Fran has Surgery on Wednesday

Just a reminder, Fran has surgery on her foot on Wednesday. Keep her in your prayers.

More Trax ...

Here are trax for Meet with Me. Note that these have a drum track with them. Let me know if you like it done this way. I can re-do the others to include drums. I included it because we need something to fill the introductions and rests that are on the other tracks. I hope that having 8 measures of silence (rests) on the other tracks wasn't confusion ...

Meet with Me - Soprano
Meet with Me - Alto
Meet with Me - Tenor
Meet with Me - Bass
Meet with Me - 4 Parts

Practice Trax

Here are links to download practice trax to the opening and offering songs for next month. I'll continue to work on a couple of other tunes this week.

Sweeter - Soprano
Sweeter - Alto
Sweeter - Tenor
Sweeter - Bass
Sweeter - 4 Parts

I Know - Soprano
I Know - Alto
I Know - Tenor
I Know - Bass
I Know - 4 Parts

NOTE: These are mp3 files. They will play fine from your computer, but will play from a boom box or your car CD player ONLY if they are equiped for mp3s. So test it out. If you need to, you can usually set your CD burning software to burn .wav files rather than mp3s. Those, you will be able to play from any CD player.

Fran's Surgery

Keep Fran in your prayers. She has foot surgery scheduled for next Wednesday. She's been in a lot of pain and is hopeful that this surgery provides relief.

She won't be able to be on her feet for some time after the surgery. I know that she'd love to hear from you. As you know, Fran's musical family is very important to her.

Rick Warren Interview

Great rehearsal last night. Thanks for being there and working so diligently!

Here is the Rick Warren interview that I read last. Good stuff ... Thanks to Jon for sharing it with us.

In an interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond as follows - in a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity.

We were not made to last on earth forever, because eventually, God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body - but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend "forever" in eternity.
This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems. Either you are in one now, you have just come out of one or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ-likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountain top, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is "my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people...You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad in life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of fame that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or fame for you to own an ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, fame and influence.

He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

Firstly, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Secondly, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Thirdly, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan - to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourthly, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, 'God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better' ...

God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a "to-do" list.

He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

What's up with Joe?

I got an email from one of my friends yesterday asking if I am okay. Among other things, he said he noticed I hadn't posted to the blog much. I appreciate that he asked.

Just so you know, I'm okay. There is not much to say, but I'll tell you more about it tonight. The short story is that I've "bonked". I'm trying to get "un-bonked" but it's not happening very fast.

Thanks for your concern. I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight.

Schedule Change

In March we will sing on the third Sunday of the month - March 16 - due to the Women's Retreat that is scheduled for the second weekend of the month.

In May we'll probably also move the date since we are scheduled on Mother's Day. I have not confirmed the details yet. Stand by ....

I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight! Sight singing begins this week, so pick your time - 6:30 or 8:00 PM.

Back in the Groove

I'm looking forward to getting started again after our Christmas break. Our first rehearsal for 2008 will be this coming Wednesday evening. Plan to start right at 6:30 PM. We have a lot to do.

This week we'll introduce the new music that we'll be singing in the next couple of months, and enjoy a special treat from our friends at Rolling Green Village. We'll wait until next week to restart our sight singing sessions.

One other thing ... Keep Judy's daughter in your prayers. She has an MRI scheduled for Monday.

See you Wednesday!

Thanks from Rolling Green Village

Here is the text of a thank you note that I received from Tammy Campbell, the Director of Rolling Green Village.

Dear Joe and Brookwood Community Choir,

Thank you for the outstanding musical concert that you delivered during Rolling Green Village's Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 18th. Your talent, hard work and passion were evident in your heartfelt performance; and everyone in attendance was filled with the holiday spirit and a great sense of peach and joy in hearing your music. It is a true accomplishement to have such a talented and giving group of people. I applaud your beautiful voices, which inspired us all; and I am especially appreciative to you for taking time out at such a busy time of year to stop and share your God-given gifts with our residents, trustees and staff.

Thank you again for a very entertaining evening. I am pleased and honored that you were willing to be a part of Rolling Green Village's 2007 Christmas event.

Many people expressed that it was our best Christmas party - ever! Your wonderful voices and music will remain in our hearts for a long time to come.

Warmly,
Tammy Campbell

FYI - Email from Brookwood's HR Director

From: Nina Mitchell
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 11:41 AM
To: Employees
Subject: Joey's Role

Hello all:

I wanted to bring you all up to date regarding our worship pastor/director position and Joey Bradley’s current role.

We are restructuring our worship/music ministry to entail a worship director/pastor and a worship leader position. Joey is being promoted to the role of full time worship leader. Some of his responsibilities will include: collaborating with the worship director, leading worship, growing and developing the student music ministry and celebrate recovery band, developing a musician care program, and writing original music, just to list a few. Joey is aiding us in our recruitment effort for the worship pastor/director and is helping us during this transitional period. If you have any questions regarding the music ministry, you may contact Joey directly.

Please join me in congratulating Joey on his new position!!!!!!!

Nina Mitchell
HR Manager
Brookwood Church