Personal Development on Music

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It’s the rest in a piece of music that gives it resonance and shape.

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I’ve never really played a single note in my life. For 8 years I played the clarinet growing up. Actually, that’s not true. I took lessons but I’m not sure I actually played the clarinet. I went to h...

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A Saxophonist's Spiritual Revelation

Author

Ryan Bundrick

Scripture

Luke 2:1-35, 2 Timothy 4:6-7, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Ephesians 2:10

John Coltrane stands out as one of the giants of 20th-century jazz. His legacy is a generation of hearts touched and the light of God shining through his songs. Yet, for years, his work was haunted by...

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Your Puny Little Fiddle

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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The composer Ludwig Van Beethoven was a devout man (some considered at times puritanical) who considered himself to be inspired by God while writing his compositions. He also worked extremely hard to ...

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Near a Wonderful Beauty

Author

Donald McCullough

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:11, Genesis 1:31, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 8:3-4, Romans 1:20, Psalm 96:11-12, Psalm 65:9-13, Colossians 2:2-3

J.M. Montgomery’s novel Emily of New Moon has a passage that conveys the attractive and terrifying aspects of the mystery of God: It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, th...

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O God, we thank you that you have not

Author

William Barclay

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:23-24, Psalm 119:105, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 Samuel 1:24-28, Acts 2:42-47

O God, we thank you that you have not treated us as we deserve. We thank you that, though you are Creator, Judge and King, you are also Father, so that, though we are wandering children, there is alw...

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God–our Father, Lord and indwelling

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Psalm 133:1, 2 Corinthians 9:13-14, Matthew 28:19-20

God–our Father, Lord and indwelling Spirit of grace and power: Thank you for hearing us when we pray whether in songs of rejoicing or through tears of sorrow. Thank you for gifts–for the gifts of musi...

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Author

Morgan Harper Nichols

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Genesis 2:2-3, Psalm 104:

Turn to the sun rising above your head or the leaves of the deciduous trees falling to the ground and think, "In the same way there is a rhythm to nature, I have rhythms too."

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Love Songs All Address God

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Psalm 42:1-2, 1 Samuel 1:9-18, Psalm 63:1, Luke 15:11-32, Lamentations 3:19-24, Romans 8:22-23, Exodus 2:23-25, Hosea 3:1, John 20:11-18

In 1998, Nick Cave*, an Australian rock/pop artist, was asked by the Vienna Poetry Academy to give a series of talks on the nature of song-writing. A year later he gave a slightly revised version of t...

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What Instrument Should My Son Learn?

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Sir Thomas Beecham, a famous British conductor, was once asked advice from a lady regarding which instrument her son should learn next. Her son, whose first attempt at both the violin and trombone wer...

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Discipleship Begins with Active Listening

Author

Adam S. McHugh

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Scripture

1 Samuel 3:9-10, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 , Matthew 4:19-20, John 10:27, Luke 11:28, Psalm 85:8

The interplay between listening and obedience expresses itself in our lives all the time. Sound has the ability to “command” us, to summon a response in us, forcing us to take notice. Unlike visual ...

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Author

Andrea Bocelli

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When I get on stage, my first goal is not to show my expertise, but on the contrary, to give a bit of happiness, of joy, of cheerfulness. I am firmly convinced that in order to sing well, you must lov...

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Christopher Parkening’s Search For Happiness and Purpose

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Psalm 37:4, Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 16:26, Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Considered perhaps the greatest guitarist alive, Christopher Parkening appeared to have it all. Signed to an international recording deal as a teenager, Parkening traveled across the world playing bea...

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Author

Peter Kreeft

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Listening to other people's needs is listening to God. Noticing simple, natural beauty, hearing music, even confronting the challenge of pain and problems - that can all be listening to God too.

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5 Great Worship Resources on the Psalms

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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October 2018 For centuries, the Psalms have been the songbook of the church. From metrical settings of Psalms (think, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” or “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Wa...

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Sitting in the Light

Author

Charles Swindoll

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A piano sits in a room, gathering dust. It is full of the music of the masters, but in order for such strains to flow from it, fingers must strike the keys… trained fingers, representing endless hours...

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Giving Advice to (Bob) Dylan

Author

Alan Jacobs

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When Bob Dylan was recording Blood on the Tracks – possibly the single greatest album in popular music history – he had to deal with a junior recording engineer who “explained” to him that he was goin...

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Author

Gustave Flaubert

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Scripture

Exodus 4:10–12, Isaiah 6:5–7, Ecclesiastes 5:2, James 3:5–6, 1 Corinthians 2:1–4, Psalm 19:14

Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.

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Crazy, But True Stories of Criticism at a Christian Radio Station

Author

Brant P. Hansen

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In his excellent book, Unoffendable, Brant Hansen shares a few humorous, but sadly true, stories of people being critical of his work at a Christian music station: One day, we talked about the local...

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Playing for His Master

Author

Steven C. Roy

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Galatians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 5:9, 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, Romans 12:1, John 12:43, Matthew 6:1

A story is told of a young violinist who lived in London many years ago. He was a superb musician. He loved his music and enjoyed playing before small groups of people in the homes of friends. But he ...

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The Banshees of Inisherin Movie Review

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Ephesians 4:null

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or. what's a heaven for? " Robert Browning A part of our desire at The Pastor’s Workshop is to help pastors connect the stories in ...

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Whatever You Do…

Author

Mark Batterson

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,” said the apostle Paul, “as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23) ...[H]ow you do anything is how you’ll do everything. Dr. ...

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Sabbath for Pastors: Why Is It So Hard to Rest?

Author

Dan Baumgartner

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If you are a pastor…this one’s for you. Sabbath. So many things have been written. Most of us have taught our people or preached about Sabbath, and underscored how busy people in our churches re...

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What is the Christian Imagination Deficit? How Do We Fix It?

Author

Brian Brown

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There Are No Ordinary Things J. R. R. Tolkien tells a short story about an ordinary fellow who just wants to finish a painting. Over time, he is constantly distracted by the requests of his neighbors...

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Prep for Pentecost

Author

Jack Levison

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Pentecost Came Like Wildfire I’m lying on an ice pack early this morning, doing my back exercises and listening to Pray as You Go , a tool for meditation, with monastery bells, music, and a Bible re...

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Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Psalm 1:null

My Aversion to Self-Help Books & Their Gurus but Why I Recommend This One! I am not one for “self-help” books. I know that I probably could use some more personal coaching advice, but… my habit ...

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The Meeting Place of Deep Intentionality and Self-Forgetting

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In his prose and poetry, David Whyte shares what David Brooks refers to as “emotional joy” in his book, While not necessarily unique to the Christian, this type of joy has the ability to draw us towar...

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The World is Full of Presence

Author

David G. Benner

Keywords

Presence

The world is full of presence. Every moment of life is crammed full of potential encounters with people and things that are present to us even though we may not be present to them: the presence of a c...

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The Sense of an Ending

Author

James Bryan Smith

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Galatians 6:9, 1 John 3:2, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Life is short, and we can accomplish only so much. Much of what we do will remain unfinished. For now. In one of my favorite short stories of all time, “Leaf by Niggle,” author J. R. R. Tolkien provid...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

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God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in...

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