John Albert Thomas Solo Piano

A Wedding Called Off

Last night I had a dream.  It was an odd but sobering dream, and it’s worth sharing.

In my dream I got up to go to church early to setup chairs for the service.  When I got there the chairs were missing.  I looked all around the church, but I could not find them anywhere.  One of the elders said to go look in the back and so I did, but no sign of them.  When I came back to tell the elder, all the chair were setup.

The odd thing about them is that the back rows were facing the side of the church, and there was a bride in her wedding gown ready to walk down the aisle.  The front rows were correctly facing the pulpit.

I sat down to hear the preacher speak, and he seemed upset.  He said that he was supposed to officiate a wedding today but that he received new information about the groom that changed his mind about marrying the two.  Behind him on the screen he started to show a video of the groom as he behaved when he thought nobody was looking.  It was disturbing.  I felt uncomfortable peering into the private life of the groom.  He was clearly a different person outside the church.

The pastor said, “I cannot marry these two.  The groom has proven that he is not worthy of the bride.”

In front of me this one guy kept looking to the back of the church.  Upon closer inspection it was the groom, longing to be with the bride.  But he did not stand up and protest.  The video told no lies.  The wedding was called off.

After I woke up, I did go to the church and setup chairs.  Nothing missing.  But I had time to think about the dream.

When Christ returns, many of us will think that we are worthy enough to be carried across the threshold of His Heavenly home along with His Bride, but when the Father of the Groom stands to judge each one of us according to our thoughts, words and deeds what will the video show?  Do we honestly think that we are worthy enough?

The apostle Paul explained our predicament and the final solution like this:

For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands.  For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it.

But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight–not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago.  We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.

For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us.  We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.  God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times.  And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God?  No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds.  It is based on our faith.  So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

(Romans 3:20-28)

If you recognize that you are not worthy because of your sins, and if you believe that Jesus shed His blood for you, then by faith you shall be saved.  You will be joined to Christ along with the rest of His Bride, and one day He will carry you across the threshold of His Heavenly home.  Take this moment to call on Jesus.  Believe in Him, and you will find rest for your soul.

A New Direction in Music

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

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.