Mike Westendorf

Since 2007, Mike’s music and ministry have touched the lives of thousands of people through concerts, worship services, and speaking engagements.  With a heart that beats for the spiritual well-being of young adults and a love for the local church and community, Mike’s music echoes the opening passages from Psalm 89:

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever, with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 

His music and songs are rich with biblical texts that speak to the Gospel hope and encouragement.  Whether as a solo artist or with a full band of talented musicians his concerts are always upbeat, yet contemplative and inspirational with moments of invitation for everyone who comes to add their own voice to the songs and stories.

Mike, we’re excited to have you contribute to Bread for Beggars. Tell us all who you work with and where you’re located.

I have many band members, but the regulars are Marshall Holm, Adam Westendorf, Tyler Melso, Matt Thompson, Charlie Hohenstein, Abby Westendorf, and Jill Dunbar.

I’m located in Milwaukee, WI, but work with churches across the country as a singer/songwriter, guitarist, and conference speaker.

How long have you been spreading Gospel through music?

I started writing songs in 2003, inspired by songs like “I Can Only Imagine” and “Flood”.  Christian music had started to grow up in the late 90s and early 2000s and the quality of the music and songwriting started to catch up to what I was used to hearing.  I led youth groups and did some singing in church with my guitar. Slowly over time, I started recording a few songs as a Christmas gift for my family.  From there it continued to grow and I started working with churches doing special worship services and concerts in 2004.

Working at The Point of Grace as the music coordinator from 2007-2014 is where I really developed and from that started work on Awake and Alive as a way to build a bridge between our high school faith and a healthy living adult faith.  Since that time it has opened up opportunities to present on Young Adult Ministry, Outreach, Family Church and Lutheran Contemporary Worship.

And why do you do what you do?

I have a passion for the moments when God opens our eyes to the beauty and wonder of his Grace and what it means to be a child of God.  If you’ve ever stood before something that is mighty and beautiful and just makes you stop in your tracks in wonder – I believe that’s what the Gospel does, it’s how Jesus is.  All of the mundane, exciting, trying, difficult moments of life find beauty, power, and purpose in the story of Scripture and what Jesus came to do.  I love experiencing those moments and I pray that God uses me and this ministry to tell the story of his faithfulness in such a way that people, regardless of generation or background, might stand in wonder of our God and then respond with genuine and heartfelt joy.  My joy is most complete in moments like these.

Where do you find inspiration? What influences you?

Being around people who see the Bible come to life right in front of our eyes and can talk about and share those moments are people that inspire me.  Vulnerable and authentic moments, whether pain filled or joy full often deeply resonate with me and are often the moments where God’s word comes alive.  There is a simplicity to the Gospel and “The wages of sin is DEATH, the gift of God is eternal LIFE”.  You can see it all around us, in relationships, opportunities, businesses, ministries, nature.  Where something dies, I’m always wondering about resurrection.  Where Life is beautiful I’m inspired by what makes it grow.  So honestly I just feel like inspiration comes from God’s word in us and then we just live life with our eyes wide open.  “Take time to smell the roses”, whether the roses are people, songs, worship, work, family… I think that is the simplicity of inspiration.  God give me eyes to see the moments.

The Gospel is really about resurrection and healing that comes in Jesus name and I hope that my work in society builds bridges and injects a willingness to be vulnerable, talk about the personal stories and connect people and their stories to the grand story of God’s Grace and our identity in Christ.  Building bridges is important to me, but helping people see Jesus more clearly, understanding him biblically with a deepening understanding of what it means to walk with Christ every day, these are important to me.

In the secular world, I build bridges and help develop people and organizations and I hope they can know me as a Christian.  If God uses that to become a deeper conversation with a person about Jesus then that is awesome!  In the Christian world, I am intentional about telling the stories of God’s faithfulness in a way that helps people see God at work in their story.

Tell us your favorite artist, musician or writer that we may not have heard of yet.

You guys are going to probably be like wwhhhhaaaaaattt???? 

RED – https://www.thebandred.com/

As a group of Christians making heavier rock music, they capture the fight inside all of us and because of their style of music and singing, they can say things that the typical Christian artist has a hard time saying– or just can’t say because of the perceived limitations of being an artist that writes Jesus songs.  The mix of strings, beats and heavy guitar work and then the ability to do all of this stripped down acoustically speaks to the human connection the music and words have to all of our stories, the enemy that fights against us and the redemptive work and hope we have in Christ.

I love Howard Shore’s music scores from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and I have long loved the writing and craftsmanship of Jason Gray and Andrew Peterson.

We love that you’re eclectic! Any advice for someone looking to get into your field?

As a meteorologist – Get comfortable with Math.  It’s just a game.  Anyone CAN do it.  And the thinking skills that math requires will help you in many many ways in your life and at all times of life.  Math is the start of problem-solving and is one of the tools to help people figure out how and why things work. 

As a songwriter/artist – Two great pieces of advice that people gave me.  “Surround yourself with people who are better than you”.  Don’t be intimidated by people who are good or have experience, you want them in your life to learn from, glean from and to help push you to be better.  Ask and invite those kinds of people into your life.  The second was “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together”.  Generally, as creative people, artists want to get going fast so they do it by themselves.  But they often burn out and don’t go very far.  If you want to actually get good at the craft, you’re going to need time and you’re going to need help.  There’s a lot you don’t know.  Want to go far – pray for God to bring a team of trusted people into your life – then serve them through your vision.

The last would be – “serve first”.  Don’t make it all about your thing and getting people to like your music, play your music or ask you to play for their church or festival.  Ask “Is there a way I can help you guys be great”?  If you’re an artist, put together an event and ask someone else to join you and be part of it. 

That is rare and greatly appreciated and develops relationships that will help you grow in the long term.

Anything most people wouldn’t expect from you?

I periodically put the guitars and drums away and do an advent and Lenten worship concert based on solos from Handel’s Messiah and sing the bass and tenor solos.  We employ piano/violin and trumpet, scripture readings, hymns and paintings and lighting to tell the story of “The Advent Prophecy” and “He is Worthy”.  As I get into full-time ministry I hope to do these every other year or so.

I also love flowers/hiking/gardens… a walk through the Milwaukee Mitchell Park Domes is a bit of heaven for me.

Tell us a way you get out of a creative slump.

I take stock of how I’m wasting my creative time.  I’ve recently discovered how simple mind games like Spider Solitaire, a game that you can play and win in 4 minutes, can really disrupt the creative process for me.  So I try to acknowledge what is sapping my creative energy and try to delete it for a season. 

The other is to get rest and not force it.  My hunch is that creativity pours out of from a place of fullness and restedness.  Sometimes we can have a broken heart that would seem to wreck us, except that there is fullness and a kind of restedness there and creativity can come out of that space in life.

Name one area of your life that’s positively affected because of your creativity.

My leadership positions or moments where I’m asked to be a leader of something.  Leadership often has to manage difficult moments and I’ve found that problem-solving difficult interpersonal/relationship moments activates an ability to see things in a unique and creative way.