Hi everyone,
Summer is winding down, as measured by the school system. Two weeks left until the folks in the Ferrara house are back in the classroom. The sun has been relentless, so no signs of nature surrendering the season anytime soon.
I wanted to give everyone an update on what is happening in my ministry. This past week, I spent a week in Panama City Beach Florida with 45 teens from our youth program. Thankfully there was no oil to contend with. I have been blessed by the different youth ministers that I have had the opportunity to work with over the years. Ryan Krivanek and Michael Marchand did a beautiful job of combining a beach and retreat experience. Over the last few months, I’ve been working with a teen ministry band from my parish, now called “Marshmallow Starship”. They stepped up and were responsible for worship on the trip. They did an amazing job, and I am already looking forward to next year.
Many of you heard about the concert I participated in to break the Guinness Book of World Records “Longest continuous concert”. It appears as of last Friday that we did indeed break the record by 23 hours (previous record was 343), and that my name will go on the record as a participant.
An earlier summer trip found me on Catholic Heart Workcamp http://www.facebook.com/Workcamp
The teens and I worked to roof three houses during the week we were there, and the morning and evening worship and program sessions were fabulous. My pastor has encouraged me to throw my name in for next year’s musician pool, so it’s likely that I could have a short tour with Catholic Heart for summer 2011.
I released a new cd, titled “Today” in May of this year, and have started writing for a project in 2011. There are specific themes and pieces that I feel are missing from contemporary liturgy, so that is the motivation for the new tunes.
Last on the docket is a web refresh that should take place early fall. I’d love to hear your comments and input as to what you would like to see out there for resources, my blog, flow, feel, colors. You can email me directly at greg@gregferraramusic.com. To visit the site go to http://www.gregferraramusic.com
Enjoy the rest of your summer! Hope to hear from you soon. God bless, g
This morning I had the opportunity to participate in a Guinness Book of Records attempt at the world’s longest concert. http://www.worldslongestconcert.com/
Huge thanks to my good friend Michael Ahmann and the Glow Band http://www.theglowband.com/ for giving me the head’s up on this. Stay tuned to see if we make the record. “You’ll go down in history…[like Columbus]. Ha!
This past week I had the opportunity to attend Catholic Heart Work Camp. It’s a week of service, with fun evening programs for teens. I was blessed with the best (in my opinion) team there (go 37)! We spent the week roofing a house and redoing the soffit on the back end of the house. The teens in our group were fearless, hardworking, and determined. It is amazing to see the results that they brought to the community. I will post some pics in the next blog post.
Doug, Kim, Gen, Ryan, Johnny, Marie – Thanks for all you did to serve Christ last week. You truly were the hands and feet of our Saviour!
This weekend I had the opportunity to be at the 2010 Eucharistic Congress, a gathering of 25,000 Catholics at the Georgia International Convention Center. It was an amazing weekend to catch up with friends, worship, learn and share our faith. What a blessing.
Here’s my challenge for you…take the spirit of the congress into your daily life. Share your faith, express your belief in all your relationships. No need to thump anyone with a bible (if you carry a bible), just be yourself. Speak your mind, speak the truth. The truth will always witness to people. Speak against the culture of death (abortion, pornography, abuse of human rights). Stand against what society is rationalizing as okay.
Be Catholic, be yourself, be a light in a dark world. g
From Jeremiah Chapter 29
11‘For I know the (Q)plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for (R)welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a (S)hope.
12‘Then you will (T)call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will (U)listen to you.
13‘You will (V)seek Me and find Me when you (W)search for Me with all your heart.
From the Gospel of Luke (Jesus reveals to us the Love of the Father)
11And He said, “A man had two sons.
12“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me (E)the share of the estate that falls to me ‘ So he divided his (F)wealth between them.
13“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
14“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
15“So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16“And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
17“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
18‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”‘
20“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and (G)embraced him and kissed him.
21“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out (H)the best robe and put it on him, and (I)put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;
23and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24for this son of mine was (J)dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate
Romans Chapter 5:
8But God (A)demonstrates (B)His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, (C)Christ died for us.
And my favorite…From Romans Chapter 8:
9However, you are not (R)in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God (S)dwells in you But (T)if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10(U)If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him who (V)raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, (W)He who raised (X)Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [a]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh–
13for (Y)if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are (Z)putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For all who are (AA)being led by the Spirit of God, these are (AB)sons of God.
Then…
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly (CI)conquer through (CJ)Him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither (CK)death, nor life, nor (CL)angels, nor principalities, nor (CM)things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from (CN)the love of God, which is (CO)in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Last Tuesday marked the release of “Today”, my self produced, debut CD. It’s now available on iTunes, on CD Baby, and in person.
If you’ve had a chance to give it a listen and it blessed you, please share that with others by reviewing it online at either of those distribution sites. Pass the good word along.
Best, G
The other day, I told my younger son I needed to share a few things with him. Give him the “secrets of life”. Here’s a partial list…
- Love generously, forgive easily.
- Dance, laugh, and learn everyday.
- People are either givers, or takers.
- True colors shine through…eventually.
- Blink your eyes and your kids will be grown and gone. Enjoy every moment.
- Date many people. Love one person. You will know when you meet the one.
- It’s not all about you. No, really…
- People will use you, walk on you, and throw you under the bus. Sometimes you are the dirt people walk on in their journey. It doesn’t change who you are, and people eventually burn up in their own fire.
-Always consider other’s feelings BEFORE you speak aloud or write it down.
- It’s okay to be angry. It’s okay to be quiet.
- If you are not honest, you are nothing.
- Have the guts to look people in the eye, especially in conflict. Don’t be a chicken.
- Speaking of being a chicken…e-mail is never an appropriate way to disengage a relationship. Business or personal, it demonstrates a spineless character.
- Be there for your family and friends.
- Ask forgiveness when you screw up. If you haven’t said I’m sorry to someone within the last month, please refer to “It’s not all about you. No, really…”
- Give the benefit of the doubt.
- You never know where you stand with others. Better make sure you know where you stand with yourself.
- God didn’t give you the same gifts, strength’s and weaknesses as person x. Stop comparing and start appreciating who YOU were made to be.
- Don’t borrow money, and don’t quit a job without having another one first.
- Value and price aren’t the same thing. Learn the difference.
- Faith, Family, Friends.
- A short temper can yield a lengthy consequence.
- Try new things, new foods, new relationships. It’s healthy.
- Exercise your body, and your mind will grow stronger.
- If you believe you can do something, you will. If you set out believing you will fail, you already have.
- Failing at something isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of a new way to approach it.
The new CD “Today” arrived this afternoon. Pre-Sale orders will ship tomorrow.
You will be able to buy the CD through this site and CDbaby.com by the end of this week. iTunes and other digital retailers to follow.
Yesterday marked the clearing of the last hurdle in the completion of the new CD “Today”. We finally got the artwork proofs done after four edit revisions. As I was standing at the bus stop waiting on my sons to arrive home this week, one of the neighbors asked me how the CD project was coming along. When the group began to discuss this long awaited CD, another good friend said that “the last 10% of any project is harder than the first 90!” After self producing this CD, I would have to agree with him.
The detail in adding the last tracks for sweetening the tunes, the edits in mixing, the proofreading and liner notes were the toughest parts. That being said, when those things are done well, they turn a good project into Great! Live in the big picture, execute with excellence, and dwell in the details long enough to make the project extraordinary. This is as true in making a CD as it is in remodeling a kitchen or baking a cake for a friends birthday.
Everyone have a great weekend!
My Top 20 Favorite One Hit Wonders (My research done through www.onehitwondercentral.com)
Sugar Hill Gang (Rappers Delight) 2. Lipps (Funkytown) 3. Bow Wow Wow (I Want Candy) 4. Taco (Puttin On The Ritz) 5. Thomas Dolby (She Blinded Me With Science) 6. Nena (99 Luft Balloons) 7. Autograph (Turn Up the Radio) 8. Georgia Satellites (Keep Your Hands To Yourself) 9. Bobby McFerrin (Don’t Worry Be Happy) 10. Crazy Elephant (Gimme Gimme Good Lovin) 11. Mountain (Mississippi Queen) 12. Free (All Right Now) 13. T. Rex (Bang a gong) 14. Carl Douglas (Kung Fu Fighting) 15. Thin Lizzy (The Boys Are Back In Town) 16. Wild Cherry (Play That Funky Music 17. Nick Gilder (Hot Child In The City) 18. The Buggles (Video Killed The Radio Star) 19. Mark Cohn (Walkin In Memphis) 20. Was Not Was (Walk The Dinosaur)
You know you love it!
