Feeling Like Pete this morning

Feeling like Pete this morning

I have a friend, Pete Hedrick, that I have known for a long time. I was introduced to Pete years ago by Doug and Cindy Jones, dear friends that have been through many adventures with us over the years. Pete is a great musician, a really fine drummer, and a very versatile guitar player. He has a passion for music, especially contemporary Christian/Praise and Worship music. He has been leading worship as long as I have known him and is a faithful warrior for the Lord (and a heck of a bass fisherman).

We served together in several ministries and I always respected Pete's opinions and taste for music. One day we as a group were between ministries and discussing our next move as a musical family. We were all philosophizing the merits of here and there and discussing our options and it came to Pete's turn to share, He said something so simple, yet so profound.

I just want to play.

Where, when, what, why, who? These things took second place to the single desire to play. As musicians we sometimes take advantage of the wonderful outlet we have for expressing ourselves, the gift God gave us to play music. Then the day comes when all of the sudden, that outlet is gone. Situations change, people come and go, jobs take us away from our musical groups, or you just get older and nobody wants to use you anymore. 

It is a situation unique to worship leaders in contemporary music these days. Churches want young, vibrant worship led by young exciting worship leaders like my son Daniel and his wife Hannah. More seasoned players and lead worshippers are put out to pasture and sometimes without much warning. 

What is the answer? Go back to the secular world where is doesn't matter how much gray hair you have? Go find something else to occupy your time? Get over it? These are all things that get suggested to you. The Bible says that the Calling of God is without repentance, meaning it is irrevocable. It is not something that you just let go of that easily. 

So there it is in a nutshell.

I just want to play.

Twas the Day After Deer Season

Twas the day after deer season
and all through the woods
All the creatures were stirring
because now they could.

The bucks and the does
now are running around
not scared of the hunters
or making a sound

For three months we hunters
all sat in the trees
all battling boredom
coyotes and bees

in hopes that a big one
would come into sight
we kept on a hunting
both morning and night

While Bambi and Rudolph
were snuggled in bed
bowhunters were wondering
are we right in the head

The sport it is tricky
and hunting is hard
we sit there for hours
while the deer's in our yard

I know they're all laughing
and running around
now shootings illegal
on this side of town

I heard them exclaim
as they ran out of sight
Happy Hunting next season
and to all "You aint right!"

Jack Balthazor
Bowhunter 99

True story...This week, I went back to work after the holiday break.  My son Daniel happened to get a day off Wednesday and was going to hunt that morning.  He asked if I could go, even for a short while and I decided I could.  I quit around 8:30 to go home and get cleaned up for work.  After showering, shaving, and getting dressed, I stopped by the kitchen to refill my coffee for the trip.  I looked out the window and of course, there at the edge of my woods was the biggest doe I had seen all year.  Frances said, "get your bow, here's your chance!"  I went out to the garage and got my trusty crossbow back out and cocked and loaded.  I came back through the house and out on the back deck.  The doe alerted and looked right at me and I froze.  Amazingly, she didn't run, and eventually turned her head enough for me to line up a shot.  Since I don't normally hunt the back yard, I had to guess the distance and I guessed 50 yards, through the trees and brush, with a sooting window of about a foot and a half.  Not a great shot, and longer than I am comfortable, but hey, the season is almost over and I had to try.  So right there, in my work khakis and polo shirt, I let one fly.  Missed a little long, she ran, another doe nearby ran, and as they ran out of sight, behind them was the biggest buck, the grown man of the herd, the deer Daniel and I call Biggun, running 30 yards deeper in the woods.

Bowhunting is a great sport.  I have enjoyed chasing Biggun this year, and as it all came to an end, we were already planning strategies for next year.  We celebrated the end of the season, and snowpocylpse 2017 by cooking venison backstrap on the grill (yes, they all don't get away).

Now what has happened in the last three months while I was in the woods?

Holiday or Holy Day

What is it?

One or the other.....or both?  A reason to be off work, a time to behave and not argue politics, a breather in this hectic rat race, a good reason to not avoid your family, your church, your nearby Walmart, what?

There is a song on my practice CD for the church Praise Team that says "Jesus made Christmas a Holy Day".  As we enter the season of most busy-ness as well as business, it is an opportunity to notice not just the generosity and the selfishness of the people around us, but also the reason for everybody's season:  "Now just why is it we do this again?"

As we see the lights, the displays, the festive decorations, the ugly sweaters, I wonder.....what would this world be like if we all celebrated the Holy Day just as hard as the holiday.  If we got as excited about the Savior as we did the shopping.  Before you say "Hey Jack, you are the worst when it comes to spoiling your Grandkids!", and I am guilty as charged (since they were born, I have always whispered in their ears that I really am Santa Claus) let me throw myself on the mercy of the court and say how easy it is for us to get carried away.

Let me challenge us all, then.  Let's find a balance in these next few days.  Take a minute and celebrate the Savior.  Read Luke 2.  Sing Away in a Manger.  Love on your greatest gifts:  your kids and grandkids, brothers and sisters, your parents, your crazy cousins, your friends.  It's not just the greatest shopping season of the year, but also the season of advent.

My rant is done.  Let me leave you with a song I wrote a few years ago.  I don't know if I will have the opportunity to sing this in public this year so I will share it here.

First Born  

What took place that Christmas Day?
What transpired that Christmas Morn?
What inspired the Angels song, "Unto us a Child is Born"?
Who could love so much that day?
Whose anointing without end?
Who could know enough to say
Peace on Earth, Good will to men?

He's the Morning Star who leads the way
He's the First Born of a brand new day
He's the Reason why we need to sing
He's the Reason for this offering.

His Name is Jesus, Jesus
What more can I say, what more can I give
He is Jesus, Jesus
What more can I say, what more can I give

He is Jesus.

In the flow

Jack

There's No Place Like Home

So, after months and months of wondering and wandering, we find ourselves in a Dorothy frame of mind, "There really is no place like home!"  Before you tell me that this picture doesn't look like Judy Garland, or Kat McPhee, or whoever your favorite Dorothy might be, this is my favorite, my daughter Hannah.

So here we are, back from a tour of OZ, and clicking our heels, and we have a home church again.  Frances and I have chosen FreeLife Church of Winder as our place, and we could not be happier.  Our Pastors, Joel and Regina Talley, and the FreeLife family have taken us in with loving arms and have accepted us.  As two people who are not known to "church hop" the last months have been taxing to say the least.  Understand as I say this, that Walk on Water, our home base for the last 6 years, will always hold a special place in our hearts, and we hope and pray for the best for them and for Pastor Angie Burgess as she leads them into the next phase of their history.  May God Bless Walk on Water Church.

So here we are, getting involved in our new church.  Joel and Regina have set an aggressive vision for FreeLife Church and the programs in place, Music, Children's Church, and Youth have an excellence that most churches this size cannot boast.  Pastor Joel is known nationally as a great evangelist, revivalist, and Bible teacher and now Pastor.  You won't find a harder working man anywhere in ministry.   Frances and I are now leading worship on Wednesday nights and we love the freedom and the flow that we have stepped into at FreeLife.  This is a worshipping church and we are blessed to be a part of it.

So, get to the point, Jack.

Ok.  here it is.  If you have a home church, jump in there with all you have and let's do great exploits for the Kingdom of God.  If you do not have a church home, let me invite you to come to FreeLife Church in Winder Georgia and join us as we build this thing together.  If you are free Wednesday Nights at 7 join us for Power Hour and see what I am talking about.  No flying monkeys, no witches, no yellow brick road (except for the pollen right now), but truly no place like it.

In the Flow again, finally!

Jack

Not Prepared for This.....

Well here I sit, 4 months down the road, my journey of changes, and not one bit clearer about what happened to Healing Flow, the music, the band, the church, and Frances and myself.  Never before in our lives.....literally, have we been in such a predicament.  We have always known not only where we were to fellowship as a church, but also what the Lord was calling us to do.  Now we are dealing with the ultimate elephant in the room, are we getting too old for this.

Contemporary Praise and Worship is a fast evolving genre of music and churches that worship in this style are evolving rapidly as well.  The "new" church is relevant in style and worship and the music we love is central to that end.  Here's the rub (as Shakespeare would say).   The worship leaders in this kind of church look like the fisherman on the left, my son Daniel, who is an immensely talented and anointed young musician and not like the old guy on the right, who though he is a gifted musician and a heck of a fisherman is way down the road age wise for what he loves to do.

God put a call on my life in 1979, and has taken me all over the country to minister to all kinds of people.  We have never had to go looking for our next place of ministry.  It has always come looking for us.  We have served many great churches and Pastors and have met thousands of the Lord's Saints in churches, tent meetings, festivals, schools, parks and homes and have loved almost every minute of it.   We're just not prepared to go quietly into that good night.

Pray for us. Our greatest joy has been making music with my family.  Pray that the Lord would speak clearly what His plan for us might be.

May His Peace be on you this Christmas season.  We love you.

Jack and Frances

Changes

Transitions are always a challenge.  Why is it we are so quick to rebel against change?  Change takes us out of our comfort zone.  Change usually happens in the valley instead of on the mountain top.  Change often causes us to say goodbye to people we care deeply for and to fellowship with people we just don't know.  Change is hard.

Healing Flow is in a season of change.  This is not something we were looking for at this time, nor is it something we particularly enjoy....but here we are.  This is more than a Praise Band,  more than a Contemporary Christian Band, this is a family of people who share joys and sorrows, mountain tops and valleys, good times and not so good times, but most of all we have shared the life changing Presence of the Lord.  We have a motto, "Worship that takes you somewhere".  This is the most important part of our music, and when we miss this, we have missed the point.

Walk on Water World Outreach Church has been a huge part of our lives for many years.  The people of Walk on Water are near and dear to all of us, and the last thing we would want to do is hurt them.  Pastors Perry and Angie Burgess can take a lot of credit for how our music has developed and we will always love them for that.  They will always have an important place in our heart.

That being said, please pray for us as we continue on this Journey.

in the flow,

Jack

Pushing back against the naysayers.....

I'm pushing back against the naysayers.  Yes, you heard me.   Those that might denigrate

the music I do, Contemporary Praise and Worship.  First of all, I have every right and may I say responsibility to be a musical snob, a Bachelors Degree in Music and a Masters Degree in Music Education from The University of Georgia, 30 years experience as a music educator, 5 years experience as a Music rep with a large school music dealer, Performance experiences ranging from Symphony Orchestras to Jazz Bands and everywhere in between,  and 35 years in Ministry, from evangelism to Youth Pastor to Choir Director, to Worship Leader.

That being said

The greatest satisfaction I get is from making music with my Healing Flow band, and leading worship at Walk on Water Church.  There is more energy, more creativity, more influence in what we do than anything this world has to offer.  I'm not saying it's everyone's cup of tea, and if you love your hymn book more than life itself, or insist on legit music at your place of worship, have at it.  But don't put down what we do as uber repetitive, lower class, or "devil music".  

What is the purpose of Worship, anyway?  To point us to Him, right?  I know some of the music that Christian bands put out don't always choose the best styles or lyrics, but I do hope they have the best of intentions.  But after all, doesn't it beat some of the junk that is out there on secular radio?

I know it seems funny to some that at my age I prefer Jesus Culture to Gaithers but it is because hearing Anointed Contemporary Christian music changed my life back in 1978 and I hope in some way I can help someone else someday.

In the flow, 

Jack