Crosswind Music

Need a Little Encouragement?

Hey Everyone,

At the bottom of this message you'll find a brief update on my new recording and a couple other things that in one way or another are about my music and ministry.

But what I really want to do in this edition of my newsletter is offer you a bit of encouragement, and share with you one of the main messages I've been giving in my concerts and worship services in recent months.  Please forgive me in advance if this comes across as preachy!  Thats really not my intention...

It seems as though everywhere I turn these days I'm running into individuals and organizations that are in the midst of some of the hardest times they've ever faced, especially with regard to finances.   A lot of people are anxious and worried and fearful.  Well, I really don't want to bum you out by focusing on why so many people are struggling.  If you or your church or a non-profit  you love are somehow on the edge these days, you know all too well what I'm talking about.

But do you know what Jesus' most often repeated words were?  "Fear not."  I've been told that he said these words, or something close to them, 365 times in the Gospels.   That's one for each day.   Obviously he knew that fear, more than anything else, will get in our way if we don't learn to deal with it.  There's no way we can risk truly following Jesus and living a Christ-filled life when we're scared and anxious.  Fear makes us shrink back, give less, slip into scarcity mentalities, get overly protective, lose joy, lose energy, give up on dreams and visions,  settle for safety when God is calling us to take chances, and ultimately to love less.  In other words, it makes us less able to welcome the flow of God's Spirit in and through our lives.

And let's face it--we live in a culture that has huge vested interests in keeping us afraid.  We're fed fear constantly.  Our psyches are skillfully manipulated (for big time profits) by ad campaigns that keep us fearful.  Certain industries literally spend billions to keep us feeling inadequate, insecure, and afraid in order to sell us their solution to the frightening problem they've convinced us we have.  Policy makers sell us fear in order to justify all kinds of wild and destructive courses of action (yes, I put that very gently :) ).

So what's the antidote to fear?  It's really very simple, and yet incredibly powerful and profound.  It's knowing that no matter what we face, God will be with us.  

I hope that wasn't a let down.  I know statements like that can so easily sound like God-talk--you know, pious words that don't pass the smell test of reality.

But stop a minute.  I'm totally serious.  If there really is a God, and if this God is the God of Jesus, then truly believing and trusting that God is with us is the way out of fear.   When we remind ourselves that God is with us, right now, then even if the worst possible things happen, God will love us perfectly through whatever we have to deal with.  And you know, the worst things--the things that keep us up at night--often don't actually happen.  I recently heard an older man say, "In my life I've had many problems, most of which never happened."  I love that.

But even if they do take place, and I know that sometimes they do,  then God will also surround us--if we'll allow it--with the exact people we need to lean on and work with in order to turn corners and regain our footing.  We won't be alone.  We'll be given everything we need to not only be okay, but to thrive.  God will be with us, work good even out of the most painful stuff (Rom. 8:28), hold us and carry us and just be with us when we need to be held and carried, and bring us once again to a place of hope and joy and vitality.  Again, I know this can sound trite and that words can be cheap.  But what I'm trying to remind you of are some of the basic and most powerful promises of our faith, and I encourage you to put all your weight down on them.  Maybe more now than ever.

I want to close these thoughts by sharing the lyrics of a song with you.  This song hasn't been recorded yet, but if any of you would really like to hear it, then e-mail me requesting it and I'll send you an MP3 of a very rough recording of it so you can close your eyes and have these words sung to you the way they were written to be heard.

I wrote this song for my mother, who passed away in September of 2007.  I actually wrote it on the Steinway baby grand piano that I inherited from her (that's the piano in the photo above).  She had a terminal illness and was in home hospice care for several months before she died.  She faced her death with a lot of dignity and grace, but she was also afraid.  I wanted to write a song that she could listen to when she was feeling scared.  Unfortunately she never heard it.  I didn't finish it in time.  And since she wasn't all that "into religion," it might not have helped her that much anyway!   But I have a strong feeling that from where she is now, she's glad that this song is reminding others who are facing hard times that God is with them.   I hope these words are meaningful to you, and again, let me know if you'd like me to e-mail you the MP3.

In God's Hands

We can't see into tomorrow
Can't guess what wel'l go through
All we know about the future
Is that God will be there too
And we can trust that we'll be given
All we need to face what comes
And know that God will be there
For all of our loved ones...so

Chorus:  Let's just rest now
In God's hands
'Cause in those hands everything's alright
There's a peace that's beyond all circumstance
In God's hands

There's no reason to be anxious
As long as we stay here
Rooted in this present moment
Where the one thing that is clear
Is that God is right here with us
And God will never go away
And when Gods presence is enough
That's when fears begin to fade...so

Chorus

Bridge: In God's hands, let's place all our in securities
All the fear and ambiguity in the things that can't be known
Peace like a river starts to flow
When everything's in God's hands, and we let go
Just let go

We can't see into tomorrow
Can't predict what we might face
All our faith tells us for certain
Is that God will give us strength
And that God is our provider
Our source of security
And though there may be painful moments
In the end, we'll all be free
We'll all be free...so

Chorus


New Recording Almost Ready!!  Really!!!  Finally!!!!

Yes, I know, this has taken forever.  I won't bore you with the reasons it's taken me so long, but I'm delighted to say that I have just a few more finishing touches to put on this recording in the studio, and I am scheduled to start mixing it July 1.  Assuming all goes well, it will finally be released the first week of July.  This is the 24 song CD of all the songs in my "Something Beautiful For God " songbook fully produced the way I would do them with a worship band.  I'm really happy with how it's turning out!

Second Edition of Something Beautiful For God Songbook

I'm also about to release the 2nd edition of my "Something Beautiful For God" songbook, along with a CD that has the lyrics of these songs in PowerPoint (and Word Doc.) with beautiful interpretive images for those of you who project lyrics in church.   The bulletin insert lead sheet (melody and lyrics) masters for all 24 songs will also be on this CD so that they can be copied electronically and printed out for church bulletins.   Any of you who have purchased the 1st edition of my songbook will also be given all the updates and changes that are in the 2nd edition or free.  Just let me know that you already have the book and would like the updates and I'll send them to you.


Be a Part of my Haiti Partners Concert Tour!

I think I'll write more about this in a week or two, but here's the gist;

In order to raise more awareness of and funding for some of the ministries I'm involved with in Haiti, I have decided to do a special concert tour during which I will share a bit more than usual about my work in Haiti.  The organization I used to work with which has supported many of these ministries has discerned that they are no longer led to continue their funding in Haiti, and they are in a process of trying to gradually withdraw their support.  They are looking for other organizations and individuals to take over funding of some of these partnerships, and I want to help by telling as many folks as possible about these inspiring ministries, and doing what I can to raise money to keep these ministries going.  If you're curious about what these ministries are, check out the Bryan and Haiti section of my website.

So I'm going to book myself heavier than usual, and bend over backwards to make it affordable and easy for churches to host a concert or worship service.  If this interests you, please contact me immediately and lets talk about it!  I'm taking bookings for this summer and this coming Fall, and still have some open dates, especially if your'e open to a mid-week concert.   I'd love to come to your church, share my music ministry with your faith family and community, and let your folks know about what I'm connected to in Haiti.  Its' exciting stuff and would also be a great way to lift up the importance of the mission work your congregation may already be involved with.  Don't worry if you're concerned you wouldn't get a big crowd.  It's not about numbers, and many of my most meaningful and impactful concerts are for small groups.   I hope to hear from you.

More than enough for now.   Thanks so much for reading, and for all the ways you support my ministry.  It's such a gift for me to be able to do what I love most, and to call it my work.  Thanks for making it possible.  I appreciate it more than I can begin to express.

God bless you, have a great summer,  and I hope to see you "out there" sometime soon.

Bryan Sirchio