About three or four years ago, I began reading and studying the lives of many of the great forefathers, foremothers, leaders, and saints of the church.  People like Blaise Pascal, Thomas Merton, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, Thomas a Kempis, Augustine, Julian of Norwich, George Fox, John of the Cross, and others.

As I’ve studied and learned from these people’s lives, I’ve noticed my own faith journey take on a richer and more substantial depth – for probably two reasons:  One, I was raised in a Pentecostal environment that tended to put a much heavier focus on what God was doing “now” as opposed to what God had done hundreds of years ago.

Secondly, the more I’ve learned and studied these great followers of Jesus, the more I’ve come to realize that the majority of them have struggled with many similar challenges that so many of us struggle with in regards to our faith today.  Imagine that!  As young, emerging leaders, our struggles and challenges with faith, church, humanity, and God are really not as unique as we might be tempted to think they are.

Now of course, are some of these people controversial?  Yes, of course they are!  And for most of them, more so today than when they were alive.  To the fundamentalists, that’s a problem.  To me, it’s actually quite an encouragement.

All this to say that this weekend we are starting a new series at The Orchard entitled, “Prayers of the Saints”.  The series was inspired by a music project of the same name that I discovered about a year ago from the folks at Trinity Anglican Mission (formerly Trinity Vineyard) in Atlanta.  The project is a series of prayers from various saints that have been turned into songs.  You can purchase the album via iTunes here.

Over these next few weeks we are going to sing, pray, and learn from these prayers.  I can’t wait.  They are both personally challenging and theologically rich.  We’d love for you to join us.  Or you can follow along via The Orchard’s podcast here.

Posted in Beauty, Following Jesus, Journey, Music, Podcasting, Religion, The Orchard |