Hey guys, Heroes Youth Camp is upcoming and new songs are coming from botbydbludmusic! But do watch out for new songs by other members of the gang like Momon, Jeff Ayanco, Russel Surigao, Alex Litonjua, and Ashley Anclote! John Mark Miraflor and Kaye Ann Violeta along with Pauline Reyes are also putting up new sounds that the new generation will love!
I am particularly blessed on how the youth has been exploding in church, with how they grow deeper in the faith, how they are getting excited about the work, etc. But honestly, our numbers are growing at a very slow pace. But its quality, really, not just quantity Im after.
The growth of new worship leaders and new musicians is such blessings to me personally, and I have seen their musical maturity increasing. Last February, we attempted to play a piece that has so many hits and arrangements, its almost impossible to study the piece in just 2 days. Fortunately, I've trained the musicians to read charts and to read basic notation and sight reading so i tried to write the chords along with notes below it. Amazingly, they were able to replicate the original song in the first practice! I had them hear the recording after so they would get a better feel of the song, and voila! lo and behold, almost the same as the recording.
It just feels so good to know that you have been a big part in the growth of these wonderful talented guys. But what amazes me is nobody in these group of musicians applied for the position as a good musician. All of them, including me were practically dumb and dumberers with regards to music! It is a blessing that the attitude of these guys are so godly, teachable and humble that they dont know they are improving by leaps and bounds! In particular I'd like to talk about our keyboardist, Momon. He among them all had the least musical inclination. He just wanted to join for whatever reason he had! I rejected his applications numerous times but with the promise of if he practices and follows my advice, he might just be accepted.
After nearly a year or a little more, he tried to play one of my songs in the piano, which he always does, and I heard a distinct sound, not my song, but his heart. He had a heart for music.
I invited him to be part of the youth praise team but sadly he wasn't utilized as much as he needed to be trained. So, I forced myself to gamble and asked him to be the keyboardist of the main service. True, he's not a concert pianist, but his learning skills were fast and he easily picked up hits and arrangements, and the best part is, he reads my charts, at a 85-90% accuracy. With more training, he could beat me soon, and I would take pride in that!
All the guys that I started training are now nearly as good as their teacher, and some of them surpassed my skills already. Each of them has a story as good as Momon's. We were all nobody's, but now, because of the love Jesus has shown, we are now somebody's. At least in God's sight hehehe.
In my direction, I emphasize that we needed to have three hearts in the ministry: A servant heart, a humble heart, and an excellent heart. The servant heart represents ATTITUDE. I dont care about what they know or what they can do, or what they believe. The attitude of the heart is always obvious. They all need to have hearts that have an attitude of thanksgiving and praise, hearts that do not feel they are the served, but the servants.
The humble heart represents our realization of who we really are. We are NOTHING! Its by God's mercy and grace that we are now able to serve Him and others through the ministry. A humble heart also represents submission to authority, and to God's Words. Also, about being aware that in the congregation,there are better musicians there than us. Our job is to serve them and to the best of our abilities, help them and usher them to the presence of God. Not to show off!
The excellent heart represents quality, genuine, disciplined hearts. They are hearts that do not settle for mediocrity, but strive for the best possible presentation of the worship service. The excellent heart also signifies the heart of the upright. We must all be blameless when we get up in front of God's people. And that righteousness only comes Jesus, who is the righteousness of God.
With that said, my passion is that our church would have the heart of worship that God truly seeks. In my opinion, recently, we are now headed there....
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