Had to add this…PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

30 06 2009

I had to take time to share this wonderfully written article, written by Ken Bible .  Read it carefully, folks…..what kind of worship leaders are we really???

  
Music is inherently appealing. Musicians, desiring to please their audience, tend to try to maximize that appeal. The more favorable people’s response to the music, the more the musician’s ego and/or pocketbook are fed.

No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15 , NIV)

 

So what has happened? Music is increasingly guided by the present tastes of the audience or congregation. Freshness and innovation are set aside. What is worse, the musician’s motivation, which at the beginning was perhaps to serve people for their good, is now to appeal to people for the musician’s own good. Sounds like a description of the popular music industry, doesn’t it?

Accept one another…just as Christ accepted you. (Romans 15:7 , NIV)

 

I was at a Christian music conference. With the variety of performers, approaches, and styles that were there, I found myself growing critical.

God checked me. He pointed out that He himself had shown His grace and mercy to each of them, just as to me. He reminded me that each of them needed His continuing grace, mercy, and guidance just as much as I did.

Lord, those who have trusted You come in every personality and level of maturity. Help me to see each of them as one who has received Your grace and who needs Your grace. I turn away from the sin of judging my dear brothers and sisters. Help me to love and accept them just as You, Jesus, have loved and accepted them.

Listen & sing

Love One Another

View the song: Love One Another

Listen:

© 2001 Ken Bible, c/o LNWhymns.com

This devotional is reprinted from the free weekly email series IMAGES OF CHRIST in Word & Song. For free downloads of past and current issues, or to sign up for the free emails, click here.

 

 

 

 Ken Bible is author of 15 published books; writer of over 300 published songs, including hymns in over a dozen major hymnals; Co-founder and president of LNWhymns.com , a web company offering over 250 free hymns on a wide variety of topics, fully indexed, along with a host of companion resources; Senior editor of the hymnal, Sing to the Lord; compiler of many dozens of publications for children, youth, and adults, in a wide variety of musical styles, including Master Chorus Book, which has sold over 1.3 million copies; currently a consultant for Lillenas Publishing Company, where he was editor, director, and product developer for 31 years.

Ken and his wife of 37 years, Gloria, have three adult children and three grandchildren. They live in Olathe, Kansas.

 

 
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