Reformation Live; Episode One

Introducing our new internet TV show - Reformation Live. This is our first video episode, and as such, there was a learning curve. Episode two will show evidence of the things we've learned! But without further hesitation and as promised, our first video blog:

Reformation Live; Episode One

If you have a question for the show, please send it to us in one of the following ways:

-Upload your question to YouTube.com and then email us a link to questions@ReformationLive.com

-Call Chantelar Studios at 404-862-8897 and leave your question on voice mail. Please indicate that the questions is for Reformation Live.

-Email your question to us a questions@ReformationLive.com

Whichever way you decide to send us your question, please make sure to include your full name, what you do, and where you are contacting us from (City and State is fine).

It's ok to be creative and to use the opportunity to promote yourself or your band. If you send us a video with you asking a question with your band behind you in the shot, we'll include your band's URL.

Be sure to subscribe in the right hand column or/and follow us on twitter at twitter.com/xpesrx.


©2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Major Labels VS. Independent Labels

(Magazine article, Atlanta Christian Underground, 6/2004)

Alot of people do not know the difference between a major label and and independent label. When comparing them, we must note that there are several different kinds of each. All major labels fall under one of the big six. The Big Six are distribution companies including CEMA, SONY, UNI, BMG, WEA, and PGD. Major labels are under the umbrella of one of these. For instance, WEA owns, Warner Brothers, Elektra, and Atlantic. Artista is under BMG. Paisley Park is under Warner Brothers which is under WEA. Word Records is under Sony. Where the label is in the chain determines the power it has within the scope of the company. Independent labels may utilize one of the distribution companies or they may develop one of their own, but they are not owned by one of the big six. Why would you want to be owned by one of the big six? That one is easy...resources. These companies have been around along time and have alot of resources at their disposal. These resources are what make the industry possible. Alot of independent labels hope to one day be underneath the umbrella of the big six and have access to their vast resources.

Now what does all of this mean to the artist? Well, on a major label, the artist receives various types of advances. An advance is an allotment of money that is to be use for certain things. There are recording advances, merchandising advances, publishing advances, touring advances, etc. Many artists, before they are signed, think of an advance as free money. However, this is not true. Advances must be paid back to the label before the artist recieves any profit from their royalties. It is not a gift, it is a loan. Imagine the major label as being a large bank like Citibank. They will loan you the money...but you must pay it back. With independent labels, there is little or no advance. Artists generally pay up front for the things that would be advanced by a major. However, they often receive the company cost (wholesale) on the services and items they need to purchase. Alot of services are provided on spec, meaning that the cost for these are paid as a percentage of the artist royalties instead of having to be paid for upfront. Also without an advance, the artist sees profit sooner. Think, if you don’t have bills, the money your earn is yours.

Independent labels often spend more time developing their artists. Often major labels will seek out artists that have been on indie labels because they are more professional and have been trained at how the industry works and have had their performances, images, and music sculpted into a more professional product. Majors consider independent labels to be training ground. Like major league sports compared to minor league sports. Major labels have alot of overhead to pay for and often, sometimes regretably, do not take the time to train and develop their artist. They expect the artist to know these things already.

(c) 2004 Atlanta Christian Underground
www.ChristianUnderground.net

Chantelar Studios is now ReOpened!

Saturday, August 15, 2009 marked the grand reopening of Chantelar Studios. We had a party to celebrate all of the people that had come together and helped us rebuild the studios and sustained our family through this time. We showed a video that we had produced (attached below) and our campus pastor for 12Stone Church's Hamilton Mill location, Kevin Queen, spoke and asked a blessing over the house, followed by some good eating catered by Shane's Rib Shack of Gainesville.

I wanted to share with you the experience and teachings of the day. I didn't have room/time to share everything on the video, so here is it for those that really want to dive in and find out what was going on in our lives.

I was saved, by the grace of God, in 1995. My testimony can be found here for those that want more information about that. (There is a continuation link at that site, so read close to find the link) God had called me to continue working in music at that time... specifically, he told me to move to Nashville, the center for contemporary Christian music. I agreed... but then I had a pause. That pause can really change a man's life... and it did mine. I had started dating this girl...and I wanted to get married and launch on this journey WITH someone. So instead of responding immediately, I stayed in Atlanta until I married the girl.

Let me bring in a biblical illustration of what this looked like, and was, to God.. my Father, YHWH. In the old testament, YHWH had called Abraham and told him that He was going to make His people out of Abraham's seed.. that his descendants would be a mighty nation. (read as "told Zachary that there was a need for him to work in music") Sarah, Abraham's wife laughed because she was old... after some time, she and Abraham had deployed a plan to make God's promise to Abraham come true... Sarah provided Abraham with Hagar.. and so mankind, had decided to help God out. I did the same thing. - "yes, God. I will go to Nashville and work in music... but I'll need a wife first, so let me go and get this wife..then we'll have everything You need to make an impact using my life." was basically what I had said to Him... as if He needed my help or my permission or even my meager life to accomplish anything. - As if God needed Sarah to suggest Hagar as a way to provide God with a people.

So I went on, got married and on our honeymoon, I went to Nashville to seek out the Holy Spirit's prompts for where we were to be... and they were gone. Has God changed His mind? What was going on? I went to Nashville and there was nothing there for me. Confused, we came back to Atlanta and continued to set up shop here. I had started working in Advertising as a way to make ends meet and was working my way up the ladder there.. But I knew that music is where God said He was going to use me. So I continued on that path, on my own. I started continued working on the album that God had conceived in me before the directive to go to Nashville some 3 years before and began the makings of an independent record label with other Christian musicians to do work for my God in a mighty way. I had known that I missed the boat.. that I had sinned against God for not going to Nashville when He told me..and I was going to make up for it. I had gone to school for music business and knew that I had the tools to “make” it happen.

Well when you try to do things under your own power for a mighty God that doesn’t need any of us to accomplish His goals.. it becomes very tiring. Things weren’t working the way I planned. This wife that I had held out to marry began to stray and wasn’t on board with my plan to help God out in our lives. I was being pushed to climb the corporate ladder in Advertising and make security. We had conceived a child and a family had begun. I was working very hard with XPESRX Records and I was away from home quite a bit, in the studio, or at a Soul Echo, or one of our other artists’, rehearsal. Then 9/11 happened, and my executive position with a new ad agency in Atlanta was finished. The economy turned bad and my company was downsizing with me and my family caught in the wake. With no security, my wife left, committed adultery and we were separated. I swore I would never get divorced because I had come from a divorced family, but here I was... now realizing that I wasn’t the only one that could decided whether or not I was going to get a divorce. My wife had been an immaculate deception and I had fallen off course through fear, temptation, and my own desires.

With that divorce, I became a single father with sole custody of my daughter…which brought in a new fear… I had to provide for me and my little girl. So I dove in deep to corporate America and began diligently working my way up the corporate ladder and into more financial security for us. I had left behind my music ministry. The artists started to fall apart, their bands, and the projects didn’t turn out they way I envisioned as a result, I was tied and didn’t have the energy to push through on my own power and so I failed… but now I had a new goal… money, security, a home for my daughter.

So Ishmael had been born. Ishmael was the illegitimate son of Abraham and Hagar. Man’s solution to a God promise. I continued to raise Ishmael for some time… feeling guilty and becoming more and more out of touch with my Father. Then an amazing thing started to happen. God had started bringing new people into my life, one being a woman that would become my wife. Through that relationship and her vibrant love for the things of God, He began to create a longing in me again for a closer relationship with Him.

I began to realize that I had been ignoring what He called me to do, that I wasn’t using any of the talents or skills that He had provided me with for Him. So I surrendered Ishmael to Him. In December of 2007, I asked Him to restore my relationship with Him and to use me as He would. January 8, 2008, just eight days after praying in the new year, we saw God move in a mighty, and yet unexpected way. My executive leadership position with a new Advertising Agency in TN was eliminated. But this time, I held fast to the promise that God was moving in my life and that He was in control… because I had repented from my efforts to control my own life and of my fears for security.

YHWH brought us through, my wife and I dove in deep into learning more about Him and in finding His direction for our lives. I had finally forgiven myself for my disobedience to Him and I was getting into a closer relationship with Him than I had had since I was first born into the kingdom of God. Spending dedicated time with Him each day, studying, learning, sharing with my wife, pursuing, watching and waiting.

I had started working in music again through our new local assembly of believers… 12 Stone Church. I had started working sound at the middle school ministry, playing instruments for the worship bands there and at Hamilton Mill, produced a video promo for the middle school program with a friend of mine from the former XPESRX Record’s artist Soul Echo…. And I was finding happiness in parenting, my new marriage, etc. again. I had started doing contract work at a TV studio in Atlanta when we began to prepare to pray in 2009.

January 11, 2009, just eleven days after praying in the new year, our house caught on fire and we were displaced. The details of the fire are in the video but here is what it did. Through the fire, God was able to provide me with a second chance. God provided me with Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s promised son with Sarah. God forgave Abraham of his sin of trying to “help God out” with Hagar, which produced Ishmael and moved forward with His original plan for him by having Sarah conceive Isaac…through which God’s people decended. You see, with the fire, I was able to replace and upgrade the equipment in Chantelar Studios to be state of the art, we even added some new services to our offerings. And YHWH, my father, told me while driving down I-85 towards my contract job… this is your second chance, this is your Isaac.

So as we reopen week, I pray that I will live in honor of what He has done… and respectful, mindful of this second chance that He has provided in a way that only He could have. I could have never upgraded the studio this quick on my own… but He used something that would have other wise been devastating, for good… for those that love Him. Just as He promised.

Now my wife has her own story of what she learned through this process, which we may share later. It's just amazing how God can do a work like this in someone’s life and simultaneously be doing another work that coincides in another person’s life. The Master Artist, pulling together many different colors to make a masterpiece… the masterpiece of our lives.





Now, KQ, our campus pastor, spoke at the party after the video... his message is probably best told by him but I'll try to summarize. He brought us a bag of mustard seeds... lol. Then he explained, in the bible it talks about having the faith of a mustard seed... now, what does that mean? Well we could see it's size... they are tiny. But what he shared that we didn't know is that mustard is like Kudzu... it grows and spreads like wildfire. So if we are faithful in a little, God can do a lot with it. Pretty cool addition huh? He also spoke of the rest of that teaching (Matthew 17:20) - 'you can move mountains'. He explained that the Hebrews literally understood what that meant, what it looked like. (Jump in anytime and take over here KQ :) ) King Herod had decided that he wanted a mountain... so he had the people build the Herodian... to literally move a mountain for him. They knew how hard it was... they knew how long and how many people it took.. how much sweat and pain was involved. What Yeshua is teaching is that if you have even a little faith, God can do anything through you...

You see, we are His hands and His feet... God uses men to do His work here on earth, to bring about His plan. We are not worthy, but wow, what an honor!



©2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Making Beats

We’ve received several requests for “making beats” at Reformation Productions and Chantelar Studios recently. So I wanted to dive into to what that means:


“Making beats” is the slang term for the relatively inexpensive method of composition used most often in Hip Hop music. Rap/Hip Hop artists often need “beats” to write lyrics/rhymes/melody over before going through the expense of going into the studio.


A “beat” consist of a drum pattern, bass line, and a rhythm instrument (usually guitar or/and synthesizer) played in a pattern than can be looped for songwriting purposes. The "beat" is recorded to a single Wav file that can then be looped, played, and arranged as needed using several types of samplers including sampling keyboards like the Roland VSynth, special tools like the Akai MPC, or software such as Cakewalk's BeatScape. The sampled loops can then be trimmed, played like chords on a keyboard, etc. When it comes to recording a song with “beats,” they are often added to or stripped down as the song is framed. A ‘beat” can also contain samples of other completed records than can be looped for composition ie the ever popular MC Hammer release "Can't Touch This" which sampled Rick James...and of course James Brown is the most sampled artist ever.


Once the artist has written rhymes and figured out how they are going to perform with the loop, they will go into the studio with a producer and work out any embellishments, arrangement changes, etc. as the song is developed. Lastly, the artist will perform over the completed song and we end up with a completed work.


This method of working is popular in certain styles of music because it is inexpensive and relatively quick. There is no need for the artist to purchase instruments or equipment they don’t normally need, producers can compose “beats” at their leisure so there isn’t a lot of studio time to rent, producers are paid by the “beat”, and it's become common within the industry as a modern method of writing and recording songs. So it's a winning situation for both producer and artist.


Cost vary according to which production house or producer is composing the beat. Producers that have multi-platinum record sales and a name that you would recognize and help sell your record are going to charge more than your local production house. Reformation Productions' fee to compose beats at $100 each. Most artists request several beats at one time so they have several musical landscapes to choose from and work with. We offer a $25 discount for single orders of 4 beats or more. The artist should email us with the style they are looking for including examples of other songs that they admire and are looking to be in the same feel with. Fees for “beat” composition must be paid before the producer starts work. Once the beats are completed, they are delivered to the artist in wav files as the completed work. Once delivered, the artist is free to load the beat into any sampler to complete composition or they can play it on their computer and write over the loop as it is. We require that any song that is recorded and released using one of our beats be co-credited to “Reformation Productions” in the liner notes of the album and with the applicable performing rights society (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, etc)


Composing and Recording including “beats”
At Reformation Productions, if you would like to complete the composition with a producer after spending time writing over a beat, you can schedule time to work with them in the studio. You will work with the producer using their equipment to complete the song(s). Song composition using “beats” is $75/hour with a 4-hour minimum paid as a deposit and includes studio rental.



(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Daily Walking – July 10, 2009– Don’t Drop The S.O.A.P. –

I know I promised you guys video blogging, and it’s coming, we’re just not quite ready yet in the studio. So here’s an old fashioned blog that you actualyl have to read… I know, it’s rough, but it’s good !


I have a friend that just wrote in as follows:

“I was just wanting to talk to you... well... about God. I was saved and Baptized a couple years ago, but I just feel lost still. Not lost as in unsaved, just lost as in floundering. I have no joy in my relationship with God. Possibly because I don't read my Bible... I feel like a horrible Christian sometimes because I don't enjoy reading the Bible... I've never gotten any great comfort or understanding from it that others say they have and feel. I don't even know what I'm asking you, if I'm asking you anything at all. I read your stuff on here and it makes me so happy to see you so happy. I just need someone to talk to that isn't judgmental... and no matter how much we age and change over the years I know for a fact that is something you've never been.”


You know I’ve noticed that the church as a whole over the years has concentrated on evangelism, “getting you in”, but never spend much time on telling folks how to live the Christian life once they “get in.” ..which the exception of telling them to "read their bible." Imagine with me: “So I’m saved from my trip to Hell now thanks to Christ! Whew… ok… Now, what? What do you mean you don’t know? You’re just going to leave me? Read my bible, ok...how exactly... you don't know? you can't tell me?” That is what a lot of new Christians feel like. And while saving you from Hell is nice, it’s not God’s primary motive for reaching down to you. Hell is just a symptom, a consequence rather, of your sin nature. And that nature is keeping you away from God.


It all comes back to the big picture, God wants to have a relationship with us, like He created us for back with Adam… before he botched that up with the fruit back in Eden. The kingdom is now, the kingdom is here, the kingdom is to come…. but we have to live it…and to do that, we have to understand it. I try to address Christian living in my “Daily Walking” posts and you can always send me a message if there is something you want my thoughts on. Again, I’m not trying to sell anything on here regarding Christianity, but if you want to talk, I’ll do my best to respond.


Ok, so you’re “in”… you’ve been all through “At War With God” or a similar experience and you have recognized how much you suck on your own, you’ve submitted your life to God’s authority, and you’ve recognized and accepted His gift for salvation through Yeshua. Welcome! This is the most rebellious and difficult life you could lead! Living in God’s kingdom means rebelling against the world and that is NOT EASY. So let me give you some tools for kingdom life -->


First thing to remember is that God’s priority is a relationship with you and that relationship comes through spending time together. I can not emphasis enough the importance of spending dedicated time with God! I know because I have been on both sides. When I was first saved, I was “on fire for God” and I had so much energy and so much passion and zeal… then after a while, that faded. Why? Well, I stopped spending dedicated time with Him…. “Life got in the way”. Lame isn’t it. But it happens to most of us. Matter of fact, my pastor, PK, just did a study on the Parable of the Sower that was fresh, new, and eye opening. He suggested that: what if the parable of the sower is a path to maturity in the Christian life.


For those of you that don’t know the parable it’s in the book of Matthew in chapter 13. It’s an illustration used by Yeshua that discusses seeds that fall into different types of soil and the results that follow. In the illustration, the seed is Truth and the soil is the Human Heart.

Through listening to PK’s sermons I realized that I have been through every type of soil mentioned in my walk with God…. Finally and thankfully, I now feel like I am arriving at the 4th soil, but I’ve been through each one. So, that recognition giving the premise validity, I ask you… which soil are you in, Christian? Here they are broken down for you:

Soil #1 – The truth has no impact on you

Soil #2 - On fire for a while, but then it fades – shallow Christianity

Soil #3 – Christian living and joy is choked by the things of this world – sufficating Christianity

Soil #4 – the abundant life Christ promised us, where we are blessed to be a blessing and live in victory


This blog posting is about Soil #2. In the illustration, seed falls on the second soil, takes up root, but then dries up when the sun comes out. Well, let’s make that real world… you are given Truth, you take it in, you flourish, and it goes away because it was not cultivated. I’m not yelling at you, I’m just trying to explain to you why you are where you are. So, next – how do you cultivate the truth… and provide deeper soil. Well, you spend time focusing on your relationship with God and taking on as much truth as He’s giving you… DAILY. Christian living cannot be tackled in one posting and I’ll probably never get to every aspect, I’m sure I don’t know every aspect, but I’ll give you what I know regarding dedicated daily time with God… Now, yes, you are supposed to pray without ceasing, you are supposed to be in constant communication with God… Yes, yes… but I can’t go into know how all God communicates with us, all the ways of prayer, etc. in this little posting, so I’ll just provide the beginning of what I consider essential and an example of what that looks like. Now, you don’t HAVE to do it this way, but it’s what I do, what my wife does, and we’ve seen it work. I do it in written form… in a prayer journal.


Our pastor calls it S.O.A.P… which makes for an easy way to remember it. It’s an example of what a dedicated, daily time would God could look like. Here’s what S.O.A.P. stands for :


Scripture - Read a Bible passage

Observation - Where does the story/writing take place? Who is involved? When is the story/writing happening (time of the day, timeline in history)? What is happening? What is the big idea of the story/passage? What is God trying to say to you through the passage?

Application - What can I learn from it? What action steps do I need to take to apply it to my own life?

Prayer - Give thanks and ask for help. Pray for others and yourself.


Now, what I do in my dedicated, daily time with God is in a little different in order than what PK lays out, but all the elements are still there… I actually start in P, prayer, and stay in prayer the whole time…throughout S. O. & A. I start out praying, and for those of your that may not know what prayer looks like, PK has a trusty little acronym for an example of prayer as well: ACTS. Here is what A.C.T.S. stands for:


Adoration - Praise God for who He is. Corresponding Psalms: Psalm 100, Psalm 103, Psalm 150

Confession - Confess your sins to God. Corresponding Psalms: Psalm 32, Psalm 51

Thanksgiving - Thank God for all the good (and the not so good) things in your life. Corresponding Psalms: Psalm 118, Psalm 136

Stuff of my Life - Tell God, what’s going on and ask for help and support. Corresponding Psalms: Psalm 42, Psalm 59


So I start off with Adoration, that is praising God for who He is…I serve the greatest power ever, the creator of everything, the sovereign ruler of everything, and the compassionate, loving Father of all. So I marvel about just how awesome he is… in my journal. I pray in writing. Praying in writing helps me in several ways.. it helps me to stay focused because there is a physical, as well as mental, activity that is going on at the same time. It also provides a way for me to review my prayers at a later date and praise God for what he’s done in my life.


The next step is confession… I admit to God anything that I might have done that is sinful or wrong, unloving or selfish. Anything that stands out.


Then I thank Him for everything He has done in my life, what he’s brought me through and what He’s set into motion, what He is going to do, how His ways are always what is best for us, etc.


Next is what PK calls “stuff”… most pastors would call it “petition”… it’s where you bring God your needs. I used to feel like nothing I brought was worthy, but then I realized that as a father, I love it when my kids bring their petitions to me so that I can help them…. So therefore, God loves it when He hears my petitions and can know what is in my heart, on my mind, and what I confess needing “help” with. Now, a few things here --> priorities and perspective. Our motives and desires must be pure, having no hate towards others, etc….we must also keep perspective… “Not mine but His will be done”. Sometimes we want things that we don’t need or that would hurt us or that may be against God’s sovereign plan…and since all things work out for good to those who love Him, I don’t want to mess that up by praying to get “my way”. So I start, very humbly, by asking God, in light of prayer step #2 – confession, if there is anything in me that is not pure or that is selfish, or that needs correction in His eyes… that He would show it to me… because it is my desire to be pure before Him and to live a God honoring, righteous life. Often, the Spirit will tell me of things I’d rather left unsaid! lol but it is truly better to know and address those areas of your life. Then I petition my desires, my needs, my passions, the needs of others, my prayers for others, etc. Then I ask God to speak to me in my scripture reading.


THEN I go to the “S” in S.O.A.P….. but P.S.O.A. wouldn’t work as an acronym… and again these are examples…not formulas. I read from the scriptures and continue reading until I have a revelation in what I am reading…sometimes it’s 3 verses, sometimes it’s 3 chapters. I listen for the Spirit to bring new Truth to me through what I am reading and I’m looking for observations that I may not have recognized before in the passage. Often, I will be lead in my reading to further study a certain aspect or thought. I use a study bible and there are often study notes and other verses that I can refer to about what I am reading… so I go through all of that, eager for what God has for me to learn right now! Often, I come away amazed at how he has placed a specific reading, a specific truth in what I am reading for me on that specific day in my life. It’s amazing how God works. I then, still in prayer, write to God about what I’ve just come across or what He just said to me… and we discuss it…in writing in my journal. What it means to me, how it will effect my life, the changes I will make as a result of knowing that new truth… this is the O. – Observation, in S.O.A.P… it’s often very exciting… those times when God reveals something new to me…. Then there are times when it is not so exciting…sometimes I observe some where I need correction, or instruction… sometimes I feel guilty about what I’ve observed in my life in comparison to Scripture. Sometimes, what I observe may seem mundane… a simple “Oh, I didn’t realize that” and that’s it. The point is, I’m pressing into God, desiring to further my relationship with Him by communicating in one of the ways that I know He speaks to us… through His word, scripture. (I generally just pick a book and continue reading and throughout my days until I feel moved to pick a different book or what every… I don’t start with a different book every day.)


Next is A. for application in S.O.A.P….. I then write out, as I said, how I will apply what I’ve learned to my life in my prayer journal. Then I close my prayer… but A does not end through. I carry A will me throughout the weeks and look for ways to apply it to my life… Why did God say it to me today, last week, last month… there is a reason, so I look for it.


This method of dedicated, daily time with God has radically changed my relationship with the Father. Was I Christian before I started doing it? Yes.. I was “in”…. was I living an abundant, joy filled life? No. The joy of the Lord comes from closeness with Him…and that closeness comes from spending time with him. Like I said, this is not a formula or the “only thing you HAVE to do”… it’s simply an example of dedicated time with God that I use in my Daily Walking…. And I’ve seen the results because I haven’t always done it…and if I get away from it, I can see/feel the difference that it makes in my life.


I recommend listing to the Parable of the Sower series online at: www.12Stone.com. The series is called “Down and Dirty; the math of maturity”. This blog post is from the “Addition” message and will not be the only posting I do from this message…I have another planned when we get the video blogging going :)


Shalom!


(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Contemplating Art

Ponder w/ me - the "Affliction Clothing" line that is N highend retailers & boutiques right now... they make a lot of use of religious themes albeit N a dark way...but are they Christian? Anti-Christian? I haven't found anything offensive, to me. I've seen some designs that R offensive to Catholics. But R they bringing 2 light our mortality & sin affliction N their designs? Is that so bad 2 B reminded of?

Here's one offensive to Catholics.. but I'm not catholic, so I can actually see some good in this shirt... b/c Mary was human and suffered affliction same as the rest of us.

(You can click on the photos to see them better)

Is it a statement towards catholics?

Even this simple design, what does it mean:


Is it saying to NOT live like there is no tomorrow, that our life is fleeting, that we are mortals and need to be concerned with the matters of the cross?

This one seems to represent "death" personified, looking through the book of death (as opposed to the book of life)



What is this one saying? A mortal, holding on to the cross with passion:


Now there are a lot of things that I disagree with in these images, but as ART, what are they trying to say?

This one received a lot of attention recently:


A catholic lady had it pulled from the Nordstom retail chain. It is an adaptation of the famous Millenium painting. This one depicts Mary, again, as a mortal... using the skeleton to symbolize that

Here's another that deals with Catholics again.

This one seems to be promoting prayer, in this case catholic prayer, because of our mortality and sin affliction.

There are a lot of Christian clothiers right now that are less questionable in this vein - Rebel Spirit, Sanctify, and NOTW to name a few. They have high end clothing that has a Christian message in a "cool" and artistic way. But does Affliction really belong in that list?

I'm always on the side of the artist when it comes to any art- whether you are painting with sound or on T-shirts. But I always search through to what the artist is trying to communicate with his work... b/c that is what all artists are doing when they work.... communicating a thought or question in a creative fashion...

So, that being said, do they show case mortality and affliction for the cause of contemplation or do they glorify our sin affliction? Should they be considered as Christian messages, or maybe Anti-Christian messages?

Or maybe, the worst answer of all: maybe they are simply combining things that will sell and there is no artistic significance whatsoever... that thought is always tragic.

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Head from the band KORN speaks about his life

Another little tid bit to tide over until we're completely up and running again.
We are moving equipment into the studio this week, installing, etc. Their A/C still needs it's sound proofing and a couple of small things but construction is just about complete. Hopefully, we'll be up and running soon.

Todays Post:
Brian Phillip Welch (born June 19, 1970), better known as Head, is an American musician best known as the former lead guitarist of the band Korn. Welch left the band in 2005 due to contrasting personal beliefs, to focus on life as a father.

blog post: selling out vs. sustainability

This post isn't mine. It's from Brandon McCormick and it's too brilliant not to share. Brandon is an independent film maker and owner of WhiteStone Motion Pictures. You can view his work at www.WhiteStoneMotionPictures.com

As we continue in the reconstruction of our facilities, I hope to be blogging with you again soon.... and in video :)
Enjoy!
-Z

blog post: selling out vs. sustainability

12:37PM by Brandon McCormick  |  Catagories: Blogs and Thoughts

At the halfway point of the year, there have been some new thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind.

This year for Whitestone is the year of sustainability, in the most simple of words, the year we learn to make money.



As an independent filmmaker, just the thought of making art for money is enough to make my skin crawl. This idea has become a taboo path in the indie world, associated with the selling of your soul. However the other picture in my mind does nothing for me either. The struggling artist who can’t take care of himself or a family because he is ‘misunderstood’ by the world and can’t find a way to monetize his art. As one of my creative mentors said to me, this route ends with the artist high in the mountains, alone and with a bullet between his eyes.

I want nothing to do with either picture.



My first step is to create a distinction between what I want to do, and what I don’t want. Here is what I’ve come up with so far.

Selling out is doing something you don’t want to or believe in for money. It’s also another way prostitutes are described.

Sustainability is doing something you love and believe in, but getting someone to pay you to do it.

It’s a subtle difference on paper, but of profound difference in real life.

I can write this post because I’ve done a healthy amount of both. I’ve done countless business videos, conference openers and yes, even weddings, that I did just for the money.

On the other hand, I’ve been able to do a lot of what I love to do, getting visionaries (much smarter than I am) to buy into the bigger picture with me.

The key part is believing and living for a bigger picture.

If what you’re about and what you want to create isn’t for something bigger than yourself, you’ve not much of a chance in getting anyone to buy into you. Your vision cannot rise and fall on only you. You must think beyond yourself, think beyond the status quo and selfish instincts to find a place where what you do matters to the world at large.

Another element of sustainability is timing.

We’re in a sort of digital renaissance. A magical but frightening place where the old business models no longer work. As art continues to become digitized, it magically becomes shareable world wide. The downside is that once something becomes easy to obtain, it’s perceived value drops almost immediately to zero.

This is both good news and bad news to the independent artist.

This means on the one hand, I can push a button, and BLAMO, my work has worldwide distribution.

On the other hand, I’m competing with millions of others pressing the BLAMO button at the same time. The basics of supply and demand say that my work has just become lost in a sea of ‘competition’ eventually driving the price to zero.

Why pay .99 cents for a short film when I can pop over to Vimeo and watch hundreds, if not thousands of excellent short films.

Art has the same basic binding principals in the market as any other commodity. One of those basic principles is in the form of a question

Does it add value to someone’s life?

The question I’ve been asking myself lately is do our films, our ideals and what we stand for, add value to anyones life. If not, how then could I ask them to trade money for what we have to offer, be it films, ideas or inspiration.

So now I’m left with this question. I have many ideas, many of which you’ll see later this year, some may work, others may not. I leave the question out there and unanswered. Until we have cracked the code, we won’t be the ones answering the question with a definitive answer, but we hope to be one of the few asking it in a new way in a new time.

And as Socrates might say, sometimes asking the right question is more important than having the right answer.

semper ad melora

blog post: selling out vs. sustainability

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At War With God

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM October 18, 2008

Ok, first - I can't take credit for the idea of this analogy. My father-in-law used part of the following comparison in a conversation with my wife yesterday. Rachel and I then used the following in conversation with our son last night.... and God pressed in and saved his soul. SO I'M SHARING:

Our world is at war. Our lives are at war. God has a set standard... the commandments in the bible. We are in rebellion against His standard. (Go through each of the commandments asking yourself where you stand on each of them. You will find that you come up short every time.)

When we are born into this world, we come with our sin nature and our own agendas. As a human, you are born at war with God. We want to live life our own way. We become lord of our own lives and start to manipulate the world around us to get the things that we want. You can see it in infants: they want food, so they cry until someone gives it to them. They don't want to go to bed, so they cry to get out of bed. They are not concerned with the fact that the mother may be asleep or that there is an intense conversation going on in the next room. No one teaches a child how to lie, children start lying to get what they want, to manipulate the lives of those around them in an effort to control their "world". These efforts are weapons in your regime..you start in their skills at your first cry.... that's when you start your own battle.... your first cry: "Put me back in!". You have your own army with yourself as the general. Every time you go against one of God's standards, you are in rebellion against His kingdom, His authority.

Now, how does a nation win a war? Well, one army has to either surrender or be captured.
As John McCain knows, if you are captured, you are put into jail as a POW and punished, often torchered.
If you surrender, treaty negotiations ensue and rebuilding follows under the new ground rules of the conqueror.

As a "lost person", you are battling God everyday.... you want to stay rebellious and head of your own life. Satan is on your side. He wants you to stay rebellious as well. God is on the offensive, He sends Christians (soldiers of God) in to do His will in our lives. You are shown truth, love, joy, compassion, etc. God is sharing Himself with you as an effort to win the battle you've started and to squash your rebellion. God talks to us in 4 ways, his four branches of the military:
1. Through the bretheren
2. Through the Word
3. Through circumstances
4. Through prayer
If you can see God working in one of these ways, He is communicating with you...

Make no mistake, God will win the war. And He will do it in one of the two ways:

You will be captured and pay the penalty of your rebellion and rejection - - you will be cast into hell as your jail and torchered in the lake of fire's flames.

You will surrender to His authority, you will discuss with Him the terms of your surrender, and He will help you rebuild your life under His authority.

What we tasked our son to do is to figure out what weapons he was using in his army to war against God. What weapons did he think that he was using to battle the Lord. One was the fear of the unknown... it was keeping him away from surrender. The other was self-obsession, he loved attention and saw that he was always seeking attention for himself in everything He did. Every one has a weapon that God must over come. For me it was my self-pride. I didn't think I needed God because... well, I was awesome. One of God's assaults on my rebellion brought that weapon in to clear defeat as I was injured and all of my fame and "awesome-ness" was stripped away from me because I could no longer play the part of the rockstar in my world... God was in control, and I saw it. With Davy, we took each of his weapons and talked them out to where he could see that they were useless in his fight and that God had already defeated his tactics. All that was left was for him to retreat, having faith in his weapons or in future weapons that he might come up with. ... or to surrender.If you surrender, you are acknowledging that He is the supreme power, that He is in control and that you and all your efforts are weak in comparison. That you are a weak, dreadful sinner that have done things to offend Him...and you are sorry for it.

Next, you go into peace talks / treaty negotiation... that's "the prayer". You acknowledge that He is Lord, ruler of your life, and that you accept His terms. His terms? After realizing that you are a sinner at rebellion with God, you have to realize that God had to make a way to restore His relationship with you, with humans. Because humans are born with a sin nature and cannot have a relationship with God on their own, God came down in the form of a human... in Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for our sins so that we could be restored into proper relationship with God. You see, the penalty for sin, is death. Blood covers sin so that God can commune with us. In the Torah, it was through a precise ritual that included the sacrafice of certain animals... this made a temporary covering (or atonement) of sins so that God could have a relationship with His people. It's all about restoring the relationship that we had (mankind) with God in Eden before the fall of man when sin entered the world (before our rebellious regimes, when we were still at peace under God's authority). When God came to earth as Jesus, He made the ultimate sacrafice... His blood covers our sins permanently.... so we can have an everlasting relationship with God and our relationships with Him, as humans, are restored. You acknowledge this truth, we call it "accepting Christ", in your peace talks... in your prayer and in your testimony to others before baptism.

After that, God starts to rebuild our lives from the inside out. It starts with setting up a new government... a new mindset. Then the rebuilding spreads into the rest of the defeated country.

Ah, good stuff! ... good analogy! Feel free to comment below and discuss...share what your weapons were and how they were proved useless against God.


(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Daily Walking - Sept 14, 2008

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM September 14, 2008

John 7:24 - Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

I have sat firmly on this truth for years. But it can be observed in so many different ways. Only God could give us a book that has one simple sentence, that can be viewed multiple ways and every way be of truth.

1. Do not look at the outside looks of others and judge them holy or evil, because it is what is on the inside that counts.

2. Do not look at the behavior that people show you and judge them holy or evil, because it may not be what is on the inside.....and the inside is what counts. The inner man is what determines his character, who he really is.

3. Do not put on a show for people and for God, because He sees the truth... that which is on the inside

4. Don't hold someone to a law and be "nit-picky", if what they did and why they did it truly shows the character of God. Again, it's the inside, the why they did it.

5. Do not exalt someone based on what they've done, if they did it with a low character, for the wrong reasons, and/or with the wrong heart on the inside.

God cares about what is on the inside...and why you do the things that you do.

Your outside appearance doesn't matter.

If you have a 6 inch mohawk that is purple

If you have Sarah Palin's hair style

If you have multiple piercings

If you more closely resemble the conservative appearance of the President of the United States.

If you wear pants or not.

If you wear a suit to church.

If you have long hair or not.

If you wear make up or not.

If you dress in Ann Taylor or not.

God doesn't care.

Your behavior isn't the point either:

If you give to the poor or if you can't.

If you go to church every week or if you don't.

If you sing southern gospel music or if you thrash your head.

If you preach the gospel

If you write books

If you write music

If you draw

If you are good at a budget

If you, If you, If you

All of this is not the point.

Look at your inside, the true you. That is what matters... that is what God sees. That is what He instructs us to look at.

Let's take this a little more indepth.If you are on the platform at church, leading worship...is that a "good" thing? Well you really don't know... you can't make a judgment based on the action alone.

If you are up there because you can play well, you like the attention it brings, you want to show people what you've got, to feel you are in a position above others, etc. Then ... not so much. Those are self oriented, "wrong" motives from you inner man.

However, if you are up there because you want to help lead others into worshiping the almighty God, because you consider it a blessing for God to be able to use your skills and talents to help the Brethren praise the Father, because you worship Him through playing your instrument, because you are open to others viewing you as a true follow of Christ, or you have been asked to serve and are humbled by the opportunity to follow God's will in your life. This are good motives from your inner man.

Everything is this way... look at everything you do.

You like wearing short skirts.... is that good or bad? Let's look at the why.

Are you wearing it to feel younger than you are, because you are jealous of the younger women, to feel more attractive to men, to distract the pastor so he has difficulty in delivering God's message (because you never really liked the whole Christianity thing any way, you are just there because a friend of yours or your parents made you go), because that's how you were raised - your mother wears them, your sisters wear them, your friends wear them, because what you wear is not as bad as other people you've seen, or because it's the fashionable thing to do? Why are you wearing it? Figure that out and see if it lines up with the character of God... remember, more like Jesus is our goal.

Ok, one more - You are an evangelist. You are pumping the streets everyday tell others about the reality of Hell. Telling them that Christ is the only way to heaven. Is that a "good" thing?Well, where is your heart?

Are you doing it because you are super spiritual and you have to call out sin where ever you seen it? Obviously, you have none because you are an evangelist...even if you did it wouldn't be as bad as theirs.

Are you "helping" God because without you and others like you, He'd never be able to find all of the folks to populate this new place He's building called Heaven?

Are you doing it to try and prove that your way is right and that all other ways are wrong?or

Are you doing it because you love people? Because God loved you enough to save you from your trip to hell, so you want to help others realize God's love for them too.

Are you doing it because you dedicated your life to service God through reaching out to others with His heart as your own?

Why are you doing it?

It's all about the "why".

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

A Study Of Parables

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM August 13, 2008 (editing 4/2009)

Our natural ambitions for career and wealth need to be replaced with zeal and passion for Kingdom work.

Are you trying to regain the things you surrendered when you joined the Kingdom? When you told Him that your will was His will. That you couldn't do it on your own and that you relinquished your own self-implied authority to His.

Give up all that YOU have and are and join God's Kingdom. Surrender to His Lordship.

God will bless us based on our work for Him... not on our work for ourselves. And blessings we gain for ourselves are nothing.

God can do great things through seemingly insignificant or small means (people). Don't force it. It's not you doing it, it's Him doing it. If He's placed you somewhere to effect the Kingdom, allow Him to do it.... don't try to do it on your own out of desires for yourself. Your works are hay and stubble.

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Hard-Headed

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM July 27, 2008

My mother used to tell me that I was "hard-headed". I used to think that it was just a way that people of the older generation would insult a boy. But now, old enough to be a parent myself, I think I finally understand what that term means.

Being Hard-headed means to embrace a character flaw in yourself. You know that it's a flaw. You know that this character trait doesn't help you or others in any way, and yet you cling to it, claiming it as part of "who you are". It doesn't serve to help you in any way, except to make you feel that it's part of who you are. But let's remember, your character isn't what you do, it's why you do the things that you do.

Examine yourself for a moment... why do you do the things that you do. The things that make your parents, your spouse, your friends, or your children upset... why do you do them? Do these things help you or them in anyway? Or do you cling to them as something that you do or don't do because it's just "the way your are". Is it a character flaw? Do you resist changing or altering things because it will be "out of character" for you, even though it would be the right thing to do?... Are you being hard-headed?

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

When is the end of the world?

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM July 16, 2008

Ok, I saw a movie last night- The End of the Harvest... I've added a youtube clip below of the main points that stuck out to me and I'll summarize and add in a few thoughts (scripture references are in the clip):

We all know that there is no set, known to us, hour and day for when the Rapture happens (when God calls Christians to meet Him in the air prior to the Great Tribulation period in the end times) or for the Glorious Reappearing (the Second Coming of Christ). But the bible says we can know the seasons and signs of His coming. The theories here are fascinating to ponder....

The idea is that there are what Michael Rood calls "shadow pictures" in the Bible, events that actually happen that serve for a bigger picture in prophesy of things God wants us to know. For instance, the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac.... it's a shadow picture of Christ coming to sacrafice Himself for the sins of the world.

Now, we also know through the scriptures that God often measures time in 7s.

7 days to create the earth resting on the 7th day

Hebrews are commanded to work the week and then rest on the 7th day

the seventh week after Passover is a large feast and rest

the 7th month was a month of 3 major feasts and resting for the Jews

every 7 years was a year of rest of the land

every 49 years (7 x 7) was the year of Jubilee (a time of rest for the land and liberty for the people).

Using the idea of shadow pictures, the movie pointed out that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th. This could be a shadow picture of our time here on earth. The bible says that to God each day is as 1000 years... so does that mean that we will have 6000 years on this earth and then the 7th 1000 year period would be His millenial reign.

Also in the Bible, Christ also took a selected few disciples with Him after 6 days and witnessed His transfiguration...a preview of His Glorious Reappearing. Is this another shadow picture?

Jesus waited 2 days before going to Lazarus to raise him from the dead. Could this be another shadow picture? Perhaps a foreshadowing of how God was going to change His focus from His chosen people, the Jews, to the rest of the world for 2 days, or 2000 years... which He did in the church age.

When the Jews rejected Christ, God scattered them across the world, but He said he would bring them back in 2 days... so that could be 2000 years or the Church age. Israel is now coming back together before our eyes. In 1948 , Israel became a recognized nation again and now Jews from all over the world are going back to their homeland.

- Mankind has figured 4000 years from the creation of Adam to the birth of Christ...that's 4 days.

So 4 days before Christ birth + 2 days of the Church age= 6 days or 6000 years. When means that the year 2000 could be when the end time is coming. But that's passed right?

- We also think Jesus was 33 when He ascended, which could mean it will be the year 2033 when He returns... just around the corner.

-Then there is also the fact that the original Hebrew calendar, that was used in Biblical times, is not the calendar that we use anymore. We don't even count the day the same as the Jewish people. What impact does that have? What year is it to God right now? What month? What day? No wonder we don't have a set time.

However, one thing is for sure.. the time is close at hand, look around... watch the clip below:

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Without love, all is lost

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM July 6, 2008

Love the Lord your God with all your mind, all your soul, all your heart and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.

These are the greatest commandments ever according to Jesus the Christ.

If you were to sum up Christ's ministry on earth into one word... that word would be "Love".

Why is it that "Love" is the single attribute that is missing the most among Christians? I don't care if you can call out judgements left and right, if you can call out any scripture to hold against your brother/sister, if you can tell about the end times, if you can provide for your family, if you can give a million dollars to the church, how many dos and donts you think you know, or if you can preach a mighty emotional sermon from the pulpit.... if you don't have love... then you've missed it.

Jesus didn't come to judge folks, show hatred, and condemn people. And for you to tell people that you are yelling at them, belittling them, and condeming them out of LOVE...to make them better... is a lie that you are telling yourself to make you feel better.

Another favorite of legalistic Christians is to quote scripture against people. Can you imagine? - using the Word of God to cut people down and to make them feel worse! Are you doing it in love? Really? Taking scripture out of context in order to pass judgement on someone or to make someone feel different in any way is characteristic of Satan. Not God. So many people quote scripture out of context, with no love in their heart.... it makes me sad. Jesus "could have" shouted judgements on everyone He met while on earth... but He didn't ... He ministered to them in Love. Because you "can" doesn't mean that you "should". Look at Christ's character.. that's our model.

Are you characterized as having love? Showing compassion? Or are you a red-flag man.... beating people down and having no compassion for others?

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

More indications of the end times.

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM July 5, 2008

For those of you that don't think that a one world religion is possible? Or that the ground work for such a religion is being laid TODAY.



As I often say in regards to the microchip implants and the fingerprint payment systems that are emerging in our society, I'm not saying that THIS IS IT... but it certainly points to the foundational ground work for it.....


(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Lead Guitar

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM July 4, 2008

Ok, so it has come to my attention over the years, and again recently, that some people don't know what "lead guitar" is. So I'm going to clarify what street musicians mean by the term.

Lead Guitar is a position in a band where the musician is responsible for guitar solos. Yes, they play rhythm or embellishment guitar as well, but if there is a rhythm guitar player, then the main thing that the lead guitarist bring to the band is playing solos.... Spot solos, main solos, fills, etc...adding the sparkle to the tune.

Rhythm Guitar is the position held by the musician that plays the guitar riffs and major guitar parts that hold the song together... the guitar arrangement that the song was built on.

In a two guitar band, the rhythm guitar will play the riffs or chords and the lead guitar will play embellishments over them, including solos where necessary. Sometimes there are two guitar parts to a song, in which case, these two players will each take one of the parts.

It's not that complicated, but when you say you need a "lead guitar".. know that you are asking for someone that specializes in playing "lead"... solos and embellishments.

When someone tells you that they don't play "lead", that means that they aren't a virtuoso in playing solos. It's a different skill set for street musicians. You can play a mean rhythm guitar without playing lead.

Other terms used by street musicians:

Kick Drum... we don't call it a bass drum.

Bass... we don't call it a guitar. It's in a class all by itself.

Number... we don't call them compositions

PS: You can be a rhythm player and still have the ability to play lead. It's about the position, not the person

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com

Daily Walking

We will be moving to video blogging in the near future, but I wanted to move forward and post previous text blogs to this page now for your enjoyment and edification:


REPOST FROM June 22, 2008

Several things going on in my thoughts and prayers this week. I'm going to share one with you. What do we, as Christians, do from day-to-day? As we seek God's purposes in our lives, what should we be doing first and foremost? I believe that we need to know how to function daily so that we know how to pray and how to live in God's will.

So, first I think we have to embrace and understand what we submitted to when we became Christian. When we first accepted God's gift of salvation, we saw our own depravity and accepted Him as lord and king of our lives. We agreed to stop doing things our own way and to do things His way. Some how within Christendom, we've forgotted what that means... after the point of salvation. I think that we first need to life-out that submission.

First, let's go to what God has told us we should be/do in our roles:

As a husband and father, my jobs are to be the best provider that I can be, to be the best leader that I can be in my home, and to be the priest of my home. (These are individually huge things but we'll just keep it to broad strokes today and not dive into the details of each one.) Every day I get up, these are my first goals. To live our my godly role as God has laid it before me.

For the wife and mother, it would be to establish and maintain a home that is a refuge (a sanctuary) for the family, supporting and petitioning the husband so that he can fulfill his role effectively according to God's purpose, and caring for the family. Again, these are huge, but we won't dive into the details today.

SIDENOTE: These are not the only roles that we have. They are simply my focus for today. There are also (may also be) your role at work, your role as a child, your role as a human being, your role as a friend, your role as a professional, your role as an employee/employer, your role as a citizen, etc.

So first, I get up with these roles in mind.... I don't NOT get up because my children aren't following my leadership, I don't sulk in the basement because I'm not providing for the family in the way I would like, etc. It's not about me. It's not about if I feel like doing these things. Again, it's not about me. I do the best I can under my submission to God.

So, let's talk about the elephant-in-the-room for those of you who know me and my current status - my role as provider in the home - as an detail example:

I don't strive to do things in my own power to provide for my family outside of God's will. I strive to be the BEST provider than I can under God's authority. I am seeking God's will for my career; knocking on doors, looking for what God is going to provide me; looking at my own heart to ensure there are no self-motivated obstructions to His will; following His guidance, directions, and promptings in obedience; watching and waiting for His confirmations; and of course maintaining a consistent relationship with Him through focus time and prayer.

You see, it is very important for me that I don't do anything in and of my own power that is outside of His will...even though that may be what some expect of me. I did things in my own power and for my own motives for a long time and I can assure you that it gets you no where. Sure I could go out a make something happen- I could get a job video editing pornography or working for a company that steals money from their clients by falsely reporting time-worked or I could work anywhere that is outside of His plan for me- but that wouldn't be right and it wouldn't be in line with His lordship over my life, His plans or purposes, or His standards for my life.

Bottomline - when you get up in the morning, say to yourself:

♦"What can I do today that will embrace my God-given role and show obedience and honor to His authority, whether I feel like it or not."

♦"What can I do to champion my role in the family."

♦"What can I do today that will make my spouse's role easier."

♦"What can I do that will help others?"

♦"What can I do to further God's kingdom and show my love for Him"

Remember love... that's what it all about.

(c) 2009 Reformation Productions
www.ReformationProductions.com