2005
September
The Talleys
Have mercy, what a month. We've covered a lot of ground in September, and I have several things to tell you.....
The National Quartet Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, was a big and good time as always. We took the stage on Wednesday and Friday evenings to a most enthusiastic audience, and Thursday night's Singing News Fan Awards provided us with a moment we won't soon forget. We didn't win any awards but were honored to perform "His Life For Mine" as one of the top ten nominated songs of the year. I can't quite describe it, but the presence of the Lord was definitely felt in Freedom Hall that night. After the awards show we had so many people come to our booth to tell us how much the song touched them, which is better than a plaque any day. Saturday afternoon I got to be part of the Leaders of Tomorrow showcase. Approximately 100 artists age 30 and under sang in various combinations, and Eddie Harrison (Hope's Call) and Stephanie Brown (Jody Brown Indian Family) joined me for "Shout To The Lord/How Great Thou Art." It was one of the highlights of the week for me, and you'll be able to catch it on DVD if you weren't there.
Oh allow me to brag on a friend of ours for a second. My dad produces all the recordings for the Collingsworth Family, so we were pretty excited when Kim Collingsworth was invited to be part of Pianorama at NQC this year. The only female on stage, Kim absolutely brought the house down, and we're just proud to say we know her!
Several of you have already expressed an interest in our "Anthology" project, which is due to arrive in late October/early November. As I've told you, it will feature the Talleys' most recognizable and popular songs, as well as three new singles. The first release from this project will be a Gerald Crabb tune called "The Debt," and what a powerful song. We've already sung it a couple of times in concert, and so far the response has been awesome. Can't wait for you to hear it...
I know that everyone's been glued to their TV screens for the last few weeks watching hurricane coverage and aftermath, and the scenes are absolutely devastating. You know, it's so easy to sit on the couch and say that God will take care of them and do nothing. While God certainly has control of the situation, I think He expects us to do our part to relieve whatever suffering we see. Tonight we'll be part of a benefit
concert with many other artists for the Red Cross to supply aid to hurricane victims all across the Gulf Coast. Even though a lot of you won't be there, I hope you'll ask God to show you what you can do to help those around you. So many people are looking for Jesus in the middle of flood water, disease, and devastation. I assure you Jesus will be in whatever gift you give.
One more thing, our 1998 MCI coach is for sale, so if you're interested, you can inquire through our website, http://www.talleytrio.com , and of course you can read our tour schedule, order product, and find out everything you need to know about the Talleys.
Until next time,
Lauren Talley
The Talley Trio
The Joy In Helping Others
Eight vehicles arrived Thursday at midnight and they were very exhausted as you could imagine. Many of our church members opened their homes for them to have a place to stay. But only one family accepted the invitation, because they had small children. The rest wanted to stay together at our church in the fellowship hall because it was convenient at the time. We brought in air mattresses, sleeping bags, sheets and blankets and they all crashed that night.
We had church that Friday night and it was such an uplifting to their spirits. What a joy for us to be able to provide these folks a place to stay, food, water, fun and fellowship. In a time like this, we all want to be a help in some way. I'm glad the Lord opened this door of opportunity for us. The Pastor was a blessing to us while he was here. His profession allowed him to fix an air condition water leak at our church, replace blown off shingles from our church roof, and get our ice maker and dryer working at our home. While we were a blessing to him, he was such a great blessing to us also, in saving us over $2,000.00 of repair work costs. Sunday night The Apostolic Boys gave a mini concert and before the night was over two of the people that came up with them were baptized. They left this past Monday, and made it home in 6 hours this time. There was no damage from the hurricane, only that a few of the homes do not have power. God is good. What a joy to be able to help others that are in need.
Gal. 6:10 "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith".
Joel Pace
The Apostolic Boys Quartet - http://apboys.1lord1faith.org
We’ve Got Guests…
It could be quite funny if it weren’t for the fact that much of life is made up of how we respond to these uninvited guests --these unexpected and unwelcome events that range in impact from the mildly annoying to the soul -wrenchingly devastating. Recently we all watched in horror as thousands fled their homes and all they owned as the killer Katrina swept away entire lifetimes of earthly accomplishment. We wept with these people as the media related story after story of loss. We heard of entire families washed away or perhaps worse, a frightened child torn from a mother’s arms never to be seen again on this side of eternity. We feel like crying out, “It’s too much, Lord! We can’t stand it.” Our hearts break for them. Perhaps some of you reading this lived the nightmare. Maybe some of you survived the worst that Katrina could give.
Questions are being asked and fingers of blame pointed. Even many Christians are asking why God would allow such a thing to happen. As our pastor put it on the Sunday morning immediately following the devastation, “We will never know why but we must ask ourselves ‘What now?’”. Thousands of people from all over this great nation and from other nations as well have extended a helping hand. Money and materials, services and time have been donated beyond anything we’ve ever seen in my home state of Mississippi. We are so thankful.
But even more important than the response to physical needs, the “What now?” question extends to the spiritual needs brought to light by this historic tragedy. Our humanity wants a quick fix, an answer to resolve our pain and we mean NOW! I’m amazed at one of my heroes in scripture who, at the news of losing all that he held dear, responded by falling to the ground in worship to God. There is healing in true worship.
Embrace experienced God’s healing touch as we were privileged to share the stage with Phil Cross and Poet Voices as part of the “Hearts and Harmony” service held at Crossgates Baptist Church on September 4th. With all that had happened, we wondered if the concert would be cancelled but the church staff felt this was just what the church needed . I was personally encouraged as I looked around the sanctuary that night and saw hundreds of people, many of them displaced victims of the hurricane, worshipping and praising our Mighty God!
But what about those who don’t have this hope, this eternal relationship with Jesus Christ? “What now?” turns to “What next?” for those of us who know Him. Embrace is continuing to share Christ through song and personal testimony as the Lord provides opportunity. Wounded hearts are tender. Our prayer is that we will be able to reach those who have lost so much with the good news of Someone Who has sacrificed everything so that they can have it all in Christ!
So the next time it’s 11:00am on a Saturday and you’re sitting there reading a magazine in your favorite pajamas (yes, the ugly green ones with the hole in the knee) and the doorbell rings, get up and answer the door because this is real life… and you’ve got guests.
Nora Truhett
http://www.embraceministry.com
Pleasing People vs. Pleasing God
If you have been involved in ministry in any capacity you have been faced with this dilemma: Is it possible to please people while pleasing God? It is human nature to want people to like and appreciate what you do. It’s unrealistic, however, to think you can please “all of the people all of the time”. It’s easy to lose focus if your goal is to please people. Periodically we need to reevaluate why we do what we do and what results we are seeing. We need to look at the facts instead of going solely on emotion.
Everybody will not applaud your decisions. In fact, some may even question your motives and your integrity. If you listen to people you can easily become confused about what is right for you and your ministry.
Take some quiet time and ask yourself a few questions. Is our ministry growing? Have we seen souls added to the kingdom? If you can answer yes to these questions I can assure you that you are pleasing God.
Do I have peace in my heart concerning my ministry decisions? God doesn’t always lead in ways that make sense to the multitudes. More times than not, he asks us to just step out and trust him whether is appears logical to us or not.
Are we selling product? Isn’t it amazing that the one person who is very quick to let you know just how much they dislike your new project can sometimes override the 100 that have told you they love it? We need to concentrate on the facts or we’ll let our emotions deter us.
Throughout the Bible God has prompted people to step out of their comfort zones before he does a GREAT work. Many of those people were ridiculed and mocked for their obedience. Many were called self seeking or radical. But they had one thing in common. They were true to God and true to themselves. They answered to his voice and not the voice of the multitudes. In due time God ALWAYS reveals his plan. He has used and still uses unconventional people in unconventional ways . Being different doesn’t mean you are conforming. It quite possibly just means you are called.
When you lay your head down at night you have to ask yourself “In my decisions regarding this ministry do I have peace with God”? If you can emphatically answer YES then you are successful. Take your eyes off of man, focus on HIS will and be true to yourself and your calling. In due time you SHALL reap if you faint not!
The Quicks
I went to Wal Mart yesterday morning and bought a wood burning tool. I will try just about anything, especially when it comes to wood working, home repairs, and projects of that nature. I had quite a time-consuming task ahead – to burn letters of the alphabet on about 600 wooden beads – so I did what anyone in their right mind would do to make the job easier. Instead of going to the workbench down in the garage, I put a TV tray in front of my chair in the living room, grabbed the remote control and a diet coke, and plugged that burner into the wall! Then the thought occurred to me - I had never used a wood burning tool before. I had seen them used on one of those home improvement shows I like so much, but I just wasn’t sure how the one I had purchased worked. So I went down in the garage and got the fire extinguisher - just in case…
Sometimes I find myself doing the same thing in my walk with the Lord. I’m ready to dive in and just totally surrender – then because of the unfamiliarity of where it may take me, I “get the fire extinguisher.” I don’t intentionally want to “put out the fire” of the Holy Spirit working in my life. I don’t think a lot of other Christians do either. Most of us want to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We just get fearful of the unknown, or complacent, or sometimes even resistant. It’s all about trust – do we trust God more than we trust ourselves?
How can we trust God pertaining to matters of our industry? Think about these scenarios: 1. The Lord has called someone into full-time ministry and they won’t let go of their secular job. 2. A singer, who has been on the road for a while, needs to take some time off for their marriage or family and chooses to ignore the problem. 3. You have a Gospel group on the road and it is not paying the bills. How do we surrender our will and trust God in these circumstances? What does the Bible tell us to do?
The first situation can be compared to the story of Jonah. He refused to go to Nineveh – to go into ministry - and look what happened! Jonah 1:15 says “So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea…” and verse 17 tells us, “…And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Not a pretty picture… Jonah finally went into ministry the hard way!
Second - In Mark 1:29, we read of Simon leaving the synagogue and going home where his Mother-in-law was sick. THAT is sacrifice! Now, I’m not saying that everyone should just quit their jobs and stay home to pamper demanding family members, but would you be willing to come off the road if you were really needed at home? Peter trusted that he would be able to continue in ministry with Jesus so he had no reservations about going home first. In this case, Peter was only needed a short while – the Lord showed up and healed his wife’s mother, then she did what any good Mother-in-law would do… she cooked a seven course meal! I bet Simon Peter’s wife was a lot more supportive of his ministry just knowing that he was “willing” to take care of the home first! Being away from your family has a lot more to do with the state of your heart - than whether or not you’re heart is in another State.
The last scenario should make for good discussion – this applies to Gospel groups or anyone else whose “outflow is larger than their intake so their upkeep will be their downfall!”
Tim and I were sitting on the back porch steps of our home not long ago just having a cup of coffee and chatting, which is rare for us. (The chatting is rare, not the coffee.) I have found that God does not always send you out into ministry the minute He calls you. I have believed for a long time that the future of our family is in full-time ministry, and I just felt the need to confirm to Tim that our relationship will always have priority in my life over the music. Without harmony in our home, there will be no harmony in our music. The security of knowing your spouse is trusting God is priceless! We have seen opportunity begin to come our way in recent years that convinces us that our dream of full-time ministry is finally getting close. We wasted a lot of time trusting our own judgment – that has been a lot of the delay. Kind of like the bad decision Moses made when he killed the Egyptian, landing him a 40 year tour in the desert! Had we been more willing to surrender to the Holy Spirit during all these years and trust Him, it may have come sooner. But at least we reached a place several years ago of surrender to the Lord. We could have jumped on in at that time and gone on the road, but we wanted something that God has ordained. We want a ministry that will last… no matter how long it takes us to get there! Are you willing to surrender or do you plan on keeping the fire extinguisher handy!
National Quartet Convention was a blast! October looks really busy! If you would like to find out more about our family, go to http://www.thequicksonline.com and sign up to receive “Quick” News – our email newsletter!
Be listening for our latest single, “Now I Know” released through the Rick Hendrix Company. We believe the powerful message in this song can impact listeners through radio just as it has in concert!
To order our new project, “What Are You Waiting For” with songs like “He Can Move the Water” and “Now I Know,” simply call 615-459-5119 or email us at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information.
To find out more about The Quicks, visit us on the web at http://www.thequicksonline.com
To contact The Quicks, Phone: 615-459-5119 / 615-403-0047
Write: The Quicks / P.O. Box 581 / Smyrna, TN 37167
E-mail: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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