Each Shade and Hue

  I think the phrase that has brought the devil out of the proverbial closet more than anything else in my life is when my answer to questions was, "God has told me to wait." Phrases Kim and I know well are something like as follows: "You are not using your gifts." (Yes, I am. I am using them how I feel God convicted me to use them. I am waiting.) "You just laid down and quit!" (No, I did not. I am waiting.) "Waiting for what??? Do you know how old you are getting to be? What are you doing?" (I'm waiting.) "Go market this!" (No, I'm waiting.) "Send these to ________." (No, I am staying clear of that intentionally, and ...  I'm waiting.) Some of the "waiting" looked like turning down what appeared to be insane offers and "opportunities" because we could find zero peace with going forward. We would immediately run into sermons that said WAIT!!! and know that was exactly for us. In the waiting, Go...

G od always impressed on Kim and me that part of our story would include why we sat a lot of years out to seek the face of God. We felt God's instructions were always to downplay our musical side and take the tasks no one wanted. When we did find ourselves interacting with anyone who was musical, we were to make it about the life in front of us, not their talent, and we were to watch how they treated other people. We had very strong convictions early on of how we felt God did ... and did not ... want us to apply the musical talent He entrusted to us. We felt God spoke to our hearts that we should approach every situation with the question, "What am I here to give?" It should not be about money, awards, accolades, a musical career, being admired, or building a house.  People should not be simply a means to an end. Who are you without your talent? Serving God, in many circles, has become about control or proving who has more to bring to the table. Remember what Jesus said: ...

K im and I often say to each other how grateful we are that we never had the same bad day, for the most part. One of us could always manage to pull the other one up a bit on days that things felt impossible. We have learned that belief is definitely not a feeling. Belief is a decision, and even sometimes a prayer. "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief (Mark 9:24)." It is rooted in, "Where else can we go? You have the keys to eternal life" (John 6:68). A line from one of my other songs called, " I Made It Through " has a line that astounds me, as it was written before my stroke. "In the wake of my disaster, I found that what came after wasn't always what I'd expect from You." Mary and Martha really thought Jesus would show up before Lazarus died.  They did not expect Jesus to let him die, let alone rot. By day four, there are not many left believing anything can be resurrected out of that type of situation. When things happen that are horribl...

O ne thing Kim started doing with our grandkids during bedtimes she was able to participate in, she called, "Their 'thankfuls.''" They really get into it. Hold up ten fingers, and count off 10 things to be thankful for, even on days that did not go that well. (Some days "I am thankful for Grandpa" even outranked, "I am thankful for my dogs." Some days, not.) It is not just for their benefit lol. Some days, adults need it more than the kids do. It is a time to take, even for a few minutes, to make sure there is acknowledgment that there is always good to be found, and there is always something ... even through the tears ... to say, "Thank You, God for ________." Jesus valued the widow's mite (Mark 12) and the cup of water (Mark 9:4). That means that no matter how little I feel I have, I have something of value to offer. Small things are huge with God. (I am not saying there is not a place for grieving losses or that a person can ne...

  T he writing of this song started out as a joke. I love and write country music. Kim is not a fan. Her cardinal rule is that if it talks about someone who "used to" anything (Grandma used to ... Momma used to ... Daddy used to), it is an immediate, "No," from her. One day, during what seems like a different lifetime ago while I could still play the piano and Kim was doing dishes, I started playing her dreaded Country-style music. Kim inserted some sarcastic diatribe and sang in an intentionally off-key tone, "I wake to face another day, wish the pain would go away ....!" throwing out some lines that did sound typical of country music, full of woes and losses. I immediately put a tune to it, adding a line. She took the lyric-writing bait and threw the next one back. We continued to battle back and forth,  each of us trying to "out-cheese" the other, and by the time it was all said and done, even Kim had to admit it made a pretty decent country s...

  Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Think just for a moment about how intensely someone might search their back yard if they were informed someone had buried ten million dollars in diamonds there. I assume they would most likely rent excavating equipment and dig some major holes, not stopping until they had the treasure in their grasp. We are told to seek God with that level of fervency: as if our very lives depend upon it (because they do). I think it is very easy to fall into a trap of throwing up a few half-hearted prayers, only escalating to fervency when something is wrong. God wants us to talk to Him and seek Him just for who He...

S cripture tells us in the last days people will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God, and, among a list of other things, selfishly motivated. We are supposed to be walking a walk every day that reflects in increasing increments, the nature of Jesus. "Greater love has no man than this: that he lays down his life for his friends (John 15:13)." "In everything, do unto others as you would have others do unto you (Matthew 7:12). We are not to treat people like objects, using them up like a bottle of window cleaner, only to throw them away when the contents have been expended. We are to approach each person asking, "What can I give?" not "What can I get?" "What do THEY need?" Not, "How can I use this person to get what I need?" Human dynamics are complicated. Sometimes it is time to walk away. Sometimes you do the best you can and the results still fall flat, but the heart we maintain should esteem the other person ahead of o...

T his song  is not my most-used style, but my music encompasses a love for so many styles. When I was a kid, our home often blared the country music of the 60s and 70s, and I loved the depth of the chords used by the writers. This song was not a quick writing by any means---- It took me about six years to complete it. It was pulled from a vast memory bank of playing music with my dad. My dad had a 1957 Gibson Country and Western guitar that he got from a pawn shop in 1958. That guitar has a way of resonating any chord in such a rich depth, you can feel it right in your soul. My dad loved to find the saddest of country songs to bellow in his just-shy-of-the-note way I have come to miss a lot. (I lost him in 2020.) I know he would have loved listening to this song. To hear this song, click below:

I wrote this  in 1994 around one of the hardest verses I ever wrote a song around: Romans 8:28. It is many times the most difficult verse to convince humankind about. Whatever God is doing right now, at this moment, is going to have the ultimate end result of being good. It does not mean that the situation itself is good. It means God is going to do something good with it. There are those of us who are going to contest that statement when we are going through the darkest moments. Maybe we just lost a loved one---a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend. Perhaps we have just been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. For some it may have been a car accident. For others, a divorce or an estranged child. Maybe someone lost their home, a job, or a will to continue to fight for life itself. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  Many times I have heard the question: “How could a loving God ...