail with him asking that he pray with me that God will provide what I needed to do this recording. Jonathan called just to tell me that my prayers had been answered and that every thing that I needed for this project was already in place… and all I needed to do was to step out and watch God fulfill his promise. I felt my courage coming back!
Saturday was our first vocal rehearsal for the project. It was so wonderful hearing Bethany, Neketa, Felicia and Jene singing the harmonies on “I Give You Everything.” During one of the breaks in the rehearsal they were talking about all the friends and family members they were bringing to the recording and how big a crowd they are anticipating for that night. As they were talking I was thinking, “Well, I guess I can’t call it off now. It’s already too big. And these girls would strangle me.” I later sang “Bigger Than I Imagined” for them. After singing it, I realized that those were the words that God was requiring me to live out. If I am going to record it, I need to live it. I need to realize and embrace the fact that God is HUGE… much bigger than a recording budget.
So, Monday I’m thinking through my plan and looking at possible means of generating a considerable amount of the revenue I need for the project. But, I was thinking I couldn’t act on my idea. Then, out of the clear blue… here we go again… I got a completely unexpected word from the Lord through a former piano student. She sent it via MySpace. She said… “just hitting your page to remind you that the Lord will fulfill His purpose in you.” That thing reverberated in the chambers of my spirit. Soon after, I felt led to call my pastor and talk my idea over with him. And the advice, wisdom and support that he gave me just changed everything! Now, I can see my way clearly. My confidence is back. My health is back, too.
But, I feel humbled by the fact that I acted so faithless last week. I got sucker punched and I wasn’t ready for the fight. God brought me through and proved himself. But now I know I need to prepare myself for the next test. I know it’s coming.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Inspire Me!
I believe we all have those moments when we need inspiration. Not just generic inspiration – but specific inspiration for a specific task. I’m having one of those moments right now. April 25th, I will be recording my next project. It will be a live recording at my home church, Gethsemane Community Fellowship Baptist Church in Norfolk, VA. The task seems HUGE this time. Perhaps because the last time I recorded I had no idea going in just how much it was actually going to cost me – financially, emotionally and time-wise. But this time, I know that it can easily cost me $XX,000 and an entire year to produce a project with the quality of my last one. Mediocrity is often inexpensive. Excellence, on the other hand, is seldom cheap. God has put excellence in me. I have disdain for mediocrity. But when you don’t have $XX,000 at your disposal, it can become a bit overwhelming.
Last week I was sitting in a group session for a leadership institute that I’m attending at my church. The group mentor asked a question, “How do you know that a plan is of God?” We all tossed around various answers. But the mentor gave us an answer that trembled the core of my heart. He said, “You know it’s a plan from God when it requires an act of trust.” Then he went to the scriptures and read from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy path.” At that very moment I heard God speaking these scriptures into me – like a song being played into my consciousness. I saw that I was being required to trust God. I was already facing financial challenges and trusting God to provide in other areas of my life. Now, in the middle of all of that, God was saying – “Launch out.” Yeah, this definitely required an act of trust.
Leaving that session, I was excited… feeling like the vision was confirmed. But this morning I woke up, exhausted from a very long weekend. The words of my wife are still ringing in my head, “Get some rest!” But, of course I woke up at 8:15 this morning and once I’m up, I’m up.
So, I opened my bible to have some devotional time with the Lord as I ate breakfast. Reading in Isaiah 11, I saw that the kingdom of God will be established in the earth and violence will cease. Even the lion will lay down with the lamb. I saw how Christ, the Branch from the stem of Jesse, would come demonstrating the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and the fear of God. Then I went to verse 13 where it speaks of a cessation of the rivalry between Ephraim and Judah. I had to go back to the story of Ephraim’s blessing given by Jacob. Here, I was touched by the fact that Ephraim, the youngest son (I can relate to that. I’m the baby of my family), would receive the blessing of the eldest son.
That was good for the soul… but I still felt like I needed inspiration.
Over a week ago, one of the drummers at my church loaned me three DVDs to watch. Israel & New Breed, “Live in South Africa” was one of them. Now I’m fan of Israel & New Breed. But I hadn’t had time to watch the video until this morning. The entire DVD is a treat! But there were two things that really spoke to me.
There was a moment when Israel began to quote Zephaniah 3:17. That scripture resonated in my heart. Then Israel began singing prophetically, “Take The Limits Off.” I’d heard the song before on the CD. But, this time, God was speaking to me… “Release me to accomplish what I promised you.” I am very leery of anything resembling this “prosperity Gospel” that’s being preached in many pulpits today. But this morning, I saw a completely different revelation of the words, “No limit. No boundaries. I see increase all around me. Stretch forth. Break forth. Release me. Enlarge my territory.” This wasn’t about ME having stuff. This was about me accomplishing what God has poured into me. As I thought about it, I considered the fact that God wouldn’t be giving me these incredible songs like, “Bigger Than I Imagined” if He didn’t intend for these songs to bless the body of Christ. I can sing them at my home church… but that’s not the way He’s giving them to me. He’s given me songs for the home church before. But these songs are coming with production and arrangements that are beyond the scope of a “home church.” Then, Bishop Tudor Bismark took the mic and began to minister. Oh my God! I had a moment.
The other things that grabbed me was when Israel was singing “Alpha and Omega” and the glory of the Lord was so strong in the room that Israel could no longer stand on his feet. But right before this was the clip of his wife weeping in worship before the Lord. Then, when Israel fell to his knees on the stage, his wife came to the edge of the stage… just to worship with him. There, they wept and worshipped together. Then I thought about my wife, Sharon. And I thought about the moments that God uses me to lead worship and I can see the tears flowing from Sharon’s face as she worships with me. And I thought about the times we spend in prayer together and tears flow from her face as she lifts me up before God. I remembered the fact that she gave me complete support with the last project and has already given me total support with this venture. There is no limit to what God will do with a husband and wife connected in spirit, submitted to the will of God, courageous enough to launch out into the deep water and work for God’s kingdom.
As I’m writing this, I’m reminded about the moments on the stage in Italy, particularly in Sassari on the island of Sardinia. The moments when the worship became so intense that we couldn’t move to the next song… moments when the Holy Spirit translated the language for those sitting in the audience who didn’t know English but knew our Savior. After seeing God move like that, why am I letting this thing bother me? There is something that God dropped on me a little while ago. The project is His. It is for His glory. Everything that it takes to complete the project belongs to Him. He has it in all the right places. He will put it all where it needs to be when it needs to be there. God’s kingdom has the resources for a CD recording. It’s not about me anyway. It’s about God accomplishing something through me for His glory. So, I will trust Him.
Then, to top it off, I am reminded about the fact that the thing that woke me up at 8:15 this morning is that I heard “Join In This Praise” playing on the Contemporary Christian channel of Music Choice this morning. Music Choice is the cable and satellite radio network that Cox Cable and others use to play music. This means that the song is getting national play.
Thank you, Lord! I am inspired.
I believe we all have those moments when we need inspiration. Not just generic inspiration – but specific inspiration for a specific task. I’m having one of those moments right now. April 25th, I will be recording my next project. It will be a live recording at my home church, Gethsemane Community Fellowship Baptist Church in Norfolk, VA. The task seems HUGE this time. Perhaps because the last time I recorded I had no idea going in just how much it was actually going to cost me – financially, emotionally and time-wise. But this time, I know that it can easily cost me $XX,000 and an entire year to produce a project with the quality of my last one. Mediocrity is often inexpensive. Excellence, on the other hand, is seldom cheap. God has put excellence in me. I have disdain for mediocrity. But when you don’t have $XX,000 at your disposal, it can become a bit overwhelming.
Last week I was sitting in a group session for a leadership institute that I’m attending at my church. The group mentor asked a question, “How do you know that a plan is of God?” We all tossed around various answers. But the mentor gave us an answer that trembled the core of my heart. He said, “You know it’s a plan from God when it requires an act of trust.” Then he went to the scriptures and read from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy path.” At that very moment I heard God speaking these scriptures into me – like a song being played into my consciousness. I saw that I was being required to trust God. I was already facing financial challenges and trusting God to provide in other areas of my life. Now, in the middle of all of that, God was saying – “Launch out.” Yeah, this definitely required an act of trust.
Leaving that session, I was excited… feeling like the vision was confirmed. But this morning I woke up, exhausted from a very long weekend. The words of my wife are still ringing in my head, “Get some rest!” But, of course I woke up at 8:15 this morning and once I’m up, I’m up.
So, I opened my bible to have some devotional time with the Lord as I ate breakfast. Reading in Isaiah 11, I saw that the kingdom of God will be established in the earth and violence will cease. Even the lion will lay down with the lamb. I saw how Christ, the Branch from the stem of Jesse, would come demonstrating the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and the fear of God. Then I went to verse 13 where it speaks of a cessation of the rivalry between Ephraim and Judah. I had to go back to the story of Ephraim’s blessing given by Jacob. Here, I was touched by the fact that Ephraim, the youngest son (I can relate to that. I’m the baby of my family), would receive the blessing of the eldest son.
That was good for the soul… but I still felt like I needed inspiration.
Over a week ago, one of the drummers at my church loaned me three DVDs to watch. Israel & New Breed, “Live in South Africa” was one of them. Now I’m fan of Israel & New Breed. But I hadn’t had time to watch the video until this morning. The entire DVD is a treat! But there were two things that really spoke to me.
There was a moment when Israel began to quote Zephaniah 3:17. That scripture resonated in my heart. Then Israel began singing prophetically, “Take The Limits Off.” I’d heard the song before on the CD. But, this time, God was speaking to me… “Release me to accomplish what I promised you.” I am very leery of anything resembling this “prosperity Gospel” that’s being preached in many pulpits today. But this morning, I saw a completely different revelation of the words, “No limit. No boundaries. I see increase all around me. Stretch forth. Break forth. Release me. Enlarge my territory.” This wasn’t about ME having stuff. This was about me accomplishing what God has poured into me. As I thought about it, I considered the fact that God wouldn’t be giving me these incredible songs like, “Bigger Than I Imagined” if He didn’t intend for these songs to bless the body of Christ. I can sing them at my home church… but that’s not the way He’s giving them to me. He’s given me songs for the home church before. But these songs are coming with production and arrangements that are beyond the scope of a “home church.” Then, Bishop Tudor Bismark took the mic and began to minister. Oh my God! I had a moment.
The other things that grabbed me was when Israel was singing “Alpha and Omega” and the glory of the Lord was so strong in the room that Israel could no longer stand on his feet. But right before this was the clip of his wife weeping in worship before the Lord. Then, when Israel fell to his knees on the stage, his wife came to the edge of the stage… just to worship with him. There, they wept and worshipped together. Then I thought about my wife, Sharon. And I thought about the moments that God uses me to lead worship and I can see the tears flowing from Sharon’s face as she worships with me. And I thought about the times we spend in prayer together and tears flow from her face as she lifts me up before God. I remembered the fact that she gave me complete support with the last project and has already given me total support with this venture. There is no limit to what God will do with a husband and wife connected in spirit, submitted to the will of God, courageous enough to launch out into the deep water and work for God’s kingdom.
As I’m writing this, I’m reminded about the moments on the stage in Italy, particularly in Sassari on the island of Sardinia. The moments when the worship became so intense that we couldn’t move to the next song… moments when the Holy Spirit translated the language for those sitting in the audience who didn’t know English but knew our Savior. After seeing God move like that, why am I letting this thing bother me? There is something that God dropped on me a little while ago. The project is His. It is for His glory. Everything that it takes to complete the project belongs to Him. He has it in all the right places. He will put it all where it needs to be when it needs to be there. God’s kingdom has the resources for a CD recording. It’s not about me anyway. It’s about God accomplishing something through me for His glory. So, I will trust Him.
Then, to top it off, I am reminded about the fact that the thing that woke me up at 8:15 this morning is that I heard “Join In This Praise” playing on the Contemporary Christian channel of Music Choice this morning. Music Choice is the cable and satellite radio network that Cox Cable and others use to play music. This means that the song is getting national play.
Thank you, Lord! I am inspired.
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