GLENN'S PODCASTS!

THE JUST BEFORE CORNERSTONE FESTIVAL UPDATE:

Got all kinds of news about the new GKB project, "Octane" as well as the completion of the REZ Band boxed set- quoting the Grrr Records email that just went out here-

"Grrr Records Summer Email Cornerstone Festival 2008 Edition

Your Grrr Records summer email has arrived, packed with new releases and great deals available at grrrrecords.com

Hope to see you at Cornerstone Festival!

To view this web page, go to http://www.grrrrecords.com/emails/June08/juneo8.html

Glenn Kaiser Band/Octane
Don’t miss the white-hot new studio release from Christian music’s premier blues rock trio, the Glenn Kaiser Band. Along with bandmates Roy Montroy on bass and Ed Bialach on drums, Glenn Kaiser serves up another sonic smorgasbord of classic rock, blues and R&B. The thirteen tunes that make up Octane crackle with fire and passion that are challenging and enjoyable at the same time. Available now.

Resurrection Band/Music To Raise The Dead Box Set
Brace yourself for the definitive Resurrection Band box set coming this summer. This first career-spanning Rez collection includes three CDs with 52 digitally re-mastered songs, an 80-page full-color booklet detailing the history of Rez Band with scores of photos, and one DVD with over an hour of previously unreleased live concert video footage and special features.

Grrr Records 920 W. Wilson Ave. Chicago, IL 60640
Orders: 1.800.568.1225 grrrorders@jpusa.org"

So that's the deal with those two projects.

GKB has been doing a number of the new songs live and will add more as summer touring happens. I think we'll add 3 new ones from Octane at the Cornestone Festival set.

REZ rehearsals have been fun and we look forward to shows at Cstone as well as Unity Fest near Muskegon, Michigan.

Then Wendi and I get vacation time!

GKB looks forward to doing a couple sets per day for about 4 days running at the world's largest bike rally, Sturgis, South Dakota.

At some point I GOTTA find time to put photos of my incredible Swamp Thang resonator guitar from Shannon Coberly at Trimmed and Burnin' Guitars and Amps, as well as Rod Mclellan's exquisite acoustic (which I'll play at the REZ set at Cstone and Unity). Both are just amazing in all respects.

I know, I know- I've been talking about adding podcasts forever and just haven't gotten it done... it's in my HEART to add 'em, I have a number ready to go, just so little time and personnel to add 'em! All of us are so busy pre-Cstone...

I'm strongly leaning toward doing a project, perhaps next year, ten. titled Fulton Co. Blues (where our Cornerstone Farm is) much in the basic vibe of Ripley Co. blues, that is, half acoustic, half electric blues, featuring a few more of my friends on various instruments, very blues-based but stretching out, live "jam" feel on some of the tunes. More on this in the future but I'm writing songs for that now.

I may just get a street performer's license for the city of Chicago and do a bunch of solo blues street gigs this summer and early autumn. I've been wanting to do this for years but schedules haven't permitted. Lord willing, I'll get onto that this summer and fall, and get one of my cigar box guitars out there with an acoustic, stomp board and harmonicas. All the sweet weather, and beneath the city, the subway which is always nice and cool- and has good acoustics too!

Should be quite a summer! See you at the Fest and hopefully on tour. And thanks for stopping by!

Love and Hugs,
-Glenn

YOUR BEST FRIEND KNOWS

My brother Darryl Kaiser recently passed away. He died of cancer just two months past his diagnosis. I loved him and will miss him!

The day after he passed my Wendi and I celebrated our 36th anniversary. We spent a few days together at Cornerstone Farm (where JPUSA hold the annual Cornerstone Festival) and had a great time together bird watching, walking, gardening, driving around at night looking at all the deer and wildlife.

Then we drove up to Wisconsin for the funeral/memorial service together.

It had been some years since my Dad and Mom had passed away, and they died within 3 months of one another. They'd been divorced for many years prior. It was God's grace that moved my Dad to pray at a Rez Band concert many years before.

Wendi had prayed a salvation prayer with my Mom about 3 months before she'd passed.

And now there are only my sister Holly and I left of our immediate family. We had lost track of her for several year, and again, by God's grace found her son-in-law & daughter's email addy, and I was able to notify her of Darryl's passing.

Holly and family attended the funeral and we had an amazing time remembering Darryl, and hearing how Holly had now begun to follow Jesus with her son-in-law and daughter! Yahoo!

I had prayed (and will continue to) for each of my family, their spouses and kids for years. It was excellent to see so many of them that day.

My brother's wife's bro. was asked to speak as was I and also his immediate neighbor and dear friend, Jim. All of us of course touched on Darryl's life, character and personal anecdotes. I was really blessed by the message each brought to the moment.

I'd wanted to write about this today but first opened the Bible up to read, then a daily devotional I get emailed to me. The devo was a basic quote saying "Do your best work last so that when you die you have nothing left to do but die". Wow. Indeed.

I responded to a boatload of overdue email (due to all my travel this month) and then took a short break to read one of my fave devo. books by Michael Card. In it I read the following sentence: "A great way to come closer to someone is to get to know the person's best friend".

I immediately marked this as profound and nearly always true.

And then I thought about the implications of it.

When I die, what will my best friend say about me?

I have several best friends really. First, Jesus Christ. I think I know what He'll say, at least for the most part. Wendi is certainly my best friend on earth and I think I pretty well know what she'd say. I have several other very close friends, all of whom will speak the truth and I trust bring at least three things regarding my life: glory to God, shrugs/eye rolls as well as laughter.

And then I began to consider this in light of now, today, for you and for me:

At this present time, what would my/your best friend honestly say if asked? What could they say about our: integrity, authenticity, humility, love for Jesus, love for people, prayer habits, Bible-study and quoting/application in our lives, teachability, accountability, willingness to share the Good News, servanthood? Add anything you like to this list. What would they say about the media I loved? How would any of this/all of this reflect my relationship to Jesus, my Christian faith?

Huge, 'eh? Indeed. God help us... and our best friends too.

MUSICIANS and ALL

THE words we want to hear from Jesus at the end of our life on this planet are: "Well done you good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord".(Mt. 25.21 & 23) The two character points are "good" and "faithful" not "popular" and "successful". Then He links those two key things with the term "servant"... which is the only job description given to each and every Christ-follower regardless of spiritual gifting or individual calling. "Good and faithful servants" will enter into their Lord's joy. Is that what we musicians and artists are really after?

PROJECT 12 IN NEW ORLEANS- AND THREE PLACES IN AMERICA

Tonight as we waited for the crawdads to boil at a good friend's house in the New Orleans after a long but great day helping Desire Street Ministries by our somewhat meager carpentry skills, I found myself in conversation with a godly social worker who told me about the situation here post-Katrina.

The sad problem is that even some of our fellow believers who had been helping destitute folks out for some years now have bunkered back into a mentality of "let 'em pull themselves up by their own bootstraps... we're done helping 'these kind of people'". I understand the weariness of it, but that attitude in a word, stinks. And I think God would agree it does.

I was about to tell her that one of the things I like about Obama is his rap that his government would help people out with student loans, etc., but then would require them to do a couple years of public service, i.e., the Peace Core and such.

She said that folks don't even have to leave the country, just visit JPUSA in Chicago and serve in order to have an international and multi-cultural missions experience. I responded that such is true, but I've long thought two people groups and recently, a third have been largely overlooked.

1. What Americans did to the Native American people and the continued devastation on a great many reservations still haunts me. From all I know and have studied, there are issues of addiction, the "white man's God" and white culture forced on the people plus a lot of other problems involved with seeking to -serve- Native Americans- many of us just don't even think much less care about such things. This disturbs me deeply.

2. Appalachia still holds a great many poverty-stricken people, towns that are out of sight and out of the mind of most Americans. Folks there are mostly white, but not even that seems to help with regard to waking us up to do something about their needs.

3. The general economy, big business lobbies and their general control of politicians as well as the "leaving for greener pastures" in other countries, gas prices, home foreclosures and the blight of villiage businesses much less long-lived corporations laying people off and folding have devastated countless small towns all over the U.S., certainly in every state I've traveled- and I've traveled them all. There is so much that needs to be done for rural areas and small, once prosperous towns.

I'm not saying God does not or has not called us to large cities or even other countries to share the Good News of Jesus and serve the poor in such places. He indeed does and has. BUT- if I'm correct in my thinking, consider the ramifications in the lives of individuals, families and even among our fellow believers stuck in such situations, then consider those who do not yet know the Lord in these... and I ask you what any of us are ready to do about it?

WHAT'S THE MATTER?

Thought I'd share with you my mesage, nearly verbatim, from last Sunday here at JPUSA in Chicago.
Love and Hugs, -Glenn

There are 3 (yep!) titles: "WHAT'S THE MATTER?" / "AS A MATTER OF FACT" / "THE FACT OF THE MATTER"
(A Reflection on "The Day of The Lord")

Heb. 10.24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

1Thes. 5.2 For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 3 For when they are saying, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape. 4 But you, brothers, aren`t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.

Mt. 24.42 Watch therefore, for you don`t know in what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don`t expect, the Son of Man will come. 45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord will find doing so when he comes.

Lk. 21.33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. 34 "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. 35 For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth. 36 Therefore be watchful all the time, asking that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."

2 Pet. 3.10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore since all these things are thus to be destroyed, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness, 12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness. 14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without blemish and blameless in his sight.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER?"
glenn kaiser

So many voices inside us, it gets confusing listening to them y'all- but boil it all down, what really matters? will it really matter at all?

We couldn't find it at the thrift store, an' it was sold out at the mall- really, stop and think about it- does this really matter at all?

We try to impress our friends, we play a role, stumble and fall- but sum it all up- does this matter- does it really matter at all?

Somebody hurt our feelings, we choose to dribble around resentment like a ball- on the Day when it's really gonna matter... is this really gonna matter at all?

What if our body's laced with sickness, we're praying... but the illness doesn't stall- on the Day things are really gonna matter will this really matter at all?

Maybe we have lots of ambition... to leave a legacy a thousand feet tall- but on the one Day it's really gonna matter- is this really gonna matter at all?

Did we trust in the sacrifice of Jesus? Did we hear His voice and live out our call? Did we receive His love and forgiveness? Did we share these or just maintain a wall? Did we love God: heart, soul, mind and strength? Did we truly love our neighbor down the hall?

On the Day when it's really going to matter- nothing else will matter at all.

BENEDICTION:
May God the Holy Spirit remind you (Rom. 13.11,12) that now is high time to awake out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed! The night is far spent, the day is at hand... Amen.

Love Language Number One

Posted by gkaiser on March 31, 2008

I get a daily devo. emailed to me by a longtime friend. One morning this is what I found in my inbox:”Is life not full of opportunities for learning love? Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them. The world is not a playground; it is a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love. -Henry Drummond

More Scripture and my comments follow at our Project 12 site. If interested, have a look at: http:\\www.project12.us

HALLELULIA- JESUS IS RISEN! RISEN INDEED!!