This week’s blog will begin and end with a quote. To start us off, let’s consider what happens when we combine two of my favorite pastimes: music and basketball. Hear now these words from, of all people, the legendary Boston Celtics cigar-smoking championship coach, Red Auerbach . . .
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
That’s the beautiful thing about music. It can dramatically affect people from all different walks of life and it brings people together from diverging cultures and from geographic locations thousands of miles apart. And it can turn athletes into poets. Quite a blessing from the Creator of all things great and glorious, eh?
Many of us would probably say that music has been a huge part of our lives and, yes, I’m no different. It seems like a trite and unoriginal thing to say, but – hey - if it’s true – run with it I suppose. Although it’s taken me until I’ve reached my fifth decade on this earth, my musical self has been unleashed nevertheless. Singing in my church’s praise team and writing praise songs have become passions that I relish and I’d never have discovered if not for that rare combination of faith and creativity that our contemporary worship service has allowed.
This past year has also been a blessing musically for others I hold dear in this life. In the past few years our church has developed a bond with an up-and-coming Christian band known as Relevant Worship from Buffalo, New York. Their music and their testimony had a profound impact on our congregation from the moment we first heard them at Creation Festival when they were still new and relatively unknown beyond Western New York. Since that time, they have taken giant strides in their ministry and careers to evolve into a recording act known as Brothers McClurg for a major music label with an amazingly bright future ahead of them. Even far removed from them here in South Central Pennsylvania, we still swell with pride as we watch them grow in faith and stature as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Their example has also shone brightly on my family and, in particular, my youngest son. A talented guitar player at the ripe old age of 17, he has grown into the role of our church’s Praise Team Leader and has forged a musical identity of his own with three fellow musicians as part of a band called Lectionary77. The band recently played its first gig at a local church and, as we’d hoped and prayed for, word of mouth has spread to open avenues for additional performances. We look forward to exploring the path the Lord has set before him and his bandmates as they continue to write and record songs and play them for His unrivaled renown. Success is measured in many ways when it comes to music. But whether their ministry catches fire and leads them to years of prosperity, exotic places and larger venues or whether it’s God’s will that their role is meant to be something more obscure and remote – we rejoice in the knowledge that their time, talents and hard work is spent in something so worthy as the spread of God’s good news.
As the life of a Christian band goes, so it goes for all of us. Don’t allow your life to be lived at any level of earthly success or failure without first knowing that you’ve given your all for the success of His kingdom here on Earth. Live your life and pursue your life’s ministry at full volume, always to the roar of the crowd, always expectant of one more encore, and always to the best of your abilities. And in the words of one of Red Auerbach’s legendary contemporaries . . .
“For those about to rock, we salute you!” – Angus Young, 1982
You can find out more about Brothers McClurg at www.facebook.com/brothersmcclurg and www.relevantworshipmusic.com
You can find out more about Lectionary77 at www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Lectionary77/138786109499954
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