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WINTER 2007
QUICK LINKS
ANNOUNCING: MACS Spotlight Radio Show
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Welcome to
the 1st edition of the
In this quarterly Minnesota Association of Christian Songwriters newsletter you will find out about what is going on with MACS, read articles relating to topics such as faith, songwriting, missions, etc., hear about noteworthy Local Happenings that are not listed on our Calendar, and you will also find out about Contests and Submissions that you can submit your songs/lyrics/music to.
We have some very cool news of 2 significant projects coming up: a new MACS West meeting, and a new MACS Radio program! We are very excited to see MACS expanding! Click on the QUICK LINKS on the left for all the juicy details!
For more information about MACS and for upcoming events, please browse through our website at www.macsmn.org.
(This newsletter has been designed for
web and print.) |
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A special thanks to Guy at Vision Van Gogh for his
dedicated relationship to MACS. We appreciate you! Check out
the incredible DVD series he is offering at
www.visionvangogh.com/unveilingthemystery.html. |
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by Mike Heilman When the Lord calls you to go on a Missions trip, "Seize the Day. " I had the time of my life teaching Music Basics for 16 days in Ghana West Africa this summer. A teacher named Margaret Yeboah asked me if I could volunteer at her school. I've known her for over 9 years, so the decision was easy. What an awesome Paradigm Shift when the Lord orders your steps and lights your path.
The culture and food were so different from what the Western world is used to. However, music is universal. The requests for modern worship songs showed me just how fast the movement of our songs can be. In the mostly evangelized country of Ghana there is still too much mixing of Tribal animism and what we would call "totem sacrifices". There are enemies of the Truth, deceivers, LDS cult missionaries, and a secretive, fraternal society who are all confusing the people in Swedru, the town where I stayed. There is much more work to be done.
MACS members
helped to sponsor me by their hard-earned gifts and prayers. We
bought 6 Hohner Countryman Guitars, a tuner, 14 sets of strings, music
books, and many other gifts for them. I spent 2 nights in hotels and
the rest with a host Family. In a nutshell, I played music at 3
schools, taught at 1 of them, sang at 3 churches, did worship for 3
Revival Crusades, and got interviewed on the radio 2 times. I still
had plenty of time to have fun with the friendly people, who taught me-at
least as much as I taught them. I will always cherish the people and
prayers that helped to produce fruit for "The Kingdom." I am making
plans to return there in 2007. |
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MACS West
We are proud to announce the launch of a new MACS West meeting! Yes, it's true, we have some "westerners" that have stepped up and offered to spearhead a MACS West meeting. How far west you ask? Pretty far, if you compare it to our MACS East meeting in St. Paul.
This meeting is
an extension of the MACS East meeting in St. Paul and has been established
to offer a more accessible meeting location for westerly located
songwriters and musicians interested in MACS, and also offers an optional
day and location for those already attending the MACS East meeting in St.
Paul. Follow this link for more details about what to expect at a
www.macsmn.org/meetings.htm. Follow this link
for more details about
www.macsmn.org/about.htm. Okay, enough about the "conceptual stuff", let's get to the
practical details! http://www.ridgewoodchurch.info/pages/location.html
CURRENT SCHEDULE CHANGES:
Contact Mark
Johnson at (952) 448-5161 if you have any questions about the MACS West
meeting. |
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I listened in disbelief to the car radio as Michael W. Smith’s song “Above All” played. “Not another one!” I thought. That’s the same title I used on a song I’ve penned ten years ago. Why do I hear the same titles or similar melodies of songs I’ve already written? Was it so obvious a title that sooner or later someone would discover it? Maybe I should start picking out titles that no one could ever come up with like, “The Whale Was Hungry, But He Couldn’t Keep a Good Man Down” or “My Life was Like a Gutter Ball Until you Pinned me Down”. Well maybe not. As I listened intently to Michael’s’ song on the radio, I notice the quality of his writing. It was far better than my song. He really did put the work into it to make it excellent. He set it up the same way I did with what God was above; the earth, the heavens, the ways of the world, etc. But then Michael went the extra mile with a nice bridge and a twist at the end of his chorus “He loved me above all”.
This is the way I see this experience. I may be wrong or right but see what you think. God gives us the talent and the vision to accomplish something or to write a song for Him, yet if we are not available or ready to put the work into that vision, God will find someone else to do it. If God wants a task done, it will get accomplished. The question is will we be the one to give it our best to complete the vision, the goal God has instilled into us? When God gives us a title or an idea are we going to put the work into it to make it something excellent, and then go the extra mile like Michael W. Smith did? Let’s do all of what God intends us to do. So what about that song of mine that has the same title? I’ll probably still use it in the future. The message is still there.
Do any of you
have any observations like this article to offer to the rest of us? If so
please submit them to MACS. I know there must be some talented
writers out there somewhere with something to offer. If not I guess I’ll
keep going till I run out of ideas. |
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ANNOUNCING: MACS Spotlight Radio Show
MACS will host a radio program as part of the WAVE project with KFAI Radio, 90.3 FM in Minneapolis and 106.7 FM in St. Paul. The WAVE project is KFAI's Community Access program, which airs on Sunday afternoons between 3:00pm and 4:00pm. It is a fantastic opportunity for MACS to present some of our original music and information about our meetings to a wide public audience.
The MACS Radio
show will air on Sunday, January 21st from 3:00pm-4:00pm.
Please tune in and let us know what you think.
Mike Heilman, MACS member and Secretary of the Board, will host the
program with one or two other MACS members in the studio. The show
will feature music, interviews with songwriters and informational
soundbites about our meetings and happenings. Of course, the program
will be heavily salted with invitations for folks to come check us out,
and we will promote membership through a variety of special offers.
Although this is a one-time special feature, we will be looking at ways to
continue our participation as regulars in the WAVE project slot. Who
knows what other opportunities may open up for us as we pray and play our
songs. Keep singing! |
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Welcoming Music
Submissions for Airplay in Japan
Feature Sounds - Music for Film, TV, and Advertisement
2007 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest
Tipperary International Song of Peace Contest |
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Site design and layout by Matt Christenson (and originally by Dan Koopmans.
Thanks, Dan!)
© 2006-2007 Minnesota Association of Christian Songwriters
ANNOUNCING:
Contests and
Submissions