Songwriting

(Or, “The Song You Sing: Part 2″)

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” 2 Corinthians 3:2, Paul reminding the Corinthians that their lives testify to the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ about whom Paul had taught them.

While I’m on the topic of songs and testimonies (see previous post, “The Song You Sing“) … I must pause to visit Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3:2-6. A frequent letter writer in my youth (before email, texting, IM and cellphones), these verses have long been marked in my Bible. If we allow these words to settle on us, we’ll find renewed cause to be the message of hope to those who need Christ. “Christ in you, the hope of Glory,” Colossians 1:27.

(A quick plug for my incredible pastor, Doug Newton, and his Say Something sermon series … for a blessed message on Colossians 1:27, listen to “A Most Impressive Testimony,” Sunday, November 14, 2010)

We can reflect His character, His priorities, His love and the fruit of His Spirit such that others can see Him – and hear Him – in a new way, experiencing the Gospel through the songs He writes in the lives of believers.

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart.” 2 Corinthians 3:3

Paul addressed the opportunity believers have to tell the story of the new covenant of grace, as presented through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus … replacing the old covenant of Moses based on the law etched in stone, i.e. the ten commandments. Because of Christ we now have the choice to extend grace and mercy or to extend the law and judgment to others with whom we find ourselves in community. (WWJD … Arghhh. )

And how I struggle with this on occasion. As the years mature us, hopefully grace grows in us (as it humbles us, of course), but I still find myself assuming a defensive stance against certain people and certain circumstances.

But, I am learning how the tone of my testimony can facilitate hope and trust vs. discouragement and defensiveness … and this possibility of ministry gives us all something for which we should keep striving. I have said many times, I’m not perfect and I’m not aiming for that, but I would love healthy. Healthy emotions, beneficial responses, balanced priorities and undeterred, unstoppable hope for myself and in others. I want to be a song He can sing to those who most need to hear Him.

“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.” 2 Corinthians 3:4

Just prior to a dramatic life change almost a year and a half ago, I attended a conference of PR colleagues on the campus of Biola University in Los Angeles. Their president, Dr. Barry Corey, shared a statement that day that has nested in my heart and mind during the sixteen months since, “The antidote for uncertainty is not certainty; it is confidence that God will bring to completion what He started.”

He was addressing the uncertain times in higher education (and uncertain that season of my life proved to be), but he was right about the One in whom we should place our confidence … and it’s biblical, “For you have been my hope … my confidence since my youth,” (Psalm 71:5) and “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” (Jeremiah 17:7)

One paraphrase of this verse states, “Such trust have we – We have the fullest conviction that God has thus accredited our ministry; and that [believers] are monuments of his mercy, and proofs of the truth of our ministry.” (Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible)

The concept of another entity bringing credit to a ministry was made real to me last week as Sara Groves released a live Christmas CD project recorded at our first Hope Shows prison concert last December. One credible, critically-acclaimed recording artist shares her experience with our ministry and our website traffic jumps up 10-fold, donations to the project re-energize future events and at least one of the CCM-related enewsletters I receive on a regular basis featured both the CD and Hope Shows as the lead story last week. I fully believe God used Sara to accredit the ministry He placed in my hands, and I am so thankful for her testimony to a Hope Shows prison concert.

WE can be Sara Groves too! We can sing of God’s work in us and around us, encouraging and blessing acts of mercy and love done on His behalf. We can stand center stage, with confidence, and proclaim the truth of His power in and through His people, His church.

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” 2 Corinthians 3:5

I love the use of the word “competence” in this translation (NIV). As I have sought God’s direction for new purpose and ministry focus – a new song – I have watched Him use areas of present strength, experience and passion right alongside past failures, pain and insecurity. My only rest comes when I remember in Whom I will find both competence and confidence as we write each measure of this new piece. This song has simply not been about me, but about Him … with a great desire on my part to work in harmony with His will.

I can celebrate one measure of success and moments later hit a low note in a measure of frustration. I have, more than once this past year, felt like God was calling me to take the stage for this new life in prison ministry, only to find the curtain has yet to come up on this performance (signaling a continued season of practice and preparation).

(Forgive the brief horse metaphor, but if you were to see me during a frustrating or fearful moment, you would understand the relevance of it …) If you’ve seen Disney’s new film, Secretariat, you know that a horse prancing about at the gate waiting for the freedom to run its race is not a pretty site. (Did you know that some horses have to go to “gate school” to learn to deal with the moments after being loaded in … I know, where do I sign up?)

The starting gate is a place of tension … as is the scene backstage at a concert just before the curtain rises. The musician paces with anxiety and anticipation, waiting for their turn to share their song with the audience God has entrusted to them. Will I sing well enough? Will I remember the words? Will they sing along? Will they applaud? Taking one last deep breath before showtime, the best thing we can do is to place the performance in God’s hands to will and to do what He chooses through our music. I’m just words and melody ’til You’re here with me / An unfinished symphony ’til You breathe in me / All the parts yet incomplete ’til You move in me / Let me be the song You sing (“The Song You Sing,” downhere).

New ministry, new direction and new relationships can bring new fears, new challenges and new lessons to be learned … but through it all new stories are written, new songs sung. There is only One who makes us worthy and the struggle worth it.

“This is the story of your life,
You decide how the rest is gonna read.
This is your chance between the lines to redefine
What kind of legacy you leave.
This is the story of your life
And it’s a story worth telling.” Matthew West, “The Story of Your Life”
(From his new release, The Story of Your Life)

I know that every artist I mention is my favorite, but what Matthew West has done with his newest project, The Story of Your Life, has raised the bar in this industry. After inviting people to share their stories with him, in order to sing on their behalf, Matthew produced a brilliant, compassionate, educational and moving project that you’ve got to hear to fully understand it’s worth in God’s kingdom. He committed to tell their stories, and he did it magnificently.

In fact, he chose to take on their pain in order to share in and communicate their struggles, their grief, their journeys, their victories. (Watch Matthew talk about this responsibility …)

In her book, Say Yes to God, author Kay Warren (wife of pastor/author Rick Warren) writes, “Deliberately choosing to enter into the experience of a fellow human being sets the stage for God to make an entrance. … Choosing to suffer with proves our love for our Savior and at the same time proves to the least, the last, and the lost that there is a Savior who loves them.”

I believe God has called Hope Shows to a two-fold ministry to our prison communities … first, to visit them. Called to present the hope of the Gospel message through Christian music, faith-based films and other Christ-centered media, Hope Shows up with music artists, actors, producers, directors and speakers uniquely equipped to bring light in darkness.

Second, we serve as conduits of their stories to the church. Called to remind believers to “visit those in prison” (Matthew 25:36) and to “remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners” (Hebrews 13:3), Hope Shows produces benefit events and other resources designed to voice the needs and hopes of incarcerated individuals, as well as those who have been released to re-engage the outside world.

They need us to care, while they’re inside and after they get out … financial assistance, spiritual guidance, emotional support, basic requirements of shelter, food, clothing and community. These men and women, boys and girls need us to remember them in order to live lives that testify to our ministry of Christ among them. They need us to deliver the song of one Hope written by the One who gave His life to write it, and to sing songs of mercy, grace and love on their behalf … resounding the truth of Matthew 25:36.

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18