I’m excited about this week’s iTunes Discovery Download. As you might have noticed in our news section, Sara Groves’ “When The Saints” was this week’s choice for a free download. As mentioned in the news item, it is relatively unusual for an artist from the Christian community to be selected; it tends to happen only a few times a year. What is noteworthy is that the site tends to often select not necessarily the best selling artist or project, but an artist with either significant crossover appeal, or a momentous message. The latter is definitely the case with the selection of Groves’ “When The Saints.”

Sara Groves is one of many who have experienced a life-altering encounter with God through the instrument of The International Justice Mission, a human rights organization focused on the rescue of victims of abuse and enslavement, as well as following up on the accountability of their perpetrators. In fact, they see their work of rekindling the social engagement of evangelical Christians as a vital secondary aspect of their mission. I am grateful for their calling and their faithful response to it; whatever it takes to wake the giant so long asleep.

Groves has, in turn, taken up the call herself and given her own awakening over to a glorious alchemy. Challenged deeply within by all that she saw and learned on her trip to Rwanda and Southeast Asia with IJM founder Gary Haugen, she spun those soul-shakings into the songs of her new album, Tell Me What You Know. “When The Saints” is just one of numerous tracks on the album that lovingly, patiently challenges us to take up the cause of the poor, the cause of Christ. The tone is not one of finger-wagging, but of graciousness, and I believe this has everything to do with its selection by the iTunes people. My prayer now is that it will be downloaded heavily, not just onto our iPods but deep into our hearts.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 11:40 am and is filed under Staff Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.