Developing Artists - messy work!

Anytime you deal with artists of any kind - musicians, painters, sculptors, actors, dancers, videographers, etc. - you deal with the natural beast, the ego. In some folks, it's very small and kept under control. In other folks, they have their own 'little world' that requires much attention, attention, and more attention. I thank God every day that we don't have any of the latter. We have more of the 'under control' variety, and that makes it a little easier to manage from my end. But the challenge is really on my ego, because the people whom I have the pleasure of serving in ministry with, are requesting more training, more education. What? I'm the head guy! I should be the ONLY one that does any training, education...how dare they! (Sorry, my ego got out of his cage for a minute!)

We desire to hone our skills for the glory of God, and Him alone. The only way to do that is to look for additional resources to train, educate and encourage. There are some really good resources out there, and like anything else, there is also a lot of crap out there. I have to be very careful in what I choose to use to equip the team, or else run the risk of letting the 'crap' get into the service of Worship. That would be bad!

What we'll be doing on this blog a little more is sharing some of those sites, those resources and events that are upcoming that my people will be challenged to go to. If you are reading this and you serve at any capacity in church, I BEG you to get some training for you and your church. Don't get stuck in the past because of a church ego. Every church has one. It disguises itself as, "We've never done it that way before...That will never work here...Fine, do that and we'll leave..." The list goes on and on and on and on...you get the point. The Psalmist was very clear in Psalm 33:1-3, particularly when he said, "...play skillfully and...with joy." That requires teaching, training, encouraging, risking and failing and risking again, and on-going training. So get after it! If you find resources that work for you and your church, please feel free to share them. After all, sharing helps keep that little ego fella under wraps!