I don’t think I am all that generous, really.  I like my stuff.  Today, when I was whipping through my iPhoto looking for a pic to post and a thoughts to share I hit this photo of me in Cuba back in the summer.  I don’t think I wrote much about my trip…

We met for a worship and ministry time at this little home fellowship.  We didn’t meet in the home but we sat out on the front porch on makeshift benches and chairs under a rickety dripping roof, listened to some music from a radio hotwired through a window with tattered wires, and prayed for and encourage each other for a couple of hours.  I sang a few improvisational worship songs in my terrible Spanish.  I brought a guitar to play on the trip with the intent to give it away–it is my usual custom when going to the Third World where folks just can’t get much of anything.  The young man holding the guitar was the only person who answered “yes” when I gathered the key worshipers and singers and asked, “Who would practice every day and learn worship songs if they had a guitar like this one?”  I gave it to him.

Now, I thought this post would be about looking around for ways to be a sporting giver this year, but now I think I am more impressed with the young man who stood up and said, “yes,” more than I am with my small gift.  This could be your year to hear God speaking to you about an opportunity to serve, a chance to work hard and love…maybe this year is your year to say, “yes!”  For inspiration, if you are of age, go see Jim Carey’s new film “Yes, Man” for inspiration.

Everything in the store is 10% off from now until Christmas! Yes, everything. CD’s, T-Shirts, MP3 Albums, and even Special Sales…take an additional 10% off! Merry Christmas! No coupon required.

We will be shipping every day from now until noon December 23th to help you get everything you order as fast as possible.  (Please be careful with shipping methods and ship dates if you plan to have product reach you before Christmas day.)

The store will be closed, and will not be shipping any physical products through the mail from December 24th to January 2nd (digital downloads are always available!)  Christmas Vacation!  Merry Christmas everyone!

We have packaged up some great album collections just for you! Christmas is just around the corner so order now to keep shipping and gift buying stress low…

We just put all four of the primary Enter The Worship Circle albums in a single Circle Collection that saves you 25%!

And we have all three of the Chair and Microphone series also at a 25% discount in the Chair and Mic Collection Pack!

With so many people moving their music collection to digital players…don’t forget that you can buy and send a Gift Card to someone for Christmas and they can visit the store and download or purchase anything including MP3 downloads!

Yes, they are finally here!  Karla is a busy girl, and these charts have been a long time coming, but thanks to the help of Aaron Strumpel (Vol. 2) and her family’s successful relocation to the high country (which bought her some much needed open space) these charts from Chair and Microphone, Vol. 3 are finally yours! We just love helping you worship with new songs and new sounds…thanks for letting us be a part of your journey.

Most all of our music have been charted by hand and are available absolutely free for anyone in the world.  Here is a link to the charts and helps area of the store.  We also recommend just using the Search box in the upper left of the store to look for resources for any song…here is a quick link to the title track, “You Are Mine.”

We are so proud to announce the very first in a long line of new videos designed to help you play Worship Circle songs! Our good friends Michael Dalton with the help of Tony Vilgiate have put together the most amazing multi-camera, multi-angle, get-a-look-at-everything video tutorials ever. We have 30 of these videos already recorded and as they are edited we will post them up for FREE in this section of our online store, as well as feature some of them here in our vidcast.

This very first video is for “Crown Him” from Chair and Microphone, Vol. 1.Enjoy!

Did you know that Ben works every week on writings to encourage and equip the Family of God?  The website is called CHURCHTHINK, and we want you to take a look.  Every Wednesday Ben (and Robin) hole up in their studies and work the experience and insights of their lives into articles and essays as a discipline to become better communicators.  CHURCHTHINK is the place that Ben focuses on the foundations of the Church and the message of the Kingdom of God.  If you are a leader or a servant of any kind this site could be wonderfully encouraging!

Not only are there huge, deep articles at CHURCHTHINK, but there is also a regular podcast where Ben sits down and discusses each article at length with a friend.  You can subscribe at iTunes.  You can subscribe to the blog.  You can even have the post delivered via email.

We are feeling completely stupid.  We have already marked the Enter The Worship Circle books to sell, but we have put on our crazy hats and marked them down to $2 a piece if you buy a 10-Pack.  Seriously, buy some for friends, a small group, or for door prizes.  Why?  Well, the book gets awesome reviews from both the non-traditionalists (which we think you probably are), and it can really help spiritual seekers get a new angle on discovering Jesus!

We still look forward to repackaging the work for future release, but we have to move all the old stock.  Check out the product and the great reviews here in our online store!  Just enter crazyhats in the checkout coupon box and get this special deal for the next 14 days!

Some of you may have noticed that our sister site bluerenaissance.com has been asleep for quite some time…well, she’s awake!  We had to let that site go for a bit as we worked in other areas to make the world beautiful. Here is why we want you to check it out:

First, you can make a tax deductible donation to Ben and Robin’s work.  We have fired up the one time or monthly giving tools for almost any payment method.

Second, we will post a broad stroke update on our life and work there only quarterly, but it is a nice place to see a bit more about us, and to recommend friends who want to learn more or partner with us.

We would be so honored if you would consider becoming a giving partner, or a prayer partner!  We spend a lot of time helping people, equipping people for ministry, and even going overseas and donations, especially regular ones (even if small) can really help and encourage us.

Crazy store sale!  Click over to the Special Sales area of our store.  The prices are already ridiculous, but if you put crazysale in the coupon box of the checkout page we give you an additional 50% off!  It includes some great albums from Kate Hurley, John Mark McMillan, and Kevin Prosch that we guarantee you will love and with prices dropping below $3 bucks per album with your discount…it’s crazy!  Enjoy!  One week only!

Those of you recently participating in the Village Thrift remix…hang on.  We have adjusted the direction of that fabulous experiment, but the end results will be fun! Thanks for every single submission!

Ever wanted to learn to play an Enter The Worship Circle song…but you were having trouble making the chords?  Understanding the chord changes or strumming pattern?  What about the drums…ever wanted to see what was happening so you could play along?  Well…here it comes!

Ben and Robin, along with a team of overqualified film and video friends, will be recording (in the next few days) the first ever set of Worship Circle video tutorials just for you!  Ten years ago when we first dreamed of the Worship Circle series we wanted to do everything we could to help others worship with simple instruments and simple words.  This is just another way to say to you, “You can do it!”

We know this is a bit of a teaser…look for these videos to go up online in our store–for free–in September!