Baroni Bloggin’

I woke up at home in Franklin, TN very early yesterday morning with the old Toto song playing loudly in my mind: “I bless the rains down in Africa.”

Then Rita and I drove to the airport where we kissed goodbye and I got on a flight to New York’s Kennedy Airport, then on to Dakkar, Senegal to refuel; and finally to Abuja, the capitol of Nigeria.

Comfortably ensconced at the Hilton here, I look out at the Nigerian cityscape. I see modern homes and apartment buildings, some vacant dusty lots, an ornate golden mosque, new roads, cell phone towers and a haze that brings a promise of rain later in the day. The view is a microcosm of the successes and struggles of this nation.

I think about the helpful, diligent and strong “protocol” men that whisked me through the airport and into the 3 car caravan including a uniformed man with a machine gun in the front car. (It sounds more dramatic than it actually was.) I reflect on the terrible violence in the nearby city of Jos- where just 5 days ago hundreds were killed. I think of the potential in this country of the many committed followers of Jesus, the visionary pastors and business leaders, the musicians and artists that I will be blessed to work and worship with over the next few days- not only in Abuja but also in the sprawling city of Lagos.

Pray for Nigeria- this land of beautiful, hospitable, strong and hardy people who have endured much hardship and have so much to offer Africa and the world. These believers take the Word and Spirit, the promises of God seriously! They have blessing in their mouths and hearts. Almost nowhere else in the world would you be able to find, regularly, a gathering of one million believers in an all night worship, prayer and praise gathering at a campground outside of Lagos. Pray for the young people who are looking for the reality of the Kingdom of God. Pray for their elders- for wisdom to know how to guide and encourage those entrusted with the rapidly approaching future of this great nation.

The theme for House on the Rock’s JAM (Jesus and me) Mega Festival is: “Nigeria; Celebrating Jubilee.” I hear the sound of an abundance of the rain of God’s Spirit, the reign of God through King Jesus and His people in Nigeria!

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In the darkness, in the cold and the silence, beneath the frozen ground of December; a promise waits.

As I walked my typical neighborhood route recently I noticed a barren tree. As I drew closer I saw that what had looked like bare limbs actually had tiny buds, almost imperceptible yet pregnant with the promise of new blossoms to burst forth at the right time… in the springtime.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.” Paul the apostle wrote about seeing the unseen, by faith looking beyond the circumstances and trusting in the God Who holds the seasons in His Hand.

One of my favorite songs, “Faithful God,” puts it this way:

Even when it’s hard to believe,
Even when our hope seems all gone
There has never been a night without a dawn!

And there has never been a winter without a spring. Our Father is the God of new life, of promises kept. He is a faithful God!

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“There are many voices and none of them are without significance.” The Apostle Paul

A godly woman shared an encouraging story with me last week. She said that for years she had difficulty sleeping at night. Medication gave her bad dreams and she had tried other remedies as well. Then she put on some of my instrumental music to listen to. I saw the light in her eyes as, with gratitude, she told me how the Peace of God in those recordings helped her to sleep deeply and rest well.

I was also blessed as she told me that there was a “certain sound” that she heard from the Holy Spirit in my music- whether instrumental or vocal.

I think of it as a gift from God and as “honey from the rock.” The Word tells us to comfort others with the comfort that we ourselves have been comforted with. Honey is sweet; a rock is a hard place. I believe that the Spirit of God has poured some sweetness in the music He gives me that is made more effective by the marinating process of the adversity I have experienced.

Let me hasten to add that I know that I am a blessed man. All of us have trials and all of us have access through Jesus to Unfailing Love- God our Father. I am so glad that God is a Redeemer!

I think the sound my friend hears is ultimately the Song of her Father singing over her. Listen!! You can hear Him too!

Godrest and Godspeed!

P.S. Welcome Identity Network subscribers! Take some time to look around our site.

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We are pleased to announce the release of David’s newest instrumental 2 CD set: A Quiet Place: Instrumental Hymns and Songs of Worship. Each CD features David’s signature keyboard style and will inspire, soothe and refresh the listener. You can order each CD individually at our store or get the set for a discount.

Be sure to take some time to look around the website: www.davidbaroni.com Check out our free teaching download series and look at David and Rita’s books. Tell your friends about the new and improved davidbaroni.com. Thanks for your encouragement!
Godrest and Godspeed!
www.davidbaroni.com

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These are the lyrics to my new song, which is also available as a free mp3 download for the rest of October at www.davidbaroni.com

I particularly love the imagery in the second verse!

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

“Liquid Love”
David Baroni/ Kingdomsongs Inc. / BMI/ CCLI

Your love is an ocean
Your grace like the sea
Your faithfulness wave after wave to me
Your mercy’s a fountain
Your peace like a stream
Your joy is a river flowing within me
Flowing within me

You wash over me like liquid love
Through the tears and the rain with Your cleansing Blood
You pour out Your grace in a healing flood
And wash over me
You wash over me
You wash over me like liquid love

Sometimes I get thirsty
My spirit so dry
Surrounded by desert no clouds in the sky
The wind gently whispers
And I call Your Name
I’m suddenly laughing out loud in the rain
I dance in the rain

To the tired and thirsty soul
In a dry and weary land
There’s One Who will heal you
Save you and fill you
Come to the Water and drink
Come to the Water and drink
Then you will sing

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What if God was bigger and better than we thought he was?
What if His plans for you and me involved us going for the dreams in our hearts?
What if God was an extravagantly generous Father?
What if we were no longer slaves or servants, but sons of God through Jesus Christ?
What if God wanted us to take more initiative in our lives- not foolishly or presumptuously, but not fearfully either?
What if we could see other people and ourselves the way that God sees?
What if God’s people really lived as a new creation in Christ?
What if some of the things that I have believed about God were wrong, and He showed me by His Spirit and through the Scriptures more clearly Who He is?
What if, just for today, I walked in the joy of the Lord?!

Godrest and Godspeed!
David Baroni

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David will be ministering tonight and tomorrow night “live” starting at 7 P:M Eastern Time for the next two nights, Oct. 1st and 2nd, at the Roy Fields Worship Camp in Lakeland Florida.
To join us for the live online broadcast, simply go to www.runwithfire.com and click on the Worship Camp “Live” icon.

Join uS!

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Excited to announce the release of my new book “Dreams, Kings and Unseen Things: musings of a songwriter”

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

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Adam and Eve once enjoyed face to face communion with the Lord God Almighty. Walking and talking with Him in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day. They were naked and unashamed- enjoying closeness with God and with each other and God’s creation.

Of course after listening to the evil one and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the word says that “their eyes were opened” and they knew they were unclothed and they heard the “sound (some translations say “voice”) of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord.” (Gen. 3:8)

We have been self-sufficient (and woefully lacking) and hiding ever since. But because of Jesus Christ we don’t have to hide anymore! Once again by the grace of God and the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, we can walk and talk in freedom with God- clothed with His righteousness and unashamed. We were servants to ourselves, slaves to sin but in Christ we have become sons of God!

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name”. John 1:12

The entire creation is waiting anxiously, eagerly for… the return of the Lord? Romans 8:19 says that creation is waiting for the manifestation, revealing, UNVEILING of the sons of God. Jesus preached the gospel of the Kingdom. He embodied the life of His Father through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said “OF myself I can do nothing, I only do what I see the Father doing. The Father in Me does the works.” Jesus lived His life on earth as a man, totally yielded to His Father. Totally dependent on His Father.

The Word made flesh and dwelt among us!

The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many brethren. Not only is Jesus our Savior, Redeemer, Lord, Heavenly Bridegroom, etc. He is also our Big Brother!

As the Lion King told Simba: “You’ve forgotten who you are”, and “You are more than you’ve become.”

If anyone is in Christ he or she is a new creation. Led by the Holy Spirit, we are the sons of God! If Jesus is the King of kings (and He is), who are the “little k” kings that He is the King of? That’s right, you and me! All who have come to God through the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ have been given the incredible privilege of an eternal relationship with God… what an adventure- to rule and reign with Him by His power, by His love, by His Spirit and Life and Word within us! Talk about abundant life.

Enjoy the song “Unveiled!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVDjelIwoT8

We don’t have to hide from the Presence of the Lord anymore. Christ in us is the hope of glory!

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

“Unveiled!”
David Baroni/Kingdomsongs Inc./CCLI# 5525166

Verse 1:
To see the invisible
Hear what can’t be heard
Explore the unsearchable
Wonders of Your Word
Things of earth fade away…
Things of earth fade away
As we look into Your Face

Chorus:
Unveiled unveiled
Changing from glory to glory
Unveiled unveiled
Heart to heart Face to face
This is what we’re yearning for
The cross has made the way
For us to stand before You
Unveiled!

Verse 2:
Creation is crying out
Longing for the day
When the sons of the Kingdom
Show the world Your ways
Walking in Father’s Love
Walking in Father’s Love
By His Spirit and His grace

Chorus: (repeat)

Bridge:
Elders bow
Angels shout “Holy Holy Holy”
Multitudes and millions worship You alone
Worthy is the Lamb of God The Lord forever reigns
Blessed is Your Name
Blessed is Your Name
And blessed are the ones who stand before Your Throne

Godrest and Godspeed!
David Baroni

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The following is an excerpt from Chapter One in my book “The Jazz Preacher”.

The Civil Rights Days
One of the most profound experiences of my childhood happened because of my mother. My mama believed that “people were people.” Skin color didn’t matter, everyone was worthy of respect and dignity. With the unwavering support of my dad, she put her beliefs into action in the 1960’s, in the
south, in Mississippi!

Those were the torrid days of the KKK, segregation, lynching, cross burnings and fire hoses, boycotts and riots. My mother got very involved in the Civil Rights Movement, one of the few white women in the town (or the state for that matter) to do so.
Dad had to endure the stares and slurs of some of his coworkers at Armstrong Tire and Rubber Co. Some of the men he worked with day in and day out were fervent members of the K.K.K.

One of the black men that worked at the same factory lost both legs to a car bomb planted in his vehicle. My father remembers placing small pebbles on the hood of his car to help him determine whether or not his automobile had been tampered with.

Periodically the Klan would roll up one page newsletters filled with malicious gossip that we called “hate-sheets” and leave them in peoples’ driveways. When I was a small boy, I would pick them up on occasion to find that my own family was the subject of the vilification. Fortunately, at age five or
six, I was too young to comprehend much of what was going on.

Along with Mom and Dad, my older siblings, Mary Jane, Philip and Rose Ann, bore much of the brunt of the ostracism and name calling. The threat of violence hovered like an ominous cloud over most small Mississippi towns in the early 1960’s.
One night my sister Rose Ann was walking in our neighborhood with some of her friends. A car filled with white men they had never seen before was driving back and forth down our street. After a few runs up and down, the driver pulled over and asked my sister if she knew where the Baroni’s lived. My sister smartly misdirected him and ran home to tell my father.

What happened next has become a favorite part of ourfamily history. My usually peaceful dad got his shotgun; (unloaded, but those guys didn’t know that), and ran out to the strange car, pointed the shotgun at the ashen-faced driver and in no uncertain terms commanded him to get out of there and not
come back. He rapidly complied and we never saw him again. Go dad!

We Shall Overcome

It was in that environment that my mother began to take me to voter registration rallies. These were events held in small black churches. Much of the impetus of the Civil Rights Movement came out of the African-American church, which was a strong unifying and galvanizing force in the black community. The rallies were held to encourage black people to register to vote. Though by this time they had a legal right to vote, some black folks were subjected to intimidation and harassment if they tried to register.

Most of the time my mom and siblings and I were the only white people to attend these meetings. It was an almost surreal atmosphere. People would use funeral home fans to try to wave away the stifling summer heat.
As a young boy, I didn’t understand most of what was going on. I can’t remember the speeches and other items on the agenda, but there was one thing about those meetings I will never forget: the singing.
Between speeches the choir would sing. It was usually a small choir, from 20 to 30 voices. There was no P.A. system, no microphones. They did not need amplification! As passionate voices were raised singing “We Shall Overcome” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round,” the congregation and choir alike would weep, sing, shout and celebrate like nothing this young white child had ever seen, heard or felt!
I didn’t realize it then, but God gave me gifts in those sweltering churches. I experienced the passion in music, songs delivered with emotion and honesty. I heard music employed to serve a cause greater than merely to draw praise to the singer or entertain the crowd. I received the ability to appreciate people’s differences and celebrate the many things we have in common.

Those wonderful people gave me the bequest of faith-filled songs that transcend suffering and give hope in the midst of struggle and despair. I didn’t realize it at the time but seeds of destiny were planted in my heart, and many gifts were poured like living water into this young man on those hot,
humid, Natchez nights.

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