My Peggy and I just attended the ordination ceremony for administrative pastor and music minister Paul Cords at Crossroads Baptist Church in Fort Myers where I am currently employed as pianist and serve more as an assistant music director when needed. It was a wonderful service during which I had the pleasure of providing piano accompaniment for Paul Cords in his trumpeting of "He Lives" and "In the Garden". Paul Cords gave a very personal testimony during which he poured his heart out, removed the veil and revealed many dark secrets about his personal life, and talked of the way God spared him many times from near death experiences so that God could carry out greater plans to bring Paul to prosperity. There were many men who went forward when Pastor Bradley called forward the men who have been ordained so they could lay hands on Paul Cords during his prayer. It was very beautiful to experience. But it also got me thinking. Perhaps I should pursue ordination at some point in the future. Though I am a sinner who has been saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ just the same as anyone else who has experienced the gift of salvation will profess, I have lived a life of obedience to the Lord even in times when it has been excruciatingly difficult. I have also been very dedicated to using my God-given gifts and talents for the glorification of the Lord and have been faithful to furthering my training and experiences. Under the upbringing and encouragement given by my fondly remembered adoptive Christian parents Norman and Faye Bernice as well as my advising sister Nancy, I grew up with a love for God and a love for music, obtaining proficiency on over a dozen instruments and playing many of these instruments in school bands, summer community bands, and church praise bands. Graduating out of high school, I received a full tuition music scholarship to Parkland College for its two-year music program and continued on to earn my bachelors degree in worship and music ministry (catalogued as church music) at Olivet Nazarene University. I have served as a music minister or music director in several different churches (Brethren, Foursquare Gospel, Charismatic, Church of God, Christian Church, Methodist, Lutheran, Nazarene, Baptist) throughout Illinois beginning in the year 2000 and now 13 years later in southwestern Florida. I have additionally worked as a music director and accompanist with numerous school systems and musical theatre companies, have performed and been interviewed on live television and radio, performed throughout the United States in places like Chicago and Indianapolis and Washington D.C. and California, toured internationally in London and Scotland, done collaborative recording projects resulting in albums that made it to soldiers in Afghanistan and radio waves in Australia, and on numerous occasions have happily and willingly volunteered my time and talents to benefit concerts and variety show fundraisers for many different charities and non-profit organizations. I have confidence and trust that the Lord is leading me into fulltime music ministry someday. But my present fulltime responsibility is as the husband and caregiver to my beautiful beloved fourth stage cancer-enduring wife Peggy with whom I have been married for a comparatively short yet undeniably chaptered sixteen months through which I have proven myself to be an honorable and faithful vow-honoring husband to such a point that Peggy has transformed from one of my harshest critics into my most beloved appreciator...and Peggy would say the same thing if anyone were to ask her. So as I look back at my upbringing, education, career, and the life I have lived....I find myself questioning....why have I not yet pursued ordination? And why have none of the many churches in which I have worked and served over the past thirteen years ever approached me about ordination? I will have to give these questions some serious reflection, consideration, and prayer. If anyone from the past, present, or maybe even the future has any insight to offer me or answers to my questions....clue me in!
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 03:21:39 +0000
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