Whisperings Solo Piano Radio

Posted by John on Jan 24th, 2010 | one comment

Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio is a free online radio station dedicated to promoting quality solo piano music on par with George Winston, David Lanz, and Jim Brickman.  It is a collaborative promotional effort between pianists of similar style.

The “DJ” of this radio station is a great fellow by the name of David Nevue, who is also a solo piano composer.  David just informed me that two of my piano works from the Zuzu’s Petals CD have been included in their rotation, “In The Shadow Of Your Wing” and “Lullaby For Hope”.

Many thanks to David Nevue for this great honor. Please support me and my fellow solo piano artists by listening to Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio. I can’t think of a better tool to relieve stress and clear your mind.

The Cure For Shyness

Posted by John on Dec 20th, 2009 | no comments

I discovered something in the last two weeks that has freed me from a lifetime of shyness.

It has changed the way I view myself in the workplace, in social settings, and how I relate with my children. It has greatly reduced my fears of success and of failure, and thus has opened me up to try new things.

The moment of discovery occurred while listening to Brian Tracy’s Success Mastery Academy during the drive to work one morning.

Mr. Tracy was saying that we limit our ability to succeed in business when we do not like ourselves. He had the listener repeat “I like myself!” over and over again until they sincerely mean it. At first I sneered at this exercise, but what shocked me was how difficult it was for me to say it. I realized at that moment:

I don’t like myself!

I started examining myself, “Does God like you, John? Yes, He delights in me. Do other people like you, John? Yes, I have many friends. Then why don’t you like yourself, John? I don’t know!” I resolved at that moment to say, “I like myself!” throughout the rest of the day as an experiment.

The impact was powerful and immediate. I couldn’t say it without smiling. I found myself greeting strangers instead of walking with my head down. I felt empowered to look at my employer in the eye instead of feeling guilty for no reason. I actually enjoyed our Christmas parties this year instead of watching from a distance.

The cause of my shyness and false guilt was clearly my dislike of myself, though I never realized it before. As far as I can tell, much of this stemmed from years of spiritual abuse during childhood. To stay in the good graces of my spiritual leaders I had to maintain a “look” of humility. I would beat myself up emotionally until I felt humble enough. I disliked myself into a spirit of sadness, and that worked at the time.

In God’s goodness, He doesn’t leave us in our broken state. He ever-so-graciously brings us to these break-through moments of self-discovery, at the right place and right time, for our good and for His glory.

Do you struggle with shyness or false guilt?

If so, what keeps you from liking yourself?

Life In HD

Posted by John on Dec 14th, 2009 | no comments

The other morning my son was watching a popular kids show in High Definition (HD), and the camera was zoomed in on the hostess. It seemed to me that she had not slept much the night before they taped the show because I could see bags under her eyes. HD certainly lets us see imperfections with greater clarity.

Like HDTV, social networks like Facebook and Twitter allow us to see imperfections and negative trends in others more clearly as well. It seems the more connected we are, the more transparent and honest we are forced to become.

My own small town of Arlington, TN, experienced this first hand over the past couple of weeks as Mayor Russell Wiseman’s conversation with Facebook “friends” hit the national news. I don’t have enough facts to make a fair judgment regarding the situation (nor do I care to), but my point is that there is a big [Remove] button next to our own posts for a good reason. I have clicked that button many times myself.

When we choose to live in HD, we place ourselves under a social microscope where we are held more accountable to the truth. Our imperfections appear more frequently, but our sensitivity and attention to them lessens each time someone else’s jump to the forefront.

Pretty soon, we’ll realize just how imperfect we all are. Sadly, we may start to accept our own imperfection on that basis.

Speechless In Memphis

Posted by John on Nov 8th, 2009 | no comments

My dear friends,

Have you ever found yourself speechless? Since the release of my album, Zuzu’s Petals, I have. Here’s why.

The release of this album also marked the release of self-employment. I started a contract position developing websites for a Memphis website consulting firm two weeks ago.

Since then God has shown me a few things about myself.

Humility. I’ve discovered that I don’t know or understand much of what I thought I did. That tends to make someone speechless.

Purpose. I’ve discovered that God wants me to know Him more than He wants me to do stuff for Him. I’ve been more concerned with knowing about Him than knowing Him, and telling about Him than talking with Him. Read more thoughts on this here.

Priorities. I’ve discovered that my family wasn’t as important to me as I claimed they were. Becky put it this way, “I wish you were as passionate about your family as your are about your music.” What she’s saying is that my family needs a leader, not just a manager. They need vision and purpose, and I wasn’t giving it to them. Next time I’ll share with you what I’m doing to help fill that void.

I wouldn’t trade the last seven months of self-employment for anything. I’ve learned a lot about running a business and marketing, and I have invented products that reflect my own unique personality and passions. I gave 100% to everything, and I am pleased with all the seeds that I have planted, but now it’s time to re-prioritize. God first. Becky and the kids second. John and his music third.

As for the work done this past summer, it’s time to water and wait. As for the future, the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep project will be my snack right before bed.

Over the next six months I will share my progress, and what I am learning about God, my family and life. Let me know your thoughts. Maybe we can grow together.

Yours in Christ,
John Albert Thomas

A Day Of Boasting

Posted by John on Oct 22nd, 2009 | no comments

(Don’t worry! It’s not what you think.)

I do not wish to forget yesterday, so I am setting aside Oct. 21 as a personal holiday for me. It shall be called “A Day of Boasting”. It is the day that my life’s goal changed.

For the past few years the main goal of my life was to obey God’s calling to inspire and encourage people through musical and literary creativity. As long as He gives me strength and ability, I will continue to do that.

However, I discovered a higher calling yesterday, a preeminent goal. It is, in fact, a calling that God places on each of us. It is a calling worth boasting about.

God told Jeremiah, a prophet from the tribe of Benjamin during King’s Josiah’s reign in Judah, these words:

This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jeremiah 9:23-24, NLT)

What is God’s single greatest desire for each of us? To know Him. What is the one thing that He doesn’t mind us boasting about? That we know Him. More than smarts. More than strength. More than wealth. Knowing Him is His goal for our lives.

Some of us get very excited when we meet our favorite athletic, political or artistic celebrity. Our first inclination is to boast about meeting them.  The more interaction we have with them, the more we feel the need to boast. But knowing them pales in comparison with knowing God, Creator of the universe, designer of all living and non-living things.

How do we get to know Him? Well, how do we get to know our friends? We ask them to inform us about themselves. As they open up to us, we learn about them, and we reciprocate the openness. The more we like about each other, the closer we feel. Eventually we draw so close that we call each other “best friends”. Our hearts are wide open because we have learned to trust each other with complete acceptance.

The same is true with God. We don’t decide who God is or what He is like. That would be idolatry–the god of our imagination. Would it not be insulting and naive to walk up to a stranger and tell them we have determined the kind of person they are? The fact is that we only truly know someone to the extent that they have revealed themselves to us. They inform us and we respond.  God informs us and we respond.

How does God reveal Himself to us? Because God wants us to know Him, He chose reliable folks like Jeremiah to write down His words and record His actions in the lives of ordinary people.  What we are left with is an extraordinary history that tells us who God is and what He is like, the Bible.  And, as we read His thoughts, words and deeds, we ask Him in prayer to reveal Himself to us.

Knowing about Him is not enough.  The more we know about Him, the more we find Him trustworthy.  The more we trust Him, the more He reveals to us in Divine Friendship.  He informs us as we prayerfully read through the Bible as humble students, ready to learn, ready to trust, ready to obey.

Why am I setting aside October 21 as A Day of Boasting?  To remind myself that there is only one thing worth boasting about.  Let me never forget that my music, my intellect, my strength, and my wealth will all pass away.  To know God now is the ultimate goal, the highest privilege, and the greatest honor that He has granted to mankind, and it is only a taste of eternal, face-to-face glory.

For more information on the subject of knowing God, I recommend this book:

Knowing God: 20th Anniversary Edition By J.I. Packer / Inter-varsity Press J. I. Packer’s Knowing God has become a classic of the Christian faith. Why? While it gives us information about God with clarity and grace, it does much more—it aids us in actually knowing him, in building our relationship with him, and helps draw us closer to him in love and worship. This 20th anniversary edition of Packer’s classic has new Americanized text, reader-friendly type, and a new preface. Study guide not included.