Beauty and Purpose

When you gaze upon beauty,
purpose is sure to fall like sweet rain.

Not just any kind of beauty.
The author of beauty.
The perfection of perfect.
It’s in this place that we discover there’s a story being told with our life. A grand masterpiece of a story, given to us by our creator.

And its here that the weight of our call is felt.
Our story isn’t finished.
We have much to do.

But here’s the catch. As my dad has said,
“If purpose comes first then our hearts will turn to worship what we do rather than the One who gave us our story.”

If we respond to the call, but forget the unsurpassed beauty of God, then we will worship the work of our hands instead of Jesus.
Epic fail.

May we be a generation that re-defines the American dream.
“I will give my life away for another. I will boldly pursue my destiny and calling, but I will never forsake my God who has given my story, who is the reason why I breath, who is the source of life. I will climb the mountain of the Lord. I will sit at His feet and pour out my love.

We must feel our inadequacy to hold this line. We can’t without God.
Cry out to Jesus for his ever flood of Grace.
I promise you, in the Presence of Jesus, our call is clear.
Clarity comes. Boldness explodes.
But we must never trade our call for the presence and perfect beauty of Jesus.
We are worshipers, secure as sons and daughters of God.
Everything else we do is like lifelong recess on the world’s playground.

As Heidi Baker says, “All fruitfulness flows from intimacy.”
We can’t afford to forget. The world is crying out for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed.
But first, beauty.

Sift and Dig

A brother is a true brother when he digs for the gold inside of another. He diligently sifts through the rocks, dirt, and the all around rubbish for the hidden gold on the inside. He never gives up. He doesn’t back away when he comes up empty. He keeps trying, month after month, year after year. And when he finds the gold, he does what Jesus would do. He hands it right back over and says, “This is what I’ve found in you. This is the gift of God inside of you. This is what I see. This is what I know.”

A sister is a true sister when she digs for good soil in another. If she finds toxic soil, she keeps digging. It doesn’t scare her. If she finds dry and barren ground, she brings her sister water for her soil, words of life, and the water sees fruit grow from the good soil of commitment and pursuit. Toxic soil isn’t to be so scary we run the other way. The Holy Spirit is the master gardener, and is asking if you would be the rookie apprentice. We have much to learn, but the Holy Spirit is ready to teach.

“May your love still abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment.”  - Philippians 1:9

A part of being a real community is that we see the “stuff” in others. This is all part of God’s healing plan, because through relationship and the gift of trust and acceptance, we can help see the hearts of others healed. We will never know the joys of community if we see the crap in each other’s lives and we run away. No, Jesus calls us to sift for the gold and dig for the good soil.This is what I think it means for love to abound all the more in knowledge and discernment. When we pursue true community, we will see stuff that’s hard and painful. We will have intimate knowledge of each other’s fears, insecurities, and sin. But this is our crossroads, a place where this knowledge can either cause offense and the withholding of love, or it will cause love to abound all the more.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1st Peter 4:8

Well said Peter. And here the healing continues. Here is the joy of relationship.

Today I experienced a brother digging for the good soil in me. And breaking through the toxic soil brings out some of my greatest fears. Things I’m embarrassed of are in me. This flares up when the pick ax breaks through my hard ground. But then my brother accepts me even still. He doesn’t run away. He actually runs into the scary places with me. This is family. Family runs with you to fear’s edge, and jumps off with you, knowing God will catch us both.

Come on Jesus, we believe you for a family revolution to break in into our broken and wounded relationships! For the Church to walk as a family together. Life to life. Home to home. For the world that’s known no family to find one carrying the name our Father and to be invited in. Amen!

Story Behind Come Away

We’ve been meaning to share the story behind Brock’s song Come Away for awhile. Hope its encouraging to ya!

Andrea Marie + Here Begin = HAPPY YOU

The Backstory
Sometime in late 2008, I (Nathan) was in Chicago at a church worship event, and I heard a girl named Andrea sing for the first time. Her effortless guitar playing blew me away. Then add smooth and angelic vocals to the mix. And did i mention anointed? I was hooked. I remember thinking, “We’ve got to figure out a way for her to join us.” So I did what any smart guy would do. I gave her our EP. Now for few who could appreciate this, lets just say the old EP wasn’t the prettiest to look at. We learned the hard way that certain colors on Photoshop don’t quite look the same once printed. So I reluctantly handed her this dark-green-but-almost-black looking cd and said she should take a listen sometime.

Fast forward a few months. The details are a bit vague in my memory (Will should know them), but I ended up seeing Andrea in Kansas City over the New Year and invited her to record with us on our next album (Radiance). She said yes. Success. So sometime in early 2009, we tracked a song with her in the Banks House Studio. Recording is quite the bonding experience, and we were all sold on Andrea being part of our community. Especially Will. He was more than sold. Now its his story to tell, but lets just say some magic happened, and sure enough, Andrea eventually became a Reagan. (For all the females that want the details, you’re gonna have to hear them from the source)

Recording Process 
Once married, Andrea and Will tucked away into the studio and started working on Andrea’s solo album. 6 months later they’ve emerged with a masterpiece.  The core of the album centers around a grand piano in the Reagan’s living room, an acoustic guitar, and the stories of Andrea’s life told through soaring melodies and poignant lyrics. This album wants to be listened to from start to finish. Then again.

Help us spread the word!

Evolution of a Song

I remember it like it was yesterday. Hidden inside the walls of a college ministry at the University of Tennessee, Will and I sat ready to close out a 100 hours of prayer week. We were flatly lit up by cheap fluorescent light. Drop ceiling, white walls, no sound system. Nothing glamorous, but we like it that way. No props to entertain. Only worshippers remain.  Armed with one acoustic and one small djembe, our sound had no ability to impress. We waited on God, and the music became a channel for the passion in the room. Then a prayer surfaced…

You provide the fire, I’ll provide the sacrifice.
You provide the Spirit, I will open up inside.
Fill me up God, Fill me up

I’ve watched Will do this for years. He finds the chorus that wants to be sung in the moment. It’s as if everyone in the room is leading worship, and Will is simply helping find lyrics and melodies to match the moment and what the Spirit is doing.

This time was no different. Just a spontaneous chorus caught in the moment. Somewhere in an old journal of mine are lyrics from this song. I remember thinking, “why write them down, there’s only two lines?” I wrote them down anyways and I’m sure glad I did.

A few weeks later, Will and I were in the studio working on some songs, which later became our first EP. The Fill Me Up chorus was still just in idea form, sitting loosely in our brains and in the journal. I remember talking about whether it could be a song.

“Its too short. We can’t call this a song.”
“Maybe we can add a bridge or tag?”

 Not exactly sure how it happened, but I vaguely remember Will jumping on the keyboard and playing the melody to what is now the “Love of God overflow” tag. Then the first lyrics made their appearance.

“Sweet, one new line. One more to go.”
I was in the tracking room, setting up drums, and then I started yelling out lyric ideas through the glass window to Will on the other side.
“Permeate, all my soul.” 

I think I was half joking. Who sings the word “permeate” anyway?
Well, Will grabbed it, and that was it. It stuck.

You never know how a song will evolve. From the humble beginnings of a fluorescent-lit college ministry room, to a simple home studio hidden away in a 110-year-old house, Fill Me Up became a song because God wanted it to. I write all of this, because I want to help demystify the worship song writing experience. You don’t have to join a writing session with famous worship leaders to write a worship song. They happen when they’re supposed to happen. It’s our joy and privilege to worship the King of Kings, and offer our gifts and talents as the small fish and loaves that they are. Let’s let God do the multiplying.

I felt like God gave me a special gift this summer concerning this song. I was in South Africa on tour with the guys, and we got word that Kim Walker sang Fill Me Up at the Jesus Culture stadium event in Chicago. We pulled up the recorded stream of the song, and I was moved to tears to how God could take the simple lyrics and melody born from our community, and see if impact 18,000 people in a stadium that night. It was my birthday that day, and I have to say it was a really special gift.

So yeah, just wanted to share that story from the drummer’s perspective. I’m proud of my best friend who had courage to release a song that didn’t even feel like one. You never know what can happen when God get’s in the mix. May the fishes and loaves multiplication continue! Its all we will ever have anyway.

"Here Begin" Video Teaser

Little teaser for you…Andrea Marie’s album releases Dec. 10th on iTunes!
And if you’re in the Knoxville, TN area, she’s having an album release show.
Here’s the venue/time info – http://tiny.cc/022ko, Help us spread the word!

Here’s an excerpt from a conversation with Andrea talking about the album…

“This album has set me on a journey of finding myself, and what’s inside.” All thirteen tracks are songs that I wrote from the age of sixteen till now. I feel as though they capture some very significant moments in my life. Some were written at uncertain moments of life, some at very defining moments- like the weeks right before and surrounding my wedding. A few were even written while in the studio during the recording process, which i think speaks a lot about the dynamics of the music. So, I look at the album as a whole, as an extended story and expression of those years.  

 Recording music and producing something for the world to hear is like uncovering an outer layer of yourself and inspecting it with a magnifying glass. I believe, in the end, the finished album is the result of what you found there. It causes you to be extremely vulnerable and transparent- whether you want to be or not. I know God used it for the bettering and furthering of myself, though. I’m moving forward in finding out who I am on a personal level, who this Creator is inside of me, and then how those things work and move together. Because of that, I’ve found that all the uncovering and transparency in this process has been absolutely worth it.

But over all, no matter how actively involved I am with performing or writing new material, my dream is that this music would be a reflection of the hope of Jesus Christ and his love for the world he created. God is real. My desire is to put a soundtrack to the life that he gives to us here on earth.”

NEW ALBUM COMING SOON FROM BROCK HUMAN

If you’ve you ever listened to our music, or have listened to Jesus Culture latest album, you’ll probably know the song “Come Away”
Brock Human, part of the UP family,  wrote this amazing song. Well’s lets just say that’s the icing on the cake.

He’s been working on a solo album for the past year, and its about to come out NEXT WEEK (Nov. 8th iTunes release)

Here’s some samples to wet your appetite. We think his music is genious.

Brock Human/Color Of Red-preview by Brockhuman 

update: Now available on iTunes

Hope at 30,000 Feet

Sometimes the fish jump in the boat. It’s in these moments that I know the Holy Spirit is planting my steps. This is my favorite talk-to-random-stranger-on-plane-story yet and I share it because I want God to get the glory.

In a strange way I like long red eye flights. The take off rush where your bodyweight pulls into the seat and your eyes are tempted to close. Then, its either a book I’d rarely have time to read, or a film I’d probably never watch. Except on a plane that is, stuck with nothing to do. And of course, ginger ale. For some reason, cruising at 30,000 ft is the only time I crave this drink. Weird. And for the best part, drifting off to sleep after a long gaze out the window at the sunset afterglow melding with the stars. Yep, red eye flights have become my friend. What I don’t usually plan on doing is chatting it up with a stranger beside me. Its dark for one, and my book or movie is waiting. And who wants to interrupt the dull roar of the flight with obnoxious chitchat?  But last night, God had a different plan for my time. I love his plan.

I stepped on the Kona to LA flight ready to sleep. The past week leading worship at the YWAM base was packed full, and I definitely was spent in the very best kind of way. I sat down and was relieved to find the seat beside mine empty. “Sweet, extra leg room and no awkward small talk with my neighbor.”  This was ironic, because one, my wife wasn’t traveling with me and she would have been sitting beside me, and two, the plane was supposedly all sold out, so I had the only empty seat beside me.

Much to my surprise, a guy who looked in his late 20’s two seats over spoke up. The usual small talk ensued, and he chatted about staying at the Four Seasons Resort, which just so happens to be one of the most luxurious hotels in all of Hawaii ($1200 a night kind of prices). This surprised me, because he was dressed like me, and this is NOT like the typical high-roller vacationer.

Turns out his wealthy relative invited him out for an all-expense paid vacation, and he wisely said yes to the offer. He rambled on about the amazing resort and the surfing lessons, and honestly I was just mildly listening. I off-handily asked if he left a significant other behind to go on this trip, and he said yes, his girlfriend. “At least you bought her something, right?” He nodded in agreement.

A few moments of silence…

“I’m actually still married. I have a 2 year old, and a 3 month old.”

“…wait, what?”  I wasn’t expecting that.

All of sudden I felt the peaceful, yet hair-prickling presence of the Holy Spirit, knowing that this moment was an opportunity to listen…both to this man and to what Jesus would have to say to this man. This was no longer about my relaxing flight plan. This was my time to embody hope that I knew was missing from this man’s life, to be a touchable answer to this man’s pain, and most of all, to know that Jesus was sitting right with us with His words becoming mine.

This boldness arose in my heart, and I told him straight up that its time for him to be man and end this stupid fling and make it right with his wife. It was like I heard my words outside of myself. “Wait, am I really saying this to a perfect stranger? And he has tattoos all over him, and he’s pretty tough looking,  so he might flip out on me.”

 But he just looked at me, and then slowly nodded whispering, “I know. I can’t keep living like this.” His heart totally opened up to me, and over the next hour, he shared about his struggles in life, about growing up with a mom that was a stripper, and living on the streets, getting caught up in the drug scene and then ending up in jail. Mind you, we’re on a dead quiet night flight. I couldn’t believe this guy was opening up so much.

His story continued on with getting out of jail and wanting to make his life right. He married his girlfriend, bought a house and started having kids. This is all he knew to do. But the happiness he found didn’t last. Alcohol got in the mix, and found himself separated from his wife with nothing to hold on to. Life was back to chaos. My heart broke for this man, yet I knew God was his only hope and his way of redemption. I shared with him the power of God’s love, and how without it, we don’t know how to truly love. I shared that for his marriage to thrive, he can’t do it alone. He agreed, saying he knows he needs God in his life. And others, people to share struggles and hardships with.

I started sharing stories from the bible with him, like the parable of the prodigal son, and he didn’t know any of them. He said he tried to read the bible in prison, but all the “Thous” made it impossible to understand. He was an open slate, at the bottom looking for hope and light. I prayed for him on the plane, and I felt his hope rising for his life, for his marriage, for his kids. To be the man he wants to be, he realized he needed God.

I’m going to mail him a bible and some books for him to help him on his journey.  I’m praying for him and his family, and asking God what to do next. Meeting this man on the plane helps me understand a bit more what Peter felt like when Jesus said to cast his net to the other side of the boat. (Luke 5:4-22) The fish literally jumped in the boat. Last night, this man jumped in the boat. He was drowning, and he was looking for someone to rescue him. It was hard leaving him, so wishing I could just hang out with him longer and open up the bible with him, but we parted ways. But not the Holy Spirit…still with him.

I’m so reminded how the Spirit orchestrates our steps, divinely setting us up to cross paths with the broken and those drowning in pain, looking for air to gasp. I didn’t go looking for this man. I had my book ready to read. But Jesus did ask for me to stop for this man. Heidi Baker, one of my spiritual heroes says, “Love looks like stopping for the one in front of us.” This isn’t complicated. Messy? Yes. But complicated? No. We just have to open up our eyes and ears and look for where Jesus is at work.

You have the ability to be this rescue. You are called to this. Last night I remembered all over again. With the Holy Spirit inside your chest, you can walk with God and help pull people out of their despair with the hope of Jesus Christ. What an honor to be God’s sons and daughters, entrusted with this gospel that is for the salvation of men and women. The gospel is reality. Love is supreme. Love looks like something.