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As the bassist for the popular Newsboys, Phil Joel has had great opportunity to influence a generation. With his deliberatePeople ministry, he takes it to the next level.
The deliberatePeople ministry , started by Phil Joel and his wife Heather, advocates the pursuit of God in a number of ways, one of them through regular Bible reading, and I asked Phil what was fresh about such a basic instruction. “Yeah,” he replied. “I grew up in the church, where reading the Bible every day was encouraged. All believers know that it’s something we’re encouraged to do. But do we do it? Usually the answer is, not very regularly. So the next question is, why not? What is it that’s freaking us out about reading our Bibles? I think it’s our approach.” “What is the Bible for?” he continues. “It’s not a magical super-duper book. It’s the primary way that God communicates with us. If we want to hear from God, then we need to be in that book. But deliberatePeople is not about reading the Bible. It’s really about meeting with God on a daily basis, spending time with God, and developing and nurturing the relationship like we would any other. It takes quality time and quantity time, I believe. I understand why the Bible becomes such a scary book. But if we just approach it as a book, it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be hard, and we’re not going to get very far with it.” Phil’s voice rings with excitement as he shares, “We’re talking about coming to God with an expectancy that He wants to meet and communicate with us as we spend time with Him in prayer, in stillness, in listening and in being led by God in different ways: through seeing people, or enjoying a long walk with the Lord. Time that is deliberately spent with the intent of communicating with Him. It’s not just Bible reading, that scares me, too!” he says laughingly. I asked Phil about the role that music and writing play in DP’s ministry. “Whenever God has done a new move in my life,” he replies, “there always seems to be music backing it up. He always provides music that reinforces His message. This record (the “deliberatePeople Album,” read Suite review here) has been birthed out of a fresh move of God in my life. It wasn’t written with any agenda, other than to communicate my testimony. I like hearing people’s testimonies. I think there’s real power there,” he continues. “I get it when people share their experience, rather when they’re trying to teach me. I hope that the songs of the DP Album resonate with that same kind of honesty and integrity. I hope they feel legitimate and come across with the truth that God has really changed me. He has grown me up to this rekindled commitment of rising everyday to seek Him in good, old-fashioned quiet time.” Click here for Part Two of our straight talk with Phil Joel about more of deliberatePeople’s message, as Phil tells us who is responding and what the effects have been.
The copyright of the article Phil Joel Interview in Christian Music is owned by Kevan Breitinger. Permission to republish Phil Joel Interview in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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