The defining moments in our lives. Many times, they are not defined until you have lived through them. Sometimes though, you know when you are in the middle of the moment that something is happening.

May of 1992 was one of the “I know something is happening’ sort of moments. As a Christian trumpet player growing up in the 70s/80s, I knew and loved TRUTH. The idea that I could use my gifts as a trumpet player in a group was a truly awesome thing. I went to a concert in Niceville (drove over from Pensacola) with my trumpet and auditioned before the concert to play in the group. I found out I made it and that I needed to be ready to leave the next morning from Mobile on the bus.  Needless to say, it was a crazy night packing, making phone calls, praying, and freaking out a little (I was 22). The experience on the road with TRUTH truly defined some of my goals and desires. I realized I didn’t want to simply play trumpet for a living but rather, I wanted to write and arrange the music for groups and churches to play. A few years later, after graduating from The University of Mobile with a music composition degree, I packed up and moved to Nashville to chase my dreams of writing and arranging music.

Fast forward about <cough> 19 years later and I find myself waking up each day still in my dreams. I have had the opportunity to write and record over 130 original songs, compose the score to over 35 movies/videos and AnderKamp Music has now provided music to over 2,000 churches, schools and individuals since it began back in 1998. To clarify though…I’m not that impressed with myself. Not at all. I am completely overwhelmed by the fact that God has chosen to allow me to be able to catch the dreams I’ve chased. Soli Deo Gloria (no Jeff in that Latin phrase, by the way).

Just last month, I had an awesome opportunity that goes full circle back to 1992. TRUTH is right now in the middle of a 40th Anniversary Tour. They have created a new CD for the tour and I was asked to write all the horn arrangements for the CD. We recorded the horns here in Nashville with Steve Patrick (trumpet), Barry Green (trombone) and Mark Douthit(saxophones). The top call session players in Nashville, they are truly world class musicians. The fun part is that I met Steve Patrick while playing in TRUTH. He played lead and I played 2nd, to clarify that.

The first concert of the tour, which was also a live DVD taping, was at Sherwood Baptist in Albany, GA. (In case you aren’t aware, the Sherwood folks are the creators of the movies:Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Flywheel and the new movie that comes out in September, Courageous.) The concert was amazing! It was great to be there to hear TRUTH again and to hear my horn arrangements played live by a great horn section in a great church!

 

Afterwards, two dear friends and I went out to dinner with Alex and Stephen Kendrick and their families and laughed a whole lot (solid Christian men those two guys are).

So, needless to say, this TRUTH experience has become surreal in many ways. But oh what fun!

If you would like TRUTH to come to your church, you can contact them through their website at www.truth40.org. Their schedule is there so you can see if they’re coming nearby as well. If you have the opportunity to hear them, don’t miss it! And yes..I know the words are important, BUT…take a few moments and listen to the horns and then see if there are any dream you’d like to catch. From a current dreamcatcher, I believe it is possible.