A Shout Of Faith

Hab 3:17-19 "Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, {though} the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, 18. Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19. The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' {feet,} and makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments."

I will lift up my voice to you O Lord because I know You are. Each day that passes gives me assurance of Your existence and sovereignty over all that is. Though man tries in his vanity to prove You are not, Your presence embraces my heart in ways nothing else can. For now, that is sufficient for me, and when it is not, I will inquire of You that I might know.(Isa. 55:8-9) For I know that You are a God who is not opposed to Your children's uncertainty. As glorious and wonderful that You are, You understand our insufficiency and lack of understanding.(Mark 9:23-24) Who is like You O Lord?

"Lord teach me to know my own frailty that I might daily depend on Your sufficiency" GR

Trumpets in Jazz

The trumpet remains for me the best instrument in the world. Couple it together with the best genre in music, jazz, and you have yourself a winner. I have to say that I have been blessed in my life to pick up this wonderful instrument. I dare say that there is no other instrument that is so satisfying to play or even listen to. Jazz trumpets have always been my favourite. My childhood friend introduced me to a recording featuring Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine in concert. When I heard Hubbard play Gibraltar, I was shocked thinking, "I didn't know anyone could play the trumpet like that." It didn't take me long to scan the record market to discover new trumpeters and horn sections. My first exposure to a good horn section was Chicago X. I heard the horns on this album and was hooked. Later I was introduced to Tower of Power. I have been hooked on the brass styles of these two bands for as long as I can remember. When I was in Porland Oregon, Tower of Power had a live show at the zoo. Needless to say I went but only to find out that it was packed and they were not letting anyone in. Chicago used to visit Salem but on my student budget, I couldn't afford to go. DRAT !!!. However, in 1999 I had the priviledge of watching one of my jazz trumpet favourites, Chuck Mangione in Portland's Crystal Ballroom. When my friend and fellow trumpet player Ramli introduced me to Chuck Mangione in the 70s, I went out and bought a flugelhorn. So to watch him live was a treat for me. What was great was that I managed to get a picture with him, and also his autograph on my CDs.

This concert was great as it featured his original band as well. James Bradley Jr. on drums, Grant Geisman on guitar, Charles Meeks on bass and Gary Niewood on woodwinds(instead of Chris Vadalla). That's me and the 'Hat' in the picture. What can I say? It Feels so Good.

I followed Chuck's career quite closely for many years listening to many of his recordings. I have to say that his live album at Hollywood Bowl, "An Evening of Magic" is one of the best instrumental live albums I have ever heard. Lately I have not heard much of his music. I do hope and pray that God will give him inspiration again to compose as he did before. In my relentless search for new trumpet players, I stumbled upon one trumpeter whose sound and technique I have come to love. He is none other than Eddie Henderson. I first heard him on the Lee Morgan tribute album. I then went out and bought two of his other CDs, Inspiration and Dark Shadows. Eddie Henderson has one of the smoothest tones. He exhibits this when he plays as a sideman on Herbie Hancock's "Live at Jazz Central" concert. When the Mingus bigband came to Kuala Lumpur, I was pleasently surprised to see him in the trumpet section.

Thats me and Doc Henderson after the concert at the Malaysian Philharmonic. He obliged me with a picture and also his autograph on my CDs. I thank God that I have had the opportunity of seeing these men play live. I do regret that I never had a chance to see Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis or Chet Baker in concert.

For those of you aspiring jazz trumpet players, my advise to you is to apply yourself daily to good practice of your instrument and also to listen to a lot of trumpet music played by the greats. If Wynton Marsalis or Eddie Henderson or other great trumpet players visit your town, pay the cost and go watch them. It builds your interest and motivates you to excel.

If I could list three great trumpet Cds I think you should listen to, they would be,

Dizzy Gillespie

Compact Jazz

Chet Baker

in Milan

Dream Sessions

The All Stars play

Miles Davis

Listen and learn. "He who walks with wise men will be wise................" Proverbs 13:20 GR.

Joy of Our Desire

Phil 3:8. " What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ"

Paul in this verse was contrasting his former life as a Pharisee and a scholar with the present advantage of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. He states that he had suffered the loss of all things that he might gain Christ. In this day and age of our's we have forgotten what it means to pursue after Christ. We tend to think that He is there for us and so we cling to Him for the purpose of gaining all things we desire or think we deserve in our relationship with Him. In reality, Jesus did suffer the loss of all things for us (Phil. 2:5-8). So isn't it time for us to humble ourselves as He did so that we might gain nothing but Christ? Human nature is such that we gripe and complain for the one thing that we don't have. It does not matter if we have a whole lot of other things. It does not matter if we have been blessed in so many other ways. We struggle with God when we don't have the one thing that we can't seem to get. Perhaps its a love relationship, a child, financial freedom, a better job or position in life, recognition, privacy. Don't get me wrong . God is not opposed to blessing us with our needs and desires ( Matt 6:32). The question is this. Are we in it for the blessing or would we love and serve and revere Him as God even if we don't receive certain blessings that we long for? Are we willing to suffer the loss of relationships, wealth, recognition, comfort, financial freedom and position, if that is what He wants? It's going to be really difficult because we as human beings have feelings and needs but most of all we don't see God's full purpose. This is where we rely on the grace of God. When we look in faith to His grace, we need to know first who He is. Is He dependable? Will He give us things that we don't like or will He bless us with our heart's desire? It is His desire to bless us, but we must be willing to lose everything to find Him because in Him are all things, (Col. 1:17) and He is the joy of our desire.

" I am Thine O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to Thee. Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou has died. Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side" Fanny J. Crosby.

What we do matters

Phil 1:27-30 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;30 Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.(KJV)


This is a loving yet firm piece of advise given to the church at Philippi by the beloved Apostle Paul. As Philippians is often reffered to as the epistle of joy, it is evident that that joy is made manifest only through the radical lifestyle that is lived by those who bear the name of Christ. The word conversation used here is appropriate as it is in our conversation that our life is made manifest. We are reminded in the gospels how the Lord said "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."Matt 12:34. Then He went on to say in Matt 12:37 "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

In our day and age we are faced with persecution of a different sort. Technology, fossil evidence and humanism have continued to bombard the world with doubts in regards to faith in Christ, creation and God's order for man. It has, as in the French Revolution, replaced the Cross with the goddess of reason on the altar of worship. The faithful are constantly pressed in with insults and mockery for our belief in morality(good conversation) and holiness. Movies that once tested the waters with soft vulgarity like Clark Gable's statement on the movie Gone with the Wind, "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn", now come out fully in the open with all manners of vulgarity both verbal and physical. The difference today (which I find more dangerous) is that these liberties are not liberties but accepted norms. Needless to say, its easy with such bombardment for some of us (if not all of us) to cave in and find a middle ground to accept the lesser evils and reject the greater. However like the frog in the boiling pot, eventually the greater evils become lesser and continue to do so until we find our entire being (esp. spiritual) altered where we look and converse no different from the world.

God give us a love so deep for You that our conversation will be ordered because of that and not because of some religious rule. Burn a fire deep in our heart and open our eyes to the needs of a dying world that our conversation before them would give them the hope that comes from the Cross and Ressurection of our Lord, the hope and peace of the world. For what You say is truth. GR