Fork In The Road Music » Me

Help Someone Else Adopt – The Lullaby CD Project Part 2

Russell Martin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:30:12 +0000

I want to give a box of 100 personalized copies of “Hopes Prayers and Lullabies” to any couple wanting to adopt. The CD’s would have their story on the inside and a personalized photo on the cover.

They could sell the CDs for $12 a piece and raise $1200 for their adoption process.

I do not want this to be a burden or a worry, but a blessing for the adoptive couple, however I cannot fund this project on my own. That leaves me looking for a way to raise the needed funds to make this project a reality. It will cost about $250 to produce 100 personalized CDs.

I need your suggestions on how to get this project off the ground.

Leave your comments below, or email me at rgmmusic@gmail.com

Most Embarrassing Moment of 2012

Russell Martin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:35:00 +0000

This morning we had a combined worship service at 10:30. It was supposed to be in our contemporary worship space, but because of some heating issues we moved it to our sanctuary where our traditional worship service meets.

We decided to keep normal order of worship for the Sanctuary service. This includes a closing benediction song that they always sing, every week.

I got the music, practiced the song and made sure I was ready to play it.

The order of service at the end was supposed to be hymn, pastoral benediction, benediction song, postlude.

I had planned a big loud postlude and was ready.

The pastor gave his blessing

And… I played the postlude, as loud as I could.

It was only after I looked out and saw the congregation standing, with a look of bewilderment did I realize that I had completely skipped over the song they were supposed to be singing.

There was not much to do, but stop, and start the closing song.

2012 is off to a great start.

So how has your 2012 been so far? Let me know in the comments!

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/blese/

Poems: And So I Am

Russell Martin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:42:59 +0000

I found a note book of thoughts and words I had written many years ago. It’s interesting to look back and see my thoughts and where I was in my faith back then. I thought I’d share some of them with you.

And So I Am -
Russell Martin 1-6-1998

And so I am , so I believe

What?

I do not know anymore atleast

I know God loves me

I believe in his son who died for me

I trust him and in him I have faith

I will try,

No I will close my eyes and open my hands

And graciously accept what he sends me

I will not try to alter or influence what he says

But take all he gives

Return the glory

and follow him

Vote For “Awaken Our Hearts”

Russell Martin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:09:32 +0000

In the past I have submitted songs to Indie Heaven’s Fan Faves Chart. It has always been just for exposure, until now. I now have the chance to win a single song recording deal for “Awaken Our Hearts” , $500 cash and more from Indie Heaven Indie heaven, but I need your help

Here’s how to help:

Go to www.indieheaven.com/fanfaves

Select “View All” and click on View

Scroll down to find “Awaken Our Hearts” By Russell Martin

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SONG

Vote for 1-5 stars

Tell all your friends to do the same.

Repeat every day for the next 30 days!

At the end of 30 days they will choose the top 10 most popular songs. If I make it there, “Awaken Our Hearts” will be combined with a special to 30 chart in December. The top ten voted for songs that chart will be reviewed by a panel of judges, and a grand prize winner will be chosen.

Here’s what I would win:

$500 CASH
A single song publishing deal. (for the song “Awaken Our Hearts”)
1 year membership on Indieheaven
1 hour consult with Sue Ross-Mohr from The Inner Vizion
1 week as our featured member of Indieheaven.
Press release and publicity!

Please pass this on to your friends and encourage them to vote every day. Post this to Facebook, share on twitter, forward to your friends.

*** Update 10/18/11***

Awaken our Hearts now sits at #2 on the Fan Faves Chart. Keep voting to keep it in the top ten through the end of October!

Vote for “Lord Let Your Love”

Russell Martin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:51:04 +0000

***This contest is now over.. however I need your votes on another song.. and this time I could win prizes… Check it out!!!***

For a few years I have been a part of an online community of independent christian artists called Indie Heaven. I can sell my songs, communicate with fans and connect with other artists. Every month I can participate in their Fan Faves contest where I submit one song to be voted on throughout the month. If I’m lucky my song can be chosen to go on to the Top 20 list

This month I have submitted one of my favorites “Lord Let Your Love.” Here’s how you can help.

1. Go to the Fan Faves chart on Indie Heaven

2. Scroll down to find “Lord Let Your Love” by Russell Martin

3. Click on 1-5 stars

4. Tell your friends to do step 1-4

5. Repeat tomorrow.

Yes.. you can vote once per day, every day, so I encourage you to do so. While there make sure and purchase the “Hopes Prayers and Lullabies” CD. All proceeds from it go to help our adoption process.

One Reason TO Post Your Photos on Facebook

Russell Martin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:07:35 +0000

Last week I wrote about why you should not post your church trip photos on Facebook, but instead on your website.

But there is a good reason to post your photo to Facebook too. That is the “like” button and the “tag” button.

Every time someone clicks “like” or “tags” themselves that photo of your event is posted to their profile. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. If you have 50 youth at an event, and they each comment, like or tag themselves then photos of your event have the potential to be seen by 6500 people.

The question is what do you do with those views. Make sure there is a path back to your Facebook page and ultimately to your website.

But don’t stop there. Always keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to get people in the doors of your church so you can share the gospel with them.

Don’t Be Crippled By Striving For The Way It Could Be

Russell Martin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 05:14:11 +0000

At one church I was at we held our contemporary worship and traditional service back to back in the same location. This made for some interesting transition times, and meant we had to be creative with our warm-up arrangements. Since we could not get into the worship space sooner than 15 minutes before we had to play, we would rehearse in a small classroom, using amps, a small electric drum set and often no microphones. Not the ideal situation.

I mentioned one time that I couldn’t wait till we could get a bigger space, more ideal equipment and more time to set up. One of the members looked at me and said, “Yeah.. but we’ve come a long way. A few years ago the drummer used a couch seat for a snare and pillows for cymbals.”

I was looking at where we were currently, and where I thought things should be. I was totally forgetting how far we had come.

This is something that I constantly struggle with, mostly in areas of my ministry. I see how I think things should be, how they could be so much better, cooler, more effective. I forget to look back and celebrate how far things have come from that point. As I have reflected on this I have found that always looking ahead has some negative effects:

1. You are never satisfied- You have to realize that when you constantly look to how it could be, you’ll never get there. There is always sometime else, something more, something better. Yes you should strive for what’s next, but first take some time, enjoy where your at, smell the roses and look back and see how far you’ve come

2. You dismiss others accomplishments- You may be one who doesn’t need as much time to stop and enjoy how far you’ve come, but sometimes others do. Others on your team, staff, ministry, and family may need more time to enjoy their accomplishments. Don’t rush on, let them enjoy the fruits of their labors.

3. You get lost in the journey- It is hard to see where you need to go, if you don’t take time to stop every once in a while. By relaxing, and looking back on where you have been you get a chance to get your bearings, and reconsider the path you are going.

How do you get crippled by “How it Could Be?”

What ways can we correct that thinking?

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarae/

Simple Worship Stage Design: PVC Geometry

Russell Martin — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:40:47 +0000

Here is a simple way to make an interesting background for your worship stage.

The cross is made out of 2 ft sections of PVC pipe using corner and middle connectors. We hung it from the top using two ropes over the top of the short curtain bar.

The large diamonds are four foot PVC pipe sections with corner connectors. Fabric clips hold a spandex type material in place to create the “screen”.

The smaller diamonds are two foot sections of PVC pipe with corner connectors. All are suspended by a rope over our back curtain bar.

Each diamond and the cross then has an LED bar light lighting from below.

All in all I think we spent somewhere around $50-$60 for everything, not including the lights of course. We still have tons of pipe left over that we haven’t used yet. Oh, and we fit the pipe together, but didn’t glue it. This way we can pull it apart and reconfigure it as needed in the future. If you need a more secure fit, try some white electrical tape to help hold it in place.

This design was made using simple, easily available items. What simple items have you used to make a stage design? I’d love to see your stage design.. send me a link in the comments. Or find me at twitter.com/rgmmusic or Facebook.com/russellmartinmusic

What I Read This Summer..

Russell Martin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 05:38:32 +0000

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/daviderickson/

I subscribe to a bunch of blogs and take time a few times a day to read through what others are writing on the topics of communication, worship, church and life in general. I generally pull them up on flipboard or google reader, skim through the headlines and star those posts that I find interesting. Here are a few I thought I would share with you.

1. 5 Reasons Why You Need to Get Better at Saying “No” by Michael Hyatt -

#5. “Every time I say “no” to something that is not important, I am saying “yes” to something that is.”

If you haven’t read anything my Michael Hyatt now is the time. Every post is great but this one stood out to me because it’s something I struggle with. Understand these 5 reasons and it will help you to re balance your life.

2. Publishing is Not Enough: Become a Blog Post Curator! from TentBlogger by John Saddington

“Your blog is a dynamic and living representation of you, your goals, your mission, your ideas, and more. You would never call yourself or your life “static,” right? As such you should treat your blog with a little bit more care and become more than just a publisher of content – become a curator of your content!”

Are you a publisher or a curator. This post reminded me to continually craft, edit, and revise my blog instead of hitting publish on a post then forgetting about it. Here we get 10 tips on how to keep your blog fresh, creative and alive.

3. Church Websites 101: Call to Action from Church Marketing Sucks by Kevin D. Hendricks

“So you think your church needs a website. Or a new site. Or a better site. Rock on. Welcome to Church Websites 101, a quick and dirty series about how to start or restart your church’s website.”

Church Marketing Sucks (or Church Marketing Stinks, if you prefer) is a great resource for information, ideas and trends for church communication. Here is just one post in a series on how to create a better website for your church called Church Websites 101.

So what are some of your favorite posts you have read recently? Share them in the comments below.

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/daviderickson/

I’ve Been a Dad for Four Months: An Update on Eli

Russell Martin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:00:05 +0000

I have written before about my wife and I starting the adoption process. I even wrote a CD of lullabies to help with some of the adoption costs. Well things progressed very quickly. We posted our profile at the beginning of January. One day at the end of March I received a phone call saying we had been chosen, and when we wanted to meet our son.

For about 8 weeks he was in the NICU near Oklahoma City, and we traveled back and fourth. Finally on Mother’s day weekend, and my birthday weekend, he got to come home. He came home weighing just under 5 lbs, needing oxygen when he traveled and ate, and on a monitor. The first few months we had to feed him every 3 hours around the clock.

Things have gone well since that point in time. Eli now weighs over 9 lbs and does not need the oxygen or monitor. He sleeps at least 6-8 hours at night and is eating about 4 oz of food per feeding.

I want to thank you for your prayers and support through this process. We are not finished yet, but we are well on our way. We still need to pay about $9,000 to finish up the adoption process. We trust that God will provide that through a combination of our saving, Lullaby CD Sales, a possible new Christmas CD, gifts and loans. We also have to go through 2 more home studies to make sure we are taking care of him.

If you want to keep up more with what’s going on there are several things you can follow.

Become a fan of Hopes Prayers and Lullabies, on Facebook. www.facebook.com/lullabycd

Follow Russell on Facebook.com/rgmmusic

Follow Meagan on Facebook.com/meaganmartin02

Follow Russsell on twitter.com/rgmmusic

Follow meagan on twitter.com/mlmtxag02