It's Life.

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Saturday, June 23, 2012

The years keep going by faster and faster. Days fly by. When I was a little kid, time seemed to pass so slowly. Especially when I had a birthday or some other big event coming up. That is no longer true. I can hardly believe how fast this school year has gone by. I now see why years are mere seconds to God. Eternity won't seem that long at all in heaven (or hell, depending on the person).

It's insane.

It's beautiful.

It's life.

Worship.

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Friday, June 1, 2012

Has God ever done something so incredible in your life that you can barely believe that he chose you?Well he did in mine.

Maybe it won't seem that incredible to the rest of you, but it's pretty darn cool to me.

Last week, the Middle School Worship Pastor at my church asked me to play keyboard in worship. So I spent the past week down in my basement practicing. And practicing. And practicing. Memorizing and pouring my heart into the set of songs that he had chosen. It was a big deal to me, because I've never played on stage before.

So I arrived at church 15 minutes before practice (because all good musicians aren't late... Well, maybe not.), and helped set up a bit. I was a little nervous, but that feeling left after about five minutes. Everyone in the band was super nice and made me feel more comfortable. We started practice and I was doing pretty well. I mean, I'm not the best keyboardist ever, but I did okay. Especially since the bass player who also knew how to play keyboards and had been playing in the band for a while was set up in front of me, so he'd occasionally turn around and give me pointers. The coolest part came when practicing the song Furious by Jeremy Riddle. The worship leader had us actually have a time of worship together while playing the song. It was like nothing I've ever experienced.

Then when the actual event started, I miraculously remembered most of the chords, and didn't have to pay too much attention to what I was playing--my fingers did the work. Meanwhile, I was scoping out the crowd... There was probably about 20 7th-8th graders, but only a handful seemed involved. Which is fine by me. If only one person were to be affected during worship, it would make it all worthwhile. My job as a musician is to help others encounter the greatness of God.

Even though I did do my fair share of slip-ups, I do hope that I get the chance to play again. God willing. Because in the end, it's all about him.

"My prayer for myself and every worship leader and musician is that we'll become more familiar with the Word of Truth as we are with our instruments. Hopefully even more so. If we do, there's a strong possibility people are going to walk away from our meetings more amazed be our God than by our music.
And that will be a very good thing."
--
Bob Kauflin, worship leader at Sovereign Grace Ministries.