It was wonderful.

You know how you gravitate to a certain person and how they act, how they are, their demeanor and persona? I guess we all have someone or “someones” we admire. Well, Joel has long-been one of those people for me.

I remember, before my mom died, she used to talk about him and how wonderful he was and what a great thing he was doing and how he should be an inspiration to me, as a “younger” man. And he was. (Although not quite to the enamored extent my mother saw it.)

But he’s always seemed to be “above reproach”, you know. Some one to look up to, as a person and of course, as a Christian. And that’s both inspiring and un-nerving, at the same time. But…I’m rambling, aren’t I…?

Anyway, while watching Oprah and Joel, I was struck by something he said. Oprah asked about Lakewood Church and talked about how it’s in many ways a business. A big business. An organization with a very complex process. And it is. And Pastor Osteen agreed.

Then the kicker, for me. He said something to the effect of “We wanted to have the best people available, to make sure we gave things every opportunity to happen the way they should.”

And that struck me. It convicted me, actually. Hard.

For almost exactly two years now, I’ve been leading worship at our home church of Corner-Stone Church. And it goes well some weeks. Others, it doesn’t. Sometimes it “flows” and sometimes it’s honestly, somewhat of a train wreck. And I take full responsibility for those fluctuations. But it’s always bothered me that our music time, our worship time, is inconsistent.

And tonight, I realized…it’s me. I’m not just responsible for the less than stellar outcome, but I’m the cause, many times. More specifically, my lack of preparation is the cause. My lack of focused purpose is the cause.

I believe, with all humility, that God has been very gracious to me, with the gift and love of music. He has not only given me the desire to sing but in many ways, the talent to do it, usually, with relative ease. (Not always, but in a lot of ways.) He’s spoiled me with His blessing, and the gift of learning quickly and jumping without a parachute. It always just kind of “came to me”. And most of the time, it works.

And I’ve let it make me lazy and…lackadaisical, to sum it up in a word.

For a lot of years, I know I squandered that gift away in bars and clubs, writing and performing music that were anything but an honor to Him. But those years also encouraged me to adapt and change quickly. To learn to wing it, to change up…on the fly, if needed. To book a gig in a moment’s notice and learn the set after I got there. And improvising, I believed, was just a part of being a musician. Most of the time, I was perfectly content to just do the set on my own and just go with it. And if you were a part of the band and couldn’t follow me, then that was your lack of ability to roll with it.

And I’ve been letting, for two years, that mindset become the way I’ve conducted our music at church. Wing it, go with it, figure it out and play off any unexpected problems to the old adage of “Well, God doesn’t need a flawless performance to speak to someone in a song”.

How…foolish of me. How clueless could I possibly be?

Pastor Osteen drove home a point to me tonight. And that point being, that God expects…no, demands our very best. He wants us to put the best people in place, in order to give His earthly plans every opportunity to succeed. And how careless of me, to think that it was OK to disrespect Him by coming in, unprepared, to worship with our Church family, and shuffle the blame off on Him when it bombed.

Granted, does God need me to deliver a seamless rendition of our worship songs? Of course not. But does He expect and fully deserve my very best efforts to give that? Absolutely.

I just want to say to Pastor Joel, “thank you”. For not pulling the punch. And thank you God for using a recorded interview from a man whom I may never meet, making a comment that had nothing directly, to do with me, to spur me on to a deeper commitment to serve You. And to my church family at Corner-Stone, my heartfelt apologies for taking you and God’s time of worship, so lightly.

Never again. No more “playing church”. Starting today, I recommit myself to a more mature and purposed position in my duties and in my place as a grateful and graciously delivered child of our Father. God forgive us…forgive me…for leaving You so far out of the picture.

I think I’m looking forward to this Sunday!

---

Prayer: God, help me to realize what a great importance You have placed in my actions and my contributions, in Your grand plans. Not that You can’t accomplish Your purpose without me, but that You have chosen me and placed me in a position of honor within the Body of Christ. You have called me, not just to labor, but to show myself as a good laborer, so that I might bring honor to You in the work that I put my hands to. May I never dishonor You with a lackluster effort in the things You have called me to do! Amen.

---

Scripture: Colossians 3:23 – For whatsoever you do, do it with your whole heart, as unto God, and not for men.

Oh, bother.

It’s hard to put my finger on the exact reason for it…but in a nutshell, I know that I...well, let’s say…I think slow on my feet.

I'm not the smartest bear in the woods, I admit it. I’m a salesman’s dream. I can be talked into all kinds of things, and of course when I am, I later regret my decision. It’s not that I’m dumb or careless or foolish. I just need a minute to process my thoughts, before acting. I’m a little slow on the draw, as they say. But when I have time to think, I can come across as fairly intelligent. Unfortunately, in real life, pondering isn’t always possible.

Last night, I was invited to be the musical guest on the Atlanta Live show, a talk show formatted program on the Christian WATC Network. I’ve been on there several times now and always love the people and the atmosphere there. Great bunch of folks, and one of my favorite places to appear.

This time, I worked with a host whom I’d never met before. Robert Moore. Nice guy, passionate, well spoken, musically knowledgeable. We just didn’t know one another. And consequently, I had no idea how we’d interact during a chat. So when we took a few minutes to talk, of course he didn’t ask me the standard “So what’s up with you lately” questions. Threw me completely off.

And so I felt compelled to write this blog, partly to make sure I’m not misunderstood on this. This one particular subject came up during our chat, and I wanted to be clear on my thoughts…now that I’ve had a minute to let my thoughts mellow.

Rob asked me how I felt about Christian artists who were also writing and performing secular music. The implication was that there’s a negative view of these artists, by some Christians, and Rob, assuming that I subscribed to that position as well, wanted me to weigh in. And of course, I felt the pressure to give an answer and agree with the accepted view.

Looking back, I stumbled around, looking for what I thought was the “right answer”…a practice that always leads me to regret, and embarrasses me as I dishonor Christ with my fumbling. Because when I try to come up with the answer that I’m “supposed to give”, it rarely matches up with what I truly think. And I don’t know if you can tell…but I can.

To begin with, my answer is my answer. Ricky’s answer. It’s my opinion, reasoned out and rationalized through what I personally believe and know and THINK I know. Some of the things I do NOT know are another person’s heart, their feelings, their thoughts, God’s plan for them, and God’s plan for others who may encounter them. And with all that lack of knowledge, I accept the fact that my opinions may be pretty flawed at times.

Part of my answer last night had to do with not following two paths and that I felt the need to commit to one or the other. And in some ways, I really do feel that way. As a matter of fact, I know that I have a tendency to lose my own focus when I try to concentrate on more than one thing. It’s just the way I ‘m built. And for that reason, in a lot of areas, I’m encouraged to stick to one thing.

However, I should’ve added that, as most of you already know, I AM an artist that dabbles in genres, outside of just Gospel or Worship music. And I’m comfortable doing that. I’m not tempted or distracted by it. No, I’m not Boot Scootin’ at the local bar, but I write and record all kinds of stuff…children’s, new age, instrumental, classical, folk & country, pop and a host of material for TV & film use. And, I also lead worship at our church, write and record Christian and Worship songs and appear periodically on the occasional Christian TV program.

Does my “multi-faceted-ness” make me a less-respected Christian? I don’t know…I hope not. How do I measure up now? Does that make me less “real” in God’s eyes? I don’t think so. Does it make it appear that I’m just in the Christian side of things, for the added publicity or money? Again, I don’t know, but I hope not.

I guess I should’ve made sure to make these points during the broadcast, and to remind everyone that a secular song isn’t inherently bad, just because it’s secular. Just like a Gospel song isn’t “good”, just because it’s Gospel. A Martin D1 isn’t a fantastic guitar because of the music it plays. Your Bible is no less truthful when it comes from Walmart. And a singer isn’t “right” or “wrong” just because of the style of music they perform.

At the end of the day, in my eyes, it comes down to “fruits”. Jesus said that we would know a tree by the fruit it bears. And so it is with doctors, preachers, politicians, plumbers, brick layers, grandparents, circus clowns, truck drivers, professional athletes, and yes…musicians.

I just wanted to clarify my thoughts on that, because I believe I was grappling with my words and honestly, flubbing up what I really wished I had said.

So with that…if you tuned in to the broadcast, thank you! And I hope you were blessed by what you heard. And I hope you felt like Christ was represented in that hour! I’ll be spending a little more time think, think, thinking BEFORE we go on air, the next time! :-)

Ricky

Until a few months ago, I was languishing in the miry clay of outdated technology…still using my old flip phone…wasting away in a sea of disconnectedness…chained like a prisoner to my limitations of communication that only included (sigh) voice calls and text messaging.

But lo, one glorious day the clouds departed and my social quotient was restored, when my cellular contract allowed me to upgrade from my old inexcusable, dinosaur of a phone, for just pennies on the dollar. Into my life came a full and wonderful blessing that must surely have been sent directly from heaven above…my iPhone.

(Angels singing…ahhhhhh!)

Seriously, I don’t get new techie stuff very often. I tend to keep things for a very, very, VERY long time. So a smart phone of some sort was long overdue in the Fitzpatrick house. And I’ll tell you, we have really loved having the coolness and connectedness that has come with one. The iPhone really has allowed us to do some wonderful things…things that we didn’t even know had made it into the real world yet. But mainly, I use mine for musical contact and networking and getting word to the Praise Team at church, and that’s like, every single day. And at this point, I already almost can’t imagine how I ever did anything without it!

One of the most useful things for me, has been the availability of the App Store. And one of the first apps I downloaded was the Olive Tree Bible Reader. Since grabbing this free app, I do all my reading, study, referencing…all from the comfort of my phone. I don’t even take my actual leather-bound bible to church anymore. I mean, why should I? What’s the use, when I can do all that I need (and then some), easier, faster and more conveniently, from my phone?

Well now…therein lies the problem…doesn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing sinful about an iPhone. There’s nothing wrong with me reading scripture on my Bible app. I don’t think God has a problem with folks leaving their bibles at home and bringing their tablet or smart phone to church for reading.

But for me, personally…it was becoming a problem. OK, not a “problem” per se, but it was slowly turning into something that was causing a self-conflict inside of me.

The other Sunday, it just kind of hit me…for me, for Ricky…my Bible is something that moves me to reverence. It’s my touchstone, in a way. There’s just something about folding it open and flipping through those worn, noisy, thin pages and seeing my years of scribbles and highlights and margin notes…it brings me to a place that I just don’t get from my phone.

I got my current Bible as a graduation gift in 1987 from my then-church family at Galilee Christian. So just the simple act of holding of it, surrounds me with the always-present memories and lessons that have shaped and followed me, since I was a teenager. There’s a LOT of personal history attached to that book.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with the iPhone.  But I have to tell you…speaking for myself, I’m just compelled to start back bringing my actual bible to church with me.

Why? Because for one, I think it’s something that helps me focus. It helps me focus my attention and my study, strictly and more succinctly on God. It reminds me that I’m entering into an activity that is different from my other routine, run-of-the-mill stuff. This book is unlike any other book I own. And diving into it, even for one lone verse, is something that goes beyond me.

Also, let’s say a new family is visiting at our church. And they glance over at me and during the sermon, they notice I’m browsing on my phone. They don’t know that I’m using my Bible app (and it really isn’t and shouldn’t be their concern). But my Ricky-personality wants to say “Mind your own beeswax”. But the Holy Spirit whispers to me “But how do the effects of your perceived actions, honor God?” In that light, it becomes clear to me that I need to be conscious of what I do, especially in public. Because not only WE, but GOD, is being evaluated by those around us, by OUR actions. And those evaluations are not only aimed at us and God, but they are paving (or destroying) the path that a person might be about to take that will lead them to repentance.

Heavy stuff.

So that’s me. I feel the renewed need to bring my Bible to church. Not that I won’t continue to supplement my Bible studies with the Olive Tree app, but for Church, I just feel convicted about not having my Bible in-hand. I think I need it.

You may not…and that’s cool. There’s no verse (that I know of) that commands us to bring the leather-bound, printed Word with us when we gather. But the next time you use your mobile device to communicate, investigate or connect with someone or something about your church, faith, belief or relationship with Christ…stop and think about it.

Let Him always lead you, concerning how you can serve and seek Him, most effectively.

Ricky

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Scripture:

Psalm 24:1 – “The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it…”

Psalm 40:8 – “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

Take-Away: Don’t forget that we do not serve an informal and disrespected God. We serve the awesome and glorious creator of all things and the omnipotent master of the universe. Don’t take your relationship with Him, disrespectfully…give Him the honor and reverence He rightfully deserves, even if that means forgoing some of our daily conveniences.

Prayer: Father, convict me. If there are things that I do that might hinder those around me, please help me to know them. And if I’m in the habit of doing things in a way that lessens my awe of you, please help me to be aware of them and to do whatever it takes to show You how much I revere and love You!

Redemption was the theme of this past week’s Chopped episode on the Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/index.html). Four previously chopped chefs, back to duke it out again? And who should be in the lineup but our favorite Christian chef, Lance Nitahara!

In case you don’t know or remember, chef Lance is one of the executive chefs at a Christian resort called, Camp of the Woods (www.camp-of-the-woods.org), tucked back in the Adirondacks of Speculator, NY.

But I don’t know if this turned out exactly like the Food Network execs thought it would. There was no grandstanding. No gloating. No Rocky-style rabbit punches or condescending or cocky attitudes. No backstabbing or heated debates in the kitchen. None of the high drama that we’ve all become so accustomed to seeing in our reality shows.

Actually, it was exactly the opposite.

Friendly competition. Graceful interaction. Cool, controlled, talented cooking. And a big twist at the end that I don’t think anyone saw coming.

I have to say, it was so cool, seeing Lance back in the ring, tackling his mystery baskets, whipping up amazing dishes. Seriously, he really is amazing to watch. But even moreso (and what captured our attention in the beginning), his openness and candor about his faith. He was the same dude this time too…talking about God, faith, being blessed, showing compassion and interest in his fellow competitors.

You know, stuff that you NEVER see in reality competitions.

I’m ashamed to say that I don’t know if I’ve grown very much as a Christian since Lance’s last appearance on Chopped (back in Sept 2010), when he surprised me at his declaration of faith and his surprising, consistent humility and graceful attitude. Then, I was half expecting him to blow it and say a four letter word or go for the jugular in his competitiveness. That’s partly why I watched…to see the train wreck.

But he didn’t.

And then, even when chopped, he exited with grace and thankfulness. What? Totally unexpected. And totally humbling for me, as a Christian.

(My blog about that episode is here: http://www.rickyfitzpatrick.com/blog.html/youve_been_chopped/)

Last night, I found myself now saying “So I wonder if he’s still as staunch a Christian as he was a year ago. I wonder if this time, he’s going to be some kind of jerk, or have an attitude.”

I’m ashamed. What a pitiful view for me to have. It’s embarrassing, but I admit that yes, I was (at least subconsciously) thinking it. So I watched again, expecting to be able to smugly say “I knew it”.

But as before, I was thankfully proven wrong. And never was I so glad to have egg on my face.

Not only was Chef Lance’s demeanor as humble and gracious as always…and not only did he actually win this time…but even in winning, he used part of his prize to give something to his opponent and help her fly home to see her grandmother (I think it was her grandmother).

And then he said something to the effect of “It was a pleasure to be able to be here and use this experience to serve people”.

Come on! Seriously? Are you kidding me? Lance, what are you doing, man? Are you TRYING to make me feel like a loser, bro? :)

It had an effect on me. I’m watching this unfold and I’m feeling like, super-heavy convicted to go pray for forgiveness for my selfishness and insensitivity to the people around me.

I have no doubt that God used Lance Nitahara and is Chopped experience as a platform to speak to me, and probably a lot of other lukewarm Christians out there, just like me. Who would’ve thought that God was in the business of exercising conviction in His people, through a Food Network show!?

So today, I wanted to re-blog about Lance and say to him “Congratulations on your win!” and “Thank you for allowing God to use you as an example of His grace in action”.

And here’s a link to the Food Network Promo, in case anyone wants to give it a look: http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/sweet-second-chance/index.html

OK, now what’s next…Lance Nitahara on Extreme Chef or Iron Chef America…?

-        Ricky

By the way, I think it behooves us to acknowledge chef Lance for…well, for being who he is. I’ve already emailed the folks at Camp Of the Woods and told them what a gift I think Lance is to their organization and what an inspiration he is to me. I would encourage you to do the same, and to bring honor to a Christian guy who has not tried to honor himself, but to use his time in the public eye to honor God. And example for all of us.

Shoot an email to Steve Tann, VP of Operations and Marketing at COTW at stevet@camp-of-the-woods.org and let him know. You might want to even cc Lance on it (lancen@camp-of-the-woods.org).  

*** This blog post is also over at the Beside Me All Along blog at: http://besidemeallalong.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-have-been-redeemed.html if you have a preference.***

This Spring and Summer has been incredibly busy. Lots of irons in the fire (as usual). I've been recording a lot of different music lately. Lots of varying styles and concepts. A good number of things for our P&W services at church. Several guitar instrumental pieces in all kinds of different styles (folk, bluegrass, new age, pop and rock). And a TON of "production music", which is music that can be used in 5, 10, 20, 30 second spots in film, TV, commercial, documentary, websites, etc. That has been fun and a brand new experience for me.

The production music is something I've always wanted to get into, so that's exciting. And a couple of things are already being placed in some PBS programming. Very cool.

I'm also working (still) on a new CD of hymns. I wanted to do them simply. Just me and guitar. But I also want to do a corporate kind of recording. You know, do it live and capture the whole church singing along. Maybe a little piano and bass. Some percussion. I don't know. In the end, I may incorporate some of both.

I just started talking with an label that handles "relaxing music", mainly for meditation, massage, spas, etc. I have enough of that kind of instrumental music to put together a CD for them. And I 'm hopeful that that's exactly what we'll be doing. Again, something I'm really enjoying.

Friend and fellow Corner-stone Church member Christin Haynie knocked out some really nice shots at our informal "photo shoot", last month. I'm always self-conscious about having pix made of myself, but I know it must be done. Anyway, Christin was easy to work with, took my suggestions and in the end, used her God-given talent to work up some seriously nice pictures. You can check 'em out over on my Facebook page. Thank you, Christin!

Also, an EP-length project of more Folk Fusion-related guitar instrumentals is just around the bend. Think "a mix between James Taylor, Lionel Richie and John Mayer...without singing" and that's a pretty close idea of the songs. A limited quantity of physical CDs will be available, but mainly, this will be a digital release and should be on all the major download sites (Amazon, iTunes, Napster, CD Baby, etc). Some very cool pricing stuff, coming up on those songs.

And finally, I'll be joining the Australian Figure Skating team as a single men's skater in the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games...

Not really. Just making sure everyone's awake.

The most pressing project going right now is the creation of the relaxing music CD. Cover art selection is going well...everyone has been a huge help in that. The layout is close. The marketing plan is coming together. Recording and mastering is nearly complete. And my network of press and outlets for that part of the music biz is pretty much in place. Now I just need everyone to start spreadin' the news...

Of course, lots of samples of much of the new music is spread around on the Music Page. So please head on over and check it all out. And be a friend...tell a friend. :)

I'll be passing along updates on all of this as things fall into place. So hold on, tiger...I'll be sending out some details about all of these and asking for lots of favors (as always)!

Til I see you, take care. Peace, love and great music. FIC,

RF

We’ll be creating a video to go with a new upcoming song and I need you guys to email me (ricky@rickyfitzpatrick.com) pictures of anything that might relate to compassion, caring, brotherhood, togetherness, reaching out, giving, brotherly love…you get the idea.

Details to come, and I promise…it will be very cool. :)

Thank You!!!

RF

Give it a listen or download the entire show at http://www.rock4rookies.com/countryfull.html.

Ricky Fitzpatrick and the $2.49 Black Friday Christmas Album Sale

I will be drawing ONE NAME, to receive a copy of John Grisham’s “Ford County”…boxed, limited edition, numbered and autographed. Seriously…autographed by Grisham, himself.

“What crazy, Herculean task must I perform, to win such a thing?” you may be wondering.

Well, any number of things. Take your pick:

ONE

Go to http://www.rickyfitzpatrick.com/acoustically_christmas_cd.html, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the SHARE button, then share it on your Facebook wall.

Be sure to put something in the comment field like, “If you like music like James Taylor or John Denver, then check out this great new Christmas CD from a friend of mine, Ricky Fitzpatrick.”

And you MUST let me know when you do it, otherwise I’ll never know.

TWO

Email your friends (and cc me) one of these messages:

• * If you like music like James Taylor or John Denver, then check out this great new Christmas CD from a friend of mine, Ricky Fitzpatrick. Go to www.rickyfitzpatrick.com.


• * Ricky Fitzpatrick's brand new Christmas CD "Acoustically Christmas" comes out Nov ! Go to www.rickyfitzpatrick.com to read all about it and get an autographed copy for yourself.


• * If you're looking for a new Christmas CD for this year, and you like artists like James Taylor, John Denver or Amy Grant, you should check out Ricky Fitzpatrick's new CD "Acoustically Christmas". Read about it at www.rickyfitzpatrick.com.

On November 1, I’ll put everybody’s name in a hat (really, a real hat) and pick a winner. And yes, if you post to your wall or email more than once (and let me know), I will add your name for every time you do it.

So get ready to start spreadin’ the news, and someone will indeed win the autographed copy of “Ford County”.

Ready, set, go!

Ricky