Hello again and thanks for checking in on what’s going on. God continues to bless and amaze. Let me tell you about it.

This summer, a young couple in our church volunteered each Sunday to teach children the meaning of worship. The 3-month session was called All In Worship and not only did they teach the children songs, they taught them the meaning of the songs and the passages in the Bible from where they came. The kids learned to focus on God as they worshiped, to clap along as they sang, and to close their eyes and lift holy hands toward God as well.

I was blessed to be asked to join them in teaching songs and we had a lot of fun together. One thing I taught was that if we, God’s children, don’t worship Him and the one whom He sent, the rocks and hills will. Christ said in Luke 19 when the Pharisees told Him to rebuke His disciples for blessing the king who comes in the name of the Lord, “I tell you…if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

At the end of the session, we gave each child a CD with some of my music so they could play and sing with them when riding in the car with Mom and Dad. I got to know the kids a little and they got to know me. Now we high five in the hall for God!

I had lots of fun at Spirit Midwest last month performing on the first evening with Certainty and it turned out to be a nice night with plenty of music, fellowship with fans and other musicians, good food, and mega amounts of mosquitoes. Ouch! I’m still scratching.

There was a performance at the Granger Praise Fest in Granger, IA , and early in September I played in support of Meals from the Heartland, as thousands of volunteers packaged meals for delivery to starving people around the world.

Plans continue to for the upcoming trip to and performance in the “closed county” I told you about in the last blog. I’m waiting to tell you the name of the place in order to avoid “tipping my hand” to authorities there. Spiritual roadblocks are starting to pop up in a big way, but that just means the evil one is working to thwart what God wants to do in that unreached country.

The spiritual warfare that goes on there reminds me of Frank Peretti’s books This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. Ephesians 6:12 says that our “struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the authorities of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Battles are fought every day against these forces for the souls of those who don’t know Christ. The only way to overcome them is by putting on the full armor of God and through the power of prayer.

The country where I am going is a dark place spiritually, one where the name of Jesus is rarely uttered and where very few experience the joy of knowing Him. This darkness hates The Light that is Jesus Christ. As I prepare to go, please pray for the spiritual and physical protection of the team that will perform with me and that God would use us to shine His Light there. Can’t wait to see what God’s going to do there through the performances.

Until next time, praise God!

Jeff

New dates have been added to the Lee Gibson Calendar.

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The following date has been added to the Jeff Arrandale Calendar.

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Well, the past month and a half has been very busy and exciting for me.

First and foremost, the artwork for my new 3 volume release, The Surprise Trilogy, is finally finished (thanks toErick Anderson!!!!!!!). I will be sending the first album off for duplication in the next couple of week, and hopefully will have an album release party scheduled for late October or November. So, please keep an eye open for that.

I’ve been working on tracks for my next CD project (after the Trilogy). I also finished up tracking for another CD project with some old friends from the Guy Smiley Blues Exchange (Pete Meriwether and Frank Reynolds) as well as other top notch musicians/friend (Scott Hall). I will start overdubs for that next week and hopefully that will be available by the end of the year!! This will be all original songs by the four of us, and it is an interesting mix of prog rock/funk/jazz/fusion/zappa-esq music. I’ve also been working on tracks for several other recording projects for various
people ranging from bluegrass, to big band, to funk, etc. I’ve been very fortunate to get to work on a great variety of really good music lately.

Several new dates have been added to my Calendar, so be sure to check that out!

As always, thanks so much for all of your support!

Chris

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I was asked to play an hour acoustic set at the Eric Hall Memorial Benefit show. It is to benefit vets of the Iraq wars. Eric Hall was a soldier who suffered from mental distress due to his time in the Middle East. Tragically, he committed suicide a few years after returning home. All donations from the show go to a fund to help distressed soldiers.

I will be performing, along with a few other acts, including a really good blues band. The show starts at 4pm, I play around 5pm. More details can be found below.

It’s a restaurant and bar. So, come have some dinner, a drink, and help out a great cause!

- Jon

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Hi all. Jon Harrod here.

I’ve been so busy with life lately that music has been on the back burner, but I’ve put together a new rock band, Third Kind, and I’m really excited about the music. I like to call it indie-alt-country rock. The songs have a lot of energy and the vibe is both moody, yet optimistic at the same time.

Third Kind played our first show at Lisa’s Oak St Lounge in Louisville, KY on June 25. Thanks to those of you who came out to the show. It was a great night of music. Keep an eye out, we’ll be playing more shows this summer.

The band is gearing up to record our first album, we have all the songs ready…I’m hoping to get it done and have an album release show later this year.

We are currently working on the content here on my site with Century Music Group. This site will cover all of my music projects and will be constantly updated to keep you in the loop. We will have lots of new and old music up soon. You can also visit the new band at www.thirdkindmusic.com.

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Thanks!

Jon