Grace Notes

Bright Lights Office/Recent Productions

Guess what arrived??!

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On Friday a semi pulled up to our office and we unloaded 5,000 songbooks!

After piles of drafts, it felt wonderful to hold a finished copy.

The songbook process began when Sarah Roberts came last year, helped with the CD recording, and then spent 2+ weeks full time writing arrangments and entering them into the Finale Software. When Sarah Roberts initially e-mailed asking if there was anything she could do to help Bright Lights for a few weeks in the summer, Sarah (Mally) mentioned that we had just scheduled to record a CD and would love to have a songbook to go along with it. The Lord had already given Sarah Roberts this idea independently (though she didn’t know about the recording) and she was excited to come and help. We were thrilled.

After Sarah left, numerous other friends and BL leaders spent time editing, arranging, and entering in new songs. We saw God’s hand of provision in many special ways through many special friends…but of those, Nickie definitely put in the most time of all as she designed and laid out the entire songbook in InDesign. (Not a simple project!)

As we neared the finish line, Sarah and I realized we needed a little more organized system as we went through each song numerous times editing and catching mistakes, so this is the little chart we developed and used for a couple days during the editing process….

Hey, whatever works, right?!

Editing and more editing…late into the night… Deadlines are VERY helpful when it comes to getting things done. (We wanted the songbooks done by our Bright Lights conferences this summer.)

Even Stephen joined the team…

Finally! Finished product! It’s exciting to see the Lord give a desire and then complete it. Our desire and prayer is that this songbook would be a useful tool for Bright Lights groups around the country and that it would direct the attention of multitudes to Jesus Christ.

For more information or to order a songbook, click here.

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness every night” Psalm 92:1-2

Miscellaneous/Recent Productions/Witnessing Stories

New Resurrection Tract!

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Peter told the other disciples in Acts 1:22 that they needed to find someone to replace Judas to “become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Note how he emphasized the resurrection as what they needed to be witnesses of. We must be witnesses of His resurrection too. If Jesus hadn’t risen, His death would have been pointless!

The past couple of days we have been busy pulling together a Resurrection tract to pass out this weekend. It has been a really enjoyable process! The Lord has given so much awesome evidence. As I’ve looked at various books and websites to glean info for this tract I’ve become increasingly grateful for all the men of God who have labored so hard to provide answers in defense of the faith. I especially enjoyed Josh and Sean McDowells book, Evidence for the Resurrection .


CLICK HERE for the tract. Please consider printing some and passing them out in your area too! They are easy to print off–just print one side and then flip the paper over and print the other side. Then cut in half and fold in thirds.

Here’s an Idea:
Make breads or cookies for your neighbors and wrap in a spring-colored Saran wrap. Then attach the tract and pass them out to all your neighbors. If you have a younger brother or sister, take them with you! Everyone is open to receive something on a holiday.


Also Note:
For 4 page free download on Evidence for the Resurrection by Josh McDowell, click here. This is also an excellent resource to pass out!

Announcement for those in the Cedar Rapids Area:
If you haven’t already heard, we are planning a “resurrection witnessing outreach” this Saturday, April 3rd. Many people around here are pretty fired up about evangelism after just hearing Mark Cahill. In the past few days I’ve heard lots of witnessing stories. 🙂 So for those who can make it, we will meet this Saturday at 1pm at my church, (Cedar Rapids Bible Chapel, 3412 Oakland Rd NE Cedar Rapids) and then we’ll divide into groups and go to various parks and malls. We’ll try to pair those who are less comfortable with those who have had more experience and we will provide some “Resurrection Surveys” to use to help with initiating conversations. At 5pm we’ll come back to the church for a time of pizza and sharing. Should be an exciting day!

Recent Productions

One-On-One Discipleship Tool

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Have you ever noticed how meaningful a good, edifying one-on-one conversation can be? Although discipleship groups or classes can be great, there is much value in the individualized attention received when someone is discipled one-on-one. With this in mind, Sarah developed a one-on-one discipleship program to use within our Bright Lights group. The older girls went through it with the younger girls and both were strengthened and encouraged. We’re excited to announce that it’s now available for others to use as well. (Thanks to graphic / layout work done by Sarah Smith and Nickie!) It’s called “4:12”, based on three theme discipleship verses: 1 Timothy 4:12, Ephesians 4:12 and Colossians 4:12. We have been very encouraged by the results we’ve seen each time we’ve used this material. It’s designed to help older girls or mothers spend one-on-one time with younger girls studying God’s Word, discussing important areas of life, committing to pray for each other, and holding each other accountable in Scripture memory and other disciplines and projects. For more information see our online store.

Click here to see pictures from the first time we did “4:12” last spring.

Bright Lights Internship/Bright Lights Office/Family News/Homeschool Conferences/Radiant Purity Conferences/Recent Productions/Strong in the Lord Conf.

2009: A Year in Review

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Miscellaneous/Recent Productions

Guess what just arrived?

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11-17-09We are thrilled to announce that the Bright Lights CD is now available!

When Rachel Wissmann asked me back in April at the Omaha Bright Lights Conference if we had ever considered making a Bright Lights CD, I told her it was one of those projects I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get to. But–when she offered to help with it–that was a different story! I presented the idea to my family and our “family meeting” on the issue ended very quickly as we all agreed the offer was too good to turn down.

The Lord answered prayer beyond our expectations in the production stages of the CD. It is our continued prayer that this CD would have a mighty impact in people’s lives!

Below is a little “taste” that Stephen put together.
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For more information or to order a copy, click here.

Also, if you think of it, the Wissmann family could use extra special prayer this month as they are serving Him in Branson, MO.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” Psalm 145:3-4

Family News/Recent Productions

Recording…Day Two

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Yesterday we had another great day of recording. The slideshow below will give you an inside scoop of the excitement at the studio.

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Get Adobe Flash player

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Family News/Recent Productions

Great Day in the Studio!

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We had a great day in the studio today, and we finished almost all of the instrumental accompaniments. We are using harp, keyboard, guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, and flute. I’ve been so encouraged to see how well each song is coming together!

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Matthias and Stephen Wissmann (amazing musicians!)

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After each “take”, we listen, talk about it, figure out what needs to be changed, and then record again. Tom, our recording engineer, does an incredible job. We definitely feel blessed to be working with him.

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Ruth Wissmann

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Having fun in the waiting lounge

Family News/Recent Productions

At the Wissmann’s…

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…preparing to record a Bright Lights Music CD. It has been so exciting to see the Lord putting all the details together. We can’t express enough appreciation to the Wissmann family for all they are doing to help. They have gone above and beyond our expectations in so many ways!
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Today was a full day of practicing and pulling together all the song arrangements. We’d appreciate prayer tomorrow and Wednesday that everything would go smoothly in the studio, and that the CD would bring much glory to the Lord and be a big encouragment to many!

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Oh, and did I mention practicing music wasn’t the only thing we did today…:)

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Sarah Roberts and Nathaniel Wissmann–ready to catch that balloon!