New Christmas Single

 

I released a new single last Friday. It's available on iTunes now. Check out the video about it:

 

 

A Season of Unexpected Blessings

After playing at my home church one recent Sunday, I was packing up to leave. There was a package to an old battery in my microphone bag. I left it on top of the piano backstage. Something said to me, "Go back and get that battery package." I ignored it at first, but I went back to the piano. Next to the battery package was my wireless microphone. I forgot to pack it. If I hadn't been obedient and gone back for the battery package I would've left my microphone, and probably wouldn't have seen it again.

I traveled to my hometown not long ago to support one of my best friends whose father had passed on. I called him the day before the funeral to tell him I was coming. I had told his son, my godson several days earlier but my friend had asked another saxophonist to play for the funeral. I was tempted to feel some kind of way about this, but decided that I would gladly support them with or without my sax.

I knew the saxophonist at the funeral. We got into a conversation about horns, and he told me about some horns he is endorsing, and he had some extra ones he was trying to part with. We agreed to meet at his home before I went back. Back story: I sold my tenor back in 2009 in tight times. I've been without one ever since. The other saxophonist let me have one of the tenors in his possession for a fraction of retail. This hookup wouldn't have happened if I had been the one playing at my friend's father's funeral. So as a result of yielding to Divine will, I now have a beautiful new tenor saxophone in my possession.

A note about this particular sax. It was produced by a company called CE winds. It has an engraving of a warring angel on the bell. This horn is a limited edition that was prayed over and anointed with oil to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another unexpected blessing. And hopefully, more to come.

Sandy Hook Masssacre- The REAL Solution

I stood transfixed at the monitor in the lobby where I work. The crawl at the bottom of the screen said, "Report of a shooting at an elementary school in CT." As the day wore on, the grim details were revealed. As the father of school age children I was horrified. More so when I learned that the little school in the sleepy New England town only went up to grade four. More so when I heard that the victims were among the youngest at the school. And so on, and so on...

In the coming weeks and months we will be entreated to numerous discussions about gun control and mental health. And while these conversations need to be had, the reality is that all the gun laws and mental health advocacy in the world won't address the real problem: What we were witness to in the Sandy Point School shooting was nothing less than a manifestation of pure evil. There could be no more compelling evidence that Satan is real, and for all his attempts to appear as 'an angel of light', he can't help but let the mask slip, and expose himself in all his vileness and depravity as he did that fateful December Friday.

The GOOD news is, there is an answer. The only answer for this sin sick world. The answer is the divine power and love of G-d through Christ Jesus. This unspeakable tragedy is a tremendous opportunity for The Body of Christ to show that love to the world. Not by beating people over the head with our beliefs, but by an outpouring of love, the kind which has sprung up around the world in the wake of the atrocity. We are not promised a trouble free life, nor are we promised a tidy explanation of everything that happens, but we have the assurance that our Heavenly Father sits high and looks low, and will pour out His love and compassion on all who diligently seek Him.

G-d's Music Critics

 
I was being interviewed on the radio a while back. The host and most of the callers were probably over the age of 55, and much of the interview was spent applauding the fact that my CD Meditations: Hymns in the Key of Jazz lifted up the old hymns and spirituals. Along with that, they decried the current worship trends, and Hip-Hop Gospel was a favorite target. I opined that Hip-Hop wasn't all bad, citing some of the positive, socially conscious music my peers and I were listening to in the '80's and early '90's. The host then took the opportunity to state that she could remember all the way back to Rapper's Delight in the late '70's. I let the subtle one upsmanship go, even though I was around then, too.

The word 'anointing' is one church folk like to throw around liberally. The problem is, they use it in a way that infers they are sole arbiters of what's anointed, and what isn't, as if they had been appointed G-d's music critic.

A word for those folks: The Anointing and your personal taste are two different things.

Here's a  personal example. I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of some of the popular Praise and Worship music. The musician in me says, 'There's only three chords in the song, and they didn't even bother to make it rhyme correctly. Yet and still, a whole lot of people find great blessing in this music, despite my misgivings. It would be arrogant, haughty and just plain wrong for me to say that it's not 'anointed' just because it's not my cup of tea.

In the Jazz world a lot of energy is spent arguing about what's 'real Jazz'. The traditionalists have nothing for smooth jazz, and go to great lengths to discredit it. I love straight ahead, but I like listening to smooth jazz, while cruising in my car, for example. At any rate, there are souls to save, hearts to heal and minds to set free. The music I've devoted my life to is not about being cool, deep or impressive. In fact, it isn't about the artist at all. G-d isn't just in the music. G-d is the music. Esoteric arguments about what is or isn't 'real' jazz will have to be waged by someone else at this point. I got work to do.

Bottom line: we all have our tastes, our likes and dislikes. But anointing is much greater than that. Psalms 150 sums it up so well: All types of creative expression can and should be used to praise the name of The Creator of the universe. By the unction of the Holy Spirit, the creative act is how we connect to the Divine source that is G-d. And that is much bigger than any notion of style, or personal taste.

JC Watts, Hubris and Heritage

I read an interview of former congressman J.C. Watts on BCNN today. There were two threads in the interview I want to follow. One is the idea that praise is seductive.

It's intoxicating in the back of the church when you're shaking hands and people say "Thank you for coming" and "That was such a wonderful message" if you're not fighting that and keeping the focus where it should be--on God's word.

I have disagreed with Mr. Watts on many things, but he's right on in this case.

Praise, affirmation and approval are important, even essential. We are hard-wired to seek healthy, supportive, affirming relationships. There's no sane person that doesn't want to feel valued and appreciated. But like food and sex, two other basic needs of life, healthy approval can lead to unhealthy narcissism when taken in excess. Not too long ago I was at a gospel event, and the facilitator asked us to greet one another. As I was making the rounds, I approached a guy and said, "How you doin, brother?" He looked at me and corrected, "Minister". Really? I wanted to tell him he could be my brother and a minister, but I quickly decided it wasn't worth the effort. I've been in churches where I see 'ministers' don black robes every Sunday, sit on the front row, go out into the aisle when the preacher gives the call to discipleship...

And that's all they do. At least that's all I see them do. I would never claim to have the inside scoop on the legitimacy of anyone else's calling. I have my hands full just trying to understand my own. But IMHO it seems like there are some charlatans in the house who are motivated more by the desire for affirmation and approval than the desire and calling to do G-d's will. And we see it manifesting in the nauseating litany of church scandals that litter the headlines.

OK, J.C. I'm with you on that point. But then you kinda threw me with this:

 I often felt like the outsider looking in with Republicans. Maybe I spend too much time thinking about it, but next time you turn to Christian television, watch T.D. Jakes or Tony Evans or other black pastors: You can't get to the right of those pastors theologically, on life, on marriage, on economics, but 90 percent of their population votes for the other guy. They don't vote for the conservative Republican candidate. Why?

Well, brother (I can call you brother, can't I?) let's see... American conservatives have historically been:

• Pro-slavery
• Pro-segregation
• Anti civil rights
• Anti affirmative action
• Anti diversity

So despite some common ground on social issues, there's a mountain of historical baggage conservatives will have to wade through before Black support increases.

One other thing: Coming together is a beautiful thing, but why do some people feel that in order to 'come together' WE have to check our heritage at the door? It seems to me we should be celebrating the wonderful things G-d has done for our people, every chance we get. Every now and then it's good to sing those old songs that kept grandma gettin up, and paving the way for the opportunities we take for granted. To disavow ourselves of that rich legacy is the highest form of ingratitude. And then we wonder why our children act like they've lost their minds. We have a story the world wants to hear. Needs to hear. And yet many of us seem  ashamed of it.

Whitney Houston and the Power of the Black Church

Last Saturday I sat with my family, the nation and the world. Glued to the TV, watching Whitney Houston's funeral on CNN. Whitney's mother Sissy wisely and obediently rejected the pull to turn the occasion into another showbiz spectacle. She brought her baby girl home to the New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, NJ, where it all began.

A global audience got a taste of the divine genius of African American worship at its best. And in the process, was introduced to concepts like 'Homegoing', 'REpast', and white clad nurses, standing in the aisle, at the ready to give a hand of comfort and assistance to the bereaved. A style of worship that is at once so distinct, yet so universal. A way of praising G-d that doesn't have to water itself down to be inclusive. Entertainment luminaries like Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Kevin Costner and Clive Davis were totally comfortable sharing the dais with gospel greats Kim Burrell, Donnie McClurkin, and the Winans. More important than any of that, someone was introduced to Jesus. It was a worldwide revival meeting.

At a time when we're posting Facebook pages disavowing the term African-American and culturally ambiguous praise and worship music is holding sway, we stopped to celebrate one of our own in the fulness of our tradition, as only we can. A tradition born of the unique experience of a people, still pressing, still overcoming. So many of our young people are lost because we haven't taught them who they are and whose they are. So many young musicians are lost if you ask them to play a song that's not on the Billboard charts. There's still power and efficacy in the history and the heritage which spawned a unique manner of worship that got us through slavery, Jim Crow, segregation. We turn our back on that heritage at our peril.

British born CNN commentator Piers Morgan was clearly amazed as he got his first glimpse into a whole different world. Amazed that in the midst of such sorrow, there could be such joy. That's the Power of the Black church. A church that doesn't deny the difficulty of life, even as it attempts to rise above it. A church that, (in this case, at least), has held fast, and remained a beacon of light in a troubled community. A church where the pastor owns neither Rolls Royce or private jet. A church with hymnals in the pews. Here we saw the underpinnings of Whitney's greatness as an artist, and why she was so loved: Despite her success, despite her brokenness, she never stopped being that little girl in the choir stand.

Why You Can't Have or Keep a Quality Relationship with a GOOD Man Pt. 5

Too Available, too Soon

I know a woman we'll call Harriet. Harriet just doesn't understand men at all. Harriet wants to be married. She is quite attractive, and has never had any trouble getting a man's attention. Yet in her early forties Harriet is unmarried, with no prospects on the horizon, because she still hasn't learned the rules of the game.

Here's how it goes. She meets a guy. They go out. Have a good time. Harriet is feeling like this could be the one. By the second or third meeting Harriet has given up the goods, and then is shocked when they stop calling.

As I said in a previous post, men are about action. We are doers. It's why we climb mountains. It's why we build buildings, and businesses. It's why we strive for achievement in our chosen field of endeavor. G-d has hard wired us this way, so we could be His agents of change on the Earth.

 Cheapening Your Brand

Fair or not, men place women in categories. Potential long term mate, practice chick, kick it buddy, none of the above, etc. Because men are so achievement oriented, we tend not to value that which costs us little or nothing. A man values a woman who knows her worth. A woman who has things to do and places to go. A woman who isn't going for the okie-doke.

A GOOD man knows that a good woman is a treasure. A GOOD man doesn't go shopping for a life partner at the dollar store. If we know we can have you for the low price of a little time and attention and a few well placed compliments, you have relegated your brand to the bargain basement. And you will be treated accordingly.

If you are trying to brand yourself as a potential wife, get this: GOOD men don't marry women who make themselves too physically OR emotionally available, too soon. Corporations spend millions creating, perfecting and protecting their brands. Your brand is too valuable to throw away because you're too lazy or too scared to maintain it.