music

Now that 2011 is over, I’m thinking about our effort to give 10,000 CDs away to ministers, missionaries, and Christian workers by 2012. We didn’t come anywhere close to hitting our goal. The best we can tell, we got to about 12%.

I’m really pleased with that for a couple of reasons.

1. You chose to give well over a thousand free downloads of our music away to people you really care about. One of the best parts was seeing the notes of encouragement you sent to one another alongside the downloads and to hear about the encouragement you draw from the music. That makes Laurie and I feel honored and humbled, so glad to be a part of what God is doing in the world through you and your people.

2. We set a goal that was too big for ourselves. We dreamed something that we couldn’t do without God and without you. I think that is very important. So rather than calling it quits, we’re stepping it up.

Giving Even Recklessly-er in 2012

For a long time we’ve enjoyed having suggested donations (not fixed prices) for CDs at our live events. We love being free to give and free to receive.

In that same spirit we’re embracing a self-determined pricing model for all our albums online, with the goal of getting the music God’s given us into more ears. And hearts, through the ears.

Now on our music page you can choose to pay zero for downloads (and join our email list), or if you want to sow something back into our ministry we’ll receive it gratefully and put it to good work.

I can think of three good responses to this.

1. Think of someone you care about and take a minute share one of our albums with them.

2. Post a favorite song with a quip about why you like it on your social network.

3. Do nothing because you are so zen.

If you like options 1 or 2, there’s a button on our music page that makes it really easy to email or post a link. Click this image and observe. In Facebook it even creates a little audio player, not just a link. Slick.

Thanks for being a part of what we do, and more importantly, what God is doing. We hope this empowers your generosity even further. Have fun sharing!

Visit the music page.

Come join us at our good friends Clint and Rebecca Dunning’s house this Saturday night from 8-10 for an evening of worshipful loveliness. Their house is on the north side of Colorado Springs, so it’s an easy drive for those of you in South Denver.

If you’d like to come, RSVP to dunning.rebecca@gmail.com and she will reply with her home address.

A personal note from the Dunnings:

Join us in our home for a night with Tim and Laurie, dear friends of ours and talented musician/singer/songwriters. Expect some good fiddlin’, guitar, violin and who knows what else.

Details: The experience is by donation. You can’t put a price tag on a gathering like this so just come ready to give something. They’ll have several of their CDs available.

SORRY BUT: Due to limited space you will need to find childcare!!!

What to Bring: Bring either wine or a “fine” cheese to share.

Tim and I hope to see you there! Again, if you’d like to come, email dunning.rebecca@gmail.com

Do you know any missionaries, ministers, or Christian workers?

We’d like to help you do something special for them. We have a vision this year to give like never before to bless the church, especially those who do the work of the ministry.

You can go to http://www.theblackthornproject.com/give-recklessly and send a free digital copy of our new worship album, Reckless, to the people you know who fit that description. As many as you want!

Our goal is to give away 10,000 copies by 2012. That’s 30 every day! We’d be perfectly happy to send one to every single person you know who is in any form of ministry work.