It's been a while

Hard to believe it has been nearly 2-years since I have posted on this blog. I've just been very busy and not really had time for blogging. I wanted to let everyone know that I'm still around. Still working full-time, pastoring full-time, and being a full-time father and husband.

The LORD has really been blessing our little Church over the past couple of years. We've had some folks leaven and some new folks join. We've got a faithful crowd of folks that are there nearly every time the door is open. God blessed us by leading Brother Roger and Sister Karen to join our Church and he is our full-time song leader now. Our church finally has the choir I have always dreamed and prayed about.

This past Sunday we sang a good old song that was written back in the 1950's and sang by several folks but we had never sang it as a choir until Sunday evening. Bro. Roger handed it out during choir practice and we went over it a few times and then we sang it during the service the same night! I think it is some of the best singing I've ever heard. (Of course I may be a little bit partial!) Anyway, I wanted to share it with you. "I Was There When It Happened."

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Lilies for Mr. Buckner

The fine looking gentleman in the attached picture is one of my heroes in the faith, Mr. Edd Buckner. I snapped this picture of him at the graveside service of his sister that passed away a few weeks ago. During this sad occasion Mr. Buckner told me that the Lord sure had been good to him during his 93-years on earth. I couldn't help but look at him with great admiration. I know I'll never make it on this earth as long as he has.

Tonight while the choir was singing, the spirit was extra sweet. We had just sang 2 choir specials, Let's Just Praise the Lord, and City of Gold, and after we finished Mr. Buckner called out from his pew in the congregation; "sing page 51 in the Inspiration hymnal please." I didn't even have to ask what the title of the song was because it's the one he always requests, Consider the Lilies. Unknowing to him, I had been working on that song with the choir in our last practice session because I knew that he always wanted to hear it but I never felt that we did a very good job on it. Well, tonight I think we finally did it justice. I think it was the best I've ever heard our choir do on it. I think Mr. Buckner really enjoyed it. You can give it a listen in the still video clip below:

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Volunteer or Called?

Even in smaller churches like mine, we need all the help we can get. Often just a hand full of people end up doing all of the jobs. I remember at a former church I was at, I was the music minister, interim pastor, Sunday school teacher, and sign changer. It was exhausting work. I am also stretched too thin at my current church where I am the minister of music, Sunday school teacher, VBS director, website administrator, and I preach when given the opportunity. It does become tiresome at times but I have never regretted working for the Lord. I have a calling in my life and I am a volunteer. I'm not bragging by any means, I'm just stating the facts. Churches need willing volunteers but I believe they need to be called by God as well.

I suscribe to Paul Clark's email updates for music ministers. I always enjoy his thougtful insight and tips. Today's email contained a really great article about the difference in being a volunteer and being called by God. I thought I would share the below 10 statements with you that he quoted from Rory Noland:

1. Volunteers see their involvement at church as community service, but people called of God see it as ministry.

2. Volunteers whine about what it's going to cost to serve, but people who are called are committed to serving.

3. Volunteers shrink back from resolving relational conflict, but people called of God seek to resolve relational conflict for the sake of unity in the church.

4. Volunteers look upon rehearsal as another commitment they're obligated to fulfill, but people called of God look forward to rehearsal as another opportunity to be used by God.

5. Volunteers do no outside practicing or preparation, but people who are called of God come to rehearsals and a performance as prepared as possible.

6. Volunteers are not open to constructive criticism; they get defensive about it. But people called of God are grateful for feedback because they want to be the best they can be.

7. Volunteers feel threatened by the talent of others, but people called of God praise Him for distributing gifts and talents as he chooses.

8. Volunteers want to quit at the first sign of adversity or discouragement, but people called of God dig in and persevere.

9. Volunteers find their main source of fulfillment in their talents and abilities, but people called of God know that being used of God is the most fulfilling thing you can do with your life.

10. Volunteers can't handle being put in situations in which they're going to be stretched, but people called of God respond to God's call with humble dependence on Him

What are your thought?

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If That Isn't Love

I was really proud of the choir this past Sunday when we sang, "If That Isn't Love" for our choir special. It just seemed like everyone was putting everything they had into it. The singing, the music, the Spirit, everything was just lovely. Give it a listen below:

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Revival 2009 - Day 5

Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and tonight they did. What a wonderful week of revival we had. I can honestly say it was one of the best revivals I have been in. I was sad to see it have to end. We were expecting a large crowd for the last night and we had a pretty good one. I didn't do a head count but there was well over 100 folks there. I had 18 in the choir.

The choir kicked things off tonight with the lively, "Stand Up." We always sing the first verse and when the chorus starts, everyone stands up to their feet. "Stand Up, if you love Jesus, Stand up and be identified, Stand up, and tell us all about it, Stand up, and testify!" While I had my back to the congregation leading the choir, apparently everyone in the church had also stood up. I turned around on the last repeat of the chorus and was amazed to see over a hundred folks standing with numerous hands being raised across the room. It was such a wonderful feeling. I then immediately led everyone in to 3 verses of, "A New Name Written Down In Glory." After that the choir sang 2 more specials, "Saved to the Uttermost," and "He Touched Me." Then another congregational with, "He'll Take Me Thru," followed up with a fellowship hymn, "Love Lifted Me."

After fellowship and altar prayer, the pastor said that Linda Long, Sis Carol, and Charlotte had a request to sing. They sang, "Thank You Lord For Your Blessings On Me." Then the pastor said he had it on his heart to ask me to sing, "I Thirst." After I sang, Mrs. Langston came up with Preacher Langston and they sang 2 songs with Sis Carol backing them up on piano.

The Pastor told us at the beginning of the service that Preacher Langston had called him and was stuck in traffic around Lenoir City. We were worried that he would be real late. Luckily he made it right after altar prayer. He preached a message tonight titled, "Three Promises From God," you can listen to it HERE. He did a fantastic job, as usual, and kept everyone's attention the entire time. I tell you what, that little man can sure preach with authority. He may be just about 5'7 but when he preaches he's 10 feet tall and bullet proof!

Just as we had been advertising, we had a fellowship dinner immediately following the service. Several people stayed but probably half didn't. It's probably a good thing everyone didn't stay because every single table was filled up with folks. We had plenty of food to go around though and everything was delicious. I had a wonderful time talking with folks. I met lots of new people and also got an invitation from the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist to come and preach at his church in the near future.

Well, I guess this concludes my blogging of Revival 2009. I am taking a mini vacation this weekend and will not be at church this Sunday. It will be weird not to be at Highland but everyone needs a break now and then. I do feel spiritually revived though and am looking forward to working on some new choir music soon.

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Ah, the life of a music minister...

As I mentioned in a few posts this week. I've had to select 42 different songs to use during our revival services this week. I've written before about the process of song selection and everything that goes into it. Luckily, it hasn't been too awfully bad this week but rest assured it has taken lots of prayer!

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Revival 2009 - Day 3

Well, it was day 3 of our revival and it was a Wednesday night. I was expecting a low turnout and I was right. I believe I counted 31 people in total. Eight people were visitors, the rest were our regular faithful Wednesday night members.

The hardest part for me is picking out the best songs. Of course I pray hard about the song selection and let God lead me but when you have to pick out 42 different songs in a week's time, it is hard. The worst part is not knowing how many people will show up to sing in the choir. I think we only had 12 people plus myself in the choir tonight. I changed one of our specials at the last minute because I didn't feel we had enough people to pull it off. The folks that sang, did a great job and we had a good full sound. We started out with one of our favorites, "Feeling Fine." I then lead a congregational tune, "Victory In Jesus," followed up with another choir special, "He Did It All For Me." I then lead another congregational, "I Want to Know More." After that, Edd Buckner, requested that we sing, "Just A Little Talk With Jesus." We then had fellowship and altar prayer with "Amazing Grace" as our fellowship hymn.

For special singing, the pastor asked Charlotte McCollough to sing. She sang, "Thank You Lord For Your Blessings On Me," with Barbara playing accompaniment on the piano. Me and Elizabeth had several requests to sing so we sang a song my Uncle Ronnie wrote, "A Few More Miles To Go." Then the preacher and sister Carol sang , "But For The Blood."

Preacher Langston did not preach tonight, he stays at his home church where he pastor's on Wednesday nights. Instead, the preacher asked one of his friends, D. J. Brown to preach. He has preached at our church once before. You can listen to his message HERE.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night. I'm expecting a good crowd for the last two nights. I believe my mother is going to sing tomorrow night and dad has said that he will play the guitar for both services. If you don't have anything to do, why not come out and join us?

Read about Day 2 of the Revival here.

Read about Day 1 of the Revival here.

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Following in the footsteps

Recently, through the power of the internet and Facebook, I have made acquaintance with a family member of Mr. Buckner (one of our deacons). Turns out his niece, Gail, went to Holston high school and so did my mother. So, through that connection, they knew each other, and when I saw her post a comment on my mother's Facebook wall that said Edd Buckner was her uncle, well, one thing led to another and now I'm writing this post.

She sent me some old photos that she had, and much to my amazement, there was Mr. Buckner leading the music! Since he turns 93 this December, that would've made him 52 back in 1968. That's only 8-years oder than I am now. I've always known that Mr. Buckner had a great love for the church music because he and I have discussed it many times, but, for some reason he had never told me he used to be the music leader. I can't wait to see him tonight and tell him that I know his secret!

Thinking about all of this has me appreciating all of those old saints from the past that have done their part to keep the church going and spread the Gospel. I feel honored to follow in the footsteps of such wonderful folks as Mr. Buckner. There are only a handful of the long-time members that are still around these day, Mrs. Haire, Mr. and Mrs. McMillan, the Grishams, all of those folks have been around nearly since the church started. I look up to them and appreciate all that they have done in the past. I am trying to do my part and I hope and pray that the younger generation behind me has the same desire.

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Revival 2009 - Day 2

I was still walking on cloud 9 from last night's service and expecting big things. The choir cranked out a lively rendition of the Kingsmen's hit song, "I'll Live Again," which brought many Amen's from the row of preachers that were sitting on the front 3 church pews. The choir wasn't as large as it was last night, I think we only had about 12 folks but they sang their hearts out and did a great job. Again, support from our regular membership was very poor but we had lots of visitors.

Up next, I led the congregation in 3 verses of "My Sins Are Gone." Man, I love that song and would sing it every single service if I could. After a welcoming and announcements, I had the choir sing, "I Am Redeemed." I just about over sang on that song and felt my throat giving out about half way through. I have to do a recitation on that song and I somehow managed to do it without choking. Then I led another congregational out of the Inspiration Hymnal, "Saved to the Uttermost." After that, we had fellowship and altar prayer and sang "What A Day that Will Be" as our song selection.

For special singing, Linda Long, with the help of Sister Carol and Charlotte McCollough, sang the very beautiful, "Come Morning." They did a fantastic job and I was proud that we have so much talent in our membership. Then the pastor and Sis. Carol sang, "The King and the Beggar," and of course did great as usual. The pastor then asked Mrs. Langston to sing and she had Sis. Carol back her up on the piano. She sang, "I Call It Home," and did a marvelous job. The pastor then asked Preacher Langston to come up to bring the message.

One thing I love about Preacher Langston is his ability to make you laugh while driving home a great truth. He speaks to you on a level that you can understand. The man has been preaching for 53 years and has probably forgotten more Scripture than I'll ever be able to memorize, so if he chose to, I'm sure he could outwit and confuse you if he wanted to, but, that's not how he works. I believe that the Gospel should be understood by everyone, from the very smallest to the oldest and that's exactly how Bro. Langston preaches. He will also pull your sin up by the roots, wave it out in front of you and call you on it. Last night he brought a message about why he lives for the Lord. I wish every member of our church had of been there to hear it. you can give it a listen HERE. His main point was if you really love the Lord, it will show in your life by your church attendance, your willingness to serve Him, and your desire to live for him. My favorite quote from his sermon last night was this: "the reason I'm here is because I want to be here."  He went on to say, "if you want to be here, you'll be here, if you don't then you won't be, you'll be home in bed or somewhere else." He spoke the truth last night and that's a fact.

Preacher Langston won't be preaching on Wednesday night, he will be at his church, but he will be back on Thursday and Friday. I'm really excited about the rest of the revival.

Read about Day 1 of the Revival here.

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Revival 2009 - Day 1

The first night of Revival I arrived at the church around 6:30. I needed to run off some copies of a flyer and get my music straightened up and ready. Folks started trickling in shortly after that and by starting time we had a pretty good crowd of around 100 folks. As I panned the congregation I couldn't help but notice that most people that were there were visitors. We had a very poor showing from our regular members. I tried not to let it bother me but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

I had a pretty good choir full, I think 17 or 18 people. They put out a big sound anyway. We kicked things off with Goodbye World, Goodbye. There was a really good Spirit from the get-go. Lots of encouragement from the congregation by means of "Amen's" and shouts, and hand lifting toward Heaven. I was pretty caught up in the Spirit and so excited I thought I was going to jump off of the stage. I managed to settle down enough to lead a congregational and do announcements. After that the choir sang 2 more specials, 'Send A Great Revival" and "I'm Glad I Know Who Jesus Is." Then another congregational of "Power In the Blood," and then we had fellowship singing, "I'd Rather Be An Old-Time Christian." Altar prayer came next and then special singing. The pastor asked me and my family to come up and sing, "Thank You Dear Lord," which Elizabeth leads the verses and we back her up on the chorus. Then, Ray, ( a 78-year old man that has been blind since birth ) got up and testified about how the Lord has always been good to him and he sang, "Where the Roses Never Fade," with help from Preacher Langston and his wife. Then Mrs. Langston sang a song before Preacher Langston came to preach.

At 77-years old, Preacher Langston has more energy and pep than most folks that are half his age. From his opening remarks to his closing prayer he vehemently expounded the Word of God with great authority. He didn't pull any punches, or make any apologies, just straight in your face Bible preaching. His delivery style is reminiscent of the old-time preaching that I grew up listening to in the 70's. You can listen to his sermon HERE.

By the time the night was over, I was worn out but felt very blessed and revived and looking forward to the next service.

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Gotta keep on keeping on

One of the worst things in the life of a music minister, is waking up with a sore throat and stopped up ears on Sunday morning. Alas, that is my predicament this morning. I know it's just sinus drainage (sorry, that's gross I guess) but it makes it very difficult to lead music this way. Through the course of the day I will lead 20+ songs plus teach a Sunday school lesson. By tonight I probably won't be able to talk. I'm praying that God will give me relief. I've drank 3 cups of coffee already this morning and it feels some better but I can tell that it's not going to go away.  I remember my choral director at Gibbs, Mr. Reeves, once told us that someone had done a study where they had their sinuses blocked and they sang before and after and you couldn't tell any difference between the two. Well, the church congregation may not be able to tell but I sure can! It could be a lot worse. Just look at the Apostle Paul who was stoned and dragged out of the city and left for dead. He got up, brushed himself off and headed right back into the city to preach! So, I'll keep on keeping on. We are having Revival next week and I'll be leading the music every night. Please remember me in your prayers!

-Bro. Byron

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The few, the proud, the choir

This past Sunday morning at church, we saw a pretty significant rise in attendance. In fact, our numbers for Sunday School were the highest I have seen in the past 3 years. It was so nice looking out across the congregation and seeing so many folks. We had a wonderful Spirit filled service during our morning worship service and the choir sounded spectacular. We actually had some basses this Sunday which did my heart good. I even strayed from my regularly scheduled program to include pg. 92, Just A Little Talk With Jesus, so I could hear that wonderful bass section.

Sunday evening we had a drastic falling off. Not sure where everybody was. I know a few members went to hear Gary Barnard play piano in a concert, but the rest of them... only God knows where they were. If it hadn't been for our youth group and some visitors from Texas Valley; former pastor, Jerry Copeland and his wife Gail, along with Mary-Alice and Steve Thomas, and Randy Wallen, we wouldn't have had but a handful. But, like Jesus says in Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And, in the midst He was! Even with our low attendance, the choir loft was nearly completely full! We were a little thin in the Alto section but man, what a sound the choir put out! We have been practicing, Goodbye, World Goodbye, for a few weeks and we sang it. I can't remember ever being more proud of the choir than I was last night. I looked out at them and it seemed like everyone had the biggest smile on their face and they were rearing back and singing with all they were worth. I could even hear my little 9-year old Liz belting out that song to the top of her lungs! You can give it a listen at the bottom of this post. Make sure you listen to the ending, we really worked hard on it and Barbara does a very impressive roll down the keyboard to boot!

We may not be the largest, most musically trained, or even skillful choir, but for what we lack in those 3 departments, we make up for in heart and Spirit. I've always told the choir members that I would rather hear a handful of folks singing to the Lord from their hearts than some huge professionally trained choir full of dead-spirited ones. Sure, sometimes I get down about the low numbers but I thank God for the few, the proud, the choir!

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Hello Goodbye!

Last night was the first night we have had choir practice in about 4 weeks. I've canceled it for several reasons, VBS, Father's Day, etc.. We haven't had the opportunity to learn anything new in a while. In our last practice we had worked on Goodbye World, Goodbye. I didn't think we did very well on it our first practice and was actually considering scratching it from the notebook. I gave it a second thought last night and we worked on it again. Boy, am I glad that we did! Believe it or not, I actually had the choir sing it in last night's service! There was only 12 people in the choir last night but they really put out some sound. I think we'll be doing this song often.

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When I grow up, I want to be like...

Have you ever had someone in your life that you always said you wished you could be like? I'm not talking about some movie star or famous singer or anything like that. I mean just someone that you know or have met that you admired and wished that you could be more like them. Maybe have some of their redeeming qualities? Well, I've had a few such folks in my life. Let me tell you about one of them.

I've often written about my grandfather, Rev. Edd Spencer. As you probably have read on here before, he was the founder and pastor at both Highland Baptist Church and North Acres Baptist during his lifetime. Surprise, surprise, this post isn't about my grandfather, it's about another preacher.

My first memories of Rev. Charlie Lynch start way back when I was just a little boy. Charlie was the pastor at Highland Baptist for 10-years, between 1975 and 1985. The pictures on this post are from Highland's 1984 church directory. It was the year before he would leave to pastor North Acres Baptist church for 21-years. It always seemed to me that preacher Charlie was following in my grandfather's footsteps. I used to love to hear Charlie preach. The funny thing is, he never was my actual pastor. We didn't belong to either of those churches during the times he was pastoring them. But, anytime I was looking for a church to visit I would always find my way over to where he was at.

There is a song in the old red back church hymnal that is one of my very favorites in the whole world. It is on page 16 and its title is, "I Know He Heard My Prayer." I will always remember sitting in North Acres Baptist church and the choir was singing that song. Brother Charlie was standing up there and he was singing along and big tears were streaming down his face. He was praising God and rejoicing, I don't think he even knew there was another person in the whole church besides him and God. I have loved that song ever since then and have always wanted to teach it to one of my choirs. I haven't found a choir yet that has been able to do it. We are always missing a part, whether it is good strong leads or the basses. I'm sure I'll never be pleased with any of them anyway because I'll always be comparing them to the way I remember it from when I was a kid.

Charlie always has a way of making you feel special. He has a big grin that stretches from ear to ear. Kind of reminds me of when Andy Griffith grins, it just takes up his whole face and looks so genuine. Charlie is a tall man, I'd guess around 6' 4. He towers above my short little 5'9 frame when I am beside him. Anytime I have ever met him, without fail, he'll stick out his hand, spread that big grin across his face and welcome me like an old friend. He always has something nice to say about my wife and children. He always tells me how lucky I am to have such a beautiful family. He usually says something funny like, "how in the world did you ever talk her into marrying you?" or something along those lines. I guess that's one of the things makes him so good at being a pastor. I've always admired Charlie's wife, Kathy, as well. She is always so nice and hospitable. Always faithfully there along with Charlie. I guess in my mind they are what I think of when I think of a good pastor and pastor's wife.

I've told my wife for years that if I die early, I want brother Charlie to preside over my funeral. It seems like he has preached the funerals of an awful lot of my acquaintances and loved ones that have went on. I guess the one that I remember most is my granny Spencer's. I'll never forget how loving and gracious Charlie was to my family during that time. He stood over her casket and spoke directly to us with such humbleness. I've also heard him at other funerals. One in particular was Paul Haire's funeral that he preached last year. The compassion that he had for the Haire family was overwhelming. I sat back about 4 pews from them and watched them as brother Charlie preached and talked about how Mr. Haire was such a hero. I remember wondering to myself if I would ever be able to handle a funeral service as eloquently as he can.

I guess it seems kind of odd to write about someone like this while they are still living. I doubt Charlie would ever stumble across my little corner of the blogosphere though. I certainly wouldn't want to embarrass him or anything, I've just had him on my mind a lot and felt the need to write about it. I don't know if I'll ever have as great of a ministry as he has had. I sure wish I could be more like him though.

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He Said It All For Me

Last year when the Chuck Wagon Gang came to our church to sing, they sang one of the most beautiful and touching songs that I had ever heard, "He Said It All For Me." That was the first time I had ever heard the song. As soon as the concert was over I rushed out to the CWG product table to try and buy a CD with the song on it. Unfortunately they didn't have it on any of the CD's that they had brought with them. Penny Greene told me that it was in the CWG songbook, so I bought one of those. It is also on their CD, "Clinging to a Saving Hand," and they have since released it on their CD titled, "Live In Pigeon Forge."

A few weeks ago I introduced the song to our choir. We practiced it 2 or 3 times and I felt that they knew if well enough to go ahead and sing it during the church service. So, the Lord directed me to have them sing it this past Sunday morning. I felt such a blessing from the words. I could barely make it through the entire song because I was crying too much. We had just lost our dear choir member, Mrs. Dockery, and the song was a comfort in time of sorrow. I thought the choir did an excellent job on it despite missing a few key members.

The song was written by Brenda Gordon, a songwriter from Greensboro, NC. Penny Greene said that the CWG call it "Brenda's song." The words are so touching. I think it would be an excellent invitation song to sing during altar call. You can listen to our choir sing it below.

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Our loss is Heaven's gain

I'm still in shock after receiving the phone call this morning, informing me that Mrs. Dockery had passed away. She had been sick for several months, though most people probably would never know it. Her throat had been bothering her since sometime before Christmas last year. Every time I saw her, I would ask her how she was doing. She was always honest to tell me that she wasn't feeling well and she told me that she didn't ever think that her throat was going to be the same. She said she had been praying about it for a long time.

About 3-weeks ago, Mrs. Dockery said that she was feeling some better and her throat was finally getting back to almost normal. She seemed really happy about it and I could hear her sweet little soprano voice blending in with the choir. She always sat beside my wife in the choir loft. She would discuss the music with her and laugh about me changing the song selections at the last moment. I knew that I could always depend on her to be there whenever we had choir practice, as long as she wasn't too sick to attend. I know she came many times despite not feeling well.

Last week we got word that Mrs. Dockery, as well as a few other church members, had come down with the flu. This past Wednesday evening during worship service, I looked out across the congregation and noticed that she wasn't there. "Poor Mrs. Dockery," I thought to myself. "She must be pretty bad off to miss." Later on as I took prayer requests, I mentioned for people to remember her in prayer. I had no way of knowing that I would never see her alive again.

Mrs. Dockery was one of those sweet little ladies that loved everybody. She was like a grandmother to everyone that knew her. Always kind, caring, and spiritual. She had very strong convictions and was very well spoken when talking about things of the Lord. She was in charge of the church prayer chain and she agonized over it daily. She had such a desire to make it flow smoothly and just 3-weeks ago had taken it upon herself to re-vamp the prayer chain to try and overcome some snags that were in it. She stood before the church and talked about how important the prayer chain was and how she wanted it to benefit people's lives. She spoke with such compassion. I admired her immensely, but shamefully never told her.

Mrs. Margaret Dockery will be missed tremendously at our church. I know tomorrow I will look down at her empty choir seat with great sadness. But, I have comfort knowing that she has taken her rightful place in her brand new seat in Heaven's choir where she no longer has to worry about throat problems or sickness and pain. I don't know who Heaven's choir director is but whoever it is, they just gained treasure in Mrs. Dockery.

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Margaret Dockery
DOCKERY, MARGARET - age 83 of Knoxville died Saturday, March 14, 2009 at the family home. She was a member of Highland Baptist Church. Preceded in death by husband, Clyde Dockery and sister, Ada Long. Survivors: son and daughter-in-law, Charles and Janice Dockery; grandson, Paul Dockery and wife, Jennifer, all of Dunlap, TN; sister, Edna Watts; special friends, Joe and Charlotte McCollough, all of Knoxville; nieces and nephews. Funeral service 8 p.m. Monday at Stevens Chapel. Family and friends will meet at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at Highland Memorial Park for a 10 a.m. committal service and entombment. Family will receive friends 6-8 p.m. Monday at Stevens Mortuary, Oglewood Avenue at North Broadway. Mrs. Dockery's guest book is available at Legacy.com.

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Music money!

As I mentioned in THIS post, our church didn't have a music ministry budget. This made things difficult when it came time to pick out new music, song books, material, etc.. because I had to either be very creative, pay for things out of my own pocket, ask the church for funds, or rely on members to cough up their own cash to cover the costs. Well, that's changing!

In our quarterly business meeting this past Wednesday, during "new business," a sweet choir member made the motion that we start designating money every month to go toward the music ministry! I knew she was going to do this because she called me before hand to discuss it. The church decided upon $50.00 a month to go toward music! I know that's not a huge amount for the mecca churches out there but for our little Baptist church it is pretty significant. Our treasurer is just going to keep the tally up on paper and when we need music related things she will issue a check and deduct the money from our funds. I was paying very close attention during the voting process to see how folks were taking to it all. I felt that overall people were in agreement, well, the vote passed so no one publicly disagreed anyways.

I would never have personally asked the church to do this because I don't want the music ministry to be centered around me. I want our church members to be as excited about it as I am and take an active participation in things. It's no secret that leadership changes in church and I'm sure there will be a day when the Lord has different plans for me and I'll have to move on. I would like to think that the music ministry could carry on without any hiccups when that day comes. The only way that would be possible is if folks take the ministry serious and are involved. I think this was a huge step towards that.

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A great time in the Lord

I'm back from a singing at Freedom Baptist. We had a good turnout for the choir. None of our youth group made it, they had a wrestling tournament, but we had 15 choir members and 5 other church members who came for support.

The pastor of Freedom, Rev. Steve Hutchison (brother to our pastor), kicked things off by requesting that everyone come and fill up the choir and sing some congregational's. It was the first time I was able to sing my natural bass, since I wasn't leading, it felt really good. We sang some good old gospel songs out of the red back church hymnal. I immediately felt the Spirit and found myself overcome. Bro. Hutchison asked if I would lead one but I was crying too much to try. We finished 3 songs and then had altar prayer.

To start off the singing, Bro. Hutchison asked a young man, who looked to be about 7 or 8, to come up and be first. He sang, Jesus Loves Me, and did as fine of a job as anyone I've ever heard. Our choir was chosen to be next. There was a packed house and many folks that had came out to sing, so I didn't want to sing too many. I settled on 3 for sure and then added one more, making it a total of 4 songs.

We started out with Saved to the Uttermost. We always do very well on that song and I feel it was the perfect way for Highland to start off. The way the acoustics are in the church, it is hard to tell if you are singing loud enough or not. I way over sang tonight trying to make sure that I was doing a good job leading. My throat is paying the price for it right now. Our next song was our Christmas favorite, I'm Glad I Know Who Jesus Is, then we broke into, When the Saints Go Marching In, with Sister Carol singing the verses while the rest of the choir joined in on the chorus. Originally I was going to do, I'll Live Again, but I the Spirit of the Lord changed my mind at the last minute and we sang, Little Is Much If God Is In It. I had my back to the congregation so I don't know what was going on behind me but I could hear a lot of Amen's and rejoicing. I think it was the perfect choice.

After the choir finished, the two Linda's sang; Linda Compton and Linda Long. They are always a pleasure to listen to and their songs always have a way of touching those that hear them. They sang, New Grace, and then their bread and butter number, The Old Rugged Cross Made the Difference. Again, I was drowning in tears. After they finished, my daughter, Liz, and I went up and we sang, Ready Or Not, with me playing the piano. We had worked on that song for about 30-minutes before going to the singing, so we were prepared. Then Bro. Hutchison asked me to lead a congregational and I chose pg. 68 in the red back hymnal, He'll Take Me Thru.

There were several singers after that, and lots of good Spirit. I was really glad that we went and even my 15-year old daughter enjoyed it. She was really giving me a hard time before going because I was "dragging" her to church again." I wish that I had brought my camera. I had my Blackberry with me and I snapped a few pics but they didn't come out very good. Maybe next time!

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Ya'll come

Saturday night, I, along with members of our choir, will be going to Freedom Baptist church to sing. We did this last year and had a good time. They have several good singers at Freedom and lots of musicians. I remember last time we went I was sick and my throat was very irritated. I strained my voice that night singing, Saved By the Blood, and it took me nearly 2-months to recover from it. Hopefully this year my throat will be okay. So far, so good.

Right now I've decided on I'll Live Again, Saved to the Uttermost, and I'm Glad I Know Who Jesus Is. We will probably do another or two, depending on how many people are going to sing. Freedom Baptist has a singing the first Saturday of every month. Some folks have asked me about having monthly singings at Highland. To be honest, I really do not enjoy regularly scheduled singings. Mainly because it would end up being me and a couple of other people that would be doing all the work. Also, they tend to turn into endurance contests. I have been to hundreds of singings in my life and I have had to endure some pretty rough services. I think it is uncalled for when a group gets up to sing and drags out one of those 3-foot thick notebooks and commence to singing every single song in them. There is NOTHING spiritual about that. Besides, we already have more than our share of singing at church, throwing in an extra service for it is too much. I would go along with maybe 3 or 4 times a year, but definitely not every single month.

If you are interested in going to the singing, just come to Highland on Saturday at 6:45 PM and we will leave from there and head over to Freedom Baptist. The singing starts at 7:30pm. Freedom Baptist is located at 5518 Nickle Rd., Knoxville, TN 37921. For driving directions click HERE. If you need a ride, please call me 219-0996.

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Wow, what a practice!

We are into the 2nd week of practicing our Easter cantata, AMEN. We have been singing along with the sample CD and I've been a little nervous about how well we would sound. My fears were dispelled tonight when as we were singing along with the CD, it all of a sudden stopped. We just kept right on singing and it sounded WONDERFUL! Now, I'm always the first to brag on our choir but I've got to say that those folks exceeded my expectations.

This is the first time that we have really split up the parts (men and women). That's the way that the music is arranged, for two parts. Our youth are really getting involved this time and it makes a big difference in the way we sound. I'm happy to see them getting more serious about the music ministry. They are a great bunch of kids.

We were really missing Barbara tonight. She is not feeling well and wasn't able to come to church this weekend. I know we will sound even better when we have her playing the piano along with us instead of the accompaniment CD. I'm really excited about this years Easter program!

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