So of course it broke my heart when she stopped singing, knowing it was such a joy to her, and to me and my wife to watch her. When she agreed to come in and record with me a few weeks, ago, I was ecstatic! We only layed down a few tracks; barely enough for her to warm up. But it was a start and it sparked her in a big way! She is totally excited about singing more with me now and we’re putting together our first CD!

ALSO: The above was written by me in March of 2010. Since then there has been nothing short of a full-blown MIRACLE in my little girl Madison! Her Autism symptoms have virtually disappeared! Almost all of her most extreme symptoms are GONE since she started singing with me and my band! She’s still singing with me, singing stronger than ever now. She loves it. She’s learning how to play the guitar, too.

We give all the glory to God, because Man hasn’t figured out how to fix Autism yet! God intervened and my girl is CHANGED because of His great love!

Praise the Lord! We do!

Madison Cobb (sisters Brittany, right, and Danielle, left)

Sebastopol Christian Church opened it’s doors to Christian Rock/Pop praise band THE MESSAGE today (June 20th, 2010). Don Cobb, Gary Huntsman and bassist Rocky Kellam flowed through two sets of praise songs with the Redwood Gospel Mission Men’s Choir, blessed to be supported by these 23 men who are now in God’s grace and favor.

Singer Madison Cobb (11) joined her daddy for the offeratory song, blessing the Lord with a  Tommy Walker song entitled “He Knows My Name”. Autism has taken a back seat lately for Ms. Cobb as Maddy has taken to the stage with her father in praising the Lord and leading congregations in worship in both church and Celebrate Recovery meetings across Sonoma County.

Currently in the studio with Dad recording her first CD, Maddy has launched into a new season of freedom and joy as she praises God and leads SoCo adults in worship now. Slated for a winter 2010 release, Madison Cobb’s first recording endeavor, THE MESSAGE: What’s Going On?, has proven to be a blessing for young Maddy already, and for the other musicians involved in this project.

Praise God!

If you’d like to see her singing You Are Worthy of My Praise with me, we’re out on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD3BjI3hBAU and we’ve got a clip of our studio version here: http://www.themessage.us/youareworthy.mp3 but we are changing the key to better accomodate Maddy’s range, like we did in the live YouTube version. So we’ll be rerecording the guitars and vocals of this recording soon, but you can at least hear what she sounds like in the studio.

THE MESSAGE is at THE LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH at 88 School St. in Santa Rosa this Tuesday 3/23/10 for the grand opening of CELEBRATE RECOVERY meetings every Tuesday at The Lighthouse. I hope you’ll join us!

Pointing to 1 Corinthians 13, the New Testament book of James and Proverbs 23:29, I explained how God’s way and His power and His grace facilitate a profound change in the founders of A.A. and in the personalities of men at New Life University. Transformation is possible when Jesus Christ is in the house!

And so what is the result of all this prayer? Several new musicians have floated in (what a coincidence! OH! I mean what a GOD INCIDENCE!), a couple lead guitarists that have communicated interest in checking it out, and a couple of bassists, as well. Even a couple of gifted female lead vocalists have drifted into my view and are prayerfully considering joining us to check out what it’s like to lead worship together with THE MESSAGE. I’m excited about all this sudden motion.

Dwight Jeffers, our new sax player, says he is all in, praise God! Prayer is just amazing, isn’t it? I’ve gotten great counsel from some of the songwriter/worship leader sites I belong to, telling me to relax and know that He is God, that everything comes in His time not mine, that if He put the vision on my heart He will make it so, grasshopper. (I threw in the grasshopper part. No one really said that! LOL)

I’m feelin’ it, Lord. I’m feeling Your Holy presence and Your hand moving. Man, I love knowing You!

As I gazed around the church at the wonderful and colorful stained glass everywhere, which filled the sanctuary with beautiful light, I was grateful that He made a way for me to be there, to spend time with Him and with my brothers in THE MESSAGE and our brothers and sisters in the Lord. I had another Devine appointment with my new friend Noeless (3 times in 8 days in different places – we had never met before that!) and her husband, Mike! As we began to warm up, we were joined by Shannon on the very first song and it was on! Her harmonies so blessed me as I sang, it was as if the whole experience were lifted on the ground a foot or two.

THE MESSAGE spent a wonderful morning in church at THE OPEN DOOR in Petaluma.  Our old friends Frank and Shannon (from Living Water) were there with their microphones, completing this noise which can only be described as joyful. TM pianist Evan Glanville filled our sound with the grand piano at his fingertips. Bassist Jeff Quackenbush brought such a joyful bottom and Dwight Jeffers fleshed the whole thing out with his sax. Of course drummer Gary Huntsman did his usual magic (well, it SEEMS like magic, what he does on those drums). This traditional old church filled with Life as the Holy Spirit communed with each of us yesterday in His house. Hallelujah!

We’re excited about joining brothers and sisters in Christ that we haven’t met yet. We can’t wait to see what the Lord does with us, for us and through us tomorrow. All of us love to worship and expanding our circle of friends in this way is a total blessing for us all.

We pray that the Holy Spirit goes before us, that He fills us and all who come that morning with His Spirit and that hearts and minds are changed and lives are saved at THE OPEN DOOR tomorrow! Hosanna!

I’m praying, however, for some Christian musicians who feel led and called to land with me in THE MESSAGE, to build this band on the inside and the outside. In order to grow together musically, ongoing relationship is the key.

I’ve announced another plea on my Facebook account, asking for Christian musicians who might want to become a part of THE MESSAGE as a regular guitarist, bassist, drummer or keyboardist. Granted, God might not have in His plans for me or for THE MESSAGE that it become a tightknit little group. His plans may be that we continue to draw from many in the community in order to minister to the community.

More will be revealed…

The real message is that “God so loved the world…” which means everyone. Like any good father who creates children, our Father longs for a close and loving relationship with us all. He gave us free will so that our love would be real for Him, and not there simply because He made us love Him. He, like our Earthly fathers, wants us to come to Him and love Him by choice, not by design. The truth, however, is that we were designed to love our Father and when we surrender to that love we get that.

Our band ‘The Message‘ leads praise songs and worship on the 1st Wednesday of every month at the Nazarene Church on Farmers Lane in Santa Rosa. We all eat together at 6pm (free) and then gather to praise our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit which dwells in each of us. We then break down into small groups where more intimate dialogue takes place, where we get to know one another, to pray for one another and to lift each other up in our prayers, supporting one another in however we all individually need support on a given day or season.

On the third Thursday of each month, we facilitate the Chapel service at The Redwood Gospel Mission at 101 6th St. in Santa Rosa from 6-7pm. You are invited to join us on both evenings each month. We look forward to meeting you and fellowshipping with you, and learning how we might help one another in both action and prayer.

Gloria Deo,

Don Cobb, The Message