Guest bio
Paul Wilbur: Extravagant Worship
CBN.com
– THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Paul was raised in the home of a Jewish father and a Baptist mother. Although attending many different churches as a child, Paul went back to his father’s Jewish roots and began attending Temple during his undergraduate studies.
While growing up, it was Paul's dream to be an opera singer. His passion for music and the arts took him to Milan, Italy, where he studied vocal technique, Italian, and high-opera by some of Europe’s most skilled mentors.
“By the time I had returned from Italy the direction of my life had been pretty well set in stone,” Paul said.
However, all of this was about to change. Paul began pursuing a master’s degree in vocal music at Indiana University. During his time there he was quite taken with music, his friends, and girls.
“As I pursued relationships, inevitably two things happened: I asked girls out for a date, they invited me to church,” Paul said. “It was like I wore a t-shirt that said, 'Please, somebody take me to church.’”
During one of those church dates, Paul encountered Jerry Williams, a young man from West Texas whose testimony and friendship would change his life forever.
“I was completely taken by Jerry’s love and passion for God. From the very first time I saw him perform, I understood that he was not singing about God, rather he was singing to Him. It was as if he actually knew the God I sang about at Temple, the one whose voice I longed to hear,” Paul said.
This experience, along with powerful teaching from the Scriptures, continued to draw Paul week by week. He joined a Bible Study in his graduate dorm and became hungry for anything that could teach him about the God of the Bible. On March 26, 1977, Jerry introduced Paul to his Messiah.
MINISTRY
Today Paul is an Integrity Music recording artist and the founder of Wilbur Ministries. Paul and his team travel throughout the United States and the world sharing the love of God through Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. In 1990 Paul recorded his first release with Integrity entitled Up To Zion. Since then he has recorded four more solo albums including three performed live in Jerusalem. Shalom Jerusalem, Jerusalem Arise, and Lion of Judah.
In 2008, Integrity released, Paul Wilbur Live—A Night of Extravagant Worship. It is a new CD/DVD companion. This release features new renditions of Paul’s finest songs including "Days of Elijah," "Praise Adonai," "Dance With Me," "Adonai," and more. Recorded live in Jacksonville, Florida, it's a shining example of artistic worship that includes the spectacular music, dance, and pageantry that Messianic worship is noted for. Paul put together this project because he wanted to gather the best musicians he could to have an 'extravagant' night of worship before the Lord. In the months preceding the recording, Florida was in a very bad drought with no promise of rain. Even before the first note was played, dark clouds came in and it began to sprinkle, and then poured all weekend. “The amount of rain we received got us out of the drought and brought the promise that we had touched the heart of God,” says Paul.
Wilbur Ministries seeks to build up the local church through praise and worship as well as teaching and instructional seminars. They accomplish this through concert ministry, leading in corporate services, and by holding special seminars for the instruction of the local worship teams and their leaders. The apostle Paul said that it was for the "hope of Israel" that he was bound with chains and labored to see all Israel saved. Wilbur Ministries encourages and actively participates in sensitive outreaches into the Jewish community. The music and preaching reflect an authentic cultural expression of their biblical roots and reveals their deep burden for the gospel to prosper once again within Israel. Wilbur Ministries is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida where Paul makes his home with his wife Luanne and their two sons Nathan and Joel and their daughter-in-law Sharon Chernoff Wilbur.
HOLY LAND TOUR
Paul will return to the Holy Land in September 2009 for a tour with Integrity Music for a new, live international worship recording with special guest Ana Paula, a renowned worship leader of Latin America. Paul’s albums and ministry have helped popularize Messianic worship music around the globe. To learn more, visit his website.
One of the highlights of the event will be the opening of the Feast of Tabernacles hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. The event draws Christians from all over the world in celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the three major feasts and spiritual holidays in the Jewish calendar. Paul and Ana will lead a special musical concert for the entire event. The recording of the event is expected to be released in the spring of 2010.
Paul will come back to join The 700 Club for Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, in September 2009. He will join us for our annual Bonfire, which we will be streaming live on CBN.com.
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