Music of the Psalms

I've had people ask me before why I use "12String" in just about all that I do online. One of my favorites of all time was when I was chatting in a college sports room, and someone asked me, "Twelve Strings, does that mean you play two guitars at the same time?"

Very simply, 12string4jc like I use for this blog's address is simply to remind me that I am His, and I want to use the talent He gave me to further His kingdom. I play the majority of my worship leading on a 12-string guitar that I purchased almost three years ago when Mars Music was going out of business.

I've been a musician as long as I could reach out and grab things. My parents told me stories of banging pots and pans together as a little child. I'm very thankful to them for putting up with the noise, at least for a little bit.

That is, they put up with the noise until 5th grade, when I brought my first trombone home. It only took a few days of practice before my father came into my room and compare my Bb Major scale to the sounds of large bovine creature staring the Grim Reaper in the face. Thankfully, I improved a little bit and was able to gain a place in college majoring in music.

I spent four years in college going through three different music majors (education, history, and performance). While in school, I also began to develop a faith that I had lost over the course of my teenage years. Although this was a great thing, it also began to lead me to a crisis of faith regarding music. I was a pretty good classical musician, and I loved to play jazz and blues also.

Without going into too many details, two Bible verses really stuck out for me in this. Psalm 108:1 (NIV) says "My heart is steadfast, O God. I will sing and make music with all my soul." Then Colossians 3:23 (NLT) "Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."

So I am a musician who is a Christian. I'm not a Christian musician. The difference is that with everything I sing or play, I am going to give it to God and make it an offering to Him.

Being a musician, the Psalms are very important to me, but I've realized that I need to dive into them more. I've been reading them as theological statements and not the passionate, awesome, sometimes desperate songs of the heart that they are. So I'm setting up another blog where I'll be going through the Psalms, hopefully one each day.

If anything, this should be interesting.