Tag: touring

What An Amazing Year! – Update

God has done amazing things through our music ministry this past year! We’ve been able to travel the country and impact many lives – just so grateful for your support and His guidance.

Josh Gilbert Band in Florida, Minnesota, and North Dakota

Josh Gilbert has always been, and is a traveling Christian Band/Ministry with a heart for evangelism — reaching the community through songs of testimony and worshiping the Lord in a unique style of music. Wherever we go, we provide a mix of CCM/Worship and a little Country/Americana/Southern Rock. Our mission is to partner with local Churches and ministries to evangelize the community outside the ‘four walls’ — create a welcoming live music atmosphere where we can invite ‘un-churched’ people in to hear the Gospel through live music and testimony! We have seen God move in awesome ways as He has directed me and my band; and opened up doors for us to perform hundreds of concerts across the Country this past year. (from the Southeast to North & South Dakota; and from the Midwest to New England!)

We have had the opportunity to partner with many ministries this year and years past, but also Secular-based events such as City-sponsored events and Festivals — which is an open door for us to reach the un-churched, uncompromisingly with the Gospel! God is positioning us to become a bridge to those who need to hear the good news, and this we will be doing more of — on all fronts — in 2020.

messages we got from people who saw us perform at public events (outdoors or secular venues, not church venues):

“I live 3 blocks from the venue, I heard you singing Saturday night and I couldn’t believe it! I drove down the street with my wife I was knocked out to see that you are a Christian artist” (Bob, audience attendee, in FL 2019)

“Blown away Saturday night! Your voice is amazing and I knew I heard those Christian references in your own songs! My boyfriend and I talked about you guys the rest of the night!!” (Carla, audience attendee, in GA 2019)

We hope to continue to use music as a doorway to invite folks from all walks of life to get connected to different ministries and get connected to Christ. I appreciate your continued prayers as He uses us and our music to impact lives! We are also scheduling 2020 and reach out to us if you or someone you know would be interested in hosting us for a Concert or Outreach event this upcoming year! Contact: info@joshgilbertmusic.com or visit http://bnds.us/xkkgy2 for more.

I want to thank all who have helped me along the way and all the band for playing with me and every venue, church and event that has hosted us! It has been a blessing to perform and do the thing we love to do!

Broken Down! A Life Of Sacrifice

In between working on new music down here in Orlando, FL area, I have been performing a little here and there on the weekends! I really enjoy times to connect with people, and share the songs I feel God has given me, as well as tell my own stories through song. Now this past weekend, I had lined up 3 days of performances. The first and second night, I was able to play a cover-song set (mixed with original songs), and hang out with the non-church going crowd. These types of shows are a public audience, and a great chance to connect with people who probably aren’t Christians, and even interject some testimony and God-truth between songs, and stories behind songs! These nights are sometimes tiring (playing for 4 hours straight), but also fun and worth it because we feel called to connect with public audiences, bringing a positive and uplifting atmosphere!

After Saturday evening, I packed up and then headed to Tallahassee area to lead worship for some dear friends of mine at Promised Land Ministries in Crawfordville. It was only then, in the middle of the night on deer-lined backroads that my ever-faithful White Chevy 15-passenger Van started to make some rough noises. I decided there was no place to stop along the way, and I was halfway through my journey, so I powered through, and was able to make it to the destination by the grace of God! That morning, was a powerful time of worship and I got to share more songs, despite the 4 hours of sleep!

For the morning, our word was “God can use the broken to accomplish His purposes…”. And that is how I always see myself, someone broken, but eager to make room for the Holy Spirit to use me and access more of my life. I know there are so many things I am incapable of, and that’s why I need Him!

I left on my way after church and not too far down the road outside of Tallahassee, my faithful van finally gave up. I think it’s the transmission, so I could go no further. Thankfully we have been blessed with AAA services, so I was able to get it towed back home. This was a longer day than expected (from Tallahassee to Clermont, FL, around 3 1/2 – 4 hours), but I was blessed to have a great companion tow-truck driver, Chris, who we chatted about life and I encouraged him to seek the Lord, and even got to pray with him! It was a great time despite the circumstances!

When life brings you heartache, and the road gets tough, it’s easy to sometimes get wrapped up in worry and anxiety; and forget that God works through us and despite our circumstance. He often uses the broken-down parts of life to reveal Himself, that’s often where I see Him work. But what about when things are going great? Well, I believe one should always be ready to give, even when we don’t feel ready. There are a couple scriptures in Psalms that talk about being broken and ready to give our lives as a sacrifice (offering) to Him:

Psalm 51:17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and saves those who are crushed in spirit

In Hebrew, the word “sacrifice” is PACACH – (Heb)= to pass over, spring over, to skip, to limp, to be lame, a sacrifice

So God is near, perhaps all the more in our brokenness (failure, unworthiness, being incapable).

And in the New Testament, Paul declares:

Romans 12:1-3 (New Living Translation (NLT))

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Through the curveballs of life, God sees our struggles and our broken-down seasons. And He even welcomes us closer all the more into His arms through that state of living — He sees that as costly and a sacrifice that we are making. So I choose to continue to go and give for the sake of Him, through the little sleep, exhaustion, and car- trouble — and despite the circumstances I’m dealt often, I have great peace in knowing He walks with me and meets me there; ready to lead me on into the next season, with all that He has for me!