Author Archives: Mark Cole

Learning To Lead

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Mark Cole

For the first ten of years of full time music ministry I was very content to be the guy who was behind the scenes. When I first started, I played in the band and later on I wrote the music … Continue reading →

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What I’ve Learned About Surrender

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Mark Cole

When I was 18 years old, I was in my second year of studying music at the University of British Columbia. I loved music but I was struggling with the demands of long practise times and studies and I reluctantly decided to quit university. … Continue reading →

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The Toughest Day

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Mark Cole

I learned that a friend, that I had travelled with 40 years ago in Asia, was doing a bike trip from the Arctic Ocean down to Montana. When I learned that Thomas Hall would ride through the Lake Louise area, I decided to join him for a couple of days of bicycling. Continue reading →

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What I’ve Learned About Fixing Small Problems

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Mark Cole

Have you ever gone on a great trip and then encountered a problem that almost wrecked all your best plans? Ten years ago, I did a 3 day, 320 km bicycle ride from Jasper, Alberta to Canmore, Alberta. What a … Continue reading →

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The 10 Commandments of Great Worship Team Members

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Mark Cole

Sometimes I lead the worship band and sometimes I play in the band. Both are important roles and have specific responsibilities to do them well. As both a leader and a player/singer, here are my ten most important rules as a team member: Continue reading →

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10 Practical Goals For All Worship Leaders

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Mark Cole

As a worship leader, are you wondering about some good, practical goals to make as we go into this next season. Here are 10 great goals as adapted from Brad from Worship Links. 1) Read the entire Bible There is nothing better … Continue reading →

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8 Keys To ‘Next Level’ Sunday Worship

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Mark Cole

I love leading God’s people in worship. I have been blessed to have led church worship teams at home and around the world for over thirty years. Here are a few things that I have learned along the way. 1. … Continue reading →

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Guidelines For A Strong Worship Team

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Mark Cole

In any quality organization there are codes of conduct and concrete expectations. A number of years ago I attended a worship conference at Gateway Church in Dallas and was totally impressed by their worship team. Based on Gateway’s code of conduct … Continue reading →

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God Answered My Prayer For A Wife…(And Much More)

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Mark Cole

In the fall of 1981 I was travelling as the music director for a Christian band in Europe called Living Sound III. By that time I was 27 years old, had my Bachelor of Music Degree and had travelled in … Continue reading →

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The Five Most Important Facts About Worship

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Mark Cole

Years ago, I realized that I often had only one shot at communicating with an audience in some of the countries that I would visit. So, I asked myself, if I could only speak once to an audience, what were … Continue reading →

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