Continuing with yesterday's thought on the specific topic of growing in musical worship, here hopefully is some more encouragement for those of you who may be thinking of taking the trek towards musical endeavors for the purpose of worship ministry. Our story continues...

Several months later, I found myself wanting to express that desire by beginning to learn the guitar. My mom sent me an old guitar of hers. I had bought a simple chord book and was trying to learn the song I first heard on that day in Vancouver. I was not musically gifted. I understood rhythm, but lacked the ability to just pick up an instrument and learn on my own. Learning the drums in high school had been a series of struggles and hard work. After a few months, I put the guitar away, feeling somewhat discouraged.

At one point, the worship leader in our church agreed to begin teaching myself and another person some guitar lessons. I thought, ?at last, this will be great?. After the second or third lesson, his employer transferred him on a special assignment and he went away for several months to China. I couldn?t believe it. It was difficult to learn and practice without some help, so I just kept trying to play along with those songs that had captivated me in the Vancouver conference. But failure continued to seem the norm and once again I had come to a resignation towards playing the guitar.

Over the next couple years my wife and I became involved in a local Vineyard fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona (where we had moved). Then, one of the Vineyard worship leaders in the metro area began teaching some basic chord style guitar classes, and I jumped at the chance. After a few months, I had some basic tools and understanding of how to strum chords on the guitar. Each time it became difficult to practice, I remembered the sense of God?s presence I felt that day in Vancouver. There were some times when worship leaders in a small group would have me play along with them, and this helped greatly. I copied techniques and methods from everyone who could play better than me (which was just about anyone with a guitar). After a while, I started looking for more structured learning again, and I found that a local music store would connect me with a guitar instructor who would give lessons tailored to my needs.

More tommorrow...

Kim Anthony Gentes

The above Daily Worship Thought is an exerpt from the book "Acoustic Guitar I" by Kim Anthony Gentes which is Copyright © 1998 by Vineyard Music Group. Used by permission. The Daily Worship Thought complete archives is found on the web, along with other worship resources, at the worship resource center web site(http://www.praise.net/worship/).