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

Psalm 64:10
Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!

music

Praise Habit (finding God in sunsets and sushi)
I just started reading David Crowder's book about praise so I thought I'd pass on some highlights as I made my way through it.

I'm liking Crowder more and more as I get to know him through his writing. He's got a very casual writing style and seems willing to just lay his thoughts out on the line for all to see (which I can appreciate).

I highlighted one section about Crowder's daily quiet time...

"The habit had slyly begun to suck the life out of my relationship with God. I had fallen in love with my spirituality, rather than with the one whom I sought... Inherent in the idea of habit is the possibility for meaningless ritual."

Once I took another look at the passage though, it actually struck me a bit funny. "Fallen in love with my spirituality?" I know myself way too well for that. = ) Sure, there's that little voice that creeps in every once in a while that says "wow, you're getting to be so mature" and "boy, you're so much farther along than that guy" or "nice job Jamin, you really are starting to get it together" but -- I'm just way to aware of my sin to fall for any of that mess for more than a couple minutes. = )

I'm always struggling to obey. I'm always working to be more consistent. I'm always seeking new methods of accountability. I always need help doing the right things. I'm always aware of temptation. I pray a lot for nothing fancier than to just be good.

With that said, Crowder's quote did get me to thinking a bit about when worship starts feeling a bit old. Not the actual act of worship, just the prep time. Sometimes I don't feel like getting up early and heading to church 2 hours before service to prepare for worship. Sometimes I don't feel like chording out all the new songs so we can learn them. There are lots of times when I think about laying down the whole worship leader mantle to find a job that requires less preparation and creates less frustration (you ever tried working with a bunch of musicians?). = )

In the end though, the actual time of worship is always worth the effort. Sure, some times are better than others. Sure, some experiences bring me to tears while others just bring a little focus. But God is always good. He always meets me right there where I am and, I think, he's always glad to hear me sing. = )