Kari Jobe, a highly-respected worship leader, has been using her gifts to lead people into the presence of God for more than 15 years. She knew she had a heart for broken people and a deep desire to lead them to the cross.
She never imagined that God would take her to be a well-respected worship leader, but everything wasn’t always bright for her.
Not long ago, she faced many allegations regarding her ministry and life.
Let’s take a look at what really happened…
Early Life & Achievements
Kari Jobe is an American singer and songwriter who was born on April 6, 1981, in Waco, Texas.
Kari Jobe is from a Christian family where she grew up with younger siblings Kris and Caleb. Her father, Mark, is the Pastor of Global Ministries at Gateway Church.
When Kari was only 5, she went to a children’s church service and finally understood what she had been learning about Jesus all her life.
Pastor Jarvis, the children’s minister, took Kari downstairs to the main church where her dad was preaching so he could lead her in the prayer to accept Christ.
As she had been singing worship music in church for two years by the time she was 10, it was no surprise to her parents that her calling would be in music ministry. From then on, they could see that music leading became her obsession and she knew without a doubt it was right for her.
At age 13 she was already leading worship.
She worked alongside her father, Mark, who serves as campus pastor of Gateway’s flagship campus in Southlake.
This allowed her to learn a lot about what it means to serve those around you in the community and abroad through mission work too.
Kari had a burning desire from a young age to become a minister of the gospel. To make her dream a reality, after high school, she attended Oral Roberts University.
There she served on the worship staff. She has a degree in psychology and pastoral ministries from Dallas Baptist University.
Upon graduation, Jobe accepted a position in Gateway Church’s pastoral team as an Associate Worship Pastor.
She has been serving the congregation in that role ever since!
Besides being a worship leader and pastor, Jobe released her first major-label self-titled debut album in 2009 by Integrity Music/Columbia Records/Gateway Create.
The album charted at No. 67 on the Billboard 200 and in third place on Billboard’s Christian music chart.
A Spanish-language version of the album was released under the name Le Canto. Le Canto won a Dove Award in the category, of Spanish Album of the Year at the 41st GMA Dove Awards.
Her popularity grew with her successful songs “Revelation Song” and “Holy Spirit” released in 2009.
She won two Dove awards for the “Special Event Album of the Year” and “Spanish Language album” categories, as well as being nominated for the New Artist award.
Two years after winning a Dove Award, she signed with Sparrow Records to release her sophomore album.
Jobe’s second album Where I Find You was released in 2012.
The album debuted at No. 75 on the Canadian Albums Chart and No. 10 on the Billboard 200.
Jobe released her first EP, The Acoustic Sessions (Live), later that year.
Jobe received her first Grammy nomination in 2012 for her album, “Where I Find You”, in the Best Contemporary Christian Album category.
On March 25, 2014, Majestic was released. The album was preceded by its first single “Forever”, on February 18.
In 2014, Jobe announced via Instagram that she got engaged to Gateway Worship’s Cody Carnes. They married on November 21, the same year.
“The Cause of Christ” was released in November 2016 as the lead single from her studio album, “The Garden”.
She released 3 other singles: “Heal Our Land”, “Fall Afresh” and “The Garden” before the album’s release in 2017.
She released more albums, including “The blessing – 2020”.
Controversy
Kari Jobe has faced controversy before, and one that stands out the most is from disntr. In one post they stated: “Kari Jobe is best known for her music that romanticizes man’s relationship with Christ whereby she –and many other popular worship artists, including men — treat Jesus more like a romantic fling than the Majesty on High“.
“But Kari Jobe obviously isn’t about glorifying God, she’s about advancing her musical career — and what better way to do that than to completely sell her soul to the devil.“
These are very strong statements, and they continue by talking about some of Kari’s songs, on how they do not have a biblical basis.
In another article, they stated “One of her most popular songs, Forever, published by Bethel Music (the same outfit that produced Jesus Culture), contains some really aberrant theology. Besides the fact that she’s a female pastor in a church, her theology alone should be enough to disqualify her as a teacher.“
We could continue by showing more articles, but all have the same theory, by saying that Kari’s song doesn’t have a biblical foundation.
Then, In an interview about her song, Forever, she said,
My favorite part of the whole thing is …
we talk about the death on the cross and we talk about the resurrection, but that time in between was when Jesus was in hell rendering hell. And ransacking hell. And defeating the enemy – taking those keys to death and hell and the grave to be victorious over that when he rose from the dead.
This idea that Jesus died and went to Hell to battle Satan stems from an old heresy that is prominent in Word of Faith circles that teach that Jesus died spiritually, and was “born again” after defeating Satan in Hell.
And in 2019, Jobe and her husband faced another backlash.
The couple visited the White House in December 2019 and prayed for President Donald Trump.
They also praised Trump’s Administration in a video. In response to criticism about the visit, the pair said, “We didn’t know that we were going to take a picture in the Oval Office or know they were going to post it.
I didn’t know they were going to use a video interview that we did talking about how amazing it was to be in a White House leading worship.”
Conclusion
Kari Jobe is an award-winning gospel music artist who has been consistently producing high-quality spiritual songs since 2003.
She has won at least four Dove Awards out of nine nominations and a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Album for her 2012 album, Where I Find You.
Kari Jobe has been ministering for over a decade, traveling around the world.
Despite it being her lifelong work to do so, Jobe’s music doesn’t feel like it has anything to do with herself. T
hat being said, she doesn’t mind. “It’s not about me,” she emphasizes. “If it became about me, that would be dangerous and wrong. It’s about Him.
It’s a great honor and a great responsibility, but it’s not any different than me just living my life every day needing Him in my circumstances.”
Her greatest achievement is always going to be the ability to help people reflect Christ’s love. “I don’t see myself any differently than when I was 13, just a worship leader,” she admits. “It’s just sometimes I open my eyes and there are a few more people worshipping God with me.”
Let us know in the comment section, what do you think about Jobe and her ministry.