race , ethnicity , and gender . But it also includes age . Ageism in the church is a problem , and sadly , many worship leaders have lost their staff positions merely because of their age . But you have been championing “ generation ” worship , even including children as part of your worship team . Tell us about your Generation Hymns efforts and your Biblical basis for it ?
[ Tommy ] Let me tackle this as two separate issues . First , concerning diversity , I have just always been one of those people that has super eclectic taste in everything including food , places to visit , music , even in driving a different route home . I guess it ’ s just something God put in me , but then I moved to L . A . and was exposed firsthand to so many amazing musicians that taught and inspired me to embrace different musical styles . Probably the main one was and is Justo Almario . He was a part of Koinonia , a Christian jazz fusion band in the ‘ 80s with Abraham Laboriel . All of those guys were my heroes . Because of Justo , who was already at my church Christian Assembly , many gifted people were drawn in . So , then I
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Full Worship Set # 2 thought , “ Wow , any crazy thing I can attempt to write , these guys and gals can play !” I ’ m getting off track a bit , but I was just trying to write worship songs that were really fun for the band to play and really easy for the congregation to sing .
But here ’ s the bigger point . In Revelation , it says that the nations will be worshiping before the throne of God . This must mean that God wants His people to hold onto at least some aspects of their culture and let their worship be infused with it ! I passionately believe that the Bride of Christ would be only more beautiful , if when we went to different churches , it didn ’ t all sound and look the same .
Regarding the generations . This is another huge passion of mine . I think it ’ s probably because I had the immeasurable blessing of worshiping with my family when I was young ! To this day ,