Jesus Shall Reign

The Lord is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Thus goes the traditional Easter greeting, an affirmation of the central tenant of Christianity, the truth of which, were it not true, we would be "of all men, most miserable" as the Apostle Paul noted to the Corinthians. But this Easter we were not miserable, even if, … Continue reading Jesus Shall Reign →

A Blast of the Past #133: Carly’s Confirmation

I grew up in a Baptist tradition. We didn't have infant baptism and we didn't have confirmation services. So when moving to Avondale United Methodist Church, we had to get used to both concepts. Today's Blast of the Past is one of those events -- Carly's Confirmation service and day. As you can tell from … Continue reading A Blast of the Past #133: Carly’s Confirmation →

Christmas Music 2017 — Last installment

Here is my last installment of Christmas music -- for the 10th Day of Christmas. I had the ensembles on Sunday, so today I am going to do the individual numbers. Actually number. We had two individual performances on Dec. 24. The first was two superb Saxophone numbers by Rick Firestone. The first was an … Continue reading Christmas Music 2017 — Last installment →

Christmas Service Music

'Tis the season for enjoying seasonal music. To mark the 7th day of Christmas here is some service music from Avondale United Methodist Church. These are he pieces performed by the Avondale United Methodist Church Cathedral Choir and Orchestra on Dec. 24, 2017.

Christmas Extravaganza 2017, Part 3

The final segments of the Musical Feast begin with a clarinet resetting of a soprano aria from Romeo & Juliet, played by Kim Heft: That was followed by two piano solos, one by Samuel Kwon, the other by Stephen Kwon. Samuel Played Somewhere Over the Rainbow: While Stephen played Angel We Have Heard on High:

Christmas Extravaganza 2017, Part 2

Today's clips start with A piano rendition of O Holy Night by our church Organist and accompanist, John Livingston: Next we have this clip of an animated singing of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: The final clip for today is JC Tappert singing "Don't Save it all for Christmas": The rest of the clips … Continue reading Christmas Extravaganza 2017, Part 2 →

Book Club Book List

Looking for a good book to read? I won't guarantee the below list are all good to read, but the Avondale United Methodist Church Book Club will be reading one a month over the next year and discussing whether we think it was a good read or not -- opinions guaranteed to NOT be unanimous. … Continue reading Book Club Book List →

A Farewell Recital

Avondale United Methodist Church, where I have attended and participated in services and the music ministries for nigh on the past decade, has been blessed during the past four years to have as its Musical Director a very young but very talented and spiritually focused man named Aaron R. Redburn. When Paul in I Timothy … Continue reading A Farewell Recital →

A Blast of the Past #108: Graduation Party

For years Betsy and I attended a small group at the mega church -- and I mean a small group. It never seemed to get very big, but it rotated through a number of people that we ministered to (and who ministered to us) that were then able to move on to other stages of … Continue reading A Blast of the Past #108: Graduation Party →

Chiming in …

I've been living life, some of which will come up in Monday's fitness blog, but haven't spent time chronicling it, so instead today, before I run out of day without posting anything, I've decided to throw up an older video clip from a Easter service several years ago. Hallelujah just seems appropriate in thanks for … Continue reading Chiming in … →