Jamin Rathbun & Superdink.com

Who is this Jamin guy anyway?
I am the husband of one and the father of nine. I was created to sing, to worship, to encourage, and to be steady. I am the Owner & Executive Director of Trinity Arts Center, a multi-disciplinary Arts Center in Eastern Tennessee, and the President of Trinity Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization focused on funding arts education and performance. I've been involved with four music projects in my life -- Hot Pink Turtle, Spin Radio, Stand Like Stone, and of course, Jamin Rathbun.

In 2013, I added my Twitter feed to this site (below). To view the old content, just scroll down past the Twitter timeline. To keep in the loop on new posts, thoughts, and updates, just follow me on Twitter using the button below. Thanks!

Tweets by @jaminrathbun

bible

Ecclesiastes 4:12
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

I was talking to one of the participants of our Worship Workshop (see below) about how good the group has been for a lot of us who have been wanting to "connect" with other men, especially with men who understand some of the challenges specific to leading worship. Anyway... A quote from his web site caught my eye...

"The statistics are staggering. Over 1,500 ministers leave ministry every month in the United States... Over 70 percent of ministers in the United States say they have no meaningful friendships, no mentoring relationships and no accountability in their life. Most feel as though the congregation they are serving does not appreciate or value them... Some even feel as though they are in constant danger of losing their job. Over 50 percent of ministers in the United States wish that they could leave ministry, but do not know how else to provide for their family."

So, apparently there are a lot of us out there who don't have the deep friendships that we'd like to have, who aren't connecting relationally like we want to be, and who desire the accountability and support that a group of like-minded Christian men can provide. The questions is... What are you going to do about it?

Reminds me a bit of my posts on David's Mighty Men and Finding meaning in the midst of disappointment.

music

With a little help from my friends.
Some friends, worship leaders, and musicians where I live have come together to form a weekly connecting point called Worship Workshop. If you're a worship leader or Christian musician in the Johnson City area, and I'll add you to our mailing list. For the rest of you, I thought I'd share a bit about what we're doing... Maybe the idea will resonate with you and inspire you to start something similar in your area.

For the most part, our weekly get together includes someone introducing a new song. Often, that is a pretty casual, spontaneous thing. Sometimes someone will prepare chord charts and lyrics for everyone. From there, we just kind of go wherever the Spirit, the music, and the conversation lead. Some weeks that means spontaneously playing together and praising God for 2 hours. Other weeks, that means playing a handful of songs and then talking for 90 minutes about what's going on in our lives. Regardless of where the evening takes us, it's been a great experience so far and I'm really enjoying the opportunity to connect with a group of guys who appreciate the challenges of organizing and leading worship and who come at life from a similar perspective.

We've talked about creating specific opportunities to grow musically and spiritually. I'm not quite sure what the result will be but I hope it will help each of us discover new music, hone our playing skills, collaborate musically and creatively, form friendships, share experiences, pray for one another, study Scripture, impact our churches and community, and maybe even just hang out for fun every now and then.

Eventually, I hope to set aside one meeting a month for discussions, lessons, or connections focused on a particular topic or subject. A lot of that depends on the participants and what experience and passion they have. Possible topics could be "Bridging the Generation Gap", "Incorporating Sequencing into Contemporary Worship", or "Alternate Tunings for Guitar Led Worship." I'd love to see the benefits spread out into related areas like sound workshops, joint recording projects, and much more. We'll just have to see where God leads us to go.

Regardless of what happens, I'm really enjoying this time. It just feels good to play and pray and talk with these guys. One of the guys called me on his way home just to say that it was "good for his soul..." Refreshing is the word that comes to my mind. Really good stuff.

stuff

Magic Carpet Ride!
Just a quick update on the game I mentioned on Friday.

Death Sakkara turned out to be a pretty cool little murder/treasure mystery. The whole game takes about an hour to play although, once I had finished, I realized that I had only "collected" about 70% of the hidden items, secret knowledge, photos, and ancient symbols that the game included. There were only a handful of "trouble" spots that required a bit of problem solving. I've included solutions or hints to them below, in case you get stuck and would like to cheat. = )

How to figure out the combination to the hotel room safe.

The combination to the safe can be discovered by reading the telegraph that Elizabeth sent to her uncle. Note any word that sounds the same as a number (ex. four and for) and enter the numbers in the sequence that they are included in that message.

How to solve the section with the telescope and stars.

Click on the link to "your notes" on your star map (located in your journal). Those notes describe the shape of a constellation called the "Plough." This is the shape that you need to find in the night sky. Once you've found that star formation, you'll need to click on the stars in order to "draw" the constellation. This is completed by clicking, first on one star, and then the adjoining star to "connect" them with a line. Do this for each pair of adjoining stars until you've connect all 7. Hint: The constellation looks quite a bit like the big dipper. = )

How to escape from the catacombs after you are trapped in the tunnels.

I'm not going to attempt turn-by-turn directions or anything but the path to the exit is located in the upper-right section of the catacombs, not all the way to the upper-right but -- just a bit left of there. One other hint that is helpful... Don't use your lighter unless you really need to see what's going on. Once your lighter runs out... You die. Once you turn your lighter off, it appears to be pitch black. Wait about 5 seconds however and your "eyes" will adjust to the darkness enough that you can find your way around.

How to solve the sliding tiles puzzle to enter the secret tomb.

Again,I'm not going to attempt a move-by-move description. You'll just have to work out how to slide them around. Two things that might help though... 1.) The puzzle is split into three independent sections, indicated by the stronger black line between them. 2.) Each piece of the slide puzzle lights up when it is in the correct location. Good luck!

How to click on the correct symbols for the gods in the underworld.

The goal with this game is to click on the tile that matches the god sitting on the right side of the screen. To solve the puzzle, you'll actually need to correctly identify (and click on the tile for) 6 gods (or was it 5?). Anyway... I don't want to completely give this one away so just look in your journal for icons and descriptions for each of the Egyptian gods. You'll just have to figure out which name fits the god that is currently being shown. Most are pretty easy (the crocodile god has a crocodile head, etc).

I can't think of anything else that would merit a hint. Good luck and have fun!