Nathan Pierpont

One of my favorite quotes from C. S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is when Mr Beaver announces that “Aslan is on the move.” Aslan is the name of the Lion and represented a type of Jesus. When Mr Beaver declares that the Lion has begun to take decisive action, the story pivots with hope and anticipation of what that action might entail. This quote came to mind several times as we began to anticipate what the Lord was doing with our humble attempt to offer friendship and encouragement to fellow pastors in the Philippines.

Just a few weeks ago Jennifer and I returned from our short-term mission trip. Our ministry companions were Allyn and Emmy VanDyk. We were privileged to return with Emmy to her homeland, meet her family, and serve sister churches in Filinvest and Sto Tomas (Bethesda Bible Baptist Church) where Allyn has been asked to speak on numerous occassions. For Jennifer and me it was our first visit, but it didn’t take long to see that the Lord was up to something that we are excited to be a part of.

This is a video of our report to our church, Northeastern Baptist Church, (nbckz.com) upon our return. Please pray with us as we anticipate a return trip in February of 2026 to meet with pastors and their wives in the Philippines to provide the training in biblical counseling we offered when we were with them this February.

When Moses was reluctant to be an instrument in God’s hand, God asked him what he had in his hand. I want to ask you a similar question regarding your church’s music ministry: Who do you have?

For seven years, I traveled all over Ohio and parts of four other states, performing sacred concerts as a solo musician. When I arrived at a church, I would set up my sound system and do my program. However, when I accepted a position as a worship pastor many years ago at NBC, I understood that my role would no longer be a solo act. My new role was to help the musicians in my church find opportunities to participate in corporate worship.

One of the first musicians I welcomed was Clyde, an older member of our church who played the French horn. I often wondered what people thought of the combination of piano, organ, and horn. At times, I noticed Clyde would latch onto a particular note and play it with great force. Thankfully, our congregational singing was strong, and the choir served as the worship team, so I suppose Clyde’s playing fit in well enough with all those sounds. However, that’s only part of the story.

Inviting Clyde to play with us, despite the less-than-ideal mix, had an unexpected benefit. His presence signaled to others that the new worship leader was open to contributions from various musicians. At times, I feel our approach to forming the worship team resembles the story of “Stone Soup.”

We started humbly, but over time, more people came forward willing to join us with their instruments. Each time I ordered more music stands, we gained more members. It felt almost like a “Field of Dreams” story—every time I placed an order for more music stands, more musicians joined us. We now have an abundance of music stands.

Before long, we gained two trumpet players, a trombone player, a tuba player, a clarinet player, and a violinist. Shortly after that, the Lord blessed us with a flute and a saxophone. Over the years, we have also added bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, strings, keyboards, and various percussion instruments. The best part is that some of these musicians have become my dearest friends, and they continue to help me lead worship to this day.

When I first arrived at the church, one trombone player was still in high school. He was unpretentious and direct. At the time, I wasn’t sure how to interpret his straightforward nature, and I honestly doubted whether he would continue attending church after graduating. However, I misjudged him. He has served in various roles within our church since then and is now a public school teacher. For the past twenty-two years, he has graciously tolerated my quirks almost every Sunday and often comes to my aid with timely reminders or clarifications when I forget something.

These musicians feel like family to me. When I lead music at another church, retreat, or conference, I miss having them by my side. During those occasions, I wish they could travel with me. We are a team, and I truly believe we are better together.

I shudder to think of what we would have missed if I had come in with a preconceived idea of what I wanted to do or if I had been a slave to what others wanted. It has been my commitment to give well-intentioned church musicians the opportunity to join the team. It’s my job to set them up for success.

To effectively grow a music ministry, it’s important to engage the Christian musicians in your church according to their abilities. Assign simpler parts to those who are less experienced, and give more significant roles to those who are particularly talented, ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and recognized as a valuable member of the team. This approach is grounded in the belief that the work ultimately belongs to the Lord, who supernaturally provides the church with everything it needs.

**BONUS: Three Related Ideas for Developing a Team of Musicians.**

1. **Honoring Faithfulness:**

Scripture teaches that if you are faithful in little things, you will be entrusted with greater responsibilities. Those who demonstrate faithfulness deserve to be honored. When a musician recognizes the importance of their service, arrives on time, and consistently commits to their role, I truly respect their investment of time. I have learned to pay special attention to their input.

2. **Listening to Input from Team Members:**

It’s important for your church to consider suggestions from your team. If you believe that each person is a gift from God to your local community of believers, you have a responsibility to Christ to include everyone’s contributions. The suggestions from my fellow musicians have been essential to our success.

3. **Don’t Use People to Grow Your Program:**

Use your program to build people. A leader’s role is not to impose their own agenda or a rigid definition of success. Instead, it is to harness their skills to empower other musicians, setting them up to shine and achieve their fullest potential.

I think what I want to write about next will be a few things I’ve learned about facilitating a small group.

“Fix Your Worship Problem”

If only I had…

If only I could…

If only they would…

…I would be happy.

The way you end those sentences could be telling you something about what you treasure most.

James was a very early church writer and apostle. Even then, he warned believers that the reason they were fussing with each other was rooted in their desires. (James 4)

Are you fussing about something? What is it you really want? Often, our strong desires are intent on having something God does not intend for us.

Here’s what happens. We want what we want, so we think about what we want a lot. Because that desire occupies our mind a great deal, we tend to act based on what we have been thinking about.

Those are the times you find you are too willing to sin. When you want something badly enough that you sin when you can’t have it or you sin in order to get it, that’s an indication of your worship problem.

If you regret how you have been acting, trace those behaviors back to what you have been thinking about. Ask yourself the questions I started with. See any corollaries?

Don’t despair. There’s hope for lasting change.

You can learn to change your desires. Yes, you can change your “wanter.” It may be more appropriate to say that you can learn to depend on the Holy Spirit to help you experience a change of affections. You can develop a taste for what is good.

Think about those opening questions one more time.

If only I had…

If only I could…

If only they would…

…I would be happy.

Might it be that the themes that occupy your thinking are indicators of what you really treasure? What if those wants are the true idols of your heart? If so, those desires are an indication of a worship problem.

Let’s not kid ourselves. We all have a worship problem. If you are wondering how to identify your worship problem, start by answering those “if only” questions and talk to the Lord about your heart desires. You could also reach out to a biblical counselor for some encouragement and tips for developing the right desires.

Would you like to read a good book on the topic? Get Brad Bigney’s book: Gospel Treason; Betraying the Gospel with Hidden Idols.

Do you sometimes do something that contradicts your core values and undermines the very things in which you have invested much of your time, money, and energy? In moments like that you might ask yourself, “What was I thinking?”

You love your family. You want them to enjoy a peaceful home. You hope to provide an example for them to follow, and you would like them to look up to you. But, in a moment of offense, you slam a door, speak harshly, or even throw things. These irrational behaviors are telling you something helpful if you want to listen.

Do you remember the last few incidents in which you acted out irrationally? Can you identify a pattern? Are the people you say you love walking on eggshells around you because you are known for becoming defensive, stomping off, sulking, or becoming sarcastic? Maybe you erupt into a monologue that your wife or children are helpless to escape. You give a speech to your captive audience to convince them that you are a great guy, and would be even better if it wasn’t for them and what they are doing to trigger you. You attempt to explain your behavior by accusing them of pushing you too far.

If you could be convinced that the problem is in you and can be fixed, would you listen to someone tell you how to change?

There is hope. I know because I am in the change process too. I found something that helps me stop reaching for those old worn-out responses that ultimately hurt the ones I love.

I can’t give six weeks of counseling in one post, but I can tell you that you lie to yourself more than anyone has ever lied to you. The messages you repeat to your mind are the mantra that has you making a fool of yourself. Until you identify the lies you are telling yourself, you are prone to return to one form or another of those destructive, irrational behaviors, and failing to identify those lies will cost you. It may cost you quite a lot.

A man who believes he deserves respect and cannot live without it may find himself demanding, angry, and lonely, venting on social media after losing his friends, being pushed out of his job, and being ignored by his family.

If you are ready to identify the lies you have been telling yourself, here’s a starting point.

Pray this from Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

Read your Bible. As you discover the truth in the Scripture, ask God to help you identify the lies you have been believing.

You may feel like you don’t have anyone you can talk to, but you could reach out to me, or another biblical counselor, who is trained to help you identify those lies and replace them with truth.

Wouldn’t it be liberating for those disappointing moments to decrease in frequency and severity?

Stick around for another post, and I’ll try to write something short about another sneaky problem—our worship problem.