Blogs By Benjamin

After spending time stressing the need for cultivating a private ministry with the Lord, Paul Baloche highlights the need to cultivate the God-given skills used for musical worship in this episode of his Youtube series, "Leading Worship". Baloche mentions Psalm 33:3, which says to "play skillfully" unto the Lord. Just as the musicians mentioned in 1 Chronicles chapter 25 were trained to play at a high level, Baloche encourages worship leaders to put that same emphasis on refining their talents so that they can play with excellence. There's "no shame", as Baloche puts it, to take time to properly practice and do specific things to improve one's musical ability. Things like scales and timing may not have any direct correlation to ministering to the Lord, but they are important for the musician who strives for excellence for the purpose of God's glory.  Baloche makes a good point when he talks about focusing on the musical side of ministry. The en...

In his Youtube series, "Leading Worship", Paul Baloche describes ways he continues to enrich himself outside of the musical worship setting. He highlights the idea of spending time with people of prayer. Baloche notes how he sits in on prayer meetings in his church, simply with his journal, just to hear from the Spirit through the warriors of the faith in his presence. If his soul was "feeling dry" as he put it, the prayers of others almost acted as a catalyst in opening up the eyes of his heart. Baloche emphasizes that spending time with those who pray should be a discipline all believers should put into practice.  James 5:16 says "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective". The Lord calls the body of Christ to be in constant prayer, especially for each other. When the God-fearing come together in prayer, it is beneficial for each one in the group as well as a...

Paul Baloche, in his YouTube series, “Leading Worship”, emphasizes the need to have a heart of love toward his congregation as he leads them in worshipping. He describes how he tries to meet each of those in the pews where they’re at for the purposing of bringing the Church of God together. It’s an act of service and thus an act of worship. He also mentions how he challenges his congregation through Scripture. In Baloche’s case, he pointed out the passage in Psalm 95 where it says to “Shout to the Lord”. Though that’s something that most don’t do, Baloche stresses how he uses that Scripture to challenge himself and his congregation to express themselves to the Lord. I’m intrigued by the extent to which Baloche seeks to express himself in his acts of worship to the Lord. It doesn’t matter the awkwardness or unfamiliarity. Baloche takes Scripture at its Word and puts it into practice. That is part of our surrendering ourselves as “living sacrifices” to the Lord: putting God’s Word into p...

  Paul Baloche, in his Youtube series "Leading Worship" elaborates on the idea of individual ministry to the Lord in the episode titled "Ministry Examples" After describing his practice of playing and singing in front of an empty auditorium to simply dwell in the presence of the Lord, Baloche highlights how it can be uncomfortable and awkward to do this in the early stages. He suggests doing with a few close friends and followers of Jesus. At its essence though, he emphasizes that this time is about being with the Lord and nothing else. It's not rehearsal or practice but rather a time to spend in the presence of God.  Baloche makes a simple yet pivotal point about the importance of simply "showing up". He describes the necessity for someone to just be there in a relationship for the relationship to prosper. The world today is saturated with distractions. Notifications on phones come in by the minute and agendas are filled with the likes of homework, sp...