BEAUTY FOR ASHES
I honor my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Without Him, I don’t know where I would be. I bless the Lord with all my heart and soul!! I thank Him for the anointing of the Holy Ghost! I worship Him for so many fresh ideas, for new direction, a renewed spirit, and for the impact that my music has on so many lives! Lives are changing and souls are being saved! The purpose of this cd is to minister, and it is doing just that! Hallelujah!
I’m excited about ‘Beauty For Ashes’. This is the completion of my first full cd! What does this title mean? Where did the title come from? How is it relevant to me? The cd title, the lyrics to each song, the music, and everything else associated with this cd came from the heart. I did not know much about recording, but I knew that I wanted to get the word of God out in song. I teamed up with Terry Davis of 2 of A Kind Productions. My brothers Jeff Spencer and Doug Spencer both joined us. Terrence also shared his skills. My beautiful daughter, Tiara, was even featured on the cd! My pastor’s teachings help me a great deal, in this process. Therefore, Bishop Jerome Spencer also had a profound effect on the project going forth. The Holy Ghost was the leader in this project. This cd was birthed around some of my trials. I want you to know that the Lord allows our trials to come, in order to make us stronger. Our job is to seek out the purpose behind our trials. It was around the time when I had lost my mother. I was truly broken! Although my mother had went on to be with the Lord, I missed her so much! I was praising the Lord for having a saved mother. There is not a better place to be, than to be in the arms of God! The spiritual part of me was rejoicing, however, I’m still human. I’m not in the spirit 24/7! It was hard on the natural part of me! Have you ever lost a loved one? If so, you should understand how I felt. One day I read Isaiah 61…
Verse 1, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives; and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Verse 2, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all that mourn; Verse 3, To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Reading these words touched me! I began to saturate myself into the word of God again. This experience did help me to further develop my trust in God. Everything that my parents taught me was surely put to test. Now, both of my parents were with Jesus. I could no longer depend on my parents like I once did. I had to grow up for real! Ultimately depending on the Lord brought maturity. Tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed! (Romans 5:3-5) I realize that my loved ones who have gone on, are amongst that great cloud of witnesses. They’re routing for us! (Hebrews 12:1, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin , which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.) The Lord is our comforter, and He does give Beauty for Ashes! Beauty represents goodness, and ashes represent the hard times. This cd truly played a key role in my healing process. Creating ‘Beauty For Ashes’ helped to cultivate the grounds from which my growth stems.
One of our goals was to release a cd that sounds different from other cds. ‘Beauty for Ashes’ was not designed to compete or for mere entertainment. It was developed with the intended purpose of blessing souls. My background consists of generations of hand-clapping, foot-stomping, tongue-talking, holy-ghost filled Christians. I love my heritage. However, I am versatile. I understand that we did not all have the same roots. So, we decided to create some smooth sounds for this particular recording. My versatility helped make this project unique. I really enjoyed mixing Terry’s music with the styles of music that my brothers play! I like singing in small groups, choirs, as well as singing solos. Doing my own backgrounds made my work even more interesting! It is beneficial to be able to sing different styles, and to follow the musician, by developing songs around the musician’s style. It’s called teamwork. I concentrate mainly in the traditional and contemporary areas. However, I do sing gospel in different styles. These styles include jazz, classical, and R & B. I am open to any other styles of singing. As long as I’m ministering, the way I’m singing it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m lifting up the name of Jesus. We don’t all listen to the same styles. One person may like traditional, however, somebody else may prefer contemporary, or gospel rap. We are all different.
There’s more from which this came! I have more projects to complete for the Lord. This is just the beginning! The Holy Spirit is still delivering songs and ideas to me! I’m still spending time in the studio! Whenever the Lord allows me to do so, I will be doing a live recording! This will be for those of you who cater to the ‘churchier’ sounds. So, if you would like to experience hearing me in church, this is for you! I love praise and worship! Although I can praise God in any arena, the church is where I am rooted! As usual, I will be giving the Lord my all!!
Yonnie's Biography
Yolanda Spencer was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was the 13th child of the late Bishop Sterling and the late Beatrice Spencer. The anointing of the Holy Spirit blessed Yolanda with the gift of song at a very early age. By the time she was five years old, she was singing with the adult choir at her church. At that time, she was the leader of the song entitled I Love Him Forever. The congregation was amazed at the strength of the young girls voice. Growing up, she enjoyed singing, with her family, around the house. As her gift of song began to develop, Yolanda started singing more and more. She has learned to love and cherish the gifts that the Lord has blessed her with. One of her favorite roles is to lead praise and worship service. She attends Faith Temple Apostolic Church of God (www.ftacog.org) where her brother, Bishop Jerome Spencer is the Pastor.
Yolanda enjoys singing in small groups, choirs, and singing solos. She sings for various occasions. Yolanda has had the opportunity to sing with many local groups., and she is inspired by both local and national recording artists. She likes to arrange songs, and even rearrange some songs that are already recorded by other artists. Yolanda does listen to a variety of music. She tends to reach back to her roots, and often refers to hymns. What is interesting about Yolanda is that she writes and sings the songs based upon her experiences throughout life. She has often said, There is purpose behind our life experiences. Whether the experience is good or bad, it is our duty to ask the Lord for an understanding. We need to find out what we are suppose to gain from it. It is good to share testimonies with others, so that it will encourage them. We overcome by our testimonies.
Yolanda attended the University of Cincinnati, where she completed an Associate of Arts in Pre-Business, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in the area of Marketing. During that time, she joined the African American Cultural and Research Center Choir, under the leadership of Eric Watford. When Yolanda is not singing, she enjoys reading, writing, studying Gods word, traveling, cooking, designing hair styles, and spending quality time with her family and friends. She has a burning desire to spread the word of God through singing, writing songs, acting and any other steps that are ordered for her by God. She realizes the importance of substance, and her goal is to minister the word of God.
In 2004, Yolanda released a mini cd entitled, Hes By My Side. She also showcased her acting abilities in a stage play in 2004. The play was called: Troubles Dont Last Always, and was held in the Jarson-Kaplan Theater, which is located inside of Cincinnatis Aronoff Center. Yolanda has recently released a brand new project. This release is exciting, because she finally completed her first full cd! The title of the cd is, Beauty For Ashes. Yolandas music is available at: www.cdbaby.com! Each song is full of the word of God! The cd was birthed through Yolandas ability to endure and overcome the trials that she has been faced with. One of Yolandas favorite scriptures is Phillipians 4:13. She knows that she can do all things through Christ, who strengthens her. She believes in working with who and with what was given to her, by God. Yolanda wants to convey the gospel to anyone who is willing to listen. The Best Is Yet To Come!!!
