GOD’S AWESOME CREATION SPEAKS! – Friday Sept. 22, 2017

REVERBERATIONS  FROM DAVID’S PSALMS

GOD’S AWESOME CREATION SPEAKS!

Psalm 19:1-4  “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

David wrote those amazing lyrics, but God created the glory we see in the sky and the heavens every day.  It doesn’t get clearer than this.  The whole world and every living creature in it sees, or feels or hears about God’s majestic glory every day no matter the earthly condition any of us finds ourselves in.

David, more than any other writer God used to piece together His words for our benefit, talks about the wonders he saw in God’s handiwork.  Maybe it’s because he spent so much of his life in pastures, deserts, hills and mountains and close to rivers  streams and lakes, but whatever his circumstance was, nothing was lost to his senses and emotions and as he was filled up with God’s splendor, his lyrics spilled over into songs and the greatness of the Most High.

These are now our treasure, as they have been for others, for over 3,000 years and the first six verses of this gorgeous Psalm will certainly live on to declare the glory and truth of God’s creation for all generations.

THE CASE OF THE OLYMPIC SKI TEAM PIANIST – Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017

RECOLLECTIONS... OF A CONTINENTAL DIRECTOR

“THE CASE OF THE OLYMPIC SKI TEAM PIANIST”

By Jeff Moore (assistant director on a Bob Griffith tour)

In 1978 my tour traveled to Central and Eastern Europe.  Our pianist was a young man who had spent the previous year training for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team tryouts. Although he had not made the team yet, he still had hopes of qualifying to compete in the 1980 winter Olympic games.  He kept in great shape developing his stamina all through the summer tour by propping his back against any wall he could find and sliding down until he was in a seated position, suspending his hips in the air as if he was sitting down.

Many of our tour members tried this as well hoping to match his stamina.  No one even came close.

As we traveled throughout Eastern Europe we discovered that many of the churches where we were scheduled to perform did not even have a piano.  The keyboard was an integral part of our instrumental section and the choir certainly depended on it.  So in many places, we had to use an organ as a substitute.  Not the perfect instrument for a contemporary musical sound and they were not Hammond B 3’s!  In fact, in one church the only keyboard instrument available was an ancient pump organ which required the player to constantly pump two pedals with his or her feet while playing.  No one who ever traveled with me on my 5 tours could have made it through our 2 hour concert except for one Olympic ski trainee with powerful legs and unbelievable stamina.  Afterwards he wasn’t even tired.  God had placed the Olympic hopeful on our tour knowing we would need him for an important and special concert in communist Eastern Europe where we would have a beautiful time with some folks who needed an evening of true inspiration and a time listening to the freeing gospel message wrapped up in some really great music.

Jeff Moore, toured five times and three as a director.  In addition, because he is one of the finest bass singers in Los Angeles, he sang on Continental albums for over 30 years and was in the recording choir performance at the Continental’s 40^th anniversary concert.

“FAITH IN MOTION” - Monday Sept. 17, 2017

REWIND...THE CONTINENTAL SINGERS OPENING NIGHT

REAHEARSAL CAMP, JUNE 1996

It was a summer to learn about faith.  We had some exciting new faith songs like, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, “Field of Faith”, and we really felt just like our song, “On The Frontline” as we were putting our “Faith In Motion”!

                                   

LET’S PLEASE HIM

I’m a music guy.  I love it.  I believe it can communicate Jesus’ love for people, but for the next few minutes I want to be your teacher, not your producer, and the subject is Faith.

I realize most of you understand the definition of faith as found in the book of Hebrews, the 11^th chapter, referred to as the “Faith” chapter.  The very first verse is the key.  It doesn’t mince words or leave you guessing.  It simply says these powerful words. “Now faith is being SURE of what you hope for”.  There is no wondering or guessing in that.  The word is “sure”.  Faith is being positive of something. It’s certain. Real faith is something we can stand on. But as Christians, how do we get more of it?

This Bible, right here, says that faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the words of Christ. This is clear and it comes from Romans 10:6.  Bottom line for us?  It means Jesus’ words written here in this Bible will build and grow our faith.  But there’s more!  It also says, “and without faith it is impossible to please God”.   Our desire needs to be to please the Lord.  Listen to this - just as Jesus was being baptized and about to start his ministry, like you are tonight, God’s voice boomed down from heaven and said to Him, “You are My son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”  Jesus always did what pleased the Father and He said so in John 8:29,  “The One who sent Me is with Me, for I always do what pleases Him.”  And the result of that was this, “Even as He spoke, many put their trust in Him”.

I am standing here in front of you tonight with this same big desire, I want to please Him.  I want my life to make a difference in this world.  I want it to count for something, and that something is to stand strong for Him and do whatever He wants me to.

Listen to me, the great Apostle Paul said this, “We live by faith, not by sight”.  Like Paul, we don’t always see where we are going either! Actually, you might really get to believe that this summer! Paul added to that, “We make it our goal to please Him”.  Now you know, that’s our goal, too.

The disciple John said this about it, “We receive from Him anything we ask because we do what pleases Him”.  I really want to do that, too, and the result is awesome!  I want to hear a big, “Well Done” from Him when I see Him.  My faith tells me that you do, too!

Jesus was never astounded by someone’s talent.  He was not impressed by wisdom or education, but He was always amazed by one thing - PEOPLE’S FAITH.

That’s how you will please Him this summer, too.  I have faith that:

…..your life will never be the same!

…..Your ministry to people will be effective!

…..Churches will be blessed by your songs!

…..Hundreds of children will get sponsored!

….You will come home all charged up and full of faith!

Amaze Jesus by your faith this summer.

IT WILL PLEASE HIM

And your tour ministry will be blessed and overflowing.

AN ANGEL IN CLUJ - Wednesday Sept. 13, 2017

RECOLLECTIONS OF A COUPLE CONTINENTAL DIRECTORS

Romania circa 1984

“AN ANGEL IN CLUJ”

By Mike Harcrow and Greg Creasy

Assistant Directors at the time

Cluj is a wonderful, musical, Romanian city.  Today, it is where The Romanian Continental Singers office has its national headquarters.  They had 11 tours in 2017, traveling and singing all over the world, sharing Christ in music as we have always done.  This story takes place on a tour to Romania in 1984, 33 years ago.  This was our first time ever in Romania, the country was still under communist control. The group was just arriving from Russia, and under the direction of Jim Schmidt.

The tour had a rough 14-hour train ride from Kiev to Bucharest, complete with a midnight border crossing into Romania.  Our government-assigned tour guide, Iri, met us at the border and immediately informed Jim that he knew who we were and what we intended to do, and that our plans were adjusted in favor of a state-sponsored sightseeing tour.  Through missionary contacts our office had booked many church performances that had just been cancelled without the churches knowing it.  In a hasty leadership meeting, we prayed and asked that God would provide a way to get us to churches, so we could encourage the Romanian believers.

The bus trip out of Bucharest the next day was spent with Jim and Iri arguing about the itinerary.  When we arrived in Cluj about mid-afternoon, a very frustrated Jim pulled Greg and me (Mike) aside and whispered the order that the two of us were to sneak out of the hotel and find us a church for the tour to go to that evening.

Not certain what to do, Greg and I simply asked the desk clerk to call us a taxi that would take us to the nearest Christian church.  He made a call, then handed us a plate number and some written instructions for the driver.  The taxi took us on a long drive across the city to a colorless, dusty residential area.  The driver stopped in front of a building.  There was a large sign above the door and we made out that it said something about Seventh Day Adventists.  The building was dark and the doors were locked.  As we turned to get back into the cab, we were greeted by an immaculately dressed man who said, in accented but flawless English, “You are looking for the Christian Church”. (It didn’t sound like a question.)

Greg and I looked at each other, baffled, but we got back into the cab and he got in as well.  He spoke to the driver in Romanian and within 5 minutes, we pulled up in front of what looked like just ordinary houses.  He spoke to the cabbie and the driver turned off the engine to wait for us. He said to us, with a pleasant smile, “follow me”, and he led us through a narrow passage between buildings, through a spacious courtyard, and up a long, narrow flight of stairs.  He knocked on the door and smiled at us encouragingly.  Soon the door was cautiously opened by a woman who motioned for us to come in.  Greg and I both expected that our well- dressed helper would come in with us, but as we turned to let him go in first, he was gone.  He was not on the long stairway, or in the courtyard below.  He had simply vanished.

Inside, Greg and I met a pastor who, though ill at the time, had heard some weeks before that we were coming from America to help the churches in Romania.  He knew about the secret planning by The Continental Singers office, and that all our contacts in Romania had been thwarted just days before our arrival by messages from the USSR about all we had done in Moscow and Kiev.

The pastor and his wife encouraged us greatly, prayed with us and gave us new contact information for churches on our new government itinerary, many of which we did visit, secretly, later during our “rest hours”, between our imposed stops.  Before we left, Greg thought to ask if either the pastor or his wife had seen the man who was with us when we arrived.  Their response was, “What man?”. “Who was with you?”. “We saw no one.”

One thing I (Greg) remember was that, after we sang at the Baptist church in Bucharest, we showed the pastor our new itinerary. He told us that he would arrange for church organizations to meet the day we were coming so we could sing  along the way.  If there was already a church service under way, Iri would let us sing.  Still it saddened us to know there were packed churches on the original itinerary that would be waiting for us and we were not allowed to get there.

“Are not all angels ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”  Hebrews 1:14

Our ministry in Romania is alive and vibrant today! Here is an encouraging word from the current director of The Romanian Continental Ministry, Joseph Catuna:  

“Hi Cam, I want to tell you of one of the beautiful experiences we had in the 20 years of existence of The Romanian Continental Singers (Just that is amazing!) Not so long ago, I was telling a Continental boy about a girl who wrote to me saying that God changed her life and she became “born again” while listening to a Continental song.  This boy looked at me for a few seconds and said, “I am in the same situation!  A few years ago I listened to the Continental song, ‘I Still Believe,’ and that was the moment God touched me and gained me for Him.”  I cried hearing his words. We have many, many testimonies like this…  THANK YOU, GOD, FOR THE CONTINENTAL SINGERS.”

Iosif Catuna, Continental Ministries, Romania

"YES, LET'S GO!" - Monday Sept. 11, 2017

REWIND, THE CONTINENTAL SINGERS OPENING NIGHT, JUNE 1992

Monday, September 11

“YES, LET’S GO”

OUR 25^TH ANNIVERSARY

You are part of a big family!  In the first 24 years, there have been over 250 tours performing in 25,000 live concerts.  The Continental Singers have performed in all 50 states and close to half of the countries of the world.   

We stand here tonight to glorify the Lord for all of this.  It was always His plan all along, and we are the blessed ones to have had the privilege to “Praise His Name and See It Happen”.

We dreamed big dreams, and we still do.  Keith Wheeler taught us this chorus last week at Director’s Camp, and here are the lyrics:

“I’m gonna dream big dreams,

accomplish great things,

Climb that mountain for God. 

I can do anything through Christ who gives strength to me.

I’m gonna dream big dreams for God.”

THE DREAMS BECAME REALITY.  In the 70’s, we crossed over into Communist Eastern Europe for the first time.  We opened the door to Catholics in Poland, where thousands stood in giant Cathedrals waiting for our groups to arrive.  In 1981, we sent Brent Edwards to Communist Hungary, and the next year, Julia Winterberg went again. After that tour, she made the decision to go back to Hungary and start The Continental Singers ministry there.  The result is sitting in this room, right here tonight, Andras Tornay, the current Director of The Hungarian Continental Singers.  The rest of the early 80’s, we focused on Asia, and started groups in Japan, Korea and Singapore.  In 1985, it was about world hunger, so we joined with World Vision and raised $2,000,000 on our tours for hunger relief in Ethiopia.  At the finale concert that year, people pledged $180,000 to buy two delivery trucks that would get the food from the ships to the people.  In 1986, we partnered with The Jesus Film Project with Campus Crusade for Christ.  Along with our music, we took The Jesus Film to people groups everywhere who had never even heard the name of Jesus.

Then, in these 90’s, has come The New Zealand and Chilean Continental Singers, and last summer, 400 young people in Russia auditioned for a future Continental group there, if that government will allow it.

Yes, we dreamed big dreams for God.  And tonight, you are the result of our dreams this year.  This concert you are learning will be sung in eight languages, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Spanish, and English.  You are the English version!

Our challenge is to follow the command the Lord gave to the prophet Jeremiah, who actually felt like he wasn’t ready for the task God laid out before him.  He said, “I do not know how to speak, I am only a child”.  Maybe you feel the same way, not quite ready, musically inadequate, worrying about your part in the concert or concerned about the movement.  Remember, music is still the language of the youth worldwide. And God said to all of us in Jeremiah 1:7-8, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’  You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid, for I am with you, declares the Lord.” 

I say to that ok, “Yes, let’s get going”.  It will be tough going sometimes this summer for sure, but hang on to God’s promise and it will be the greatest spiritual challenge and success of your life.

Everyone grab someone’s hand right now.  OK, we just want to bless you and dedicate you tonight for this tour.  You are valuable to me, to us on the staff, and to the Lord.  You were chosen because you are more than good, you are really talented.  You will be exceptional and successful beyond your own biggest dreams.  Our commitment to you is this, we will pray over you this summer, so that you will reach people everywhere with the message that Jesus Christ can change people’s lives.  We will also pray for your safety, so that when we meet in Denver for the 25^th Anniversary Finale, you will be well and full of the Lord’s blessing.

NOW… YES, LET’S GO!

We had a huge finale concert in Denver at the end of that summer, 1992.  Jim Chaffee and his staff did a super job of promoting and 6,000 people enjoyed a fantastic evening of music with Sandi Patty, Wayne Watson, Scott Wesley Brown, and Don Francisco, each performing their biggest songs, backed up by all of The Continental Singers and Orchestra.

KEEP ME AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE - Friday Sept. 8, 2017

REVERBERATIONS  FROM DAVID’S PSALMS

“KEEP ME AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE” 

 Friday, September 8

Psalm 17:  “I call on You, O God, for You will answer me…Show the wonder of Your great love.” (v.6-7)

 

 A PRAYER OF DAVID

This is one of the most beautiful prayers ever written and for sure it was one from David’s youth.  It was certainly before he was king and before some proudful personal decisions resulted in some terrible personal disasters.

No, this is a youthful David who prayed one night, “Though You probe my heart and examine me at night, though You test me, You will find nothing”. (v.3) Here for sure is a young man sitting at God’s round table!  Full of integrity!  Falsely accused. Trusting God to save him because he believes he is doing everything right.

There was a time when David and his band of renegades were basically surrounded (he says that in v.11).  They were going around a mountain. Saul and his 3,000 were coming from the other side.  Had God not intervened, and had Saul not called off the hunt to rush back to fight a sudden Philistine uprising, he would have caught up with David for sure.

But here, David reminded the Lord, “My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped”. (v.5) Then, he goes on adding how bad his enemies really were with phrases like, “The wicked who assail me…”, “They close up their callous hearts…”, “My mortal enemies…”, “Like a lion hungry for prey, crouching in cover”, “Whose mouths speak with arrogance…”, “They have tracked me down and now surround me”.  Whew, he was not pleased with his circumstances at all, but he still has a good, positive ending to his prayer.  “When I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness.”

David always believed God heard him, would eventually answer, and he would get to see God’s greatness in His creation another day.  And for us, whether the answer is the one we want or not, with some patience like David had, in His time God will also answer our prayers.

RECOLLECTIONS

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

“ON HITLER’S STAGE…”

By Ken Waggoner, Continentals Singers Director

When we grew from one group to three in l968, Ken Waggoner was one of the three Directors.  He and his wife, Nancy, had a great Continental career and spent much of their adult life in leadership on the road and as part of the office team in Southern California.

JUST PRODUCING MY ASSETS

In 1970, the city of Berlin was still deep inside Communist East Germany.  It was a bit surreal for our Continental Singers group to consider our surroundings as we flew into historic Tempelhof airport to perform a Christian concert.  The slightly out of place feeling only deepened when we saw our concert venue: a large outdoor amphitheater that had been built in the 1930’s and was the site of some of Adolf Hitler’s dramatic, hysteria-inducing speeches which must still be echoing somewhere all around us.

The stage was massive—our large 40-member group actually shrank in size and looked very small up there!  At the back of the stage stood a tall granite slab, probably 40 feet tall and partway up that slab, a few feet above the main stage, a small platform jutted out. 

I COULD SEE HIM STANDING THERE IN MY MIND….THE LITTLE MUSTACHE UNDER HIS NOSE FLINCHING WITH EACH MESMERIZING GESTURE, THE AUDIENCE BEYOND AT ATTENTION WAITING TO BURST OUT IN CRAZIED APPLAUSE.   

There was also an entrance just behind for him to make his appearance at just the right time!  It occurred to me that the platform was also just about the right size to fit our drummer’s set!

Our drummer that year was a gregarious teenager named Lynn Coulter.  By nature, he was a “flash and dash” kind of guy.  He was incredibly creative and-given the chance- could dazzle an audience.  Of course, he didn’t get that chance very often because he was the drummer. He had to keep himself in check most of the time so our audiences would have a chance to hear the vocal group in those overly acoustic church buildings!

But, I thought this might be the perfect time to let him loose.  There was a place in the middle of one of our up-tempo songs I decided would be a great spot for a drum solo.  So, I told him when he got to that spot to just “go for it and see what happens”.

He did!  It was probably 3 minutes long (the song was probably only 4) and after 50 years, maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I sure remember the audience reaction.  As soon as both sticks came crashing down on that last drum for his dramatic ending, they went crazy! They were on their feet whistling and yelling, and the applause went on and on and on for at least as long as his drum solo had lasted.  Lynn stood tall and was all smiles… me, too… a moment of exhilaration and real pleasure.

Cam always told the Directors to “produce your assets”.  In other words, if you’ve got someone on your tour who has a special talent, USE IT!   Find a way to let your audience enjoy them by adding some extra excitement to the concert program experience.  That was one night we did exactly that!


Ken Waggoner, Continentals Singers Director

• Tour participant:  1963 – ‘65
• Directed CS tours:   1968 – 1977
• Worked in the CS office:  1974 – 1987
• Have lived in Colorado Springs since 1991
• Currently semi-retired, working part time (IT-related)
• Enjoying singing in a great church choir