Dec. 30, 2009

This has been a great year for the Rawlin family. God has proved Himself over and over, when I believed all was lost, He taught me to trust Him more.
Eileen went through a 2nd cancer surgery with multiple complications and God was faithful.

We suffered financial trials as most have and God taught me that giving was a privilege meant to secure my trust in Him. He was faithful.
I recently suffered a terrible medication calamity that left me in a dark place - fearful, alone, frightened I had lost my mind, and more. God was with me and held my hand, then He brought me out. He was faithful.
My daughter Julie has gone through a rough pregnancy that could have cost her life and the babies. God was faithful.

I am learning to be bold in my testimony. Quick to act when God gives an instruction, and my faith in Him alone has reached new heights. He is my all in all, my past, present , and future. If I face death or harm, or illness, I am more prepared to face it than ever before. Perhaps the Golden age is golden when we meet God face to face and give him our all.

I pray that I will be a light-post shining for my family and any who see or meet me. That I would diminish and He would increase. This web site allows me the awesome opportunity to speak with thousands of people all over the world. The emails I receive telling of how the site has inspired players to serve the Lord with their whole hearts has confirmed that God is a work here in these pages.

I love the church musician, I love the ministry, and of course I love sharing all I have learned about the trumpet. My DVD's Mouthpieces are all dedicated to the glory of God. My greatest pleasure is to watch as players are able to better minister through the use of these simple tools.

There i so much more I want share from this web site including a new trumpet design, that will give every player an economical instrument of world class standards. Please pray that God will guide me through this difficult process. I have named this instrument the "Rapture" and by God's guidance and approval it will be available in late 2011.
gR

This Fall has been a real-learning experience for Eileen and I. She has gone through another successful cancer surgery, the flu, a scare with heart disease, and possible diabetes. God has been present and our source of strength and comfort.
When I approach Him He is more and more awesome. His ability to convey His will is overwhelming. I have found Him leading me to the book of Deuteronomy chapters 4-31 over and over. The comparison of the foolishness of the Israelites so reminds me of my own struggles and Gods blessings and curses are sobering to say the least!

The news on the Levites is refreshing...

What a great book...
gR

Here is what God is teaching me lately:   (mp3's to download attached)

If I want the gifts of the Spirit I cannot assume that He just drooped one on me when I became a Christian, and that's all there is to it. In fact the gift dropped on me was the Holy Spirit Himself.

If I want a gift of the Spirit, I have to want the Spirit to control my life. I must desire to be in constant focus and submission to my Heavenly Father.
I must obey Him  in order to please Him and to receive from Him.

God has given every thing we need in the Holy Spirit. If He gives us a task, He supplies the gifts to perform the task.
 
Through the process we learn to trust Him more and receive more. If He just gave us or showed us all He has for us, we would be overwhelmed, and then we would have the responsibility to follow through and not to do so would be sin.

So God in His wisdom gives us what we can receive as we grow and are ready to receive it.

The little Spiritual gifts tests mean little, other than a very general perspective of how in our own strength would respond in a certain situation.

The true gifts of the Spirit come when we know God, seek His plan, and are ready to follow through with what He plans through the gift/s the Holy spirit gives us.
The Holy Spirit directed Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted 40 days. He taught Jesus.

This is why when Jesus told the disciples that He was going away but "in essence" it was better for them to have the Holy Spirit in them than have Jesus beside them.

This same Holy Spirit is our gift and our teacher and provides our gifts as God wills and we are ready to receive and act.

   Here is an excellant devotional by my Pastor
 
                               Mel Blackaby on the Gifts of the Spirit.

Please listen - download, and pass along.

You can see and listen to more from Pastor Mel at

                                           www.ReaLifeTV.com

gR

Here are some clips of Community Bible Church Orchestra in Henry Co. Georgia. These recordings were made about 1997. The players were from 18 - 65 years old and all members of the church. Several had played since HS and others had been playing in church for many years.

I believe the fervor and dedication of amateur church musicians can produce wonderful sounds, and bring great joy and blessing.

The Heaven Medley

O Worship The King

Standing on the Promises

You Aere my Hiding Place- With trpt solo by gR @ end

Metro Band clips.

Click Here to go to  MB links

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               Church Musicianship - 3 Sections

My Philosophy of Church Music - Section 1

Knowing God and walking daily as He leads is the essence of Faith. Our Life in Christ is not static. Neither should be our worship. Music in worship should reflect Christ and one of those reflections is the developmental nature of our worship.

Here is another way of expressing it: We begin as players with the basic, and grow to the more complex. We become the "eternal student." Why then does the music we play not reflect this same developmental aspect?

Why do we not play developmental - through composed music? It awakes the creative spirit. It moves us from A to B to C, and allows us to experience more than the elemental. The beginning of growth is with the awareness that there IS MORE.

Our hunger for the Lord drives us to know Him more and more each day. Great music has the ability to drive us to become more, see more, learn more, study more.

It is not an accident that the Bible points out that the Levites and musicians in the service of the Temple were to play "skillfully" upon the instruments. David played skillfully.

Why do repeat verse chorus verse in a hypnotic chant in our music? Can we not present music that leads to Christ and by example leads to creativity. Our children have no imagination. They choose the short cuts. They settle for what gets them by.

Our culture praises the machine and not the maker. God made us to be creative as He is the Great Creator.

I want you to listen to some developmental worship orchestrations by fine christian arrangers. These two examples are transcribed from Salvation Army band music to the "church-estra' format.

When I conducted the FBC Atlanta orchestra (1976-88) we strove for music excellence. Volunteer players creating a whole much greater the sum of the parts. Is this not a musical representation of the Body of Christ?

Have you wondered why so many musicians in the church consider it the last obligation on the priority list? Why do they not "study to show themselves approved...workmen rightly divided the sharps from the flats:)?  It is because we as music leaders do not teach them by example. We do not lead them in the Word. We do not minister to them. We are afraid to offend some. We allow anyone any age any ability to participate in musical worship. We are to lazy to teach the beginners and intermediates. We fear changing the status quo.

Why not have auditions for the worship team? Why not have a strict attendance policy, why not have 2 hour rehearsals. & on & on& on& on& on& on& on& on& on& on& on...

Listen to these mp3s and hear what I am talking about.

It Is Well With My Soul - by Leslie Condon

Quintessence - by Robert Redhead

These recordings mad in live performance at Ridgecrest SBC Music week in 1980