This is the Scandal that We're Out Here Spreading
“Guys, check it out…. I think I might have something…”
I gripped the cast-iron railing and moved onto the narrow spiral staircase, descending as quickly as I could in a kind of half-stumble, half-spinning slide. The rest of the team looked up from where they were seated on a large sectional couch in the middle of the hardwood recording-room floor.
“Cool - let’s hear it…”
The tone was encouraging. Expectant, even… but guarded.
“Studio time” can be a little bit tense for us. It’s a time where we expect every melody - every CHOICE - to be challenged. And we were right in the middle of “studio time,” so every new idea was fair game.
A few days ago, my daughter Sierra had encouraged me to find a creative way to share the message of Jesus within the project we were creating, and I had been thinking about her idea ever since.
“So… I was thinking about all of our friends who are struggling, you know? Questioning and pushing back on so many things about Jesus, and just hurting, so I know this is different but it’s kind of like a spoken word thing…”
There were a few nods and polite smiles.
I was undeterred. Either they would like it or they wouldn’t. Either the words were good, or I was just being overly emotional - I was too close to the material to see that it was… cheesy.
This was just part of the process.
I cleared my throat and started, reading the words I had written from the small screen of my iPhone.
“So this is the “scandal “that we’re out here spreading
That the writers of the headlines with their pressures
And their sponsors and their five-o-clock deadlines
Are missing, and then twisting and forgetting.
They’re saying “I’m okay, you’re okay - we’re perfect like we are,”
But I’ve seen my motivations and you don’t know my heart…”
I kept going, words spilling out a little too quickly - words that felt like they had been trapped inside of me for months and were now wanting to explode out of me.
“The God who filled the oceans and set fire to the stars
Hears us when we’re crying even though we’re far from who we should be.
He could’ve passed me over, left me sentenced here to drown
‘Cause the truth is I deserve it, but instead He looked, and loved, and stepped up
And stepped down, and lived, and bled, and paid a price with His own life to pick me up -
And I was facedown in my sin that night
But He found me - Jesus found me - and He healed this broken heart…”
My eyes were welling up, and I choked on a word and stopped. I rubbed my eyes and looked up at the group, biting my lower lip.
“So yeah, just something like that. I think we might be able to do something cool with that, right?”
And then we were all nodding. A few of us were wiping our eyes.
The lyrics had come directly from my own personal experience, but there was something more to it - there was a weight in the words that we could all relate to - there was something powerful about the truth of what Jesus had done in ALL of our lives.
And we all felt it.
This spoken-word performance would become the “message” part of our latest CD, THROUGH IT - an outspoken call to a world of beautiful, broken people who truly need to experience the freedom, forgiveness, and new life available through Jesus.
It is the message that drives everything we do.
It’s WHY we do what we do.
Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re only a few weeks away from the full VIDEO release of “The Scandal.”
And we can’t wait to share it with you.
Filmed on two continents and several months in the making, we’re hoping that it will be a MASSIVE encouragement to you, and a source of hope and freedom for a world that desperately needs it.
If you haven’t heard “the Scandal” yet, we’d love to hear what you think - you can listen on Spotify HERE. Feel free to leave a comment below!
And if you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel yet, you can check it out HERE - it’s a great way to experience the new music first, and maybe find some encouragement for your journey today.
God bless you, friends, and thanks for sharing the adventure with us!
More. Committed. Than. Ever.
2020 has been a year of incredible challenges, but we are more convinced than ever that Jesus is STILL the answer.
We've had to reschedule many of our upcoming outreaches (Zambia, India, and Haiti) until early next year, but we're still committed to the goal of reaching as many people as possible in every nation with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and we’re excited to report that things are SLOWLY STARTING TO OPEN UP!
We’ve been offered a few opportunities to share the message of Jesus in live venues across the United States over the next few months, and we are asking that God would move powerfully in these events and draw many people to Himself.
We’ve also been using this time to create content designed to introduce people to the love and message of Jesus. This is the goal of every song, blog, podcast, and video that we produce, so please feel free to use our content as a resource if you know someone who needs to hear this message.
If you'd like to help us share the love of Jesus in 2020 with a tax-deductible monthly donation or a one-time gift, simply click the link below for more information. We're deeply thankful for you, friends!
THIS ONE MEANS A LOT TO US…
Our brand new music video is streaming now - COME BACK was filmed on two continents over the course of six months…