Thursday, January 7, 2016

True Courage

January 7, 2016

When people think of down home music, they tend to think of Nashville or Austin, but I think of the Trinity Guitars Backroom Radio Hour, right here in Chautauqua County. Along with Rolling Hills Radio, they feature local artists in a radio studio setting, as host Bill Ward said tonight, "music without the noise of a bar." Until fairly recently, my schedule hasn't permitted my attending these shows very often, but I've marked it down in my calendar; it's worth making the time for it. The shows are pretty eclectic musically, with a bit of jazz, country, and folk, along with whatever else Bill happens to schedule. Each show they highlight a different local charity; there is no charge for the show, but we are encouraged to give a donation to the charity of the night.

Tonight's show featured John Cross, recently retired from 30+ years teaching music at Cassadaga Valley High School, and quite the virtuoso on clarinet and sax, along with Mike and Jen Quimby, worship leaders for the Church on the Rock, a local non-denominational congregation. The Quimbys were the primary focus of the evening, with John providing sax backup for their songs. I am grateful tonight for their transparency and vulnerability as they shared not only their music, but their lives.

Jen's father was killed in a plane crash near Buffalo in 2009, an incident that drew national attention to the lax regulations governing the smaller commuter lines. They had been dealing with infertility issues but by receiving frozen embryos they had twins born prematurely at 26 weeks, followed by three months in NICU. As it turned out, Mike was a closet alcoholic. They found themselves in a perfect storm that nearly destroyed their marriage and led to his leaving his position as worship leader at a large church in the area. They worked through their problems, and founded a ministry called HOPE, Helping Other People Endure, through which they encourage people who are going through problems without seeing any possibility of survival, let alone success.

It's not unusual for people to turn their tests into testimonies, but for someone in a Christian leadership position to openly confess substance abuse takes an incredible amount of courage. As it was, it cost him his livelihood. Christian ministry can be a wonderful experience, but it can also be very lonely, as being completely honest about one's struggles and failures is usually much more costly for a Christian leader than it is for anyone else. To have done so and suffered the consequences in the way they did, and still land on their feet together, and to take all that and turn it into good is testimony to their character and God's grace. Tonight in this secular setting, they gave clear testimony to the work of Christ in their lives, and in so doing, encouraged me, and caused me to give thanks for their faithfulness and God's mercy.  

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