Serving the Voices Blog

Posts from September 2013

Broadening our Voice

Starting next month we are excited to see the ‘Voice’ of RYFO’s blog begin to expand. The blog was launched in 2012 as a voice of inspiration, and as a vehicle for sharing organizational updates. Aside from a couple of guest blog posts, all the posts since the blog launched have come from the RYFO staff. We recently began discussing how to pour more life into the blog. In doing so we have begun to look outside ourselves, to consider what the blog could look like with a broader team of contributors. We are now in the final stages of forming a team of writers to contribute to the story we are seeking to tell.

The vision for the blog is to tell the story of how the love of Christ is spreading throughout the music community.

This is a massive, multifaceted story! Our desire is to communicate all facets, not just those that are specific to RYFO’s programs. We want the blog to be broadly inspirational. For example, we want to tell the story of how musicians are loving fellow musicians and sharing their faith with them, just as much as we want to tell the story of the life that exists in RYFO’s Host Home program. Another example could be the story that exists to be told about music fans going out of their way to love and serve musicians in various ways. We refer to these fans as “Rebranded Fans” because they’ve transcended the stereotypical music fan persona, and embraced a call to represent Christ to the musicians they encounter. A final example could be the story of a church’s outreach efforts to musicians who live in their city. These are just a few basic examples of how we expect to broaden the story that’s being told through our blog.

Together we are Serving the Voices!

What does RYFO look like?

The pictures below should help paint the picture of a RYFO Host Home experience.

Check out our Instagram to follow the visual story of RYFO in action.

Do you have pictures you would like us to share? Email your pictures to simeon@ryfo.org

Grace Unplugged

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Grace Unplugged
By Simeon Lohrmann

The RYFO staff recently had the honor of pre-screening Director Brad Silverman’s new film, Grace Unplugged. The film poses a question that many artists have been faced with:

Would you give up what you need to get everything you want?

As many artists have done, the film’s main character Gracie Trey (played by AJ Michalka) leaves home to pursue a music career in LA. Unlike most, Gracie quickly finds herself in the good graces of a major label with the opportunity to be an overnight “success” story. Amidst growing popularity, Gracie begins to reflect on the costs of her new found fame when she befriends an intern at her label named Quentin (played by Michael Welch).

Quentin challenges Gracie to consider the benefit of gaining all she wants in exchange for what she really needs (Matthew 16:26). The genuine Christ-like love and care Quentin and his family extend to Gracie serves to demonstrate the influence a Rebranded Fan and a Host Home can have in the life of a musician.

On behalf of the RYFO staff, I recommend Grace Unplugged for any audience. As RYFO seeks to inspire, equip and mobilize more Quentin’s to show and share Christ’s love with musicians, the film is especially beneficial for those who are unfamiliar with the unique temptations and realities that exist in the music community. Grace Unplugged open in theaters everywhere next Friday, October 4th. Check out the official trailer here: Grace Unplugged.

 

SOUND The Emcee

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SOUND The Emcee
By Nick Greenwood

As a pastor who oversees music in a local church, I get the distinct privilege to regularly walk with a group of musicians – some of the most creatively minded people! My role as a pastor in the church is not to ensure that excellent music is made or even provided to the congregation for their worship experiences. The offices of the Church (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers) are to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-16). Therefore, my job is to ensure that the musicians we touch are being discipled in the Lord. If that is happening, the rest falls in to place as He builds it.

I’d like you to meet Mike…

Mike and I meet up every couple of weeks for a lunch or coffee to talk about faith, ministry and life. Besides being my friend, he is a musician within our church. Mike has an involved testimony and part of it includes how God used music to call him closer to Himself, particularly through Hip Hop. So these days, Mike is making himself available to those in our community who “do” Hip Hop. As an artist himself, Mike is learning how to love the artist more than the opportunity to do art. And his quest is leading him to a place where the genuine love and servitude he gives to his unbelieving Hip Hop community is resulting in artists flocking his way. God is positioning him to be a hub of influence, and it’s exciting to watch! Mike shares his time and the Hip Hop beats he makes with other artists that need them.

Mike is a different brand of fan.

Check out Mike’s Music on Facebook – SOUND The Emcee

A Different Brand of Fan

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A Different Brand of Fan
 By Julia Saites

You know Jesus and you’ve had your life beautifully wrecked by Him. He’s given you a love you desire to share with others. You can’t help it. You love Him. His love has transformed your life in a way that sometimes you can’t explain, and yet sometimes the explanation rolls out of your mind and off your tongue with no effort at all.

Love spurs you to action.

You have a passion for music. The notes of the melody and the rhythm augment your story playing like a soundtrack underneath your life. This passion for music and the Jesus you love have collided exploding into a desire to share His love in the music community.

Love spurs you to action.

You see beyond the lights and smoke, and past the waves of raised hands moving in sync. You wonder if they’ve eaten today and what they struggle with. You have a keen sense of knowing the difference between physical and spiritual exhaustion and are willing and able to offer relief for both.

Love spurs you to action.

If you resonate with the description above, we invite you to visit ryfo.org/join and learn more about how you can join RYFO in Serving the Voices.