November 30, 2008

I have begun an intensive study on music from a Christian perspective. I have been having some personal questions come to mind about my own views of the music I listen to and the music I play. Some of the music I struggle with whether or not it is actually God honoring.

Coming from a 'metal' background I still have much of that style influence me and my music style. When you hear any of our songs you will most likely notice that influence in what I play. As I begin this journey into this I will share my finding and ideas.

August 17, 2008

Just checking in- Don has new drums that he has been playing for a while now. Songs that have been recorded sound absolutely amazing. He is keeping the electronic set for traveling and outside usage.

We have a tentative concert coming up in September at Unity In Christ Church. I am so looking forward to that! You see that happens to be the church that my dad and step-mom attends. This will be the first time that my dad has ever seen me play live in a concert setting. I have been playing for so long and now I get the chance to make my ole-man proud!

May 10, 2008

Entry for May 10, 2008 A Lesson from a Boo Boo This is excerpts from an email I recently sent to the praise team after a failed attempt to get something I wanted. I gained much that morning by losing what I wanted.

I learned a valuable lesson today. One that so changed me that I just have to share.

It currently is 11:05 am on Sunday morning. I am actually sitting in my car right now trying to gather myself. I am recovering from a stab of pain that I felt earlier in the service. The pain comes from a lesson that I won’t forget-can’t forget. The lesson deals with ‘me’ and what I do for ‘me’ and what my focus should be. Let me tell you the story.

A little while back Connie had told me that Brandi was coming and the Holly would be singing. I was excited and so eagerly looked forward to capturing some amazing recordings. The girls are back! It was as if a once in a lifetime event was going to happen and I needed to be prepared for it. Last Wednesday I had to make some decisions about how I was going to carry out the recording. Larry had just provided the fancy new digital recorder and I knew there would be a big learning curve to deal with. So, after much contemplation I decided to record with the Yamaha 4 track one last time, after all I did not want any errors because who knew if I would ever get this chance again and we are doing some of my favorite songs. Everything should be fine. So, I decided to focus on my performance. I already knew the songs, but I wanted to know them until I could just puke from playing them, and I did. No, I did not puke I just practiced them that much, although right after the worship service I thought I was either going to puke or have a nervous breakdown.

Well, at 8:00 we were ready to go. Rehearsal began and there were issues. Many issues. Some, if not most of the issues dealt with the fact that those ‘evil’ school people came in a jacked with the board. I was most indignant in my heart. But, after some patience and some help the solutions were discovered as to the why the recorder was not functioning properly. The problem was fixed. I adjusted some levels, did a test run with the ladies in the middle of Praise to the Lord the Almighty and it sounded perfect, they were angelic, I knew- just knew this was going to be my best recording session ever and I was going to end up with a product that I would wear out listening to. A product that I felt with a little editing would be of master quality. I was on cloud 9 and was so pumped. At about 9:20 we cut the rehearsal. All was tight, all was ready, all was just right for what I planned to do.

At 9:30 I felt the familiar feeling inside me that I always get just before performing, like when I was in a band a long time ago. I would get so nervous and I would enter the ‘zone’ so that I could produce 100% + 20 and kick some can. I strapped on my guitar, said the prayer that I have said from the beginning I joined the praise band and that was; ‘God don’t let me mess up’. I reached over and armed the recorder and hit play. I knew I had 15 minutes tape time so I had room to play with as the tape would run until Don kicked off the 8 count and I would begin my journey into what I felt was going to be an ultimate music experience. The notes flew, I entered another world, a world of total praise as I let stuff just flow through me, keeping my focus on the vocals so as to not do one single thing to take away from them but at the same time to drive power into the music that would cement a rock solid foundation which all the other instruments could play. I was in heaven hearing what was going on and right up to the time we finished I was in the ‘zone’ and came out of it as an Olympic runner finishing at the tape! It was awesome! It kicked! I was high fiving the angels in my heart…and then…and then…then I instantly transformed to a state of horror and loss.

During all the fuss of trying to make everything perfect and getting ready to play I had failed to do the most important thing to remember when recording with a device like this and that is to put the recorder back into a record mode and not a rehearsal mode. I could not believe my eyes! I must be seeing things! There is no possible way that happened! I have recorded with this thing hundreds of times! NO! No! no! please God…no! please! I did. It was all my fault. I made the mistake. No one else could even remotely be blamed. I could not even say the devil made me do it. I messed up. My heart was shattered. My mind raced back to a moment just before we started playing where I jokingly told the band not to mess up, I was so ashamed that I even joked about that. I just messed up something that I put so much effort in I wanted to cry, but big boys, especially 41 year old men don’t cry about such things, right?

I told Larry what had happened. I was so distraught and I could see that look in his eyes that was like, are you serious. I just made a b-line through the sanctuary and went into the parlor. I wanted to scream! I wanted to throw the TV! I wanted to overturn furniture- not really, I just said that for drama purposes. But, none the less I just wanted to … I don’t know, I was beside myself. I paced a bit and went out into the foyer. Eventually I went back into the sanctuary and listened to Johns message. I tried to just make the best of it, but couldn’t. Johns words shot right through me and I got up to go ‘share’ with God my thoughts. After rambling for a while God told me something that has changed me forever. It was, ‘Jim, why are you upset? Where did you ever get the idea that this service was for you? What makes you think that I wanted you to have this all your way? Was this not for me? Were these voices and music for me or for you?’ I was stunned! I had really screwed up and I do not mean just the recording. I was so wrapped up in this service being right that I forgot it was for the Lord that we were doing this anyway. What significance does recording it have as it pertains to the worship we are to give Him. I tried to take something that was specially made for Him and make it into something for me. Ouch! I’m so sorry, Lord! You are right!

I had a peace come over me. I was still disappointed but I was ok with how it worked out. I know that God was much pleased with the work you all did. It was beautiful and it was a very special treat and I am awed that I was allowed to be a part of it. And that’s just it, I was a part of it. It was a present for Jesus and He liked it very much. It was for Him, it was a sacrifice. It was an offering and He accepted it, but if I had recorded it successfully it would have not been a real offering as it would have as though I wanted to keep a part of it for myself, His hand kept me from that and I am most grateful. The beauty of the group- the team, and the passion of the hearts we have- it belongs to the Lord. Who am I to take something so sacred and take it for a less than noble purpose.

Later, Larry had handed over to me the tape he had recorded through the mains. I popped the tape in and adjusted the recorder and there in the place where I hit stop and play I heard the most beautiful sound I have ever heard in worship- Praise To The Lord the Almighty. I had goose bumps and felt a chill, that in His mercy He has given me a taste of what I wanted. He condescended to give me a snapshot of what He received and for that I was greatly blessed. The recording is less than perfect and I will need to do some work on it, but that is ok. Through what we have been given I can relive this day for as long as I live. I will get those up on the site as soon as I can. I will probably leave the service intact and not separate the songs but we’ll see.

Well, I wanted to say that I am sorry. If you all had anticipated this to be a spectacular recording, well it’s not. I assume the blame for all of it. I let me get in the way.

Blessings,

Your servant

Jim

Observation of Mixed Worship

It was not very long ago that we did a special project with a neighboring church called Word of Faith. The purpose behind this project was to reach out to the community. It was an outreach that was coordinated with local churches and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. I wanted to take a moment and talk about that event and what it means to me personally.

During one of the sermons that Mike Percifield gave he had mentioned some local community statistics. I was floored by one of them and that was that the community in which North Eastwood Christian Church is a part of has the highest homicide rate in the city. Another was that a very high percentage of unwed mothers was black and centered around our area. Wow! Can you believe that? The highest homicide rate! Homicide as in dead people! After that sermon I began to reflect on a number of things. One of the reasons I was bothered was that before we moved to the community we live now; we were only 2 minutes from this community.

North Eastwood is a traditional type non-denominational church. Because the roots of this church go a ways back it is more traditional than I am comfortable with at times. But, the church uses the NIV translation and we do perform some contemporary worship songs but ever so often you hear hymn and songs from groups like the Gaither’s- not my taste at all but do-able. The people of North Eastwood are wonderful. They truly are a family and have weathered a great deal of problems together over the years. North Eastwood also happens to be my ‘re-birth’ place- a place my wife and I call home.

To describe the community that North Eastwood is in you would have to say it is kind of odd. You see it is not an inner city community, you do not see graffiti and gang symbols around- much. You do see an occasional prostitute or drug dealer walking down the main roads down the street and you do see sometime swarms of people all walking to where ever it is they need to go. But, it is not a scene you would expect to see on a crime show. Our church sits in the middle of two fairly busy streets; Post road and Mitthoeffer. On either side of the church, East and West there are apartment complexes. All in all they aren’t real bad places but what is so strange is that the highest ethnic groups of people in these complexes are black. You know how many black attendees we have? Regularly, never more than two are ever in a service. What in the world? Most of the attendees of our church travel to attend. Both pastors live a minimum of several miles away. None of the elders live in the near vicinity. My family lives about 5.8 miles away. It is an odd thing. The people that attend our church for the most part are people who have a link to it, a home church or a part of the church when it was still young and the area thrived within a different demographic.

The other church is about a mile East away from us, Word of Faith, and they currently meet in a junior high school. This church is predominately of the black community. Word of Faith church is an off-shoot of Creflo Dollar’s ministry which I deem not to be a good thing at all. They stem from a word faith theology and many of the teachings taught by this movement in Christendom are heretical and dangerous. But, in meeting the people you can’t help fall in love with them. You can tell that most of the people there really love the Lord.

So, the mission was to use our large property and that North Eastwood Christian Church and Word of Faith would host a community day where food and games were abundant. We wanted to bring the folks from the community in and to get to know them and hopefully build a relationship with some. We wanted to bring hope to the community through the gospel of Jesus Christ and wanted to make an impact somehow to turn those statistics around.

Prior to the event Word of faith shared in a service with us and we had a praise night at North Eastwood on the night of the event. What I did not like initially was that the other pastor began that thing I hear most black preachers say at one time or another and that is about breaking down the walls of segregation. That unity in the house of God was an important thing. I was taken back and somewhat offended that he would even bring that up. I mean, get real! That is so not for the current times of North Eastwood. What I failed to notice though someone brought to my attention immediately after the service. There were many, many people missing from the service. Many of the older members were gone. Lots of people that would almost never miss church unless they had someone die in their family were gone. This pastor was right! I attend church with a bunch of racists! Ahhh!

But, when we all went to their church to for service I was told that the same thing was true for them. In fact very few people from our congregation attended this service. I was aghast. I was ashamed! My own home church brothers and sister were so rude and so unchristian-like. I really got to see first hand that there really are churches full of non-Christians.

I want to forgo all of that for a time to reflect on why I wanted to bring this up. Immediately after the community event we had a worship celebration. We had a night of singing praises to the Lord. Word of Faith and North Eastwood praise teams joined forces for what I must say was the most enjoyable time I have ever played. We had minimal practice together before hand but it was fantastic! In fact you can hear a few of the songs from that service of the song site. But, what was so amazing was the worship we did together. There was no race. There was no class. There was only family. A unity of children playing and praising at the feet of their Father.

Not much has actually changed since then. Our church leadership and their church leadership still have a good relationship together. I am sure one day we will do things together again. I look forward to that time. But, I do want to encourage you true Christian friend- if you were one of the ‘protesters’ of this event you really need to get right before God. If you are fighting a racist tendency, get accountable to someone and overcome that sin. Then you too can really be blessed by the tremendous worship that we all can share in together.

Jim

Time With The Lord

This evening my daughter had a meeting at our church. I drove her there and was left with nothing to really do: that is except one of my favorite things in the world- play the church piano. Now understand that I am not a pianist. I am a guitarist. I love to go into the sanctuary when no one else is around and keep the lights off. There is a stained glass skylight above our baptistery and it give off this amazing glow sometimes. It is airy in there and the echo causes the room to seem vast. The large wedge shaped room is perfect for these types on intimate times with me in the Lord. It is so quiet except for the occasional traffic that passes by. Other than that you can actually hear yourself breathe.

We have a Cherry colored baby grand piano. It is very pretty. It needs a tuning but it works just fine for my purposes. I open the top cover to the soundboard and I expose the keys. I adjust the bench and then I sit very still for a moment just taking in the elegance of the instrument. Very carefully I select the positions at which my fingers will make the initial sounds and press down the foot pedal. Down go the thumb and forth finger on my left hand while my right hand press down the three notes I have selected. The sound launches from the soundboard and into the space of the vast room and the notes seem to be racing to be in all places at once. The sound is full and majestic. Just like the God for which this instrument serves. Gently and slowly with great care I select the next series of notes and send them chasing after the other notes still echoing off the walls. Wow! I pour out that which is in my heart the best I can at it feels like the Lord is actually listening.

Holding down the foot pedal as I finish the little piece I let the final notes ring into infinity. When I can no longer hear the faintest of sounds I quietly, as if ceremonially gently, bring the cover down over the keys and slide off of the bench and with the tenderness of a surgeons hands I lower the cover over the soundboard. All is quiet once again. In those quiet moments I tell the Lord I love Him. That I thank Him for the gift of music. I can't help but remember what God says about praises, that He inhabits the praises of His people. I wonder, as I listen to those notes dancing all around like children on a playground, is God there? Is He there in the music as well?

Jim

Contemporary Christian Music CCM)

by James Stine

I was once asked what my feelings were on contemporary Christian music. Up and to that time I never really even thought about it. But as I did and still do I have become somewhat grounded in a view that I would like to share.

Let me start with this: There are Christians everywhere. They are doctors, lawyers, policemen, salesmen, and musicians, and much more. I think that as a Christian we should note that we are a Christian first and then a what-ever secondly. Meaning that the branding that Christ put on us to make us His should be evident in any and everything we do. We should attempt to honor Christ in everything so that others will take note. Ultimately we want the opportunity to share Christ and what better way to do so than to display His character as much as we can in our lives.

Ok, now that that part is out of the way let’s taking a look at Christian music. From what I explained so far, Christian music is to exalt and honor Christ, both the music itself and the performers. Now having said that, we can throw out a large percentage of Christian music you hear played on the radio, because it isn’t Christian. It is secular music repackaged for Christian consumption. I want to point out that if you listen to most Christian radio and then flip the channel to a secular pop station you will hear a bunch of similarities. Why? Because the current ‘latest thing’ in secular music that is making money can also make money from the Christian crowds. So, that is what they do. I have been a musician since 1982 and I have listened to a variety of music and appreciate most of it. But very little in contemporary Christian do I appreciate.

Let me make a distinction between contemporary Christian music and contemporary Christian worship music. Worship music is a means by which music is used to express our love to God. As a worship musician I am not playing for my glory. I am not playing to please the congregation; rather I am playing to honor God with the talents and the abilities He has given me to serve Him with. I in a sense help lead believers into the throne room of God. It is a tremendous honor and is quite an awesome a task. I play my heart out so that He can accept the gift I am offering Him. I will not sell records to make me rich, you will never have a t-shirt with my name on it, and you will never hear a radio announcement of me touring the world. It can’t happen that way. But, I hope that after listening to the music I play you will feel drawn to God or it will minister to you in a way God can use.

Now, on the other hand there are Christian musicians that will have all of these things associated with them, these are they that fit in the CCM category. These individuals are out to make money with the talents that God has given them. And, that is not wrong. But a bunch of the music they do has noting at all to do with Christ. So, I would not say they are Christian artists but rather they are Christians, supposedly, that are performers/ musicians that make a living doing so. They should never tour or make an album under the banner of Christ just so they can make money. They should do what they do and leave Christ out of it since most of what they do already leaves Him out any way. And while I am on that note I am embarrassed by Christian artists that live an anything but Christian life.

You see, I believe as a talented gifted person in this area, God has by default given you a leadership role. If you are in the public eye and you are going to influence people, particularly young people. If you screw up and fornicate with someone or you steal or do drugs or whatever, you should do the honorable thing and that is to repent publicly and step down from your position. Show humility and brokenness. Let the Lord work through that. Let Him restore you to another position, you have no business being in the limelight again unless God puts you there. By the way, this applies to worship musicians too as you have been called to an even higher position.

Ok, what do I think about CCM? Well I wish it would go away- The title that is. I wish that if they are going to carry the title Christian artist the music and lifestyle better be in check otherwise best wishes to you in the secular market and I pray you do have a positive influence there.