Studio, Radio, Tour

Now that sounds like a process doesn't it!! Really I am just giving updates.

Last night in the studio was great, my eldest daughter put down her
tracks like a pro. Her comment was, "but Dad I want to sing more, I
like singing in the studio". I had to break it to her that when you
basically lay it down in one take it is actually better than repeating
over and over....besides it was bedtime!!

As I mentioned earlier I just released "One Night" to radio. It looks
like it is getting some listens so I will get back to you when it
starts getting played more. Joy 1250 in Oakville was WAY ahead of the
curve, but let's see what happens now that it is officially out to
Canada.

I need to update the appearances page on the site, but I will be back
in Windsor this fall on labour day weekend leading worship at Heritage
Park Alliance. I may be adding some dates around that so stay tuned.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Ship It...Sorry Seth

Well I have been pushing myself greatly to get these latest bits of
content out to you on time (June 30) but I fear now it will be the
second week of July before it is all done. The actually work has been
slow but rewarding as I really like how the songs are coming. I am
also ready to produce the podcast but I just have to do it. I know I
have to get something out by June 30, I think it will be the podcast.
Look for it by Wednesday......

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

A Great Night In The Studio

So I was able to record two of my three girls last night and it was a
blast. They sound great and were amazingly cute. They are going to be
studio naturals!! Can't wait to share the tune.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Buried Thoughts Going to Radio / More Recording

I believe I have intimated that Buried Thoughts would be going to
radio in Canada soon and it did go out last week, so, please give your
local station a call and ask for the single "One Night" off the Buried
Thoughts CD, or alternatively email in.

Tonight should be interesting as I will be recording my girls for one
of the three songs I am supposed to have ready for the end of June. I
will let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Churches Wandering Aimlessly (Church Leadership Part 2)

I am overwhelmed by the number of conversations I have had recently
about struggling or failing churches, right close to me. The "uniting"
theme has been a lack of direction or vision. It doesn't seem that
there was a lack of trying or ideas, but I have been shocked by how
different leaders or leadership are grasping at almost anything trying
to regain a foundation to a struggling congregation.

I truly believe that many churches are losing their way so fast it
might be too late for many of them to ever recover. Proverbs 28:19
addresses the issue of a lack of vision clearly, but I think the
majority of us our interpreting this passage incorrectly. There are
two things to consider:
1. Don't stop reading at the semicolon, because it is after this
punctuation mark that the clarity of what the vision should be is
given: the Bible. Happy is he who follows the teachings of God.
2. Don't let anyone tell you that vision means a man made idea of any
sort. Fire any pastor/leader who claims God has uniquely gifted them
with a vision for a community or congregation, telling you there is a
program, or a property, a method, or an answer in his or her head.
Vision here is best translated by the second half of the verse. With
"God's revelation", given to us through the Bible, we will not wander
or perish spiritually, we will have direction and find the answers to
life.

We have a book that has proven itself a gift from God, a gift that
unleashes it's power when we practice it in our daily lives. It is
unleashed through, acts of love, kindness and mercy. It points us to
Jesus Christ, who speaks through the Holy Spirit, which in the end
re-unites us with God our Creator if we believe and have faith in what
Jesus did and who He is.

The Great Commission reiterates the truth in Proverbs 28:19 with a
directive. In essence the orthodoxy of Proverbs becomes orthopraxy in
Matthew. I am begging the church, which is you if you are a Christian,
stop chasing waterfalls and start chasing God through the teachings of
Christ and the Bible and while doing so - live it!

Proverbs 28:19

New International Version (©1984)
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but
blessed is he who keeps the law.

New Living Translation (©2007)
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever
obeys the law is joyful.

English Standard Version (©2001)
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but
blessed is he who keeps the law.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he
who keeps the law.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Buried Thoughts on iTunes and CD Baby

On Content:

Buried Thoughts is now available for download on iTunes as well as CD Baby. It should also be released to Christian radio in Canada this week. I will keep you posted in case you are interested and able in emailing or calling your local station to support the song. FYI, the first single is "One Night" which is the first song on the player when you open my site.

 

New Content:

Last night was a great night of getting some vocals down on song number two. I am incredibly excited about how it is coming together. I am also excited about the story behind the song which will be revealed with it in a couple of short weeks.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

So You Had A Bad Day

For whatever reason I really like that song of a couple of years ago. We all have bad days. For me I often find that bad days are about me. How I have been treated (rightly or wrongly), what didn't go my way or as I planned. I also find it is about what I expected as reward, money, sales whatever. For me the last couple of years have represented huge accomplishment without matching reward. Kind of have had that bad day feeling quite a bit.

 

But what do you do with that? I try and fight it. At the end of any day there are two things that are true. Life isn't always fair, and what we did with what we are given matters. I write songs to try and inspire, or push people into a better day. I volunteer in church situations to help propel my belief that the best way to live is within the reality of the teachings of Christ under girded by the faith that the assertions of His deity are true. I work at a children's charity everyday because I believe that pragmatically, actually helping children eat and live is one of our highest honours and calls as a human family.

 

I suppose we always hope for more for ourselves at some level. It is pretty hard to turn "self" off, but everyday it needs to not be about me. There are thoughts that need expressing, good deeds that need doing, and a bigger picture of making the world a better place that must be achieved incrementally. To use a Biblically example that is still helping me through my bad days, I am still sewing, and watering, and fertilizing, the harvest comes in the fall.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Sweating It

If I have a fault, it is that I dream big, perhaps bigger than I am able to accomplish. But this I will do, I will ship what I have promised to ship by the end of this month in some shape or form. I am incredibly happy with how song two is shaping up for the 3 song EP, and now I need to start producing song 3.

 

I also have a podcast and webisode of some sort to deliver. Things are going to start rolling out soon. Stay tuned!

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

How Do You Do?

I have been reading infrequently a couple of magazines for a few years now, Success and Fast Company. One of the things that I have recently re-discovered is a simple trait of successful people....doing the simple things that lead to success are easy not to do.

I remember when I was in the finance business, one of the things that stuck out to me at learning conferences was that the successful financial planners were not necessarily smarter in finance than most of us who had gone through similar training, they simply gutted out doing some simple but challenging tasks. Cold calls, answering angry calls, constantly making contact with clients, it wasn't rocket science, but most people just don't do the simple but difficult things it takes to succeed. When I started doing those things I began to succeed.

It's funny, in music I have actually resisted doing many of the things that others do that allow them to succeed. I am going to change that. What about you? What things should you be doing? Simple but difficult things, in your relationships, in your spiritual life, in your job, that would cause you to be more successful? Know this, this blog represents where I am today, I am passionate about looking back on this time from a vantage point in the future that will prove this writing useful, to me, and hopefully to you too!

Posted via web from Cliff Cline

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor...

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Greedy for Good

I guess I understand greed intellectually, but I don't understand how it is that more people with the power to actually change things for the better aren't "greedier" for a world that looks more like the good pictured in this video.

Posted via web from Cliff Cline

How Do You Spread the Word?

I recently read a post by Seth Godin where he talked about asking for referrals. One of his thoughts was if you have to ask for referrals then perhaps you don't deserve them. I completely agree that one's goal as they go out into the world and create and do work is to do work worth talking about. I do think that sometimes however, people don't realize how much they can help by mentioning, hitting a like button on Facebook, forwarding (not in that chain email way) something they do like. So I thought I would humbly ask for, well a referral:)

 

If you like this blog, let someone know. If you like my new CD, Buried Thoughts (this link to CD Baby download), send on the link. I am committed to continuing to create content, both on this blog and musically, which I hope adds value consistently to those that read/listen.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

It Is Still About God

Ahh. Today I led worship at my "home church". Two services, 7 extra hours of work this week unpaid to pull it off (as it was for everyone with me), and I feel fulfilled.

I didn't achieve all that I dream of artistically, but I shipped with several others the extra 10%. In the words of Seth Godin, we shipped. Why? Because of God, for God, to God.

I wrote a song years ago called "But to God", and it captures this sentiment (you can find it on itunes). At the end of the day, today was great, because it was about God.

Peace.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Rough Cut of Song One of Three Done!

June is a big month of production for me, so I have to get ahead of the game. Last night I finally fired up the studio and got a rough cut of song one of the three planned for my impending to be named June EP. Ahh, sweet progress!!

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Rejuvenate You

We were invited out to camp this weekend by some new friends. People we truly like and want to get to know better. It became somewhat of a running joke, after the first conversation when my lovely bride informed the group, they would never get me to go. Why? I truly dislike camping. Not only does it not make me feel better, it drains me. Hey, I am older and wiser, and I know I will find a way to bond with these great people, but like the hulk being green, they would not have liked me camping!

 

Conversely some great friends did the last minute, "come by for a swim and burgs", call! We went and had an amazing leisurely afternoon with solid conversation and fantastic family time... Energizing!

 

Now you may conclude from this that I am simply a wimp, but I would posit there is something deeper here.

 

We all need to know what feeds us and what drains us, and when we can afford to spend of ourselves, and when we need to fill the tank. I am incredibly convicted in my life that there a several areas I need to move forward, and I am constantly on the edge of spent, so I am seeking rejuvenating activities.

 

What about you? Is there something that you need to find the energy to do? If you are dogged tired you won't likely go for a run. If you are mentally drained, you probably won't create much of anything. Life is a balance, and most of us want to contribute more. Are you making sure you have the energy to realistically get it done? Find a way to rejuvenate you, and then start knocking things off the list.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

New Ideas and Support

I wanted to tease and give a soft announcement. Next month, as I continue to create and ship more content for those following these meanderings of the mind, I am launching a podcast and starting a series of webisodes. The podcasts will have a bit of a talk radio show feel to them, the webisodes are going to start as "live" musical performances and we will see where they head from there.

 

An exciting piece to this is I have a sponsor/advertiser to launch with from day one, and obviously I will be letting you know more about them in due course. Exciting news indeed.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

Feeding Children and Families

I spent yesterday morning at Rexdale Alliance Church in Toronto with Concord Hospitality giving back to some of those in need in the area. All in all we distributed 400 boxes of food and 400 hundred hygeine boxes to help out. A little glimpse into the day job!

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

More Songs Brewing

I know I keep threatening, but their really are several on the go. The real challenge is going to be in the production, I sense several of these tunes may end up having multiple iterations. OK, 3 by June 30, lots of work ahead. In the words of Seth Godin, "time to ship it!".

 

 

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

R & R

I suppose everybody needs it. I am currently playing golf with four buddies, new and old, in Florida. The weather is brilliant; hot and humid, just the way I like it.

I sitting on the balcony of my friends apartment overlooking the pool, listening to the fountain, while they all sleep (and I am the oldest?) and contemplating life, as I too often do, here and elsewhere I am sure.

So I just turned 40, might as well get that out there, and the natural self actilualization content is brewing: have I done enough, what is the measure of success, what makes a man so to speak?

I know a few things: knowing God and living a life that shows that means a tonne (for me sadly, always great room for improvement), loving my wife, and making her feel stellar is radically important, loving my kids and showing them 1 & 2, and lastly, finding a way to do one and two and stay focussed on the Great Commission.

That isn't everything, but it is a start to the next ten years of bucket list. Songs will follow.

Peace.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline

One Thing Every Would Be Worship Leader Should Know

The Bible!

 

Huh? A worship leader is not a professing Christian who is musically talented and has the ability or desire to lead from the front of a church in an attempt to inspire people to feel something towards God through music etc.(although on the surface that sounds OK doesn't it)

 

A worship leader is a professing Christian who has a deep understanding of, and passion for, the truth of scripture, and why in the context of all scripture, the church practices congregational worship. Moreover, with that understanding their foundation, they also possess the necessary skill to lead a congregation musically, and have a desire to help lead the church in the practice worshipping God together.

 

A person desiring to be worship leader must develop the knowledge with the musical gift.

Posted via email from Cliff Cline