Music

A New Year’s Prayer

Barbara Kain Parker Announcement, Biblical Insights, Devotional, Inspirational, Standing In Faith , , , , , , , , , , ,

2016On December 31, 2015, New Year’s Eve, I awoke from a vivid dream in which I’d been surrounded by others at the sort of conference center that one might find in a nice hotel. A pianist was playing nice background music from the lobby, catching my attention as she began to play a familiar tune. As I began to sing, many others joined in:

God bless America, land that I love
Stand behind her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above
From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America
My home sweet home

I’d sung the words as a heartfelt prayer, with my eyes closed. When I opened them there was a nice looking man standing next to me who I believe was the Lord, and He encouraged me to keep on singing. Today, as I welcomed 2016 during my quiet time, He directed me to Psalm 100 and Psalm 101:1:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will make music.

May 2016 be a year in which we, His people, seek Him above all else and joyfully sing His praises, for:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

May God bless all who read this, whether you are in America or in any other nation on earth, for He is there. May 2016 be a year in which you encounter Him  and His sufficiency, His grace, and His mercy in every aspect of your life.

Sing!

Barbara Kain Parker Announcement, Biblical Insights, Book Release , , , , , , , , ,

Sing!

I am honored to introduce “SING!” by my friend, Paul Knight, who is a music producer in London, England.  As a vocal coach for over thirty years and, as a consultant, senior lecturer and vocal coach, he knows exactly how singers should be keeping their voice in perfect condition. This is a tool I wish I’d had in days gone by when I sang with a Sweet Adelines Chorus, as we warmed up to practice or perform.  Whether one is an amateur or professional, this is a wonderful resource.  Below are some scriptures about singing to the Lord, some of Paul’s insights about singing, and a description of the product as well as links:

Psalm 33:1
Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;

Psalm 96:1-2
Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

Psalm 9:11
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds.

Psalm 104:33
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

Psalm 89:1
I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

Revelation 15:3-4
And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

Singing is an important part of our identity. Without it we are not complete. The scriptures tell us to sing to the Lord – because He loves the sound of our voices. After all – He created them!

As we sing, we change atmospheres. The singers were sent out first into battle. Singing is for everyone. Not for a few special people. It releases the ‘feel good’ chemicals. It necessitates deeper breathing which is a stress reducer. Singing gets more oxygen into the blood for better circulation. The benefits are amazing – and God knew that. It soothes you and elevates your spirit.

The elation may come from endorphins, a hormone released by singing, which is associated with feelings of pleasure. Or it might be from oxytocin, another hormone released during singing, which has been found to alleviate anxiety and stress. Oxytocin also enhances feelings of trust and bonding, which may explain why still more studies have found that singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness. Singing is cheaper than therapy, healthier than drinking, and certainly more fun than working out. It is the one thing in life where feeling better is pretty much guaranteed. Even if you walked into rehearsal exhausted and depressed, by the end of the night you’ll walk out high as a kite on endorphins and good will.

So how many of us are ashamed of our singing voice? Or have been told to be quiet, or to sit at the back and mime? All clever attacks on the voice, which diminish us from being fully who we are.

Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Ephesians 5:18-19: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…”

We are commanded to sing. When we sing – we are obeying God. We dig deeply in to the Word of God. It dwells in us richly. We build up others, and we glorify God. It couldn’t be better.

Sing! is a series of exercises which is used by singers of all abilities. The exercises build confidence, strength, and explain clearly how to connect to your voice and let it soar.

It comes complete with a download card so you can have all the exercises on your ipad, computer or phone. Each exercise is exampled by two professional West End singers, Michael Rouse and Lizzie Dean. These exercises have been compiled by Paul Knight who has over thirty years experience of releasing voices, specifically the voices of those who believe they cannot sing.

These exercises are gentle, but help place the voice where it should be, and build gradually into a complete workout for the voice and the engine room of the diaphragm.

Each exercise is clearly explained and demonstrated.
Each exercise covers all ranges.

Sing! is available online. In the UK use MusicRoom.com and Amazon.co.uk
In North America use use Boosey.com and Amazon.com

Remember it is good for you to be heard…..Sing!

 

Melodies of Love

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational , , , , , , , , ,

“It’s the time of the season for loving.”  The phrase played over and over in my mind like a broken record, and I had to laugh—who’d ever think the LORD would use the Zombies’ song from the 60s—a song that exemplified the “summer of love”—to croon a message to one of His children.

Often, especially when life seems difficult, the LORD comfort’s me with music; sometimes a whole song and other times just a phrase.  While it may be an old hymn or a contemporary worship song, it’s just as likely to be popular music with no seemingly spiritual message; at least not until He sings it to me.

On one occasion, my life was in turmoil and I awoke to hear selected phrases from two songs.  First, “…angels doing cartwheels in the sky…” set to the music of Freddy Hayler’s, Song of Angels; followed by a lullaby, “…and the living is easy…hush little baby, don’t you cry,” from Gershiwn’s Summertime.  Just God’s way of saying, “Relax, calm down, laugh, be patient,” I guess.

On another morning, He professed His love as I heard His voice, sounding remarkably like Nat King Cole, crooning, “I Remember You; You’re the one who made my dreams come true…You’re the one who said ‘I love you too’…Didn’t you know?”   Who ever knew God is such a romantic?

One night I had a dream in which I was surrounded by a bunch of friendly, soft, cute, furry, little smurf-like creatures in a worship service.  I’d never seen anything quite like them before.  There were all ages—one adult especially seemed to be an old friend, and there were lots of babies; even three sets of triplets.  What fun!  As I awoke I heard, “All creatures of our God and King; lift up your voice and let us sing; Hallelujah, hallelujah.”  Hallelujah Indeed!

Another time, waking from a dream involving cars it was, Baby You Can Drive My Car.  How could I not begin the day laughing with “beep beep’m beep beep yea” echoing through my mind?

Six years ago, as I was battling breast cancer and feeling overwhelmed, it was Let’s Get Away From It All, and I’d soon find a quiet place of rest in my LORD.  Or I’d make it through a difficult day and hear, “There She Goes; there she goes again.”

My Father always keeps his eye on me.  Indeed,

I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.   He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.  The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121)

My response is to sing back to him in praise and thanksgiving, “How great is my God; sing with me; how great is my God; all will see; how great, how great is my God.”

Perfect Harmony

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational , , , , , , , , , ,

For 19 years life had revolved around my son, with me doing all of the usual things that moms do, but now my nest was empty.  Kevin had taken flight and gone off to college, and suddenly life was very different—no more boys draped all over the sofas where they’d finally fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning; no more shopping for enough food to feed an army; no more school activities to attend—it was suddenly very quiet, and my husband and I rattled around in our big, empty house.  Ironically, just a year or so before, Kevin had commented, “Mom, you’d better get a life—I won’t be around forever.”  And he was right, and here I was.

Then my husband saw an ad in a paper inviting women to come and participate in a Christmas music program with the Santa Monica Sweet Adelines.  Knowing how much I enjoy singing he suggested that I go and check it out so I did, and immediately fell in love with the barbershop sound.  Soon I joined the chorus and harmony began filling the empty spots in my schedule.  I had always loved singing in church choirs, and the melodies of the old four-part gospel hymns never failed to bring a thrill deep within my heart that went far beyond words.  Now, with the Sweet Adelines, I was learning vocal techniques that enhanced my voice as it blended with and complimented those around me, and my appreciation of perfect harmony jumped to a new level.

Sweet Adelines regularly compete amongst themselves in quartet and choir contests, always striving to get every aspect of a tune exactly right—word perfect, note perfect, timing perfect—so that the blend of voices singing four different notes comes together in such unity that the music literally sends shivers down your spine.  Every once in a while we would hit that perfect chord and produce a unique sound called an overtone in which a fifth note, sometimes called a fifth voice, is clearly heard.  When this occurred it would not be unusual for us to stand in silence when the song was finished, awestruck by the beauty of the harmony, with tears of emotion flooding our eyes.

One special evening my son was at home and the two of us went to a late night showing of The Lord of the Rings at an IMAX theater.  On the way there I had been trying to explain to Kevin how thrilling the experience of perfect harmony is to me and had demonstrated with a cut from a song on a CD—one that I could play repeatedly and never tire of; but it just didn’t seem to mean much to him.  Later, as we were exiting the theater, Kevin said to me, “Mom, you know how harmony affects you?  Well, that’s the way I feel right now, but it’s the incredible cinematography that touches me that way.”  (No surprise that he’s now a video editor!)

And so I realized that as every person is perfectly and uniquely created by God, so also is He able to speak to each one through different aspects of life; thrilling our souls with nothing less than personalized gifts from God.  When such moments occur I know that my heart is really rejoicing because I have had a taste of His glory, and I recall the words of an old hymn, “All that thrills my soul is Jesus; He is more than life to me…”

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  (John 1:3)