Where Positions ARE Available

I got this email recently, and thought of sharing it and replying to it publicly. Here’s the actual email itself (with the sender’s name abbreviated for privacy).

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Dear Sir

I am A. M. Worship Singer from Pakistan. I am a Christian fellow and I sing to praise the Lord our God. God has blessed me with a wonderful voice to sing. I am singing since last ten years. I wish to continue to praise God and pray through my singing talents. But unfortunately, I do not have many resources to get my singing on recordings. I wish to join a group or a ministry filled with the Holy Spirit to accept me as a singer. I am praying and wish you to support my dedication and talent. If there is any idea or any support from you and your ministries please let me know and I will be ready to join you for this. Thank you. God bless you.

A. Worship Singer,

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Well, firstly there is no need to call me ‘Sir’. I am not a very formal person and go by the name of Junjie. People may not know how to pronounce it (since it is Chinese) but typing it on an email should be OK, right?

>> I am a Christian fellow and I sing to praise the Lord our God.

That’s great!

>> God has blessed me with a wonderful voice to sing. I am singing since last ten years.

Confidence. No false humility. I can respect that.

>>  I wish to continue to praise God and pray through my singing talents. But unfortunately, I do not have many resources to get my singing on recordings.

And why would that be a problem?

If you really want people to hear your singing, get a video-cam, video yourself and upload it on Youtube. You may not earn any money from it, but you will certainly bless others with your abilities if you are as good as you say.

Because of what the world was like when we were growing up, we can end up thinking that a singer’s success is measured by how many albums he or she can sell. So if he or she can’t even get on a recording in the first place, that’s sad, right? But for believers who are singers, success does not only mean selling albums. You need to specifically know what kind of singing God wants you to do. What I personally believe is that there are 3 main types of singers within the Kingdom of God.

1) Worship Leaders – when they sing, they get the congregation to sing too. They successfully lead people into singing wholeheartedly unto the Lord when they take the mike.

2) Evangelists – when they sing, they touch the hearts of pre-believers and open their hearts to receive the love of God.

3) Prophetic singers – when they sing, they minister to the people of God. They testify of Jesus in such a way that people are edified, encouraged and comforted.

1 Corinthians 14:3 (ESV) - On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

I am not saying that a singer can’t do more than one type of singing, but many singers I know have one that they are most effective at. And they will do well to focus on that one if they want to bear fruit quickly and with less effort.

So which one are you?

>>  I wish to join a group or a ministry filled with the Holy Spirit to accept me as a singer.

I can direct you to such a ministry. It’s called your local church. I am not sure what you mean when you say “filled with the Holy Spirit”, but surely it would apply to your home church. If not, why call that church home, right?

Your pastor will know where your strengths are, since you have been serving there for ten years. And he will want you to be effective, since that will help him serve the people God has entrusted to his care. So he does have a vested interest in your success.

Of course, that assumes that you have been faithfully serving for the past ten years. Moreover, you have to be willing to try different stuff, not just what you are comfortable with. If you are a performance singer and need to lead worship for example, that will mean a lot of work and learning for you. But it is only after you have put in all that kind of effort that your pastor will be able to see what you are best at and can give you accurate advice.

But you will most certainly start off as a volunteer. Which means you won’t get paid. It is this time as a volunteer when you will be tested, to see if you have what it takes to serve.

1 Timothy 3:10 (ESV) - And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

And one crucial area you will be tested on, in the sight of God and man, is faithfulness.

Proverbs 20:6 (ESV) - Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

Talented people are easier to find than faithful people. Many talented people want quick glory and the applause of man, so they are unwilling to demonstrate faithfulness in serving. So if you want to be used by God to bless his people, be faithful!

Now what if your home church is small? That would mean that even if your abilities suit the church and they appreciate you, they may not be unable to pay you. If that is the case, let me just say that if you are truly faithful to that church, you will set aside your own abilities and preferences, and work with your pastor to grow his church. And since it is a small church, what would grow that church may not be you singing. It may be you making it a point to share the gospel and invite people to church. It may mean you serving as an usher or running errands for your pastor. Many preachers started off as janitors – they had to sweep and clean the church!

Your faithfulness WILL be tested.

If your home church is small, they will need you to work hard at many things, singing, ushering, administration, evangelism and discipleship. And all that while you work at a day job to pay for your own living expenses and tithe to your church. If your home church is large, you probably won’t get the limelight at the very beginning. You will have to start small and slowly work your way up as a volunteer, all the while keeping your day job.

What if there is no local church you can join?

If there is no church in your area, district or county, then the needs of God’s people there are great indeed. They will need solid, practical teaching in the Bible more than they will need singing. And if you have a heart for God’s people, you may have to set up a church there yourself.

Sounds daunting? It is. But on the bright side, you need not worry about how to feed the flock with God’s Word. Email me and I can refer you to online sermons that are solid, Scriptural teaching that will bless the people and build them up in the faith.  Your job then will be to pray for your people when they have needs. That should not be a problem for you, since you have said before that you wish to continue to pray through your singing talents.

>> I am praying and wish you to support my dedication and talent. If there is any idea or any support from you and your ministries please let me know and I will be ready to join you for this.

Any ideas from me and my ministry? I’ve written an entire email of ideas for you! The biggest ideas are:  

1) Start where you are, doing what you need to do right now.

2) Be faithful in service.

3) Don’t think of yourself as a singer but as a Christian. If singing is what it takes to be a blessing to God’s people where you are, then sing! But if it is something else, are you willing to do that something else so that God’s people will be blessed?

I leave you with this Scripture, the one that sustains me in my ministry when it gets difficult.

Hebrews 6:10 (ESV) - For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 

If you truly love God, serve his people. He will remember your labour and reward you in due season.

Be blessed, A. M.!

Conclusion:

I know this has been a long post. What do you think of what I said here? Let me know your thoughts. You can do so by leaving a comment below.

Thanks!

Lesson from 1 Corinthians 14

A few Sundays back, one of the church leaders spoke to me after the service. He told me “I just want to tell you that you minister on the piano, really minister. Not just today, but every time…”

And that really encouraged me a lot.

Before you get me wrong, I am not one of those high-maintenance musicians, who need to be affirmed and encouraged every week. In fact, one pastor I serve with mentioned that I am very low-maintenance, and he’s glad for that. There are two reasons why I am low-maintenance: 1) I enjoy serving in the worship ministry, so I am self-motivated; 2) I am very confident of what I am doing, so I am self-directed most of the time.

But sometimes I go out on a limb and decide to try stuff out of nowhere. For example, that particular Sunday we used the song Dance with Me, by Jesus Culture. At one point the worship leader did not indicate which part of the song to do next. On the spur of the moment I turned up the keyboard volume and played the melody of the chorus. Because my church worship band is really a dream team, the whole team went that way too, and it all sounded prepared and rehearsed.

It wasn’t.

And later the worship leader directed me to just linger after a song and give the congregation room to sing their own songs unto the Lord. Err… I immediately launched off into one of my trusty chord progressions, Bm7 – C#m7 – D – E (we were in the key of F# minor), and stayed there until the worship leader went into the next song (which was in the key of A major). Again unrehearsed and unprepared, but it all worked out ok, at least to me.

1 Cor 14:29 (NKJV) - Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

So to have that church leader approach me and affirm me after the service meant a lot to me.

Acts 2:18 (NKJV) - And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.

This passage tells me that the New Testament church is to be characterized by prophecy (we can argue what prophecy means some other time). But if you want to prophesy you have to be willing to let your prophecies be judged by the rest of your local body of Christ, as instructed in 1 Corinthians 14:29.

So I take the same principle and apply it to my playing. I have to be open to having it judged by the body of Christ, especially my church leaders. Now, it isn’t practical for me to go around making a nuisance of myself and bugging the worship leaders and my pastor for feedback after EVERY service. But 1 Cor 14:29 does mean that I do have to be open to feedback on my work and ministry unto the LORD.

So what does it mean for you?

Two things:

1) Be willing to submit to judgment.

It’s unrealistic to believe that diligently seeking God's guidance will mean that you will make no mistake or have everyone approve of your decisions. And if that worries you, you are operating from fear rather than faith.

All it takes is humility, being willing to accept feedback and maybe realize that sometimes we don't hear God as clearly as we'd like. Exercise humility and teachability when you're serving God with other people. It's less pressurizing in the long run...

2) Be gentle and generous with your feedback.

If someone went out on a limb, either in the worship ministry or some other way, be quick to affirm the good in it. How about problems or mistakes? Personally I would not mention the problems or mistakes unless I have a relationship with that person (he/she trusts me) or if I am in a leadership position in that group.

Why? Because of my manner. I can come across as strict and harsh in person, so I have to be extra careful to be gentle, to not crush someone's spirit.

Isaiah 42:3 (NIV) - A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

Watch out for that too, if you are in a leadership position. There will be times when you will have to call someone out on his or her mistakes or defiance, especially if the culture in that group has gone haywire. But hopefully that is not going to be common in the church or fellowship you serve at!


Conclusion:

We love God by serving his people (Heb 6:10) and we become effective only when we work together with others and let them sharpen us (Pro 27:17). So be open to the feedback and advice from others, and also remember to exhort and encourage one another, especially when they go out on a limb to serve God!

Worship Leader Basics

About two weeks ago, I attended the funeral wake of my grandmother-in-law.

It was a Christian funeral service, because she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior for quite a few years already. I wasn’t close to her in the first place; the Singapore pace of life makes it hard to build decent relationships amongst relatives and friends. So it was out-of-sight-out-of-mind for her, and I'm not proud of that.

Because I wasn’t emotionally close, I was emotionally detached enough to observe the worship leader and musician trying to lead worship for the service. They stumbled over some of the basics. I haven't talked much about worship leading basics before, so I had better mention some of them now.

1) Sing Appropriately

One of the songs they used was 轻轻听, (it was a Chinese service). This means "listen gently", but if you don't understand Mandarin Chinese you'd never have guessed from the worship leader's singing. She was bawling it out for the entire song. Her dynamics ranged from loud, very loud and voice-distorted-on-the-mike kind of loud. I spent the 4 minutes or so cringing and feeling embarrassed for her.

So please sing appropriately. Match your voice and singing volume to the lyrics of the song. Don't sing a rousing song timidly, and don't belt out a quiet, contemplative song at the top of your voice. If you do, it shows you aren't really paying attention to what you are singing in the first place.

2) Rehearse

They sang Amazing Grace (but with Chinese lyrics) next. The worship leader and musician stumbled over the song for the first verse. Why? Because the leader was singing the song in three-four time (which is how it was originally written, and how many Singaporean Christians know it) and the guitarist was playing in four-four time.

What made it even more of a waste was that the people really tried to sing this song. And it was all choked up by the guitarist. Now if the leader and guitarist had rehearsed the song before hand, they would have been able to come to an agreement (three-four or four-four?). That would have allowed the two of them to start in sync, which would have made a large difference.

I recently got tagged into a discussion on Facebook about rehearsals. A lady was questioning the need for rehearsals. Her thought was that since it was worship, God was the recipient and the sincerity of heart was the most important, why practice so much? We don't practice our prayers, do we? She believed that practice was for performances unto men, not to God. So we should just spontaneously sing and play unto God, right?

Now I could go into her points the way I was taught in my university philosophy course, go straight for the assumptions behind her points, challenge the assumptions and then demolish them with Scripture passages. But I understand where she's coming from. She's reacting to the extremes of performance music in church. Performance music tends to have structure imposed for structure's sake, so she, like many others, went the other extreme by rejecting all structure.

She even said that the musicians and singers at the dedication of the temple just spontaneously played and sang unto God. From that we could easily guess that she never tried to coordinate 288 singers and musicians (1 Chr 25:7) as well as another 120 priests with trumpets before, or she'd quickly discover how 'spontaneous is best' would epically fail on her…

Just so you know, the idea that worship was supposed to be spontaneous also came out in the book Pagan Christianity. But just because an idea is popular doesn't necessarily mean that it's correct!

So practice. Rehearse. The only time you won't need it is if all the worship team is doing familiar songs. In other words, if the rehearsals are already done!

3) Match the intensity of the people

Leading worship for a funeral service is tough, because there may be visitors there who are not yet believers or who come from a different church and worship culture. So they may just stand there and not sing.

When that happens, it's difficult to generate momentum in the worship. The worship leader that evening tried to do so by singing louder and later singing in tongues. Maybe that would work in her home church, the congregation may take that as a cue to sing in tongues together with her, and there would be some participation at least.

But at a funeral service? With outsiders, people from liturgical churches and non-Christians?

1 Cor 14: 23 - So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? (NIV)

As I said, I understand how difficult it is to lead worship properly at a funeral service. If you are the worship leader, you have to be ready to feel as if you are singing all alone. If the people DO sing, they usually sing in a lack-lustre way. It's tempting to try to rouse them by hyping things up a bit.

Don't.

Go as far as you can for that session and that's it. If the people aren't flowing with you, don't try to force them. One objection some Christians have to contemporary praise and worship is that they see it as emotional manipulation. And if you try to hype up the worship when the people aren't responding, you ARE doing exactly that.

Conclusion:

The basics. If we have been serving in the worship ministry for some time it's easy to assume everyone knows the basics. But once in a while, just to be sure, it's good to go back and re-visit them again. And share them with your worship team also, especially the newer members!

Performance vs Participation

I recently got a few questions via email, and these questions I feel deserve more detailed answers. (So it will take a while, please be patient!) The first email is actually about the core of worship ministry conflicts.

You see, all the genuine worship ministry disputes and conflicts I've seen so far are about the model of worship ministry. There are two models we are offered in Scripture, and when we understand them we will:

1. Know why someone who disagrees with us thinks and behaves the way they do; AND
2. Know what are the problems WE may run into and the blind spots we have.

The Two Worship Ministry Models (Paradigms) – Performance vs. Participation

A Performance-based worship ministry is based on a person or a group of people ministering while the rest of the people (if any) watch. We see this in the Bible quite often, primarily in the Old Testament. The Performance style of worship ministry really took on in a major way when God implemented the Levitical Priesthood.

But In The New Testament…

Firstly, the worship is now based on a spiritual re-birth and status (http://jvworship.blogspot.com/2009/03/spirit-and-truth.html); secondly, all believers are priests and therefore are to be directly involved with the ministry of praise and worship (1 Peter 2:9).

I talk about these two models of worship ministry in greater detail in my next book (http://invisibleworshipmusician.com/nextbook.htm), because both of them can be defended from Scripture, both are prone to being taken to extremes and abused, and because you need to find the right mix of both in order to find the best fit for your church.

In the Email I Received

A Chief Musician finds himself serving under a worship leader who changed the focus of the church music team from a performance-model, i.e. duplicating the original versions of songs, playing to clicktracks (metronomes) and taking pains to get the sound mix right, to participation. In theory, that sounds really good, very spiritual and in line with the New Testament.

However:

1. The worship leader takes in newbies who are not as musically skilled and does not challenge them to improve. This results in the newbies not being interested to improve. They turn up late for rehearsals and without having practiced their parts by themselves first (wasting the time of the rest of the band);
2. The worship leader takes away what created the good sound mix in the first place, such as the drum screen (allows the drum volume to be controlled by the sound ministry), and puts up a very unbalanced band on the stage (a bassist, pianist, drummer and FIVE guitars????). This can be VERY distracting for the congregation!;
3. The worship leader advocates mentoring (the senior musicians imparting skills and knowledge to the newer musicians, then moving out of the way to allow the newbies to rise up) and yet he does not allow the chief musician to teach the newbies how and what to play.

You can guess what this does to the morale of the serious team members who were there before. They would end up cynical and frustrated, especially with the clichés and platitudes that usually accompany such a change. Usually, when such changes happen, the leaders implementing such change will usually say things like:

1. "it's all about the heart";
2. "let God do the rest"; AND of course the biggest one –
3. "Don't you trust God?"

So you can see very clearly that this situation is a clash of two worship models, between Performance and Participation.

I know I push very strongly for the Participation-model of worship ministry. You can see examples here at http://invisibleworshipmusician.com/article01.htm. But that doesn't mean that anything goes, because the Bible doesn't teach participation for the sake of participation. The Bible teaches:

1) Participation for the sake of edification

1 Cor 14:26 (NIV) - What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

2) Participation for the sake of unity

Eph 4:11-13 (NIV) - It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…

And unity in worship is very important, both in the New Testament…

Romans 15:5-6 (NKJV) - Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Emphasis mine)

… and in the Old.

2 Chronicles 5:13-14 (NIV) - The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever."

In other words, if you pursue participation totally, without any discernment, you end up with chaos and disorder. You can rationalize it and call it "freedom in the Spirit", but the fact remains: you need a certain degree of order (1 Cor 14:33) in order that people can effectively participate and contribute (1 Cor 14:26) for the edification of everyone gathered.

Likewise, if you pursue a performance model of worship ministry totally and without any discernment, you may end up alienating your worship team and your congregation, while burning yourself out. As long as you go to any extreme, you will be alienating people and making them more likely to choose the other extreme.

And the congregation suffers.

Conclusion:

So this is what I would urge you to do. Do everything in worship ministry, not for the sake of performance or participation only, but do everything for the sake of unifying the singing of the congregation, that they may be edified.

For example, I can play a lot on the piano and it can look really fancy. But I can do that because I know what works for unifying the praises of the congregation. I know when it will work and when the rest of the band doesn't let me. I know when the congregation is ready for it and when the people are not, so I won't fall flat on my face when I try it. When I play piano for worship, I play what I play so with the unity and edification of the people in mind. And it works!

I know, I sound very confident. Or is it arrogance? That's a good question, in fact, that is the very next topic I was emailed about. So stay tuned for the next post, when I look at the issue of arrogance vs confidence!

Be blessed!

A Lousy Movie...

It went exactly as my wife predicted. I thought the movie was a waste of my time.

I am talking about Storm Warriors, a Hong Kong film based on a Chinese comic series. Having gone to watch similar movies with my wife before, I already had very low expectations, but even then I felt disappointed.

What's wrong with the movie?
 

There was no coherent storyline.

So many lines, details and special effects were thrown in, but not developed into anything coherent. Meanwhile, important elements that would have developed the plot better, to keep the film from being way too jerky and the plot changes from being too abrupt, were introduced too late in the story, or flooded out of consciousness by the constant barrage of details, or not there at all.

It's like worship leaders who try to do too much within a worship set. They've got great songs they want to try, the latest album releases from their favourite Christian singers, and they want to put as much of it in as possible. Asking them to show a little restraint on the creativity or artistic expression usually gets you incredulous looks. "The Holy Spirit prompted me to use these songs," they'd say. "How can you ask me to quench the Spirit?"

I don't know everything about the Holy Spirit, but I DO know his heart.

He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. (John 16:14-15, NIV)

The above passage tells us two things: first, the Spirit's task is to glorify Jesus; and second, he glorifies Jesus by teaching and edifying us, giving us revelation about Jesus. In other words, the Holy Spirit will not have us worship leaders and musicians do things that do not reveal Jesus to the people.

And because the Spirit wants to make sure people can receive the message, we can safely expect that he will restrict himself and not flood the people with information overload. Consider the following passage:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, two--or at the most three--should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret... Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. (1 Cor 14:27, 29, NIV)

Notice that even when it comes to divinely inspired utterances the Holy Spirit shows restraint? He keeps himself to two or three. If you've ever been in a meeting where there are prophecies released, you'll realise that two prophecies are already very heavy for people to listen to and judge if they are from the Lord. By three people's minds start to shut off already, so they are quite unable to judge and exercise Scriptural discernment on the utterances.

So if the Spirit shows restraint when it comes to tongues and prophecies, why should we worship ministers not show restraint in our song selections and music arrangements? Do we know more than the Holy Spirit about how to bless God's people?

OK, let's get back to the movie.

My wife kept saying "You didn't read the comic series, that's why you don't understand the movie". My reply to her was "You didn't read Lord of the Rings and yet you could understand the movies. So that's no excuse for lousy storytelling!"

It's like telling a congregation member that they couldn't understand or appreciate the worship set you just did because they didn't hear the original CD or album you got the songs from. "If you hear the album, you'll hear that the people can still worship even when the electric guitar is playing all that stuff, and after the guitar solo the congregation can all start singing again without the worship leader telling them when to start!"

That does not work at all.
The CD version is may not be the best version of the song for you to use. What comes out on CDs is meant for people to listen to, not necessarily to sing along with (otherwise why would Chris sing How Great is Our God in Db major???). Doing a worship song in a particular way just because that is how it is done in the CD is dangerous.

Remember, many people who do worship albums come from a performance background. Their training has been to sing and play music in such a way that the audience will listen and be impressed, not that the people will jump up to their feet and sing along. So if your objective is to unify the praises of the congregation, why would you copy an example is was created with a different objective? Yes, it MIGHT work, and SOMETIMES it does work. But wouldn't it be better to go directly for what would work and be effective in YOUR church worship setting?

 

Back to the movie

So you can guess that the CGI and special effects, the eye-candy actors and actresses left me underwhelmed. There will be women who watch the movie because they are fans of the pretty-boy actors, and because in their eyes those actors can do no wrong, they will say that it is a great movie.

It's like people who are convinced that certain Christian artistes or groups (or churches) produce fantastic and anointed worship albums, so whatever is done in those CDs can never be wrong. And if their home church doesn't appreciate the songs and arrangements from that album, that is because their home church does not have the heart of worship.

Anyway, I think this is enough ranting about a lousy movie! Maybe I shouldn't be complaining, since I am a worship leader, not a movie producer. But I really hope that you, at least, will be better at ministering in worship than the producers of Storm Warriors are at producing a movie!




P.S. and if you know you need more equipping to be an effective worship leader or musician, and you haven't got my Invisible Worship Musician E-book yet, what are you waiting for? Get it as a Christmas present for yourself! Order from this Christmas Sale page and get it more than 10% off!

Submitting to Judgment

The book is completed! I’ve finished putting down everything that I wanted to say, what I believe will be a firm foundation of knowledge and understanding for anyone aspiring to the worship ministry. Thank God!

It was a difficult journey, because writing the book forced me to clearly define my position and make my stand really clear. In doing so I became even more convinced of the importance of what I am sharing in this book. Is the hardest part over for me? No. Now I’ve to submit my book to pastors for judgment.

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (1 Corinthians 14:29, NKJV)

In my book I quote that verse and apply it to musicians who claim that they are playing prophetically by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I say that if they are not willing to submit their playing for judgment, they do not have the right heart for the ministry of playing prophetically.

Now that I’ve written my book and spoken out what I believe God is telling me to speak, I’ve got to do the same thing. And it’s really scary…

Why? Because I am not confident of my Scriptural interpretations? No. I am extremely confident, and in my book I have boldly spoken out on the many errors that I’ve come across in the worship ministry. Even a popular worship song that has lyrics that are based on a misinterpretation of Scripture hasn’t been spared, you know, the one that implies that we are to bring God MORE than a song, for a song in itself is not what God requires. The lyrics state that God goes much deeper within than the way things appear and he looks right into the heart.

The scary part is this: all it took for me to discover that the song in question was a misinterpretation of Scripture was a quick flip to the original passage and having an elementary understanding of the concept of sacrifice in worship. Many sincere people in worship ministry, pastors included, have missed this obvious error. And instead of feeling superior to them I keep asking myself: Is there a Scripture interpretation I am teaching that has an error that is so extreme and obvious but I have missed it?

I’m sure the writer of the song in question would be heart-broken if he ever discovered that he has taught the wrong idea to God’s people. I know I would be…
And so I humbly ask for help, for pastors who would be willing to help me judge my book. Just as I submit my playing prophetically to the judgment of the worship leaders and the rest of the musicians I play with, so do I now submit my message to the judgment and evaluation of people God has called to the ministry of shepherding his people and teaching his word.

And there have been responses already from pastors who have offered their help. And I am thankful. Some of you didn’t get my email asking for help (those of you using hotmail, I noticed), so I’m telling you all again: I’ve finished the text of my book (the music notation’s not included yet) and I’m looking for pastors willing to help me with proof-reading my Scripture interpretations. So if you know pastors who are willing to help me out, get me in touch with them so that I can ask them for help.

Do continue to keep me in prayer during this season. God willing, the book will be released by the last week of this month. Pray that I will continue to remain strong, courageous and teachable at this time. Thanks, everyone! Be blessed!