mates out there ?
[ Jeff ] One of my biggest advice musically is to develop an ear . I think the church environment is one of the greatest environments to become a seasoned musician , because you must learn different songs very quickly . And the more you can develop an ear and learn where you can sit down with a piece of music , or on the radio or your CD and learn it . Jam to it , know the chord progress , then you are steps ahead of so many people . If you get reliant to the chord charts and a stand … I play at Dream City Church and we don ’ t use stands . They might give you the songs two day or three days prior and you gotta know it when you show up .
So developing your ear ( any young musician ) I think if you can have a good ear , then you can get on stage with any band and play with ‘ em .
And then secondly , just checking your ego at the door , you know ? We ’ re there for God . And that ’ s the one thing about Dream City . Adam Rainey is the Worship Director there , he also is a recording artist as well . And he just doesn ’ t allow the egos . We ’ re just all like a big family , a talented group of musicians .
With my band CTS it ’ s the same thing . I believe there › s gotta be a captain of the ship , you know ? I run CTS , I own the entity . I ’ m very open to their input . What do you guys think about this ? But you gotta have a captain of the ship . You can ’ t have 10 different people making decisions . It ’ s just going to direct the ship in the wrong direction .
And I treat it like an airplane , when I ’ m a captain on a jet and I ’ ve got flight attendants in the back and 138 people back there , I ’ m only as good as my crew . Even though I ’ m the boss , I ’ m the captain . I ’ m still open to , “ What do you think ?” We are all together as a team .
[ WM ] Good stuff ! That segues into another question I had for you . Because you also do stunts flying for Hollywood films and for TV and being a Christian in that kind of mainstream environment ( which can be sometimes actually anti-Christian ), how do you let your light shine in those kinds of situations ?
[ Jeff ] I let my light shine by just letting God shine through me . And that it doesn ’ t mean that I go out and preach to people or tell ‘ em , “ You should do this , you should do that .”
I think setting the example . When people look at you and go , “ Man , there ’ s something different about him . He ’ s so nice . He ’ s so kind . He ’ s so giving . He ’ s a team player . He ’ s got a servant ’ s heart .” You know , those are the things that non- Christians I think see in us . They go , there ’ s something different about that person . And that ’ s , to me , how we witness to others in the world . When they say , “ Hey , there ’ s something about you , are you Christian ?” Because usually they ’ ll ask that and I ’ ll say , “ Yes I am .”
You know , our band has played venues from bars to festivals , and people will come up afterwards and go , “ Wow , you ’ re original music . There ’ s something about the message . Are you guys Christian ?” Like , “ Yeah , we are .”
24 August 2023 Subscribe for Free ...