How James Has Been Serving God Lately
Wow! Where to begin...
Friday Night Singings!
Each Friday night (since February) I have been singing at local church gospel
singings. Each Friday is a different church, and it has been very exciting for
me. I get to sing my own songs, as well as some favorite gospel songs.
A very dear friend of mine goes to all of the area singings, and asked me if I
wanted to tag along with him to get to know everyone on the "circuit", and get
them familiar with me and my ministry. The musicians and singers on the
"circuit" are some of the finest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing.
Some are Pastors, some are evangelistic preachers, and some are just great
people who love the Lord with all their heart. They are all fine musicians
and singers, and I felt really awkward and out of place singing in the midst of
them. They all welcomed me with open arms, and calmed my fears and
nervousness about singing in front of such great talent. I have become dear
friends with a great many of these ladies and gentlemen, and have been very
blessed and very fortunate to have been able to sing with them each week.
If you are close by, and interested in coming out to hear some great music,
below is a schedule of churches and times. You can contact me for more
detailed directions and information - see contact page.
1. Harvest Chapel (first Friday of each month)
Orangefield, Texas
2. Freedom Tabernacle (second Friday of each month)
Silsbee, Texas
3. Pocket Community Holiness Church (third Friday of each month)
Buna, Texas
4. Freedom Assembly Of God (fourth Friday of each month)
Kountze, Texas
I am now branching out and starting to sing at some churches on Saturday
nights as well. It won't be long and I will be singing each Friday and Saturday
night, as well as Thursday nights at a new start-up church that we are helping
get up and running.
Freedom Tabernacle
Tommy Ard, who hosts the singing at his place on the second Friday of each
month has been called by God to start up a small church. He transformed
his "Auction Barn" business into a place of worship, and began this new
ministry at the end of June. Our new little church is non-denominational, and
people from all walks of life come to our services. We even have a few local
Pastors who have been attending. Tommy chose Thursday night as our mid
week service night so that we would not be interfering with any other
church schedule in the area. This way, we reach more people who otherwise
might not be able to attend.
On the first night of service, we had 27 people worshipping and praising
the Lord like nothing you've ever seen before. It was awesome!! We are
currently averaging about 25 people a service.
The Lord has provided Tommy with everything he needed to get this church
started, including the people. A local church donated pews, another church
donated hymnals, and some local musicians bring the sound system (and
musical talents) each week.
In mid July, I became the "Music Director". Now, I am leading the music each
service, and I am getting the biggest blessing I think I have ever gotten by
doing so. I still prefer to think of my new position as "Praise And Worship
Leader", and along with the hymns that we love and sing, we sing some
contemporary worship songs as well. I also sing a lot of my music, and I plan
on teaching the congregation a new song each week. It won't be long until
we have a very large diversity in our music. I get more and more excited
every time I think about, and every time I think about it I start singing
praise songs to Jesus Christ! I just can't help it - I love Jesus Christ with
all my heart, and I want everyone I come in contact with to know it!
In the near future, we will be having Sunday services also. There is a great
need for a church like this, and the people are coming from all over to
attend services. It won't be too long and it will outgrow its current location. I
am really excited about that!
Please be in prayer for our new church, and for our Pastor.
Recording In The Studio
The Lord has been dealing with me lately about going into a music studio to
make recordings of my music. For a long time, He stopped me dead in my tracks
whenever the thought of professionally recording these songs came up. Now, He is
letting me know that the time is coming for me to go into the studio to make these
songs sound more professional. I do not know exactly when I will be able to go
into a studio, but I do know that when He provides a way, He'll also provide the
time frame. I am just going to wait for Him to tell me when, where, and how. The
music will still be distributed to anyone who wants it free of charge. Nothing about
that will change. What will change is that the music CD's will no longer be
"Documentation" CD's, but rather professionally recorded CD's. The music will
sound so much better, and hopefully people will get an even greater blessing when
they hear it.
In the meantime, I continue playing each week, polishing up my songs, and
working the bugs out of them. I have been getting to play with some very fine
musicians, and they all make my music sound so good. Whenever I think about
musicians of this caliber playing my music, I get really excited. For the first time,
I am getting a chance to hear what my music should sound like. I have never been
able to get the music to sound like what I hear in my head - but now that it is no
longer just me playing, and I have the privilege of hearing great musicians playing
some of my music, I have been getting blessed more and more. This is what
I have been waiting for since the beginning - a way to get the people to hear
what I hear in my head.
Please be in prayer for us as we bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through music,
testimony, preaching, and teaching to all that we can.
GOD IS SO GOOD!