A New Direction in Music

Posted by John on Oct 31st, 2008 | no comments

If you visit my music site, you will notice that my piano works are now free to download. Let me explain my decision to give away my music.

I have spent several years growing frustrated with a dream of supporting my family with my music, but God has only seen fit to reimburse me for the expenses of producing CDs and buying equipment. The more I felt like a failure in this regard, the more I grew frustrated with God. After all, there are solo piano composers out there who are successfully supporting their families with their music. Why not me? God wasn’t meeting my goals.

This past year the Holy Spirit impressed on me more than once that I should give the music away and trust Him for provision. Each time, I countered this with all the logical financial reasons for not doing so, and I grew more frustrated. This came to a head this past week.

During a piano session my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember many of my unrecorded songs. Then on Tuesday night, during a sermon by Ed Newton on the subject of idolatry, the Holy Spirit and I had a sit-down talk. I did the sitting and He did the talking. He convicted me that I had placed music, money and fame before Him. That I was more interested in my plans and how I expected God to use my music than in finding out what He wanted me to do with it. So I asked Him.

Once again, “Let it go. Give it away. I will provide for your family.” I brought up the same old arguments. He said the same thing again. “Let it go. Give it away. I will provide for your family.” I asked, “Are you sure, Father? It makes no financial sense.” Same response. And so I broke. I surrendered. I offered God my music. “Whatever you want, Father, I will do it. Just show me what to do.”

Broken and trying to hold back the tears I walked to the front of the church and knelt before Him and gave Him my dreams, my music, my everything. They are His now to do as He pleases. And so now, I play for an audience of One.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had doubts and obstacles since then in accomplishing this, including the music website all of a sudden refusing to go into administration mode. I could read it, but I couldn’t edit it. Took a lot of Googling and digital surgery to find a solution, but why did it have to be this week?

Well, it’s back up now, and here I am…letting go…giving it away…trusting that God will provide.

So here’s how it works. For personal or non-profit use, you can download the music free of charge from the site. If you prefer to pay for the music, then you can click the donate button on the site’s sidebar, or visit the Buy page for more options. For commercial use, I still charge a licensing fee.

Part of this new direction is that I am also available to perform/preach/teach at your church, business, organization or house party. I simply request that you reimburse for expenses, and I accept donations or “love offerings”. My goal is to encourage believers in their faith and to introduce Christ to those who don’t know Him.

Please pray for me that I would continue to seek God’s wisdom as I move in this new direction with music. I don’t know what the future holds, but that’s in His hands. From now on, I want what the Father wants. Please pray for wisdom on my behalf, and I welcome your thoughts.

In His service,
John

An Executive Summary of Life

Posted by John on Oct 30th, 2008 | no comments

This was my dad’s first sermon after being ordained as missions pastor at First Baptist Church in Helen, GA.  It is one of the most powerful presentations of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that I have heard, and he gave me permission to share it with you.

An Executive Summary of Life

At least two people gave their lives to Christ.  They were under such conviction that they left the church, went to their car, and came back.  They said they just couldn’t leave and wanted to be saved.  They were baptized the next Sunday.  It was all of God.

Opus 21: Zuzu’s Petals

Posted by John on Oct 24th, 2008 | 7 comments

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Copyright 2008. John Albert Thomas. All Rights Reserved.

Conservative or Republican?

Posted by John on Oct 15th, 2008 | no comments

I find myself at a crossroads in my political worldview. The Republican Party has ceased to be Conservative.

When George Bush was running for President in 2000, Conservatives in the Republican Party raised concerns that he would drag the party left. They were correct. The same concerns are being raised of McCain today, and rightly so.

Last year and early spring Republicans tore into McCain’s history of liberal policies, but as soon as the media crowned him the presumptive nominee there was a collective sigh followed by an epidemic of political amnesia throughout the Party. To this day I still hear most Republicans reluctantly supporting McCain as the lesser of two evils, as if they are holding out hope that McCain won’t lead our country down the path to socialism like Obama promises to do.

But McCain has already surrendered to path of socialism. How so? By voting for the $700bn bailout bill with $150bn earmarks, and by caving on a bill that makes you and me pay extra closing costs on our next mortgage to help fund ACORN (i.e., voter fraud and programs that benefit the Democrats) and similar groups. Thanks to McCain we now we have nationalized banking and mortgages along with a Treasury that has become it’s own branch of the government without Congressional oversight. McCain has shown that he is ready and willing to launch the United States into a new era of socialism if he deems necessary, albeit slower than Obama would.

So I encourage my fellow Conservatives to reconnect with your core principles.  Many Republicans don’t realize the extent to which they have abandoned their core principles for the sake of the Party.

Where do I go from here?

Now I’m investigating the Constitution Party, which nominated Chuck Baldwin for President.  It seems to be a perfect fit for the Conservative who says to the Republican Party, “I love you, old friend, but I can’t go down this road any farther.”

To read more about the Constitution Party, visit here:
http://www.constitutionparty.com

Before you tell me I’m wasting my vote, please read this and then we’ll talk:
http://www.constitutionparty.com/news.php?aid=777

How John McCain Lost My Vote

Posted by John on Oct 4th, 2008 | one comment

Don’t worry, I’m not voting for Obama!

After the Sarah Palin pick for VP, I seriously considered voting for John McCain…until this past week.  This past week McCain proved that he is all talk and no substance when it comes to fighting pork-barrel spending.

On John McCain’s website it reads:

John McCain will veto every pork-laden spending bill and make their authors famous. As President, he will seek the line-item veto to reduce waste and eliminate earmarks that have led to corruption. Earmarks restrict America’s ability to address genuine national priorities and interfere with fair, competitive markets.

This past week when John McCain had a chance to stand up and fight $150 billion of pork-barrel spending on the bailout bill and he said and did nothing.  In fact, he voted to pass it.  I’m not even addressing the heinous nature of the bailout bill here.  I’m just talking about the pet projects added to it at the last minute.

You ask what is “pork-barrel spending”? Here are some examples from the bailout bill:

• $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children
• $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners
• $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry
• $148 million in tax relief for U.S. wool fabric producers
• $49 million tax benefit for fishermen and other plaintiffs who sued over the 1989 tanker Exxon Valdez spill.

Please explain what these have to do with the bailout?  THIS IS CORRUPTION, and McCain supported it.  Aside from a couple of things, McCain has lost my respect and my trust.  Here was an incredible opportunity to show the American people what fighting corruption looks like.  Here was a chance to name names as he claims he would do as President.  He has proven that he is all talk and no substance on one of the most crucial issues facing America today.  He has proven that he, too, has his price.

So who am I voting for?  This week I made up my mind.  I’m voting for the ONLY person who clearly understands the current financial crisis, who stands up to the President and his fellow Congressman when the situation warrants it, when nobody else will stand with him, and who actually does name names.  During the Presidential debates the media ostracized him for predicting this financial crisis, but now those same people turn to him for understanding.  I’m voting for the ONLY person in Congress who has proven time and time again with his votes that he understands the Constitution he is sworn to defend.

“Wasted” or not, I’m writing in Ron Paul.