Bethel Music: Pursuing the Heart of God Through Worship

Bethel Music aims to pursue the heart of God. We caught up with a few of Bethel’s writers, singers, and musicians on their recent tour, to talk to them about their passion to create music that resonates with worshipers around the world. CBN reporter Angela Zatopek went backstage to meet some of the artists.

ANGELA ZATOPEK: For someone who’s never heard of Bethel, where do you find your inspiration?

CORY ASBURY: God! I think fellowshipping, communing with – for me – the Holy Spirit. A lot of people think the Holy Spirit is this weird, kinda third Person of the Trinity, we don't know what He does or doesn't do, but He lives inside of us, and then I also love looking at Jesus' life. He was finding His father. He was finding His Father's voice and His Father's eyes. And bam! That was the thing that was refreshing him.  And so, trying to stay in that place of constant communion is the inspiration, I think, for what we do, cause we're pouring out so much, you know?

KALLEY HEILIGENTHAL: I think too like if God is endless, which He is, right? Then there are always new things to explore about Him. There's always new vocabulary. There's always something new that He's doing that we get to actually capture, grab onto and find language for. And so for me it's like I'll just – I love singing about who He is – as we discover that.  

CORY: Everyone's searching for something.  Whether it's, we post something on Instagram and hope we get 100 likes and then maybe we're happy enough, right?  Where it's almost like we're petitioning people to tell us who we are, you know?  ‘Am I good enough?’ And, we look to all these other things, all these other outlets, when in fact we need the Father to look at us and go, ‘I see who you are. I see who you're made to be. I call that forth and I say, 'It's good. It's very good. It's beautiful!  Who you are is amazing and I’m proud of you!' I think everyone's searching for those affirmations.

KALLEY: Absolutely!  

Worship Leaders and songwriters Matt Stinton and William Mathews were introduced next:

ANGELA: What is the common theme you see in crowd you draw? What are they yearning for?

WILLIAM MATHEWS: Bethel's kind of known as a culture of freedom or a culture of the supernatural. Healing and the prophetic are real strong emphasis. So we don't just do that in praying for people or prophesying over people or praying for the sick just through laying on of hands; we do that through music. And so, we’ll sing songs of deliverance, songs of healing, songs that are the voice of the Lord speaking to people. I think that's what resonates, because the prophetic ultimately carries hope with it and I think so many people, especially now, there's so much fear out there that people are really responding to what we're carrying. We really believe in a God of hope. We carry a strong faith message and hope for the here and now, and what God wants to do for cities all across the world.

ANGELA: for the crowds you draw, I mean, there's obviously all different types of people, but a strong portion of that is the millennial generation. Why is it important for them to listen to worship music?

MATT STINTON: Worship really is connecting with the Lord. It's about knowing the Lord. It-it's not just songs saying, ‘Well, this is who God is.’  It's a ‘Hey, come experience God.’

WILLIAM: Yeah, it's very experiential.

MATT: People want to know God. And so I think that's why worship music is having such an impact. Because it's, ‘Come and know. Come and experience.’  Not just, ‘Here are some statements that you can say about God.’ But ‘Here, actually come experience Him. See what He's like.’”

Angela then talked to songwriters and musicians Leland Mooring and Casey Moore.

ANGELA: What do you think it is about the music that is stratifying that quench, among the millennial generation?
    
LELAND MOORING: The lyrics are very vertical and sing able.  They're – it's almost like every song is a conversation with the Lord, in a really cool way.  

CASEY MOORE: Yeah, it's more of a – an encounter than just, you know, singing songs.

ANGELA: I know that Justin Bieber was just interviewed by Cosmo Magazine and saying how one of your songs is in his top playlist. How does that make you feel as artists because he's in the mainstream.

LELAND: Yeah, I think it just – I think it just speaks again to people's hunger – for God. You know?

CASEY: We all want the same things, you know?

LELAND: The Bible says that every person – God desires that all men should be saved.  So every person in front of you, you treat them according to that value which is Jesus came and shed His blood for them.

Jesus said, that we're called to love others the way God's loved us and so that's probably the greatest expression of worship, you know, is your life.  But I think as you know Him, you begin to have a fondness for every expression of worship; music included.