The last chorus of a beloved gospel hymn reads, “Christ without, all is vain! Christ within, all is gain.” Without Him, life at best is the vanity of vanities with nothing new under the sun. With Him, though, as our regenerated new life within, our life is a continual song of songs, full of meaning, full of potential, full of the life that is the very Christ Himself. To know Him and the power of His resurrection (Phil. 3:10) has been my principal aim since I met Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:10).

From my pursuit of truth in both my domestic and my professional stewardship, I can delineate three areas that most importantly affect a child’s development: God, education, and character. Without an accurate knowledge of God as revealed in Scripture, a rigorous education as the foundation for apprehending all the dimensions of Christ (Eph. 3:18), and the development of a proper character, the extent of a person’s usefulness in service to the Master is limited. I believe that our role as educators is to cooperate with the skilled Potter and the wise Master Builder in developing the vessels of honor that will glorify God and be useful to Him. Eph. 2:10 states, “For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (RV). The Greek word for masterpiece here is poiema, a word specifically referring to a work of art. God is producing us, the believers who have been regenerated with His life, and in whom His life is growing unto maturity, as His Body to be the multiplied (Gen. 1:26) and magnified (Phil. 1:20) expression of His son, Jesus Christ. This truly is a masterpiece, a glory to God, and a shame to God’s enemy.

I have divided my integration paper into the three sections that correspond to my personal integration of truth and stewardship with the discipline of music, followed by specific applications of truth in music education and of the value of musical training in shaping the character of the man of God.