As always...I love to commend you all by thanking God for His working in you and through you all from week to week. I'm so grateful to be apart of a loving and encouraging group of people with the choir and the band, not to mention the church as a whole. You guys may not realize just how much of an impression that you make in Christ's Church as well as the many visitors to Grace from which I/we have received wonderful encouragement.
It seems that each week God teaches me something new to chew on, and it's not always easy to swallow. Through strivings and wrestlings within, we often come across people (or their writings at least) who seem to be used by God to tell us exactly what we need to hear at that moment. I really enjoy being able to pass these things along as I'm learning daily. One of my favorite leaders of today as well as a prominent lead worshiper is Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters.
He wrote an article a year ago that I came across today. It really is a great reminder of our call as Christ Followers to press into Him and into His word as we press on to be like Him. As a musician, it's so easy for me to forget about preparation for His Great Kingdom...Wayne shared in Ephesians this Sunday about the FULL ARMOR that we should be wearing. I think this paragraph from Bob Kauflin especially hits on the belt of truth which holds the "double-edged sword".
As Christian musicians we should know more than anyone that the joy music brings is only the faintest whisper of the superior joy we find in Jesus Christ. And we come to know Him most clearly and authoritatively through His Word. No fugue, guitar solo, piano sonata, jazz improv, or harmonic progression will ever speak to us more clearly about who God is and what He’s done.
That’s why every Christian musician should seek to be a good theologian. We should study the Word of God, read books that challenge us, and seek out authors that provide firm boundaries to our affecting, but often vague, thoughts about God.
I’ve wondered at times what would happen if church musicians sought to handle the word of truth as effectively as they handle their instruments. I can't predict exactly what would happen, but I'm certain that the effect on the worship of God's people would be very, very good.
