OUR SINGING SAVIOR

JESUS SANG so we might be saved.

My name is Jeffrey Hoos, and for me, leading worship has always been about one central truth: worship when done excellently, becomes the song of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This conviction has been the constant thread throughout my life, even during a decades-long parallel journey as a classical singer alongside my journey as a church leader for worship. 

Church Music, in its diverse forms, whether gospel, the traditional hymns that we all grew up with, or the powerful contemporary Christian songs, are deeply intertwined in our relationship with Christ. Worship however, according to the bible is a practice of worship in how we live out our life, we make ourselves a living sacrifice as it says in Romans: 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Romans 12:1-2, ESV) 

That second part is why the church has always put such strong emphasis on music as worship. Music prepares you through the feelings that are evoked in the gospel, because art and music are the medium that evoke emotions in our heart. And it is the heart that needs to be transformed first, in order to be transformed by the renewing of your mind in hearing the word preached from the pulpit on Sundays. 

To use a variant of a metaphor from First Corinthians chapter 3: I’ll say that worship music tills the soil so that the gospel message can fully take root in the heart of believers. And this is my hope for the congregation when we worship together. But even more so, it is my greater hope that non-believers hearts will also be tilled and planted and watered in the gospel on that very Sunday. So it is an imperative to make worship effective and full of feeling, expression and praise to our God. My prayer is always that the music may be the planter and the preacher may be the waterer as the seed of a non-believer's heart takes root in the gospel. And I believe that if there is a recapitulation of this process that a former lost soul, will eventually be that tree that is planted by a river of water in Psalm 1:3, and as belivers we know that the law is now the Law of Christ which is His love, and so we know that the river is Christ, and that it is the living water. 

 So when I reflect on these very ideas in my worship of studying scripture, so many things about music as a medium of worship become very clear. Music through worship is always undeniably gorgeous, because music is yet another image of God, because it is made by those whom God designed to be creative, because as the creator of “all things bright abd beautiful” (like the hymn) the creator of niagara falls, the swiss alps, the northern lights, and the infinite cosmos is the ultimate defintion of creative. And yet on such a large scale in every way, He still desires a relationship with us. And music, is simply another way for us to communicate with the Father, to remember His beauty and even more so the beauty of His cross. din His image. And so thinking on this concept being seemingly embroidered or cross stitched into His word, as we read and reflect this, every believer should know that God has made it clear that we MUST have music and that we must use it to worship him to have yet another medium of relationship with the creator, and the greatest joy next to studying, meditating, and hearing the Word of God, is to SING the word of God in order to praise the Lord for the  good news that is contained within the word of God.  

God’s fingerprints are all over worship music from the very beginning of the bible, there was music. When Adam sang to eve, Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Or how King David, the line that birthed Jesus, was a harpist and singer, and who wrote the very words that Jesus himself would sing in the temple. How very telling that the characters of the Hebrew language are a lost system of musical notation. The very people God chose as his own used letters that they could sing. What a true artist and creator is our God that these letters would spell out the words given to David and Solomon from the spirit of God, but also act as means for God’s people to sing the words as well.  

How telling is it also, as mentioned. that Jesus Christ was a rabbi and therefore a singer. It says in the gospels that he celebrated the holidays with his disciples, and during those holidays they all sang together. We can also see very clearly in Matthew 26 that after he taught his disciples the Eucharist at the last supper, that he sang with them to God the father. As the bible tells us in many ways to be imitators of Christ, it becomers undeniable that we also imitate Him through being singers to praise and Glorify him. We must sing, because the Bible tells us that Jesus was a singing savior.  

In fact, a very powerful idea came to me while studying the crucifixion. And it was the fact that there is a very common and errant interpretation of scripture, regarding Jesus’ crucifixion. The most notable of the seven last phrases of Christ is Jesus screaming out loud, in a moment of doubt: my God my God why have you forsaken me? 

I don’t know how I was able to remember this somehow, it was definitely the spirit because there is no earthly reason that I could have recalled that Psalm 22 begins with these same words. As I sat and pondered, It began to feel odd to me that Jesus would actually believe that he was forsaken. yes he asked in the garden “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” But Jesus had already spoken to His disciples about His death at this juncture in Scripture, He conveyed it very concisely in John 15 and 16. So, Jesus knew what the will of the father was, and He had already prayed the prayers of anguish asking for the removal of this act on the cross, His humanity was in full force in THAT moment, but on the cross? No, Jesus knew exactly what He was doing. Jesus was fully invested in the scourge of the cross… and He knew it in the Garden too, so much so that he began to sweat blood... only to have these agonizing prayers end in His arrest, but Jesus most especially knew the plan when he was on the cross. He was fully aware of the work and where it would lead. 

So the truth is that on the cross Jesus knew exactly what was going on, and he knew this because he had full knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures, and He had full knowledge in prophecies thereof that were made manifest in him as the incarnation of God. Jesus didn’t just know scripture, Jesus was scripture himself and scripture it’seld flowed out of Him on that rugged cross, but not just in the act of the cross, but in the music that poured from the cross as well.  

And I say this and reiterate it once again, He had the truth of this knowledge in what the cross was, and again I will reiterate that he truly knew exactly what was happening while he hung, bled, and suffered on that hideous and simultaneously gorgeous twisted and gnarly device of death. And what we can deduce from this knowledge that He, Jesus, knew, the only truth to know about those words “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” is that they were sung, from ther cross; Jesus as a singing savior, yet again sang, even on the cross, because it was a comfort to his heart and a communication with His father and through their Spirit, which is how worship behaves with all of us as Children of Christ.  

Truly Jesus sang in order to give himself hope and encouragement that his mission was coming true. He did this In order that he might take heart that God will not, and has proclaimed through him, that this pain unimaginable, will not be wasted. Jesus knew surely that it must be done, to show the world what true love looks like. And he could only remind himself by singing. 

As a singer myself, I know that without air, there is no sound. That is why in outerspace it is coimpletely silent. Hoe beautiful, the one thing that gives us life is also the one thing that we use to praise God. But in so knowing this, I know through my studied of anatomy and physiology that when a person is in such a brutalized state as Jesus was, that his lungs were no doubt filled with blood and fluid. And with so much obstruction, He could only manage to agonizingly sing through the pain of tears the first verse of Psalm 22. But this song we must know was the most beautiful lyric to ever come from a human larynx, because it gave Jesus the courage to press on and be steadfast in His love for us on the cross. How unbelievably sublime and captivating it is that He had us in mind since before time began, and that on the cross He had us in mind as well, and that He used all of His strength to sing FOR US, so that we might live through him.  

I wonder if he thought the rest of Psalm in his mind? Surely He must have. 

Psalm 22 is a picture of the Gospel, it quite literally is a lyrical description of what Christ was going through in that exact moment, only to end with a story of the people who are of salvation singing together in heaven to Him. 

The final verses go like this: All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;  

Before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.  (Psalm 22:29-31, ESV) 

And of course Psalm 23 being right after Psalm 22, “the Lord is my shepherd” which comes right after. I wonder if Jesus sang Psalm 22 in His mind, and immediately after I wonder if he sang Psalm 23 in His mind. There is after all a reason why Psalm 23 is sung or recited at almost every funeral. It is truly for our encouragement as we stare death in the face. I wonder also that, because the order of Psalm 23 coming  right after the picture painted of multitudes worshipping Jesus in Psalm 22, if this might what the people were singing in the prophecy of Psalm 22... I wonder if Psalm 23 is what we will be singing to Jesus on that day when we worship him in heaven.... as so vividly described and preached to his heart through his own singing while he was dying on the cross for my sin and yours. I can almost exclaim that this might yet be true. There is no psalm more remarkable and comforting than 23 and there is no Pslam that gives such a nuanced image of Jesus on the cross than Psalm 22. Clearly this is why Jesus himself sang it from the cross, He was declaring the gospel truth by singing these words, so we not only praise him for His sacrifice, but we praise and worshipfully sing to him, because He is Al shaddai  who gives us His shalom, because He sang during his suffering, for our sake in order to take our sin, so that we might be saved. 

And so saying this, music truly does give rest to a weary heart, and truly dispels evil. And it preaches the gospel to ourselves and softens our heart to be ready for the gospel every Sunday as Jesus prepared His heart to die and literally BE the gospel. 

And so If God’s word spoken through music has enough power to refresh the heart of our savior while dying on the cross, How much more can worship music soften our hearts to receive the message of his singing sacrifice? How expressive and evocative and full of grace those notes must have been, that we will never hear until we are in Heaven, music so nuanced and sacrificial that they softened Jesus’ heart to know that he must persevere even though he knew that this same heart would soon be pierced, after breathing his last. 

What a powerful message those melodies contained. And truly they must be powerful to penetrate the heart of sinful men, because our hearts are hard as a rock, and it could only be the ROCK of salvation to break our hearts only to mend them back together through the glorious message of His life, death, burial, and resurrection. POWER is what music must be in the church, because as the Jeremiah 17:9 states “"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?".  We will answer that question in a moment but first let’s reflect on noting that God’s word in the new covenant, says in Romans 2:29 that “circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.”  (Romans 2:29, ESV) 

So when we think on worship music and how it should be presented, we must think of the fullness, and infinity of God’s glory and what His spirit does to our heart. This scripture talks about the law, the law is the letter in this sentence. So the image and expressions of the cross must be truly expressive, emotive, while striving for excellence, but doing so in all humilty. It is my firm belief that this can be done, and done so effectively to the point where every heart in a church may think on the moment that Jesus was raised up on cross. That music can be done so well that our musical scripture may mold our spirits into the image of Christ as we come to realize the dark and deep depths of our sin, as we encounter the truth that Jesus and His cross became the center of all time and space. We must have music that conjures a gratefulness that one cannot help to have his or her hands raised, in the knowledge that the cross was and continues to be THEE immutable paradigm shift that changed the trajectory of humanity. A trajectory that continually fell from Adam’s sin, till it hit a 500 year streak of silence from God, that became a pitiless indifference of sorrow and shame, that the cross and Christ’s resurrection turned into love, peace, and joy.  

In so saying this the logical conclusion is that every element that can be used by man to glorify God MUST have taken place on the cross. And so music itself had participation when Jesus sang those words out loud and continued to sing them to His heart. When we perform we must have this powerful image in mind, amd to answer the question from Jeremiah, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?". The answer to that is Jesus Christ. And HIS answer in what to do with our desperately wicked heart? Was not to punish us with hell, but to exchange his heart with ours and break it, so that we may take our chains of sin and be broken free from them, so that we may love others and worship Christ forever. And because of this  we humble ourselves by raising hands, by kneeling, by singing, so that as we sing.... it is not about our talent, but it is about music participating in the same way that it did on the cross. Through this, our prayer and spirit will be likened to a variant of John the Baptist’ words which said in John 3:29-30 “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.  He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

And as we worship we must create an atmosphere where we pray that our person and visage may decrease that the name of Christ, His person, and his visage may increase. The powerful image of Christ on the cross, having not only each individual person in mind, but knowing the sins of each person, and becoming that sin. Even more powerful still, is that what participated in the gospel cross, was our pascal lamb, who died in agony, but became at peace because he worshipped God through music. And this peace came from none other than the Holy Spirit, who we fully encounter as we imprint the words of Christ on our own heart as we sing the gospel every week.   

So my greatest wish and what is central to worship  is to make the music so abundantly worshipful and truthful that those who are currently in a circumstance where they see no way out, or where a body of believers goes through such trials that could seemingly make them feel like they’re about to sweat blood too, is that as we worship we remember our singing savior, and that we sing to the spirit, because it is the same spirit that encouraged Christ to save us. And My Hope is that it will cause us to also have limitless joy, and knowing that the same spirit that encouraged our savior through song (as it says in Romans 8:11,) is the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, and the same spirit that lives in US and entered us the moment that we believed, and music helps us so that we can still continue to believe in Christ for our continual sanctification to be more like him. 

If our savior on the cross emptied himself of everything, and music was the medium to encourage his own soul, his own soul literally being that of God, then we must know that worship music is meant to do the same for us and it WILL do the same for us. Music has the power to soften our deceptive hearts to receive the truth of the Gospel sermon that are wonderful pastors will preach. And this is it’s true purpose. 

Music is the repeated declaration of Christ’s work and even more so a declaration of the heart he has for those whom he loves. That heart that was so broken when he was betrayed, that heart that literally became broken when it was pierced for our transgressions. 

The word of God combined with music is a Divine reflection of the glory that is this Good News of Jesus Christ – the Son of God who lived perfectly, and died on the cross perfectly, to bear the weight of our sinfulness and complete imperfection. 

(as 2 Corinthians 5:21 so beautifully states, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we may become the righteousness of God. 

Next to the word of God music so prolifically and gloriously tells this story that Jesus rose to offer us new life, and defeated death itself. Singing these core truths unequivocally imprints them on our heart. 

And so worship music, is a gift, and as James 1:17 says “ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  My prayer as a pastor of music is that worship would make us into vessels that deliver God’s message to the lost and dejected. A poet and pastor named George Herbert, who lived in the 17th century and studied under Lancelot Andrews, a translator of the King James Bible, said it best in his poem called “Easter” 

The crosse taught all wood to resound his name,                                                    Who bore the same.  His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key  Is best to celebrate this most high day.    Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song                                                    Pleasant and long:  Or, since all musick is but three parts2 vied                                                    And multiplied,  O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,  And make up our defects with his sweet art.   

And this brings me to another place in my thought life on how worship is in all music, because God is in our very own system of music... as perverse as humans have made it, yes it is truth, that regardless, all western music finds its genesis in the truth of the gospel, as it was an invention of the church.  

You see, music was originally intended for the praise and adoration of Jesus, and the very system of notation that even with the worst kinds of evil melodies and lyrics, cannot escape Christ. Our notation system as stated above in Herbert’s poem is a trinitarian representation. All music and harmony is an exponent of a chord that consists of three notes, that were created and dedicated purposefully to respectively represent a person of the trinity - as well as God’s holiness. The tonic of the chord is the father, the third is the Christ, and the fifth is the Spirit, and each note sings the word holy. Because God is not Just holy, the Bible says that he is Holy Holy Holy. And it’s no coincidence that this system was divinely created because in conveying music in such a manner, music, for the first time had a repeatable system of perfect harmonies and where the center of the pitch can be found perfectly every single time. It was invented in 1025 by a priest named Guido D’Arrezzo in italy, and he made it for the Glory of God. That the limitlessness of note combinations that created 1000 years of perfectly harmonic music thereafter, could only indicate that God truly had his favor on what is our modern system of notation.  

The problem was this, only monks could sing to the Lord along with being the select few who also were allowed to read the bible. All of this being completely unbiblical, it took a German reformer to sniff it out and redeem this musical system along with breaking free the word of God both for the people of God so that God may be fully glorified.  

And so 500 years later, it was Martin Luther during the Reformation who set in stone the true Praise And adoration of Christ  by being the first composer of congregational music. Which fulfilled the prophecy in psalm 150 that says let everything that has breath praise the Lord. He set the bible free in translating it into German, and set minds free because Germany became the first completely literate country due to the people’s hunger to know the word of God. Therefore, Martin Luther became the first public educator in teaching people how to read words, and became the first music educator and the first public voice teacher, as he shared his knowledge of God’s word, His knowledge of academics and music, and His knowledge of vocal pedagogy. Even writing innumerable works and being the very first composer of congregational music and being the father of orchestral/ensemble music as He proved that such music was theologically sound, and permissible. All such things that the Catholic church forbade.  

As a point of note, and I always try to say this without boasting, pride, or idolatry, but I often fail: I am Martin Luther’s 13th great-grandchild one of a small number of his direct descendants still alive today. 

And so another goal and pursuit of mine is to continue the tradition that he started, because it has been lost, especially since the advent of CCM music, where some of the vocalizations meant to convey licentiousness and eroticism  have crept their way into worship music. These are vocal affectations and not the voice that God created in US. We must use our natural voice and this is a centrality to how I get a person’s voice to flourish.  

The most important thing that my forefather Luther taught the church is that worship music is for the ENTIRE CHURCH. Psalm 150:6 says let everything that has breath praise the Lord  This was my forefathers heart, to be inclusive because God’s word insists on it. And this is why he wrote music for the congregation to sing instead of just the monks.  

And this sentiment in Martin Luther’s heart has remained true through the generations all the way to my heart. And I say this because having that lineage actually reminds me NOT TO be proud, but to be grateful, because I have an extra reminder that God’s word tells ALL believers to sing and praise him. ALL being the active word in this sentiment. And for certain Psalm 150 is not an exclusive Invitation, but an all-inclusive invitation to praise Him. And this is among many reasons why I do worship music because I want to carry on that tradition so it may come back to it’s rightful place where music reveres God and where voices thrive in their God given uniqueness, rather than a manufactured caricature or venire of refinement. 

And so This conviction extends to my passion for voice teaching. For years, alongside performing and leading worship, I’ve had the privilege of helping others find their voice. I cannot help it, God simply made me to be a helper and an educator. Like Martin Luther my core belief is that with the right guidance, anyone can learn to sing and everyone should learn to sing, so that we can sing praises to the Lord. Luckily, this isn’t just a hopeful thought; I’ve witnessed this over the years countless times in the knowledge that God has gifted me with. I’ve traveled and tirelessly sacrificed my life to learn how to teach singing, even sacrificing my own well-being sometimes, in order to do it well and to please God. Because I know that God’s word answers this question very concisely. How do we offer praise to God? Well here is the answer. In psalm 33:3 it says “Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.” That word “skillfully” speaks louder than the words loud noise... because it commands us to offer our best, whatever that may be.  

God deserves our heartfelt effort. And, the most vital aspect of worship leadership is empowering every individual in the congregation to find their best voice for the Lord. And this isn’t about becoming perfect in our performing, but becoming our best within the confines of that which God has given us as a vocal gift. And My training and experience have equipped me with tools to help God’s people easily, practically, and with an expedience of efficiency unlock their vocal potential. Ultimately for God’s glory alone. 

And this isn’t about perfect performance oe for my glory; because there is no perfect singer, great singers have always done what they do well in spite of what they do poorly. No, this is about a unified, skillful, and heartfelt adoration of a perfect savior. It is about spreading good knowledge so that everyone may be able to teach in the same way. It’s not mine, it is the Lord’s and so I can only use it to help abd love others. 

And i do this because when we use our gift to tell the world about his gift in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit becomes active. We are singing God’s word which the Bible describes as sharper than any double edged sword that can Pierce flesh and bone marrow. And with with worship music we have another layer of the gospel, as spoken of previously, we have the emotions of the heart, and when added to God’s word the sermon becomes all the more powerful. 

But to be clear, as sinners we can often become idolatrous, and so I always try to remember As Martin Luther wisely noted, “music is second only to theology in its ability to bring peace to the soul.”  

We have to take heed in our worship that it doesn’t become haughty, as it so often does,.. If we become prideful, we need to be reminded that in Isaiah and Ezekiel there are allegories speaking of evil Kings... comparing them to Lucifer.... these sentiments clearly state that not only was Satan the guardian of God’s throne, but he was the chief musician and singer. So we must always be prayerful that music is a sacrifice to God with a focus on the content rather than our own instrument. And so being expressive in the language of the content I find, is what always creates an attitude of worship and adoration. And our posture as well, being a posture of praise rather than a posture of perfect presentation, because this is what is most apt to stir hearts with the Holy Spirit. 

And so, our participation in worship through song is an active engagement in Christ’s mission. We proclaim His promises, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, and we’re reminded of God’s unmerited grace, and when music is done expressively, and concisely, it doesn’t usher in the Holy Spirit, but makes hearts aware of the Holy Spirit and draws them to it.  

When I preach the gospel to people and speak about music’s participation in the gospel I encapsulate it in this manner: I state that a church is not made up of hundreds of souls, no, it is rather a large gathering of souls that have the Holy Spirit stirred into them because they are redeemed, and when music stirs each individual soul with  Gospel songs, the Holy Spirit is able to unite an entire congregation to praise Christ with the one spirit that lives in all of us. As we do this we become grateful, and joyful, and that same spirit helps us to remember that we are set free from sin and death because of Christ and his cross. 

So to conclude this talk, I want to end it with a manner of full disclosure; I must be honest in stating that my personal pursuit of a classical singing career has now shifted, the desire is gone, because I did all I could for the gospel, and although I will not boast, I will say that God has been so faithful… and to this day I am amazed at the work he did in people that I prayed for and love among a sea of evil self-servitude and unabashed sinfulness.  

But God has impressed upon me that there is a pressing need for clear, passionate, and Gospel-centered worship within the Church. Because the word of God must be spoken, because the world is on such shaky ground as it always has been, but made all the more by a patient less and instantly gratified culture. Only to be made even worse by devices that are simultaneously redeemed with gospel preaching and damned because of the evil that it uses to entice humanity into believing that what a six inch screen can show you is better than the fullness of God in His devine revelation. It  preaches to the world a covenant of death that is turning God’s created order upside down. And through it, Satan has been coming for our culture, he is destroying the family the representation of the trinity, and in thus so doing he has been able to set the stage to hurt our children who do not believe that they were created in God’s image. It degrades everything, the sensibilities of women and their true strength in virtue and wisdom, and it degrades the strength of men in leading a family with wisdom and honor, through love and steadfast kindness and care. 

I have a broken spirit for the adolescents of our times. They believe in the ultimate work of Satan who is perverting their minds with the belief that they can be healed of their pain that has been inflicted on them through broken and fatherless homesk... telling them that they are made whole by becoming a new creation in the world, by transforming into the opposite of who God made them to be. They need to hear the gospel and we need to give them the gospel, so they may know that one can only be a new creation in nothing else, but Christ. That even if they were born this way, which is plausible, that Jesus tells us that we must be born again, 

They not only believe in a warped and twisted “new creation” rooted in worldliness, but they synchronously believe that other children have no right to life because they live inside of a mother’s womb. They not only believe this, but our culture has increasingly taught them to celebrate it. In our faith we our taught that we are more than conquerors in Christ, but these poor children have a new covenant that is absolutely Satan’s that tells them they have no value unless they become victims in an unfettered wreck less pursuit of rebelling against God’s image.  They believe in a culture where their reality is their own. And everything in the world around them is a consequence of a perspective relativity rather than in an ultimate truth. And it is expressed by a common colloquialism that says “you have your truth and I have my truth, speak YOUR truth” and so they boldly proclaim that they can be the opposite of what God made them to be, and instead of adoring Jesus for saying “this is my body which is given for you” in denial they attempt to silence God screeching histrionic platitudes that say that “no, this is my body and I will do as I please”. And in the name of freedom, they have no clue that they have become bound by the chains of sin.  

And 99.9% of the Children who are born into this ilk are so beautifully artistic that worship music can be a powerful weapon to scare the enemy away from them. When the music faithfully carries God’s Word with excellence and genuine passion, it can saturate their hearts to receive the preached Word, the word which remains central always. Music tills the soil, allowing the seed of the spoken Word to take root. 

And so we must target these kids and these families just as quickly as Satan and with surgical precision in our preparation of the music for our service. We must use the artistry of Christ, the beauty that he creates through his word to be expressively and artistically articulate through worshipful song in order to help them understand that they were knitted together in their mother’s womb, and that they were fearfully and wonderfully made.  

As singers, we can quite literally use our excellent and skillful art to speak to them. And I am missional in quitting classical music which encourages this distortion of truth, and I will work in music ministry mostly for those ends. Because Jesus loves the little children, and like the song says, HE IS STRONG. Jesus may they know you are their strength. 

So for me and for what my testimony is worth, which is nothing next to Christs, whether I am singing or teaching through timeless hymns, contemporary songs, or the rich tradition of gospel music I consider that my greatest effort will be for the aforementioned Children who are reeling in a world of confusion. They are my spiritual hit list of souls that I know Jesus is clearly chasing after, but it will take a spirit that Christ imprints in the hearts of other kids, to make it known. We must train kids up to love the lost boldly. And as far as classical music is concerned, even one day more, dedicated solely to my own performing feels like an entire life wasted. If I can instead spend every day in prayer and the word with music as a medium to reach the lost, to me that is a life worth living exchanged for a life that would have been almost wasted. I refuse to miss out on the opportunity to bear witness to Christ’s power in saving souls through the power of the Gospel in music. I believe my theological understanding, personal testimony, musical abilities, teaching gifts, and genuine love for people can meaningfully contribute to the kingdom in very profound ways, 

Hearing the gospel preached is THE essential element to reach the lost, and singing it reinforces it powerfully, and when done excellently it commits the story of Christ deeply to the memory of the unbeliever.  

Imagine someone searching, hearing these words sung with sincerity: 

> “And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.” (from “How Great Thou Art”) 

Or a child who feels hopeless and abandoned coming into church to hear the words: 

> “He left His Father’s throne above, So free, so infinite His grace; Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race; ‘Tis mercy all, immense and free; For, O my God, it found out me.” (from “And Can It Be”) 

Ultimately, My deepest desire is for people to experience the life-transforming power of the Gospel through both the spoken and the sung Word. I long for worship that is inclusive, strives for excellence, and is emotionally authentic, moving us to genuine adoration – with hands raised not out of obligation, but as a response to God’s incredible love. We should strive to worship with this type of joy and awe in the here and now, because eventually our response in seeing Jesus Christ face-to-face, and knowing Him completely, whether it be an eschatology of our own life meeting Him at it’s end or if he comes back in glory at this world’s end... our reaction will be exactly this, hands raised, knees knelt and bowing down with shouts of praise and songs of utter adoration. But the reality is that we have that presence here and now, in the Holy Spirit. Who Jesus said it is BETTER that the Spirit is with us rather than HIM. “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:7-8) So why not now? Yes it’s socially awkward, but Paul tells us to be fools for Jesus, so I will do so in praise of his Glorious name.  

Ultimately, for me, it’s about obedience. God desires all to be saved and know the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). But how will they hear without it being proclaimed? Worship music, offered beautifully and skillfully, rooted in Scripture, is powerful theology, vital for preaching the Gospel and fulfilling the Great Commission. 

So, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. May our singing be a skillful, heartfelt, and unified echo of the greatest story ever told in the redemption, grace, and the unwavering love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”