October 1st, 2009
Hi Everyone,
Here are some things that have been going on with us since our last newsletter (Over a year ago! Sorry!):
A few months back we did an Odes concert with John Schreiner at a church in Orange, CA. He brought in a band and orchestra with a few choirs from local churches. It was a great night of worship. It was fun to play with such a big group of musicians. We’ll be part of two more of these concerts in October, on the 2nd and 30th, at Laguna Niguel Presbyterian in Laguna Niguel, CA. We’d love for you to make it if you’re in the area! Here’s the church’s website: www.lnpc.org . We’ll try to post some pix of the events to our website in the next few weeks. If you haven’t heard the songs on the Odes Project, you can hear clips at www.theodesproject.com . Rebekah sings on about 4 of them.
We continue to lead worship at churches throughout the month. You can check out where we’ll be next on our web calendar: www.jandrsongs.com/calendar.html
We’ve been writing some new songs and just started tracking a couple of them. We’d really love to release something in 2010. Please pray for the Lord’s will to be done with this and that we would find the time and resources to work on it. Thanks!
We have a kitten named Hurley. Like most cats, he thinks he’s some kind of lion king – and that our house is his ‘pride’ – and that we exist to serve him. He’s great and we love him but I don’t think he has a clue that there’s a big world outside of our house, and he probably never will since he’s a house cat. His perspective is so limited. Sometimes we’ll open the door that leads from the garage to our house and he’ll slip out and sniff around, but that’s pretty much the outer limit of his universe. It reminds me of how our perspective plays such a huge part in how we think and live. It’s so important that we grow in our understanding of God’s Word and His works - to spend time meditating on His greatness, so that we have the right perspective about who He is, and who we are. In Psalm 8, David said, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him . . . ?â€
I heard about a Galaxy called M51 that has the shape of a cross at its center. I did some research and found some other pretty incredible facts about it . . . .
Galaxy M51 is 23,000,000 light years from Earth.
1 light year = 5,878,630,000,000 miles.
To put the distance of a light year into perspective . . . there’s a space probe called ‘Voyager 1’ which was launched in 1977. It currently travels in space at around 10.5 miles per second. At that rate, it would take 18,000 years for it to reach the distance of ONE LIGHT-YEAR.
So imagine the size of this number:
5,878,630,000,000 miles multiplied by 23,000,000 - That is the distance from Earth to Galaxy M51!!!
I feel so insignificant when I think about light years and the size of the universe. Who am I, and what are my problems that God would think about me? But He does! And it makes me wonder all the more at His love for us. The universe God made seems limitless, and yet, in Christ, He subjected Himself to the limits of a human body. He inhabits eternity, but He died and now lives to make our hearts His home. From the infinite to the finite, everything He made was for His own pleasure. Our kitten, Hurley, was made for God’s pleasure. Galaxy M51 was made for His pleasure. You and I were made for His pleasure, and to enjoy fellowship with Him.
Rebekah and I have been talking through all of this and it’s left us in awe of God’s love and care for us. We hope it inspires faith and worship in your heart today also. To think, that God “counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by name†(Ps. 147:4). And still, “the very hairs of your head are all numbered†(Luke 12:7).
Yours in Christ,
James and Rebekah
James and Rebekah Caggegi: Newsletters
June 1st, 2008
Hello!
The Odes Project has been officially released! CDs are now available at 'theodesproject.com' where you can also purchase or hear clips of the individual songs. Rebekah sings on odes 1, 7, 11 and 26. There are 34 total. Some of the other artists who sang include Fernando Ortega, Kelly Willard, Bryan Duncan and The Riverbend Worship Choir. The project was produced by John Andrew Schreiner who also produced a couple of our earlier CDs - 'The Weary Pilgrim' and 'You Never Change'.
Our 2004 project, 'Better Than Life', is now out of print but the good news is that CDBaby (www.cdbaby.com) is selling a digital version of it! You can now download MP3s and the cover with all of the pictures and liner notes. This also goes for our latest release 'Make Us One'. The weblinks are on our home page.
'Thy Will Be Done' was a song that Rebekah recorded with the Lake Avenue Congregational Choir in 1998. The CD (A Day of Prayer) is now out of print but we’ve added the MP3 onto our Audio/Lyrics page so you can listen to it!
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
I've been thinking about this verse lately and how it was such a bold statement for Paul the apostle to make. To consider his old life as dead and to have his whole identity wrapped up in Jesus Christ alone. Christ defined his life and purpose for living. How often have we tried to define ourselves with a career, a relationship, where we live or what we buy? The world tells us that we can alter people's perception of us if we'll just pursue these things. Some people spend their entire lives creating that kind of shallow identity. But God's view of us isn't based on a misguided perception. He's our omniscient Creator who loves us as we are, and accepts us purely on the basis of Christ's sacrifice as we identify with His death. If Christ lives in us, God calls us His sons and daughters. His definition of us is the only one that matters. - James
We have some new songs in the works but no plans to record them yet. We'll let you know if anything develops!
In Christ,
James and Rebekah
December 31st, 2007
Hi everyone,
Looking back at 2007:
We've been very blessed this year to visit so many different churches and share in worship. We love being able to travel around and see the diversity in the body of Christ and yet see the unity that exists as we worship the Lord with one voice and one heart.
MAKE US ONE: Our new CD 'Make Us One' was released in August 2007. It's now available on iTunes or through jandrsongs.com. This was the first time we actually recorded a fully produced album on our own. It was also the first time I was able to play my electric guitar on one of our CDs! There are so many directions a song can take during the recording process, so it was fun to actually create the guitar sounds, harmonies, and rhythm patterns the way we imagined them when we wrote the songs. We recorded the songs in our closet, on a laptop using Garage Band and then shipped them off to Brian Steckler for editing and mixing. Brian also mixed 'Better Than Life' in 2004.
POEMS: We've added a few more of our poems to the website. You can read them by clicking on the 'POEMS' link on the navigation bar.
Here are some of our songs that you can download for free at www.jandrsongs.com:
I WILL WAIT FOR YOU
NOW I SEE
PSALM 63
RAIN
SELAH
SHADOWS
SHINE ON MY LIFE
THE LORD IS NEAR TO ALL
WHAT COULD I GIVE?
WHAT COULD I GIVE?(Ukranian Version)
YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING
YOU NEVER CHANGE
Looking forward to 2008:
MORE FREE DOWNLOADS: We plan on recording several acoustic versions of the worship songs we've written over the years. We'll be making these available as FREE downloads on our website over the next several months. Be sure to check out our 'News/Thoughts' page to find out when they get added.
THE ODES OF SOLOMON: Rebekah sang 4 songs on a new John Andrew Schreiner project called 'The Odes of Solomon'. Even our kids, Peter (10) and Sydney (7), got to sing a few parts for the project! The songs were adapted from writings of the early church. It's been great to work with John again. He's a good friend and we always have great times of fellowship together. Kelly Willard, Fernando Ortega and Cathy Schreiner (John's wife) are just some of the featured artists on
the project which should be released sometime in mid 2008. Look for updates on our website in the coming months.
The Scriptures teach us that every person in the body of Christ has been gifted in an area of ministry. I Peter 4:10-11 says "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." In this new year, may we all look for opportunities to use the gifts God has given us, whatever they may be, to edify one another. May we all seek to build each other up and
reach out to the lost world around us.
We'd love to hear from you! Feel free to sign our guestbook or send us an email!
Sincerely,
James and Rebekah