And they actually helped us promote our Good Friday on the Square in Georgetown , Texas , April 7th , 2023 , where we announced Whitestone to the city and they helped us get 4,000 people to that event . So , what I ’ m trying to say is you could say we had great marketing , and we did put a lot into marketing , but it wasn ’ t just some cold marketing campaign . It was something that had the fire of human relationship and connection to it that helped us launch big .
[ WM ] That ’ s fabulous . Well , it just seems unbelievable . You don ’ t hear stories like this . It ’ s almost like it ’ s a big established church for a long time , but that ’ s not the case .
[ Tauren ] And , we have to remind people of that , we ’ re just a really big baby ! ( laughs )
[ WM ] ( laughs ) Well , so you touched on this , but I wanted to ask you for the sake of any worship leaders here considering stepping into the role of a pastor , were there insecurities whispering in your mind during this time ? And how did you overcome those ?
[ Tauren ] Yes , they still do . They still do . I think that wherever the calling exists in your life is the place where the enemy sets up the most fear . And for me , it was stepping across that line of fear into what God actually called me to do . And I had a lot of insecurity around even just public speaking , even though when I ’ m just evaluating my gifts objectively , I would say I ’ m more inclined to speak to communicate to people . But early on , I went to Bible college and I had a professor , after I presented a message to a preaching class , he told me that essentially he said never to bring a message that I got off the internet into his class again . And I said , no , sir , I wrote this . And he said , no , there ’ s no way that you wrote that . And it placed this insecurity inside of me of like , even if something good came out of me , there ’ s no way anyone would believe that it came from me that there was this lack of validation . And I didn ’ t realize how much it affected me , but from that moment , I started to shrink back from every opportunity …
I never preached . In Bible college , we had programs set up to go speak at churches to get experience . I would always go play piano or go sing .
But there was some fear that was placed inside of me to actually communicate the gospel until I sat down with the mentor . And that wound just populated in our conversation suddenly and he said , “ Man , that ’ s been holding you back for all these years ”. He said that professor was just buffing your shine . God is going to set you up to communicate to people ; something he ’ s called you to do . You need to step over that fear . And so , I ’ ve had to step over that fear time and time again . Now as a pastor , really every Sunday in meetings , in small group gatherings and homes , or in moments where we ’ re commissioning other pastors and God has placed me in a position of authority to lay my hands on another person and to impart authority to them .. you can ’ t impart an authority that you have not received from God and reconciled you ’ ve been called . And so I would encourage worship leaders who have a sense that they ’ ve been called to a preaching ministry or even just into a greater leadership role , do not allow yourself to be hidden in your gifting , that you ’ ve got to step outside of your comfort zone into what God has actually called you to do .
[ WM ] Amen . Well , your comments are perfect . I tell my students that a career and a calling are two different things .
[ Tauren ] Yes , sir .
[ WM ] Entirely . And the career is about steps . And if you get off the path , you ’ ve got to try to get back on that path . If you get off the path ,
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