When my Dad preached on faith he did a little visual. First he talked about having faith in the chair to hold him then he stood on it. That was faith in action. In our lives we all have chairs. The trials and opportunities, but do we have the fortitude to stand on them? Without a one on one relationship with God in Jesus Christ most of us will have a 50/50 chance.
When we trust in the Lord with all our hearts and don't lean on our own knowledge He directs our paths.
Paths that lead us beside the still waters and the green pastures. Even when "things" fall apart, He makes sense of them and uses them to grow us up in His family. We are children always in His care.
Do you stand on His word, or just say you have faith?
Faith w/o works or action is DEAD! Put your faith to work because you trust HIM and not yourself and He will do great things in your life!New paragraph
Retrospective of 40+ years in Church Instrumental Music
Looking back is not fun when you see a Dergradation of a ministry! That's what I see in church instrumental music
People love the Lord, accept a call to service and ministry in the orchestra, and find that Christian players have all the same hangups as the world. To be expected.
"We are'nt perfect but we're saved." is the excuse.
" Why do I practice and slave and this other kid comes in and sits first chair!"
"The music minister is doing away with all the "real Musicians" and bringing in a rock band!"
"Why don't we have auditions anymore???"
It's all been said a thousand times.
Do you listen, chime in, argue, or do you pray to be a blessing?
Instrumental music polarizes folks. The legit, the HS bander, the Marching bander, the Jazzer, the solists. HELP! Can't we all just get along?
Yes you can and you must if there is to remain instrumental music on a grand evangelical scale in our churches.
Is your issue with the church itself? Do you go there just to play fun music. Have you been burned by the people in other cxhurch orchestras?
Yes, yes, and more yes. So what do you do.
You shut up and listen to God. Talk to God. Know and communicate with God. Do what He says, say what He wants you to say, and serve where He wants you to serve. It's not YOUR talent it is Gods.
Do you think the parking ministry loves getting wet!. The children's ministry like being thrown up on. Well of course not - that is not why they are there! They have answered a call to supply a service that is vital. We are hands and feet, not the head of the church. Wake up!
God did not save you FROM adversity, temptation, mean people, illness - He saves you THROUGH IT.
If you are waiting for the perfect ensemble, with pleasant music, and pleasant acoustics, and pleasant people - then you'll get it - IN HEAVEN.
Right now we serve our great God, and we stop fussing. Be God's musician man or woman. Do it all as unto Him.
If you are in a church that does not honor, praise and teach the Word - get out. Find where God is working and go there. If He tells you to stay, He has a reason and will bless your faithfulness - not by making it rosey but by making it profitable for HIS Kingdom
Every where I turn I see this going on in the church music families. We are always in transition with music. Things change, music changes, people who are lost need to change, and we spend so much time complaining about changing that the real business of Heart-Changing is forgotten. When are focus and attention is on Him it all gets clear.
"When the things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of Hid Glory and Grace." That's where we must be.
gR
A Tribute to a fine Christian Player Link To Video STACY BLAIR (1954-2010)
We were in the presence of a gentle giant…
"There is nothing as strong as gentleness, and nothing as gentle as true strength." ~ St. Francis de Sales
By D Chris Payne(formerly, Diana C Keyes)
Blind from birth, Stacy’s lifetime accomplishments were legendary and would take
pages to discuss. They included winning the Maurice Andre International Trumpet Solo Competition in Paris in 1979, being inducted into the International Hall of
Fame for Persons with Disabilities in 1998, and countless others. Stacy often stated that his most meaningful achievement was becoming an Eagle Scout in 1971.
However, the true measure of the man was not found in his resume, but in his heart. This tribute is meant to shine the light of day upon the man behind the resume.
Back in college, when I first met Stacy, I recall noticing that he was kind, gentle, humble, caring, and funny. My deepest understanding today, 37 years later, is that he was kind, gentle, humble, caring, and funny.
Stacy never allowed fear to diminish his life. He traveled the world alone for years, conducting and playing with the world’s finest orchestras. When he finally acquired a guide dog, it changed his life forever. From that day forward, he went to organizations and schools to teach others about service dogs. He was consistently one of the top donors for the Guiding Eyes for the Blind organization. Stacy wanted others to experience the same joy and independence that he found with his precious dogs, Guthrie and Kellogg.
Stacy’s disability was readily apparent and he was sometimes smothered with well-intentioned helpers. Waiters would occasionally ignore Stacy and ask others
what they would like to order for him. Recently, we discussed non-threatening ways to educate people on such things. We chose to enter restaurants, arm in arm, walking in such a way that they were unable to tell who was leading whom, both of us wearing dark glasses. When the wait staff came to the table, Stacy took charge and they assumed I was the one who was blind. When it was time to leave, Stacy would say something like, “Well, since I’m blind, you’d better drive.” He was a master at reaching people’s hearts in a gentle, yet memorable way!
Stacy was a good shopper. He knew exactly what he wanted and knew how to get help to find it. There were physical challenges involved in taking Stacy to the grocery store, once he started using a wheelchair, but he always found a way to rise above it by creating new and fun adventures. The stores are well-equipped to handle mother’s with children or wheelchair bound customers. One thing they were never prepared for was a customer who was both wheelchair bound and blind. Allowing Stacy use one of those motorized grocery carts alone would have been a true disaster waiting to happen. We put our heads together, thinking of various ways to overcome the problem. We found that if I pushed his wheelchair, he could
push one of the smaller carts. We tried using one of the motorized carts with him in the seat and me on the running board to steer it. Unfortunately, the steering was awkward and the grocery store aisles were often too narrow and cluttered with obstacles. One day I said, “Hey Stacy, let’s try running this thing backwards, steering it like a boat. What a solution! It beeped like a trash truck in reverse, so everyone knew to get out of our way and we could negotiate the tightest corners with ease! We laughed and cruised through the store without a problem, hoping the management wouldn’t see fit to run us off. They never did…
Stacy was in a deep coma for 3 weeks in January. As the days stretched into weeks, the doctors were unwilling to give any type of assurance that Stacy would
ever wake up, let alone go home. Through the days and weeks that followed, I stayed with him in the hospital, talking to him, retelling funny stories, stroking his hands, combing his hair; anything to engage his mind and let him know we were there and anxious for him to come home. Stacy was not easy for the staff to care for because of his size and the multiple complications that had to
be juggled with care. There was an attendant in his room 24 hours a day because of the real danger of choking. It seemed important to get them involved, on a personal level, so he wouldn’t be just another difficult assignment in a long day of overwork and underpay. I made sure to get to know each attendant on a first name basis, spending at least one full shift with each one, sharing funny or amazing details of his life and making sure they heard his music. By the time
he woke up, they all felt like they knew him. They couldn’t wait to talk to him and, of course, he didn’t disappoint. Stacy hadn’t had solid food in weeks and when he finally started relating to his surroundings and regaining his ability to speak, one of the first things Stacy said was, “Wow, I would give anything for some Brussels’ sprouts. We laughed, since most people held captive in a hospital setting crave things like double bacon cheeseburgers, or pizza, or hot fudge sundaes. How naïve we were. Stacy was already setting us up for the joke! He said, “But I like Brussels’ sprouts. You know, that’s what people in Belgium call their kids.” He always sensed when people were concerned about his well-being and he was a master at diffusing fear by turning it into fun. Stacy knew the names of his attendant’s children and kept up with their concerns. He always checked to make sure the staff had had a chance to eat before he would agree to eat his own meal, and he always saved his desserts for them. It wasn’t long before Stacy’s attendants, as well as those from other floors, started coming in before their shift to bring him cans of his favorite soft drink, which
was always in short supply! Stacy was a giver; he cared about people and he knew
how to share. Stacy was fun and funny in the midst of adversity. He handled what many would consider humiliations with grace. Stacy lived with gusto, and touched many lives. We were blessed to have known him.
Most people keep expensive worldly goods in a safe. Stacy’s treasure was very different. Upon opening Stacy’s safe, I found it filled to the brim with precious cards and letters he had received over the years. It didn’t matter to Stacy whether it was the next door neighbor, or a head of state; Stacy just loved people. There was also a mold of his teeth! A trumpet player’s teeth are vital. When Stacy broke one of his front teeth, he told me it was the most important one and called it his “Brandenburg tooth”. He had prepared for just such a crisis—the mold was ready! Yes, people and music, two of Stacy’s greatest
treasures—in that order.
Although we are left to grieve his absence, Stacy was a strong man of faith and it was time forhim to go home. He had an unshakable confidence in the joy of his
eternal future, when he would receive his sight and be free of pain. Since time on this earth is growing short, Stacy was summoned to prepare for the greatest engagement of all. On that day, when Gabriel blows the final trumpet, Stacy will
be there, filling the heavens with an antiphonal response—an octave higher, of course—with both the sensitivity and the power to stir all of God’s creation!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dr Payne was Stacy’s friend and is now his heir. She may be reached at (972) 790-2167 or StacyBlair@Safe-mail.net for information about Stacy’s many charities or the purchase of his recordings.
I love the Instrumental Music Ministry. I have participated in Church music for 58 years. 8 Years as music evangelist, 41 years as ordained minister, 34 years as Instrumental Music Minister.
I want to contribute to this vital ministry and give encouragement and help for all church musicians. A TALENT in music does not mean your gift in the chuirch has anything to do with music. God gives us a gift to perform His plan in our lives. If we are not seeking God's will and are yielding our very being to Him, we will not experience His gifts.
Many talented people falsely believe their talent is their gift and assume they are pleasing God by playing in the church.
Mp3's to inspire and challenge us will be posted here:
Devotionals by Mel Blackaby / Who Is Jesus by Dean Haun
This first pdf download will give you an look at our pastor's heart. It is always an encouragement to me when I read this testimony. Pastor Mel is a man's man in the worldly sense, but more than that he is God's man in a time such as we are living.
