Oh, Lord, Make Me More Like Asaph!

Friday, August 26, 2011

I have known since I was Jr. High age that my calling in life was to be involved in church music. It has been amazing to me how strongly the thread of church music runs through my life, from singing in family devotions, to singing for church as an elementary child, singing for school competitions, singing in church choir, involving myself in every possible singing opportunity at college, traveling with college singing groups, recording at Faith Music Missions, being a full time music director, etc.

Recently, I have been taking some online business courses and reading books that have helped me delve deeply into what makes me tick, what my interests are, and what brings me great satisfaction. In doing so, I have had to stop and evaluate why music has such a strong draw for me.

Here is a list of reasons that I came up with:

God has moved me deeply through the medium of music.
Music allows me to express deeply felt messages of truth from my heart to the heart of others.
I am fascinated by the capability of music to communicate on many different levels simultaneously - intellect, emotion, physical, spiritual.
When I sing, I don't have to be spontaneous - the words and music are known beforehand. I am not comfortable communicating on an "ad lib" basis, as in preaching.
When I sing, I receive positive confirmation that others have been moved by the message of the song - through facial expressions, body language, and verbal comments.
I am simply enamored with sound - I love to study acoustics, the physics of music, the patterns of sound that make up music, instruments with unique timbres, different scales and modes of other cultures, tongue twisters, languages, accents, etc. I am very aurally oriented.
I enjoy the team effort of combining my skills with others to create beauty, and to express powerful messages that speak to the audience.
I enjoy spreading the joy of music to others, particularly children.

As part of my coursework, I was asked who my all-time favorite hero was. My answer was Asaph. I guess that makes perfect sense, since my life and career has fairly closely paralleled his.

Following in the footsteps of Asaph, I have sung (1 Chr. 15:19), performed on instruments (1 Chr. 15:19), taught music to others, composed songs (Psalm 50, 73-83), recorded and published songs for others (1 Chr. 16:7), taught and preached about music and through music (2 Chr. 29:30), and taught my children to love music (1 Chr. 25:2, 6).

I think the one area I struggle most with, however, is how to leverage my life to help more people become better musicians for the Lord. Our world certainly needs more Biblically qualified musicians who are producing, teaching, preaching, performing, publishing, Godly music.

Oh, Lord, make me more like Asaph!

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Curtis Hollembeak

Curtis holds a bachelor's degree in Bible with a music minor, as well as a master's degree in Sacred Music, having studied under Dr. Frank Garlock, president of Majesty Music, and Ray and Ann Gibbs, well-known Christian singers. He has served as music director and jr. high/high school supervisor at Grace Baptist Church of Mankato, Minnesota; school music director at the Franklin Road Christian School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; media engineer for the Sword of the Lord in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and, full-time music director at Second Baptist Church and Twin City Christian Academy in Festus, Missouri. He is currently self-employed and serves in the music ministry of the Berean Baptist Church in Rockford, IL. Curtis is co-founder and President of the Asaph Music Co. He regularly sings bass with the Bible Truth Chorale on recordings produced by Bible Truth Music at Faith Music Missions.