Tuning in to God

When Jeremy Verhines walked into a music store to buy his first bass guitar, he didn't know why, but it just felt right.

After buying it with borrowed money, he realized he still had no idea how to play. The store's usual teacher wasn't in, so they called in a replacement, and from there, Verhines' musical ministry began.

The teacher's name was Jim Berkeley. He asked why Verhines wanted to play the bass. The answer was simple: He thought God wanted him to.

Excited, Berkeley told Verhines that he'd been praying for a bass player to join his worship group. Verhines gladly joined, and got free lessons and eight years of mentoring under Berkeley's direction.

After years of performing, Verhines finally mastered the bass guitar, but he was capable of more. During a routine rehearsal with his musical worship team, another member made an important discovery. Verhines could sing, and he could sing well.

"I had no clue I could sing -- ever," he said.

It took hard work, but Verhines slowly started singing. He practiced constantly, even singing in his car on his lunch break at work. Pursuing a music career still wasn't easy.

"I fell on my face a lot," Verhines recalled. "I struggled, embarrassed myself, but just kept going and going and going."

After a long struggle to advance his career in music ministry, a man named Habib Bardowell came into Jeremy's life. Bardowell, an accomplished musician, put Jeremy to work improving his musical skills.

Finally, things started to fall into place for Verhines and his family: a wife, Amelia, and three children. He was able to serve as an interim-worship director in southern California, where he and his family lived. Slowly, doors were beginning to open.

Still, Verhines couldn't forget a lesson he'd learned many years earlier: Listen to God and follow His prompting.

Though staying in California felt like the easy thing to do, he couldn't shake the thought that he should move his family back to Missouri. He loved the big city life, he loved California, but something seemed to be calling him home.

"Everything worked out exactly how it was supposed to work out," Verhines said.

Though he had no jobs lined up and no definitive plans, he and his family decided to move back to Jackson.

"By faith I came back here."

He hurriedly got his affairs together, racing to sell his family's condo and get things in order for their move. At 10 p.m. one night, the phone rang. It was Jeremy's grandmother. She told him New McKendree United Methodist Church was looking for a contemporary worship leader. Shocked by the unexpected call, Verhines decided he had nothing to lose and applied for the job. He got it.

Since 2005, Verhines and his worship team of 18 members have rocked the halls of New McKendree, pioneering a musical ministry there. Their progressive messages reach out to church-goers with live music, drama and audio visual presentations.

Through all of his experiences, Verhines has been writing music. He writes about things that affect him, and he writes to share a message of acceptance.

Recently, Verhines compiled some of his originals and decided to record an album. It wasn't for the money, he said, it was more of an accomplishment.

In February of this year, he sent the album to Worship Leader magazine. The magazine features contemporary Christian music and is a resource for worship leaders to find new music for their programs.

Knowing that they receive thousands of submissions each month, Jeremy wasn't sure if he'd hear back about the album. But once again, he received a surprising phone call. It was a representative from Worship Leader magazine telling him that they were interested in two of his songs.

One of the songs, "Coming of a New Day," was to be featured, along with a story about it, on the magazine's Web site. The other song, "Selah," was being considered for an album the magazine puts out.

"I just felt overwhelmed," Verhines said about the phone call. "And I was very humbled by the opportunity."

Verhines says he is thrilled to be able to share his music with people, because it is a way that he expresses his love for God.

"It's a special gift that God's given us, everybody, to connect with Him," he said. "It brings out in me that passion that I was created for," he said. And it is what we do with that passion that really counts, Verhines explained.

Worshipping God through music is something Verhines loves to be able to do.

"My aspirations are to do this for a long time, until I can't do it anymore," he said.

Melissa Sirrine, a Jackson resident and student at Brigham Young University, recently completed an internship with the Southeast Missourian.