De La Mennais Brothers: Making Jesus Christ better known and loved by young people

Recorded in honour of our De La Mennais Brothers in Spain, suffering the loss of 6 Brothers in the space of 10 days from their community in Bilbao. May God bless them and keep them. Canto esto para nuestros hermanos mennaisianos españoles. Lyrics: Heavenly Father, You always amaze me Let Your kingdom come in my world And in my life Give me the food I need To live through today And forgive me as I forgive The people that wrong me Lead me far from temptation Deliver me from the evil one I look out the window The birds are composing Not a note is out of tune Or out of place I walk to the meadow And stare at the flowers Better dressed than any girl On her wedding day So why should I worry? Why do I freak out? God knows what I need You know what I need Your love is, Your love is Your love is strong Your love is, Your love is Your love is strong Your love is, Your love is Your love is strong The Kingdom of the Heavens Is now advancing Invade my heart Invade this broken town The Kingd

The Switchfoot gig in Manchester last night was a truly wonderful experience of joy, of communion, of uplifting songs and so much more… They are one of those rare acts that are more than just writers and performers of songs. They have the tremendous gift of being able to write songs that you can adopt as your own and apply to your own life in a way that makes it feel as if it was especially written just for you. Jon Foreman, lead singer and principal songwriter, shared that he was once asked about how he writes songs… no easy answer, but on the spot he came up with something that he’d never thought before but summed it up well - he starts from a place of darkness and strives to take the song into the light. I LOVE this idea. I can really feel it in their songs and I suppose it’s one of the reasons that I have listened to their 10 (+ rising) albums so often over the years. Their songs really do help to lift the darkness. Here are three songs that do just that for me - darkness to light.

On my way in to see one of my all-time fave bands, Switchfoot (for the 2nd time / last time over 10 yrs. ago). Their music is uplifting, even when melancholic, while their lyrics cover the full range of human experience from the dark night of the soul and the search for meaning in the midst of suffering, to the joy and peace that comes from finding the love of God in those around us, in our friends and family. This song sums up very well what they are about.  #switchfoot #jonforeman #timforeman

The article linked at the bottom of this post was written by the bass player of Switchfoot, Tim Foreman (The band are favourites of mine and there was a Switchfoot song on our Indonesia/Japan tour playlist, "Love Alone Is Worth the Fight”). The band are all mad keen surfers. The article recounts a dramatic experience that Tim had while surfing somewhere that Team Win! now know: Bali, Indonesia! The end of the article is as follows: "... life is meant to be lived. And that means taking risks. We come alive when we step beyond the comforts of what we know. And it’s all too easy to just say “no” to the things that scare us. But who knows what’s waiting for you, beyond the safety of your apartment or your mobile device. Like fire in your veins: rebellion, adventure, the unknown." Congrats to Andy (Rolo), James + Harry for being willing to take a giant step outside of their comfort zones and embrace our Far Eastern adventure with all the encounters and experiences that made