One Step At A Time

Every year, the YMCA hosts a stair climb fundraiser at the US Bank building in downtown Los Angeles. The US Bank is the tallest building in the U.S., west of the Mississippi River. Scaling the 75-stories, 1500 stairs to the rooftop, requires much discipline, endurance and perseverance to complete. Months before, many people will train with teams and adjust their schedules to try to complete the stair climb in record time. A man holds the current record of reaching the top of the building in less than 10 minutes!

I heard of the stair climb a week before the competition. I have never been in a marathon before, and I do not consider myself to be very athletic. However, this stair climb was symbolic to me in so many ways. At the time, many areas in my life were at a standstill. I was praying, regularly attending church, and reading the Bible daily. However, the more I saw God move in the lives of others, the more emptiness and stagnation I felt in my life. God reminded me that I will find Him if I seek Him with all my heart and with all my soul (Deut. 4:29). So, with less than five days before the event, I took my mind off my desires and communed with God to take on this task.

The day of the stair climb, several participants shared with me their experiences of how they prepared for the competition. An older gentleman proudly acknowledged that he finished a previous stair climb in 20 minutes, while a younger adult stated that it took him quite longer. As I approached the starting gate, I came across other participants. Several told me their partners backed out at the last minute. One lady looked around for her friend, who was a no-show. Many of my friends thought I was courageous, some could not imagine taking on the stair climb, others stated, “What’s the purpose? Just write a check to the YMCA, and call it a day.” I laughed, but knew God led me to this place.

As I entered the US Bank building, I was super pumped. Several levels in, I got slightly distracted by what others were doing. So, I began to hop several stairs at a time, as well. I was making progress, but then, fatigue started to set in. By the 20th level, my body started to feel like jelly. At the 35th level, I didn’t stop at the water station, because I had to keep up with the others. Remember, I’m in a race. However, I would pay for that decision later on. By the 45th level, my body begged me to quit. Those that started with me either fell behind, while some pressed ahead. At the 50th level, I stopped. At that time, the symbolism hit me. I was reminded by God, that I need to stop rushing through life, and appreciate every moment, step by step. With those words held dear to my heart, I continued the stair climb, one step at a time.

By the grace of God, I completed the stair climb of the US Bank building in 30 minutes. I wholeheartedly agreed with Paul, “I fought a good fight, I finished the race, and I kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). At the rooftop, I was mixed with emotions. Clarity started to sink in. This stair climb could resemble my Christian walk, career, school, relationships, health, or anything that I may be trying to rush through. After catching my breath, I walked away from the competition with a better understanding of the phrase “for the race is not given to the swift, nor the strong, but s/he who endures until the end.”

Like everyone else, my steps are ordered. In life, God may tell each one of us to stop, catch our breath, slow down or pick up the pace. A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps (Prov. 19:9). We may not break any records, but the goal is to complete the race with God, one step at a time!

 

More Than Conquerors

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long;we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:31-39

I have come to the realization I have been hiding behind my kids. It is easy to write about ones kids because they provide so much material that teaches or reminds one of God’s love and care towards us. On a daily basis they provide me with lessons about how God our father interacts with us, protects us, and desires for us to love Him. None the less writing devotionals about my kids allows me not to have to write devotionals about myself and my relationship with God.

I often imagine a world where going to church would not be social reinforcing. Where going to church would actually be dangerous, would I continue to go? I sometimes think what if something unforeseen and negative happened to my family, would I still believe? What if I am financially ruined would I still pay tithe? Am I at the point in my life where I can trust no matter what? Being a Christian in today’s world for the most part is self reinforcing. The church experience is comfortable, provides a wonderful place to raise a family, wonderful safe people to have as your friends, a non-threatening environment, great food, great music, and so on. The wider mainstream Christian community is seen as solid, progressive, and safe. But what if things changed? Will they change? Maybe I’m too mainstream and my words and actions have not become what Christ would want and therefore I have not incurred the wrath suffered by of the one who speaks truth. I have a family and kids so thanks but no thanks I’m fine with the routine.

God needs truth seekers — he needs truth speakers. Do I have a relationship with God strong enough to speak the truth and trust Him to handle the fall out? What is the truth that needs to be spoken right now? Is it keep the Sabbath, deny oneself, stop having premarital sex, love your enemy, eat organic, stop being homosexual, stop listening to secular music, don’t have an abortion, help the homeless and drug addict? What is the truth that needs to be spoken right now? Jesus is coming soon, soon, very soon? I’m in full-on mid life crisis — maybe the truth needs to be spoken by a young person that has nothing to lose or an old person that has nothing to gain?

As for me….let me keep working, providing for my family, going to church and when I need you to rescue me from a situation, I promise I’ll call on You.

 

The Blind Spot

I came across an optical illusion online that illustrates how we can become blind to real objects under certain conditions. The directions tell you to fix your gaze on the flashing dot in the center of the screen, while the static yellow dots and grid rotate around it. As you stare at the center circle, you’ll notice the yellow dots “disappear” one at a time, in pairs, or all together. The success of the illusion depends on how well you’re able to fix your gaze on the center dot. In reality, the yellow dots are always presents – they’re just not visible to you.

My friends and I fasted and read through Hebews a couple of weeks ago. Each of us was fasting for a difference reason but we were all looking for the same outcome; to experience deliverance from the things that had been causing us to feel afraid, frustrated, anxious, discouraged and spent. The source of my frustration is the state of my business. Things have been painfully slow. With every passing week, as things get tighter and tighter, I grow more and more anxious. I sleep less. I worry more. People say, “Don’t give up. Just keep doing what you’re doing! You’re [insert superlative] and your hard work will definitely pay off!” That sounds great but I have bills, yo, and tenacity doesn’t keep the lights on. Money does.

I needed to recalibrate my system. Whether or not things resolve themselves quickly or if I have to pound the pavement for a little while longer, I need to endure this experience differently. I need sleep. I need rest. I need confidence that these promises are my truth:

• Commit your ways to the Lord; trust him, and he will act. (Psalms 37:5)
• Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
• Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you. (Psalms 55:22)
• Trust in Him at all times…pour your hearts out to Him for He is our refuge. (Psalms 62:8)
• Commit your ways to the Lord and whatever you do your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3)

I slowly worked my way through Hebrews chapters 1-4 and was struck by a few things revealed in Chapter 3.

You know the backstory. After 400 years of bondage, God delivered the Israelites from slavery. He’d promised to take them to a fruitful land that would supply all of their needs. The large caravan of people enthusiastically followed God into the desert expecting to reach Canaan relatively quickly. But things got off to a rocky start. God didn’t appear to have any plans to provide for their needs. Almost immediately the Isrealites questioned God’s judgement, his plans, his ability to provide, and his desire to see them thrive. In Hebrews chapter 3 the Bible says the Israelites sinned against God when they doubted His love (v.9 and 13) and questioned His care even though they’d seen Him do many mighty things on their behalf (v.16). Their sin was doubt, and because of this they forfeited their blessing (v.11).

Sin is that which separates us from our Creator. God isn’t grieved when we sin because he’s a meanie. He hates sin because it puts distance between us and him. It limits what he can do for us. It keeps us from having the peace that is beyond all understanding (and mounting bills, and hateful children, and unfaithful spouses, and unemployment, and illness, and you get my point).

Trusting God means fixing your gaze on Him and focusing on His promises to the exclusion everything else. It doesn’t mean neglecting your responsibilities. It means keeping your heart and mind committed to what He says is true when everything around you suggests otherwise. After you’ve done all you can and your circumstances remain unchanged, it means going to bed without anxiety because you know he’s still got things under control.

Back to the optical illusion. Instead of making your stress the center of your focus so that you become blind to the reasons to believe, put God at the center. If you’re going to become blind to anything, become blind to the reasons to doubt.

Focus, Jasmine.

Go >> HERE << and click the Motion Induced Blindness link to try the optical illusion for yourself.

 

The Break Up

The process was slow and painful, and I knew that I was the one that was pulling away. Over days and weeks and months I started packing up my feelings, and carefully started building walls around my heart to prevent any further disappointment. Like so many times before, the frustration, the disillusionment, my inability to understand and control what was happening had me looking at the front door. Here I was breaking up. Again.

Before I knew anything about trying to keep a relationship together, I knew the many ways they could break up. As a kid, I had probably seen every type of break up imaginable play out in the hallways of our household. I even had most of them categorized. There was the Slow Boat to Oblivion, the Amicable Separation of Ways and Means, the Departed, and the Blow-Up (this one usually resulted in a patrol car making a visit). Even as a child I realized that truly opening your heart will leave you extremely vulnerable in many ways. Early on I understood that the hurt and pain from relationship misunderstandings can turn your splendid love song into a jumbled mess of sour notes. So, here I was breaking up again.

The anatomy of the break up was familiar, but the circumstances and the nature of this particular relationship made it very devastating for me. We had been in love for a very long time, but there had been a drastic change in how I was experiencing our connection. Everything started to look upside down. Where I wanted answers, I only heard silence. Where I wanted protection for my feelings, I felt like I was being abused. Where I articulated the needs that were important to me, it appeared that my needs were being ignored. I finally stopped communicating. No more crying, no more talking. I was done! If love and hate are two sides of the same coin, I hoped that my extreme indifference would finally allow me to step outside of my raw feelings and see this partnership for what it truly was. Maybe, I had not really been in a true relationship at all. It’s quite possible that I constructed this whole love affair in my mind, because I so desperately wanted to be loved and wanted. I mean seriously, who would have wanted me as I was anyhow, especially after all that I had done and the places I had been? Was I even in love? Or, was I just in love with the idea of being lavishly loved on and the promise of an abundant life? My mind was playing tricks on me now turning everything I thought was true on its head. As I ruminated over all of these questions and more, I started out of the door. I was breaking up again.

Before I can go on with the story I have to tell you that what I am describing to you is how I tried to break-up with God. I wish I could tell you that this was all just the ranting and raving of an impetuous young person, but this happened for me fairly recently and I am far from a youngster. This was the point of my life where I had to stop chanting and repeating the affirmations of some of my true believing friends and be honest with God about what was going on in my heart. As ashamed as I am to admit it…I really wanted to end the relationship that seems to hurt more than help.

The turning point happened one morning I laid in bed. I had stopped talking to God and didn’t even want to think about anything that might cause me to get false hopes about the good things that I desired. I was just going to bear down, take whatever life gave me and not blame God because we weren’t talking anyway. As I lay there with my thoughts, my mind turned to my daughters lying in their bedroom sleeping peacefully, I felt an overwhelming, deep sense of appreciation that they were alive and safe and had made it through the night into another day. Laying there in bed I knew that I had nothing to do with keeping them alive. I had so much appreciation in my heart I wanted to thank God, but I remembered I wasn’t talking to Him anymore.

Just then I had to laugh at myself. This whole exercise was absurd. I couldn’t stop talking to God anymore than the waves of the sea can stop talking to the shore. I can’t even get out of bed in the morning without acknowledging that a higher power made it possible for me and my family to see a new day. My heart is bound to the maker of all creation and while I may not understand all of the twists and turns that my life may take, I know that the idea of me breaking-up with God is pretty much folly. What kind of love is this? Where my first instinct may be to plot my escape from situations that I can’t control and manipulate to my advantage, God’s first instinct is to love me back to him over and over again. How could I ever escape that?

 

He’s Got The Power

There are only 4 records in scripture where Jesus came into contact with a funeral. It was never recorded that He actually attended a funeral, because I believe His earthly presence was much too powerful for any dead thing to exist around Him. Think about Jairus’ daughter: she was already dead and by the word of His mouth raised her up (see Mark 5:35-43). What about the widow’s son? He was a young man, providing for his mother. He had been dead long enough to be prepared for his the funeral but not yet buried, and Jesus revived him. And let’s not forget Lazarus. He had been dead four days, but when Jesus called him specifically name, he came walking out of the grave. Notice I said specifically. I think had he simply called the name “Lazarus,” every dead Lazarus would’ve gotten up from their graves!

Most magnificently, after being dead for three days Jesus, by the power of God that dwelt in Him, raised Himself up. We all know that our Lord is a miracle worker by every account but in my opinion, the greatest of these is when He would raise the dead. Dead things simply cannot remain dead in the powerful presence of the Lord.

Because we all experience barren periods, we sometimes forget how powerful God is. These times are not meant to last. These seasons are meant to draw us closer to Him, so that we may understand the power of His Resurrection.

What is dead in your life today? Dreams? Desires? Finances? Relationships? Do you have sickness, fear, worry, or heartache? Then I admonish you to remember Resurrection power that Jesus has! Whatever your dead thing is, our Lord can raise it up. When we fully submit ourselves to Him we are always renewed. Now, keep in mind there are some things that may have to die (even when we don’t want them to) because God has something so much better in store. I assure you that you will never be “left for dead” as far as Jesus is concerned.

Forget the pity party and have a praise party. Get into His presence and let Him raise, refresh, replenish, revive, and resurrect your dead places and you! Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

Scripture reference: Psalm 118:16-18

 

Camera Ready

It’s happened to me enough times; while getting ready to go out, maybe to dinner, an event or to meet up with friends, I’m looking in the mirror thinking to myself “I look super fly.” I’m fresh faced, nice outfit on, ready to go. I get to where I’m going and I’m posing with my friends for the photo op. A week later the pictures are on Facebook and I’m thinking “Whoa, I look a hot mess. My face looks fat! I look preggy! That’s my bad side!” What happened?” Without a doubt, the consensus was that I was looking fly at the meeting but the camera just failed to capture it!

A picture can say a thousand words and a camera can capture a thousand flaws, real and unreal. Why? A camera simply does not have the capacity and intelligence of the human eye. Superior to the camera, a human eye is able to capture raw beauty in ways the lens cannot comprehend. The human eye is able to discern dimensions, colors and depths that are not articulated through a pixel. A human eye can account for the disposition of the object beheld and attribute it the object’s attractiveness and beauty that a camera simply cannot.

We may be at a point in our lives where we’ve begun to see breakthroughs in our spiritual walk and our journey with God grows more secure. We may be learning an improved formula for living a Godly lifestyle. We may be feeling “super spiritually fly and fabulous.” But at any part of the journey, there will be times where you may find your spiritual walk’s picture being taken by something or someone. Every so often when you get the frame back or it’s posted to your Facebook wall, you start questioning because someone’s eyes snapped an unflattering picture of your sanctification process.

Because we’re on sinful earth, we will constantly be placed in these arenas which expose us to the conflicts and opinions of mankind that may capture us in bad lighting. Perhaps someone may criticize your worship experience with God; a friend gives you advice on something contrary to what God was telling you all along; maybe a difficult conflict or situation leaves you feeling less than stellar. These are all examples of unflattering frames. It’s important to recognize when these things can be distractions that purposely throw a monkey wrench in our walk with our Savior. The key is to keep focused on perfecting yourself in God’s eyes while letting Him pace your growth. Remember the walk toward sanctification a personal one. He is the potter, you are the clay. If you allow people and situations to have authority over the pace and direction of your salvation, essentially you are allowing those entities to become co-potters of you, the clay.

Don’t be distracted by man’s snap shots; look to the Lord God for His framing. Be encouraged in knowing that just as the camera’s lens is inferior to a human eye, the human eye is inferior to God’s eye.

“…For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” I Samuel 16:7

Mankind will snap an unflattering shot of you because we all lack foresight and accurate perception. On the other hand, God is omniscient and can see your past, present and future purpose, and will capture a beautiful portrait of you from His view of your potential. Mankind’s eye does not have the intelligence and capacity of God’s eyes.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8 and 9

God’s eye is the perfected, refining eye that wants to mold us. He has an individual road map and a plan for each of us because He knows our purpose and abilities. If we focus on posing solely for God’s eyes while continuously seeking His counsel, He can manifest the impossible within us.

 

 

Stop and Go

“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.” Romans 7:19

I once heard a man say, “I thought I was making love to my girl and in reality I was showing my a** to God.” Is that a figurative and literal picture or what? We have become a culture of rationalizers. Most of what we do that we ought not do is easily excused, explained and rationalized away. For example, many people say homosexuality is wrong while they actively embrace the practice of fornication. They rationalize that at least what they’re doing is “normal” and therefore not as egregious of a sin as those who practice homosexuality. They dismiss it as peccadillo vs. abomination. How they manage to pick out the micro-splinters out of other’s eyes while redwood logs are lodged in their eyes is beyond me.

Real talk – sexual indiscretions are among the most cherished. Anyone who has crossed the flesh threshold will likely tell those who haven’t that once you go there, going back is like trying to swim against Niagara Falls. Like Paul said, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.” I hear you, Paul. I’ve gone down the celibate road a time or two in my life. Studies seem to suggest that around one percent of the population is asexual. That means 99% of us have bodies that crave physical and/or sexual connection. This is for singles AND married,

Christian, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Muslim…you get it. Now, I’m not naïve; I am well aware that scales do not miraculously appear over the eyes of the married. Y’all struggle too. But at LEAST y’all have the marriage bed to fall back on/into.

I’ve had this discussion with friends, family, and clergy. What are those of us who yet remain single with healthy sexuality and sexual desires supposed to do? The desire for physical connection is at times relentless. Look, the Creator gifted us with this desire. One thing I’ve learned from this gift is how quickly it can spiral into an all consuming force. I’ve shared with you that as a child, I was the victim of sexual abuse. This act created a gaping chasm that for a long time I sought to fill via the same means by which it was created. The collateral from that abuse was the early igniting of sexual desire WAY before I had the emotional and spiritual maturity to navigate the minefield. Thankfully, the Lord has been able to guide me out of that field. Since then, my missteps have been all my own. While I am not subjugated to my fleshly desires, I DO struggle. In my opinion, the struggle is guaranteed, but being subjugated is a choice. I may fall, I may stumble, but I don’t have to wallow in it like a pig in slop. Spirituality and Sex on Kyria.com states, “Although sex is physical, it’s an emotional connection of souls, and it is a spiritual act. Every single act of sexual intercourse is an act of worship. The question is who is being worshiped? Who is being glorified through this act? Is it glorifying God or is it glorifying the enemy? You cannot engage in a sexual act and not have it connect to the spiritual realm. It’s impossible.” I don’t know if this is how you interpret that, but here’s how I see it: If there is no God in the act, yet one is still “worshipping” something, then in fact the act is idolatry. This flies in the face of the FIRST commandment. Whether you are idolizing your desires, your boyfriend, girlfriend, you are not putting God, the Alpha and Omega, The Creator, The Great I am, before what you want.

As Christians, our journey is one of discipline and self denial. The flesh struggle is often ground zero of this journey. So what do you do? What do I do? I make a concerted effort to stay away from music (that’s right, MUSIC), things, people and places that place me smack dab in the center of the minefield. If/when I stumble, I add distance to my journey to wholeness…two steps forward and two steps back.

Thankfully, His grace is sufficient in spite of my stumbles and downright concerted forward march into situations. Many of us who are single do not see how a lack of discipline now can result in indiscretions when married. It’s about habits. When they are formed they are HARD to break. If you regularly rationalize your bad decisions, when things get hectic you will once again rationalize. We’ve all heard that marriage is not for the fainthearted and quite often things can and will get hectic.

It runs counter to logic, but STOP. It’s the only way to get where you want to go.

 

Daddy, You Promised

I tell my kids to remember to make up your bed, pick up your clothes, put your toys away, wash your hands, wipe after using the bathroom, stop hitting each other, sit still, eat your food, and say “Yes Daddy” instead of “What?”

Inevitably, they always forget.

However, if I dare mention to my kids that I’m going to take them out to yogurt, that I’m coming down to the playroom to play, that we can go to the park after we eat, tell they they can watch a particular movie, I better come through your else I get:

• “Daddy remember….”

• “Daddy you said…”

• “Daddy you promised…”

• “Daddy I though you said…”

This can actually come hours to days after I made the promised statement. I am often amazed at how well they remember. Sometimes it can be annoying because I not only feel bad for failing to do the promised thing but I also wonder why can they can’t seem to remember the things I tell them to do. Usually I just smile because I am being held accountable and when they remember it actually shows that they have listened intently to my promises.

After his adultery with Bathsheeba, David (Psalm 51) is in a state of utter disgust with his actions and the effect they had on his family. He got himself in this predicament and his only recourse it to appeal to God’s promises. Really, all he can say is: “God remember you said…” and “Father you promised….”

We say, “Father, you said…” and “Father, you promised.” And He reminds us that He never forgets.

 

Open Your Mouth

Almost 2 years ago while asking God to help me learn to pray I heard Him say, “Open your mouth.” Taking this literally, I made it a practice to speak out loud during my personal prayer time. Soon, there were less distractions while talking to God and it was easier to focus on Him. When it was time to pray out loud in groups, there was a new level of comfort. For a long time I thought this was all God meant. It certainly seemed to be drawing me closer to Him and engaging me on a deeper level with fellow Christians. The Psalmist even wrote about audible personal prayer in Psalm 5:3, which reads, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.”

Then one day a deeper meaning was revealed. A friend of mine is madly in love with a man who does not seem to reciprocate that love. Over many weeks and countless hours she had been describing all of the ins and outs, ups and downs and in betweens of their interactions and what God has been doing in regards to that potential relationship. I mostly listened and chimed in occasionally. After quite a while I began thinking to myself, “This person is so obsessed with this man and talking about him that I never get to tell her what’s going on in my life.” At first, I rebuked this thought as childish and selfish but then noticed my love toward her and compassion for her situation growing cold. “Open your mouth” came to mind again. After praying about it during one of our marathon conversations, I told her how I felt. She very graciously and wisely took the criticism constructively. She encouraged me to say what is in my heart since God may be working on that very thing in a person’s life and may use my words as a catalyst. Ephesians 4:25 states,”Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.”

I have long had an issue with thinking critical and judgmental thoughts. Viewing this as bad/evil/sinful, I shy away from expressing anything but positive thoughts. “Open your mouth,” when taken to the fullest extent, is one of the most challenging and frightening things I can imagine. There is a fear that people won’t like me if I tell them what I really think. Even worse, God will judge me based on my words. Jesus says in Matthew 12:36-37, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Freedom from this fear and a renewed trust in the character and goodness of God came only recently when I looked at those verses from a fresh perspective. “By your words you will be justified” is the promise God speaks over all of those who have the indwelling Spirit of God. With a redeemed spirit that is continually being transformed, we may be pleasantly surprised with what God is now working into our hearts. By trusting God in this and beginning to open my mouth, I hear words that are less critical and judgmental than I feared. I hear more humility along with my honesty. When things are hard to say, I pray before speaking in order to renew my mind and I see God lovingly building up, not tearing down. I praise God that He is helping me trust Him more and to see the simple power and beauty of words.

 

 

Singer Turned Producer Brings ‘Excellence’ to Inglewood

Ten time Grammy Award winning singer Alvin Chea, of iconic gospel group Take 6, gets behind the booth for the first time as Executive Producer of a compilation album featuring local artists.

Excellence will be first album from the newly formed BOL Christian Entertainment Group, a media company out of Inglewood, CA created to support the church it was named after and provide opportunities for the gifted artists and musicians who attend. Breath of Life (BOL) has a rich legacy of musical excellence, and Alvin took on the task of harnessing it’s trademark sound for mass audiences.

Along with respected vocalist Sonya Sampson, Alvin recruited industry alum to ensure each track lived up to the album’s title. Mark Kibble (Take 6) created a dynamic arrangement of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” for the project. Shelton Kilby and Gerald Albright elevate tracks with their accompaniment on “Even Me” and “Breath of Life.” Martha Munizzi and Michael Gungor co-wrote “Excellence” with Khristian Dentley (Take 6), who is also the album’s producer.

The album’s first single “Breath of Life” is a jazz infused track featuring Gerald Albright on sax and local artist Stevie Mackey as lead. The single is currently available on iTunes.

Excellence is just the first of many projects that will entertain and inspire. The title sets expectations high; the reputation indicates audiences can expect nothing less.

Music lovers and eager fans in the area are invited to join Alvin and friends on Saturday, August 20th at the Breath of Life Worship Center for a live preview of the entire album. Seating is limited so guests are encouraged to arrive early.