Yet there is one very important area in my life that I have yet to write much about.
Music.
"Music is well said to be the speech of angels." - Thomas Carlyle
More than any other medium, God uses music to reach my heart. Also, I personally believe God most often and most effectively uses me through music.
I am by no means a professional musician. I don't have a record deal or a hit single on iTunes. In fact, I have never successfully written an entire song. The music that I do make doesn't reach millions of people, yet. Rather, I am very much involved in the wonderful world of music ministry. I am now, and have been for years, a guitarist (and occasional bassist, pianist, drummer, or vocalist) on my church's worship team. It is a position that I am humbled and honored to hold. It is simultaneously a privilege and a responsibility for which I could never express enough gratitude. It is a task of which I do not ever grow tired. In short, it is what I am supposed to do.
This is why I was created.
Serving my Lord and leading others into his presence through praise and worship is a truly special experience.
"Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without." - Confucius
So why haven't I written about it before? I'll tell you.
I don't know.
For some reason, I had to hear my entire philosophy on music ministry packaged perfectly into four little lines to trigger my creativity. I know this will be hard to believe at this point, but what got me going on this was, of all things, the chorus of a song.
It was like a kinder, gentler version of God's backhand smacked my forehead. "Wake up!"
"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." - Bob Marley
The song is a gospel song. I'm sure that, just like every gospel song, many individuals and/or groups have recorded it. The version I like is performed by the Gaither Vocal Band (another shocker) and features Guy Penrod. It's called "I'm Gonna Sing." Here's how it goes:
"I'm gonna sing just as long as it takes for a song to make sad, heavy spirits free.
I'm gonna keep making music that carries the secret that Jesus is liberty.
I'm gonna turn off the sounds that will drag people down to the pit of despondency.
With a sweet happy tune, He is coming soon for His children like you and me."
Each individual line in that chorus is a worthy aspiration of any member of a music ministry team. Add them up and consider them all together, and you have a very succinct description of what I feel music ministry is or at least should be.
The first parts of each of the first two lines speak of persistence or endurance. Music is something you can learn, improve upon, and share for the rest of your life. Your level of involvement, your position or title, or your church might change many times, but once called, you are a minister.
"Without music, life would be a mistake." - Nietzsche
If you were to call my cell phone, you would hear part of an incredible song off of the Zac Brown Band's latest record. The last part of the chorus says "When I've lived out my days until the very end, I hope they find me in my home with my guitar in my hand." That really illustrates my desire to share God through music as long as I can still breathe air.
The third line in the Gaither song tells of the power that worship music has to lift one's spirit. Now, let me be clear here. I am NOT condemning secular music. I'm not the kind of person who believes we should all listen to only Christian music. In fact, if you were to scan my personal CD collection, you would find a very eclectic array. I just love many types of music. However, I also realize that there are certain genres, artists, or songs that are truly influenced by Satan. They evoke very dark responses and emotions from the listener. These are the sounds that we need to tune out and replace with songs glorifying our Lord God.
The ends of each of the first two lines remind me of the freedom in Christ described in John 8:36 and 2 Corinthians 3:17. When you've been set free in Christ, why wouldn't you want to sing about it? I may have chosen a different word than "secret" in the second line though. It's not a secret. People may not have had the chance to hear the good news yet, but God's love is for everyone on Earth. Nobody is intentionally left in the dark. (As I write, a gut wrenching thought hits me. If I know Jesus is liberty, and the person next to me doesn't know yet, and I don't tell them, have I just turned it into a secret by keeping it to myself?)
"Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven." - Walter Savage Landor
Finally, we come to the last line. Jesus is coming soon to take us home. When he does, what do we have to look forward to? Revelation chapters 4 and 5 describe the throne room of heaven. In particular, the end of chapter 5, starting with verse 11, says this.
"Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped."
Here, we call it Revelation Song. In Heaven, it will simply be all of us giving honor and glory to God.
Holy, holy, holy is The Lord God almighty who was, and is, and is to come.
Sounds like a great praise and worship service, doesn't it?
You see, I have long felt that our job as music ministers or praise and worship leaders is twofold. One, to invite and usher in the presence of God. Two, to guide and lead those around us into that very presence.
I firmly believe, and will believe until my dying day, that when this happens, we all have the most spiritual experience possible on this mortal planet...true, honest worship of the King of Kings.
It is literally the closest we can come to Heaven on Earth.
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
Scripture: "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!" - Psalm 98:4-6
Quote: "Where words fail, music speaks." - Hans Christian Andersen
Bonus Quote: "There's energy there in music. No one ever danced to Houdini." - Penn Jillette
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