Being a worship leader means that more often than not, the band and I are leading the church in worship using songs written by other worship leaders, rather than using our own. We want people to connect with God and if we’re doing all songs people don’t know, then that becomes a LOT harder for people to do.

As a result, we get asked a lot if we’ve recorded this song or that one, and we’ve always had to say no in the past. So we’re planning something kinda crazy! We’re gonna put together a “MIX TAPE” of worship songs that we have noticed really connect with the church across the world. But we need a little help from you guys. We have been taking random, informal polls from our Twitter followers and Facebook friends as to which songs you guys would like to hear us record. So far we have a few options that have been repeatedly requested, and a few ideas of our own. Here are the suggestions we have so far:

1. Come Thou Fount
2. Before The Throne of God Above
3. Blessed Be The Name
4. Our God
5. Mighty To Save
6. Revelation Song
7. Praise To The Lord, The Almighty
8. Be Thou My Vision
9. From The Inside Out
10. Reign In Us
11. How Great Thou Art
12. Arise My Soul Arise
13. You Are My Joy

Here’s how it works… leave a comment voting for your favorite worship song that you’d like to hear us cover. If it’s not on the list, we’ll add it to the list. Then, by the end of November, we’ll tally the votes up and whichever 5 songs have the most votes… WE WILL RECORD! And then… even better… we’re gonna give it away as a free download just to say how much we love you guys! So vote quick!

“When one bases his life on principle, 99% of his decisions are already made.” Unknown.

I spend the majority of my time with people much younger than my 51 years. Most of the younger generation with whom I spend time have a passion for Jesus and yearn to serve Him. They recognize we were created to worship the Most High God. But sometimes in their worship they over-think. Growing up in a culture with microwave food and instant access on the internet, they want to find a fast track to effective service to God. But some things cannot be achieved in the time it takes a heat up a hot pocket. Relationships take time. Unpacking the line from God’s great purpose in eternity to our individual service to Him cannot be found in the click of a mouse.

I have had more conversations with Jesus-loving young men and women than I can remember. So many of them have to do with their desire to live hard for God all their lives. My advice to them is actually quite simple, and comes from Romans 12:1-2. When you truly know Christ through the gospel, and give yourself to serve Him with radical affection, finding His “will” or “plan” for your life has less to do with geography on a map and more to do with proximity to Him, less to do with a position and more to do with your posture of worship. It is less a roadmap and more a relationship.

In Romans 12:1-2 Paul picks up after teaching for 11 chapters on the amazing gospel from creation to eternity, from our sinfulness to His salvation. Paul then asserts that in response we present our bodies as a living sacrifice. In other words, we live to worship (verse 1).

Everyone worships. Most worship today is simply depraved. We worship stuff, we worship comfort, or ourselves. Through the gospel we learn to worship Christ, and learn the amazing irony that the only way to truly live is to die to ourselves, the only way to be free is to be a slave to God, the only way to win is to surrender all we are.

This means rejecting the things of this world and being transformed increasingly through the renewing of our minds, and in so doing we discover the very thing we seek—the will of God. Just read Romans 12:2.

Do you worship God? Do you constantly renew your mind, rejecting the lures of the culture and embracing the gospel’s power?

As a freshman in high school I was a shy, nervous, skinny little kid. If you told me then that God would call me to be a teacher and to give my life training leaders, I would have become a Buddhist monk and taken a boat to Tibet. I actually told a teacher that year I could not do an oral book report because I feared I would wet my pants or throw up or both due to nerves. But I genuinely loved Jesus. And I believed and tried to live Romans 12:1-2 as best as I could. Today at 51 I teach at one of the greatest seminaries on the earth, equipping leaders to take the gospel literally all over the world. If the Lord allowed me to write out the rest of my life, I would do what I am doing right now. I had no idea as a freshman in high school that I could do what I do now or that I would enjoy it. It was not my in my career plan even as I started college. But over the years God has been gracious to make clear His remarkable plan. I have done nothing to earn it and nothing to achieve it. But I have worshiped Him, and that has made all the difference.

*** Alvin L. Reid, PhD, serves as Professor of Evangelism and Student Ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Author or co-author of over a dozen books on missional Christianity, spiritual awakenings, and student issues, Reid is a popular speaker young adults and young leaders. He and his wife have 2 children, Josh and Hannah. Find more at www.alvinreid.com.

I wake up every single morning to the perfect example of mercy and justice and compassion in the person of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel.

The God who, though He was rich, for our sake became poor so that we might be rich in every way: The perfect example of generosity.

Who, though He was righteousness, for our sake became sin, so we could become the righteousness of God: The perfect example of sacrifice.

Who, though was by very nature God, for our sake became obedient even to death on a cross: The perfect example of obedience.

Who laid down His life for me: The perfect example of love.

Yeah, He’s the one. God with us, living in us! And every day I wake up to His loving challenge to meet the needs of the people He has created in His image and loves. The impoverished…the orphan…He is passionate about people like this, you know, so I really can’t help but be passionate too because He’s living in me. In fact, I’m really starting to obsess. I want my life to be a reflection of His and the world to see Him for who He is through me.

I know there are people out there who feel this way – who want to be a tangible, visible demonstration of Christ’s love and reflection of His character. Many are just waiting for the opportunity to be presented. I hear them talk about it, much like I do.

But no one ever left a legacy by talking about what they WANTED to do, or even what they were GOING to do. A legacy is left because you stopped talking and did something. So putting wheels to our words is what the Mercy Justice Compassion Campaign is about.

Our goal is quite simple, actually. 150 children sponsored with Compassion International, $5000 raised to support a village in Ethiopia through Compassion’s “Complementary Intervention Program,” and an additional $5000 raised to help support the adoption of our little boy there in Ethiopia. Sounds simple, right? Absolutely, because there are literally millions of people in the church across this nation who know that this is what Jesus has called them to be about. They just need the opportunity.

This is where you come in to play; here is how you can be a part. The MJC Campaign will consist of a series of concerts for the months of September, October, November and early December. We are willing to travel anywhere, but would like to focus on weeknights in the Midwest (Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Illinois) or basically anything 5-8 hours away from Saint Louis. We need churches and colleges that are passionate about this mission of rescuing children out of poverty in Jesus name to host and promote these concerts.

In these concerts, we will simply focus on the need, the example of Christ to meet the need, and the call we have to follow Christ’s example. Our hope is to not pressure people with statistics or guilt trips, but rather point to Jesus and the gospel as our motivation for generosity, obedience, sacrifice, love and worship.

Would you considering partnering with us on this mission? If you are interested, please email booking@stephen-miller.com