Monday, January 23, 2006

January, 2006

Our Joint Mission: Partnership



We, Tom and Cathy, together with you, are partnering with strategic ministries to communicate God’s love through music and the performing arts. This is our mission statement. (It also happens to be Keynote’s!)

The dictionary describes a partnership as: a relationship between individuals or groups that is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility for the achievement of a specified goal.

As we begin our eighth year with Keynote, we are so grateful for your partnership with us!! Over the next few months, we will be highlighting portions of our mission statement and values:
  • Dynamic
  • Authentic
  • Catalytic
  • World Wide
  • Life Change

This month, the topic is Partnering.

Without a series of partnerships in ministry, there would have been 1,400 fewer people entering the kingdom through Keynote events last year. You partner with us; we partner with the Keynote bands; and the bands partner with strategic ministries - spiritual movements - which are committed to sharing God’s love and disciplining those who accept His love.

We aren’t interested in working with groups who just want to have a good concert! Everything we do is measured with a heavenly yardstick—will what we are doing have eternal benefits for those around us? If the answer is “no”, we don’t get involved. But if the answer is “YES!”, we pull out all the stops, leave no stone unturned, and hit the ground running in the direction God is pointing.

Why We Partner Together
    "You made me take stock of myself in terms of my goals, my God, my present situations, and my past. Thanks to you I found out that I am not cool with God. I would like to be, but I am dead scared."
      --Comment from a young girl in Jamaica at a blackSoil project concert

    “SOMEONE MADE A DECISION TO ACCEPT CHRIST AT OUR CONCERT! Woohoo!! His name is Dennis. The Crusade guys know him and will follow up with him. Praise the Lord!! We always hope for lots people to accept Christ, but if God meant for us to travel all the way up to the cold Upper Peninsula just for one student to accept Christ, it is definitely all worth it—a priceless reward for our ministry efforts! Also, 6 people are interested in studying the Bible, and 3 people want to talk more with someone about spiritual things.”
      -– From blue sky nine after playing at NMU (our alma mater!) in November 2005

2006 Keynote Bands



blue sky nine
Amy, Teresa, Chris, Kevin, Stephanie
Acoustic Coffee House



Piper Down
Jill, Mia, Randy, Laura, Seth, JJ, Matt
Alternative Rock



Chasing Elvis
Arlee, Laura, Jen, Dan, Jimmy
Funky Alternative

Please pray for each of them as the touring season has just begun. We will include stories of lives changed next time. If you can’t wait until then and would like to receive updates from the bands on the road, let us know and we’ll email you right away as we receive them.

Family News Briefs



Cathy in The Keynote Office-- The mystery is finally over — I know what my job is and have been doing it for about 6 weeks. I am on the same team as Tom — Operations — and am the “Efficiency Expert”, (unofficially). :-)

All my years of organizing our home and school are being put to the test as I dig through years of stuff that has accumulated, waiting for someone to deal with it. My first week I found six, that’s SIX, coffee carafes that had no coffee makers! Everyone at Keynote raves when they can find an item, walk through a storage closet, and can eat their lunch in a clean and shiny kitchen. This frees the bands up to focus on rehearsing and getting ready for tours!

Financial Support Climbing Slowly-- The good news is that all of our bills continue to get paid on time. God has used your faithfulness!! But we are still far short of what we need to raise. Tom will be working on finding more ministry partners from home until we are fully funded.

Please Pray
  • The performers on the road and the people who will be in the audiences.
  • Our finances.
  • God will bring in $2,000 in new support by April.
  • Jon, as he is in his last semester. (!)
  • Chris at college.
  • Us as we continue to try to figure out what the new “normal” is with both kids gone and Cathy working.

Thanks!


-

posted by Tomás @ 8:54 PM 0 comments

New Life Church, Yorkville IL

Standing O



We had a fantastic time on December 11, fellowshipping and worshipping with New Life Church or Yorkville, IL. Pastor Rick Thiemke leads this dynamic church, whose focus on missions is nothing short of laser-like.

Twice a month, New Life Church has a Missions Window to The World; an opportunity for missionaries to share God's work through them. One of the ways NLC shows its love and appreciation for the work of full-time missions staff is to give a standing ovation! It was such a blessing!



Shawn Clifton, Worship Pastor of NLC, let Tom sit in on congas during the church's worship set (Shawn is in yellow in the above photo).

Our Missions Window to The World took NLC from Indianalopis to France, Australia, and Singapore! We also shared our needs, and were dobly blessed by the tangible outpouring of financial support from the congregation.

You can visit New Life Church on the web at http://www.nlcyorkville.org/. Drop in and say "Hello" to Pastor Rick and his staff: tell him we sent you!


-

posted by Tomás @ 4:46 PM 0 comments

November, 2005

Doing The Hokey Pokey!



We had a blast in October, traveling to The Detroit and Chicago areas!

Our first stop was at Community Wesleyan Church, where we led worship for their three-day Missions Festival. Norman Wilson from The Wesleyan Hour spoke, and his message of going into a deeper commitment in missions was very powerful.



Our next stop was Sunny Place Church of God, where we provided some down-home family entertainment for their First Annual Fall Festival! It was a great outreach event for the church into the community surrounding the church and in the lives of non-believing friends of church members.



The more we go through this path Christ has led us down, the more we see our role not as Christian Entertainers – not as musicians trying to find a career path in “Gospel Music” – but we see our lives as beacons that shine out Christ’s love to everyone we encounter.

Is what we’re doing relevant to the Kingdom of heaven? Are our lives a mere passing of mist, as some secularists would have us believe, or are we heavenly nuclear explosions in our world, setting off a chain reaction of love and witness that results in the salvation of countless souls?

It’s our choice.




Happy Birthday, Pastor Pete!

Family News Briefs

Cathy’s Outreach - Cathy is working with a young believer and her kids, doing some much-needed discipleship (the woman’s husband is not a believer). Pray for them.

Also, Cathy is doing special music for the Trinity KidsZone kids outreach. She definitely has a gift working with kids.

Our last newsletter mentioned our demo recording, be the center (of it all). We will talk more about opportunities to receive that next time!

Tom’s Music - Tom has struck up a musical relationship with Anthony, a phenomenal young guitarist. God is behind this – Anthony is a believer who has turned away from Christ – what an opportunity to reach out and bring this man back to God!

Pray!

Please pray for:
  • Our finances, and quick success as we seek new ministry partners...
  • Cathy as she transitions into keynote as a full-time employee. She was previously considered a stay-at-home Mom, but now that Jon and Chris are both out of the house, she is now required to give four days a week to the office. This has been a difficult transition for her, and your prayer will go a long way to cover her in God’s grace.
  • Our walk with God, that He would be our sole sustainer and provider...

Thanks!


-

posted by Tomás @ 4:13 PM 0 comments