The fear of the Lord is a theme that runs throughout scripture, from cover to cover, Old Testament and New Testament. Yet it is rarely preached about or sung about in modern Christian churches. When was the last time you heard a song about “the fear of the Lord”? When was the last time you heard a dedicated message about it at your church? For many Christians, the answer is “never.”

The current teachings about the fear of the Lord are dominated by what the fear of the Lord is not, surely cannot be, or what we just don’t want it to be. Modern Christianity seems to dance around the subject, insisting that what the “fear of the Lord” is must be something—anything—besides fear.

“The essence of art is self-expression, but the essence of Christianity is self-denial. Balancing the two is very hard” (A.W. Tozer, supposedly). I have always felt a great tension with the songs that I write and record. If there’s anything I’ve learned in the scriptures, it’s that God is intensely interested in the motives of the heart. He’s more interested in purity than in publicity.

A common pitfall for people who are learning to hear God’s voice is not remembering that the enemy of their souls also has a voice. That voice can be extremely persuasive, appealing, and even appear to be spiritual or godly. It is critical for our own well-being that we learn the difference. The ability to tell the difference between the source of the voices is called discernment. Discernment is one of the most lacking elements of the Church today. The enemy loves it, because when we don’t have discernment, he can bring destructive voices and lies into our lives—and we voluntarily accept what we hear because we think it is actually God speaking to us. God’s truth sets us free, and lies keep us in bondage. If a Christian never learns to operate in discernment, they will never experience all of God’s freedom that is available, and they will certainly remain in bondage in every area where they continue to follow other voices.

If God has called you to large levels of influence, He will first see what you do with a very small level of influence. For musicians and singers on worship teams, it is important that we are just as okay being off of the stage and worshiping alongside our brothers and sisters, as we are to be up on a platform.

I recently released a new song called DRY BONES. I wrote the song in about 25 minutes before leading worship in a tiny little town in Montana with a population of 642 people. It was one of those places that makes you think, "Nothing big will ever happen here—after all, it never has before." But God spoke to my heart directly with the familiar words of Ezekiel 37, "Can these dry bones live?"