National Quartet Convention

The Dixie Echoes just returned from the National Quartet Convention(NQC) which was held in Louisville, Kentucky, September 11-16. We had the honor once again to perform on the main stage on Monday and Friday nights. As usual we had a wonderful time. So many of our fans stopped by our booth to visit with us, we thank you for your support the Dixie Echoes. Last year was my first year at the NQC as a performing artist. I had been a few times in the past but never as a performer. I took pictures of everything last year, trying to capture every moment. This year I brought my camera in to the booth and thats where it stayed for the duration of the convention!! So I want to give a big "THANKS" to Scott Cundiff for taking these photos. Scott is my sister's father-in-law so I had a little bit of an inside track there. Also Scott is the night DJ at KJIC Radio in south Houston, Texas. Some of the pictures are a little blurry but considering they were all taken from the upper level, its not bad at all. And just for the record thats a pretty good zoom on that camera Scott!! Hope you enjoy the pics! Be sure and visit the NQC website and make your plans to be with us next year! It's the biggest event in gospel music and once to attend for the first time, you'll want to go back every year!! Hope to see you there!!

Myself and Scott Cundiff

Yours truly...do I always look that funny?? Nevermind, don't answer that!

The Dixie Echoes doing it the old fashioned way!

"When I've Gone The Last Mile of the Way"

Stewart Varnado making his 9th appearance at the NQC with the Dixie Echoes

This is the largest crowd we sing to all year long...Approximately 12,000-15,000 people enjoying some great gospel music in Freedom Hall

Newly Added Links...Check 'Em Out!!

I have recently added some new links to my blog and I feel I should draw your attention(both of you) to them. Each one is certainly worth looking in to. First I'd like to tell you about a new radio show titled "Classic Gospel Southern Style". This is a weekly radio program that airs on KJIC Radio and features southern gospel music from years gone by. The program features music from such groups as the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen, and the Blue Ridge Quartet and is hosted by KJIC's own Ellis Manley(right pic) and Scott Cundiff(left pic). There are four listening opportunties each weekend: Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 - 12:00 both morning and night each day. Those of you in the Houston/Galveston area can tune in on 90.5 FM. Listeners world wide can listen via the internet at KJIC Radio. Classic Gospel Southern Style is in the beginning stages of being made available for syndication. If you are a radio station(on the air or internet) programming director, drop them an email! They'll make you an offer you can't refuse!! Ohh!!! I forgot to mention...yours truly is the voice for the intro and outro of this program. Even more of a reason to listen!!!


Southern Gospel internet guru Daniel Mount has started a blog, "Beyond the Headlines". Internet followers may know Daniel from his extensive contributions on several southern gospel message boards as well as the creator of a site paying tribute to the great Cathedral Quartet which can be found HERE. Also Daniel has put an extensive amount of work into David Bruce Murray's site SGHistory.com. Commenting on his new blog Daniel has this to say, "Other bloggers have considered that their position as a commentator gives them the platform to post harsh criticism or unsubstatiated malicious rumors. I disagree. This blog is to inform Southern Gospel artists and fans about current happenings, and perhaps to encourage you, too!" Be sure and stop in and visit Daniel's blog as well as his own website DanielMount.net.


A long time friend of mine has taken a step of faith and started his own solo ministry. Many of you may recognize Scott Spangler from his days with gospel music legend Naomi Sego. Scott left the road several years ago to pursue a career in the funeral business. Recently Scott has felt the call of God to continue in music ministry and is now available for concert bookings. Scott states that his new ministry can be summed up in the title of his first solo recording, "My Song Hasn't Ended". Be sure and check out Scott's new website, scottspangleronline.com and consider him for your next concert, homecoming, or worship service.

If God Directs

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5,6)

"He will direct your path;" is the way that this verse ends in the King James Version. Whether the paths are made straight or we are directed which one to take, the fact remains the same - God will guide us in the way we should go. We are not very comfortable with conditional promises. To modern ears, conditional promises are not real promises. This is not true, but it is the way we tend to think. Here we are told that God will direct our lives only if we give absolute fidelity and loyalty to Him. Our discomfort is due to our failure to understand the condition.

The condition is two fold in nature. First, people who desire God's direction will be people who love and acknowledge Him. The sinner does not want God's direction. Self-rule is their desire. Without acknowledging God in all our ways we are left to our own sense of direction, ruled by our lusts and desires. God's will and direction are only of interest when they suite our fancy, improve our life (according to our standards of course), or we have come to an impasse and really don't know what to decide. Without total trust and surrender to His Sovereignty we are not able to be directed by Him.

Second, we can recognize God's guidance only as we are tuned to His voice. We speak of discovering God's will as if He is playing hide and seek with us. Finding His will is more about being in tune and being readily receptive, than it is discovery. God promises that He will direct our paths. We can trust Him. Oswald Chambers said that God's guidance was more of a "thumb in the back;" than audible instruction. This type of guidance requires acute perception to sense. The life that is absolutely subordinate to God is one that has this kind of sensitivity. When we are struggling to know God's will the problem is on the receiver's end, not the sender!

Are there times when God is silent? Yes. But in these times we remain faithful to what we know and continue to trust with all our hearts. His silence is never forever and is purposeful. Our trusting with all our hearts and refusal to lean on our own understanding keeps our lives tuned into God's frequency. Only then is He able to direct us.

Does this understanding change the conditional nature of this promise. No. But, it does help us realize that these requirements for our own good. He could demand them, for He is God. Nevertheless, His word reveals that His commands are given in grace for our benefit. To disregard or chafe under them is to our own demise.

Therefore, let us trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding; in all our ways acknowledge Him and let Him lead the way.

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry

A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome.

The Far-Reaching Rivers Of Life

Taken from My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

"He who believes in Me...out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).

A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to with the outflow--"This is the work of God, that you believe ..." (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.

A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus you eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ--not emotion nor experience--nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.

Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God have been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.