New Blog Old Blog This Blog that Blog

I used to blog on a regular basis. I'm not sure why I stopped. Just other things were taking my time I suppose - because I always have something to say. lol.

I have a new blog that I'd like for you to check out. It's about the beautiful city of Porto through the eyes of photographers in the USA. You can find it here Porto - from our point of view

I took photographers to Porto. Our purpose was to use photography as a means to share the Gospel. Our IMB friends, Andy and Michelle Milam, were thrilled with all that we could do together. As you click on that blog link you drive up traffic numbers with Google. That in turn makes that web site show up higher on Google searches. (and here's a secret - It's more than a photography blog. It's another way to spread the Gospel. There are links there like Peace with God from the Billy Graham association and many of our photography posts will have Bible verses posted with the pictures.

The other link I'd like for you to check out is an older one that is also a way of sharing the Gospel with the Portuguese. Rezounding Praize It's a blog that our HS handbell choir made when we went to Portugal. It has a lot of nice handbell music (arranged by yours truly) and some scripture and Gospel links, etc.

So...... Check out my old and my new blog. I'm sure that you will enjoy them.

Perhaps I'll start blogging more regularly now....... We'll see.

The Language of Missions

Eu falo um pouco de Português.

 

No hablo español.

 

Ich spreche kein Deutsch entweder.

But I do speak a language that people all around the world speak – the language of music.

 

In September of 2011 I led an ESL team from our church, Hilldale in Clarksville, on a mission trip to Portugal. We didn’t need to know Portuguese, we were teaching English. It was a great way for churches in the Porto area to reach out to their communities by offering free English classes. (This trip would be another article in itself, but it leads into our most recent mission adventure.) While we were there with Andy and Michelle Milam (Tennesseans serving with the IMB) Andy mentioned that he would love to have a handbell choir come to Portugal. He knew of several ways and places that a handbell choir could partner with the Portuguese churches to reach out to their communities.

 

I love handbells, but my adult handbell choir had lost it’s rehearsal time (long story) and hadn’t met in some time. I wasn’t sure if I could get them going again. With their varying jobs and other issues it didn’t look possible. Then God gave me the idea of starting a new handbell choir with our youth. I didn’t have time to teach non-music readers how to read music, so in May and June of 2012 I talked to piano students and band students. “I’m taking a handbell choir to Portugal next summer and I want you to go with us!“

 

It worked! By the time our rehearsals started in the Fall of 2012 I had eight High School students, one young adult and myself to form a new handbell choir.

 

Fast forward... here are a few highlights of our preparation:

·         We came up with a new cool name – “Rezounding Praize“ and took some publicity shots.

·         We rehearsed and worked hard and learned how to ring well together!

·         We made a CD of handbell music to give away. A new believer in Portugal recorded the Roman Road for us and we inserted that on the CD in between our songs. We gave away close to 900 CDs. (We were able to make our CDs for about .55 each. E-mail me for info.)

·         We have a cool website www.rezoundingpraize.blogspot.com. Our free CD directs you there. On our website you can read about our songs and a little about us, but more importantly there are links that share the Gospel in Portuguese!

 

Here are some of the things we did in Porto, Portugal:

·         “Flash mob“ ringing in the streets to draw crowds. We gave away fliers to an evening concert and free CDs to all who came by.

·         Evening concerts to some of the biggest crowds one of the churches had seen in a long time (maybe ever) The highlight of our concerts was an arrangement of the national anthem of Portugal “A Portuguesa.“ They couldn’t believe that we would learn how to play their anthem on handbells. It was awesome! You can hear it here. We played several songs with one of the only handbell choirs in Portugal. Here we are in rehearsal together.

·         Ringing for a special 40th anniversary of a private school and making some great connections with the students there.

·         Ringing in a restaurant and giving away CDs to patrons and waiters and having a good conversation with the owner. In fact, we were able to share with several restaurant owners about our faith.

·         Ringing through the streets and in a street concert in the middle of a housing project of an outcast people group. (The doors for this outreach had been opened by other groups including the BCM group from Austin Peay University in March.) Several groups have now visited this housing complex and the Milams are hopeful that they can now bring in a group to do Backyard Bible Clubs there.

·         Shared CDs and smiles with the hotel staff which led to a great conversation about faith with some of the staff later in the week.



Our hotel

 There were other connections and opportunities to share in our week in Portugal – too many to mention here. We were able to follow through doors that had been opened by other groups (like an American football coach and players) and we opened new doors for groups that will come behind us.

 

Most of us didn’t speak any Portuguese – just a few words with a heavy Southern USA accent. But we did speak the language of music and more importantly, the language of God’s love. Jesus said that they would know we were His disciples by our love. His love crosses the barrier of spoken language.

 

What language do you speak? Sports? Drama? Art? Music? Add it to God’s language of love and you are on your way to a great mission experience (out of the country or at home).

One Generation - Giant Choir

Timothy was the Apostle Paul's "beloved son" (2 Timothy 1:2) in the faith, his partner in ministry, the one he left behind to pastor the church in Ephesus (according to most Bible scholars.)

Look at this great testimony of where Timothy was taught about faith found in the first chapter of 2 Timothy.

             5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

This Sunday in worship (at 8:30 and 9:45) we are going to have a beautiful picture of one generation declaring their faith to another generation as we sing "One Generation" the title song from our new choir CD. We're going to have a GIANT Family Choir with all generations singing together. ♫ One Generation shall praise Your name to another. ♪ ♫ One Generation declares Your mighty works.♪ ♫

While we sing we will have a video playing made up of pictures from our church family. In these pictures you will see three, four and even five generations together. It's REALLY awesome!

Here's a picture of me and my mom and my daughter, Christy, and her son - my newest grandbaby, Malachi. (It will be in the video while we sing - of course.)

So that you and your children can learn "One Generation" and join us in our Giant Mother's Day Choir this Sunday, here is a recording of "One Generation" that you can listen to.

 

Of course EVERYONE needs to buy a copy of our CD (it's how I'm helping our HS handbell choir, ReZounding PraiZe, get to Portugal on a mission trip) and it's just nice to have some worship music to play in your car while you're traveling around town with your children. The CD is made of songs that we sing together in worship or that you have heard our choir sing.

A New Blog

Hilldale's High School Handbell Choir is going to Portugal in June. We'll be playing in schools and churches and using those events as opportunities to share our faith.

One of the things we will be doing is handbell flash mobs. How fun is that?! We'll enter a courtyard or plaza from several directions "randomly" ringing bells and then when we all get to the center and have a good-sized crowd we'll play "Amazing Grace." This should draw a big crowd. Then we will give away CDs we are going to make (I'll give you all an opportunity later to help pay for them.) and give out fliers advertising an evening or next day concert.

I'm VERY excited about the CDs. We are going to record several songs. The missionaries in Portugal (Andy and Michelle Milam - you may have met them at our On Mission Conference last May if you attend Hilldale) are going to have people from the churches around Porto record either the Roman Road or some sort of Gospel presentation that we will include on the CD in between the songs. This way, if a person accepts a free CD they will not only hear beautiful handbell music, but he/she will then hear the Gospel in Portuguese and will have the address of a local Baptist Church that they can contact.

The CDs will be free to give away because you all - for a simple $15 gift - will get a CD for yourself but will also pay for three or four more.

Last night I had this thought - I figure it was the Lord speaking to me because I don't really do much thinking at 3:30 AM - that I should include on the CD a website for people to visit. So today I began a blog. You can see it at http://rezoundingpraize.blogspot.com/ This blog will have posts by our handbell choir where they will talk about the music or give their personal testimony or something like that. This is simply another way to get the Gospel out to the people of Portugal. There is already a link on that blog that gives you "The 4 Spiritual Laws" in Portuguese. I will add other similar links.

The first post on the blog is how our handbell choir got our name "Rezounding Praize."

Check it out, begin praying for our mission trip, buy a CD when they come out and we'll share blog posts before we go and then report back on the great things God was able to do in Portugal.

Homeschool Handbells Play

Last weekend was the CHARA talent show. CHARA is Hilldale's homeschool association.
There was singing, and recitation of long passages of scripture (very impressive), piano playing, dancing, karate and - my favorite - the new homeschool handbell choir. Everyone did a great job.

This was a fun part. Mr. Brown is getting these two boys in place for the next part of their demonstration.

"Don't look up!" was his instructions.

Oh! Here's why!

The handbell choir did a great job. Aren't they cute? They've only been playing for a few months.

After they played I told a little about English handbells as the stage was being rearranged.

Here's a video of their playing. My video card ran out before the song did.

A Really Big Bell

I posted - a few posts ago - about the handbell festival our handbell choir went to here in Middle Tennessee. http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2009/03/handbell-festival.html

Two weeks before that Cheryl and I went to East Tennessee for their handbell festival. Hannah and Benjamin went with us. http://papalyndel.blogspot.com/2009/02/handbells.html

I wanted you all to see this bell! The handbell choir from FBC, Sevierville has 6 octaves of bells! (or is it 7 octaves? I'm thinking 7. I should look it up. Yep - if you have bells down to C2 you have 7 octaves.)

The bell in this picture is a C2 which means it is 3 octaves below middle C! Wow! It is made out of aluminum instead of brass because the bells are too heavy when they are that big and made of brass. (Notice the adorable grandchildren.)

It's Wednesday! Time for Choir!

If we survive the storms coming in - just a little joke for our weather-phobes - we'll have a great time in choir tonight. We'll hear a couple of songs we didn't get to last week that are part of our Passion Play and we'll get some songs ready to sing on Sunday mornings in the next few weeks.

If you missed yesterday's post about our Family Art Project be sure and scroll down and read about it. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we're beginning a handbell choir for homeschool children. Since Sundays and Wednesday are pretty much filled up there hasn't been a rehearsal time available for children's bells. So... since homeschooled children can get together during the day we're going to meet on Thursday afternoons. I'm really excited about it. I started playing bells when I was in the third grade.

Here's a video of some children playing bells.

Sunday's Music

Choir anthem - The Basics of Life


Congregation - Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord


Holy, Holy, Holy

Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone

and more...



Sunday night the Youth Choir is scheduled to sing and I forgot to put a note about that in the bulletin. Since the Youth Choir is singing the handbell choir and youth choir will trade rehearsal times.

What does this picture have to do with Sunday's music? Nothing. I just got these daffodils and red bud branches out of my yard last night and thought you would enjoy seeing them. I may retake the picture with a little more light. Do you see my creek outside?

Handbell Festival - Day 19 PPCD

Our handbell choir at the MTBHBF at FBC, Mt. Juliet. (We're the group in the white shirts.)

Our Celebration Bells handbell choir played at the Middle Tennessee Baptist Handbell Festival this weekend. We had a great time. Tim Waugh, the clinician, was wonderful. We learned a lot. But probably what we enjoyed the most was hearing other handbell choirs. It was very inspiring.

We loved the way the choir from Tulip Grove Baptist Church played. Mrs. Nancy commented, "even if you were deaf you would enjoy that choir" because they move their bells so beautifully as they play.

We played four songs with all of the choirs - very beautiful songs that you will probably hear for offertories soon - and we played one song by ourselves. We were a bit nervous since it was our first time to ever attend a bell festival, much less play for judges. The judges had very nice things to say about our playing. (I knew they would.) Here's some of their comments.

"very well presented"

"very worshipful"

"good energetic first measure"

"good contrast in dynamics"

"you look great - it's OK to smile at the beginning and middle just like you did at the end" (I told you we were nervous.)

"this piece has very complex synchopation which was executed exceptionally well"

and there were more, but I don't want to brag too much...

After the festival we ended up at Olive Garden for lunch - yummmm!

oops, sorry, picture is a little blurry

By the way, it is day 19 of our Bow the Knee Hilldale's Passion Play Countdown.

Handbells

I love handbells!

I don't know if I've mentioned that lately. What brought it to mind just now is that I just got a box a new handbell gloves in the mail today. Mmmmmm, new gloves feel sooo good on your hands. I bought black - very classy. Perhaps we'll try another color next time.




We're going to the Middle Tennessee Baptist Handbell Festival this Friday and Saturday. It's at FBC, Mt. Juliet again this year. (I'm going to offer our fancy new Family Life Center for next year.) We'll be playing an arrangement I wrote of How Great Is Our God.

I ran across a handbell choir playing one of my arrangements on YouTube. You can see it here http://bearhollowmusic.blogspot.com/

Handbell Festival - Feb. 22-23

The Handbell Festival for Middle Tennessee is February 22-23. Our handbell choir will be attending. We had our first look at the music for festival last night. They made some good choices for this year's music.

For those of you who have never been to a handbell festival, this is how it works. We will join 15 or so other choirs from across the state and ring four songs together. We will also play one song by ourselves for "adjudication" which is a fancy way of saying we'll ring for some judges who will then give us a score and tell us all the wonderful things we did as we rang.

Tim Waugh will be our clinician this year. That means he will be directing all of the choirs when we play together.

This is a good picture of Tim, but it doesn't show his pony-tail. He's a great director and makes festival fun!




You can see all of this info and more at http://www.tnbaptist.org/CalendarEvent.asp?eventid=1006&cat=music&subcat=events04

How Great Is Our God

I hope you didn't miss last Sunday's offertory. The handbells played and did a great job! Thanks! It takes good rehearsal times and commitment to be a good bell choir. It was obvious Sunday that you all have worked hard.

Beginning THIS Sunday

This Sunday is the start of TWO music/worship ministry ensembles.

Handbells will rehearse on Sundays from 5:00-5:45 in room 406 (the handbell room). We'll begin work on some new music including "How Great Is Our God" and a song that will be a part of "The Tree".

Our Studentz Praize ensemble is something new! It is for students in grades 6-12. We'll meet in Youth Building A from 5:45-6:30. We have a great new book called Made to Worship which includes songs like My Savior, My God, Made to Worship, You Are Incredible and more.

I'll be looking for ringers and singers Sunday night!

MMLC - August 10-11

The Tennessee Music Ministry Leadership Conference is coming in August. August 10-11 to be exact. This is an incredible opportunity that only happens every other year.

The Tennesse Baptist Men's Chorale and Ladies'Chorus will be singing, but even more exciting than that is The Annie Moses Band willbe there. Oh my! They are really, really wonderful!

The conference is at Brentwood Baptist Church in (duh) Brentwood. The cost is $25, but that covers your lunch and materials. What a deal!

CONFERENCE DESCRIPTIONS & LEADERS

COMPUTER HELPS FOR MUSIC MINISTRY For music ministers, music librarians, music teachers, and others - Jim Faull, Founder/CEO, Worship Ministry Solutions, Kennesaw, GA

ADULT MUSIC MINISTRY For Adult Choir/Worship Choir Leaders and Members, Ministers of Music, Worship Leaders, Senior Adult Choir Leaders - Billy Orton, Minister of Music and Worship, First Baptist Church, Huntsville, AL

PRAISE BAND MINISTRY For Praise Band leaders and members who use “contemporary” styles in worship - Chip Leake & Praise Band, Worship Pastor, Thompson Station Baptist Church, TN

PRAISE TEAM MINISTRY (VOCAL) For Praise Team singers and leaders who use “contemporary” styles in worship - Kim Nobblitt, G3 Worship Music, Hurst, TX

KEYBOARD MINISTRY For Pianists, Organists, and Keyboard players• Ron Boud, Professor of Music, Union University, Jackson, TN & • Heather Sorenson, Lillenas Arranger, Music Associate, Lavon Drive Baptist Church, Dallas, TX

YOUTH MUSIC For Ministers of Music, Youth Music Ministry Leaders, Youth Choir Sponsors - Jonathan Nelms, Associate Pastor of Music, First Baptist Church Cookeville, TN

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC MINISTRY For Orchestra Directors, Instrumental Ensemble Leaders, Music Ministers who use instruments in solo, or ensemble forms - Kenn Hughes, Asst. Minister of Music/instrumental, Hermitage Hills Baptist Church, Hermitage, TN

HANDBELL MINISTRY For Handbell Choir Directors and Ringers - Tim Waugh, Handbell Clinician and Fine Arts Director, Bluefield, WV

PRESCHOOL /CHILDREN’S MUSIC MINISTRY For directors, workers, leaders of preschool and/or children's choirs
For Experienced:• Preschool - Susan Eernisse Music Teacher grades K-12 at in Lyons, GA; Robert Toombs Christian Academy Lyons, GA• Younger Children - Vicki Wright Organist/Arranger Nashville, TN• Older Children - Terry Taylor Minister of Music First Baptist Church Dothan, AL
For Less Experienced:• Preschool - Libby Carlton Founder/Teacher Catawba Community Music Program Salisbury, NC• Younger Children - Beth Coleman Children’s Music Director/Teacher First Baptist Church Winter Park, FL• Older Children - Beth McCoy Children’s Music Director/Educator Abingdon, VA

The conference schedule includes some times of worship and special times of reflection on how the ministry of music has impacted our lives. There is also on-site resource displays and vendors.

You'll be hearing more about this in the next few weeks. I'd like to see 50 people attend from Hilldale.