I like this...

Christians have been imitating the spiritual drive behind bands like U2 and Sigur Rós in worship settings for years now. Whether it’s Phil Wickham's "Cielo" or Fee’s “All Because of Jesus”, it should be obvious enough that there is something that speaks to the deepest part of our souls about the music itself‚ not just the “Christianese” we choose to throw on top of it. Because like all of creation, music is earthy and fleshy. It's pure physicality: sound waves moving from hollowed chunks of carved wood, vocal chords tightening and loosening. It's all just notes on a page. We know how it works. We have theory for this kind of stuff. Even still, when taking a moment to bask in an album like Valtari, it's hard not to view music—and even life itself—as a deep spiritual experience as well.


(From a Review of Sig Ros's new album on RELEVANTmagazine.com.)

Oswald was really great today:


“The Lord . . . is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish . . .” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.


--Oswald Chambers My Utmost For His Highest, May 11

Today, I'm reflecting on this:


Matthew 9
³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.^(AP) 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,^(AQ)because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.^(AR)37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest^(AS) is plentiful but the workers are few.^(AT) 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”


Any thoughts?

Check it out here.

It's Over...But Not Really

I am writing this from a basement in Arequipa.

"What?" you ask? "Why are you there?"

Well, BIG news for you:

I am DONE being a 40/40 in Cusco!

That's right, my 27 months are up.

Now you ask, "So why aren't you home?"

Well, I am sticking around Peru for a couple of months.

Do you want to hear some even BIGGER news?

I am CONTINUING with Extreme in South America!

I will be working as Mobilization Coordinator for South America. "What does that mean?" you want to know? (My goodness, you ask a lot of questions!)

Well, it means that I will be working to find and deploy South American missionaries to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria figuratively, and hopefully eventually LITERALLY to the ends of the earth.)

So, if you have more questions, feel free to ask me! (cstevens@extremenazarene.org)

But back to Cusco...

We have a short term team coming down in June. They will be building TWO churches, doing outreach with children and adults, showing Jesus films, and holding medical clinics. Since I am kind of a Cusco expert (or at least the best we have), I will be helping out with the planning and execution of this project.

Then it is home to Cincinnati!

And wrapping up life in Cusco was surreal. Seriously, it didn't even seem real. We sold all of our stuff. We visited all of our people for one last time. We ate with a lot of them. We had our last church service. People stood up and thanked us for what we had done. We took lots of pictures.

And we said goodbye...

But what is goodbye, really? If we did our jobs right, and the Holy Spirit continues his work, then we'll see them again.

So I want to tell you, THANK YOU for your prayers and support. WE did this!

Please continue to pray for me, and the people of Cusco. And please consider partnering with me financially during the next phase of my calling. We are ALL part of advancing God's kingdom.

So if you would like to donate, or sign up to be a prayer partner, visit www.extremenazarene.org/stevens

This journey isn't over. The movement is still just beginning!