Christian Guitarist Fellowship

The Christian Guitarist Fellowship is back.  Everyone is invited from beginners to advanced players, from rockers to alternative players, from acoustic to electric players, from teenagers to the ageless.  Come and meet guitarists from all over the Bay Area. Heartfelt Music Ministry is holding the Christian Guitarist Fellowship to help motivate you in your guitar playing and encourage you in Christ. There will be a short lesson for all levels; we will have breakout “jam” sessions where you pair-off with those in your skill level; we will play some worship songs together; a few will perform in front of everyone; we’ll pray together; and we’ll discuss resources for guitarists in the Bay Area. It will be fun fellowship and it’s free! Even those who have never played before, but want to learn to play the guitar are welcome. It will be at Redwood Chapel Community, 19300 Redwood Road, Castro Valley, CA 94546, on Sunday, May 20^th, from 3:00pm-5:00pm.  http://www.klove.com/events/detail.aspx?i=205954

Guitar Intensives This Summer

I will be teaching six one day Guitar Intensives this summer.  Three are three for youth grades 5-12 through Valley Christian Schools and three are for adults at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center through Heartfelt Music Ministry.  The youth ones are held on Fridays from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Valley Christian High School in the Conservatory Bldg. (San Jose area).  The adult ones are held on Saturdays from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center in the Fireside Room (Santa Cruz area).  Make sure you fill out an Application Form and get it in right away.  The curriculum is more intensive in order to get a lot in, but they are intentionally divided up to benefit certain age groups and skill levels.  They include three hours of instruction, a challenging training/resource book (The Complete Guitar Manual, with DVD included), a notebook, and relevant handouts.  All the information is at our website under courses/camps.  We decided to identify these as Intensives rather than Camps because they are only on one day and not multiple days.

• July 7 (Sat) – Beginning Guitar Intensive (Adult), Mt. Hermon
• July 13 (Fri) – Beginning Guitar Intensive (Grades 5-12), VCHS
• July 14 (Sat) – Intermediate Guitar  Intensive (Adult), Mt. Hermon
• July 20 (Fri) – Intermediate Guitar Intensive, (Grades 5-12), VCHS
• July 27 (Fri) – Advanced Guitar Intensive, (Grades 5-12), VCHS
• August 4 (Sat) – Advanced Guitar  Intensive (Adult), Mt. Hermon

Worship Leading Camp This Summer

June 30 (Sat), 9:00am to 12:00pm – Worship Leading Camp (Adult)

This worship leading camp is a great way to develop the skill of leading others in singing and worship.  As Jim Burns has said (National conference speaker & author, President of HomeWord Ministries):  “Reggie Coates is one of the finest worship leaders in the United States.  He has the incredible ability to lead people toward a loving relationship with God through a humble and beautiful style of leadership.”   Reggie will be teaching and coaching you to be your utmost for Him.  The morning includes a challenging training/resource book, a notebook, relevant handouts, and three hours of interactive instruction.  The book is called The Worship Leader’s Handbook  by Tom Kraeuter.  Each person will lead and receive critique.    It includes three hours of instruction and sharing songs, a challenging training/resource book (The Worship Leader’s Handbook, by Tom Kreauter), a notebook, and relevant handouts for $85.00.  All the information is at our website under courses/camps.

Songwriting Camp This Summer

August 11 (Sat) – Christian Songwriting Camp (Adult)

We will be holding a one day Songwriting Camp this summer at the Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center Fireside Room, limited to a 10 participants for each session.  It is more of an intimate setting with personal interaction and attention.  Because it’s limited, make sure you get in the Application Form right away.  It includes three hours of instruction and sharing songs, a challenging training/resource book (God Songs, by Paul Baloche with Jimmy & Carol Owens), a notebook, and relevant handouts for $85.00.  All the information is at our website under courses/camps.

Reggie’s Concerts The Summer

I will be doing a number of concerts this summer throughout the Bay Area.  They are entitled “Empower” which will inspire and encourage you to allow Jesus to empower you to live life to the full!  In each location, the concerts will begin at 6:00pm Sunday evenings.  I’ll be sharing songs that haven’t been recorded yet and some favorites.  The evening will have worship songs you can sing along with.  More information can be found at  http://heartfeltmusic.org/calendar/ .

• July 1 (Sun) – Los Altos Concert, Bridges Community Church
• July 8 (Sun) – Castro Valley Concert & Worship Gathering, Redwood Chapel Comm. Ch.
• July 22 (Sun) – Felton Concert, Felton Bible Church
• July 29 (Sun) – Morgan Hill Concert, Morgan Hill First Presbyterian Church
• August 5 (Sun) – San Jose Concert, South Hills Community Church

Cede and Reggie Performing at Spirit West Coast in Del Mar

Cede will be performing at Spirit West Coast in Del Mar (Southern California), Friday, May 25^th.  I’ll be playing acoustic guitar and singing with a few others from Cede at the Hope Christian Bookstore tent.  We will be singing favorites from our CD and other worship songs with a motivation to live in Jesus.  For more information see http://spiritwestcoast.org/Delmar/  [The Monterey Spirit West Coast festival has been cancelled for this year.]

National Anthem at the Infineon Raceway

I’ll be playing the National Anthem on electric guitar on Sunday, July 22, to start the races.  Racers For Christ will also be holding three Chapels that morning in which I will be leading worship.  It’s a very exciting event with dragsters, funny cars, and motorcycles racing throughout the day.  Racers for Christ are leading the chapel fellowship and teaching during these events.  For more information, contact one of the Racers for Christ chaplains, Bob Hadidian, at (805) 801-7579.

Would You Consider Contributing to Heartfelt Music Ministry?

We would greatly appreciate any financial contribution you could make at this time.  Go to http://heartfeltmusic.org/about/support/ to either donate a one-time gift or begin a monthly contribution.  Any amount would be such a help.  Your tax deductible gifts enable us to minister to others who greatly desire our services but cannot afford to pay for them.  May you have a Spirit enriched summer.

Living In Jesus,

Reggie

This month and next will hold some events you will not want to miss.  All the details can be found on our site at http://heartfeltmusic.org/calendar/.

Sunday is Easter and I’ll be leading music for Mount Hermon’s Easter Sunrise Service at 6:30am on the Ponderosa Lodge hill where the cross is. Then, at 11:00am, I’ll be leading worship at Redwood Chapel for their Easter Service with orchestra and choir as well.  Next Friday, April 13^th, I’ll be doing a concert with Bob Bennett in Atascadero, CA (7:00pm).  We’ll be gently sharing about Jesus through personal stories and music.  April 15^th, I’ll be leading a workshop on Improving Performance at Guitar Showcase at 2:30pm.  I’ll be leading worship for South Hills Men’s Retreat at Mission Springs (4/27-29).  In May, there will be the Christian Guitarist Fellowship at Redwood Chapel (5/20, 3:00pm-5:00pm) where everyone is invited.  I’ll also be performing at Spirit West Coast Del Mar in the Hope Christian Bookstore booth (5/25).  In June, I’ll be performing at Spirit West Coast Monterey in the Hope Christian Bookstore booth (6/23).  In July, I’ll be playing the Star Spangled Banner at the Infineon Raceway on electric guitar like last year (7/22) and leading the racers in worship in three services that morning.

Please, continue to pray for me and this ministry as we lead others toward intimacy with God.

In order to keep your motivation and initiative thriving from lesson to lesson, it is essential to keep a balance between discipline and desire.  Discipline is the “I will” aspect of our commitment toward learning something.  Desire is the “I want” aspect of our commitment toward learning something.  Inspired to play guitar, we get the desire and say “I want to learn that cool instrument.”  Then we embark on a journey to learn the guitar and try to be disciplined saying, “I will do what it takes to get better on the instrument.”  You must have both of these to be effective in your training (I will and I want).  You can have the I want to play all day long, but without the I will, you will never actually learn to play.  You may have the I will, but without the I want, practicing gets dull and isn’t very fun.
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When you practice, remember why you started in the first place and get your desire ramped up.  Then let your discipline kick in and take the time necessary to make noticeable progress.  you will find more creativity and satisfaction in your playing as you keep discipline and desire in balance.

Last weekend, the BASS Church Workers Conference was packed with great training experiences.  All the instructors for the Worship & Music track received the highest marks and did a fantastic job!  I taught three workshops with over 50 in each class.

Yesterday, the Worship Ensemble from Valley Christian High School sang with the Lost Trailers at their concert at the Rodeo Club in San Jose.  We entered a contest to sing Amazing Grace to close the show and, out of 16 groups trying out, we won!  It was a blast.

Tonight, I’ll be the DJ for Live Oak Academy’s dinner/dance.  My son is a Junior there.

Tomorrow, I’ll be leading a workshop on Improving Performance at Guitar Showcase at 2:30pm (see below).  In April, I’ll be doing a concert with Bob Bennett in Atascadero (4/13) and leading worship for South Hills Men’s Retreat at Mission Springs (4/27-29).  In May, I’ll be performing at Spirit West Coast Del Mar in the Hope Christian Bookstore booth (5/25).  In June, I’ll be performing at Spirit West Coast Monterey in the Hope Christian Bookstore booth (6/23).  In July, I’ll be performing the Star Spangled Banner at the Infineon Raceway on electric guitar like last year (7/22).

Workshop on Improving Performance

March 11 (Sun), 2:30pm-3:30pm, Guitar Showcase in San Jose (3090 S. Bascom Ave., 95124).  I will be teaching a workshop on Improving Performance.  I will take you through dynamic performance practices to improve your performance in front of others. Using your skill, personality, leadership, communication, and relational abilities, you will improve in confidence and quality performance practices.  These workshops will culminate in recitals in May.  $20.00 per workshop.  SMI students are free.

I am so thankful for your prayers and support for this high impact ministry.

Winter has been quite busy – full of ministry.  Training the High School Worship Ensemble at Valley Christian High School has been a positive influence on the 1300 students they lead in worship during the weekly chapels.  They even came to Redwood Chapel to lead worship one Sunday and did a fantastic job.  I’m so proud of them.

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Weekly leading worship at Redwood Chapel has been such a blessing.  Earlier this month, I held the second Upreach Worship Gathering which went very well:  Singing His Praise, Sharing His Love, and Blessing His Name.

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I am continuing to teach guitar in San Jose, Los Altos, and Mount Hermon.  This month, I have added two new students who are eager to use their talents for Christ.  One thing conveniently added is that lessons and purchases through Heartfelt Music Ministry can now be made by Debit or Credit cards.

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BASS Bay Area Church Workers Convention

March 2 & 3 (Fri & Sat), Redwood Chapel Community Church in Castro Valley (19300 Redwood Road, Castro Valley, CA 94546).  I will be teaching three workshops on Worship Infusion, Dynamic Guitar in Worship, and Worship Band Interactive.  The conference is huge and a blast for all, so you’ve got to try and make it at least one day!  More info at: http://bassconvention.org/Index.cfm

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Workshop on Improving Performance

March 11 (Sun), 2:30pm-3:30pm, Guitar Showcase in San Jose (3090 S. Bascom Ave., 95124).  I will be teaching a workshop on Improving Performance.  I will take you through dynamic performance practices to improve your performance in front of others. Using your skill, personality, leadership, communication, and relational abilities, you will improve in confidence and quality performance practices.  These workshops will culminate in recitals in May.  $20.00 per workshop.  SMI students are free.

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Other Coming Events

In April, I’ll be doing a concert with Bob Bennett in Atascadero (4/13) and leading worship for South Hills Men’s Retreat at Mission Springs (4/27-29).  In May, I’ll be performing at Spirit West Coast Del Mar in the Hope Christian Bookstore booth (5/26).  In June, I’ll be performing at Spirit West Coast Monterey in the Hope Christian Bookstore booth (6/23).  I will also be setting up concert and training workshops for the coming months, so stay tuned!

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Continue to pray for Heartfelt Music Ministry, for me and my family.  You are an important part of giving this ministry a high impact influence on the Bay Area and beyond.  Thank you so much for your support!

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I’m continuing to read and memorize Scripture which gives me a lot of material to speak God’s thoughts as I lead others in worship and speak in front of groups.

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Hope 2012 is off to a good start for you.  The last four months seem to have flown by for me.  But, time over the holidays went in slow motion which was very refreshing.  During the two weeks, as a family, we had a relaxing Christmas at home; went to San Francisco visiting the De Young Museum; saw two action-packed movies (Mission Impossible and Sherlock Holmes); and spent the day in Carmel for my birthday.  I thank God for my family, the deep care and love we daily share and enjoy.  I can’t tell you how much the laughter and hugs encourage us all.

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I want 2012 to be a growth year for me as well as an investment year.  Already I’m engaged in peoples lives in a way that is investing both my life experience and the life of Christ in them.  And there are those who are investing in my life as well.  I meet regularly with a few men who hold me accountable, ask important questions, and give me helpful insights in dealing with difficult issues.  I’m continuing to read the Bible daily, but I’m adding daily Scripture memorization to my routine.  Having the thoughts of God on my mind is what is meant by Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you…”  Today’s verse is, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

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Life has it’s ups and downs and we are not exempt from them.  We appreciate your prayers and ask that you continue to uphold us in your prayers throughout 2012.

We wish you a very…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

…and a…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Teaching music at Valley Christian Schools, leading worship at Redwood Chapel Community Church, and teaching private guitar through Heartfelt Music Ministry has been such a blessing this fall.   I prayed at the end of last summer that God would place me in “high impact” ministries to continue to train and encourage His people and build His kingdom.  He answered my prayer!  I feel so fortunate to do what I enjoy and see others use their gifts for God’s glory.

November had some added ministry with leading music for Mount Hermon’s Family Thanksgiving Retreat.  December culminated with a beautiful evening at Redwood Chapel called Festival of Carols (I played guitar), a series of concerts with Valley Christian School’s Conservatory of the Arts groups at the California Theater downtown San Jose, and completed my first semester at VCS just yesterday.  2012 will have some nice things to look forward to:  Performing a series of concerts in January & February (more info to come); leading workshops at the BASS convention in March;  in April, I’ll be joining Bob Bennett for a concert in Atascadero as well as lead workshops for M0unt Hermon’s Christian Songwriter’s Conference.

I hope you get a break to relax over Christmas and New Years.  May God’s incarnation make a significant impact on you this year as you make room for Jesus in your heart like never before.  2012 is almost here!  ~ Reggie & the HMM Board

I hope you are doing well and leaning on God’s deep love for you.  This month has been filled with coaching, teaching, and leading for me.  I’m also thankful that the ministry goes beyond who I see day to day.  Here’s some encouraging quotes:

“I just wanted to thank you for singing my girls to sleep every night.  Truly you have come full circle, Matthew and I grew up with your music and now so are our girls.  They love your music and during nap time I heard Ches singing “Ain’t Nobody”.  Thanks for sharing your gift, this family truly appreciates it.”  ~ Corrie

“Hi Reggie.  It’s so exciting to see all that you’re doing for the Kingdom.  I listened to a few of your videos and your voice has not changed, but boy do you ever rock that guitar even better than you did at 16 (and you were fabulous then!).  I’m so pleased to say I know you, Reggie.”  ~ Rebecca

Last Sunday, the Upreach Worship Night with me and the band Cede went very well.  Heartfelt Music, Redwood Chapel, and the band Cede joined together to offer a night of praise and worship to God with fun music and encouraging stories.   The next event begins Thanksgiving day at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center:

Mount Hermon Thanksgiving Family Conference

November 24-27 (Thu-Sun), Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  I will be leading worship for their Thanksgiving Family Conference.  It begins with Thursday evening’s abundant traditional Thanksgiving buffet dinner of moist, succulent turkey and a cornucopia of delights.  It concludes Sunday with an equally mouth-watering brunch.  The celebration is stuffed with specially designed activities for all ages and for the whole family.  Pastor Mark Spurlock from Twin Lakes Church will teaching for the evenings, and Pastor Steve Hopper, a pastor and instructor for Walk Thru the Bible, will be teaching morning sessions plus leading two additional breakout sessions.  Find more information at http://mounthermon.org/family/specialty/thanksgiving-family-camp.

Thank you for your encouragement and continued support through Heartfelt Music Ministry as we strive through the power of the Spirit to lead others toward intimacy with God.  Hope you have a meaningful Thanksgiving weekend!

Truly Thankful, 

Reggie Coates
Executive Director,
Heartfelt Music Ministry

One word that describes how my family and I are doing is “thriving.”  We’re at a good place and thank God for His working in and through us at this time.  Sherri is working as the Guest Accommodations Specialist at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center which is a good fit with her background and experience.  The boys are doing well and are really into drawing and art (Animation & Illustration).  They are both heading today to a special class by Dreamworks at San Jose State University.  Sometimes, we combine family time with ministry time and get in things like paintball.

Recently, our family has been enjoying seeing old videos of our wedding and the birth and the early years of our boys.  Lots of laughter!  I sold our Hi8 camera years ago which prevented us from seeing these videos.  Finally, I purchased a used camera last week and now we’re strolling down memory lane.

My plate has been very full working three ministries – teaching at Valley Christian Schools, leading worship at Redwood Chapel, and teaching private students and workshops with Heartfelt Music Ministry.  They use my gifting in wonderful ways and compliment each other.  I feel very blessed to train youth to worship fully and use their music to glorify the Lord; lead worship regularly with a great church; and regularly mentor individuals and worship leaders.  Daily Scripture reading, exercise, and continual prayer has been keeping me balanced with the energy needed for each day.  Please, continue to pray for me and my family!