Become Part of My Street Team!

We're less than a week away from my CD Release Concert and I'd love to have your help with some promotion. No, I'm not going to ask you to beat the streets with flyers in hand (though, if you're willing, please let me know!) But I would appreciate it if you'd take some time to let your friends and family know about the concert through your email and social media websites: I've got two banners created...the first is an animated gif promoting the upcoming concert, the second is just a jpg promoting the CD itself. I'll let you decide which one you want to promote. First, to promote the concert, right click on the image below and "save picture as" and save it as a gif. Then you can paste it into your blog. If you could make the pic link to www.timglennmusic.com/cdrelease that would be great. Or you can simply copy this picture and add it, to promote that the new CD is available on iTunes:

And, on that one, if you could make it link to: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=295964773&s=143441

that would be awesome! That's a direct link to my page in the iTunes store.

Thank you for your support!

tim

The New Website Is Here!

Well, it's taken me awhile, but I've finally finished. When you're an indie artist, you sometimes have to do this stuff for yourself. I simply can't afford to pay a web developer. But I wanted to update the look for my website, while still maintaining simple functionality. So, you can still listen to music, view photos from my travels around the world, read about my upcoming gigs, shop for music, read my bio or sign the guestbook and say hello! There are also links to my facebook page, my myspace page and this blog. I think it's done, but I need your help. Would you please spend a few moments on the site and let me know if there's anything missing...anything not working? (It's best when viewed in 1024x768 or higher resolution.) Just click on the screenshot below to visit the site: Thank you! tim

American Idol Includes Jesus

Okay, follow-up to yesterday's post. Last night, the finalists on American Idol sang Shout to the Lord again...but this time, they included the name of Jesus! Whoa! I wonder if there was some pressure for them to do it? I've seen a lot of blog posts lately...some saying it was wrong of them to change the words from "My Jesus" to "My shepherd" on Wednesday night. Others say American Idol has no business doing any religious songs at all. Some interesting debate. Regardless, last night, the name of Jesus was sung for millions of people to hear...once again...and I love it! On a side note: I think the way Ryan Seacrest handled the whole ousting of Michael Johns was in bad form. "Last year on Idol Gives Back we decided not to eliminate anyone...but this year...(pause, pause)...we're saying goodbye to Michael Johns." Bad form. Really bad form. "Glenn out."

When the Sneetch Children Cry

Hi friends, I'm one of the contributors to the Compassion International Blog, and my most recent post, When the Sneetch Children Cry, is now online. Come check it out when you get a chance. And while you're there, you should scan through some of the great writers we have contributing to the blog. I think you'll find their entries heartwarming, informative and inspirational. Thanks!

The Privilege

I have had the privilege of traveling to some of the poorest places in the world. I say privilege because I consider it just that. Walking with the poor is what Jesus did. Holding their hands is what He would do today. Ministering to them, He said, is ministering to Him. That’s a privilege. But all privileges come with a cost. In many cases, that cost is a broken heart. Sometimes, we need broken hearts.
I have been in a jungle in Thailand, where families live in shacks made of rotting wood, each built 3 feet above ground because every rainy season the entire village floods —taking lives and possessions away in the frantic current. I have seen how the families there endure the stifling heat, with little food to eat. Children, lethargic from lack of energy, don’t run or climb the massive trees that would provide perfect perches. Many of them work in the rice paddies to provide for their families.


I have been to Kenya, and sat with a family of five in their tiny 12x 14 home made of mud. I watched as the mother doled out one piece of bread to each family member for dinner. I saw her hungry children playing beneath the clothes-line with the only toys they had — clothespins. I saw where they sleep…mom, dad and three children, on one moldy mattress on the dirt floor.

In Bolivia, I met a four-year-old named Lalady. For some reason, I was drawn to her. I saw her across the playground at a Compassion project. I smiled. Within seconds, she was in my lap, touching my face with her sticky fingers…marveling at the color of my hair. We played together for nearly an hour. There was no language barrier. We just enjoyed each other's company. Then, her father came to pick her up at the project.

“She likes you.” He said in Spanish. (I know this only because there was an interpreter.)

“And I like her very much too!” I said.

“Maybe you could take her home with you.”

“Ha! Yeah! I wish I could!” I joked. Only daddy wasn’t joking. His face was serious.

“I have four other children. You could give her a much better life than I can.”

Whoa. What desperation leads a man to be willing to let his child go away with a stranger? How much love does he have for his daughter, that he’s willing to give her up, just so she can have a chance at a better life? I sat there, with little Lalady on my knee, my lip and chin quivering and my eyes filling with tears. My forehead sweating in the brutal Peruvian heat. My heart breaking.
And Lalady was one of the lucky ones. She has both parents who love her very much. She also has a sponsor that pays $32 a month to make sure she’s taken care of at the Compassion project. There, she gets a hot meal, a safe place to play. She learns about health and hygiene. More importantly, she hears about Jesus.

There are literally millions of children who need just those basic things: a hot meal, clothing, a safe haven, after-school mentoring…to hear the Gospel. You could do that for one of them. For a price that’s less than taking a family to the movies for two hours of entertainment, you can provide all of those basic life-giving necessities for a child in poverty for an entire month.

I urge you to go to Compassion's website and sponsor a child. It really is the least you can do. And I’ll be more than happy to share with you just how strategic it is. How much it changes a life. But you won’t have to take my word for it. You’ll get letters from your sponsored child, thanking you…little hand-drawn pictures telling you about his/her life. And you’ll be able to write too…and share your life with that little boy or girl on the other side of the world.

It’s a relationship.

It’s a privilege. And yes…this privilege will break your heart. Isn't it time your heart was broken?

If you've had the privilege of witnessing Compassion International's ministry in action, go to this post on Shaun Groves' blog...and tell your story. Add to the growing list of bloggers sharing their stories of ministering to the poor through Compassion.