"An 'Epic' in the Making"

Everyone loves a good story... I know I do. Early on my parents helped instill in me a love of reading, and from that love I learned pretty quickly how to tell stories (not always just for the entertainment value...lol). I guess it's no surprise that after falling in love with music that I'd eventually try my hand at song writing. It's storytelling set to music after all! Like any skill or talent, my early efforts were almost always terrible, despite what loving (and tone-deaf) parents would say. Even after 30+ years, some songs come more easily than others (and yes, some are still terrible...lol).

But every so often it happens that you find a melody and a turn of phrase that invokes a powerful reaction. The best of these moments occur when Holy Spirit breathes life into our feeble artistic and all-too-human creations. And far too infrequently you 'discover' a song, almost as if The Song was waiting there all along for you to finally unearth it... as if the Spirit led you to the 'dig site.'

I've had that happen a couple of times in my song writing career thus far. These rarities are treasured all the more as I understand that it doesn't usually work this way. And almost without exception one of the qualities of these songs is that they tell a story... a story both uniquely personal yet universal. The best compliment a song writer can receive is to be told that "... you wrote that song just for me."

Which brings us full circle back to The Story. One of my favorite authors is John Eldredge (Wild at Heart, Waking the Dead, the Sacred Romance). A while back he published a short little book called Epic, a wonderful distillation of the themes discussed in Waking the Dead. In less than 100 pages or so he talks about how our best-loved stories are simply mirrors of a greater Story. And that by looking into what makes us love these tales, we can see the finger of God writing on our hearts.

Rather than give you my 'book report' version, go buy this book and check it out for yourself. See if you don't get as excited as I am when you realize that through the arts God is telling The Story of his love for us and his longing for us to be reunited with Him. But better yet, each one of us has a chapter and a role to play in this incredible adventure.

Over the coming months I'll be sharing with you our theme for Project Onefifty this year, one almost directly inspired by the ideas in Epic. Our goals and events haven't changed... we're still doing coffee houses, mission trips, concert events, CD projects and the like. But my prayer is that we'll be telling our story more effectively (and often) and through this telling, The Story will be shared with people all around the world.

I'll leave you with the 'teaser' for this theme:

Rescue•Reveal•Redeem•Restore
God is waiting for you

Sounds 'epic' to me!! Let's go!

GV

New Year's Resolution: Day 15

Happy New Year! Yes, I know it's about 15 days late... but you know me and my blogging schedule... lol! I must say there are some exciting things in store for me and Project Onefifty this year. Please keep us in your prayers... you'll be the first to know just how exciting!

One of my resolutions for this year (besides the usual list... get in better shape, bring world peace, etc.) is to finally read the Bible all the way through. Now, I've read every book, but never sequentially from cover to cover. One of our buddies, drummer Steve Sample has accomplished this feat several times! The fact that Steve became a Christ-follower in his 40's just confirms we can sometime forget just how important and life-changing God's word is.

So, I'm on Day 15... that means I'm close to finishing the book of Genesis. Just a day or so ago, I was reading the story of Joseph, his sale into slavery by his jealous brothers, his rise to favor and subsequent fall from grace into imprisonment. It's significant how God provides his way of escape, but only after waiting for years. That God restores Joseph is incredible; but not only is he restored, he rises to one of the highest places of authority in Egypt and sets the stage for fulfillment of prophesy and the long-term freedom we have in Christ.

A great story and a great truth! And here on Day 15, I find myself in a period of waiting... much like Joseph. No, I'm not in prison or been sold by my brothers (although they probably wanted to sell me a few times when we were growing up!). Since our move to Tennessee a couple of years ago, we've seen God do some great things through P150. We've been in Japan, and Ireland, and even the Middle East. It's humbling to remember how God has used our music and ministry to plant seeds of change in the lives of people all around the world. We've put down great roots here in TN, gathering a new support group and encountering ministry opportunities we'd never dream of doing. But we know we've just scratched the surface of what God has planned.

But even in the midst of activity, we still are waiting for the next step. I am so excited about the new CD project coming. I've just finished the writing stage and have entered pre-production. It's going to be a challenging project, not only for the production team, but I fully believe that lives will be challenged in an amazing way through the truth in these tunes.

One of the new tunes was inspired by our friend Rashel Ross and her victory over cancer, and contains lines in the bridge that really sum all this up for me:

"I will not waver
I will not live here again
I will remember the promise
But waiting is the hardest thing to do...
I wait for you"

I pray that you find patience in your time of waiting. Remember God's promise of love, mercy, and grace...

It's gonna be a great year!!

GV


"I Wait for You" (copyright 2008 Vinsongs Music, ASCAP)