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more information on Paul Baloche's ministry and discography
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MUSIC NEWS
Ten Questions With
Paul Baloche
By Melissa Riddle
Integrity Music
CBN.com –
S4W.com: What has been the greatest challenge you've
faced since you began pursuing music as a calling and a career?
Paul Baloche: Balancing ministry and music with marriage and
family. Ministry and music are very "consuming" endeavors.
They require lots of emotional time and energy that has to come from
somewhere. It has been a lifelong pursuit to keep things in balance.
S4W.com: What has been the most profound lesson you've learned
about worship over the past few years?
Baloche: That worship is a journey and God is always the goal.
That real worship is our relationship with God and how we live our
lives in the context of a 24/7 relationship with the person of Jesus.
Singing, dancing, making music, etc., are simply "expressions"
of our love affair with our Creator and Savior.
S4W.com: What is the most profound lesson you've learned about
life over the past few years?
Baloche: That busyness is the enemy of intimacy. Our souls
long mostly for intimacy with God, but many of us are choking on the
busyness of life. I'm constantly looking for ways to simplify my life
and make time to just "be" with God, to just "be"
with my wife and children. I'm overcoming my "Martha disease."
I'm trying to be more like Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus. THAT
seemed to bless Jesus' heart more than Martha's constant activity.
S4W.com: What is the most common misunderstanding about worship
you see in the current worship climate, and how have you tried to
reshape it?
Baloche: That worship is music. I'm only trying to reshape
it in my life for now. Music is such a powerful force. I can see why
it is so easy to make "it" so important, but we have to
keep reminding ourselves to focus on the Giver more than the gifts.
S4W.com: What does 'worship lifestyle' mean to you?
Baloche: Worship lifestyle means pursuing the greatest command:
to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love
our neighbors as ourselves. That's easier said than done. My focus
is to daily surrender my will to His, trying to live a lifestyle of
repentance, keeping short accounts with God and asking forgiveness
all through the day if need be. Also, loving my wife and children.
Before we can "love the world," we have to start with those
who live with us first.
S4W.com: This is kind of the desert island question. What
are the five ministry essentials you could not do without?
Baloche: Love, humility, commitment, a servant heart, laughter,
transparency and music (oops, that makes seven).
S4W.com: How do you explain the powerful connection between
music and worship expression?
Baloche: It is a mystery why music is one of the most powerful
and most meaningful ways to express what is in our hearts. It has
a way of short-cutting past the intellect and aiming right for the
heart. There is a deep emotional part of us that longs to "experience"
rather that just "know" something intellectually. Music
is one of those gifts from God that helps us connect to Him on a deeper
level.
S4W.com: Describe one of the most compelling, most powerful worship
experiences you've had and tell how that affected you as a worshiper and as
a leader since that time.
Baloche: I can't seem to put my finger on just one, but I have been
in corporate worship many times and have been overcome by the strong presence
of the Invisible God. In the early days of playing guitar with Kelly Willard,
every time we would worship together, there were moments I could hardly stand.
I would find myself crying and/or laughing as we sang our heartfelt prayers
to God. That kind of experience ruins you for anything else, kind of turns
you into a "God-addict." It makes you want to spend the rest of
your life encouraging others to "go there" with you.
S4W.com: What compels you to write new songs for worship?
Baloche: Writing songs is like "God therapy" for
me. It has always been the main way that I can work out my salvation
with the Lord. By journaling, writing out my prayers, and putting
them into simple songs, I find it easier to sort through the stuff
of life and keep my relationship with Him fresh. I also love the privilege
of putting words in the mouths of God's children towards Him. To know
that a person is connecting with Jesus in a deep way by singing one
of your prayer songs to Him is very satisfying.
S4W.com: What person has influenced your ministry/your music
the most and how?
Baloche: Kelly Willard, Lenny LeBlanc, and my wife, Rita.
They always display an honest humility. They are real in their walk
with God and in how they express it in their music and ministry style.
They also pulled out of me things I never knew were there. They have
been "Jesus with a skin on" to me by their encouraging words
and lifestyle.
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