David Harms
For me, 2005 was the year when worship music went from an enjoyable Sunday morning experience to an actual life-changing turning point. Several years before then I found myself a single dad with two young daughters to raise. In those years, as I spent many hours in prayer, God became very real in my pain as I poured out my grief and the overwhelming weight of the responsibility of raising children alone. But on one particular Sunday at church, as we were singing, instead of coming to God in my pain and with my questions, I came to God in absolute gratitude. As we sang “Enough” by Chris Tomlin I found my arms lifting up in thankfulness simply for who God is and not what He was doing for me. And in those 20 minutes of worship my life changed. God was good. God was faithful. God was enough. I left church that Sunday with a new heart for God and an understanding of what God does in hearts when we worship Him.
Today I get to spend my mornings with people from all over the world and I get the honor of facilitating time with God in worship. Some are listening in their pain, some in grief, some in joy and some are coming with no real understanding of God at all. But I am convinced, as I was on that day in 2005, that God truly is worthy of worship in all circumstances … and that He is enough.
P.S. Two years after that moment, God truly restored my life. I met Barbara, at the time a single mom with a daughter, and after we got married our blended family of five became a blended family of seven when we adopted two sisters from Ethiopia.
Courtney Shuster
Brian Yeager
It was through the Word and music that God taught me I was a sinner and He was everything. It’s part of my passion now – for others to know there is peace and freedom when it’s not about us!
Like a lot of people, I grew up in church, was spiritually inclined, and wanted to be right with God. But I didn’t understand grace. I felt my past sins were forgiven but I could lose my salvation. I judged myself against others – some I was greater than, and others I looked down on because they weren’t as “good” as I was.
God brought me in to radio in a strange way. I love radio – but it’s just a tool to unite us under Jesus.
Christina James
I remember having a noticeable awareness of God when I was nine-years-old. I recall feeling a tug within I didn’t quite understand, but as I got older, I realized it was Him whispering for me to get closer. I did my best to do just that.
Since my upbringing was in a Christian home, and my formal education was primarily at a Christian school, some would say it was destined. However, the ideal environment isn’t the answer. It’s the environment of the heart that makes it all happen, which is something I still bring to Him often.
I’m very grateful for the various opportunities I’ve been able to step into: praise and worship leader, radio host, and fitness coach. Regardless of the platform, I find myself on, I always go back to my nine-year-old self and recall the pull, the whisper of the Creator wanting to get connected.
My desire is to help others become aware of our God, who is constantly looking for ways to get close and stay close.
Nelson
Father of 3 lovely girls, grandfather of 2, 1 one the way. Many years in radio. Enjoy motorcycles, golf and making people laugh when I can. Most fortunate recipient of all for grace, mercy and love from our awesome God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Few of my favorite verses in the Bible, 1Timothy 1:15, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Get in line behind me Paul. Rom 5:1 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Best job I have ever had in my life, being at Worship 24/7!
Lauren Pickthorn
When you start life in a church tradition focusing on singing His praises in the assembly of the faithful (Psalm 149:1), you sing lots of songs in rooms full of people. My Worship Formative Years were mostly that; I was one of the many. The worship experience was beautiful; if you closed your eyes, you could imagine what a chorus of angels may sound like. However, if I’m being honest, my worship response to God was purely corporate, just one small voice in a choir. Don’t misunderstand, corporate worship is powerful and brings Him delight, but it left me with shallow roots. I have been leading worship since I was a teenager, but I didn’t understand how to have a personal, individual relationship with Jesus that resulted in a lavish response.
In late 2005, at age 21, I found out I was going to be a mom. I was not ready. It was time to grow up in every way. At that moment of desperation and brokenness, I discovered that God, the one who loved me as one of the large group of believers, ALSO loved me as me. He delighted in me, Lauren. My relationship with Jesus became very real, as did my personal response to His love, grace, and mercy. Worship became a love letter from me to Him.
Now, when I worship in a group of people, I can see how Holy Spirit is moving in my soul and every other soul in the room. Worship is now singular and plural. It is a true honor to be able to lead at Worship 24/7, which is both a singular and plural experience. God is using this ministry to speak to me while He is speaking to someone else across the globe at the exact same time. Doesn’t that blow your mind?
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him! -Psalms 34:8
Tristi
Where God is, that’s where I want to be.
I had the privilege of growing up across the street from my church and walked myself there as soon as I was old enough. My family’s priorities were different than mine- you couldn’t keep me away.
God called me to experience Him in a bigger way during college, breaking out of the box I kept Him so neatly in. I was filled with wonder and began to sing for Him wherever I could. I still do!
Worship leading led me to a career in radio and I pinch myself often that this is what I get to do!
Emma Hughes
Growing up in a faith-filled home, it wasn’t until my parents divorce when I was 9 that God’s unchanging, gentle presence became tangible and essential in my life. My parents would switch custody on Sunday mornings, right before church, so church became my safest place. Worship was my favorite part because it reminded me that God is a steady anchor in a constantly changing world. Through worship, I had anthems of praise to beat back anxiety, chaos and heartache.
Throughout my years as a teen and young adult, I wrestled with my faith, questioning God and the role of the Church in a modern world gripped by shame, fear, trauma and injustice. If I’m being honest, I still wrestle with those things. Today, worship remains an anthem for when it's too hard to pray, a great reminder that God's goodness and mercy do pursue me all the days of my life. I'm reminded often of Isaiah 54:10 which says, "For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken," says the Lord, who has mercy on you." God's faithfulness always keeps me coming back in authenticy and adoration.
Jake Schwein
My passion for leading worship started on a mission trip to South Africa in 1997. A day before I left the USA, for a period of two months, I made a curious decision to take a guitar that I had never played. While sitting outside the Zulu huts in South Africa figuring out chords and strum patterns, God began to birth something in my heart that was going to forever change me. It was there that God placed a desire to lead worship in my heart. Since that moment, my life and worship ministry has been marked by two things: a passionate love for Jesus, and a desire to Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with my God. It is out of this heart for God, The Church, and The World that I teach, lead, and live.
My desire is that people would not just sing worship but their lives would be worship.