Tommy Walker: A Heart for Worship
CBN.com Author, Marian Jordan says the 1990s popular HBO hit series, Sex and the City, transformed the way our culture viewed the modern, single woman. [The major motion picture opens in theaters May 30, 2008.]
All over the country, single women began emulating the talk, walk, dress, and attitude portrayed on the show. The series featured four sharp, professional, single women living in Manhattan and looking for love in all the wrong places. The characters defended women’s “rights” about casual relationships and that only a silly girl still believed in marriage for a lifetime. Viewers were schooled in the art of seduction and that a woman’s power was in her sexuality. Marian says she lived this way too.
“As independent single women, living by our own rules, we now had a show that spoke to the needs, wants, and questions of women,” she says.
So night after night, Marian searched for love and approval -- from someone or something -- from bar stools in trendy clubs in Houston.
“I looked into an empty martini glass,” she says. “And realized it was a great metaphor for my life. I was empty. I still hadn’t found what I was looking for.”
One day in 1998, one of Marian’s friends invited her to church.
She thought, “A whole new pool of pretties [boys].”
She was going to church to prey, not pray. To her amazement, Marian met Jesus Christ for the first time. [Marian grew up going to church because her parents required it.]
“I was drawn to Him. All of a sudden, I no longer sat in my pew scanning the room for hotties,” she says. “Instead, I sat on the edge of my seat eager to hear more about this man named Jesus Christ.”
As her relationship with Jesus grew, Marian says He transformed her into a new woman. The hard edges softened. The bitterness sweetened. What was broken became whole. “I finally found what I was looking for!” she says.
GETTING RESCUED
“I now realize that all of my life I was searching to fill my emptiness with men, margaritas, and Manolos (designer shoes),” says Marian. “But nothing ever touched that deep place inside where my soul ached.”
She says the more she tried to fill her soul with these things, the more disappointed she became.
“The reason these substitutes didn’t satisfy is because my soul wasn’t aching for alcohol or a man; my soul was aching for God,” says Marian.
In one Sex and the City episode, Marian says one of the characters confessed: “Women just really want to be rescued.”
Marian tells young girls on college campuses that most girls deep down inside would love to have that white knight carry us away. She says women long to be rescued and with this common desire there is also a common problem.
She asks, “Is there something basic to all of us that causes us to feel like we need to be set free?”
Marian believes, “While on the surface everything appears glamorous, if you take a step back, you see women who are hoping for someone to rescue them from the pain and emptiness they feel,” she says.
Marian hopes that the message she is sending is clear: that God wants women to see themselves as treasure instead of trash.
“You can only see yourself as a treasure when you see yourself through Christ,” she says.
She reminds us that there is nothing wrong with desire and that God created us to be in relationship with others.
“His perfect plan is for two individuals to become one, and He calls this relationship marriage,” says Marian.
We buy into the notion that Prince Charming will sweep us off our feet, and we will never again deal with the wicked stepmother. As a result we believe the myth that the perfect person, our soul mate, will be the one who can complete us and meet all of our needs.
“Searching for a soul-filling, unconditional, perfect love in anyone other than God will leave us disappointed and disillusioned,” says Marian.
Mentioned in the Video
- CBN.com Author, Marian Jordan says the 1990s popular HBO hit series, Sex and the City, transformed the way our culture viewed the modern, single woman. [The major motion picture opens in theaters May 30, 2008.] All over the country, single women began emulating the talk, walk, dress, and attitude portrayed on the show. The series featured four sharp, professional, single women living in Manhattan and looking for love in all the wrong places.
Guest Info
Transcript
Tommy Walker has been serving as a worship leader role for over 15 years alongside some of the most renowned church leaders in the world including Jack Hayford, Bill Hybels, Franklin Graham, Rick Warren, and Greg Laurie. His life's mission has been to bring people to the Lord through worship, especially to the poor. One of his first encounters in this arena was when he traveled to the Philippines in 1997 with his missionary brother. The revelation that Tommy received was that the poor are usually given leftovers, also in worship. Tommy thought, “Wouldn't it be great to let the poor be the first to get the best stuff? There is something in the heart of God in that.” Tommy feels that when he is with the poor, he is with Jesus. He's also planning another trip to the Philippines in June to help raise scholarships for kinds that live in the poor areas of Manila, “so they can have a quality education,” Tommy says. In terms of worship, the Bible says that there is power in the tongue and that there is power in words. “The tongue guides your life,” Tommy says. “When we sing worship songs, we're not only declaring and affirming those things to God and the people around us, we're also singing it over our life. The enemy is always telling us our best days are behind us, but [through worship] we have the opportunity to declare the things that are true.” USE ME, LORD The secret to the Christian life is running to God, Tommy says. Tommy was saved at age 11, picked up the guitar, and has led worship since his teen years. He discovered his true passion while leading worship at his brother’s church in El Paso, TX in 1983. “Worshipping God was all I wanted to do in my life,” he says. While working at a dissatisfactory job on an assembly line, Tommy prayed, “God, if there’s any way You can use me to bring people to Christ – to do evangelism and to worship You at the same time – that would be the most awesome thing.” In that moment he understood his calling. Tommy began a quest to write songs that would inspire believers to worship while musically and spiritually attracting non-believers as well. Tommy eventually left to study guitar performance at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood. He attended several large churches, but felt a desire to serve in a smaller church. As he has continued to serve God at his church, the Lord has prospered Tommy in his music. These days, Tommy says he’s in a time in public ministry where there is a constant struggle of reminding himself about his goal. “Is your goal fame or is your goal faithfulness?” he says. “Our job is to be faithful and prepared and ready, letting God bring the increase. When we strive and do things in our own strength, we leave a trail of heartache, but when we are faithful, God brings the blessing.” I HAVE A HOPE His latest release, I have a Hope is Tommy's first-ever studio recording. “The studio gives you creative ideas with different arrangements,” Tommy says.“The artist part of me just wanted to try something new.” The song, “I Have a Hope” was birthed out of feeding the homeless. “The song was written to help hopeless people declare the promises of God over their life,” Tommy says. “That's really what worship is.” There's also a song on I Have a Hope called “Do It Lord,” which is a song, Tommy says, that combines compassion and worship. “It's a prophetic prayer song about God's kingdom. Worship music in the future will be more and more of cries for God to move and bring His kingdom down.” Tommy's new album is also a product of working with Dove-award winning producer Ed Cash. “The most memorable moment was the day we started vocals,” remembers Cash. “Tommy started to sing “Hallelujah, We Will Sing” at about 10:30 in the morning. He wasn't feeling it, said his voice felt really tired. We called out to God and asked that His will be done, and six hours later, we had all the vocals for six complete songs. Simply unheard of, simply God! It was positively the most profound day I've ever had in the studio. We laughed, we cried, we celebrated God and became totally lost in His presence.”Download
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