I am most blessed. Many of you know how I love to take instruments and equipment to other nations to bless and equip them in worship. Last year we gave a nice Martin guitar to my nephew Brent Earwicker in Uganda [see December 2007 WWBLOG] as well as a bass guitar and a bunch of great hand drums.
This year I left my Ibanez acoustic-electric in Kamchatka with the School of Worship there knowing it will be well-used [see April 2008 WWBlog]. I knew I needed to replace it with a better guitar but kept putting it off waiting for a better financial situation.
While up in Calgary with John Bevere and Pastor Ron Leech at Eastside City Church in July, Pastor Ron asked me about these guitars I had left around the world and whether I was going to replace them. I told him I was going to but wanted to upgrade to a higher quality guitar that I could record with. He asked me to go with him to a local music store and pick one out for maybe $1000. With some reservation I went with him and played a few decent guitars, but no Taylors or Martins were there. I did find a nice Guild for $2500 but it wasn’t what I wanted and too steep in price. He offered to talk them down to $2000 but I knew I needed to go home and try out a bunch of guitars.
We agreed on me going home to find the right guitar and he would cover up to $2500! I was pretty humbled and blown away by the whole thing but knew that God was doing something in me. We came home that week and I immediately contacted my friend, Pastor Kevin Benson of Hillsboro Vineyard. He was very excited to hear of the possibilities of a new guitar for me and offered to take me guitar shopping (nothing excites him more apparently!). We ended spending a whole day playing guitars – Taylors, Martins, Santa Cruz, Goodall, Bourgouis, Collings, etc. What a day and what an eye-opener to learn so much about guitars from Kevin. At the end of the day I was ready to settle on a beautiful Taylor for around $2500 and Kevin took me back to his office to try his own Goodall RCJC (Rosewood Concert Jumbo Cutaway).
Now Goodalls are made in Hawaii by James Goodall (a Christian) and his crew. No plastics or celluloid are used on these guitars. They are beautiful and rich in overtones.
As I played Kevin’s Goodall, he asked how that compared to the Taylor. I responded that there was no comparison. The responsiveness, the ease, the resonance were all unmatched by lesser guitars. Kevin said he would sell it to me for $3000 (including the electronics) – it was valued much higher. With a Sitka Spruce bearclaw top, maple bindings, rosewood side and back, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard and peghead, and Cleartone strings, it is a beautiful guitar.
After praying about it for a few days, we determined this was the guitar for me (just needed to find that extra $500). I really wanted to play a beautiful guitar that had already been played in worship, broken in by a great brother, musician and songwriter, and hopefully get some of his ‘anointing’ from the guitar.
When I told Kevin, he was thrilled to sell it to me and already had plans to have James Goodall build him a new baritone guitar with the proceeds. I went back to Pastor Ron to see if he could send the $2500, and he decided to round up their gift to $3000 to ‘make it happen’! We were absolutely floored! God gave me a dream guitar (beyond my wildest imaginations) to give Him glory in worship. What a thrill to receive from one pastor and give to another and both are blessed and I am most blessed in the middle of it all!
To top it off, Kevin told James Goodall about what happened and he is thrilled too and has been on our WWOB website to see what his guitar is now involved in. He said he now knows how to pray for us! God is so good. I hope to record some guitar work in the near future so you can hear this beautiful instrument in all of its glory. I will put a little video of Pastor Kevin playing it the day he sold it to me. Wonderful spirit, great day!
Amazed In Him,
Tim