Godsway Media LLC

So sorry that I’m a day late with this blog.  Seems like the “100 Day Flu” has hit Momma, and I lost my Wednesday to rest and all the rest!  I’ll get this in now that I’m feeling a little better, and, with God’s help, I’ll be up and around soon! 

There’s lots of news in the world of Christian music…Let me just hit a few of the highlights:

• Martha Munizzi has joined many of the rest of us, and has become a big part of Facebook.  She has a brand new fan page there, and she is urging everyone to visit her there.
• Two Bethany Dillon concerts this weekend in the area.  I know I have mentioned these before, but it never hurts to repeat information, especially when there was a recent change in some of that info!  Bethany will be at Calvary Baptist Church, 1140 Rush Avenue in Bellefontaine, Ohio (West Central Ohio) this Saturday night, April 18th at 7 p.m., and at Christ Lutheran Church, 2350 44th Street in Wyoming, Michigan (Grand Rapids area) this Sunday night, April 19th at 7 p.m.  Her special guest will be Alanna Story.  For the Ohio location, call 937-592-4775 for tickets.  In Michigan, call 616-532-2774.  Bethany also has a great online store you can visit at https://www.missingink.net/mishop/product.asp?AffiliateID=90&home=1
• The Gaither Vocal Band, in its newest form (Bill, David, Marshall, Mark, and Michael) will be joined this weekend by a great number of the Homecoming Friends at the Wolstein Center at  Cleveland State University, 2000 Prospect Avenue in Cleveland.  Scheduled to appear at that 6 p.m. concert Saturday night are the GVB, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, The Hoppers, Gordon Mote, Janet Paschal, Lynda Randle, Ben Speer, Russ Taff, and Kevin Williams.  Tickets are still available.
• (from Andy Argyrakis, senior music editor at GospelMusicChannel.com) Any close follower of Christian music is surely aware of Forefront Records’ impact on the faith-based industry.  For over 20 years, that company has been a launching pad for a plethora of Christian Rock artists including dc Talk, Audio Adrenaline, Seven Day Jesus, Bleach, and The Benjamin Gate (not to mention putting Christian pop superstars like Rebecca St. James, Stacie Orrico, and Jennifer Knapp on the map).  According to the management there, Forefront is headed back to the top with two new groups to keep a look-out for:  Abandon and Philmont.  Philmont has more of a pop/punk sound, while Abandon draws references to artists like The Killers and Delirious?  Both should hold a great connection with youth groups!
• Okay, how about our own top ten?  Here are the top ten reasons for you to get online FAST and cast your vote for the Dove Awards:  !

10.  Support Gospel Music Channel.  For all those who are regular viewers to the fairly new cable network, or are even tuning in for the first time, your vote helps ensure quality programming like the Dove Awards will continue well into the future.

9.  It’s all live.  When the cameras start rolling and the red light is on, there’s no turning back for attendees packed into the gorgeous Grand Ole Opry or those following along at home.  Absolutely anything can happen and there’s no safety net, which means surprises in both the performance and actual awards divisions can pop up at any time throughout the night!

8.  Break A Tie.  Though some may wonder why the fan vote only counts for 1/3 of the final verdict, it actually plays a major part in the program.  Several categories each and every year are extremely close and a particularly active fan club could genuinely influence the end result to profound degrees.

7.  Members only no more.  For the first time, those who aren’t members of the Gospel Music Association can have their say.  Of course, membership has its perks like industry insider news and various functions throughout the year, but this is still a participatory opportunity for those who maybe can’t afford the fees.

6.  Ownership.  Those who rally behind a band will feel a greater empowerment in helping their favorite artist achieve that highly coveeted Dove goal.  And since a great number of the bands admit that fans are a primary focus of each individual music ministry, the feeling of ownership is mutual.

5.  Social networking.  Why do you think I’m talking about it here on my blog???  Let’s face it.  People love to talk about what they love.  And in this world where social networking is spreading faster than actual telecommunication, it is a great way to reach a captive audience with the click of a mouse.  Fans really hhoping their favorites will win can simply send a message to their entire address book and post blogs on their profile, leading to lots of pleasant chatter amongst web dwellers and possibly even a witnessing opportunity or two.  That’s my goal…it can be yours, too!

4.  Reality Show Appeal.  For those of you (like me sometimes) who can’t get enough of reality show-styled talent competitions like “American Idol” or “Gospel Dream” (a topic next week here on the blog), the Dove Awards voting provides the perfect text or internet click fix.  In fact, if you follow the aforementioned programs, you are probably already seasoned professionals when it comes to letting your fingers do the talking, so here’s yet another extension of that enjoyable thought process!

3.  Celebrate Diversity.  Back in the early days, the Dove Awards were primarily a southern gospel ceremony.  The first year (40 years ago) there were 11 categories, all southern gospel.  Now the genre pool has since widened to include everything from pop to rock to rap and urban music

2.  Share your favorite Star!  Ever wonder how those “under the radar” acts blow up to hit the big time?  Though radio airplay and sales in stores and online helps, most artists give credit to grassroots fan efforts, which include sharing the news about a particular act with friends and even strangers who might be into similar music.  I’ve seen immense amounts of this type of sharing on YouTube and the former GodTube.

And now……………drumroll please………………….

1.  Exercise Your Voice!  Freedom is one of America’s greatest qualities, and the Dove Awards now are a chance for fans of all kinds of gospel music to exercise their ultimate liberties of vote casting!

The Dove Awards Program is set for April 23rd (8p.m. ET)LIVE on the Gospel Music Network.  If you don’t have this network on your cable system, find someone who does!!!

Tomorrow…a special worshippers’ devotion.  See you then.

Shari

 

 

 

Hey all!

April 2009 is only half through, and there are still a number of new recordings hitting the market this month, including Tuesday, April 14th!!!  Since I’m late getting this Monday edition of the blog out, that would be today!!!

Take A Look:

See what I mean?  The Christian music arena is busy, busy…..and here’s hoping that your ministry is busy, too!

More later….

Shari

Sorry about missing the regular blog on Wednesday…our family is fighting what some are calling “The 100 Day Flu”…right now it is the stomach flu, and it’s hitting the boys hard!

Here are just a couple of quick notes:  Bethany Dillon has been at work in the studio this week, laying down the last vocal tracks for her newest project.  She invites you all to follow her progress on Twitter!  The first single from this new project is called “Everyone to Know”…

Mark your calendars…Dove Awards are set to be handed out April 23rd.  It will be broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel.

Now for this week’s devotional…

Since it is Good Friday, I find myself thinking quite a lot about death.  Morbid, isn’t it?  Oh, sure, there are lots of times I think about my parents’ deaths, my grandparents’ deaths, and so on, but we are not necessarily speaking of a physical death here.  Today, less than two thousand years ago, Jesus died a physical death, a drastic, disgusting death on a wooden cross.  He was not only man this ever happened to (obviously, since two men died on crosses on either side of him).  But his death was different.  It wasn’t just a physical death.

I have always been a fan of C.S. Lewis, and he epitomizes the death of Jesus so well in his descriptive tale of the death of Aslan the Lion in “The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe”.  Aslan was taking the place of small Edmund, who had done so much wrong.  Aslan was “covering the check”, if you will.  And that is what Jesus did for us.  Have you ever heard the old Southern gospel song that says, “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind”?  I take that song literally.  God the Father knew all about each one of us, even that day on the hill outside of Jerusalem, the hill of Golgotha (literally, “the skull”).  And if God knew, Jesus knew.  And he died to pay my tab, to pay your bill, to make sure that no one ever had to pay again.  No more sacrifices, as they used in the Jewish culture to pay for sins.  Jesus was the last….He was the perfect Lamb.

We are not perfect, are we?  God asks us to die, though, did you know that?  He asks us to die daily.  Our inner man, the one we were born with that knows how to sin so well has to day every single day, because of our imperfections.  It’s the least we can do.  We must die daily to self. (Galatians 2:20)

How do we die?  We simply admit what we’ve done is wrong and we ask forgiveness, and we live a life of prayer and faith in Jesus.  A strong life.  Sure, we won’t be perfect in it, but God knows that.  I like how Natalie grant put it in her 2008 release of “Relentless”.  Her song, “I Will Not Be Moved” says it this way: 

“I will stumble.  I will fall down.  But I will not be moved. 

I will make mistakes.  I will face heartache.  But I will not be moved. 

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.  I will not be moved”.

Can I make one extra point?  Okay.  I have found that as a worship leader and gospel singer for more than 40 years now, the numerous compliments we may receive bring a certain amount of discomfort to us.  Of course, we want to bring excellence to whatever we are doing, but when people start telling you of how you blessed them, of how you moved them…I find for myself that I don’t know how to respond.  To say “Thank you” would be to take credit for the Holy Spirit and His work in people’s hearts!

But on this Good Friday, I am reminded to always say, “Well, thank the Lord.  The Holy Spirit was really at work tonight”, or something to that extent.  I find myself dying to self, and promising myself that I will NOT take credit for the work.  I’m reminding myself constantly by singing the words of Michael English:

VERSE ONE:  I heard someone the other day

They’d seen in me true love displayed

Blessed by something I had done for them.

No sooner did they speak those words

I found myself somehow disturbed

Uneasy as I took their compliment

‘Cause I know the truth inside this man

I know the truth of who I am

VERSE TWO:  If you could walk the hallways of my heart

And see things as they really are

I wonder if you might be surprised

Seeing faded walls of pride and fear

Rooms I’ve filled with faithless tears

And corners where I’ve stood in compromise

But you’d see the work this grace has done

You’d know just how far I’d come

BRIDGE:  In a thousand years

When the dust of this world clears

And I look back on my life

And see in perfect light

CHORUS:  The only thing that’s good in me is Jesus

The only thing that Good in me is Jesus

I’ve lived long enough to know

No matter what this life may show

The only thing that’s good in me is Jesus.

 

Mark this Good Friday 2009 as the day you begin your daily death to self.  Then you’ll be able to say, “All I am, All I have, All I ever will be….the only thing that’s good in me is Jesus”.

 

Blessings…..and more later…..

Shari

 

 

 

Hey all…God is good, all the time!!!

I have a mass of good news to share with you, and all of this good news is definitely pertaining to THE Good News of Jesus!

For all of my fellow Buckeyes in Ohio, and anyone else who was going to travel a distance to hear Bethany Dillon in concert later this month near Indian Lake (near my home stompin’ grounds!), there has been a serious change of venue due to great response.  The concert is April 18th and was going to be held at Indian Lake High School.  Now the location has been changed to Calvary Baptist Church in Bellefontaine (a small distance away!!!).  Tickets are going fast, so contact the church soon:  Calvary Baptist Church, 1140 Rush Avenue, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 43311, phone 937-599-4775.  Remember, tickets are moving out and seating is limited, so call soon if you want to worship with Bethany Dillon in concert!

Couple of iTunes specials for Easter that you all need to know about:  Jeremy Camp’s latest work, “Speaking Louder Than Before”, and Kutless’ newest, “To Know That You’re Alive” are only $7.99 on iTunes for a few more days….great music, great Easter gifts!

Here’s something new from Joy Williams that you can check out.   I did, and I have to tell you, it’s catchy, but I was disappointed overall.  Joy’s debut music video, “One of Those Days” is available to see at http://youtube.com/watch?v=A6qPjUpo .  It’s a good song, very indie, upbeat, and the video is fun (backwards, but fun), but I like some of Joy’s worship stuff much better.

MercyMe has a fan pack that is going to be in stores tomorrow, and I will be checking into this:  The pack includes the CD and DVD “10″, which gives you 12 of their hit songs plus three new ones, and 11 videos plus Gospel Music Network’s “Faith and Fame” show, featuring MercyME.  The rest of the fan pack (Yes, there IS more!) includes a free MercyMe “10″ t-shirt, and an autographed lithograph copy of “I Can Only Imagine”.  Again, it comes out tomorrow.  Check out some of the videos at http://www.mercyme.org//blog/category/mercyme10/ .

Now, for you music pastors, coming out soon is a terrific book by one of my FB friends, and a wonderful man — this is one you’ll want to have in your office.  Mark Elliott has written a book called “Confessions of An Insignificant Pastor”.  I love that title.  We’ve all been there, pastor or not….am I right?

On Wednesday, more news, plus a look at a brand new website and group for church worship pastors and music leaders!

Stay under His wings, and cuddled closely in the palm of His hand,

Shari

What It Means To Be A Worshipper 

Did you know that there is a reason for your existence? Yes, I know that today we hear a lot of things about having a purpose, and being purpose driven.  But this is what I’m talking about — God knew you before you were even formed into a fetus (ooh, don’t you hate that word?  I do.  You were a BABY from the beginning and God Himself knew you.  He knew your name, He knew your personality, he knew your “ups” and He also knew your “downs”. He has a specific plan for your life. Your job while you are here on earth is not to choose your destiny but to discover it. Many people search for fulfillment their entire lives and never find it because they fail to discover their purpose. God is the Creator of all things. Your life is not a mere coincidence or a mistake.  No matter who you are, remember, God NEVER makes mistakes.  Even my son Isaac, and his autism.  Isaac’s autism is not a failure of God or a mistake but a part of His plan; He has a specific assignment for you, too. Do you know what it is? If not, here are 10 questions to help you discover your true destiny:

1. What is your deepest desire?

Psalm 37:4 says “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” When you decide to serve God, He will actually give you the desire to do what you were created to do. You will know it is a God-given desire because it will line up with His Word. And when you know that reason, that purpose, you will feel happier than you have ever been.  You’ll look forward to each day of your life in Him.

2. What stirs your passion?

Passion is the zeal, enthusiasm, excitement and intensity you feel about things that are important to you. It will stir you to action. What bothers you the most? God may be calling on you to find a solution to a problem or to be a solution to a problem. Just recently we added to our evangelistic ministry something that I never imagined I would do, but it is absolutely exploding!  I head up workshops, helping churches to work with the special needs population.  Church pastors have just been clamoring for it.  God’s asking me to help be a solution to a problem.  I thought I was just a devotional pastor’s wife and a singer.  Who knew?

3. What naturally flows out of you?

Have you ever taught someone how to do something that you could do with your eyes closed? It may have seemed simple to you, but complex to them. What is that natural talent or ability you have that others do not?

4. Where do you get real results?

In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus gave us a time guideline for how long it should take to “try something out,” such as a job, career, business or ministry. He gave an example of a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard and had been checking for three years to see if it was producing fruit. Then Jesus asked the question, “Why cumbered it the ground?” This was a nice way of asking, “Why is this thing taking up space?” What is taking up space in your life?

5. What is the witness of the Holy Spirit in your spirit?

God will confirm the plan He has for your life. He will sometimes speak through dreams and visions or in a still, small voice. He will make sure He gets the message to you in one way or another. Are you listening? To hear and recognize His voice clearly, you must position yourself by spending time seeking Him, diligently praying and studying His Word.

6. What do mature Christians see in you?

Keep in mind that a “mature Christian” is not just someone who has been saved for a while, but instead is a Believer who consistently makes decisions based on the Word of God. Mature Christians can give you good advice about seeking God’s will for your life.

7. What career or ministry do you feel the peace of God about pursuing?

Philippians 4:6-7 says to pray with thanksgiving and let your request be known to God, and He will bring you peace about the things that concern you. Let the peace of God in your spirit man guide you and confirm His will for your life.  And this is truly the peace that passes all understanding.  You won’t even me able to understand it at times.  But your heart will truly be at peace.

8. What thoughts, visions or dreams are impossible to put out of your mind?

God speaks to us in various ways. He will give you thoughts, visions and dreams, but your job is to recognize when it is God’s message and when it is not. You will know God has given you a dream, vision or concept when you have spent time seeking Him. He will confirm it through His Word, as well as through people who may speak into your life about the situation. In addition you will see situations and circumstances line up to make your dream or vision come to pass.This is exactly how my new ministry as a workshop leader came about…dreams at night. 

9. What goal or ambition can you dedicate yourself to 100 percent, for the rest of your life?

Is there something you can do for hours and really enjoy? What career or job could you do for the rest of your life? When you discover your purpose, it will incorporate all of your gifts, talents and strengths, and you will have a passion for it that enables you to do it even when you are tired.  You need to love what you are doing.  If you think God is calling you in one way as a worshipper, but you absolutely hate the idea — be cautious.  Give it time.  Ask others to pray with you.  God will clear away the muck and confusion so that you will know exactly what to do.  Remember, satan (I never capitalize his name — he gets enough credit as it is!) can also give you dreams, visions, have others give you a “word” — test everything through prayer, praise, and worship.  God is just waiting for you to ask!

10. What do people volunteer to help you accomplish?

When you find what you were created to do, God will send people, opportunities and resources to help you along the way. Is there something you do that people want to support? When you get into that place, you will find total fulfillment. Don’t waste another moment trying to find satisfaction in all the wrong places; find God’s true purpose for your life today!

I thank a pastor friend of mine for giving me these basic points (he didn’t want to be named but he knows who he is, Pastor J!).  I hope that you find guidance and comfort for this weekend and beyond.  I pray that everyone’s church services are true visitations of the Holy Spirit.  Expect it, ask for it, and He will come.

Staying under His wings, and safely tucked away in His hands,

Shari

P.S.  Put a little girl named Danielle Boulis in your prayers.  She has always been pretty healthy, but for a couple of weeks, she’s been dropping things, collapsing, eyes rolling, eyes rolling, etc.  She had tests Monday and Wednesday.  Last night they rushed her to a children’s hospital to see one of the pediatric neurologists/neurosurgeons in the country.  All we know is…her condition is bad.  Please pray for 12 year old Danielle….

Blessings to everyone!  I guess I was playing an  April Fools’ joke on you Wednesday.  There is already a change in schedule for this blog.  I’ll be here gabbing about Christian music, ALL ABOUT Christian music, on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Then on Fridays, I’ll have our Worshippers Devotional.  Sound good? 

Now, those of you that have any specific topics you’d like to discuss in the Christian music realm, PLEASE let me know.  I want feedback, lots of feedback.  It helps me know you are there!!!

Staying under His wings, and safe in His hands,

Shari

Hello everyone and welcome to the Godsway Media blog.  This is something kind of brand new for all of us, so hopefully, as time passes, this blog will change and grow, as I change and grow.  I’m Shari Ewing, the “chosen blogger” (ooooooooooohhhhhh…..that was the angel interlude…….did you catch it?), and I will be blogging five days a week.

Now, here’s the plan.  On Mondays through Thursdays, I will be blogging about the latest in Christian music.  I’m talking about ALL Christian music.  One day we could look at Christian R & B, and the next, Southern Gospel.  Do I know everything about Christian music?  Nope.  Not hardly.  But I do try my best to keep current with it.  I’ve been singing Christian music since I was three years old, so that gives me almost 43 years of experience.  And, when I was growing up, I heard it all.  My parents made sure of it, being the eclectic couple they were.  We had music playing from Handel to Petra, from Bach to the Blackwood Brothers, from Mendelsson to Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart.  They did lean a little heavily on Southern Gospel, true, and our family was a Southern Gospel group for over three decades, traveling around the Midwest, and even to the West Coast a few times.  But I always heard gospel music.  I lived in gospel music.  I breathed and ate gospel music at times.  So I know my way around.  I’ll have fun with as we look into all the ministries that are out there today!

And on Fridays, I want to write a special worship devotional, just in time for us all to seriously prepare our hearts for Sunday morning (and for some of you Saturday night!).

Looking forward to tomorrow…

Stay under His wings and in His hands,

Shari