Christ Church Music & Worship Conference

As those of you in my choir now know, I am in Nashville at the Christ Church Music & Worship Conference. I tried to keep that under wraps because the last several times the mice knew the cat was away, they indeed did play, averaging only 15 in attendane out of 75. I think my little experiment worked though, because the initial report from last night is that we actually had better attendance last night than we normally do. Well done choir!!

So far I've attended sessions with Travis Cottrell (the worship leader for the Beth Moore conferences), Regi Stone (Christ Church's worship leader, and the composer of many songs we sing, including "Power in the Name of Jesus" that I sang with our choir a few weeks ago, "Let Your Holy Rain Fall Down", and "O Magnify The Lord in Me" just to name a few), and Landy and Joy Gardner. Landy directs the Christ Church Choir and his wife Joy has appeared on many Gaither videos, and was female vocalist of the year (I think in 1977).

The Q&A with Landy and Joy was especially interesting. It seems that even the mighty Christ Church Choir has problems with faithfulness. It makes me sad that the choir that inspired me to start directing choirs is starting to dwindle, but in a way it's a relief because I really thought I was the only choir director having MAJOR issues with choir members being TRULY committed. Let me tell you, it really depresses even the most veteran and successful choir directors when only half your choir shows up week after week. It only depresses them more when the common response to that is "Oh, that's just the way it's always been around here." It was also interesting to note some of the problems they have that we don't, and vice versa.

When God saves a soul, He immediately calls that person to serve. Every last one. No exceptions. Period. Not later, not after training, NOW. The mode of service may change over time, but we are all called to serve in some capacity NOW.

Serving in a choir situation is hard. I won't lie to you and pretend it's all fun and games to try and fluff up the membership numbers. No, it's HARD...DARN HARD, and it takes commitment. It takes ZERO commitment to just show up when you want to, when it's convenient, when you feel like it. There have been many days in my past when I just didn't "feel like it", but went anyway. That is called OBEDIENCE, and that is what God calls us to. In the Bible He doesn't encourage us to do the best we can, He INSISTS that we OBEY Him, regardless of the circumstances.

What has God called you to do? Has He called you to be in your church choir? If He has, then please be faithful to that calling. If you are in town, and can walk, you should be in church. If you (faithful choir member) can show up to church, and can talk, you can most likely sing, and you SHOULD. I know there are days when you don't feel like it...hey, I get it, I REALLY do. But God didn't say to serve Him when we feel like it. He said SERVE and OBEY...and be blessed.

And see, that's the key. We forget that the blessing comes through obedience. The annointing comes from faithfulness.

God is not going to bless disobedience.

God is not going to bless unfaithfulness.

God is not going to bless mediocrity.

God is not going to bless luke-warm worship.

God will bless obedience!

God will bless faithfulness!

God will bless our best efforts!

God will bless passionate worship!

If you are spiritually dry right now, and I mean dead dry like a crunchy dead leaf in your backyard in the middle of December, then the solution for you is simple:

1) Ask God what He wants you to do.

2) Shut up and do it, and do it obediently, consistently, faithfully, and passionately with love, then repeat.

3) See the first part of number 2.

I know this was a hard blog posting to read, but I wrote it for me, not you. If something struck a chord with you, then hey, I wrote it as an open posting for me, perhaps God is trying to tell you something.

In closing, here's one of my favorite quotes:

"Preach the Gospel. Use words if necessary."

Hyde and Heddle

Every year I attend the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in Linville, NC. It is one of the largest gathering of Scots in the United States (and probably the world for that matter), so needless to say I really try to never miss it. If you've never been to a Highland Games, you really should do yourself a favor and check one out. I recommend three that are within driving distance of East Tennessee (click on the name for their websites:

1) The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games

2) The Gatlinburg Scottish Festival and Games

3) The Stone Mountain Highland Games

I know there are more than those three, but those are the ones that seem to get the best reviews. The one at Gatlinburg is far smaller than the other two, but has a nice, homey feel to it. I've never been to the Stone Mountain Games, but EVERYONE says it is the nicest one. They have a seperate grove in the woods for the Clan Tents, and usually they have some sort of military tattoo, which is cool.

But the Granddaddy of them all is Grandfather Mountain, "America's Braemar". I'm not going to post about all I saw and did there, but I will tell you that it's big fun when the Meadows-side campground gathers all the pipers and drummers and "invades" the Across-the-street-side campground. What insues is the world's largest marshmallow fight, and then an impromptu concert by the pipers and drummers.

David Ross, my favorite historian and author was brilliant as usual, and my only regret is not getting to see more of him. I did manage to video about 80% of one of his presentations though, which is great. Albannach, an intense Scottish Tribal music group of a piper and several drummers was also great, but I only got to hear them do a couple of numbers.

The highlight of this year's games, as usual, came almost as a fluke. Every year I like to visit the tent of Hyde and Heddle Leatherworks. Ron Gray is their master artist, and I wear one of his leather bracelets EVERY day if you'd like to see some of his handywork. Just as every year I went by his tent Saturday night before the concerts and saw his wife working on some leather goods with a needle and thread, and asked if they could repair a sporran I had recently purchased. Not only did Ron repair it, but he actually improved the sporran's design on the back so that it would last longer. He did it in a very timely fashion, and charged VERY LITTLE for the work he did.

As I was in the tent I noticed a neat mug holder that matches my bracelet that attaches to your kilt belt, so I picked that up. I also found a really cool little wooden whistle that plays a full octave to add to my collection. I learned the full scale in about 10 minutes, as it's very similar to an ocarina. I also picked up a NICE black belt that Ron's associate made (I'll update this blog with his name after I can find his business card. He was a great guy too, and also a Southern Baptist to boot).

But off to the side on Ron's workbench was the most beautiful piece of leatherwork I've ever seen. It was a "Rob Roy" style sporran (more of a pouch than a useless decoration). The shape, design, and coloring were absolutely stunning, and I knew I wouldn't be able to afford it, but I also knew that would be MY sporran for the rest of my life. It was unfinished, but still more beautiful than any sporran I had ever seen. After a short phone call (as they have to be on top of the mountain because of sporadic cell phone signals...hello Verizon...Can YOU hear ME now???), I convinced Traci that I had just found my lifetime sporran. She agreed I could get it, so I immediately ran back to the H&H tent and told them I wanted it. It was a STEAL at only $55!!! Most CHEAP sporrans are around that price. To get a hand made sporran like that could easily run upwards of $200 or more.

Well, I had the honor of watching Ron finish the sporran's back part, which was really cool because now I can tell my kids I actually watched the maker make my sporran. If you are into leather stuff or if you need a new bracelet, belt, or sporran, do yourself a favor and drop a line to Hyde and Heddle Leatherworks. You won't be disappointed! I'll add pictures in a later post.

Office Disaster

Uhm...yeah. My office. My sanctuary. My...junkyard.

For those of you that don't know, my office was used as the church office's closet for almost a year before I took it over in October 2007. Since that time I haven't had any down time where I could reorganize and clean up the mess. Well, today it stops and I am the trash terminator. I am throwing out junk with vengence, and relocating worthwhile materials where they belong.

The thing about it is that I am still in full-on busy mode with other things to take care of, plus the new guy just moved in next door and he's cleaning his junk up too (though we made sure to keep his place as empty as possible during the last move). Therefore, my office is in the "it has to get worse before it gets better stage".

So if you come to my office and can't find me, just dig...I'm sure I'm in here somewhere.

New Logo For Sunnyside's Band "The Shout!"

Summer...Vacation?

Back in the "Good Ole Days" summers used to mean vacation time. Even in recent years it has at least meant somewhat of a slow down for the Sharps. This year however seems to be the summer from hell. In fact, that's exactly how I'm going to remember May 2009-August 2009 in the annuls of my memory. I have been busier this summer than last Christmas season, which is saying A LOT considering that is a Worship Pastor's "busiest" season. There is a wedding every weekend, and camps coming out my nose. How in the world does a church as small as ours have some sort of camp every week? (Oh, and no Sunnysiders, we are not in a big church).

Traci has school EVERY morning and work EVERY night, and we have to shuttle Emmi to a bevvy of babysitters every morning and night. To be honest with you I feel incredibly guilty that we haven't had ANY family time in FOREVER. We get to see each other PART of the day on SOME Saturdays and that's about it. I spend more time with my family in choir practice than I do at home. Sad but true.

So my only time to unwind...oh, at about 11pm-1am after everyone else is in bed. It's funny, but I have to stay up late in order to flake out a little and de-stress. My destressor of choice at the moment:

This is an ingenius little game where you basically just run around a little town you create, living out your life. It's sort of a "Sims" type game where you go fishing, gather sea shells, catch bugs, talk to other residents (in the form of little animal people), and just kind of "live life". Emmi loves watching me play this game, especially the fishing part. I know it's silly and it took me almost a year before I picked up a used copy, but I'm glad I did. You can also share "friend codes" with your friends who have a Wii and this game, and you can go to each others' towns and even talk to each other if you have the Wii Speak microphone peripheral that attaches to your TV.

I'm also playing through "Ghostbusters" for the Wii, which is cool because it is the next story in the GB sequence of events, in essence making it the 3rd part of the Ghostbusters Trilogy. Well, enough blogging. Time to get back to the grind. See you 'round the 'net.

Wedding of the Century

That is a picture of my sister Andrea and her new husband Matt.  This past week was action packed with VBS every night, and then straight on to Knoxville for Matt and Andrea's wedding.  It was a gorgeous affair, and I had the honor of singing Malotte's "Lord's Prayer" at the wedding, and Sister Hazel's "This Kind of Love" at the reception for their first dance.  The rehearsal dinner was in the skybox at Neyland Stadium!

It was a great weekend and I love ministering in Kingsport, but times like this really make me miss Knoxville A LOT.  People here in Kingsport have often asked me "What is it about Knoxville???"  Well, honestly, for me, it's home.  I supposed wherever you are born and raised will be speical to you no matter what.  All my family still live there, my favorite teams still play there, and I have some incredible memories there.  Plus, it's close enough that I can get there within 2 hours if I need to.

Anyway, my sister popped up on Facebook last night, which surprised the heck out of me because she is honeymooning in Costa Rica right now.  She said she is literally in the jungle and that the only form of communication is the Internet.  Funny, I always thought of Costa Rica as being a 3rd world mission field, being just south of Nicaragua.  Who knew it was a hot vacation spot?

Also, last night Jonathan Smith, Andrew Gibbons, and I had the privilege of leading a 21 year old lady by the name of Tiffany Lawrence to the Lord.  It was wild because she wasn't even the person we were looking for at that house during visitation.  I love God ordained appointments!

Well anyway, that's all for now.  I'm exhausted.  Like, the can't keep my eyes open, head hurts, need to lie down and close my eyes or I'm going to vomit kind of exhausted.  So I'm going to go find a quiet corner and hide for a few minutes to try and shake the nausea, just in case you come by the church and can't find me for the next half hour or so.

Week One of NutriSystem Down and VBS, Funerals, and Weddings, Oh My!

If I live through this week it will be incredible.  I am on my second week of Nutrisystem, VBS is in full swing, I have a funeral this afternoon, and my sister is getting married this weekend.  I am singing in the wedding and at the reception, so I've got a lot going on there, plus it's in Knoxville, which complicates things.

VBS started last night, and it went really well.  I think VBS is an incredible idea that has worked for decades, and is STILL a viable and effective evangelism tool for the church.  But dang does it wear out the teachers and workers.

Now, as for the Nutrisystem...I tried this last year and looking back on my journal entries I lost an average of 2 pounds per week while on it until about the 13th week, where I just stopped losing.  I don't know what happened, but my weight loss completely petered out around that 13 unlucky week, and never started back again.  I went about 2 months without losing weight before finally just giving up on the program.  Almost a year later, I had gained 27 of those pounds back and started looking pregnant again.

I had decided around January of this year that I would try Low Carb again.  To be honest with you, I really gave it an honest go for about 4 months and didn't lose any weight.  I KNOW I was doing it the right way because I was hyper careful, and I'm REALLY well educated and REALLY well read on the subject.  I even bought a membership at the YMCA and averaged 5 days a week working out.  Nothing.

Well, here I am after the first week on Nutrisystem again, and what are the results?  My official first weigh in 9 days ago was 213 pounds.  My weight this morning is 206 pounds.  There's an extra two days in this first week because my official weigh-in days are on Mondays, and I started on a Saturday morning, but still...two days ago I weighed 208, which would be 5 pounds in 7 days, which is still incredible.

So anyway, I will be making entries every Monday morning specificially related to my weight loss.  I am also taking measurements, but I don't have those on me right now, and I'll probably only post those once a month anyway.

Brian's Weight Loss Chart:

October 1st, 2007:  230 pounds (My heaviest point, and the true beginning)

May 23rd, 2009:  213 pounds

June 1st, 2009:  206 pounds