And while I’m at it… a ukulele cover of the old Mamas & Papas song, “California Dreamin’”

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39 (ESV)

So… I received my very first CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) royalty check yesterday… wasn’t very much money, but I was super excited.  CCLI is basically an administrator of copyright licenses for churches… the church pays a fee based upon a scale of attendance to be able to use lyrics by projection or printing or whatever else… then CCLI takes a sampling of churches to find out what songs are being used and then disperses the church fee monies to the songwriters based on this sampling (same concept as ASCAP, BMI, & SESAC… just for churches).  However, CCLI functions a bit like any government organization (imagine one of your least favorite experiences with an incredibly slow process… DMV, perhaps?) in that nothing is done quickly or efficiently… or at least not to the “non-label” & “non-publisher” songwriters out there like myself.  It literally took me a whole year from the time I requested a contract to sign with them to the point when I was actually included in their system.  CCLI has a great service that I use weekly as a worship leader called SongSelect… it basically includes a ton of songs and their respective lyric sheets, sometimes chord charts, and lead sheets.  If your name is Chris Tomlin or Matt Redman or any of the “bigger name” worship songwriters, you automatically get to include all of these things with your songs… making them much easier to attain and learn for your typical worship band and praise team.  BUT if you are not a “big name” you don’t get to include these materials (lyrics, chord charts, lead sheets) unless you have been paid in 2 consecutive pay periods.  The pay periods work in six month increments (last one ended at the end of March… yes, it took 4 1/2 months to receive payment) and you only get paid if other churches are using your music in their services and are reporting the use… even then, the church would have to be in a reporting period (my church hasn’t been in one for the past two years)… so you can see that everything has to line up just right for a new songwriter that has little opportunity for sharing outside of his/her own church to even have his/her materials made available in SongSelect.  So, I currently have 55 songs listed with CCLI(and 4 being processed… remember that nothing is done quickly , but no lyrics or charts available… Thus, I am excited because I could potentially receive payment in a second consecutive pay period and I believe that would change things pretty dramatically.  Just so you know.  :)

Lord, Reign in Me – Brown

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty – Neander/Winkworth/arr. Carpenter

Unite My Heart – Mull (this was a song written by a kid at Sterling College… came from my songwriting workshops)

Your Grace Is Enough – Maher

Grace Greater Than Our Sin – Johnston/Towner/Carpenter

Sweet, Sweet Sound – Reeves/Cash

Lay It Down – Maher/Brown

So… here is the song list from this past weekend… two services on Saturday at Venue 302 in Hutchinson, Kansas and a Sunday morning service at Venue Sterling in Sterling, Kansas.  These services were being led by evenstill:

Come Inside – (Carpenter)

To God Be the Glory (We Ascribe To You) – (Crosby/Doane/Carpenter)

Join the Song (Your Redeemed) – (Carpenter/Miears)

Indescribable – (Story)

I Stand Amazed – (Gabriel/Carpenter)

From the mind and mouth of Shaun Groves:

Creative people are weird complex.  So this series is my attempt to explain us to anyone having to work or live with us.  Each statement is laid out as a contradiction.  I’m borrowing heavily from researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People but putting him in my own words.  It’s more creative that way.

Read the rest of the first part of this here and the second part here.  If these don’t help you understand creative types (read that as Jonathan), then maybe nothing will.

Over three weeks ago I had a catastrophic failure that occurred when I attempted to upgrade server-side software… I am just now back to semi-normal status with the website.  This also gave me a reason to do a whole site redesign.  I will soon be providing more information as well about the band that I am playing with called Evenstill.  We are going to begin playing shows soon and will also be recording in the near future.

I have been absolutely pathetic about keeping my site updated this year… I realize this.  I also have heard from several of you recently indicating that you still check in regularly only to be disappointed that there is nothing new happening here.  Let me assure you that there have been a ton of new developments going on in my life and in the ministry that God has called me into… I promise that I will provide more details and updates about this in the near future.  Thanks everyone!

If you met me very recently, please add your e-mail address to the system by typing it into the Reverbnation mailing list widget located in the right sidebar of this page.

You want to see what despair used to look like? God allowed Job to be tested by Satan because he was “the finest man in all the earth – a man of complete integrity. He [feared] God and [had] nothing to do with evil” (Job 1:8). So, read what happens to Job and then tell me how bad your day has been:

13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you. 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you. 17 While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you. 18 While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. 19 Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you. 20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. 21 He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord! 22 In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. (Job 1:13-22)(NLT)

I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for Job… crazy stuff… and just think about the time that Job was living in… how was he supposed to talk to God? To make matters worse, Job was then afflicted with a terrible case of skin boils and his own wife told him that he should “curse God and die. Three of his friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) did the “honorable thing to come and tell Job that he was to blame for all of the tragic events and that he must be an awfully wicked and evil man for God to punish him in that way. Job’s biggest problem, though, is that he didn’t even know how to speak with God:

2 “My complaint today is still a bitter one, and I try hard not to groan aloud.3 If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court. 4 I would lay out my case and present my arguments. 5 Then I would listen to his reply and understand what he says to me. 6 Would he use his great power to argue with me? No, he would give me a fair hearing. 7 Honest people can reason with him, so I would be forever acquitted by my judge. 8 I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. 9 I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. (Job 23:2-9)(NLT)

Can you imagine if this was the way things were today? What would life have been like on September 11, 2001, if we didn’t know how to speak with God? If you weren’t sure where to find God, how could you cope with losing a loved one or everything around you? Things would indeed become desperate quickly. The fact is, however, that God saw fit to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for each of our transgressions and only through the sinless and perfect life of Jesus can we be seen as clean in God’s sight… Thank You, Jesus, for allowing me the privilege of speaking with God… my Father… my Comforter in times of desperation.

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)(NLT)

I was first exposed to Frou Frou (and subsequently Imogen Heap, now one of my favorites) through the movie “Garden State” (Zach Braff‘s (J.D. from Scrubs) first attempt at directing).  This was probably the only time that I have ever specifically wanted to see a movie solely upon hearing a song from it.  Not gonna give a ton of info on this one… just a video montage of clips from the film set to the song.