I think I've blogged more while sitting here in the prayer room in Kansas City than from any other place this year. Ironically previous to this year I'd only flown or driven through Kansas City. It's a cool enough town but just wouldn't have been on my short list of destination cities. My first visit to the prayer room here was in February on a whim. Here as the year grows tired and prepares to give way to the Holiday season I've been here four times, sent my son here as a missionary into the media department so that he can acquire the skills needed to help the DAB further push the boundaries of technology and made strategic alliances between the DAB and IHOP to do some vital and sobering things over the coming year. These are things I'll be sharing with you at the end of this month.
Every few months it feels like we are challenged to go yet deeper in our relationship with Jesus and our walk of faith. This brings up a range of emotions usually. On the one hand we feel challenged to enter a larger story and participate in something epic but on the other hand once the romance wears off and there is actual live ammunition being fired at us spiritually it's another story. I think if there's something my time in the prayer room has taught me this year it's that it doesn't matter what I think or feel like. Our responsability is to unreservedly obey what God is leading us into. We have to realize that our resources are a blessing from God, our families are a blessing from God and every breathe we take is a gift. When we get that part clear, it reveals much. I'm not surprised that the theme of actually LIVING what we're reading about rather than just having a daily devotional has emerged from Scripture this year. Irreversible change is what Scripture does to us and I sense clearly that we're not winding down another year just to begin anew. There is much left to be done before 2009 departs and we're going to be challenged in uncomfortable ways that lead to true experiences of Christ in this world. Get ready. I think it's going to be joyful and profoundly sobering at the same time. Onward Comrades,
Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 10/25/2009
Brian Hardin, 10/6/2009
Twenty million times since January 1, 2006 the Daily Audio Bible has been downloaded. I'm sitting in the Prayer Room in Kansas City at the moment. I've been here a lot more than I'd planned but I hadn't planned much of any of what's happened over the last couple of years. "Open up their eyes to see You. Open up their ears to hear You," the band is playing on the stage. They are praying against the Spirit of the Age. Specifically that the sleep the world has been lulled into spiritually would be broken and reality would come crashing in. I agree with all of that and it's a prayer I would have wanted to pray no matter what but I sit here in full realization that this is precisely what the Daily Audio Bible is about and exactly what it is doing in the most profoundly simple of ways. We're just offering the spoken Word of God in it's most potent configuration to the world for whoever will listen and focusing our efforts on prayer and worship. When I was in High School playing baseball our coach made us field grounders and catch pop-ups until we were sick. He said it was the fundamentals that would eventually make us win games and he was right. In fact it ended up being the difference in just about every single game. What is there in the Christian life that is more fundamental than daily interaction with the Bible, worship and prayer? Isn' it ironic that we so often find ourselves justifying why we don't have time to make room for these things in our lives and then wonder why we're not living the life we'd hoped for in Christ? Without the fundamentals down we're not going to win games but this is much more than a friendly competition between schools. Without the fundamentals down we're not going to win lives. We can sing and pray about Jesus opening the eyes and ears of those who need Him all we want and this is a very, very good thing but He's smiling back at us you know? He singing it right back over us. "You open their eyes and ears. You be My hands and feet. You reveal me." This is a partnership. To bring the Kingdom that we talk about so often we're simply going to have to do just that....bring it. Jesus came. He saved us. He modeled how life is supposed to look and He's empowered us to be everything He was. I could wrap up a little blog like this with a sentence of two about how this is what we're actually doing here at the DAB with twenty million downloads to prove it and yet the only image I have in my mind is a bunch of kids on the ball diamond fielding grounders and catching pop-ups. There is so much to do but there is so much that has been done. We have reason to rejoice certainly. But we have reason to be ever so sober. Jesus is watching, waiting, coming. It's in our intimate partnership with Him that things get done. The Daily Audio Bible is a worldwide community of believers getting the fundamentals down cold. This is a very good thing but we won't win games if we don't step into the arena and contend. We'll just be people who can play. That's not enough. I pray that by the time we reach another twenty million downloads we have stadiums full of rescued souls who have joined the family of God because we WON them to CHRIST. If you want to lead the community in prayer there are two numbers you can call. Toll free in the United States (877) 634-3337, in the UK and Europe +44 203-318-4217, in Australia +61 2 6108 4605 Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 7/19/2009
Tuesday is DAB Long Walk 09. I can barely imagine if you've been around here more than a day that you don't know what it is and why we do it so i won't recap. I am looking forward to the forums lighting up with photographs from around the world and stories of how God came and spent time with you as you set yourself apart to spend time with Him. July 7 has become an important day in this community but it happened organically. We never set out to have our own little DAB Holiday it just became. It's also quite interesting to have journals and forums to look back to and not only see what others were saying but what I was saying. It's the strangest thing to see us as a community reaching for God and then being surprised by His presence. The WindFarm is one of those things. Although it came into full view in August of 2008 in hindsight I see that it was percolating around in our community at least a year earlier when we did The Call on 07-07-07 and birthed the Long Walk. It's actually quite comforting to know that God really is working and aligning things here whether we're always paying attention or not. He's always working in our lives. The Long Walk is a day we set aside to pay attention. THIS YEAR we'll launch the WindFarm Radio Network on July 7 and inagurate prayer and worship around the world, around the clock. I'm going to take some time to share about that in depth soon because it's far too much to write so stay tuned. Needless to say, July 7 you'll get the instructions on how to tune it. We're cleared for launch. If you want to lead the community in prayer there are two numbers you can call. Toll free in the United States (877) 634-3337 and local in the UK 0203-318-4217 Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 7/5/2009 1
We reach the tipping point this week. That is to say that since January 1 we've been climbing to this point and now we'll be coasting down toward the end of the year. WE'RE HALFWAY THERE! Congratualtions on six months in the Bible every day. We're also jetting our way into July where we celebrate a really big date for the DAB Community. Three years ago on July 7 everything seemed to shift around here. We participated in an event here in Nashville called The Call but it was much more than that for us. Somehow we went from community to family overnight. I can't explain that really. Perhaps more years need to go by so that there's a little more hindsight but it's pretty much what happened. 07-07-07 for some reason catapulted us forward. Rather than falling into a Summer slump we surged forward and haven't slowed since. Since then we've called this day, The Long Walk and we set it aside as a community to walk with God. As simple as it sounds our lives are actually so busy that we find it difficult to take a day, set it aside and walk alone with God, listen for His voice and enjoy His presence. July 7 is just something we do to remind ourselves why we're here in the first place. If you haven't made your plans yet.....Do it. You'll be pleasantly surprised. On July 7 we will launch the WindFarm Radio Network. This is the first component from the new site to launch but it's also the initiation of prayer and worship around the world, around the clock. This is it! I could write pages on this but I won't just yet. Suffice it to say, we're stepping into the next season of our growth as a community and I'm so excited I could pee my pants. Well, not really. Just seeing if you're paying attention. If you want to lead the community in prayer there are two numbers you can call. Toll free in the United States (877) 634-3337 and local in the UK 0203-318-4217 Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 6/30/2009
Many of you know that this site was hacked on Sunday. It was hacked and a virus was implanted on it for the second time in three months. If you get a warning that the site is a potential attack site you can proceed without worry at this point. This is due to the fact that Google and other participating watchdogs are triggering your browser to warn you. We've submitted the proper requests and once their robots are able to verify the warning will go away. There is no threat at this point. I don't know why such talented programmer types would so deeply want to hack the Daily Audio Bible but it is what it is. The DAB has never not had it's share of warfare along the way. We've been inundated with pornographic images on the forums, threatened in phone calls, hacked and blasted in numerous other ways. I never like to focus on the warfare. I like to point out that it exists and if we pay attention to our lives we begin to realize that although there isn't a demon waiting around every corner there is more going on than meets the eye. I'd rather focus on what the authority of Christ provides for we are the ultimate victor in any scenario. It may not look like what we'd wanted but submitting to the sovereignty of God changes our vantage point of every situation. We got hacked again. That's unfortunate but thanks to fine men in this commuinity like Chet Cromer and Rob Tate we're back up and running after disinfecting thousands of files and hundreds of thousands of lines of code. All is well again in DABville. There is a silver lining in this story; something to look forward to. The infrastructure of the new DAB site is built upon the same security platform that your online banking systems are built on. In other words....very secure indeed. We'll not be dealing with this sort of thing in the future. In other news the WindFarm Prayer Room is becoming such a reality. We're in final beta testing and those of you who have called in to pray and lead the community have actually been praying and leading the team here as we test the station night and day. What a joy it's been to wake up in the night and hear someone from this community from somewhere in the world praying over and for things that matter most. I can hardly wait for you to experience the next phase of where God is leading us. The plan is to launch prayer around the world, around the clock through the WindFarm Prayer Room on July 7 as we participate in the 3rd Annual DAB Long Walk. Get ready. If you want to lead the community in prayer there are two numbers you can call. Toll free in the United States (877) 634-3337 and local in the UK 0203-318-4217 Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 6/1/2009 1
I am sitting in Kansas City at the International House of Prayer as I write this. There is genuinely something very special about sitting in a place where prayer and worship goes on 24 hours a day and never stops. It's been going on for over a decade and it shows. It's really quite remarkable. One of the most striking aspects of this place is the median age of those involved. Most are in their twenties. They've given up whatever they have to to sacrifice their lives calling out to God. On the one hand we could look at this as irresponsible. They are, after all at the prime age to begin the process of making their way in the world. It's these years that really count when it comes time to retire. Even as I write those words on the page here I cringe. I suppose it all boils down to what worldview you have. What culture you are choosing to embrace. What kingdom you've chosen to serve. It's almost midnight here. There are probably two or three hundred people praying right now. This will go on all night, all day tomorrow and all night tomorrow night. It simply never ceases. I've spent about 12 hours in the Prayer Room this weekend. I could spend another 12 easily. I'd stay in here all week if I could. Sitting here it all becomes so clear and I scratch my head and wonder what is wrong with we Christians sometimes. I'm not saying we have to all commit ourselves to a lifestyle of day and night prayer but sheesh. How many hours do we pray each day? How many minutes? How many seconds. Think about it. I have prayed along with this rotating, never ending prayer movement for the end of abortion, for revival in the hearts of the youth in California, for God to raise up 10,000 twelve year olds who would give themselves to God at a young age like Christ in the temple. It goes on and on and I'm humbled at how selfishly I pray usually. This weekend has taught me much but one of the more profound things is that it's REALLY and TRULY not about us and we REALLY and TRULY have to stop saying those words and still making everything about us. We have to REALLY and TRULY start living it. Twenty somethings giving themselves to a life of sacrifice believing that it matters that they cry out to God day and night. I see almost no affects of the outside world here. Not in a wierd way like the real world doesn't exist. Quite the contrary. They are praying for the real world but are unaffected by it. It holds no appeal for them. They really could care less who wins American Idol. I see people crying before the Lord in profound love. What happens on the latest TV show or who wins the game this weekend is just not that important when you have an audience with the King and He smiles on you. Ughh. It's so sad the things we go to for life. The things we substitute for the real life Jesus offers. I see very little depression or self absorption around here. This probably has something to do with staying in the presence of the Lord as well. I have a lot of processing to do and I've managed to scribble out another stream of conciousness post that probably makes little sense but hopefully conveys some emotion. I am ever more convinced that we cannot live the life Jesus offers and that we're supposed to live without the Word of God every single day and without a genuine and fervant prayer life. It just won't work any other way and we have to stop pretending it will and sacrifice whatever we must in order to give our lives to God. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 5/17/2009
I returned from helping a friend move a few minutes ago. Our whole little community did and although it's never a fun thing to do it's awfully nice to see a microcosm of the Body of Christ all coming together with purpose. I think the equivalent of this back in the day would have been a barn raising or something similar. A community really depended on one another and they all found ways to help because helping was for the good of all. I like that. It feels right. There's more to it though. Jason and Sandy felt that God wanted them in this area for a couple of years now and it was a real journey to get from where they were to where they are. They felt like they were supposed to be here because of the mission God put in their heart and as I drove away from their beautiful new home I thought about all the people on their new street. Then of course I started thinking about all the people on my new street. Isn't it ironic how we don't really know too many of the people on our own street or living in the same building as we are? Perhaps we only casually know the people we spend time with at work every day. I don't know why but that doesn't seem to perfectly fit. When I was a kid I'd do everything I could to blaze through my chores. I'd throw things under my bed, hide them in the closet and cram the dresser full just to give the illusion of a clean room. My dad would look the whole thing over and make me do it right. He'd say, "Brian, don't you realize that you've expended the same amount of effort to do this wrong as it would have taken to do it right?" And at that point it was going to take me twice as long because I had to undo what I'd already done. This kind of applies to our personal interaction with those within our reach. How much more effort is it actually going to take to develop a more intimate and trusting relationship with someone than it does to talk about the weather? We spend time with people every day without the slightest sense that we are representing the Kingdom and that Jesus sincerely wants them to be a part of it. So as Jason and Sandy move into their new home I pray they become a beacon of pure light to the community. I pray that we all take the challenge to simply make the effort to lay the groundwork to build relationships. Eventually the seeds planted will produce a harvest. Your smile everyday or words of kindness beyond the superficial will eventually yield trust and that trust will lead to Christ. Everything we do matters. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 5/2/2009 1
He is risen! That's sort of the common phrase we use in churches around the world to commemorate Easter. Is He really though? I mean c'mon. From the dead really? The answer is a resounding yes but it might be a little more complicated than that. I watched The Passion of the Christ film on Good Friday with a group of people from our area. We've done this before and it's been quite powerful each time. I end up almost speechless at the utter horror of Christ's sacrifice. And the interesting thing is that this was only the physical part of His suffering. He had to bear the weight of sin on His back spiritually as well. Unthinkable. Back to the resurrection. The Work of Christ offers and promises us much. His suffering and death, His resurrection and His ascension back to the Father all mean things to we who believe but before He departed earth He told us what He expected us to do. Go into all the world preaching the Gospel to all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Work of Christ offers us all the same power that Jesus operated under and yet we fail often at actually doing the Work of Christ. Think about it. We have the power of Heaven backing us up and a clear mandate so where's the disconnect. Do we really believe in the resurrection? In our hearts? Do we understand what the resurrection means? It means He conquered death. Spiritual death and eternal separation from God is no longer on the menu for our future. The thing is.......it's on the agenda for an incredible amount of people everywhere we look and well within our reach. So is Jesus really alive? I mean is He really alive in you? Really? We're the body of Christ right? So if we're the hands and feet of the risen Christ who is living His life inside of us isn't it about time we started acting like it's true? I mean......unless......it's just for us to keep to ourselves and let those around us pass into a Godless eternity that is. You may get sick of hearing this. I hope it's nothing more than a clarion call but it's time to get off our butt and live like Jesus is actually alive in us. As in right now. Today. What are your plans for offering the world a risen savior this week? Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 4/12/2009
Today is Palm Sunday. I spent the morning ministering with Jill in a little country church in Hartselle, AL. I've been in about every kind of church imaginable over the years both ministering with Jill and as a pastor's son. Usually in an "older" church like this everyone sort of stares at you and you get the feeling that you're not connecting and then after church everyone rushes up and gushes over you with all the southern hospitality the south is known for. That was precisely what happened. Jill had a larger concert in Decatur over the weekend. The city has been plagued by teen suicide for the better part of a year now. At least one per month in a city that size is a lot. The concert was a part of a series of events geared toward restoring hope and offering help. I sat with a father whose high school daughter had ended her life. Those are not easy conversations and I realized as I listened to his story how profound our choices are. Obviously he had looked at this tragedy a thousand times from a thousand angles questioning what he could have done. We're heading into a part of the Bible where we're going to see quite clearly that what we do and what we say matters a lot. My take away from that conversation wasn't just a "make sure you hug your kids" sort of thing. It was simply that our actions for good or evil build on the actions of others. We may never know the force of something we do or say but there are always repercussions one way or the other. Seemingly random sets of events eventually culminate with some sort of outcome somewhere down the line. It's not acceptable to believe that we don't matter because we do. All of us. No matter our age or status. No one breathing is exempt. The pastor brought a brief message today. "Isn't it ironic," He said, "that the Roman Empire that put Christ to death eventually became the protector and purveyor of that same Gospel?" It is ironic indeed. The actions of twelve, turned into the actions of seventy and then one hundred twenty and then five thousand and then...... What we do matters. Don't count yourself out. There isn't time for that anymore. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 4/5/2009 1
It never stops. We think it does. We think we can arrange for some hidden time. Time where nothing can happen. Where we're in a cocoon but (at least for me) those times are more of a surprise rather than something I'd arranged for. I'm waiting for Jill to get in from Atlanta. She should be back soon. I was planning to sleep in today. To play hooky from church and rest. As I was on my way to bed at 2 this morning I felt the Holy Spirit pressing me hard that I wasn't going to do that at all. I fell asleep saying, "OK Jesus if this is You then wake me up." Silly I know but I was up and in the shower at the appropriate time. I wear contacts. Somehow I ragged my right eye really hard yesterday. When I got up this morning my eye was puffy and terribly sore. I have to wear the hard contacts. The ones that have a tendency to be like sandpaper. Yeah. Yuck. So I'm sitting on the edge of the bed going, "Jesus there is nothing I would like more than to fall back into the covers and sleep. Can't you send me a dream or something?" Nada. So I got up and went sans one of my contacts. I felt like the one eyed cyclops during worship and the message. Why am I here God? Why did you drag me here? A worship song is playing in the background as I write this. I've gotten in the habit of leaving worship music running in my house all through the night. A sort of act of consecration I guess. It's been running all day today as well because I can't do much with one eye. "I am no longer my own, " Misty sings, "I'm Your garden." Oh so that's it. It's not about me. Hm-mm. Why do I always assume it's all about me? I sat next to an African American woman at church today. I don't know her. I've never met her. At the end of service she told me thank you for reading the Bible to her every day. So even when it's about me it's not about me is it? I went to church today to show my sons that I will be faithful. I went today to encourage this woman in her faith. I went today to beat my body into submission. I went today to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is my reasonable service. OK. I get it. This is what it looks like to obey when there is no reason to. This is what it's like to honor God when there is no apparent gain to myself. This is what it's like to stand up and do the right thing no matter whose watching. I'm no longer my own. I'm Your garden. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 3/22/2009
I'm writing from a hotel room this evening. I just completed a whirlwind weekend in Colorado with John Eldredge and the Ransomed Heart team at the Wild at Heart Advanced retreat. I feel like I should write profound shifts in my heart and if I could I would. Although I have profound things rolling around it all happened so fast that I'm spinning. I saw God show up in peoples lives, I saw Jesus show up in my own life and confirm and affirm so many things, I got to share about the community God has raised up here and I got to lead a man to Jesus. My heart is full, my mind is racing and my body is worn out. I feel like I could fall asleep as I type this. I'm completely full and empty at the same time and in a real way I hope I can stay that way. I sincerely want to be full of Jesus and empty of anything else and I know you do to. The good news is that we're moving in the right direction. We're getting there. We're under renovation and God is sp pleased with our progress. In other news, Tara returned from Mexico safely a couple of days ago. I can hardly wait to hear about the trip and the things that God is doing through it. The Hope of Prayer Week Four is upon us. This is the final week of this month long class and I can't wait to jump into the forums and see the lively conversation. I think that was the last coherent sentence I can type but I do have the energy to tell you that I love and appreciate each one of you. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 3/15/2009
I'll use the space this week to serve as an update and a forecast. As I mentioned last week on the blog here and explained on the podcast we've gotten hammered with a growth spurt again. What normally happens is that this causes some havoc and instability around here but this time it was a little different. We thought we were the most stable we've ever been, after all the DAB is on a private server! Alas....we crashed it and this time we had the rug pulled out from under us. This didn't sit well with me or any of those that I trust on the tech side of things. I KNOW YOU CAN'T DOWNLOAD ANYTHING BEFORE MARCH 1. I know. Sorry about that but let me explain what we're doing and I'm hoping we have a solution that will fit us for a long time to come. The reality is that the DAB really needs enterprise level service but the reality is that's ridiculously expensive. Thankfully we have some very smart and tech savvy guys here. We are co-locating the DAB on several different servers as I write this and will mirror them so that we can spread out the bandwidth load among them. What this should provide us is stability. As we grow we'll add another server and integrate it into the rotation. If one goes down the others will absorb the load while we replace it. It seems to be our best bet in keeping the Daily Audio Bible growing and stable and we're excited about it. This will be invisible to you as you download in fact you've been using the new system for several days. We're not going to enable the podcasts all the way back to the beginning of the year until we get one more server in place because we expect a burst right away and we want to be as stable as possible. This is likely to happen in the next couple of days. From there all should return to normal. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. It is so very exciting to watch a community like our actually act like a family and band together at times like these. We're almost there and I think this time we're poised for future growth in a stable and healthy way. FINALLY. My thanks to Chet and Rob once again without whom this could not be happening. NEXT. This is a travel week so pack your bags. We have several stops to make. Little Rock, OKC, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Lubbock, Dallas and the Rocky Mountains. This is part business and part re-orientation. I'll be attending the Wild at Heart Advanced retreat in Colorado this weekend with John Eldredge and the Ransomed Heart team. John, of course is teaching the Hope of Prayer class that we are offering currently here on the DAB. I'm looking forward to taking you along. I hope this gets everyone up to speed and answers the questions. I get hundreds of emails a day about this and rather than being annoyed by it, it shows me how deeply the DAB is a part of so many lives. Hang in there. We're almost across this rough patch. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 3/8/2009
We're in week two of The Hope of Prayer virtual class around here. It's been quite a ride with a lot of incredible discussion so far. What I want to talk to you about this week is one of the main assumptions of the teaching: We are all in different places in our maturity, location and experience and yet God entrusts us with bringing His Kingdom. We are all under renovation and yet He is supremely pleased as any Father would be with our growth. We are all growing up. It's the "growing up" that I want to talk about. Since the launch of the Daily Audio Bible in 2006 every conceivable thing has been thrown at this community. We've stood and we grown in the face of it all. Over the last several months the greatest challenge to this community has been it's growth! I know that sounds bizarre but it remains true. The Daily Audio Bible continues to grow to the point that it rapidly crashes whatever server it's on. To put this in perspective, at the beginning of 2009 one of our tech guru dudes (Chet) was asking around about different scenarios we were exploring and when one Internet provider found out the kind of bandwidth we use he asked, "is this a porn site?" I know that's a bit crude but it's a reality. Internet video pornography gobbles the most bandwidth on the Internet. The Daily Audio Bible gives that a run for it's money and it's an audio program. Video is far and away more resource intensive. Another provider that I spoke to hosts a very well known household name Country artist website. The DAB is far and away more popular in it's demand for resources. Over the last month and a half you've undoubtedly come to the website only to find an error like "cannot connect to SQL" or something similar. Let me tell you what's happening when you see that. Picture the on ramp to the global Internet as a large pipe. Not a small one. Picture a huge drainage pipe. That pipe can move a lot of water. If it's full it can even expand a little based on how fast the water is moving through it but eventually it has it's limits. It can only take so much and when it's reached all it can take it will rupture. The DAB has been rupturing it's pipe and taking a whole server down in the process. This week we got fair warning that disaster was imminent and that our provider was about to pull the plug on the whole ministry. Since then we've been looking once again for a scalable solution that can handle any eventuality. I thought we were there already but once again we've outgrown our shoes. Since we're learning to be people of prayer I'm going to step out and ask you for two things boldly. 1. PRAY for the DAB. Pray specifically that we will have favor in this transition period and that there will be no interruptions to this community. Pray that we can quickly identify and implement a final solution and pray that any warfare set against this family will be shattered before it gets here. We bring the cross of Jesus Christ between the DAB family and any malicious plan of the evil one against us. 2. GIVE. I am not a fundraiser. I don't want to be and I've been specifically instructed by the Holy Spirit not to ever make this ministry about the money. I won't do that but there is a need. We're going to have to "mirror" the DAB redundantly so that there are multiple sources spread over many servers and that only adds to everything else that's going on here. While you are praying if you a get a sense from Jesus that you should partner together with the DAB then I am asking this once that you do not ignore that nudge. Enough said. The good news is that more people worldwide are coming into contact with what is now becoming a movement. Expose yourself to the Word of God everyday and you will never be the same. The great news is that this is really God's problem and there is no fear. Just peace. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 3/1/2009
If these walls could speak! It's been one of those weeks for me. Disruption of the highest order. We moved this week. I'm still reeling. Moving is nothing short of torture for me. I can't hate it more than I do. I swore last time I did this that I wouldn't do it again without a moving company. I reaffirmed that commitment again this week and this time I mean it! Moving. Ugh. Everything you own in this box or that. All the heavy stuff up and down the stairs. Will this look good here? Or there? Thank God for the words, "Release and Complete," over this year. I threw away a full moving truck of stuff. I think I could do another one if I put my mind to it. I have much to process over the last few weeks. Things are percolating. Shifts are taking place inside me. When the earth shifts because of an earthquake or something similar a lot of times what is underneath is exposed. This has been my prayer over my life and over this community this year but true to form that's a lot more sexy to say than to do. Exposing what is underneath requires a look see at what's there and it requires some honest assessment. But what else can we do if we're going to move? Moving may be a difficult experience but it's more or less what we're called to do almost all the time. I don't mean that we shift from domicile to domicile but we are really instructed to be mobile like the wind and able to shift at the whim of the Holy Spirit. I hate moving but moving has exposed a lot of things in my life that I can do better. It's shown me yet more that I can let go of also. This week we begin the first WindFarm class: The Hope of Prayer. I can't stress how important I believe this teaching is to the DAB community at large and each of us in particular. Move whatever you need to in your life to make time for this. I'm serious. It will change much. And much has to change if we're going to be a people of Word and Deed. We spend time in the Bible every single day. Now it's time to pray together to get things done. Moving is no fun but move we must for anything less is standing still. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 2/22/2009
Last week I released the January Community Update. I felt really strong that I needed to tell the Daily Audio Bible story again because there are so many new people that become a part of this community as each year passes. I realized while telling the story that SO much has happened in three years that I'd need to talk for three hours or more to get it all out. At any rate I wanted to talk about where we've been in order to share vision for where we're going and if you haven't had the chance to listen yet I encourage you to take the time. WindFarm is something that is really beginning to burn in my heart. So much of the puzzle is fitting together and I am eager for us to begin praying together. I am passionate about the coming day when we can say as a family here that we are praying around the world, around the clock. That we are continually going before the Lord in reverence, worship and intercession. If you haven't yet, click the WindFarm tab at the top of the page and read about it. We've also provided a couple of audio resources that can be listened to so that the WindFarm Prayer Initiative makes more sense. The first is just an overview that I've prepared. The second is the original month end review where the WindFarm really began. Part of this whole move forward with the WindFarm is some teaching on prayer. I am working now to assemble the first portion of that. It's an honor to partner with Ransomed Heart ministries to bring an eight part teaching from John Eldredge called, "The Hope of Prayer." This teaching aided my prayer life more than any other single teaching that I've ever been a part of. I am eager to bring it to this community and we'll be seeing that shortly. The DAB missions trip to Cali, Columbia is also heavily on the radar. If you sense God inviting you to go then you'll need to act quick as the deadline is February 14. I don't have a story to share this week because I wanted to use the space to encourage you to dig deeper here. God has raised a community out of the dust and if you feel that you're a part of it take the time this week to fully get to know the ways God is moving among us. Listen to these audio resources and catch the vision! Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 2/8/2009
I've been on the road this last week. You've perhaps been on your first "virtual road trip" with me. For many of us we're old traveling companions having roamed all over the world together. Travel is a part of my life. I find the most glorious times with God as I travel but the reality is it's not always that way. Depending on how you define "glorious" that is. There is rarely a time that I'm traveling when I do not hear specifically from God through His Word, the counsel of the Holy Spirit or a life lesson but sometimes these lessons come hard. For me I have been focusing on what it really and honestly means to cast my cares on God this week. I've been meditating on what it would really look like to be still and know He is God. I've pondered the virtues and pitfalls of being pragmatic and melancholy as a person. How much of my character is steeped in the fact that I want to have a safety net in place in case God doesn't come through? How much of each of our characters are like this? That's scary stuff to be musing over in the middle of a snow desert when all around you are convinced by beauty that God really is there and really does have a plan. Snow sparkles in the moonlight while black peaks stand like sentinels over the valley below and I am quite sure of God's presence but stuck down deep somewhere is the nagging question....what if He really doesn't care? What if He's really indifferent? What does this say about me? We all want control over our destiny. We don't like the idea of giving up that control. We're fine with walking to the edge but we're not so good at the jumping off part. Life pushes us over sometimes and we have to hold onto faith in those moments because it's all there is but we're not so good at looking out over the black nothingness and jumping willingly honestly believing that Jesus is out there somewhere waiting to lead us on. But He is. He is. God has asked us to believe the unthinkable in order to get to Him. Faith. The substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. Without this there is no way to please God. Without this there is no way to live for the King and serve the Kingdom. Without this there is no way to have any framework or context for believing at all. This isn't so much about being a glass half empty person or a glass half full person. This is about whether or not we really believe any of this stuff. And it's about understanding that how God goes about bringing His Kingdom in our lives is His business and it very well may not look like we'd thought. In fact often it's nothing like we'd thought. We have to stop thrashing about trying to force something, anything to happen. Trying to force God into moving even if it's to rescue our behinds when we get stuck on some rock shelf above tree line on a mountain we were never supposed to climb in the first place. Be still and know that I am God I hear Him say as the snow snakes it's way across the tar colored pavement. Cast your cares on me because I care for you He says beside the silver frozen lake. It all blends together. He's asking us to have faith but He's leaving clues and proof everywhere if we'll only pay attention. They just aren't the clues we'd usually like. We'd like an angel, or a pillar of fire but let's be honest, when God actually did those things they didn't work. The very people who marched through a dry lake bed between walls of dammed up water held by nothing that then collapsed upon their enemies destroying them are the same people who were bowing down to a golden calf a short spell later. I choose to believe cutting all safety nets for the hundredth time. I choose to believe in spite of myself. I choose to believe as we each must for there is no other way. I choose to believe because I will not bow to the idol of unbelief. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 1/18/2009
Welcome to the new site! Over the next several days and weeks we will be tweaking and building out. Please scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Site Help" then read section 8. This is important to a successful visit. Thanks for your grace and understanding as we roll this all out. Happy New Year! If you're just now jumping on board, welcome to the adventure. If you're like me you've probably made a resolution to finally read through the whole Bible. It's probably not the first time you've done this. Perhaps you've made it through January and even February in the past but March is sort of the wall you run into and getting all the way to Summer is out of the question. Good news. You can make it. I know this because I've done it and I did it with tens of thousands of others around the world. I promise you that if you make it through January you'll start to notice a shift happening in your heart. You'll start to crave the Scriptures. A few months from now you'll really begin to feel like you're a part of something. You are. The Daily Audio Bible was created to be a community experience and you'll know that every day you are walking through the Scriptures with people all over the world. This website was created to give you a connection point to each other. One year from now you won't be able to look in the mirror and see the same person. God will have transformed you from the inside out. Very little will look the same. If you're back on board for your second or third (or even fourth) year, welcome back. I feel a little funny even saying that because we're already family. I believe what I've been saying..... 2009 promises to be an epic year. I feel that God is inviting us to "release and complete" many things and I also sense Jesus asking us to stand up and live what it is we've been learning about every day. It's time to put it all into practice rather than just filling our hearts and minds with knowledge. So these are our new digs. Look around the site. It's going to take a little time to build out every single module and erradicate every single bug but we'll get there. There is a whole new infrastructure beneath this site and it poises us to grow properly. Aside from the launch of DAB Spanish, DAB for Kids, DAB Hindi and the Daily Audio Proverb I feel that this is a year where we will do everything we can think of to stretch the boundaries of technology and break the barriers that seperate us geographically. We're identifying and implementing better ways for us to connect individually and as groups and I can't wait to see what that's going to look like. So that's it for now. I love you all. Happy New Year. Onward Comrades,
Brian Hardin, 1/11/2009
AS OF NOW THE DAILY AUDIO BIBLE IS RESIDING ON IT'S OWN SERVER. THERE MIGHT BE SOME BUGS BUT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE RETURNING TO NORMAL. Wow that was fun! The last couple of days have shown us once again what crashing a site looks like. This is the second time in our history that we've experienced this. It's been kind of stressful because first we had to figure out what was going on and then why and then what to do. Basically the volume of requests for information from the Daily Audio Bible leaped to over a half million in a two day span and it crashed us. When this happened it helped me finally realize that we had finally outgrown our old jeans. I hate to buy new ones because the old ones are so comfortable and our butts look so nice in them. But we've sort of outgrown them and it's time to put them in the back of the drawer or give them away. The good news is we didn't outgrow them because we're fat and sloppy. We outgrew them because we've grown strong and muscular. So I've made the decision to buy new jeans. REALLY expensive ones. The DAB is being migrated to a private environment where this can't happen again and we need that stability as we begin to provide the Bible in Spanish, Hindi and for Children. The price tag for our new digs is going to be in the neighborhood of an additional five thousand dollars (that's 200,000 rupees ) per year. Would you pray with me that God would provide this and if God invites you to participate then I'm grateful. Either way the step of faith has been taken. This is what God calls us to do. The uncomfortable must become the comfortable because God is challenging us (all of us) to shape up and move out. We don't get to be little children of the faith anymore. We're now asked to be grown men and women who carry the banner of the King and the Kingdom forward. Over the next few days you can expect that this site might be up or down at any given moment. It's due to ovewhelming traffic. It's not a technical error. We know all about it. It's just what happens when too many people want the same thing at the same time. It will correct itself over the course of the next couple of days and then we will ultimately be on our own server and the whole issue will be gone and the site should be zippy and happy. So that's the story. That's what's happened. This is an exciting time. I can't wait to see what God does among us next. Onward Comrades Brian
Brian Hardin, 11/30/2008
I have reverse jetlag. My body is very tired but my mind tells me it's afternoon. I'm sitting here in front of my computer. China is finally asleep. Everyone is asleep but me. Melatonin is starting to creep into the back of my mind and pull me in the same direction but right now I'm just trying to process the trip to India. Heck, I'm just trying to process today. We left the base in Lonavala at about 8:30PM arriving in Mumbai at about 11. By the time we got on board and in the air it was 3AM. We ate breakfast in London and connected to Washington DC where we sprinted to catch the Nashville flight by the closest measure. It's been a long day. The last couple of weeks have had significant activity around them and you'd think I'd have an enormous amount of things to write about. It's not that there isn't a lot of unpacking going on emotionally and mentally because there is but if I had to boil it down I would say PRAY. Pray for India. Pray for revival. Pray for the DAB Community for our share in it. I have many experiences to talk about. There is much to say but right now I'm going to keep this short. Maybe this is as short of a blog as I've ever written but it doesn't take a lot of words to say, "please." And so I'm asking you to please pray for all that God is doing among us. It's quite beautiful to see really. It's honestly humbling. Pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." While I was in India the DAB crossed the 12 million download mark. Pray for the continued reach of this community. We're in for quite a ride over this coming year, Onward Comrades Brian
Brian Hardin, 11/23/2008
May I introduce you to some friends? This is a little group of us who gathered Saturday evening in London to have dinner together. I'm a little jetlagged right now so I'll be honest in telling you that I have no real eloquence flowing at the moment. It wouldn't matter because I'm speechless either way. Craig, Helena and the fam drove over two hours to get there. Names from the forums took on faces and smiles and hearts. Are you getting this? We are all over the world! This iCommunity that we have is everywhere. Let's go ahead and pat ourselves on the back for a sec. When we started everyone said there is no such thing as authentic virtual community. Some even said that was a dangerous concept. As for my part I wasn't trying to make anything happen that wasn't just occuring organically all by itself. Three years later and I'm positive virtual community exists, is healthy and beneficial. Look at these faces. They are your brothers and sisters. Look at these faces closely. Do you know why they are here on this page? Do you know why this page exists? The Word of God. It's alive and powerfully relevant. It draws people together who have never met. Throughout it's history it's never been afraid to smash stereotypes and challenge the status quo. This is what it does every day among us. I don't have a lot more to say this week. The saying tells us that, "A picture paints a thousand words," These are much better words than I can create. Everyone here has an intersecting life in this community because the Bible is spoken every day and allowed to do what it does. What it does is supernatural and beyond our intellect alone. Who would have ever thought of something like this? Not me. But where else would Jesus show up in this day and age other than what has quickly become the new mission field of cyberscpace? We're all fortunate to be here. Never take it for granted. China and I have arrived in India. Don't even get me started. I haven't been here 12 hours and it's all coming back to me. The smell, the feel, the faces. I can't wait for it to all unfold. I can't wait to share what God is doing through the efforts of this community. I try so hard to carefully craft my words so that they don't come off like a sales pitch or tired cliche' ridden rhetoric. There are times when that becomes difficult. With that caveat let me say that what we are doing together is continually breaking new ground. DAB Hindi is about to go live in a few weeks. This would have never happened without you first of all being here and second of all believing in the gift of the spoken Word of God to the Hindi speaking world that we are giving them. They thank you in advance. These efforts will bring people into the Kingdom of God who would have never been exposed to the Scriptures any other way. Alright friends. I realize this is a pretty hodgepodged entry. One hour of sleep and a world away is my excuse. Thank you for your prayers. I love you very much. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 11/16/2008
The elections are over. Over. Whew. Oddly it seems that the partisanship really reared it's ugly head among Christians after the fact. So much so that it spilled into our corner of the world and is actually still going on. I find that a little peculiar to be honest. It's interesting how we're very comfortable letting God be in control as long as He sees things our way. The good lesson to be had here is that no matter how much we think we have figured out and no matter the rhetoric we spew or koolaid we drink God is in control. No matter what our issues are or how our passions rise, God is in control. I got an email five times this week telling me not to accept the new dollar coins here in the United States because they no longer say, "One nation under God," on them. I think that's a fine idea. I feel comforted to have that on our money but whether it's there or not we are one nation under God. Every nation is. As a people we have the will and means to reject God and turn our backs on Him certainly but how do you suppose we got that will to begin with? It's a gift from God. To think that we have the power to overrun God's ultimate plan and purpose is about as misguided as we can possibly get to the point of total delusion. God is in control. He's holding this whole thing together and allowing us the dignity of our free will. We get to mess everything up and He'll let us. All roads lead back to His feet one way or another and we can take the long road if we want to. He's patient. So the elections are done. In a couple of months we will have President Barak Obama, the first African American to ever hold this distinguished office in our nations history. On the one hand I have to be happy for that. I have a receipt that has been handed down for over a hundred years in my family for the purchase of a woman about thirty years of age in reasonably good health. At one point my family owned her. It wasn't my idea. To see the country move this far beyond that makes me glad inside. I don't know about the rest of it. I don't know what kind of president Mr. Obama will be. What I do know is that God is in control. If taxes go up God is in control. If the economy totally tanks God is in control, If he's a really bad man, God is in control. If he's a really good man God is in control. You see, nothing has changed here. We have elected a guy to watch over the government. God is still in control. The mission of the Kingdom is unmoved by this. Your purpose in life is completely intact. So.... let's get to work now. We have a world to move for the King and the Kingdom. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 11/9/2008
John McCain is in Pennsylvania. Sarah Palin is in Ohio. Barak Obama is in Missouri. Joe Beiden is in West Virginia. God is everywhere. We've been talking about these elections for a long time now. They are upon us. Things are frantic. Can you feel it? It's almost like it's not real anymore. Like it's this crazy thing on TV. A contest like American Idol or something. It's so very easy to get lost. We're electing a president not a savior. We're electing a man to a four year term of office but we serve an eternal King. We're sending someone to the White House to govern a country but at best we are dual citizens of this country and the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm looking forward to it being over. To getting on with things. To begining the process of praying for and over the man that will lead us. God's will can be accomplished either way. He is sovereign. He is almighty. There is no power on earth that can thwart His will. If He decides there should be no more world tomorrow it will all be gone. He's not going to do that of course. He's placed us here to do His work. So I guess after the votes are cast and the super bowl of politics is over it's still up to us to bring the Kingdom. Each of us in our own sphere of influence while praying earnestly for those in authority over us. With that in mind NOVEMBER 3 is the big day. THE WINDFARM TURBINES ARE ABOUT TO WHIRL. At 10 PM Central Time (11PM Eastern, 8PM Pacific and various times around the world) we are launching the first WINDFARM VIRTUAL PRAYER GATHERING. Be there. You will be able to call in and pray. You can chat with your brothers and sisters. We're going before God and praying for His Will to be done the next day. Follow this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dailyaudiobible/2008/11/04/DAB-Radio. It will take you where you need to go. You may want to go there and register early so that you have no problems when the time comes. My guess is there will be hundreds and hundreds who participate. I look forward to seeing you there. It's a big moment in our history as a community. Don't miss out. While you're in the voting mood....the DAB was nominated for a Podcast Award this year in the Religion and Spirituality category. If you want to cast a vote for your community you can do so at www.podcastawards.com Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 11/2/2008
I'M GOING TO LEAVE THIS ONE UP FOR ANOTHER WEEK BECAUSE I THINK UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES IT BEARS REPEATING. I get a lot of emails every week as you can imagine. I do my best to respond to them. Sometimes it's difficult to respond to everyone but I try. Today I got a bit of a disgruntled one. Those are few and far between but they come now and then. There's nothing wrong with that. It's important that as a community we remain in relationship with each other and part of that is the freedom to actually communicate. The essence of the note was the idea that I don't seem to really care about the upcoming elections in the United States. That I, in fact, basically said I didn't care. This was a bit confusing so I'm going to use this space to state exactly what I thought I was already communicating. I do care. A lot. So much so that I've spent the last month praying for it over and over. The primary focus of launching the WindFarm is wrapped around it. I'm not trying to force our United States elections down the throat of this worldwide community but nevertheless I do believe this election has a bearing on the whole world in one way or another. I also think it carries weight in the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God. So let me be clear....I care about it. What I don't care much about is partisan politics. If you're following the debates, the talking heads and the rhetoric what you will find is an ongoing and systematic marketing job geared to polarize you one way or the other. That's not a bad thing in and of itself but if you get lost in the rhetoric you get lost altogether. I realize there are issues. I totally get it. I know that some issues are near and dear to believers in Jesus. I see that. What I'm not going to do is use what God has entrusted me with to become a voice for anything other than the King and the Kingdom. I haven't suggested that you do anything but engage in fervent and passionate prayer. This we can all agree on. I've suggested we set aside our personal preferences, agendas and passions and focus on, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth." Here's what I believe. God has given us a measure of discernment. He has not given us the global ability to look upon a man or woman's heart and know it fully. He has also not given us the ability to know the full extent of the future. Those things are His domain, He is sovereign. We are not. Rather than engaging in the frenzy that is being stirred all around us for the next few weeks we should probably engage in fervent and passionate prayer that God will reveal to us our role in all of this and that ultimately His Will gets done regardless of anything else. How many times in the Bible do we see God doing things that accomplish His Will while fundamentally confounding the wisdom of man? A lot. I don't care if McCain-Palin win any more than I care about Obama-Beiden winning as long as God's will is done. I have a preference. I am continually checking my heart and motives. I am continually laying my preferences and desires down. My prayer is that the Kingdom comes and that God's Will is done in all of this. To that end let me ask you to put November 3 on your Calendar. At 10 PM Central Time (11PM Eastern, 8PM Pacific and various times around the world) we are launching the first WINDFARM VIRTUAL PRAYER GATHERING. Be there. You will be able to call in and pray. You can chat with your brothers and sisters. We're going before God and praying for His Will to be done the next day. Follow this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dailyaudiobible/2008/11/04/DAB-Radio. It will take you where you need to go. You may want to go there and register early so that you have no problems when the time comes. My guess is there will be hundreds and hundreds who participate. I look forward to seeing you there. It's a big moment in our history as a community. Don't miss out. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 10/26/2008
I get a lot of emails every week as you can imagine. I do my best to respond to them. Sometimes it's difficult to respond to everyone but I try. Today I got a bit of a disgruntled one. Those are few and far between but they come now and then. There's nothing wrong with that. It's important that as a community we remain in relationship with each other and part of that is the freedom to actually communicate. The essence of the note was the idea that I don't seem to really care about the upcoming elections in the United States. That I, in fact, basically said I didn't care. This was a bit confusing so I'm going to use this space to state exactly what I thought I was already communicating. I do care. A lot. So much so that I've spent the last month praying for it over and over. The primary focus of launching the WindFarm is wrapped around it. I'm not trying to force our United States elections down the throat of this worldwide community but nevertheless I do believe this election has a bearing on the whole world in one way or another. I also think it carries weight in the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God. So let me be clear....I care about it. What I don't care much about is partisan politics. If you're following the debates, the talking heads and the rhetoric what you will find is an ongoing and systematic marketing job geared to polarize you one way or the other. That's not a bad thing in and of itself but if you get lost in the rhetoric you get lost altogether. I realize there are issues. I totally get it. I know that some issues are near and dear to believers in Jesus. I see that. What I'm not going to do is use what God has entrusted me with to become a voice for anything other than the King and the Kingdom. I haven't suggested that you do anything but engage in fervent and passionate prayer. This we can all agree on. I've suggested we set aside our personal preferences, agendas and passions and focus on, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth." Here's what I believe. God has given us a measure of discernment. He has not given us the global ability to look upon a man or woman's heart and know it fully. He has also not given us the ability to know the full extent of the future. Those things are His domain, He is sovereign. We are not. Rather than engaging in the frenzy that is being stirred all around us for the next few weeks we should probably engage in fervent and passionate prayer that God will reveal to us our role in all of this and that ultimately His Will gets done regardless of anything else. How many times in the Bible do we see God doing things that accomplish His Will while fundamentally confounding the wisdom of man? A lot. I don't care if McCain-Palin win any more than I care about Obama-Beiden winning as long as God's will is done. I have a preference. I am continually checking my heart and motives. I am continually laying my preferences and desires down. My prayer is that the Kingdom comes and that God's Will is done in all of this. To that end let me ask you to put November 3 on your Calendar. At 10 PM Central Time (11PM Eastern, 8PM Pacific and various times around the world) we are launching the first WINDFARM VIRTUAL PRAYER GATHERING. Be there. You will be able to call in and pray. You can chat with your brothers and sisters. We're going before God and praying for His Will to be done the next day. Follow this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dailyaudiobible/2008/11/04/DAB-Radio. It will take you where you need to go. You may want to go there and register early so that you have no problems when the time comes. My guess is there will be hundreds and hundreds who participate. I look forward to seeing you there. It's a big moment in our history as a community. Don't miss out. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 10/19/2008
This morning finds me sitting in my friend Chris's office. I've had a little trouble with my laptop (as you know.) A crushed laptop is a difficult thing to do anything on much less write a weekly blog. Chris is a pastor at Stanwich Church. He's preaching his first of three sermons this morning and I've opted out of the first to write you. This morning Chris will speak of beauty. Beauty is something dear to my heart because I cannot live without it. Beauty makes me come alive. It makes life worth living and it is something God left among us to remind us of Himself. As I look out the window I see trees of gold, crimson and green. Autumn brings such a spectacle of glory. It's extravagant. It's audacious. It's bold. It's a grand finale of a season of life and a reminder that seasons change. I think what I'm supposed to say briefly this morning is that we are in a season of change. Before that sounds cliche' I don't mean to state the obvious. Certainly the seasons are changing from Fall to Winter. Certainly the country (and world) is changing around us. I think what I want to communicate is that we are being changed as the seasons change and that's as it should be. I know times are weird right now. I know some of you are freaked out about the economy or your job or your family. I know some of you are lost and cannot find clarity and I know that some of you are numb. I hear from you every day. I confess I have days that resemble all of those things. I've lived long enough to observe two things. 1. Nothing is permanent. It will not last forever. No matter the season you find yourself in it is not permanent. That is not the way God created things. It boils down to embracing the process we are in. We cannot hold onto the old (either good or bad) and grow. We have to constantly move forward with the gentle motion of the seasons. God directs that in each of our lives. 2. The journey is beautiful. It is Autumn outside this window here in the Connecticut forest. In short order this display of glory will fall to the ground and whither. Transition will come. The ground will freeze and be washed by the coming snows. White will cover the land and then recede to new life again. These trees will bud and bloom again and so will you. It's God's way. He created this. I didn't make this up. Times may be trying. Life may be tumultuous but nothing lasts forever. There is always the promise of new life if we allow nature to take it's course. Nature in this case is allowing the gentle motion of life to move us along as the Holy Spirit moves and breathes in us. The Bible says that worry will not extend our days. It asks us to consider the lillies of the field and to consider the birds of the air. God takes care of them. They are not worrying about tomorrow. It goes on to tell us that if God can handle the flowers and birds he can certainly handle us. The Bible also says that we are in the process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Simply put that is not always going to be pleasant. We have a lot of "stuff" to get rid of. But this is not something to fret over. It's the way of the believer. It is unto new life. What we're seeing in our lives and world is a good thing. It's hard to look at and even scary but what comes next is new life. So in closing I'll say what I said in the September review. I love you all very much. It's Autumn....and it's time for some things to fall. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 10/12/2008
I'm sitting outside this evening listening to the crickets. I've done this many nights over the Summer. Deep into the night I've sat out here studying until the wee hours of the morning. It's different tonight. There is a chill in the air. The smell of deep Summer is still in the air but the promise of cold has arrived. I had to put on a jacket to keep warm. I am feeling quite somber. I've concluded that what I am feeling is gravity. What we've talked about all year is starting to happen. The WindFarm Prayer Initiative came unexpectedly and has struck a chord deep inside this community. I've watched it take shape rapidly and we tested how to do "virtual prayer" this week successfully. Gravity. With Autumn comes the surety of Winter and the end of the year. 2009 brings with it the launch of the DAB in several different languages and more. Every year has been a transition further and further for me into this ministry and all that God is doing here. I've embraced it but I'm about to step in so far that I can't get back out. Isn't that a funny thought? Here I encourage us every day to swim in the deep or take the leap and TRUST GOD! But then there's the gravity of what that means. It means certain change. It means being released from what once was familiar and comfortable. It means the realization that what you thought you knew was only scratching the surface of what is underneath. Is this a bad thing? No. It's just a goodbye. Goodbye to who I was forever. I've been doing that for years. You have too. It's right. It's good but trust carries with it reflection and doubt and then the conscious decision to believe and embrace. Imagine what that must have been like for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane one chilly evening with the crickets creaking and the rescue of mankind about to be paid for second by second as His life's blood drained away in suffering. Whew. I guess Seal was right when he wrote, "We;re never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy." And I sense the time has come. I've realized that it's not us waiting for God to show up, it's Him waiting for us to show up. Show up we must or the Kingdom must wait for a future generation to awaken. I could write all night about valor and righteousness. I don't have time or space. I guess what I have to say is IT'S TIME. 2 3/4 years of constant reading the Bible have brought us to this place. We know enough to know we can't sit still anymore. We have to act. It starts with prayer. Earnest and fervent prayer. Make no mistake though, That's where it starts not where it ends. As much as we've grown over these years we will realize we had only begun to understand what we're about to see in the coming years. Buckle up. It's about to get very interesting. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 9/28/2008
I've been studying Church history lately. It's a seminary class I'm taking but it's incredibly fascinating. It's interesting how the Body of Christ (the Church) has become what it is over time and how it's changed directions many times over what is theologically orthodox. I could write about that for a couple weeks worth of blogs but that's not what I'm getting at. God has shown up in revivals and awakenings throughout the course of Church history and although the repercussions of these events vary the initiation of them has common denominators. Upon further inspection these revivals and awakenings are spread throughout the Bible and they contain the same kinds of commonalities. Guess what the primary indicator of coming revival or awakening is? Prayer. When God's people in small groups that grew into large ones began to earnestly and fervently pray God came and when He did change spread across the globe. Is that what we're doing here with the WindFarm? God only knows. I don't know that we can put revival on the calendar for this time next year but I don't know that we can't either. What I do know is that revival and awakening are a byproduct of God's people calling to him earnestly from a pure heart. I believe the heart cry of the WindFarm is a clear and resounding, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth." It echoes down the hallways of my heart. It beats in time with the times. I have to believe that if God's people pray after this fashion (the very fashion Christ taught us to pray) that change can occur. We genuinely can arise up and say ENOUGH to the things that are standing opposed to the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm talking big talk here. These words are far too big for my mouth. I can't carry this alone. I can't carry it at all but I can participate. My prayers joined with yours are going to change things. We can push back the darkness and reclaim what has been lost. To the left is the beginning. Sign up! Enroll. Enlist. Type your email address and you'll get a response. Let's get 1000 people praying. Let's go after 10,000 then 100,000 then a million of God's people around the world enlisted in this prayer army. This is an elite list. This is a sacred list. This is a private list. It will never be spammed. It will never be exploited. It's this community. This is where we start. STAND UP AND BE COUNTED. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 9/21/2008
Pray. Post. Prepare..... The WindFarm Prayer Initiative has connected. I'm not surprised that it would find a place among us but I am a little surprised at the passion and "drawing together" the conversation is doing. When we started this whole process I felt like we would talk for about three weeks and that would give us all time to process and also it felt like the right amount of time for everyone to weigh in that wanted to. This is the third week and from here we embark on pouring foundations and framing the new. More than ever I see God drawing us into prayer. He's inviting us, wooing us and leading us into a deeper relationship with Him and things are going to get done friends. This is a paradigm shifter. To have thousands pray about things is a game changer. What would it look like if tens of thousands of God's people agreed to pray about what we all agree on? What would happen if we prayed, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on EARTH?" Those were the original questions. We're about to embark on the great adventure. The hardest part of all this is formulating what it practically looks like. That has been a deep focus of my thoughts and prayers and I feel like I have been given the next steps. I also feel like God is leading us into an "organic" development period of this. The DAB grew organically. It just happened. It wasn't planned this way, it just became this way. As I watched it "become" I knew how to lead it and where to direct it. In other words, I knew what I needed to know. That's what will happen here. So one more week. Pray. Post. Prepare...... Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 9/14/2008
One week ago we began a discussion. It began with a question. What would happen if tens of thousands of believers began to pray according to the will of God about specific global events that affect the Kingdom of God? What would that look like? What would that do? If you're new here you'll probably need to listen to the August Review podcast for the full context. Nevertheless we've begun this discussion to fulfill the next step in our development as the community of the Daily Audio Bible: The WindFarm Prayer Initiative (Ez 37). The reality is this will probably grow among us, through us and likely beyond us but we smile at those things. We're doing what has never been done before. Where else do people meet by the thousands every single day to simply read the Bible and commune with one another? That's the beauty of what God is doing here. It's all open source. It's a pile of rocks; a monument to His Glory. We're worldwide and connected for no other reason than our passion for God and hunger for His Word. I have been inspired by many of the things you've said this week on the forums. The prayers, the insights and the desire for God to move has affected me deeply. Let's keep talking. Communication will be the catalyst for unity which will birth this global prayer of which we speak. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven is our prayer. I cannot wait to see where this adventure will take us. On another note I completed a major goal for the year on Thursday when I met Tara in Atlanta. Those of you who are on the forums know Tara well. She prays for you, encourages you and leads you with grace and wisdom. I finally saw her face to face. When the DAB started I wasn't quite sure about virtual community. Now it's impossible to deny. It was incredibly rewarding to spend time with her. She is home grown out of the Daily Audio Bible and to see where she was and where God has brought her through daily exposure to His Word in almost three years is so deeply fulfilling. I've now made the rounds and met every single person that holds our little corner of cyberspace together. Rob, Chet, Jason, Debbie and Tara. You are so deeply loved and appreciated. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 9/7/2008 1
This isn't going to make a lot of sense until you listen to the August Review podcast. Then it will get very interesting :) What is this “WindFarm Prayer Initiative” thing? In a nutshell WindFarm is the focused prayer ministry of the Daily Audio Bible Community. Right now it’s a conversation and you’re invited to be a part of it! A forum has been created to start asking some very focused questions. Some of this will be philosophical while some will be practical. It’s clear that God has called his people to pray. I could write pages of verses to support that. It’s also clear that the DAB community is a praying bunch. We’ve been praying for each other since day one. What would it look like if we began to be a little more organized about it? A little more unified? We’re about to find out. Can you imagine tens of thousands of people praying in agreement with God’s will for something specific in His Kingdom? How about millions? Prayer changes things. Don’t breeze by that as a cliché’. Prayer changes things. That means together through prayer we can fight injustice, change the weather, destroy strongholds over empires, crush the forces of darkness and bring the Kingdom. That’s pretty big talk but I’m not making this stuff up. It’s in the Bible. I think this means we don’t have to be helpless. We can unite in prayer and change things. Between now and the end of the year we’ll sort this out and implement what grows organically among us. For now I believe we’re supposed to do a couple of things: Pray for the coming elections in the United States. This is not political propaganda and this is not partisan. PRAY FOR GOD’S WILL. Pray every day. Pray, “Thy Kingdom come in this land. Thy will be done in this coming change of power as it is in Heaven.” Do this every single day between now and November 4th (1 Tim 2:1-4). Pray for the mission work of the Daily Audio Bible being launched in the coming months. Pray for Daily Audio Bible Spanish, Hindi and Mandarin Chinese that in these native tongues God’s Word will speak for itself simply and purely. Pray that all interference that would hinder the spoken Word of God in these large regions of the world be broken and that light will come flooding into these areas because the Kingdom is invading (Matt 24:14). In addition to those prayer requests let’s talk. What can we do that would be effective as a community to inspire unified prayer both on our own time and then at times collectively together? How do we do virtual prayer like we're doing virtual community? Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 8/31/2008
A week goes by. Then another. Then it's a month. Time flies. I've noticed it more this year than any other but I think I felt that way last year. I'm not sure how I feel about that. A year goes by then a decade. I don't have an awful lot of decades to spare. Life goes by under our noses sometimes and we look up and weeks have flown by. We plod along from day to day, high point to high point without really fully understanding how we got from one to the other. I've come to understand that sometimes this is just how things are. It's not a good thing or a bad thing. We're in the hands of God. Consistent intimacy with Jesus is the important thing not time management. In the end the relationship we've forged with Christ is all we'll be left with. My friend Marcia is a radio personality here in Nashville but being an extraordinary vocalist she's often on tour with some big name entertainer. She listens to the Daily Audio Bible every day and has been a part of this community for a long time now. I was talking to her a few months ago and she said, "The one thing that is most compelling about the Daily Audio Bible to me is that it's always there. You show up every day. I can count on it." I diffuse those kinds of comments. I have a hard time accepting a compliment for doing what all believers should do by default. But I think I'll take it back. I guess I can have this compliment for my very own but I have to be honest. I show up because you do. You show up because I do. We're in this together and days go by then weeks and months. Every day we take a hike together through an enchanted sliver of Scripture and weeks go by then months but beautifully when we do finally look up and around us we have gone somewhere rather than remaining stagnant. We look in the mirror of our lives and see a fit and muscular spirit. Those pounds we'd been carrying around are gone. We think back over the months and realize that God has been transforming us, changing us, sanctifying us and changing us into His likeness. So I guess I'm cool with time flying. If I can walk with God time is drawing me closer to Him both in this world and on to the next. I'm stronger today than I was yesterday. I am more faithful this month than last. I don't even recognize mental pictures of myself from a few years ago so this must be what transformation looks and feels like. You know what they (whoever they are) say......time flies when you're having fun. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 8/24/2008
I'm running late this week. All the technology in the world cannot replace time and time has been at a premium these days. I just got back into Nashville from a wonderful retreat in the Catskill Mountains of New York. I'd like to say it was refreshing because it was but there was so much more going on. Truly so much has happened that I feel I could just do the monthly review podcast and put August to rest. Alas we are but halfway through and who knows what great adventure awaits? It was particularly satisfying to have Peggy, Bruno, Kimberly and Mark decide to come from their corners of the country as DAB family members and join with this group. To hear the stories and share in community with them was very rewarding for me. As I write this it's one of those bizarre moments where I feel as if I have so much to tell you and so much has been going on but I can't find the words. It's as if it's too big of a mouthful for this one sitting and I can't distill it down into a simple anecdote. Sometimes we're dealing with things on so many levels that God is actually shifting our fundamental awareness like tectonic plates shifting beneath our feet. The drag about that is that usually an earthquake or tsunami follows such shifting. Metaphorically that's what it takes sometimes though. We work awfully hard (or at least I do) to keep things on balance and ordered. I think it's a good thing to have such balance but sometimes we can only find what God is doing when we're off balance and looking at things from a perspective we don't normally view. God is simply beyond our imagining and no construct or framework of life is going to contain Him. We have to be up for whatever honestly. We have to absolutely relinquish all need for control and abandon the idea that our experience with Jesus is the "real" way to look at Him. He is beyond us and as He reveals Himself to me more and more I have to readjust almost as if I'm meeting someone new or discovering things that show me how little I actually knew. It's sort of disconcerting to be honest but it is nothing short of adventure. The fundamental truth that will always remain is that He loves me and my good is His desire. So let's let the ground beneath our feet roll as it must. We are the absolute focus of a God who is beyond us and yet loves us intimately and deeply. For now that's enough for me. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 8/17/2008
Let these words and this week be a time of reflection and humble wonder. A pile of rocks. A monument. A standing stone in our history. May we recognize this as a sign and a wonder to the Glory of God. I pray that you realize from this day forward that you are a part of something that has never been done before. Ever. This is not to prop ourselved up proudly. No. This is to humble us in awe of our Great God. This is to glorify the name of Jesus and to exalt His faithfulness to His Word and His passion for His people. This week we celebrate together TEN MILLION DOWNLOADS of the Daily Audio Bible since it's begining January 1, 2006. I don't have a lot to say this week because I am speechless and this about says it all. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being the community and family that we have become. Thank you for supporting this idea that the Bible can change us completely one day at a time from the inside out and thank you for your faithfulness in standing with me as we endeavor to bring the spoken Word of God to anyone who will listen in as many languages as we can. I love you all. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 8/10/2008
I'm a little late writing anything here this week because I'm constantly traveling and falling into sleep and repeating. I find myself in DEEP Texas as I write this. I suppose this is as deep Texas as one can get since I am perhaps two miles from the border with Mexico. In the last 48 hours I've been in the swamplands of Louisiana, the coast lands of Texas, the Texas hill country and now, on the edge of the desert I'm poised to enter into some of what I love best.....wide open spaces. The wide open places are always what I long for. Big sky, stars so vibrant and clear that they feel like they are collapsing in on me, a horizon that allows the sun to burn it's way into the earth itself for the evening. This is what my heart almost always desires and I have a reservoir of memories I've collected over the years from which to draw when life is pressing from all sides to suffocating proportions. When I consider the times that I go in search for God; when I feel the Holy Spirit summoning and inviting me away to regroup and re-connect I've found that these are the richest moments in life for me. The paradox is I have a hunch this is how we are supposed to feel most of the time. I'm not talking about vacation here. I'm talking about peace, joy, openness and truth. A reality that is real and not filled with relatively meaningless activity. The evil one is The Great Counterfeiter and when we start looking over our lives it's staggering. We exchange wide open space for a wide screen TV. We trade the stars for glimmering commercialism. We trade an open, free life of faith for the chains of obligation. This is what I'm contemplating this week. I've thought it over before many times trying to find the balance between the life of faith with the realities of living human. It's no easy task. Or is it? I have a hunch I'm close to a breakthrough here. Really close. As close as I am to Mexico. Here's hoping I stumble into it. Here's hoping the allure of the Holy Spirit's beauty pulls me past the point of no return. I love you all. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 7/27/2008
I believe with all my heart that breakthrough is coming to the members of this community. I wouldn't normally make a blanket statement like that because it would be too bold for me and even presumptuous but this time it's different. When I walked around the airport in Chicago sort of modifying my Long Walk plans as Jill and I tried to standby on flight after flight I sincerely heard the Lord speaking to me of breakthrough in our body here. I saw this happening in a number of ways that I am still processing and beginning to understand. For example I saw how powerful love can be if we would but live in it. I saw the collective power of prayer that can literally push back the darkness. I thought about what it would be like to have tens of thousands around the world praying for breakthrough! Tens of thousands coming humbly before God and simply asking for less stuff and more Him. Less on our behalf and more on behalf of others. Less of us and more of the Kingdom. What would that look like? What would it bring? Breakthrough. I'm going to take a few days in a week and wander before the deep Summer turns to Fall and things get really busy for me again and I'm going to ask God for the breakthrough He is promising. I want it deeply. Don't you? If I know anything about God since my walk with Him began it's that my ways are not His and nearly every time I assume I know what something means I find that I do in fact arrive wherever He was leading but it was by an unknown path and not the way I would have chosen. The irony is that He takes us through little walked meadows and lush valleys of restoration as well as parched deserts and wind swept peaks. It's all part of the journey and there is beauty in it all if we are oriented to God's will. Last year at this time we began to walk out into the deeper waters of God. It was no longer good enough to know of Him, it was time to know Him. It was no longer acceptable to live comfortably in the shadow of His grace, it became time to mobilize and move deeper into His restoration work in our lives. This year I sense breakthrough. I feel it in my bones. It resonates all the way through me. I don't know exactly where God is taking us but I do know we are going there in part together and in part individually. Breakthrough is coming to the DAB and breakthrough is coming to you. I don't say this to hype you. You know me better than that. It's coming because Jesus is coming for your heart. I am weak with anticipation. I can hardly wait. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 7/20/2008
I shared a meal with a friend last night and then sat outside through scattered showers listening to him talk about all that God is doing in his place in the Kingdom. I've been studying the Kingdom lately and it is beautiful. It is not the Church and it is not us it is God's domain and yet we are a part of it and ultimately get to rule in it. It's crazy to think about really. Jay works in the hip-hop and rock music community bringing the Kingdom. He shared with me how God is planting small services around the country that are led by ex-gangsters who saw a dead end in their lives and a new beginning in a relationship with Jesus. Memphis, Atlanta, Tampa and a West Coast movement all underway and all underground. Groups of 15 or more coming together out of the hip-hop community just to worship in a way they understand. They've come with drugs in their backpacks, skateboards in hand and ended up flushing them down the toilet and crossing the border into the Kingdom. These things are happening all over the place. This was just something I became more aware of. Everywhere I look I see signs of life in the Kingdom. Too often we take a defensive posture and think of our place in this world as something we have to protect and defend rather than something we must give away and harmonize with. If we can get the fact into our hearts that the Kingdom wins and our destiny is settled we'll be better off. Whatever our circumstance it is but temporary. Life has ebbs and flows but we live on and in that living we bring the Kingdom if we are in Christ and alert enough to know what's going on. Ponder this: You live on the border between two Kingdoms. We, the body of Christ or the Church live there. We're a welcome center and a mighty fortress. Incursions into our territory should be met with an aggressive backlash against the Kingdom of Darkness. Not only should the casualties be severe and devastating to evil but we should be looking at lands lost for centuries. Strongholds that need to be reclaimed for the Kingdom of Heaven. We're not tiny little nobodies anymore. The Work of Christ redeemed us and gave us the power of Heaven to back us up in life. I'm excited about what comes next. I know gas prices are high and the mortgage industry is collapsing. Perhaps we haven't seen the end of the recession and that's just here in the United States. Everyone is looking for a way to protect themselves and an alternative to the way they've been living because it's not working. What better time than to invest in things that cannot be market driven? Relationships, people, goodness, missions, love, Kingdom work. It's time to wrap our minds around who we really are and forget about the rest. God is in control. We are safe no matter what it looks like. We are in the Kingdom. We are in His domain. As Imogen Heap says, "It couldn't be any more beautiful.....I can't take it in." Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 7/13/2008
I was so mad at American Airlines on the 4th of July that I wanted to spit nails. Jill and I had arrived at the airport as we've done dozens and dozens of times to fly to a concert. We have all the items we need tightly packed into luggage and cases under 50 pounds and were ready to fly like pro's until the self-check in machine told me it would be $80 each way for our bags. What?! This is ridiculous. I'd heard about the concept of charging for bags but sheesh we were paying an arm and a leg just to get to Minnesota in the first place and this was something the airlines had conveniently omitted at booking time. I made my way through security mad mad mad. I heard some clapping down the hall as I put my shoes back on and re-loaded my pockets and stowed my laptop but it didn't really register. Then I heard it again and wondered what the fuss was about. We walked down the hall toward our gate and passed through the large clapping crowd so we stopped to see what was going on. American Airlines and their crew were yelling and whistling and clapping every time a service man deplaned and came out the doors. My frustration turned to vapor and whisped away. I put my bags down and Jill and I stood there and clapped every time a man in uniform walked out that door. As we walked down the corridor Jill approached each military person and gave them her thanks and we both felt extremely thankful for our freedom. This weekend has been a wonderful time doing what we're assigned to do but the icing, and I mean rich, thick sweet icing was meeting some of the DAB family from these parts. I loved meeting Peggy. What a beautiful witty lady. And then this morning we met Mary, Greg, Eva and Ian Allen who drove 300 miles to say hello and share a story of how the DAB walked them through very swift waters. Mary told me of the prayers of the community and how they meant so much. That's YOUR prayers. They changed things. Wow. As always I am incredibly humbled when I meet anyone who listens to the DAB. I feel like I'm meeting a rock star or something. I also feel like we can just pick up wherever we left off because we're not really meeting for the first time. We're already friends. I'm not all that excited to pay the baggage fees to go home in the morning but I would gladly pay three times as much to have met you all and tomorrow is the Long Walk. What would I be willing to pay to have a day with God? Everything simmers down to choices and perspective and when things get boiled down to their basic elements there is faith, hope and love not security, bag fees and gas prices. God is sovereign and we are His children. That's pretty much the end of the story. He may not be acting on our behalf the way we'd like Him to but our perception has very little to do with what is actually going on sometimes. A little clapping down the hall changes a lot quick. Hang in there. Breakthrough is on your doorstep just be prepared for it to look nothing like you thought it would. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 7/6/2008 1
The sign on the side of the church said, "Have faith (even when you're not in a foxhole)." I think that's about right. I have a love/hate relationship with church signs. Sometimes I read them and cringe because they either embarrass me or demonstrate how hopelessly out of touch we can be as Christian's sometimes. I saw one that said, "sinners welcome," not too long ago and although I suppose whoever put it up thought it was edgy and inviting I have to confess that were I the targeted sinner I would have had to take a pass for fear that if I were a visitor it would be clearly assumed that I was THE sinner . And not just a vanilla sinner either. A real bad sinner. I digress. Exercising our faith when we're in a foxhole is the easy part. When you're holding on for dear life and all you have is God it's definitely traumatic but life boils down to the essentials doesn't it? The hard part is holding onto Jesus when everything is smooth and successful. That's also the sad part. I'm going home to Nashville tomorrow. It's been a great week of decompressing and seeking. Tonight I find myself in Branson, MO. I know there is something important about this place because everyone and their brother seems to be here but I can't figure it out at the moment. I spent time today with our moderator Jason and his wife. He's gotten hammered pretty hard over the last few weeks. Sort of a full court press. He's doing this right though. He's taking the position that God is sovereign and in the end He will show up. This isn't always easy friends. I know you know that all too well. So often when we face obstacles we start thrashing about and work ourselves into a lather that destroys peace and keeps us pacing the floors deep into the night, Those of you who've had lifeguard training know that the most dangerous and difficult part of rescuing a drowning person is panic. Panic makes them thrash and clutch in an adrenaline induced craze jeopardizing not only their own life but that of the rescuer. The real way to survive if you are drowning and a lifeguard comes to the rescue is to relax. Those of you who find yourself in a panic this week can take a lesson from Jason. If ever there was reason to freak in his life it would be now. He's not. He's at the end of himself. And do you know what? Jesus will show up. It's what He came to do. I learned a word last year in Brazil: Helashe. It means, "relax." That seems to be the word for the week. What is it the Scriptures say? "Be still and know I am God?" Relax, He will show up. You will not be abandoned. You are not alone. There is a lot more going on than we can presently see. Relax. Your story is not complete. Relax and know He is God. I love you all. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 7/3/2008 1
I needed to get out for a few hours. The week was long as is always the case when working in the studio during vocal sessions. Intense is a better word. Very focused. I wanted to go away for the weekend but our schedules wouldn't reconcile so we packed up lots of water and stuff to make a sandwich, packed the family and headed west an hour where we boarded a canoe and lit out onto the Harpeth River. I am so "end result" oriented sometimes. I have a part of me that is driven to productivity and an opposing part that knows full well that accomplishment is realatively empty at the end of the day with no interraction with God in the mix. When I have to go out for a week or more on the road I adjust quickly and open myself up to whatever might be around the next bend and whatever God might want to teach me. When I'm in the grind of Nashville that's a little harder to access. I had to spend some time willing myself to slow the world down and smell, look and listen. By the time the four hour excursion was over I had lived a metaphor for life. We did drift calmly through the rolling hills and it was fantastic. We also hit a tree and capsized having to chase our belongings down the current. At several points we hit patches of rocks where the river was running low and the gravel bottom carved out over time by the water would rub the bottom of the boat. Twice we were dry docked by said gravel and had to shove our way slowly and tediously through it to extricate ourselves. Of course there were drunk partyers on the river with all sorts of language and behavior that isn't the best for the children but through each twist we navigated our way. At times I was terribly frustrated and then once back in the deep and peaceful I found myself repenting for something I'd said or done. "Take the river to the next bridge you come to," was what the nice man told us when we departed and that's what we did. It was a four hour journey called The Loop. Once we got back to heaquarters I looked at a map and realized that's exactly what we had done. We'd looped around and arrived within a couple hundred yards of where we'd started. Driving away I felt like I was back at the begining again having gained some perspective on the journey. God is gracious. He is patient and as much as I imagine Him frustrated at me from time to time the reality is He's teaching us and letting us learn. My lesson is to live in the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness.....all of that. To live there. The reality is that these are the indicators (or fruits) that the Spirit is present in our lives. If they don't exist in a situation what does that mean? I don't want to consider that. I'd rather press forward through rocks, capsizing, heat, hecklers or whatever and press into the fruit of the Spirit because that's where God is. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 6/28/2008
I woke up this morning not really knowing what to write about. Sometimes I have such clarity and other times finding something meaningful to say is hard for me. The past week was one of breakthrough in my life and family. God's favor was with us and mostly I worked on music and seminary studies. I guess I could talk about theological things I've wrestled with but it's just not important right now. This morning I got an email from India. The School of Music and Ministries there has just completed their 2 month outreach and have graduated. I am so proud of these guys. They've lived their last two months playing in malls, parks, street corner, churches and marketplaces sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a culture that is not particularly friendly and in some places openly hostile to it. Thanga shared one story of two Hindu women who came to a concert at a pool. They were there to swim but left Christians. I know this sort of thing floats around all the time and it's easy to find emails of what God is doing around the world but these are OUR kids. This is a class that WE went to teach and WE prayed for and WE worked for! This is our DNA. We sowed here and this is partly OUR harvest. When I got the news this morning I knew I had to share it with you because these are missionaries that we helpted raise up. I have also recieved word from Ayhulio and Prakash that DAB Hindi production has begun and is progressing! I am supposed to go back to India in November to teach and to check on our progress on those recordings for launch next year. These things show me the hand of God. It's not that we don't have to contend for things in our lives. It's not that we don't have a battle to fight but inside the will of God there is peace and even genuine joy. God provides whatever we need inside His will and nothing can thwart His will and it feels literally like someone is going before us clearing the path. Congratulations to you for stepping up and helping this happen. This has always been a community effort and where we're going we go together. Big or small, far and wide we go together and no matter where this road leads we will always be family. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 6/22/2008
HAPPY FATHERS DAY Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings. Rise up, O men of God! The kingdom tarries long. Bring in the day of brotherhood And end the night of wrong. Rise up, O men of God! The church for you doth wait, Her strength unequal to her task; Rise up and make her great! Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet have trod. As brothers of the Son of Man, Rise up, O men of God! Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 6/15/2008
I've been spending some time with a young man who has a hard time rationalising faith. "It doesn't make any sense," he tells me. He's right. It doesn't make any sense. That is, when you're only engaging your mind. Spirituality is not accessed with our brains, it is through our heart that we live vibrantly. Proverbs tells us to guard our heart with all dilligence. I completely understand the rub. I spent a decade or more trying to figure this whole thing out. For me it came down to a choice and that's what I've been sharing and pondering this week. Choices. We cannot avoid making them. To decide to stay in bed and look at the ceiling all day so that decisions don't have to be made is still a choice. Everything we do is a choice. It seems to be a large part of the fabric of our lives. From the begining mankind was created he was created with the power to choose and God gives the dignity of choice even when it's going to hurt us. So how does this all boil down when nothing makes sense anymore? Choose to believe. Sometimes that's all we have to hold onto. Choose to believe because that is what faith is. Believe in what you cannot rationalize. What is the phrase from that popular praise and worship song we sing? "Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you." We will never see through the eyes of faith if we cannot see through the eyes of our hearts but we will never see through the eyes of our hearts unless we are willing to choose to believe completely. "It's like jumping off a cliff and hoping there is a trampoline at the bottom," He told me. He's exactly right. It is. Open the eyes of my heart Lord. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 6/8/2008 1
The eastern Appalachian mountains are such a relief. I can't tell you. What I can tell you is that I didn't want to be here. I have just come down from a rather hellish couple of weeks in nearly every way thinkable. There is growth in my life though and this is one time that I can clearly see it. It's one thing to be under fire and run for cover until the trial is over, it's another to have scripture from the Proverbs and the words of Christ rolling around in your conciousness that applies to so much of the circumstance and fight back. We are all growing and I am starting to see that in everything the peace of the Holy Spirit is available and that we can find comfort, rest and strength no matter what we're dealing with. I guess most of the time we either don't think to embrace it because we're frantic and manic about our circumstance or we don't believe we deserve peace or we simply don't believe any of this is really real. I do believe and my heart is being transformed even more deeply than it ever has to the fact that I can actually have a living, breathing relationship with God in which He actually gives a darn about what happens to me. Before tonights concert we had some time to simply get lost on the back roads of Appalachia. We stumbled upon a bee farm and purchased a couple of quarts of fresh honey while watching our little guy chase chickens. I found a road that seemed to hug a ridgeline and views were green and smoky in all directions. Gorgeous. I had the iPod rocking a little James Taylor . "In my mind I'm gone to Carolina," he sang and my heart began to settle. I began to feel content. This was not a weekend I wanted to be on the road. I wanted to stay home and work like an idiotic fiend to be honest. No Sabbath, No rest. I asked God silently what this all meant. What was this I was feeling; this peace and serenity. "Joy" He said. "My joy is your strength," He said. Ah. I could have missed the strength I so desperately needed. I rounded a corner and saw a female deer in the road. She freaked and started trying to climb the steep embankment but couldn't make it so she stopped half way and stared. I lowered the window and spoke kindly to her and we offered her cookies. She came and ate them from my little girls hand. We pet her and patted her for a little bit and gave her all our cookies. Since she was now "our" deer she was given the name Shimmer as I was begged to take her home. When we finally had to leave Shimmer, she ran behind us for about a quarter mile. I smiled both inwardly and outwardly. God was in the moment. I'm not willing to simply rationalize circumstance anymore. It's ok to do that I suppose. I've kept my feet firmly on the ground my whole life but I felt God there and so I'm sticking with it. He sent the deer as a sign that He had invited us into these mountains to give us joy. To give us much needed strength. My prayer for each of us is that in the midst of trial we can find the courage to stop trying to figure it out in our own strength. It never works anyway and we all know that. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 6/1/2008 1
This past week has been a tough one. I've faced some things that I now attribute to spiritual warfare that I would have blown off has simply hard times in the past. I'm basically a, "roll with the punches," sort of fellow but last week felt like I took a couple serious ones on the chin. Warfare isn't one of those things we sit around and talk about with all that much authority because it's mysterious and mystical. We like reason. We'd rather chalk things up to circumstance. In a way this is playing into the evil one's hand because the more he can throw our way and blame it on something or someone else the quicker he can defeat us. I talk a lot about community here. We all do because we feel it in spite of the obstacles of being virtual. I can tell you that it does matter. If I had been alone last week that's exactly what I would have been....alone. Being able to deal with things in a company of brothers and sisters makes all the difference. I'm basically a loner by nature. I've noticed of the last two and a half years that the DAB community has many members who have found themselves wounded by life or the church and have largely given up on community but are not quite willing to give up on God. Bravo. That was me and what I am learning from the scriptures is that we cannot survive alone because we are all part of the same body. It's like the scene in Gladiator where the prisoners are about to go into the Colluseum to be killed as a part of the weekends entertainment. The leader of the group says, "We have a much better chance of survival if we work together. If we stay together we survive." So from one loner to another, plug in somewhere. If I am in your earbuds everyday then we have that point of contact and it's fantastic. Look for more. Consider your heart again. Think about trusting again. We cannot make it on our own. On a completely different subject: Congratulations to Jason (BibleBlogger) and his new wife Amy on their marriage. We pray the blessings of God over you and the joy of Christ in this week as you transition into this new chapter in your journey. We're so happy for you. Send pics!!!! Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 5/25/2008
I am in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's Sunday night. I can't remember being this tired in a long time. My heart is full and I am totally spent. This is a good thing. I've spent the weekend here leading a retreat for creative people. Not music people, not ministry people, creative people and as usual I probably took away a lot more than I gave. This retreat almost didn't happen. Every conceivable reason for it to cancel happened and yet for some reason we pressed on. I told those who were coming of the ancient celts and how they referred to the Holy Spirit as the "Wild Goose." It's in so much of their imagery because following the Holy Spirit can feel like that sometimes. This weekend in particular. The photo here is real. On Friday morning Brad and I (Brad is a ministry partner of mine) went for a drive into the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains to prepare our hearts to lead. We came upon this sign and went left. The road narrowed and wound it's way along the Holy Ghost Creek to a view of a gorgeous snow capped peak. It seemed as if we were being invited to follow and not lead and that's what we tried to do. I think I need to process some of this and share it at the end of the month but I will say that it was my pure joy to have Angie, Jamie and Beth from the DAB family here. What a joy it is to watch this community become more than an idea. It makes my heart come alive to meet you all in person. Every time I do it is as if we already know one another and can just pick up wherever we left off the day before. I LOVE THAT. Can I be honest? I am so tired right now that my head is going to crash onto the keyboard if I don't go to sleep. I have nothing deep left in me to share just the knowledge that we are friends and allies in our pursuit of Jesus and that gives me great respect and love for everyone here. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 5/18/2008
Happy Mothers Day everyone. I imagine there is reason to celebrate whether you are a mother or not for without a mother you would not be reading this. But on this special day we do well to honor our mothers. We who are grown can appreciate the sacrifice and tenacity it takes to be a mom and we who have children at home can appreciate the endurance and grace it takes every day. As we've seen so beautifully in the scriptures this week, mothers who step forward bravely are women who see the generation to follow be formed and challenged. I just want to encourage you that you are making a difference and it is no small thing. You hold the future in your hands. You are more than likely the heartbeat of your family and nothing is wasted. It's all worth it. Well done. This week we pack our suitcases again (wait I've never even unpacked mine) and head by road this time to New Mexico. Stops along the way will include OKC, Dallas and many points in between. The Creative Retreat that I participate in with friends and comrades here in Nashville will take place in Santa Fe at the end of the week. This particular retreat was a study in tenacity and obedience for us. We almost cancelled it but Jesus seemed to be saying to press on. We did and ironically it looks to be even better than was originally planned. If you're on the West Coast or are looking for an excuse to get away with God, there is still room and you can come. Email me at brian@dailyaudiobible.com and I'll get you some detrails. You'll have to be in Santa Fe Friday afternoon and we'll conclude Sunday around 3PM. If you're not coming, pray for travel safety and that everyone in attendance would have an experience that shapes what comes next for them. I love you all. Happy Mother's Day. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 5/11/2008
This evening finds me in Austin, Texas. Jill and I came here for a concert a little south of here in Driftwood. Driftwood was full of surprises for me and was a tangible testament to the fact that God is doing things among us and the DAB family is genuine and vibrant. This little photo you see here is of Jill and I and Debby and her husband Doug. Debby is one of the moderators here who so graciously gives of her life to serve the community. I had never met Debby in person until this afternoon but I knew her at once and we honestly picked up where we left off on the boards. She is as delightful as you would expect and the sense that God is deeply rooted in her life is apparent. I want to take a moment to shine the light on the moderator community here. Tara, Jason and Debby serve constantly and bring life to a community of people all over the world that defies definition. Rob and Chet give of their lives to protect the site and keep it building community. They reach into areas that I cannot both because I am not as good at it as they are and because I am assigned to other things. This community could not function as it does without them and I am so deeply grateful. In 2006 as this all started I was told that virtual community could not effectively exist and that it would be dangerous to try to replace "real" community. In 2007 I was able to say that although virtual community may not be able to replace "real" community it did, in fact, exist and was better than no community at all. In 2008 I am begining to see the lines between virtual and "real" community blur. The Bible is the common denominator here and God is the glue that binds us all together. I still agree that virtual community has it's limitations. So far we haven't figured out a way to meet for lunch once a week but someday maybe we will. It would be so interesting to jump on Skype and share a meal with someone on another continent and the reality of that happening is more likely than not. Technology continues to advance and to watch Jesus show up in the middle of it all is not surprising. What is surprising is that we find ourselves in the middle of it. What we are as the DAB family has never been done before. In a world that needs leaders we find ourselved being the model. That is no pat on my back. The DAB grew up around me and because of you. I'm just glad to be here. But it's more than that. Tonight Jill sang and we met a lot of new friends then Jill, Debby, Doug and I went down the road to a beautiful winery and had and enchanted evening telling our stories and sharing life. I would have never met Debby EVER were it not for this community. My life is richer because of each person who emails me or calls or drives out to somewhere I am to say hello. This is happening more and more now. We are starting to blend virtual and "real." I have never seen anything like this before but I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. Every story we read in the scriptures shows a group of people stepping up to take something back or repair something or consecrate something or return to something. We are no different. This is our time and our watch. It's important that we do not sleep through it. We have to be aware of what God is doing around here. Do you realize what you are a part of? Contemplate that this week. It might be surprising. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 5/4/2008 1
This beautiful Sunday morning finds me sitting in the Denver International Airport. Funny how many of these little entries I find mysefl writing from airports. It's a sign of the times I guess. I've contemplated what to say today. I can't think of anything. I am so full that I'm empty. The last few weeks have blurred together and so many things have been spoken and prayed about that I find myself almost flat footed with it all. Yesterday, after two days of highly productive meetings in Santa Fe regarding music, missions and the Daily Audio Bible I got up at dawn and drove pretty much all over central New Mexico from White Sands to the Very Large Array complex. There's a White Sands story that is too long to write here and not particularly flattering to me that I will tell you soon. That one day in the car with mile after mile of open space helped to water the seeds that have been planted over the last couple of months. We need those times. I've written it here before but I'll say it again, SLOW DOWN for a second. It's in the empty spaces that we hear God's voice. It's very hard to sense clear direction when you are exhausted from life and hurried at every turn. I think I can say that from experience. It's an adrenaline rush to live on coffee and make quick decisions but that's not the way Christ operated. I see nothing but purpose in His methods. Every word He chose calls to something deeper. Something in the heart. And don't we see Him constantly getting our of the fray to pray? My heart is full right now. I have a lot to process. It hasn't all been rosy the last few weeks. There has been intensely personal spiritual warfare in my life. Jill cut herself really bad yesterday and had o get 8 stitches. I was way out west and could do nothing. I've had to face confrontational issues among friends. This stuff is not fun but covering it all is the underlyibng conviction that I am somehow walking with God. I believe when we have that assurance we can methodically deal with what life brings one step at a time without allowing chaos to rule. At least that's what I see Jesus doing. No matter how busy things get we have to guard our hearts and keep them open to whatever Jesus wants to speak. I realize what I've said is probably disconnected and random but I don't know what else to say this morning. You and I are all figuring this out together and step by step we get closer. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 4/27/2008
One of the benefits of being a huge record producer like myself with many credits and awards to set me apart from the pack is the fact that I have access to important and influential people Immediately after the leader of our nation kissed the Pope good-bye he apparently jumped on Air Force One and headed to Nashville. I was one of the fortunate elite to be able to provide advice and guidance in his personal artistic aspirations. It seems that he would like to record a record and tour for humanitarian efforts after he leaves office next year. He mentioned that he felt with proper glasses he would have the same sort of cool as Bono. I will be one of a couple of writer/producers who will compose and produce the material for this project. It's odd how we find ourselves in these places. The most powerful man in the world will be singing into a microphone and I will be the one deciding whether it has the right feeling. I wonder sometimes how these things happen but then again I've grown to expect it. We should all expect to write and produce for presidents one day. The thing that is confusing to me (and you can keep this in your thoughts and prayers) is what this means for my career. Is this a good thing? What if he can't sing? What if Laura actually has a lot of attitude and the air of grace that she portrays so well is just a sham? How will I concentrate and be objective with two men in black suits and guns standing behind me? I guess the biggest question is WHY for goodness sakes do I have to have a sniper hide on my roof? It's all very disoncerting. We all have to follow God into whatever strange paths He guides us down and I intend to do just that. You are all a very important part of that. The President sends his love a greetings your way and since I was in India when it was approprate to do this properly, April Fools. This is me with Presidential impersonator John Morgan. It's about as surreal as all of GMA week, Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 4/20/2008
One week ago tonight I flew home from India. This morning I am sitting in a hotel room overlooking Dallas. Jill and I came here for meetings but also to celebrate a milestone moment in some of our long lived friends lives. Boy it's nice to have a day that is unspoken for. What joy in having nothing to do one time. I recently watched the entire series called, "Band Of Brothers." It's a dramatization following the story of Easy Company in World War II. Their trials were immense begining with being dropped all over the countryside in Normandy on D-Day. They faced incredible hardship and incredible loss as time after time they were called on to serve in something mission critical. We use war metaphors because they inspire us to find our place in the spiritual battle between good and evil and because the Kingdom of Heaven is advancing. It's not always like in the movies though. I am sure that when Easy Company was actually losing limbs to frontbite along the eastern border of Germany it didn't have the romantic film tones and heart wrenching soundtrack to go along with it. We've just crossed the Jordan in the book of Joshua. Victory and defeat awaits us but we can't go back. In life we've done the same thing. This year is about begining to actually LIVE what the Bible SAYS. The last couple of years have been no less epic in the amount of things we've learned but this year is not just about learning, it's about living. We think of those things in romantic ways but the reality is we have to grit it out day by day at our jobs, in our homes, with our friends and families. We have dreams and passions and God is in the process of refining our hearts and lives to give us the strength and courage to step into those things but in the meantime we are here right now. Don't make light of this time. It matters. Everything you do now affects what comes next. This is the time to become lean and mobile. This is the time to cut the bloat and fat from our lives and this is also the time to make an indellible mark on those who are influenced by us in one way or another. Pay attention to detail now. As Moses exits the stage and Joshua takes over, Moses is very careful to go into painstaking detail with the Children of Israel what the obligations of the Covenant with God are. They have to follow a certain protocol that enables them to advance. The men of Easy Company were found religiously cleaning and checking their weapons. Dirt in the mechanisms could mean the painful and bloody end of their lives. As we go forward into these next weeks and months (and into the Restored class) my encouragement is to pay attention to detail and actively eliminate what doesn't matter. Put everything in your life on trial for it's life. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 4/13/2008
It's Sunday morning in the USA and I've just landed a little while ago at JFK here in New York to sit for the next five hours waiting for my connection to Nashville. I'd reflect more on the whole of the trip but the fact is my body is now telling me it's time to be sleeping and I have to do the jet lag thing all over again. Our loving moderator team suggested that I take melatonin while I was in India. That sounded like a great plan but I was a little on the cautious side about taking drugs in foreign nations. I figure if you can't drink the water you may need to give the meds a second thought also. Now that I am back on my native soil I may do a little melatonin shopping. The truth is the trip is so encompassing and overwhelming that I am simply emotionally drained. I'm sitting here off in a corner watching the extremely early flights begining to yawn and que up and I feel numb. I've deplaned from an almost 16 hour flight next to one beautiful woman and one Indian who hadn't discovered deoderant yet. Each of them were distracting enough for me to just shut my eyes and try to sleep. While I was in that twilight I tried to look at my experience in India as a whole and I couldn't. It was too large. Too many paradigm shifts. Too many questions. Too many answers. I can recall a few days ago asking God to speak to me and give me some context for why He had brought me half way around the world to disrupt and basically ruin all my tidy little conceptions of Him once again. I had to scurry for my journal because the things He spoke ruined me all the more. Since the DAB began I've traveled a lot. This is nothing new but I've traveled a lot on Kingdom business. I've spoken a lot and taught a lot and each time I go I feel like I leave a piece of myself behind. India is no different. I left a big piece of my heart in India and maybe that's as it should be. I've left a piece of my heart and to be whole again Christ will have to come and be what is missing. Maybe the idea is that eventually my heart will literally be His and there won't be a me anymore. I don't mean that as in I will not exist but perhaps we will all one day get to the place that our heart so belongs to Christ and (this is the important part) to each other that we finally can feel what it's like to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. Here's hoping.... Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 4/6/2008 1
In the space of one week I have seen spiritual warfare clear and in the open, seen the bright hope of Christ in the eyes of people who will (and are) risking everything to obey the invitation of Jesus into something less safe and serene but more alive and meaningful. I've seen gods being worshipped after the fashion we read about in the Old Testament. I've ridden on a local train, I've ridden in a rickshaw, I've been practically mobbed by curious Indians wanting their photos taken. I've learned some interesting new ways to eat rice and on and on I could go. There are memorable stories that would take to long to write that I will have to save for later but the essence of India has made itself know boldly. I was told that "India will get inside of you." I think that's probably true. The sounds and smells of India are only here. I have never seen anything like it. What excites me most are the Christians I have met. These are not social Christians. They are not believers who have turned God into a prayer answering machine. They are holding on for dear life and rejoicing in it just the same. There are no safety nets, or Plan B's. It's all or nothing and this is the truth of the Gospel. Nothing less than all. Nothing short of everything for Jesus. As much as I've minimized my life and tried to make myself more available I now see that I still yet have work to do. The layers of life that I am accustomed to and the social hoops that we each jump through in so many ways are not time well spent or life well lived. What I am taking away from India so far is a simpler way of looking at what really matters. So many of the things we do and are addicted to doing really don't matter. They produce little fruit. I am the leader of the pack in this regard because the music business is full of this. That's not who I want to be. In juxtaposing the Christians I know here and the way they live with their counterparts in the US I see that we spend a lot more time trying to figure out how to trust God rather than just doing it, or reading up on how to live by faith rather than living it. The Bible has shown us over and over that it's all or nothing and I suppose the layers will continue to be peeled away in each of our lives until only what is necesary remains. Then we will find ourselves as lean, strong leaders who bring the fruit of the Spirit and the advancement of the Kingdom in everything we touch. I long for that day. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 3/30/2008
So this is it. In less than a week I will wake up in India. I guess if I'm honest I have a sense of anticipation mixed with a sense of fear of the unknown. I am not afraid for myself. I know where I am going and what I am doing but it's a weird thing to board a plane and fly into the future. When I land in Bombay it will be evening. Back in the United States (where I live) it will be morning of the same day. I know. It takes a minute to think that through. I will be going to sleep having lived through the day most of you are just waking up to. I guess that sums up the "otherness" I am feeling about it all. Don't misunderstand. The voice of the Holy Spirit that invited me to begin the Daily Audio Bible also summoned me to India. I have no interest in disobeying. I've just come to understand that the life God provides for us and that we are continually beckoned toward is never really a life of tame and leisurely existence. It's just not the way of the Kingdom. God is continually calling us deeper or higher or whatever metaphor you prefer. I don't have all the answers to the "why" of this but I do have an understanding of some of it. The deeper we go into the work of Christ and further we walk with God the stronger He makes us. This happens by the excersising of our faith. The more we can handle, the more He expects us to handle. The more we can accomplish the more He expects us to accomplish. (To whom much is given, much is required. See the parable of the talents as well). All of that is true and then there's the deepening love relationship we share with Him. He is inviting us deeper into His world and His plans. The further we go on this path the further we get from shore; from the things that made us comfortable and the life that we formerly lived and knew. Probably the Chronicles of Narnia books and movie did this concept justice. When we begin to live the life of the Kingdom and take the journey of the heart, our old lives begin to pale. "Remember not the former things," Paul said. So I guess this is one more large step in our development because I am not going alone. You are going by proxy :) When I get on the plane you are with me in my heart and this process is for us to experience. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 3/16/2008
I saw two movies this week. One exhilarated me and the other sobered me deeply. The first was U2 3D, a live concert shot in Buenos Aires, Argentina by arguably the best rock band ever. I'll admit to being a long time U2 fan and I've seen a lot of their concert videos but this one was different in many ways. The 3D experience puts the viewer right in the middle of the energy of a show like that but the more overwhelming thing for me was the complete focus of the band and the things they were trying to communicate. It's a fairly impressive thing when you can fill a soccer stadium full of people from all walks of life and encourage them to coexist. It's another thing altogether when you can tell them to coexist and lead them in worship with a song like Yahweh. It once again re-affirmed my belief that God is much more vast than I can imagine. He encompasses cultures and relates how He chooses and just when we think we have a corner on Him and how He operates He blows it away as only God can. The other film was Into The Wild. When this movie released a few months ago there was some discussion about it on the forums but I hadn't seen it until late last night. I watched it alone deep into the night being further and further pulled into the story and agreeing with so many of the ideals. In the end Christopher McCandless was faced with the ultimate challenge in the wilds of Alaska. This spoke to me on many levels. First I see that as we go into the unknown and blaze new trails and conquer our own personal promised lands it doesn''t come without risk and sacrifice. The children of Israel did not waltz into the promised land. It came at a price and it is the same with us. The second and more sobering fact of this movie is that this is not a game. We have a true mortal enemy who would like us to die. An enemy whose life work is to destroy the glory of God residing in us. We must be vigilant and cunning as we walk this wild path that is the life of faith. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 3/9/2008
I spoke of my father in the February review podcast. This week marks the seveth year of his passing. I won't rehash what I've already said but I will say that his impact on my life is so deeply rooted that I couldn't extricate myself from it if I tried. I wouldn't want to but it's taken me many years of growth to understand this. I spent the last couple of hours with an old friend. We sat outside on my patio in the cold talking about our lives and the paths they've taken. I've known him for over a decade and when we met we were fairly cynical and fairly crazy in our pursuits. We spoke of the amazingly stupid decisions we'd made over the years. It was one of those, "what were we thinking?" sort of talks. Each of us grew up in solid Christian environments. We played some old Christian rock music in the background that represented our youth as we talked. Each of us is now in full time ministry on many levels and the path of the last decade is one of utter redemption. The root of the problem ultimately is that until we can come to the end of ourselves we can never experience the grace and mercy we so desperately need to live a life of faith or for that matter to really experience God. Isn't that what Jesus said though? If you want to find your life you must lose it? My dad was a man of integrity. Always. I can't say that about myself but I can say that I no longer live but it is Christ living in me and that makes me a new creature. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. Isn't that each of our stories? It's time that we live like that because we have a job to do here. We must bring the Kingdom and we can't do that feeling like we're disqualified. In the month end review I said that a life well lived is worth it. It is. Everything you do matters and you never know the seeds you are planting. You may never know when they sprout up. It may not show up until you are long gone. It is that way for my father. If he knew the affect his life had on me now...... If he could see the Daily Audio Bible and fruit of his good life he would be certainly be proud but he would be grateful to his aunt who led him to Christ. The chain goes backward from there to lives well lived along the way. In a real way what we read every single day in the scriptures are stories of redemption and lives well lived. It matters. It's time to take our place in the story of God and carry the cross, resurrection and ascension of Christ forward for those who come after us. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 3/2/2008
She said , "I wasn't ready to consider the wounds in my life. It wasn't what I was expecting and it took my breath away." She told me the next day that she had a daydream almost like a vision where she saw herself pulling thorns out of her skin. Some of them were a foot long just coming out of her body and she was surprised at how deep they were. I think that might stick with me forever not because of something I said but because of something God did. I have become increasingly aware of places in my own life where I've made agreements with wounds and allowed them to be true when they were well placed lies. The irony is that the lie has no affect unless we believe it. We have the power to make it true or to dismiss it and force it to the cross of Christ for it's judgment. The artist retreat this weekend was a time where God showed up in ways that only He could. There is just no way to manipulate that sort of thing. We'll do the next one in May. I'd love to see you there. In the meantime I have to keep everything running here in Nashville and prepare for India. This is scary stuff in that the deeper more risky waters that sound so romantic from the shore are actually deep and powerful when you're out in them. My dependance on God has never been more pronounced and my utter inability to make it on my own are before me everyday. I suppose this is how it is supposed to look and I pray that you are swimming toward the open water in your own life. If not, you will. It is the way of faith and it's exhilarating and terrifying but there is the grace for whatever we're called to do and it's beautiful. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 2/24/2008
Brian Hardin, 2/17/2008
I'm writing this evening from Stamford, CT. I came to speak and to work on a recording (which is how I make a living). My life has a lot of travel in it. You know this because I drag you along. I'm sure in many ways this probably seems exotic and interesting. Tonight I'm feeling like writing about the other side. I'm lonely this evening for my home, my bed, my wife. Traveling like we do in ministry is not all glamorous. Quite the contrary. At times cities begin to look alike and I can guarantee you that hotel rooms blur together. There are many times that Jill and I are in different cities where neither are Nashville. Following our hearts and advancing a calling is not always easy and for some reason I felt like I should share reality with you. I am not a special person. Nothing about me is more dramatic than you. Because I read the Daily Audio Bible to you every day certainly does not give me a leg up with God over anyone. If anything carrying this "supplamental" pastoral calling on my life makes me a target. The beauty in all of this is I know who my Father is. The canopy of prayer you all raise over me each day more than sustains me. I feel that connection. As strange as it might seem, it makes me feel less alone this evening. I didn't share these thoughts to solicit pity. I'd hate it if that's how I've come off. I'm being honest with you. So many of the emails and calls I get tell me how God is using the DAB and how I've become a bit of a role model. I truly appreciate that. It certainly makes me feel good but the reality is that if that's what I've become then authenticity dictates that I tell you that I have nothing to offer that you don't have in yourself. Jesus came to rescue each of our hearts and we in turn carry a mandate forward to bring the Kingdom. This isn't a suggestion. We have to do it and that means doing whatever it takes to carry our part of it forward. We're all normal people here. We each have a role to play and none of us could carry on without community. So I sit here in my hotel writing you because it makes me feel connected. In the end, no amount of sacrifice or reorientation or disruption is so great that we are allowed to choose to disobey what God has placed in our hearts. It doesn't matter what people think of us, say about us or even believe of us. We belong to Christ and His grace gives us what we need to move forward even if moving forward means standing still and waiting for Him to move. We're all in this together. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 2/10/2008
What a trip. I saw about as much snow as one could hope to see. Deep snow, slippery snow, wet snow, crunchy snow, white snow, muddy snow and even some yellow snow :). The winter time is magical for me because I live where there is no snow. I think the reality is I love the crisp, coldness of the winter. It's stark and beautiful and I drank deeply. The trip I just dragged you on was relatively unplanned. I try to get away to focus my year in January and find some beauty and snow to enjoy but I didn't think it was going to happen this year. I had convinced myself I was already too busy to consider it. Then as if I were summoned by God a window opened in my schedule. I can tell you for certain that I got my heart back on this trip. I re-learned once again the importance of walking with God daily and allowing Him to order our days. So much of what I read everyday in the Bible shows us how central our hearts are. Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts with everything we've got because out of it comes our very lives. That's pretty clear but what does it mean to live from the heart? When Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 he outlined his main mission, "To heal the broken hearted and set the captives free." I have come to believe that the busyness of our culture and the craziness of life work against the central mission of Jesus. If we're ever going to find true healing, real relationships and an authentic walk with God we have got to get our hearts back. Ironically this seems to be what Jesus primary mission was about. We have to SLOW DOWN. We have to wake up each morning and spend time with God and then simply ask Jesus what the day is supposed to look like. Ask Jesus this week what your life is supposed to look like. After all Jesus said that He came that we might have life. What does that look like for you? Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 2/3/2008
I'm writing this evening from Ogden, Utah. It's a bizarre story why I'm even in Ogden tonight but I'm sure I'll have plenty to share about this trip before it's over. I have indeed found snow and plenty of it! The glory of God's creation at times overwhelms me when I travel. I feel the intense creative power of God in the west. It speaks profoundly to me of his power, grace and his creative heart. I crossed a desert that I've traveled many times in other seasons. Today it was snow covered and the white emptiness was so vast that it seemed every blink of my eye was an act of worship. When we allow ourselves to live from our hearts, to really slow the world down enough to even hear our true hearts things get clear pretty fast. Some of us have been ravaged by life for so long and we're so loaded with obligations and responsibilities that to even consider allowing our hearts to speak seems like a luxury we can't afford. The reality is that we can't afford not to. It's just like being in the Bible everyday. A lot of you have found the DAB to be the one resource that allows you to maximize your time enough to be in the Scriptures daily. I think that's incredibly humbling. I've found that I can't live a successful life of faith without constant contact with the Word of God. It speaks to the deeper parts of us. It speaks to our hearts. If we're ever going to get our hearts back and begin to live a vibrant and successful life of faith we have to have both our hearts and an ongoing relationship with God through the intimacy offered in scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I challenge you this week to ponder what your heart is telling you. Allow God to use the scriptures to awaken what is deep within you. Who do you really want to be? What is your true calling in life? Are you doing that? We'll never find who we really are until we are finally released from who we really are not. I love you all Brian
Brian Hardin, 1/27/2008
This week we'll reach a couple of thresholds. I've been told that if you can stick to something for 21 days you're well on your way to forming a habit. I guess making a "habit" out of being in the Bible everyday isn't the right verbiage but sticking to something this long is worth noting. Another milestone is that we'll complete the book of Genesis and move forward into Exodus. You did it. Your first book is complete! In other news, one of our moderators was married on Saturday. Our hopes and prayers cover you Deb. We are supremely happy and grateful for your help here and your service to the King for the Kingdom is inspiring. Blessings on you. We'll be doing some traveling in the coming weeks so pack your bags. One way or another I am going to find me some snow!!! It actually snowed here in Nashville a couple of days ago and the trees and hillsides were white but it was evening and there was no sunlight. Before the sun rose it had turned to rain and there was nothing left to remind us but the dying snowmen in all the yards. Sometimes I feel like those snowmen. The snow comes and I am washed white and invigorated and ready to take whatever comes my way but when the temperatures rise and the rain comes I feel like melting. Thankfully I'm not alone and neither are you but that still isn't justification to fade away. God calls us to something deeper and greater than ourselves and we must finish well. That's something that I find over and over in the Bible. Finish strong. You and I are pressing forward to completing our first month together this year. This is the begining of new things. Let's walk together because it is in community that we can actually achieve the goal of finishing strong. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 1/20/2008
It will be hard to miss that big grey box to my left. That's a very good reminder that things are changing around here. Change can be a little disorienting and really disruptive but at the same time CHANGE is what God is inviting us into nearly every day. We have to shake the complacency and triviality of the mundane or we'll basically fall asleep for the rest of our lives. That's not what God is requiring of us. This week we'll read from the Message and I know where we're going: straight into the story of Jacob and straight into the direct words of Jesus as he instructs His disciples. This is where we get really rolling I think. I have a sense about this week. Don't coast through it. So the forums have rolled into the Phase II part of the new site. I'm sure this will take some getting used to. I hope it doesn't disrupt you too much. What you';ll notice going forward is that when you login to the site you are logged into anything that the site has to offer from chatrooms to the store to the fun things on the horizon. Trust me, I'm on the same learning curve. So much learning and so little time. I'm with you but I know what the end result will be and it is so worth it. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 1/13/2008
YIKES! So we have this years first little snafu and wouldn't you know it? I'm 1200 miles from Nashville. It looks like The 5th and 6th broadcasts are not downloading and we're working on it and asking for your grace in this massive time of transition behind the scenes. You can see a new website being put into place but what you cannot see is that the DAB has gone through a massive re-configuration behind the scenes onto a completely different platform and a whole new way of producing it. Why? Portability. I travel a lot as you know (I take you with me) and to produce the DAB from the road was a real chore involving racks and bags of gear. During the Holidays I put a new system in place and tested it for roll out in the new year with the website and all the other stuff that's going on. Somehow the last couple of days just aren't working and I'm figuring that out. I'm totally certain it will work Monday (7th) and if I can't get the 5th and 6th up tomorrow it will have to wait for me to do on Tuesday night when I get home to Tennessee. The good news? Now that I see how this can happen it's not likely to happen again. The bad? It might be Tuesday night before those days appear. What's the spiritual parallel in all of this? I'm not certain. I did a photo shoot in New York today with a great group of artists one of which is very anxious in places with lots of flashing lights and commotion. That made it really interesting when we told her we'd be going into Time Square after dark. Although she was a little panicked, she gritted it out and got it done. I respected that. Following Christ isn't without it's obstacles and advancing the Kingdom rarely happens without a fight. Sometimes you have to grit it out and get it done and when you do, there is always a measure of grace over you to get through whatever the struggle might be. I was so hoping for a perfect year this year with no late days and missing files. That's a pretty hard thing to do when you have to broadcast 7 days a week. Alas......... but we'll grit this out and get it done. And the reality is, we might be a little late but we won't miss anything. God will still use His word in our lives as He intended. I love you all. Thanks for your patience. Brian
Brian Hardin, 1/6/2008
Welcome to a new year. Welcome to the new site. Welcome to a new way to learn, live, love and lead. I had no idea how much fun it would be to try to build the community site we need now and I had no idea how much work it would be. As we start the new year we have Rob Tate and Chet Cromer to thank for working on this like crazy. We now have some infrastructure that will become more and more apparent over the coming weeks as we integrate new functionality to the site. The store should be pretty cool too. You can finally get that music you've been asking for over the last two years as well as an ongoing assortment of cool stuff that directly goes to support the efforts of the Daily Audio Bible. Enough about all of that. HERE WE ARE IN 2008! I feel like I've let an old friend go as I leave the old year and bound into the new one but I have a sincere anticipation for the future. What God has begun to do here has finally taken shape. When all of this started I was clueless as to where it would all go and although I don't know the extent of the future I do know that we are a virtual community that cannot be denied and we desire authenticity in our relationship with God. What better community could one hope to be a part of? The beautiful thing is that we can begin to really communicate in ways we couldn't before with this new site. You'll see! In many ways this has the guts of social networking without the ads and sleeze and yet we remain grassroots and geared toward making real connections virtually. I'm rambling already BUT I'M STOKED ABOUT THIS! Keep checking back as we begin to fully integrate the new vision for 2008 at the Daily Audio Bible. Happy New Year. I love you All Brian
Brian Hardin, 1/1/2008
So the mark I felt we would reach this year is upon us. Six million downloads. Every time a million is reached I lean back, fold my hands behind my head and stare at the ceiling trying to visualize what that represents. I can’t. It’s beyond me and one more reminder of how what I do here is a part of something far greater than any one individual. Numbers can be deceiving though. Numbers like these go a long way in giving the podcast credibility but the reality is that Christ said he would leave the ninety-nine to find the one which seems to indicate that throwing up big performance numbers isn’t necessarily His style. He’s looking at every individual heart and when I realize the numbers of downloads and I think of the individual hearts I begin once again to see the staggering reality of God’s capacity for love. To say that we serve a big God is cliché’. Sometimes cliché is all there is to say. God came to earth as a baby, pooping in the barn with all the other animals to live, learn and rescue us. Each of us. Individually. He came for the many but He did it individually. The offer is to all but those who accept it enter into a new life. This is perhaps a context for what God is doing here among us. The call of the Bible goes out to the many, but its the beautiful work that it accomplishes in our individual lives that really matters. Have a Holiday season that matters this year. The hustle and bustle fades. God coming to earth to rescue you remains. Onward Comrades, Brian
Brian Hardin, 12/20/2007