Over the next couple weeks I am going to be doing some posts on what makes a great musician. I’m not talking about prodigious talent. I’m talking about YOU. Right now. What are you doing right now to become great? Any musician, whether you have loads of talent or not, can become better. Just showing up and playing is not enough. You should be advancing, learning, becoming better every day of your life…and that doesn’t always involve holding an instrument and practicing.

Mark #1 – Are you a listener?

Great musicians listen. They NEVER claim to know it all. If you were to talk to Phil Keaggy himself, I’m sure he would tell you there are areas he needs to improve. My piano professor in college, Herb Johnson, has a doctorate in piano (you didn’t even know there was such a thing). Even at the summit of skill and education, he would practice daily.

If you want to be great, listen to lots of music and dissect it. Listen strategically. Listen to old music. Listen to new music. Whatever instrument you play, listen intently to that part. Test it out yourself. Work on it until you get it. Listen to styles you don’t naturally gravitate towards. Great musicians are versatile and can jump into numerous musical genres.

Also, listen when people try and show you something. Your way is not always the best way. Don’t be a self-worshiping egomaniac. Learn from whomever, wherever, whenever you can.

If you stop listening, you stop growing.

Last night at APEX we finished our summer series. The text we applied was Romans 15:4-6

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I believe it’s healthy to pause at the end of a season and reflect on what God is doing in your heart. I asked this question: Will this just be a nice Bible study you attended or something that will be part of an ongoing transformation in your life?

In order to live strong as young adults in 2009 we must have our hope anchored in Christ. We do this through two things: Endurance and the Encouragement of the Scriptures. Everything about our lives is shakeable – people, job, school, finances, possessions, etc. Christ is the only unshakeable foundation that we can set our hope on.

Circumstances have the potential to circumvent your hope, unless that hope is Christ.

Remember this truth: There are no setbacks for the man/woman of God, only stepping stones. When your heart is anchored in Christ, every trial, difficulty, and obstacle can become a stepping stone into God’s greater destiny and purpose.

Keep hoping… in the God of endurance and encouragement.

DS