The Ministry Of Music And Worship

Truth is, many of these artistes being young are merely dealing with the challenges of growth and maturation - a rite of passage into adulthood. They get into experimentations, like we all did and do. Only theirs is amplified because they’re in public glare. And then there are the challenges of fame itself. Fame is lonesome and it has major consequences. If not well managed it generates distortions. Michael Jackson for example had an identity crisis. He seemed lost and searching for meaning and purpose. He suffered from anguish of soul. In seeking to ameliorate loneliness some resort to booze, drugs and sex. And we seem to accept these excesses as part of the package. They’re stars after all, they can do no wrong. Thus we are complicit in that which we condemn. It is hard to minister to those you condemn. Yet Christ died for all. There ought to be specialized ministry to stars, those in the public glare and those battling with fame. If we can have specialized fellowships for over-40s, ...

The death of Jesus and the ripping of that curtain also changed the definition of “temple”. God was no longer confined to physical tabernacles. He franchised himself into new abodes - us! Our bodies are now the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). It’s why we’re advised to abstain from sexual sin. You can’t join God’s temple to another in fornication. We are spiritual building blocks. The Bible says we’re living stones that God is building into a spiritual temple (1 Peter 2:5-9). The temple of God in the New Testament is not a physical building, it is individuals. The Holy of Holies is now inside us. It’s why the Holy Spirit dwells in us. And so a church can meet in a nightclub, museum, hotel, civic center, tent, private residence, cinema, school, etc. The building is not the holy place, it is the people in who the holy God resides. And so the notion of “altar” being a place a secular musician cannot sing from or “minister” from is fallacious. That view does not align with...

A few days ago, there arose a Twitter storm of apocalyptic proportions over news that a young “secular” artiste was invited to sing during a church service. The young artiste is a Christian and the song performed was from his title album, God Win. One must assume that a song titled “God Win” sang in a church setting seemed most appropriate, but these are curious times. There are many choruses that echo the same sentiment, some using exact same words yet there were a lot of issues raised. The very notion that a non-gospel artiste had been invited to “minister” in church consternated many. And not a few were peeved that the artiste in question performed from the “altar” - a most holy place. And how can an “entertainer” be invited to minister to “the people of God”, some wondered, with righteous and not so righteous indignation. Even the Pastor was not spared. What was his motivation? There was no shortage of opinion, aspersions and castigations. And there was no shortage of exegetes mis...

BE GOOD!!!        I was invited to speak to some upward mobile music ministers on Sunday 28th June. As usual I`d ask for an area of concentration cos I have noticed from experience that people want to know everything and have all their problems solved in one speaking encounter and thats not possible. So I asked the organisers for an AOC and they gave me a list! So I told them i wasn`t gonna speak on any particular subject but would allow them express their most daunting problems and we would together find solutions. They agreed. So we began. Their issues ranged from leading worship to doing solos to song arrangements to stage fright to self confidence to costumes to dynamics to getting along with the band to backing up to opportunity......Yes! That last one is what i wanna talk about today.  My question to them was; in the real world PREPARATION comes before OPPORTUNITY but when you come to church , why do people want the opposite, especially music mi...

Ask any Christian what “ministry” is. The answers will vary, slightly, but for almost anyone who has been in church a while, the answer will be something like this........... “Oh, I’m not in ministry--that’s the pastor--he’s in ministry.” or “Ministry--well--God makes some people the clergy--and the rest of us are th e lay-people.” or “Ministry is the guy who gives the speeches on Sunday--the pastor. He’s the shepherd and the rest of us are the flock. Oh yeah--there are some people who are evangelists--like Billy Graham.” or “Ministry? It means to serve God and we all have a ministry to do. But God has given some people the office of ministry. They are the paid, professional, full-time ministers. We have to submit to their authority--obey them that have the rule. We all have ministry--but we must be submitted to a spiritual covering.” Think about it. As a Christian, what is your definition of “ministry”? Does it fit into one of these categories? Have you heard these “buzzwords” used t...

"She's the worship leader......."  I remember one of my friends introducing me to a friend one day while walking through Lismore. “How do you know her?” I asked my friend, “Oh, she’s the Worship Leader at our church.” “What’s that mean?” I asked. “You know, she’s in charge of the music, the bands and that.” “Oh”, I replied. “When you say she leads the worship you mean she leads the music”. We hear that term a lot: ‘worship’. In a lot of church contexts it conjures up images of singing, hand waving and great music: a special time when we ‘worship’ God. Unfortunately we’re taking a word from the Bible and using it the wrong way, compartmentalising something that’s meant to be the whole of our lives. whole of our lives. whole of our lives. The Bible says in Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship this is your spiritual act of worship...

WELCOME!!! Welcome to The Ministry Of Music And Worship! I am excited to share deep and very useful insights about this ministry that will be a great blessing to your music ministry.  Whether you are a singer, instrumentalist, music producer, song writer....whatever you do that has to do with the expression of a musical gift, this blog will help you find your purpose, discover and release your potential, and help you take your level of impact to a higher level.  Be sure to tell a friend, fellow music minister, gospel artist....everybody that cares to listen , about thelivingexample.blogspot.com . You will be glad you did! Let's GO!