"Speak Your Mind, Even If Your Voice Shakes"
I have to admit I didn't make that up- I saw it on a bumper sticker, but I put it up as my facebook status immediately (if that gives you any idea how much it resonated with me...lol).
I'm here at the base of a mountain looking up at it scratching my head- then looking back wondering how on earth I got over all the hurdles I've already overcome. Man oh man I've had some close calls but I'm still here, I'm still believing, I'm still expecting, I'm still hoping, I'm still moving forward. If you're going to fall- fall forward right!
And I'm still speaking my mind- the Bible promises that "God did not give us a spirit of timidity but of power, love and a sound mind (or good judgement, self discipline)"- II Timothy 1:7. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one that wants to open my mouth but doesn't even know what would come out. I wonder if I know one solitary thing- I start thinking "everything changes, what is truth, what is worth saying, other's "know" more so what's the point of sharing what I've got?" But God gave me power, love and good judgement- He gave me life experiences, He gave me the Bible as my book of truth to share from, He gave me the words and wisdom of other people, He gave me the inspiration of nature, of sounds, He gave me feelings- He gave each of us these things and what for? I believe to share. I'm doing it through writing songs and singing. How are you doing it? What you have in your mind- what you've seen with your eyes, what you've felt with your heart is worth sharing. I want to know. We need to grow from each other.
I love good quotes, little bit size nuggets that give me some sort of push. Well, we know Martin Luther King Jr and Winston Churchill can give us those- but I want to be a quote maker- You can be a quote maker not just a quote collector. Just like the quote I saw on the bumper sticker that actually inspired me to "go forward in the direction of my dreams" (to borrow a quote).
So here's to you and what you have inside! Here's to you saying it! Here's to us giving what we've got and seeing where it takes us!
Lara Landon
In the spirit of sharing what I've got- here's an album I'm making... You can hear some of the music and invest in it before it's even finished- I will keep you posted on it's progress and it will be my honor to send it to you- personalized when it's done.
http://kck.st/lQrT12
And here is your free song :) This time it works I promise!
I See God In You_Lara Landon.mp3
 From the desk of Scott Logan...."It Has To Be Ministry"
Dear Reader,
May I be transparent?
Trans-pa-rent - a : free from pretense or deceit : frank b : easily detected or seen through : obvious c : readily understood d : characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices
I want to talk a little about something that the Lord has been dealing with me on, and that is the balance of ministry and business and how off balanced I have been as of late. Let me explain.
The abridged history of my musical evolution is that I started performing when I was 15 years old. I played in a northeast Christian rock band with my dad and a couple of friends. In those days, money was the last thing on my mind. I had grown up through my teen years listening to bands such as Petra, Whiteheart, Bride, Whitecross, Guardian, etc, and I would watch these bands place all of their emphasis on their ministry. John Lowry, the keyboardist for Petra, went as far to say once that he was a minister first and then a musician. I took these influences and used them for myself as a young Christian rocker and if an opportunity to make a little cash in the process arose, I just praised God from Whom all blessings flow. I cared WAY more about winning souls for the kingdom than making money.
Okay, I said this was abridged so let's fast forward...
In 2008, I made the decision to break away from a band that I had invested much with in the northeast to pursue a full time music career in Nashville, TN. In 2009, along with my wife, I made the cross country move and left everything behind. Now here I am in much different circumstances than before. Money is a bigger deal. I need to make a certain amount of money at what I do for a couple of reasons. 1. I have bills to pay and 2. I need to eat.
But am I meant to shift my priorities to be so business minded that I lose focus of why I wanted to be a musician in the first place? And by doing so, have I turned this into something that it wasn't meant to be? Question one, I believe the answer is no. Question two, I believe is yes.
I have always thought that the concern over one's finances is an honest one. That's the way the world we live in works. We need money to get by. It buys food, puts gas in our car, pays for electricity and water, puts clothes on backs, and buys a copy of Scott Logan's new CD called.... just kidding :)
In our economy, it's very difficult to be a one income family no matter where you live. In our home, my wife works a regular job during the week as my ministry wages are no where near enough to live off of. Recently with an influx of expenses I have been feeling the pinch of reality. Atleast reality as my limited mind perceives it.
Now at the same time, I have seen a shower of God's blessings in our lives. God gave me the money to record and put out a great album. Recently a lot of opportunities to perform have been popping up and I am now booking for two separate tours this year.
It was yesterday that I fell to my knees. This is where I get more transparent.
With the recent load of financial stress that my wife and I have incurred, I have been looking for show opportunities that would contribute to our budget. No, that's not a bad thing at all unless you understand the heart that was also behind it.
Last week I got a phone call from a friend of mine in Nashville who asked if I could play a show this week at the Nashville Rescue Mission which is a huge facility geared towards feeding and sheltering the homeless. I said I'd be glad to. I had done some work with a rescue mission in the northeast and I was blown away by the ministry that God did while I was there. The last couple of days though, my heart was not so excited. As I approached the show day, I found myself sitting back and saying, "I know this isn't a paying gig, and is it really something that I can do? It's a lot of gas to spend without any compensation." That's a big change from the old days of running to any opportunity to share the gospel through music.
Then yesterday morning, as I was getting ready to leave, the Lord spoke to me. I felt such a feeling of conviction for what I have been turning my music into recently and how my heart towards ministry has slowly changed to look only for those opportunities that put money in my wallet.
Remember, that this is me being Trans-pa-rent - a : free from pretense or deceit : frank b : easily detected or seen through : obvious c : readily understood d : characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices.
The Lord reminded that I have been called to full time ministry first. He reminded me of Matthew 6:28, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
I started thinking about how the Lord had given me this great opportunity to be an ambassador of Christ to a group of people who needed to hear the gospel and I found myself repenting for making this about anything else. I found myself regaining my focus. The thing that made me want to be a musician in the first place... or should I say, " A minister first and then a musician." I felt restored. I felt like the Lord had given me peace about the "practicalities" of life. He was in control of them and it was time for me to just make preaching the gospel my number one business again.
I got ready and drove to Nashville. When I got to the Nashville Rescue Mission I was blown away by the facility. It turned out that I was able to play my music last night for an audience of about 400 homeless who sat in an auditorium and listened. I was able to preach the gospel and saw about 25 to 30 people accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. After the show I stayed and spoke with a lot of the people who were there and found out that most of them were there due to losing their homes in the Nashville floods a couple months back. That sure makes my financial struggles seem very insignificant.
I am a full time musician. The money that I make is brought in from concerts and CD sales. But no longer do I want to make my music about that. If God calls us then He equips us. Money is a part of that equipment. God showed me that truth when He gave me the funds to do the album. That doesn't mean that I will always perform for free. After all, 1 Timothy 5:18 says, "For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
In my next blog, I want to discuss something in the business that I see more and more of. As we continue to look at business and ministry and how they go hand in hand, I want to look at the current stance that many Christian artists take in the business about not being labeled a "Christian" artist and what does that REALLY mean. It's a hot topic and I'm sure to get kudos and some heat as well.
God Bless,
Scott Logan
A must read testimony...
Persecuted by Hitler. Separated by the Berlin Wall. One family held true to their faith in God and experienced a journey from trials to triumph, from defeat to victory.
How do we live our faith in a society that is turning increasingly secular? How do we build strong families, instill Biblical values and raise children in the Word of God?
Michael grew up behind the Berlin Wall under an atheist dictatorship, yet in his family he learned about the love of God and the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
 As we approach the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall...
 ...we face times of great uncertainty in our own country. This inspiring account of a family that overcame life's difficulties under two dictatorships and rose to a joyful witness of Christ's strength, will encourage us to trust in God's promise to be more than conquerors.
Michael will share with us what kept his family strong in trying times, throughout Nazi Germany, WWII and Communism, what helped him to make tough choices as child and teenager behind the Berlin Wall, and why it is so important to build our lives on a firm foundation that will last.
 Michael's message is timely and relevant. It will challenge us not to take our freedoms for granted, nor our faith too lightly, but to take a stand for Jesus Christ. It will convict us to resist complacency, indifference and compromise and encourage us to become a bolder witness for our faith and make a difference in our lives, our families, our communities and our nation.
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MICHAEL'S GRANDFATHERwas among the 3% of public school teachers under Hitler who refused to join the Nazi party. His faith cost him his career, his house, and almost his life. He was sent into WWII, yet his life was miraculously spared. Once he was pulled, in the last moment, from execution. He lost his teaching career again under the Communists only to become a preacher testifying to God's faithfulness even in the midst of trials. Throughout his life, his wife stood by his side with her faithful prayers, comfort and support. Both became a great encouragement to the Furchert family and their five children, from whom they were separated by the Berlin Wall.
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MICHAEL'S FATHER, a Financial Economist in East Germany, was offered the position of bank director if he would join the Communist Party. When he refused to join, he lost his career altogether, only to become a pastor behind the Berlin Wall, proclaiming, with his wife, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through example, Biblical teaching and prayer they shaped the faith of their children, helping them to trust in God, make right choices and to become a witness of their faith to others.
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MICHAEL grew up in Communist East Germany, where he learned, at a young age, to defend his faith in an atheist society and socialist education system. He often had to make tough choices, having to chose between his faith and the rights and privileges in his school, from a driver's license to a college career. At age seventeen, he saw the Berlin Wall come down and stepped into freedom. He now continues his family legacy to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to challenge believers toward a deeper commitment of faith.
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http://www.michaelfurchert.com/
Enjoyed this night of fellowship mentioned below in Deanna's blog.....and how we should respond when facing trials...
April 24, 2010 by Deanna Loveland
Hey! I MISS this page!!! : ) This week has been so fun! My mom came in town for a few days to help with the Dove Awards and have some time together. Seems when she comes in town my body just relaxes a little more and I let myself sit down and chill a lot more. Otherwise I’m constantly planning, prioritizing, doing, etc. Don’t get me wrong…we were busy girls, but I guess I stress less when she’s here. : )
Gene Schmidt was in town with the CSMI Christian Writers Nights
(http://csminetwork.com/) so I contributed a couple songs to the night on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday we were very busy with Dove awards but made a point to leave early and make it to a special dinner with Gene and some of the other artists who contributed songs to the Haiti compilation CD that was recently released! : ) It was SUCH an awesome time of fellowship with other sincere Christian artists. Check out the CD and hear clips of the songs at: http://www.csminetwork.com/haiticd.htm
My mom headed back to KY on Thursday after lunch and I dug back into the website that I’ve been slaving away at on and off for the past few months. : ) I seriously hope and PRAY that we get it out by the end of this month!!!! I am SO ready for it to be done. Just finished my side of things tonight, so now it’s just up to whoever helps me with it…and I have a couple people in the works of helping… now it’s just whichever one acts on it first. : ) I’ll be sure to put their name and everything on here so y’all know in case you need a reference or help with web design, touch-ups, etc. ; )
Right now I am sooo sleepy… seems when I have time for social networking stuff it’s waaay late at night, so rather than going to sleep and saying, “I don’t have time for fbook, wordpress, twitter, myspace, email, website, etc. etc.” I sacrifice sleep for it. hahaha!!! It’s 2am…artists are weird sometimes. lol!
Well…I’m gonna get off here, BUT I must say that although the subject matter of this blog post has nothing to do with the title, I DID give it that name on purpose!! : ) Just don’t want you thinking that was a mistake or I wasn’t thinking when I mis-matched that! I actually had a lot of things happen all at once a couple weeks ago, just nagging little things, lessons, tests, annoying stuff like traffic keeping me from making it to a wedding performance, a stupid mistake making me lose money, a crazy drunk guy stealing my parents car out of their front yard, my dad hitting a deer, etc. etc. And though I always try and look on the bright side of things, ya still find yourself wondering, “why is all this crazy stuff happening?”
Before I even started typing this post I just kept hearing in my head, “He makes everything glorious” …then I thought of the song I wrote recently with Rand Bishop, “Diamond in the Dust”. There’s always a reason…and it’s true, He does make everything glorious…even if we don’t know it yet. : )
~Deanna L
“…If life never gives you more than you can handle then I’ve surely had my share
I keep tryin’ to laugh it off, to see the good, to find the lesson in this but I swear
the clouds are clearing and I’m still standing – I didn’t know how strong I really was
and that might be the diamond in the dust…” (Bishop/Loveland “Diamond in the Dust”)
So You Wanna Be A Rock Star
Keith Green
For as long as be could remember, Keith Green's greatest dream was to be amusical success. After be gave his life to Jesus, however, he felt the need to surrender those dreams and aspirations by laying down his music...perhaps never to perform publicly again.
Ironically, when sometime later he felt God release him to pick up his music again, he soon had a recording contract and his first album soared straight to the top of the Contemporary Christian Music charts.
The following message was birthed out of Keith's encounters with those who approached him, usually after a concert, to ask how they too could "make it big" in Christian music.
Today, so many people ask me if I can tell them how they can start or enter into a music ministry. At concerts I get countless questions about this, and I also get lots of letters and even some long-distance phone calls from many people who feel they are only "called" into the music "ministry." One day I began to ask myself why so few have ever asked me how to become a missionary, or even a local street preacher, or how to disciple a new believer. It seems everyone would prefer the "bright lights" of what they think a music ministry would be, rather than the mud and obscurity of the mission field, or the streets of the ghetto, or even the true spiritual sweetness of just being a nobody whom the Lord uses mightily in small "everyday" ways.
Are You Willing?
My answer to their question is almost always the same. "Are you willing to never play music again? Are you willing to be a nothing? Are you willing to go anywhere and do anything for Christ? Are you willing to stay right where you are and let the Lord do great things through you, though no one may seem to notice at all?" They all seem to answer each of these questions with a quick "yes!" But I really doubt if they know what their answer entails.
Star Struck
My dearest family in Jesus...why are we so star struck? Why do we idolize Christian singers and speakers? We go from glorifying musicians in the world, to glorifying Christian musicians. It's all idolatry! Can't you see that? It's true that there are many men and women of God who are greatly anointed to call down the Spirit of God on His people and the unsaved. But Satan is getting a great victory as we seem to worship these ministers on tapes and records, and clamor to get their autographs in churches and concert halls from coast to coast.
Can't you see that you are hurting these ministers? They try desperately to tell you that they don't deserve to be praised, and because of this you squeal with delight and praise them all the more. You're smothering them, making it almost impossible for them to see that it's really Jesus. They keep telling themselves that, but you keep telling them it's really them, crushing their humility and grieving the Spirit that is trying to keep their eyes on Jesus.
Ultimately, what we idolize we ourselves desire to become, sometimes with our whole heart. So a lot of people who want to become just like their favorite Gospel singer or minister, seek after it with the same fervor that the Lord demands we seek after Him! And again, we insult the Spirit of Grace and try to make a place for ourselves, rather than a place for Jesus.
A Thankless Job
How come no one idolizes or praises the missionaries who give up everything and live in poverty, endangering their lives and families with every danger that the "American dream" has almost completely eliminated? How come no one lifts up and exalts the ghetto and prison ministers who can never take up an offering, because if they did they would either laugh or cry at what they'd receive?
How come?
Because (1) we're taught from very early on that comfort is our goal and security… and (2) that we should always seek for a lot of people to like us. Who lives less comfortably and has had less friends and supporters than the selfless missionaries who have suffered untimely, premature deaths trying to conquer souls and nations for the whole glory of God? Do you really believe we're living in the very last times? Then why do you spend more money on Gospel records and concerts than you give to organizations that feed the poor, or to missionaries out in the field?
There are ministries all over the world where "penniless" people are being saved and transformed. They are broken people who have promise and qualities, but just need someone to bring them God's light during the times when their lives seem so completely hopeless.
I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into Godly jealousy (Romans 11:11) or to sell out more completely to Jesus!
Quit trying to make "gods" out of music ministers, and quit desiring to become like them. The Lord commands you, "Deny yourself take up your cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23). My piano is not my cross, it is my tool. I'd never play it again if God would show me a more effective tool in my life for proclaiming His Gospel.[God gives us each our own unique tools. But we may never use them if we become more interested in someone else's. Seek God, ask Him for His plan for ministry (true, God glorifying ministry) in your life.]
Conclusion
To finish, let me say that the only music minister to whom the Lord will say, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant," is the one whose life proves what their lyrics are saying, and to whom music is the least important part of their life. Glorifying the only worthy One has to be a minister's most important goal!
Let's all repent of the idolatry in our hearts and our desires for a comfortable, rewarding life when, really, the Bible tells us we are just passing through as strangers and pilgrims in this world (Hebrews 11:13), for our reward is in heaven. Let's not forget that our due service to the Lord is "... not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake"(Phil. 1:29).
Amen. Let us die graciously together and endure to the end like brave soldiers who give their lives, without hesitation, for our noble and glorious King of Light.
g writing and testimony we have in Christ. Please pray for the CSMI that it is and stays an organization that honors Christ. |
