Zoro the drummer, or the minister of groove as he’s called, has played for the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown and Frankie Valli. Now, the minister of groove is stepping up his efforts to help people discover, develop and use their God-given gifts and talents.

That may seem like an odd thing for a drummer to focus on. But Zoro is not your average musician. He has been a teacher and motiviational speaker for years. Feeling led by God, he has condensed his lesson plans into a book titled “Soar!” The book, which will be available Sept. 1, 2016, is published by Emerge Publishing.

Over the years, Zoro has championed various causes. He’s a spokesperson for Compassion International and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, and he’s been honored at the nation’s capital for promoting responsible fatherhood and mentoring as part of the White House Fatherhood Champions of Change program, according to his website.

I interviewed Zoro during the International Christian Retail Show in June 2016. He is one of the most dynamic speakers I have run across in my years in journalism. I left my interview recharged despite having been on the run for several days.

Zoro said God gave him the vision to write Soar! and gave him the time to write it, after he had been teaching its principles for years. “These are the principles God showed me to soar with.” “Soar!” will help you discover your God-given talents and how to develop and deploy them. There are nine life-changing principles in the book.

It would be mistake to say you do not have any God-given talents, Zoro told me. “Everybody on this planet has gifts and abilities. As a society, sometimes, unfortunately, we only view a talent as someone with an athletic talent. Or a writer. Everyone has something. It’s a question of discovering it and placing a value on it.”

Zoro said that while he is skilled in music, he is not skilled in math. “An accountant has a gift for numbers that a musician … doesn’t have. That talent is equally as important as my talent. It’s having something you do better than others. Everybody has that. When they discover it, it makes them come alive. It has nothing to do with money, it has nothing to do with fame or fortune.”

People often sense their gifts when they are young but become discouraged, sometimes by others, including those closest to them. “Hopefully later in life it will resurface,” he said. “You can’t let anyone stop you from that thing you feel called to.”

Soar! features the true story about actor/dancer Fred Astaire, whom Zoro called the greatest dancer of all time. During Astaire’s first screen test, the director said he could not sing or dance — and he was balding. Of course, Astaire became a huge celebrity. He had that director’s comments on paper and had it framed to hang on the wall to serve as a reminder.


We can’t choose what gifts we have, but we can choose how we develop the gifts we have, Zoro said. Not everything we do is visible to others, but God sees what we do.

“People put too much value on how many likes you’re getting on Facebook,” he said. “Be willing to make a difference with what God gave you.”

More information on Zoro International Ministries is at zoroministries.org. Look him up on Facebook as Zoro the drummer. He has motivational quotes on there. “Soar!” will be available on Amazon and from major bookstores.