Royce wants to help, too

The other day while we were in Menlo Park, CA Dan decided to wash the bus. We had come through a lot of snow and slush so the bus was filthy. I had gone into the hotel to check us in and I came out on this scene. Dan had asked Doran to help him, so they were working hard at scrubbing and rinsing. Royce's feelings were hurt that he wasn't asked to contribute. Well, after the last bus-washing incident involving Royce and clorox, Dan won't let him near the bus. So...after contemplation, Dan came up with a job for Royce...

He held up his end of the work real well.

Striking It Rich

Yesterday, we flew out of Boise to Ontario, CA. I say "we" in the loosest sense, because our wonderful piano player, Doran, failed to notate on his calendar the fact that we had a Thursday concert. So, he woke up around 7:00, puttered around the house for a while, checked the weather, and climbed back in the bed. Meanwhile, we're waiting at the airport, calling Doran's cellphone, hoping he'll pick up. He never does. We load the plane and take off. Doran gets back up and around sometime around 9:00, picks up his phone and notices that he's missed several calls from all of us. He couldn't catch any of us on the phone so he called Donna, Dan's wife, to ask if he's missing something. She said, "Yeah, you're missing something. You missed the plane!" After a very long day, he showed up at about 6:20 PM in time for our 7:00 concert. I'll let him fill in the rest of the day's details on his blog. It was hilarious!

Anyway, the 3 of us had a layover in Las Vegas. Of course, there's a slot machine on every corner of the airport. We had just walked around a corner when we heard bells and whistles blowing and a bunch of people cheering. A guy had just won $1,061,000. He was in shock. His hands were shaking and he could hardly talk. It was a pretty wild sight. He's the bald guy to the extreme right of the picture. If you click on the picture, you can see the total on the middle machine.

I might have mentioned that I was part of a non-profit organization to him. I can't remember...

Beefing up my iTunes playlist

If you're like me you have a bunch of cassette tapes collecting dust in a storage container out in the garage. I have about 300-400 cassettes that I collected up to, oh, about 1993. I never got rid of them, but I never listened to them either. I always told myself that I would transfer them to CD sometime (yeah right). Never happened. So, through 3 moves, from Indiana to Ohio to Idaho those tapes have always accompanied me. Kind of like baseball cards, you know, which is a whole different post.

Anyway, I investigated different options to transfer my cassettes to a digital format: freeware, new sound cards, everything I could think of. I never did find freeware that I was happy with, the new sound cards were too expensive, so over time I just forgot about it. Well, one of my Christmas presents was the Xitel INport Deluxe for PC. This handy little product has taken all of those complicated steps out of the cassette to digital format process. Simply plug one end of an RCA cord into the cassette deck and the other end into the Inport adaptor and plug the adaptor's USB cable into your computer. It's that easy! Now, you do have to transfer in real time, no short cuts there, but the end result is so rewarding. The accompanying software includes a click corrector that allows the user to clean up the files. The LP Ripper allows you to trim tracks, isolate tracks, whatever you need to do to get them ready to import into iTunes or whatever jukebox program you use. The tracks are recorded in wav format, but there's a little free add-on available for download that allows you to convert them to mp3s. I highly recommend it. I'm rediscovering some great music. For instance, in the last few days I've imported:

Dean Hopper: Solo But Never Alone
Mid South Boys: Shoulder to Shoulder (an awesome album)
Take 6: So Much 2 Say
The Talleys: Typical Day
Christ Church Choir: All Praise
Gold City: Portrait
Russ Taff: (self-titled)
Perfect Heart: I Hold a Clear Title
Michael English: Freedom
Wayne Watson: How Time Flies
Heavenbound: We Are Those Children

If you want to get rid of all those extra cassettes and don't want to mess with importing them in, box them up and mail them to:

Keith Waggoner
16702 Ardyce Ave.
Caldwell, ID 83607

I'll give them a good home. I promise.

Church

This morning I had breakfast with a guy who had this to say about his church:

"I was raised in a strict fundamentalist church who was obsessed with being right. We might have been small, not growing, but that didn't matter 'because we're RIGHT'! As I got older I went through a dark time in my life and got away from church. About two years after my divorce I showed up at church a broken man, nervous. But those people loved me. You know looking at it now it kinda reminds me of the Oakland Raiders: they take people who are on the downside of their career, believe in them, and give them another chance. That's what my church did for me. They loved me and helped me come back to Jesus."

Is that an awesome testimony or what? That's what a church should be about.

By the way, his church is Boise Calvary Chapel. I don't know anything about the church, but I'm impressed. It's not the first time I've heard that from their attendees. I've never met Bob Caldwell, but the fact that his people are willing to lay down their lives for him (in a good way, not a cultist way) speaks volumes about his ministry.

Reminds me of the line from the JD Sumner & the Stamps song: "What kind of church would my church be if every member was just like me?"

Soapbox Rant

OK, I admit it: I'm a music freak. No, not because I sing in a group, not because I graduated with a degree in music, nothing like that. I just enjoy music. It's one of the pleasures God has blessed us with and I revel in it. You know, I'm thankful ol' Jubal got things rolling back in the day. Music has evolved from that time to now, taking on new forms, sounds, and meaning. In one of my recent posts I shared how I was discovering great music that I never knew existed. I now have 15,090 songs loaded on iTunes. I like to hit shuffle and wait to see what comes up on the playlist. To give you an idea, here's what I've heard in the last 45 minutes or so:

The Lefevres: Without Him (Southern Gospel)
Boston Pops Orchestra: Long Live the King (a Tribute to Elvis)
Phillips, Craig, and Dean: The Chipmunk Song (Christmas)
The Hoppers: Old Time Religion (Southern Gospel)
Squire Parsons: You're Not Alone (Southern Gospel)
Michael W. Smith: Agnus Dei (Praise and Worship)
Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: Live and Let Die (Movie Score)
BackTraxx: Passage (background music)
Avalon: The Christmas Song (Christmas)
Vineyard Music: I Believe in Jesus (Praise and Worship)
Ray Stevens: In the Mood (chickens crowing this jazz standard)
Out of Eden: Paradise (Christian R&B)
Jonathan Heath & Paul Stetler: Ring the Bells of Heaven (sacred instrumental)
Kathy Troccoli: Sounds of Heaven (CCM)
Geoff Moore and the Distance: Home Run (CCM)
Alan Jackson: Silent Night (Christmas)
Peter Duchin: Day by Day (easy listening instrumental)
Michelle Swift & the Maranatha Singers: You're Worthy of My Praise (Praise and Worship)
The Rambos: He Looked Beyond My Fault (Southern Gospel)
Fletch Wiley: For the Beauty of the Earth (Jazz instrumental)
Steve Taylor: I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good (satirical take on extremists who blow up abortion clinics; Christian Rock)
Ernie Haase: Redemption Draweth Nigh (Southern Gospel; from a Gaither taping)

Looking over the list, I enjoyed them all. Well, I don't know, that whole chicken clucking thing on In the Mood did get a little old. Obviously, there were some songs I enjoyed more than others for some reason or another, but I did like them all. I feel the same way about church music.

I've been in about every type and stripe of church that you can imagine in the last 2 years. Everything from Presbyterian to Charismatic, Nazarene to Southern Baptist. One thing that all churches seem to share is an intolerance for each other's music styles. I'm talking about within the church, not Nazarene vs. Baptist. Some of the most awkward moments I've been part of have involved this stupid debate. Yep, that's right: stupid. While talking to the music pastor or senior pastor, I've often been interrupted by some agenda-driven individual who will blurt, "I'm glad we're finally getting some real music in this church" or some inane comment like that. On the other hand, we've been to churches where it was all the praise team could do to talk to us, with us singing that inferior, irrelevant music and all. They tried their best to tout their musical grandiosity and make us feel inferior. Whatever. Both sides are wrong.

Some try to make it an issue of old vs. young. So, they divide up the church and go to 3 styles of services: traditional, contemporary, and modern. I have no problem when a church hosts several services because they have to, but when you do it because we can't agree on the songs we're singing, something is wrong. I have a good friend who hates new "7-11" music (that's the sneering reference used by traditionalists for praise and worship music). I led the music at his church and it just so happened led a couple of Gospel songs that he liked (one of them was Blessed Assurance). After the service, he grabbed my hand and told me how much he appreciated me leading the "good" songs. He had made a comment to me before, so I asked, "What are the good songs?" His response was "something that's old, says something, and has stood the test of time." My response was "thank God someone had the good sense to start singing Blessed Assurance before it stood the test of time or it wouldn't have."

I've been on both sides of the coin. I know what it's like to get criticized because I'm singing "new" songs. And, I know what it's like to feel pressure to not include hymns in my worship leading. I've also learned that at the end of the day neither groups know what they're talking about. And, the intolerance of both sides is splitting the church. It's done it in more than one instance.

I'm convinced that God directs the sensitive worship leader to the right songs for a service, just like he leads the pastor to the proper passage and theme. As a worship leader, if God calls you to lead 7 new choruses or 4 old hymns, than so be it. Lead what He directs. Don't throw in a token song, you know, one to appease a certain segment of the congregation. And, don't run away from any one style of music. The reality is, good and bad songs have always been written. Their worth isn't determined by when it was written. Judge a song on the merits of it's message, not it's age. Discover the church classics; you'll be enriched. Listen to contemporary compositions; you'll be stirred. If you're not a worship leader, take the same recommendations. Open up your minds. There is no spiritual significance in traditionalism or modernism. Relevance is mostly determined by intentional application.

This morning I was reading in Ephesians 4 about living a life worthy of the calling we have received. Unity isn't some unattainable, pie-in-the-sky concept. It is Christ's goal for His bride. I just touched on music, because it seems to be the hot-button issue that I run into the most. We need to make the effort to be unified in our love, respect, appreciation for each other. We're the church! So, the next time you go to church, intentionally worship. Get past your initial misgivings about whatever. Dwell on the words, learn the melody, and sing a new (or old) song unto the Lord.

And, to think, I didn't put 2 and 2 together until I turned on iTunes while working here at my desk.



Closing Thoughts
By the way, I've found that most of those praise team members and musicians who initially look down their noses at us, are some of the first to come up to us at the end of the concert, sharing how much our ministry touched them. And, they sheepishly admit that they liked the music. They don't say that because we're the best musicians. We're not (well, at least I'm not). They say it because we sing the songs God leads us to sing for that time, that place. And, no, we don't sing the same set every concert (sound of gunshot; another myth falls).

In contemporary churches, guess what our best-selling CDs are? You got it, the Timeless Treasured Hymns series.

Oh yeah, one more: If a person under 40 comes to the product table, guess what CD they invariably buy? Uh-huh, a CD from our Timeless Treasured Hymns series. Hmmmm...

Try this: tell your worship leader how much you appreciate their song service on Sunday. It's not going to kill you, I promise.

Breaking News!!!

OK, for all of you Libertyheads out there, here's the latest news from the homefront. We have just signed with Associated Management Group out of Meridian, ID to handle all the behind-the-scenes details of the ministry. They have assumed the responsibilities of office management, product distribution, booking, and mechanical licensing. Obviously, there is so much more that they will be doing for us, but those are the initial endeavors. This will free us to focus more on what we're best at: singing. It's a privilege to partner with Rick, Dee, Judy, Kay, and everyone else at AMG. You will actually touch base with a real person when you call the Liberty Office. Now, that's a novel idea! Be sure to welcome them to the Liberty team. You can contact them at:

liberty@libertyquartet.com or bookings@libertyquartet.com. Our office number has remained the same.

Of course, you can still contact the Liberty guys from the website.

God is good!

Snow Day on Ardyce Ave.

Last week, we had quite a bit of snow around our place. School was canceled for Trey, which brought him much joy and hyperactivity. We had a fun time in the white stuff.

Kassady and Lori immediately started on building a snowman.

I made sure that I jumped in at the end to make it appear as though I contributed to the project.

Trey is obsessed with football these days. He knows all the statistics for pro, college, you name it. He loves going outside to "run plays". He's figured out a good crossing route, 5 and out, and his favorite, the Hail Mary.

Of course, the snow is good for making those diving catches.

Kassady was just happy to be there.

Add

OK, I didn't realize so many of you guys went to an ACE school. Feel free to share your own additions to the ACE list...

I love ACE

For those of you who don't know anything about Accelated Christian Education...well, congratulate yourself (and go ahead and skip to the next post). For the rest of us...this is way too close to home.

You know you have been to an ACE school when...

• You know Ace and Christi will one day end up being together.
• You cried when Ronnie crashed his bike.
• You have had a class mate tell you to be quiet because he or she is trying to get an Accelerated Christian Education.
• You all look exactly alike for gym.
• You know what "cool-lots" are.
• You think that an 84 is failing.
• You have been or dreamed of being on the Pastor's Honor Roll.
• You had only one option for a language class (the language that teacher spoke).
• Riding in a bus is exciting and new for you.
• Snow days just mean doing your work at home.
• A demerit ruins your day..
• You go to school in a basement.
• Three Seniors graduating is a huge class.
• Memorizing 30 verses of the Bible in 3 hours is a piece of cake.
• You get angry when your friends in public schools complain about dress code rules.
• Flirting is a sin.
• Your English teacher is your Math teacher, Science teacher, Food prep teacher, Gym teacher, ect...
• All the ten year olds have comb overs.
• Convention is the light at the end of a tunnel.
• You get excited when you get to put a gold star on your star chart.
• The hot guy/ girl in your school is your cousin.
• You think that a student body of 50 K-12 is too big.
• You abide by the six inch rule.
• The cool guy in class is a nerd from another school.
• You never have back problems cause your PACE's are lighter than text books.
• If you wear a hoodie you are considered a "druggie".
• You will get detention if you cough in class.
• You want to marry Ronny or Christi.
• When you have to beat the little kids to THE microwave.
• When you know that there is this one kid who is just going to prison in ten years (once he gets his MySpace).
• You get excited when you get a new bathroom pass.
• You know everything about everybody... including the teachers.
• You wish you had a Pastor like Pastor Alltruth.
• There is no point to homework slips.
• You counted down from 500 PACE's until you graduate.
• You hate red pens but you love green ones.
• Having the GREEN pen is the highlight of the week.
• Openings are the worst time of the day.
• You get very fast at putting your Ipod or gum away when teachers are comming.
• You get rules named after you for the terrible things you have done (chewing gum, burping ,throwing PACE's across the room ect.)
• You are surprised to know there are other ACE schools out there....somewhere
• You get detentions randomly for having the nerve to stand up to stuff thats wrong, that in a way they tell you to stand up for.
• You know that once you throw 30 papperballs down the wall of peoples desk its only a matter of time till the teachers look away again and they all get pelted back to you.
• You keep away from those "other" childeren... who are your brothers and sisters who go to public school.
• You knock down the Christmas garland from on top of the offices and get in trouble because it pulled all the other garlands down.
• You actually feel lucky because you have no finals.
• You can recite all of pastors stories along with him.
• You actually begin to wonder what will happen to each of the ACE characters by the time that last English PACE rolls around.
• You feel a huge wave of relief the first time you go to convention and find that most of the kids from the other ACE schools are pretty much normal

*This group is for anyone who understood all of these statements or know somebody who does!

• You know what ACE stands for.
• Ace is not a playing card, its a boy.
• you spend your days in the learning center
• If you have ever gotten your finger slammed in the divider.
• If you have ever been 4 PACE's behind in a subject because the order hasn't come in yet.

You look at all the spelling errors in this message, and realize that an ACE student typed it!

OK, this is hilarious. Thanks, Sheila, for sharing with an ACE grad.

Presidential Prelection

I've enjoyed keeping up with the presidential primaries of both parties. The calculated speeches, the acerbic barbs couched in innocent repartee, and the constant calls for "change" (though the change advocated is never clearly defined) all point to the interesting race that's shaping up. I declared early on that I was really impressed with Huckabee. That was before his somewhat questionable record came up, which it always does in these primaries. There were several issues that caused concern. I appreciate his Christian worldview, but it takes more than just being a Christian to get my support. From the sounds of the blogs of some of my friends, we should vote for him just because he's evangelical and a really good guy. Well, I'm a Christian and a really nice guy but I'm not qualified to be President. I want to see a plan for the future that makes sense. Don't just wow me with impassioned delivery (can you say Obama?). Clearly define what your plan is for this country. Financially, this country's in a mess and somebody better have a plan to reduce our national debt, repair our Social Security system (or come up with a good privatization program), and cut the pork that seems to inevitably find it's way into every spending bill. I want to see a realistic plan for what's going to happen in Iraq, what we're going to do about our dependency on foreign oil, and what we're going to do about free trade. I would like for a candidate to clearly define their position on illegal immigration, one that is realistic and can be enforced. What are we going to do about our plodding tax system, the rising cost of healthcare/insurance, and our broken educational system? Of course, there are several social issues that bother me, as well. I haven't seen anyone who has clearly defined who they are.

I'm not sure who I support to be honest with you. I do like Huckabee's Fair Tax proposal, though I'm not sure how it would impact 501(c)3 organizations.

There's an program I heard about on Fox News that I found interesting. Try out the Candidate Calculator for yourself.

For the record, my #1 choice ended up being Tom Tancredo, followed by Huckabee and Romney.

Trey and Emme

The other night we had Marc and Talisha over to watch the BCS championship game,which was a total bore, and chow down on hot wings and popcorn. We have high-class tastes (I'm not talking friends here, though Marc and Talisha both have very blue blood) which also include paper plates. Anyway, we're downstairs switching back and forth between the game and the Fox News New Hampshire coverage, when we hear Kassady yelling something about Trey having marker on his face. Now, my kids do a lot of crazy things and when you throw Emme (one of Trey's very best friends) and her creativity in the mix you have a perfect storm. So, immediately Talisha calls up to see what's going on and Emme replies that Trey asked her to put eyeblack on under his eyes, like the football players, you know (he's obsessed with playing football). We immediately assumed the worst. I could just see Trey with permanent black marker on his face. Marc and I burst out laughing and I yelled for Trey to come downstairs. He and Emme sheepishly walked into the living room to show us their handiwork.

There was relief written all over Lori's face (Talisha's, too) when they saw the dry-erase marker in Emme's hand. We laughed and laughed over this one. Actually, I was impressed with Emme's artistic endeavor.

Gamer

Kassady has turned into quite the little gamer. She has this video game system called V-Smile that she loves to play. It has a bunch of educational games that help them learn to spell, count, and read. I say that to ease my conscience. Anyway, I thought this was a great picture that captured one of those many Kassady moments.

PJ Trey

A new take on "you've got some big shoes to fill". Trey is into stealing my pajamas each night and running around the house like a madman. And people wonder why I laugh so much.

Me, too

I'm hoping the fact that I posted my own ridiculous New Year's picture will save from the wrath to come (see post below). Let's just say that Margaret spiked the eggnog (with caffeine, of course). After the guys blew away the girls in "Buzzword", a really fun party game, we brought in the new year in style. Well, at least I did.

I gave up on being "cool" a long time ago and settled for "fun".

The Year Got Off To a Good Start...

Stephanie was definitely full of joy (or something) when 2008 rolled around.

***If I don't show up at a concert, church, or any other previously scheduled appointment, please call the police. After posting this picture, I am going to be living the life of Salman Rushdie.

New Year

Trey and Kassady could barely keep their eyes open as we brought the new year in. Is there anything more annoying than those little noisemakes with the paper thing on the end that goes in and out as your blow air into it? I blew my noisemaker incessantly, of course.

Trey spent first moments of 2008 trying to pull his poppers out of the plastic bag.

Christmas with Mom and Dad

It was so much fun to have Mom and Dad out for Christmas. I love Idaho, but I do miss being with my family during the holidays. So,they flew out on Christmas Day Apparently, you can get a good deal on tickets if you're willing to fly on the 25th. They stayed out here for a few days and we had a fabulous time.

I just wanted to post this picture to irritate Sharilyn (I mean, Lynn). I'm expecting a call soon.

Mom didn't let vacation slow down her spending...I mean, we have great deals here in Idaho! It's amazing how fast women can write a check. It makes my head spin. It takes me, oh I don't know, 5 minutes or so to painstakingly fill out that little piece of paper. I do that whole thing where after you write in the amount you take the line all the way to the end of the box. Nobody's going to rip me off and add something in there!

2008

OK, here's a post to move the crying kid off the top of the page. Happy, Dave and Char?

It's been a busy 4 weeks! Liberty has recorded 1 and a half new CDs, done a few Christmas concerts, and retooled for 2008. The Waggoner family hosted Dad and Mom Waggoner (and of course, my wonderful sister Lynn) over Christmas, brought in the New Year with a bang at the Taylors with several friends, finally took down the Christmas decorations, and hauled the (best ever) Christmas tree to the Tannenbaum graveyard. In the meantime, I played racquetball for the first time and found out how out of shape I really am. My reflexes are about 17 milliseconds to slow for the game. That's a lot of fun. I've been following the presidential primaries, watched several college football games (including last evening's yawner of a national championship), made a few new year resolutions, and worked on an incredible new partnership about which Liberty Quartet will soon be releasing information.

So, anyway, I say all that hoping that there will be a spot of sympathy for my pathetic lack of updates. My hopes aren't set that high. I know my audience.

Santa RIP

Speaking of Santa...sorry kids. Thanks, Ellen. That's hilarious!

Trey's first grade class presented a puppet show/musical version of the Christmas story on Wednesday morning in chapel. I got a kick out of watching the kids strain to lift their puppets above the puppet window. Trey's character was Joseph and halfway through one of the songs, Joseph apparently got tired. The puppet slowly started to descend until you could only see its head, then its eyes, then nothing. You could hear the stage whispers of one of the helpers trying to get him to make Joseph visible again (talk about reminding me of FCA dramas). Finally, Joseph slowly made his way back up. Classic material. I wish I would have brought my video camera.

After that, a guest speaker got up to speak about Christmas (I guess). I'm not real sure what the point of his sermon was. He started out by saying that truth is only found in God's Word. Truth is not found in traditions, blah, blah, blah. He then viciously vilified the Magi, calling them magicians and witches and reciting a litany of things they supposedly were involved in (and I'm thinking, "Now that's not in the Bible; how do we know that's true?"). He poked fun at their studying of the stars, once again indicating that the only truth was found in the Bible, which don't get me wrong I believe to be inerrant, the written word of God. He obviously hasn't figured out that there's a difference between astrology and astronomy. And he overlooked the fact that there was a star that directed the wise men to Jesus (that is in the Bible). It seemed that his main intent was to paint the wise men as evil, bad guys. The more I listened, the more frustrated I became at this guy's mischaracterization. These kids are sitting there listening to a person in authority tell them all this, and probably some of them believed what he was saying. You know, when you're speaking to kids, keep it as positive as possible. It just ticked me off. And, then the last thing that sent me over the edge was his leaning down and talking to the little kids about the fact that "we don't believe in all of these Christmas fairy tales, now, do we?" You know, let the parents of the 5 and 6-year-olds determine what they let them believe in. Is it really so bad that a 5-year-old believes in Santa Claus or Rudolph? Is that going to harm them in any way? I don't think so. In fact, just recently on Focus on the Family's radio broadcast (I think it was on 12/10 or 11) they were talking about how fantasy and imagination is a big part of a child's life and specifically mentioned that believing in Santa Claus wasn't a bad thing.

You know, I want my kids to know the real reason we celebrate Christmas (and they do). But, I also want them to enjoy many of the Christmas traditions. We don't tell our kids that Santa is real, but neither do we discourage them from believing in the old fella. Some of us just need to lighten up. Enjoy all parts of this wonderful season!

OK, I'm now getting off the soapbox.

12 Days of Christmas

OK, this is awesome! This Indiana University chorus brings it on this Christmas classic. You're going to love this one.