Posts filed under 'Itzel News'
Prayer Update – Thank you all so much for your prayers over the past 2 weeks. In my last newsletter, I mentioned that I was fighting the Flu. Fortunately, I was the only one who got it and we didn’t have to miss a single concert because of it (We did postpone one for a couple of weeks). The singing wasn’t pretty, but God gave us all the strength in our voices and bodies to make it through. Now, after 2 weeks, my voice is finally getting back to normal. Boy, I hope that doesn’t happen again any time soon!
Midwest Tour – We are heading back out to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee in July and August and would love to make a stop at your church on the way. What we are doing is getting a list of churches who are interested and their available dates, then we’ll place them all logistically on the calendar. If you think your church would be interested, have your Pastor or Worship leader look over the following dates and email me at info@billandkarenitzel.com or call me at 410-925-0687 with the dates that would work for them.
Available dates for Oklahoma: July 13 – AM July 20 – AM or PM July 27 – AM or PM August 3 (Our Anniversary!) - AM or PM
Available dates for Texas: July 20 – AM or PM July 27 – AM or PM August 3 - AM or PM
Available dates for Tennessee or Arkansas: August 3 – AM or PM
New Myspace Songs – We have just uploaded 2 new songs on our myspace page: An Inconvenient Truth and Weak. Check them out at www.myspace.com/theitzelfamily
February 21st, 2008
SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCES: Our whole family will be involved in the Forcey Memorial Church Christmas Musical on Friday, December 21 (7:30 PM) and Saturday, December 22 (3 and 6 PM). I will be the guest soloist, Karen is singing in the choir, Jessica is on the drama and dance team, and Ryan and Shannon Bailey will both be in the drama. You all are invited. No tickets needed. For directions or more info check out www.forcey.org
December 7th, 2007
FLAWED – We are pleased to let you know that we have finally finished our brand new CD! There are 11 songs, and I really feel that this CD is a major step forward in our writing, arranging, and overall sound. Here’s a rundown of the 11 songs:
War Fatigue – (WARNING: Political commentary forthcoming!) There is a phenomenon taking place in American culture, and quite frankly it’s been around for decades, but we’re seeing it more pronounced today because of the sustained war on terror. Americans, unlike terrorists, don’t like war; we don’t like to see bombings on our TV’s; we don’t like to hear about terrorist plots on our Radio programs; we don’t like to hear about the casualties. We are a peace-loving people and quite frankly, these days, many tire quickly if enemies of freedom are not stopped in the first hundred days . If we lose the War on Terror, it won’t be because our Armed Forces are not strong or dedicated enough, it will be because people back here in America are tired of having their lives interrupted by things as mundane and draining as say…the security of our Country. In other words, they’re suffering from “War Fatigue.” Now, I really didn’t mean to get all political (ok, actually, I did a little), but this is not a political song. I simply took the term “War Fatigue” and applied it to spiritual warfare. There are many believers who have been persecuted by the enemy and exhausted by living in a world that is not their home. I feel that from time to time too, and this song is just my prayer that God would give me the strength to fight this spiritual battle ‘till the end and that I would not “cut and run”. (Ok, I just couldn’t resist)
My Burden – This song is about that burden that we carry around with us and refuse to lay at the foot of the cross. It’s the one we keep worrying about, but continue to try to “work out” on our own. Jesus want us to “Cast all our cares on Him” because He knows just what to do with our burdens. We’ll never have true peace until we do!
One Of Those Days – Have you ever had one of those days when everything goes right for you? Everything gets done in half the time you planned, everything you have been worrying about amazingly works itself out, and you even understand why God is doing what He’s doing? Well, this song is NOT about one of those days! However, this song does point out that even in our worst days, God’s grace is sufficient.
Save Me From Myself – This is one of those story songs that tells of two people (one from outside the church and one who attends all the time) who both need Jesus in their life. The first is seeking God in desperation, the second knows all the right things to say, but Christ has never changed his life. This song is a testimony song of how God changes lives.
Create In Me A Clean Heart – This is a song about forgiveness that comes from David’s prayer in Psalms. There are times in all of our lives when we need to pray the words of this song. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
An Inconvenient Truth – Despite the title, this song is not about Global Warming. It’s about the philosophy of this world that there is no God, no absolutes, no truth, and no standard. This one picks up where “God is Still God” from the “Soldiers” CD left off.
At World’s End – The most simple song on the CD, but probably my favorite. This one basically says that I don’t know what this life will bring, but when it’s all over, I know what is awaiting me at the world’s end.
I’ve Got No Problem With That – One the scale of 1-10 on how odd our family must appear to the world, we are pretty high. We homeschool our kids, our teens don’t date, we believe in absolute truth and strive to follow a God that the world says doesn’t exist. Some may call us crazy or even fanatics, but we wear it as a badge of honor…we’ve got no problem with that!
Jesus Is Enough – This one is a new praise chorus that God has recently been using in our invitation time in a miraculous way. It wasn’t originally written to be an invitation song, but God had other plans!
Weak – the theme of this whole CD is “The Inability of Man and the Ability of God” and no song better reflects this concept than this song that says “When I am weak, You are strong”.
Pray – This is the “Song that almost didn’t make it on the CD”. We had to wait for this track to be done at the last minute, but I’m glad we waited. This song tells about the times when we are not in control of the circumstances in our lives and we feel there’s nothing we can do. It reminds us that we can always pray and God will always answer.
If you would like to hear a few of these songs, go to our myspace page at www.myspace.com/theitzelfamily
If you would like to order one of these CD’s, send a check for $12 to Bill Itzel 4215 Salem Bottom Rd. Westminster, MD 21157.
October 19th, 2007
What’s The Score? – The Score is the title of our new CD. Actually, it’s “The Score: 20 Years On-stage”. This collection of 10 performances from over the course of our ministry celebrates our 20 years in full-time work. It is currently in the duplication process and will be available in a couple of weeks. If you would like to pre-order the CD, you can send a check for $10 (We’ll cover the shipping) to Bill Itzel 4215 Salem Bottom Rd. Westminster, MD 21157 and we’ll send it out the day they arrive. To hear a clip of one of the songs, go to our myspace page (www.myspace.com/theitzelfamily)
The track listing is:
1. Fruit Optional?
2. The Last Days
3. Be A Witness
4. This Is Your Life
5. The Miracle
6. When The Rubber Meets The Road
7. Talk To The Savior
8. Stand Up (With Jessica, Ryan, and Shannon Bailey)
9. Daddy’s Song (With Shannon Bailey)
10. Safety Of The Fold
11. Peace Of God (Bonus Song)
We have included a bonus track (Peace Of God – Live) for the pre-release ONLY. If you pre-order in the next 2 weeks you’ll get the version with the bonus cut. After that you’ll receive the official 10-song release.
August 7th, 2007
Happy New Year! Thanks to all who came out on New Year’s Eve for our Homecoming Concert. We had such a wonderful time and had such an incredible turnout that we have decided to have our 2007 Homecoming Concert on new year’s eve again this year! I know it’s a little early to make plans, but you can still mark your calendars for December 31st, 2007.
There is a lot of singing to do ‘till then, though. Praise the Lord! We are already halfway booked up for this year. If your church would like to have a concert in ‘07, check out our “How to book a concert” section on this website. We still have a couple of dates in February that we need to fill in.
January 8th, 2007
Join us at 6 pm for our 17th Annual Homecoming/Album Dedication Concert at the Forcey Memorial Church (2130 E. Randolph Rd in Silver Spring) on New Year’s Eve. Everyone is welcome and the concert will last ’till about 7:30 so you still have time to do something later in the evening. There is no charge, but a love offering will be received. For more information, call 301-622-2200.
December 12th, 2006
The track listing for our new Christmas CD “Rejoice” is as follows:
O Come Let Us Adore Him
Emmanuel
O Holy Night
Good Christian Men Rejoice
Follow The Star
No Room At All
Joy To The World
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne
No Room
Another Year Is Dawning
They are now available through our online “store” or at our concerts.
September 20th, 2006
We’ve been working like CrAzY recently in the studio getting all of this recording finished up before our month-long tour to Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas, and all of that work has culminated in 3 new releases:
SOLDIERS: The new tour has begun and the pre-release CD’s are now available. There are 12 new cuts on this CD (1 is a special “hidden” song), and they are getting an incredible response in concert.
The songs are: This Is Your Life, God Is Still God, Plastic People, Soldier, Stand Up, End Of Your Hope, I’ll Take Time For You, Follow Me, Live By The Sword, Barbarians At The Gate, Forgotten, Someone Who Watches Me.
* Note: The SOLDIERS TOUR is already booked up for 2006 and is quickly booking up for 2007. If you would like for your church to be one of our stops next year, email or call me (410-925-0687) right away!
GREATEST HITS (That Never Made It To Radio): This one was 13 years in the making, and so we chose 13 of our most requested songs and remixed, re-recorded, or re-mastered each of them for this brand-new compilation.
The songs are: Return Of The King, Thankful, Dead Man Walkin’, For Better Or Worse, When He Speaks, 2 Natures, The War, Beware Of The Dogs, Where’s The Beef?, It Mattered To This One (The Starfish Song), Be A Witness, Hard To Believe, The Lion’s Coming Back.
REJOICE: Rejoice is a new Christmas CD that includes 4 brand new songs as well as some of our older Christmas favorites. The recording on this CD will finish this week, and CD’s will be available by next week. The final listing of the songs is not finalized yet, but the 4 new tracks are: Good Christian Men Rejoice/Go Tell It, O Come All Ye Faithful/Let Us Adore Him, O Holy Night, No Room At All (Written by Karen’s Dad, Bobby Ayres)
September 13th, 2006
We have completed our new “Greatest Hits” CD and it is currently in the duplication process. Copies should be available in a few weeks. The cuts are:
Return Of The King
Dead Man Walkin
Lion’s Coming Back
Hard To Believe
Thankful
When He Speaks
For Better Or Worse
Beware Of The Dogs
Where’s The Beef?
The War
It Mattered To This One (The Starfish Song)
2 Natures
Be A Witness
August 27th, 2006
11 Tracks for our new CD Soldiers were recorded in North Carolina on July 12th. We are waiting for the mix in early August and then we’ll start on vocals. We hope to have the whole CD completed my early Fall!
July 19th, 2006
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