Dear Encouraging Music Friends,

This testimonial was a blessing to us and we'd like to share it with you. It was sent to Tony Guerrero after the most recent Purpose Driven Church Conference in early 2001. The song "Beautiful" by Tony Guerrero (mentioned below) was performed at the big Thursday night concert, along with most of the songs featured on the latest collection from Encouraging Music, Sounds of Saddleback (S.O.S.) Volume 1. You can hear the song and view the video that accompanied it here on EncouragingMusic.com.

I spoke to you after the concert last Thursday night and promised I'd write when I made it back home to Northern Ireland. So here I am!

I just wanted to pass on a huge thank you for the part you played in making my week at the pastors' conference probably the most significant experience so far in my time as a Christian leader. I'll not bore you with my life's story but can at least help explain to you why what you did at the concert meant so much.

At the end of December I moved on from pastoring a Baptist church in Bangor, not far from Belfast. By American standards it wasn't a big church but was one of the largest Baptist churches in NI. However, churches in N.I. tend to be very insular and my heart was in the wider church. I took up a new position heading up the N.I. work of an organization called Evangelical Alliance, which works across the UK, networking evangelical churches, providing resources for them, and speaking out as the public voice of evangelicalism on religious and ethical issues. I was actually at Saddleback leading a party of 43 pastors and leaders that Evangelical Alliance had organized.

Anyhow, during my time in Bangor we came across The Purpose Driven Church book and used some of the principles to help us refocus the church and lead it better. I came to the church over 2 years after the previous pastor had left and it was like a rudderless ship with no sense of direction and my goal was to make sure that when I would leave the church would be acting as church should, not waiting for a minister to do everything. When I left we had really gone a good part of the way to achieving that goal.

However it wasn't perfect and it really hit me between the eyes last week what we had missed for while I worked so hard to help a church become purpose driven I was too far ahead for I hadn't really encouraged the individuals in the church to be purpose driven. And maybe that's because I was not enough purpose driven.

I like to think I do my work well, both now with Evangelical Alliance and also in the church. I work hard and am really committed to what I do. But there are other things that suffer as a result. Take family - Nicola, my wife, is so supportive but I haven't really given her the support and leadership I should. We have a son Ben, and another child due in July, God-willing, and although I try to give him time very often I have worked too hard and am too tired. Not good enough. And then my own spiritual, devotional life is weak; I spend far too much time being the 'professional' Christian that, as someone said, 'You get more concerned with the work of the Lord you forget the Lord of the work.'

These things really impacted me on the Thursday afternoon in Rick (Warren's) last session about leaders. He didn't hype it up at all but I was overcome with the realization of the things that were wrong in my life that were always going to stand in the way of my integrity as a Christian, never mind a leader. In fact, the sense of failure was almost overpowering and although the truth of grace is the most important truth I know I was nearly at a loss to think that there could be a fresh start for me as I went home to serve God. My faith was not so strong and so I did something I'm not prone to and asked God that he give me a clear sign by the end of the day that I could know a fresh start in serving him. As we sand 'I will never be the same again' at the close of the session I never meant anything more but I wondered if it could really be true for me.

So, then came the concert. What a night! It was rapturous, an amazing night of worship and celebration. As you played 'Beautiful' the Jesus video was showing, and the lead up to the crucifixion moved me to tears; and it made me remember again the prayer I'd prayed in the afternoon for a sign of a new start. Literally, as soon as I'd reminded the Lord of it the video showed the resurrection and then Jesus walking ahead and turning round to call his followers after him, waving them to himself. And then it showed him doing it again, smiling to his followers.

Well, forget about the video itself, I just knew what it was in those moments to have the Lord wave to this follower to come after him. I learned again what I've known for years that resurrection means a new start for all his people because of what the Lord has done. It was the most precious moment I have known for such a long time and sent me home with a spring in my step, with a new passion and a new realization of the grace of God to his weak children. I bought the SOS CD with 'Beautiful' on it and have been listening to it in the car today, going over the experience with my wife. The journey from Belfast to Los Angeles and back was worth it, just for those moments.

So, Tony, I trust I will have cause to be eternally grateful for what you did last week and how the Lord used it in my life. Perhaps there's a temptation to think that the songs with 'words' are the only ones that will pass something on but the wordless one last week really made the difference for me. Thank you for letting yourself be the vehicle the Lord used to get me going.

You are truly blessed to be part of the church at Saddleback and they are blessed to have guys with talent like yours, guys who will use it for the Kingdom. May you really know the hand of the Lord on your life and ministry.

With love in the Lord,

Stephen Cave