Trending...A couple of Tunes By Yours Truly

Well they are trending for me anyway. As I look on CD Baby to see what people are listening to and buying it is interesting.

One of my more recent singles, I Want to Tell You, is getting some interest and play. I love this song, because it is a love song to my wife of almost 18 years!! Really simple production, I was going for Jack Johnston/ Colbie Callait. They are brilliant, I am trying....:)

Here is the iTunes Link:

I Want to Tell You

And then there is But to God. I wrote this at Muskoka Woods Sports Resort when I was teaching a course on songwriting. I suppose appropriate that I was in the mode. Get this though, over 20 years ago. I still think it is one of the best songs I have written.

I first recorded it with Heart, Mind and Soul, but we were big-time before iTunes. I then recorded it on my first solo CD.

Here is the link:

But to God

Although "professionally" retired, I am starting record again and am very excited about my next single. It is a labour of love, but with some sales comes the ability to upgrade equipment and continue  bringing new songs to the table....do peruse!!

I am alive. Over the next several weeks and months I will be re-engaging with this blog and the reason behind it, to share art that moves people towards their Creator.

Peace.

Never the Same

In my current work with charities (ideaPraxy) it is amazing to see how God is working through various organizations partnering together over the years and presently. There is one church with many parts. May we constantly be reminded of the impact of using our gifts as diligently as we can to share the good news of Jesus Christ.


Never the Same from Pioneers-USA on Vimeo.

After A While..A Thought

After such a long break from posting here I would be very surprised that many would be checking back.

It has been an incredibly interesting year since I last posted. For all intents I have retired from truly pursuing a professional career in music. The occasional "gig" is still happening and I have begun to look at Logic again and see what I was in process on when I took a break, but ultimately there are no plans for anything significant.

The one constant is leading worship at my local church, and I do hope to continue doing that until I am no longer relevant - hopefully many years from now.

As I reflect on this past year and all of the interactions I have had with different leaders within different churches, my main concern is still around the lack of biblical grounding in our opinions on worship. I largely do not care about style conversations, liturgy conversations, or tradition conversations, either positively or negatively, until I hear the "calling" to any such an approach from someones interaction with the bible. Why do worship? How do we organize? What standards on skill and personal walk do we value and enforce? There are many more questions to answer.

To me, if one has a desire to lead worship in a church, I think that desire should be formed from a passion to fulfill what scripture has asked us to do in that area. What is God's heart on the matter?  If we are not able to articulate that passion clearly and succinctly with a spiritually discernible authenticity, what are we doing again?

I Must Do

I must do what I say and believe most deeply, at least as much as I say it, I must do it. I must repent and turn from the dark, I must understand and live the light....I must do.....

Right Versus True

It is often better to be at peace than to be right. Arguing with a fool won't change their mind. Now standing up for truth and justice is a completely different thing, but it still needs to be done in a way that measures conflict.

Jesus was confrontational and revolutionary, but often he simply stated the truth and walked away. When he was wrongly given over to be killed, he didn't fight, he didn't have a plan B to have his supporters come in and rescue him, he simply stated the truth about his identity.

The problem with "being right" all the time is that it is a lonely place. In the end you come out the bully. Steadfastly but humbly standing for truth changes the world, often more quickly and quietly than those who proclaim their rightness.

State of Christian Music in Canada

Developing? Growing? Improving?

I think it is all of those things. One of the challenges facing the Canadian scene is the lack of strong churches that are capable of being their own production house, and sustaining it. When you look around the world at the way the industry works there are really two models.

One is the still the traditional record industry model that signs bands, produces music, markets it, tours and tries to garner income from the various channels available to them. Nashville is the hub in the USA for that industry.

The second is large churches that have created a quality production houses. Most of them integrate with the traditional industry at the distribution level. The creative part, the Nashville part is the church itself. I think the behemoth in that category is Hillsongs, it used to be Vineyard with some serious Canadian content.

I think the next phase for Canada is getting more semi-professional production houses going, as well as churches who sustain writing and production. I also think there needs to be some form of Canadian distribution, digital or otherwise, that makes it easy to get your Canadian fix.

Anyway, those are just some thoughts. Love to hear some feedback about your thoughts....

What's Your Deserve Level?

I am simply passing on learning here, I am not an authority or originator of this concept. You may have heard the phrase "Your net worth will only ever be a large as your self worth." Cheesy? I don't think so.

Another concept that I have learned from this month's success magazine via Joel Harper is deserve level. Do I think I deserve to be in shape? Do I think I deserve to succeed in life and family etc?

Something to think about. In my life there are certain things that I value so highly, that I think I deserve, or my family deserves, that I do what it takes to get it or give it. Pragmatically, Joel talks about finding a way to transfer that deserve level to areas of your life where for some reason or another you have not accepted it.

I really do not think this is an easy one, but I do think it is incredibly important. Think about how you can raise your deserve level in an area that you are unsatisfied with.