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MUSIC ON THE MOVE!        11/95       DO/TS 3023
--Good, Better and Best Songs!
--By Maria       Maria #305

              1. It takes a lot of time, money, prayer and effort to produce music. Therefore we want to be sure we are investing our time, money, prayer and effort into that which is going to bring forth the best fruit. That which brings forth the most fruit is that which has the clearest and strongest message. But not all songs will be hits, and we want to be open for a wide variety of songs. It's like the good, the better and the best! There will be a lot of songs which will be good and acceptable. Then there are songs that will be better. And there will be some songs that are the very best!
       2. Not even every song written by a top musician is a hit. The very best songs will be in the minority (although we still hope there will be a lot of these!) with a majority of "good" and "better" songs. Even though these don't fall into the "best" category, that doesn't mean that they're not acceptable or aren't good enough to produce and listen to. Some of these will be songs that can have a little mystery and a little cloaking of the message. But we also have to make sure that a good balance is found and that not too much time, money or effort is wasted on that which is simply good when it could be invested on that which is the best!
       3. Again it is a question of choice, and the Lord will give you the kind of songs that you desire. The Lord will give you according to your heart's desire, if you are seeking with a hungry heart. If you want songs with strong, clear, pure messages, with a very up-front message, with no confusion and pure clarity, He will give them to you. These are the songs which will bear the best fruit and go the farthest. If you write some songs with a milder message, a message that is a little cloaked or a bit mysterious, this is acceptable as long as the message is true, clean, good and loving, and is not deceptive, confusing or lukewarm. The Lord is not against variety, and every songwriter is different and is gifted differently by Him.
       4. We need to have guidelines in our producing of the music. We need some standard, so that our limited time and money and effort will be invested well. But not all songwriters can be measured by the same standard. This is why we want to allow variety! We don't want to put you into a mold or into a box, or judge by our own preconceived ideas. We want to let you burn free, because the Lord is going to do new things with you! We want you to tap into the source and find the fresh new songs that the Lord wishes to give to you. We want to give you room to learn to recognize the whispers of His Spirit. We want to allow you to be individuals, unique vessels in the Lord's hand, so that He can teach you and train you and mold you the way He wishes.
       5. Perhaps it will be different from the way we would do it, but the Lord is doing a new thing and you are His new generation, and we need to expect that you will be inspired with fresh new approaches! Therefore, we don't want to quench your spirit. The Lord is going to speak to you in a way that you will respond to and understand, and it will bring good fruit in your lives. We all want to try to find a good balance--not too conservative and not too liberal, not too wild, but not too restrictive. This will allow for enough freedom of the Spirit so He can work as He wants to in your lives. Is that fair enough?
       6. You, His fresh new songwriters, will improve as you hone your skills, as you practice, as you learn to hear His voice clearly. As you are learning, you need freedom to be individuals. You are unique vessels in His hand. Each of you is different. Each of you will sing and write in your own style. We want you to be yourselves. We want you to be what the Lord wants you to be. As the Lord teaches you the art of songwriting and hearing from Him, you will grow and mature. Let Him move your heart and let Him sing His message through you. The Lord will give through you that which His sheep need, and His sheep will hear His voice and will follow Him.
       7. And if you aren't a songwriter, don't feel bad. You don't have to write the songs!--You can just sing them! You can be the Lord's minstrels and pipers to pipe His music to the people, or you can get it out via cassettes and CDs. Some of you have the gift of putting His Words to music. Others of you have beautiful gifts of singing and playing these songs. And if you can't write the songs or sing the songs, you can do your part in helping the music get out by praying for those who do, or helping with your suggestions and contributions to their songs. However, the Lord has said that He will pour His gift and anointing for songwriting upon many of you as you turn to Him. As you dedicate yourself wholly to Him and purge yourselves and cleanse yourselves of your distractions and System ways, and you look full into His face, He will pour upon you a great blessing and He will raise up from your ranks many songwriters, as well as many minstrels and gifted ones, that your voices and the voice of your music may spread across the whole Earth!
       8. As the Lord provides the personnel, the money, the shepherding and the equipment, we will move to open new studios so that we can accommodate many of you who He will raise up to do the job. But your music will not only be spread through recording. The Lord will pour forth songs to you in such abundance that we won't have room nor time enough to record them all! However, as the Lord supplies the means to open new studios, we are planning to do this, so that we will be able to choose as many songs as possible to produce from this vast variety so that all of you may benefit from them and enjoy them!
       9. But don't worry if your songs are not recorded--they can still be a blessing to many! Your songs, your inspiration and your gifts that the Lord has given you will travel through word-of-mouth as you go from place to place singing your songs and inspiring each other and doing your job for Jesus. This music will not only be spread through recording, but even more so, from person to person, Home to Home, continent to continent as you go about your job serving the Lord and witnessing and leading inspiration and singing songs to the Lord together. You will be able to share with one another the songs that He is giving you, and He will pour forth songs in such abundance that you will be amazed!
       10. Don't worry if you don't have a studio close by. Even if you or your Home just have a guitar, you can still receive the songs that the Lord gives you, which you can then sing during inspiration or in times of devotion or witnessing. Even if these songs never get recorded, they will still travel the world and go from city to city and country to country! Those songs that are truly hits, the songs that are inspired by the Lord and that really move people, will be spread abroad and will be sung by many voices and in many languages! These songs that are born on the witnessing field with a lone guitar, that come from a broken heart, just as they did with our first generation, will seem to take on a life of their own! The Lord will move them with the power of His Spirit and they will travel from one person to another, and one Home to another, and they will be a great inspiration to many!
       11. In the meantime, we'll do the best we can to get as many as possible to you, but much of your music, as always, will travel through the grapevine, person to person, Home to Home, city to city, country to country, continent to continent, and so it will travel the world! You will recognize the songs that are the strongest and the most powerful in the Lord's Spirit, the songs that move you and inspire you and lift you to Heavenly heights! You will gravitate to these songs and you will desire to learn these songs and to sing them yourselves. So the best songs will be known by many, many singers, and by these fruits we will be able to judge the quality of the songs, and if they didn't get recorded initially, they will probably end up being recorded at a later date.
       12. So whatever gifts the Lord has given you, use them to the fullest and know that He will bless your efforts! Whether you write songs, play songs, sing songs, or produce songs, whatever you do, do all to His glory, and you'll find great happiness and fulfillment!

       
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