Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin… – Zech. 4:10 NLB
How We Started
In the late 1980s, I did not know how to lead people in worship, yet I was thrust into that position by the hand of God. I did not know how to organize a music ministry with real ministry at its heart. I wanted to avoid the very appearance of performance but still wanted to make a place for all the gifted people God was bringing our way. Many of the things I desired to do were simply impossible to do because we had no money. This was to be a very creative time in my life.
Lack of money forces one to look at their hopes and dreams from brand new perspectives…and that is what I began to do.
As I looked around at my life and the fact that I had been placed in an inner city church with great visions and dreams but very little in the way of resources, I realized that I was like the boy at the feet of Jesus who came bearing 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread hoping to feed thousands (Mark 6:38-52). What was I to do?
In my home we had 2 toddlers (1987) but could not afford diapers, so we used cloth diapers. We did with what we had. We could not afford a dining room table so we used the S & H Green Stamps my mom had collected and redeemed them for a card table. We used what we had. We could not afford food so we ate a lot of popcorn and potatoes using the bulk of our finances to meet the needs of our babies. We used what we had. Our car died and we could not afford to buy another one so I rode a bike and we decided to sell our wedding rings (The Lord miraculously intervened at the last second…another story for another time). This was the way we chose to live our lives and this way of thinking permeated every area of our lives…to place the little we had in the hands of the Lord and allow Him to make something beautiful from it.
Called To Do Music
As a worship leader for a church body, I felt it was my place to act as a shepherd for my sheep. If there was a need, I wanted to minister to it in a musical sense. If there was a spiritual direction God was taking our body, I wanted to be there with the music. God began to give music, but there was still no way to share that music except during regular worship services. I began to make ‘piano-top’ recordings with my cassette recorder. If someone was in the hospital and God gave a song, I was there with a tape. If I could not make a tape, I was there with my guitar. It soon became apparent that many people desired recorded versions of the songs God was giving…but once again, I had no money! What could we do?
We used what we had (a Piano and an Tascam 4 track cassette recorder), and gave it to God. What amazed me most is how people seemed to want the ministry more than they cared about the lack of a polished look.
As of this writing, that was over 30 years ago and God has seen fit to send much of that music around the world. But isn’t that just like God? He takes the fish and bread of our lives and transforms these ‘small offerings’ into amazing things by virtue of His amazing love and grace. Our little becomes much in His mighty hands
The Lessons that I’ve Learned
Did I ever feel like giving up? A lot. Did I ever get depressed? A lot. Did all my dreams come true? No. But what has happened is that I have learned to entrust God with the little (or much) I have been given. I have learned (and am still learning) to respond with His love and grace to the circumstances of my life (Luke 16:10). I simply take what I learn and then use that knowledge to more effectively minister to others around me…whether in my living room or in front of the masses.
When we are meeting the needs of others, we are simply doing what Jesus did when He walked the earth. Our main ministry is not a recording or a great worship event in which thousands attend. Nor is it on a church staff or in some book we write. Our ministry is to whomever we happen to be with at any given moment.
Our ministry is in our living room with the couple whose marriage is falling apart. Our ministry is in the cafe with the minister who has been voted out of his church. Our ministry is on horseback with a man who feels no joy or purpose in his life. Our ministry is driving down the road with a friend who needs to be encouraged. Our ministry is to our wives and children. Our ministry is to our friends.
You want to minister? Learn to meet the needs of people using the resources you have been given.
What do people need?
Just look around you. Look at your own life. What do you need? What does your family or your friends need? People need good news. They need hope in the midst of affliction and grace for the fiery trials. They need comfort for broken hearts and they need their wounds bound up. People need freedom from bondage. They need to see beauty from the ashes of broken and burned out lives. People need someone to fill the voids of the heart. They need joy. They need cleansing from sin.
What do you need to minister the dreams and visions God has placed in your heart right where you are? Creativity is simply seeing a problem from some other perspective…and I find that the Lord’s perspective is always so much better than mine! How does your need or problem or perceived lack look from God’s perspective? You might just find you have more resources at hand than you realized!
You, as a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ, can help meet those needs with the resources you have right now. Trust me. You will never know, though, if you always have some excuse for not having ‘enough’ with which to minister. Remember the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. You have been given something to invest in God’s kingdom. Do something with it…now. Use it or lose it. It really is worth the cost.
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. – 1 Corinthians 4:2 NIV
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. – Luke 16:10 NIV
