Well…it’s with my hat in my hand that I come to you all this week realizing that I, Von Gaines am a nerd. I sit here in front of my computer, where I am perched most of the day (a classic symptom of being a nerd) and I spend most of my time day-dreaming about airplanes (airplanes…another classic focus of nerdy attention). Not sure when it happened, at one time I thought I was fairly cool…but alas, with my glasses on, sitting by a computer, I find myself ensconced in nerd-dom. My favorite movies….Star Wars (I know). When I read (which is rare) I read technical manuals on flight and stuff (yikes). Glad I’m married, without Lisa’s influence I might be relegated to pocket protectors (I do leave pens in my pocket all the time, and a pocket protector would keep me from staining my shirts…wait, think cool Von, this is NOT cool). It’s okay…I think I just needed to get that off my chest. The true realization came when I was listening to ATC (air traffic control) on my computer this morning. Most folks listen to music…I listen to pilots and controllers. You learn interesting things though while eavesdropping into their conversations…and sometimes the religious connotations might surprise you. Let’s take an interesting case from this past week that made headlines…

Doug White is a guy who went through allot in a short period of time. It all started with the loss of his brother last week and took him into the headlines from there. He and his family traveled by a chartered aircraft to southern Florida for the funeral. Once the funeral was over, he boarded up his wife, two kids, and  then he and the pilot got up front and began the trip home. Within a few minutes, while climbing out of the Miami area, the pilot gasped for air and hunched over…he died instantly…and that left Doug White and his family with no experienced pilot. Doug, as luck would have it, had been training in small planes and knew which end of the plane needed to be pointed forward…but it pretty much ended there as this plane was big, had two engines, and was wildly complex. He grabbed the radio and declared an emergency and thus began an almost hour long quest to get he and his family down to safety. The interesting point in all of this to me, and I heard this first on the national news, is a small portion of the conversation he had with the controller. The controller was incredible with his calming voice as he helped to guide Doug down, it was like this thing happens all the time if you listen to him. At one point the controller asked if Doug was flying with the aid of the autopilot or not…and he quickly responded, in the biggest southern drawl possible “me and the good Lord’s hands are flying this”. Bless his heart…even in tough times he recognized where his true help was coming from. When he got on the ground and was later interviewed, he told the reporter that all he could think of was what he had learned from the start of flight training…just fly the plane (as some might recall, the title of a previous post). It wasn’t one he had ever flown and it wasn’t within his capacity to fly it, but with God’s help and a focused mind, he made the best landing of his life. In the ATC tapes you get to hear him right after he lands it safely, and in his responses you can hear him break down emotionally. He later said one of his kids was crying and the other (a teenager) threw-up. His wife was busy trying to keep the dead pilot from falling onto the controls while her husband flew…what a scene. But in all of that, he found strength in the Lord. We can all learn a lesson from that, stay focused and lean on God. The Bible is full of those instructions, “but seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). If you would like to read more about this interesting story, and maybe even join the international society of nerds and listen to the actual ATC conversations, go here. Though the ordeal took around an hour, they got the conversation edited down to just a few minutes.

I’ll say more about this in a later update, but we are working with a new guy for the baritone spot. Eric Melton is his name and I think you guys are all going to love him. Great personality and wonderful voice. I’ll get more info on he and his family for you soon…but for now, make plans to come out when we are in your area and meet Eric. You’ll never guess how we came to know Eric….Darrell ran into him here in Hendersonville, struck up a conversation (I know, you are all surprised Darrell struck up a conversation with a total stranger since that is so unlike him), and next thing we know I’m on the phone with him and setting up a meeting.

I think all of us are getting over some kind of creeping crud….coughs, sneezes, sore throats…got to be spring in Tennessee. Looking forward to getting back out and singing again, but glad the break came when it did. Maybe now we can clear all this mess out and get back to business. Check the schedule and see when you can make it out….this weekend has us close to home at Rayon City. Look forward to seeing all who can make it out.

One person we won’t be seeing this Sunday is Marty. Why am I so sure? Well…it seems his oldest daughter Mackenzi got saved here a couple weeks back and this Sunday she will be getting baptized after joining at Marty and Paula’s home church Victory. I was sitting at home sick the Sunday before Easter when I got the text she told the church about being saved. Made my day. I immediately thought about all the days we traveled together…and the times, when we first got started, that we all wondered about when our kids would be saved. Since the group started 5 or so years ago, Darrell’s daughter Kenzie Collier got saved first…then came Jess’ son Clayton. Savannah was next, then Cameryn Harris, and just recently Mackenzi Harris. From the current and previous group members, we have Carter Birdwell (Jess’ boy) and Clay Bowman (Ron’s son) yet to be saved. Brandon will be having a boy soon, so he can be added to the list…but God is good, and He’s good all the time. He took care of our kids and takes care of our families every day.

Hope you guys have a great weekend, and we will talk soon. Pray for Eric as he starts to spend more time with the quartet…Lord knows he will need patience and grace in boat loads to hang with us…

Von and all the guys at CO4

Hope everyone is having a great first week of April. Anyone get snagged on a good April Fool’s joke? I somehow came through unscathed, but I heard a few good ones. A local radio station here in Nashville did a fake ad and setup a webpage for “Pets By Mail” and had folks livid over the concept of having pets (like dogs and cats) shipped to you. They fessed up today…had a bunch of folks going for a while. I warned Savannah about 10 times on the way to school to be ready for any and everything from her friends. She made it through, but decided she would be the giver of April Fool’s all day. Texting folks they would no longer be friends…chip off the old block.

I’ll recap last weekend real quick, then move on to something that has been on my heart. Last Saturday we went up to Hartsville, TN (about 45 minutes from our respective homes) to sing at a benefit for the Old Time Gospel Hour television program. It’s a local broadcast deal where a group of supporting churches get their pastor to come deliver a sermon specifically for broadcast purposes. The organization then sends it to various paid and free outlets for it to be shown. Neat concept, but very expensive to operate. They put this benefit together every year and just ask folks to come listen and donate. Our dear friend Mike Reid and his church are primary sponsors of the event, so we were more than glad to help out. Had a good day and enjoyed seeing all the folks from up that direction.

Sunday morning I attended my home church and heard Mercy Road Quartet do part of their 5th Sunday singing there. If you “aren’t from around here” you might not be familiar with the concept, but in these here parts, churches have historically set aside 5th Sundays (defined as the 5th Sunday in the same month, which typically happens 3 or 4 times a year) for sangin’s. Some have them during their morning service, others in the afternoon (often accompanied by food), and still others have them in place of their Sunday evening services. It’s a busy time for a gospel group and you’ll see them burning up the highways when it happens. Anyway…after catching those guys for a few songs, I headed out and met the boys up at Marty’s home church Victory Missionary Baptist in Hendersonville, TN (my hometown). It was set to be Marty’s last weekend filling in as baritone, so it was fitting we wrapped it up with a visit to Victory. Great service and got to see tons of friends and family. At one time or another, we all had been a member there….so it was more like a homecoming than a 5th Sunday sing. We wrapped up there and headed a few miles up the road to Jess’ hometown of Portland to Mt. Pleasant General Baptist. Always love going to visit Bro. Chris there…he’s their pastor and an awesome guy. Our old pal Ron Bowman and his family showed up…and got there early enough for us to drag him down and practice a bit so he could play the piano for us during the service. It was just like old times…even got him to sing one with us. The good Lord knew what we would need as that night a lady got convicted while we sang and rushed to the altar. The church gathered around and we called Ron up to softly play a few songs while we sang and prayed. Seems like it took about 3 or 4 songs…and then she raised up with the brightest smile on earth. The good Lord had passed by and saved her soul. Awesome service when anyone gets saved…it’s truly what this is all about. Hated to see the day end as we had really enjoyed our time again with Marty, but it was time for him to go back to his church and do what the Lord has for him, and time for us to move forward with what the Lord has in store for us. We talked to Marty about maybe him joining us every now and then to play piano….who knows what might come together. We’ll keep you posted.

Every once in a while something is said that makes you think…you know what I mean, really ponder things. I try to be diligent about study and prayer when it comes to things I learn in church as I’m sure we all try to be. Sometimes though something just sticks and you have to learn more and more. This happened to me this past weekend. I was sitting in a service and something was mentioned about praising the Lord and how we should accomplish this. I have to admit….I’m one, if it not the worst, when it comes to praising my Lord. I’ll get up and sing, but I woefully lack in the department when I’m sitting in church. The comment was on how we are told in the Bible to do so…and it got me thinking. I’ve always tried my hardest to follow the examples and commandments set forth before us, and love to read the wisdom of Solomon in Proverbs and try to apply every parcel of knowledge he did his best to impart to my life. But for some reason, call it shy or too reserved, I don’t outwardly show praise like I should. So I have spent the last few days studying the Bible and found the ways I need to start working on in my life to praise the Lord. These aren’t the only ways, but they are the most prominent I can find listed in the Bible. For those I have met along the way who I have seen do these things, I appreciate your examples and hope to one day be one of those guys people see and know they love the Lord without even having to ask or hear me sing.

In studying I have found one type of praise is referred to in Hebrew as TOWDAH, or “the sacrifice of praise”. This is mentioned in Hebrews 13:15  and Psalms 54:6 and it seems this is the type of praise we give when we just don’t feel like praising God. Maybe we lost our job or experienced a loss in our life…we are to praise God for He is good ALL the time. It would be real hard to get way down when things are bad if we spent our time praising the Lord for all the good stuff we are surrounded by.

Next is YADAH, or praise by lifting our hands. Lifting our hands is a sign of total submission to the Lord and He truly is worthy of that all the time. When Darrell traveled with us, he often talked about how hard it was to get the courage to raise your hand(s) in church as a sign of praise. He would say “what will people think?”…then he said he came to the conclusion that he didn’t have to worry what people thought or if the moment was “worthy” of lifting hands…he would say (and I REALLY love this) “He’s worthy of us walking around all day with our hands raised in honor to Him, so I really don’t care what folks think anymore”. Good for you D! He taught me allot with that simple statement. We can find this type of praise mentioned in Lamentations 3:41, Psalms 134:2, and Psalms 63:4.

Here’s another I never really considered when I thought of praise, but it is considered so by many Bible scholars…BAROUCH, or the act of bowing in honor to the Lord. This one is an open and outward sign of praising the Lord through our submission and contrite spirit. You can find this one in one of everyone’s favorite verses…Romans 14:11 (it’s the “every knee shall bow and ever tongue confess” verse), and again in Psalms 95:6.

Here’s a good one….SHABACH, or to shout. How many of us have truly shouted in praise to our Lord? Oh I’ve shouted in praise of my football team, baseball team, and at all my daughter’s cheer events….but in church, I don’t think I have done it one time. I’ve always thought that if the Lord wants me to shout, He’ll put it on my heart, but lately I’ve been listening to my pastor as he has instructed the church…God won’t lay it on your heart to do something he has already instructed us to do in His word. He was talking more like, God is not going to “lay it on your heart” to come to church…He has already told us to not forsake the assembly. I need to pray more about this one…but it appears crystal clear in these verses that we are to shout praises and make joyful noises to God…Psalms 98:4, Ezra 3:11, and Isaiah 12:6.

Here’s one I love…yet can’t do. It’s ZAMAR, or praising the Lord with musical instruments. I said I can’t, I can actually play drums which, by coincidence, is mentioned in the verse I’m about to list. I can’t, though, play the more accepted instruments like piano and guitar. I think music is great and certainly helps me to get in the spirit of praise, so maybe we just need to be “involved” when folks are playing musical instruments to enjoy this form of praise….check it out in Psalms 150. Go ahead, it’s a short chapter, read the whole thing.

Here’s one you rarely see in most churches, HALELL….or praising God through dance. We all need to pray a bit about this one, can’t tell you when I have ever seen dancing in a church, but there is no question the Lord has sanctioned this is a worthy form of praise. Check this one out in Psalms 149:3, II Samuel 6:16, and Psalms 30:11. Seems David had no trouble praising the Lord through any means, but especially not through dance.

My final one is another stickler in some churches, and I have even heard folks deny it’s existence in the Bible…it’s TEHILLAH, which appears to be any combination of singing, clapping, dancing, and rejoicing. Allot of churches get snagged on the clapping part, saying it makes our churches look more like a sporting event than a reverent church service. I know I am no scholar, and if challenged on these things I’ve found I would likely have to take a long time to study to find further answers, but it seems to me that allot of the things we do naturally to praise the Lord were instituted by God and his followers many, many years before our current existence. I can’t tell you the times I have sat in a service where testimonies and preaching are directed towards folks who go to concerts and games. People ask why they can go be excited at these worldly events, and then come to church and sit on their hands and can’t wait for the service to end. Many times I think it’s because of the restraints and constraints that are placed on us. We fear ridicule or even being called out from the pulpit for our actions. Not sure what the answer is, but if we are to praise the Lord in our hearts, we can’t worry what others will do or say. God knows our hearts and if we are truly doing what we do to honor and praise Him, we should do it and let the Lord take care of the results. Hand clapping specifically is mentioned in Psalms 47:1. Have to throw out some props to my good friend Morris Watson, pastor of Concord Missionary Baptist Church in White House, TN on this one. Bro. Morris showed me this one a few years back when I was struggling with why some churches clap and others don’t when we sing. Like I have said before…God knows what we need, when we need it.

I need to work on all of these no doubt…I don’t think the Lord would have laid it upon my heart to study had it not been an area I need improvement in. As Darrell said many times, He’s worthy of it all the time…so don’t worry what others will think. Even if it isn’t your “M.O.”, we all have to start somewhere. Folks might actually think you’re a Jesus freak…and wouldn’t that be a cool thing to be!

Have an awesome week and weekend, talk to you soon….

Von and all the guys at CO4