by Peter Slofstra *

According to Terry Posthumus, Christians should be the best tippers. Why? "Think of it this way, the good tip blesses somebody and therefore brings glory to God," he explains. "If it prompts somebody to say, 'Thank God,' you are helping someone to worship the Lord."

We're sitting in a booth, enjoying breakfast at a greasy spoon, and an animated Terry is telling me what motivates him to compose, record and perform the songs that I have been listening to since purchasing his first release, Amazed...By Grace! The theme of his conversation is singularly focused on one thing: worship. "I love to worship God through music, and I love to bring people along for the ride," he says. "My desire is to encourage worship leaders and worshipers around the world."

I am struck by Terry's intensity and sincerity. Looking into his eyes and listening to his voice, I find myself fully engaged in what Terry is saying. There is something powerfully prophetic and energizing about this man that grips me, especially as he talks about the life experiences that have shaped him and his music.

Very few people have tried their hand at so many jobs. He has been a factory worker, a general contractor, a truck driver, a cabinet maker, a picture framer, a guitar teacher, a computer animator and a college professor. He has worked for Disney, and clients such as SWATCH, Air France and various animation/production companies. Today he teaches computer animation at Humber College, moonlights as a Media Production Consultant, runs the Posthumus School of Music, and performs concerts in support of his albums.

Even fewer people have as many children as Terry and Lorraine, his wife of 23 years. Twelve in all, including "three that preceded us into glory." As I hear him describe the miraculous survival of one child, Kara, born prematurely with two holes in her heart and weighing slightly more than one and a half pounds, and then tell the story of not one, not two, but three children who died, I wonder how this man is able to speak so positively about worshiping the Lord. But he does. Passionately. In a way that is only possible when faith has been refined by fire.

Terry's musical influences are many - Pink Floyd, Crowded House, Bruce Cockburn, Paul Baloche, Michael Card, traditional hymns, and especially Larry Norman and Keith Green - but nothing has influenced his styling and lyrics as much as his own life. The energy required for a vibrant marriage, parenting so many children and trying his hand at so many jobs animates the opening songs of the evening concert that he performs two weeks after our breakfast conversation. Backed by a tight band, he sings about people planted like trees by living water, of feet planted on solid ground, of the need for a new heart. The bluesy rhythm of a life that has been shaped by sorrow infects his voice as he sings, "If God is for me/ I wouldn't want to be in my enemy's shoes" (If God Is For Me). Finally, it is only Terry and his guitar, singing about prayer and grace with a peaceful simplicity that is as honest and immediate as it gets. Although the songs are new to me, they are strangely familiar and very accessible. After the concert, in my car, I find myself singing along as if they're old standards.

Back in the restaurant, Terry's gaze is steady as he tells me what He heard God say to him at the funeral of one of his children. "I'm going to give you a pound of joy for every ounce of sorrow," a heavenly voice audible only to Terry apparently said. It was a promise that has allowed Terry to not only survive but also thrive when he had every reason to give up and quit. But for Terry, to quote from "If God Is For Me" again, "with God on my side/ how can I lose?"

Terry is the real deal. Like Keith Green, I will remember him as much for his missional approach as for his music. I believe him when he says that his personal vision is to be fully engaged in a lifestyle of worship and to lead others to do the same. I hope that God will open many doors for Terry so that others can feel his heart for God and find their faith affirmed through his powerful testimony and compelling songs.

On the way out of the restaurant, we have a friendly wrestle over the bill. I lose and Terry wins. He pays with his credit card. From a slight distance, I watch the waitresses' face and see it light up as she looks at the amount that he has written in as a tip. I don't know if she's thinking, "Thank God," or if she is now more inclined to live a life of worship. It just makes me smile to realize that Terry is not only a convicting communicator and an excellent singer/songwriter, but also a great tipper. Knowing this makes his music even more meaningful as I drive to work and hear him sing about refusing to "bow my knee to pain" (Healed By The Stripes of Jesus).

* Peter Slofstra is the pastor of Hope Fellowship Church in Courtice, Ontario. His new book is In Tandem: a sea to sea cycling odyssey (Essence Publishing, 2008), a candid narrative adventure about the Sea to Sea 2005 bike tour in which he tells the story of living in community with 156 cyclists and cycling from Vancouver to Halifax with his wife, Marja, on Big Blue, their tandem bicycle.