George Hillman, Songwriter, Musician, Engineer, Pastor, & God's Grace

George Hillman all the way from New Jersey is our guest today. Since 1994, George has been recording and performing his unique style of Christian music that’s a blend of pop-rock and R&B. George is a producer and has helped engineer, and produce songs for local, regional, and widely known Christian artists, such as singer-songwriter, Gary Oliver, guitarist Mike Deasey of The Wrecking Crew Fame, Jason Alvarez, and Daniel M Stutz. George is also a pastor at a Bloomfield, New Jersey Ministry. If you’ve been blessed to hear one of his songs, then you can certainly agree that there’s an uncompromising spiritual element that’s present in every song that he’s performed. I was really compelled to have George on the show after I listened to his song ‘In God We Trust’. How George became a Pastor. It was never in George’s plan to walk in the path of being a shepherd of God’s flock. While growing up with a love and passion for music, George started a Bible Study Group in his local church. With the church experiencing immense growth as a result of the Bible Study started by George, the church pastor decided to ordain him. As a pastor, George has a particular liking for people who struggle with being in terms of the church principles, because he also went through a similar experience while growing up. Life-changing moment. As a band playing in his local church. George as a youth was going through a phase where he felt disconnected to the church. After performing at a retreat centre in Upstate New York with his band, a young rebellious George walked off stage to relax and cool his thoughts down. He veered off and found himself in a quiet library in Upstate, New York. While at the library, George was drawn towards a particular book in the library - The Halley’s Bible Handbook. On the cover page, the handbook had instructions directing the reader to turn to Page 83, the most important page in the book. After flipping to the page, George found himself in a verse by verse teaching section, with related case study examples. A reading experience that completely changed his understanding of the bible and its teachings. Fast Forward to a couple of years later, and George transferred to a church where verse by verse teaching was the mode of preaching. He’s been using this method of bible study ever since. Church Culture. Part of what George struggles with in life is the modern church culture, where many churches make people dependent on them. Churches are building an addiction where the congregants can only worship and find peace in the church buildings. This complex culture is in contrast with early churches started by the Acts of the Apostles who had a more simple and straightforward approach of defining a church as the congregants, rather than the building and tools inside the building. As Christians, we should question the kind of relationship we want to build with God and focus more on how we can strengthen our bond between us and Him. In times like these, it’s even more important to put our trust in God because of the greatness that he’s done for us since the dawn of creation. Gratitude is the key to being happy and fulfilled in life. Be grateful and give thanks to the little or big that God has provided for you. Timestamps 03:50 How George knew about DE 04:48 About George’s ministry 05:37 How Geoge became a pastor 08:03 Listen to ‘Hold On’ by George Hillman 13:00 Growing up with a love for music 16:13 Reminiscing the quadraphonic 17:48 How George came up with ‘The Greatest of these’ 19:05 Listen to ‘Greatest of these’ by George Hillman 23:23 What instruments George uses to play the Greatest of these 25:52 George’s journey to becoming a pastor 31:49 Listen to In ‘God we Trust’ by George Hillman 38:36 We all need God in these times 40:04 Staying off Facebook and politics. 44: 54 Struggling with modern church culture 50:33 Listen to “Living ain’t life” by George Hillman 55:06 How George Composes his music 58:43 Mixing and mastering a song to perfection 1:05:28 George’s partying advice. 1:07:58 Listen to “Connected” Quotes. I was fascinated by the craft of making music. I’d spend hours listening to the stereo and my curiosity to understand how music is made is what drove me towards being an artist. Engineering music is part of the magical process of producing great music. It starts when you write the lyrics alongside the vibe that you want your chords to communicate. Engineering is what ends the process, and helps get your message across. As Christians, it’s important we understand that loving God isn’t enough. We should also stretch our love to other people, despite their beliefs or background. Verse by verse teaching was a game-changer for me. It helped me as a Christian to have a clear and better understanding of the bible and its teachings. The fact of the matter is that we all need God and His grace. I find it very wonderful that He has made Himself available to each and every one of us when we need him. And that’s what inspired me to write the song “In God We Trust”. Ministry is every single thing you do as a Christian musician. So get into a relationship with God and let your whole life and music be inspired by Him. Selected Links and Mentions. Simple Faith church Quadraphonic: The forgotten surround sound of the 70s Emerson, Lake & Palmer REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits Pro Tools - Music Software - Avid Connect with George Hillman Website www.georgehillman.com Facebook @GeorgeHillmanMusic Twitter @GeoHillmanMusic Instagram @georgehillman