Dear Friends,
I'm back from an awesome trip to Incubator headquarters in Oregon, and I'm so excited about where God is taking this ministry! So rather than a regular article this month, I thought I'd give you a ministry update. You have been so faithful in your prayer and support, and I couldn't do this without you!
You became a part of my ministry family to support my growth in ministering to people through the gift of music. As you may recall, Incubator's vision of music ministry is quite different from what a typical Christian musician does.
Most Christian artists, even those who are "independents," follow a music industry paradigm: recording music and using live concerts to attract people to purchase recordings. Wash, rinse, repeat. There's nothing wrong with that paradigm, as music is indeed a gift from God that blesses many. But Incubator's paradigm provides for ministry on a deeper level, and it promotes obscurity rather than notoriety.
If you had a chance to listen to Nate's interview with me a couple months ago, you realize that Incubator's objective before helping me reach any music goals was to help me understand how God can use me and my own personal struggles to minister on a deeper level to individuals.
Individuals vs The Masses
God is all about relationships. In fact, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, HE IS relationship!
Jesus and the disciples gave us the model of how to "be" the church... It's about guess what — relationship! By discipling one another, building each other up, helping one another grow in Christ, we are ensuring that the Gospel continues to be proclaimed.
Growing in Christ isn't something we can do alone. It takes walking together. That's what my ministry is designed to do. My music is simply a vehicle that puts us on the same road so that we can begin the walk.
When an artist leads worship, gives a concert, or sells a CD, he is reaching "the masses." And that's usually where it stops. But in my ministry, it's after that initial encounter that a deeper, individualized ministry will begin through relationship-building.
Incubator is helping me design a one-on-one ministry model that will start with music and "me," and continue with an ongoing relationship of spiritual direction through interaction via my ministry office, the same place where you and I meet, but tailored for each individual that begins the journey. Each new person who interacts with me after a music program will have their own "online room at the inn," where they can respond to free content and have an opportunity to continue in an ongoing program designed to minister specifically to them.
But it takes a lot of preparation to get the inn ready! In addition to preparing my public program, I'm also writing and building individualized discipling modules so that I can minister to the individual people that God wants me to reach with the balm of His healing and love.
So you can see why your encouragement and support have been and continue to be so important to me. God's plan is always so much bigger than ours! And it's a joy to have you on this adventure with me!
Love,
Jackie
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Phil 1:3-6 (NLT)
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