A couple of new articles

I have recently been asked to write article for a couple of web sites. If you are intrested check them out at

www.MyFaithinGod.com

the article is call "What is a Christian" the other is at

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=117115913

and my article is the first Blog entry.So check them out when you get a chance!
More updates on the way.
V

Are you a "Weener"?

This is a recent post on the blog of a good friend of mine - Tom Mulnix. It made me think - and that is an accomplishment in and of it's self.
So are you a "weener"? Read on and decide for yourself
V

**********************************************************************************

Alright, it's confession time. I need to confess something that I discovered about myself over the weekend. Not something I didn't know about myself, but I must admit the exact ramifications weren't on my radar screen. Here goes:

This blog, and other newsletters before it, along with devotions and snippets I have written over the years are born from my mind as I ponder those things that catch my interest. The "what ifs" and suppostions fill my head until I must share my thoughts with the world. Not that I believe I know more or think more, on the contrary, I believe there are other thoughts held by dear folks like you that I'm simply trying to evoke and hear from. Just one thinker sharing with others. That's the part I knew.

This past week as I shared the company of friends and a not-so-serious game of Scrabble, I layed the tiles W-E-E-N to form the word ween. I was immediately challenged by the resident "spelling police" saying I was wrong; apparently, this particular "officer" only knew of wean. Now I must admit that I wasn't completely sure of the word I played, but thought I had seen it before. However, without a dictionary at hand, and the fact that I valued the company more than my need to be right, I removed the tiles from the board and continued on. What followed was an evening of laughter and fun with many more challenged words by all. I did not not win for those of you keeping score.

A couple of days later, one of the more competitive members of that group decided to check those words that were disputed in that game, which I find odd because they had actually won. Anyway, my word ween was valid. Check it at dictionary.com. I don't want to spoil your fun, so you'll have to click the link to find the meaning.

Now for the part of the confession I did not know: I am one who weens. A weener if you will. Imagine my surprise. Perhaps you're one too.


Peace......

*********************************************************************************

Read more from Tom at his site http://the-beat-goes-on.blogspot.com/

Welcome Mark Pierce

It's been a great time in X-ALT! land. God blessed us by bringing Mark Pierce to us via a year old inner-net ad. Mark is a great guitar player and from the first practice with us we knew he was going to be a great addition to our ministry. We really put him to the test - after just one rehearsal we took him with us the next night when we returned to the TBG Coffee House In Ashland City TN where we played a rockin set to a good crowd. The music seemed to have a spark that had been missing, and we didn't even know it! The 2 hour show went just great, TBG is such a cool place to play, with a good size stage and a great sound and light system. We were on fire for the Lord that night! I knew something great was in the air when for the first time that I can remember Mark Mills looked out at a coffee house crowd and asked "Are you ready to go to church?" and that's just what we did.
After a day off we took the Lord's music to the good people at Woodbine UMC where our old buddy James Cole is the minister, it was another good Sunday of worship and even though the older congregation was not as vocal in their praise as they are at some churches we attend, we still saw smiles and folks singing along.
We don't do what we do for applause or a paycheck, we do it because we feel that this is the path the Lord has placed us on, sometime He feeds our egos (like he did Friday at TBG) and other times He lets us know it's all about Him and bringing the word of His love to His people (as was the case Sunday) but either way it is a great feeling to know that you are one He has chosen to spread His word and that you are being blessed in doing so. We're not perfect (no one is) we are just a group of regular people, who fall short of God's glory on a regular basis, but what a lesson it is to know that God chooses sinners like us to help spread his word. No one says you have to be perfect to be a Christian, if that were the case there would be no Christians. God commands that His people spread the Good News of Christ, to take it to the world so that everyone can know of His unending love. That is what we are trying to do in our own little way, we may never reach millions of people or lead to the salvation of nations, but it's enough to know that we may be helping the few people we play to take one step closer to the Lord, and at the same time we are making personal leaps forward. It is my prayer that God allows us to continue this ministry for years to come and that it may be a blessing to all we encounter. Because all the people we have met and all the churches where we have served have certainly been blessings to us.
Over the next few months we will be slowing down a bit to allow our members time for their family's and friends for the holidays but we won't be sitting still, we will be doing some special Christmas appearances and putting together new material that we can play in the new year and hopefully be looking toward a new X-ALT! CD.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us in our ministry and we look forward to seeing everyone again very soon. Keep checking the Blog for upcoming appearances and announcements.
God Bless you all
Vince

November and December Schedule
11/19 East End UMC 10:30 am service
11/27 New Beginnings SMC annual SMC conference meeting 7:00 pm
12/10 New Beginnings SMC 11:00 am service
12/16 Bellevue Mall Food Court Christmas Celebration 5:00 pm
12/21 Claibourne and Hughes Nursing Facility Christmas Party 6:00 pm

Blessings And Bars

Some of the folks in the band tell me that I tend to glorify some of our performances a little more than I should, Maybe I do - Maybe I don't - you won't know unless you come out and see for yourself sometime, but I promise you that this next update is the truth and nothing but the truth with no glorification what so ever.

Sunday Night October 1st X-ALT! Went to church! In a small chapel with no adornments, no crosses, no robes, no suits and ties, just cold tile floors, benches with no padded seats and guards at the door. But God was in that room and it was felt by all that attended. We were in the chapel at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Prison where along with our good friend Ben Houston from the 23rd Psalm Ministries, we hosted a church service for approx. 25 prisoners. I really didn't know quite what to expect before going in and I have to admit I was a bit nervous as I waited in line to get searched before we were allowed through the gates. Then as we waited as gate after gate was opened for us I started thinking that this was really a great analogy for what we as a band have been through in the past months - how many Gates has God opened for us? How many locked doors have we been allowed to pass through? But this was the biggest gate of all, God seems to like taking this band out of it's comfort zone and he did just that last night.
I think that as people out in the free world (the guards referred to us a free world volunteers) we get a conception of what prison and prisoners are like, some of those conceptions, for me at least, were shattered yesterday. Riverbend is really quiet an amazing place with well manicured lawns and some of the most beautiful rose gardens I have ever seen, all surrounded by fencing, razor wire and armed guards. As we walked across the grounds with our escort it would have been easy to forget that behind these wall have lived and still do live some of the countries most hardened criminals. Across the yard from us prisoners could be seen being led to and from some of the different buildings. I assume that it was dinner time for some of the inmates and that others may have been being taken to exercise areas or for other activities.
Our sound equipotent arrived at the chapel before we did and I was shocked as we walked into the chapel to find two prisoners quickly hooking up our stuff! My first instinct was to yell "Hey get away from that!" I mean these guys were prisoners right - they were the "Bad Guys" and couldn't be trusted. But I held my tongue and just walked up to them to see what was going on and what greeted me were two of the friendliest folks I have ever met, Gerald was a guitar player and often played for their services and the other man whose name I missed was a bass player and they had been the first to arrive and just wanted to help, and they did. We got the sound system together in record time and the service was under way. As Ben started to introduce us another prisoner came from a side room carrying cups of water for us. These guys seemed so happy to have us there, it was really starting to sink in that we were a part of something special. We opened with one of our original numbers "Jesus We Worship You" and followed it with "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" and we could tell that these guys were there to worship. Tommy kicked in with "Piggy Back Ride" and we were off and running, later in our set we did the old standard "Lean On Me" and you could see in these guys eyes that the spirit had filled them. Some were singing along and others were clapping their hands while others just swayed to the music and let it fill them up with the spirit. We took a break and the speaker for the night came up during which Ben came to me and told me that the guys really wanted us to do "Lean On Me" again, so after the message we did. The rest of the set for the most part was filled with gospel standards like "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", "I'll Fly Away", "He Touched Me" and "Down To The River To Pray" as we were about to go into our final song Ben came up and asked us to hold off a second because some of the prisoners wanted to do a song, so we set down and five of the guys came up and sang, I wish I could remember the name of the song but I got so caught up in the sentiment and sincerity that came from these men's voices that all I could do was listen and be filled, Brooke (My Wife) told me afterwards that their song had brought tears to her eyes, it was just that powerful a moment. Ben then took prayer requests and we closed with "Amazing Grace" with Ben and the group that had just sang joining us for it.
afterwards we had a few minutes to visit with the men that attended, we laughed and prayed with them, shook their hands and hugged them. We were in a higher place, a prison had become a church for those two hours and hearts had been touched and at least in my case lives had been changed. We were witnesses to what the glory of God can do. As we were escorted out I couldn't help but think "I can go home now to my nice bed in my nice house, I can kiss my kids goodnight and then settle in, where as the men we worshiped with tonight are returning to a cold cell where they will be locked in for the night and many of them will be doing that day after day for the rest of their lives. Quiet a contrast, but for two hours we were together, brothers and sisters in Christ and filled by what each had brought to the service. I'll be praying for these guys today and I hope all of you that read this will do the same, because as Ben said during the service there were no black people and no white people at that service there were no prisoners and no free people, at that service as at any church service we are all the same, we are Christians that believe in God and in his care we are all one.
Vince