Arrows are Deadly
(a Review by Josh Dies).
I realized this summer that it’s been nine years since the first I and my band Showbread pulled out of our driveway in Guyton, Georgia with months of touring ahead of us. Somehow in those nine years Showbread has done at least two incredible things: we kept touring and… well, we’re still a band. Some folks might openly disagree with the latter, but the former is indisputable.
It would be a stretch of the truth to insist that we have always wanted one thing out of touring, but it stretches the truth less to say that we wanted to want one thing out of touring. What we wanted to want was to tell the world about Jesus: The miraculous story of a peasant, Jewish Rabbi in the ancient near-east that went around preaching that the Kingdom of God was near! The story of God himself stepping down into the world, in human flesh, and conquering death by dying himself and then being resurrected from the dead. And that somehow, in light of this beautiful, mesmerizing and mysterious story folks like you and me can be made right with God and enter into his presence now and forever.
That’s what we wanted to be our focus anyway. For the most part, we’ve given it our best. Sometimes more than others and heck, often we’ve outright failed. But after nine years of spending more months each year in a van than at home, you start to think. We can’t help but see, time and time again in our travels, a world in desperate need of God’s redemptive power. We see a people oppressed by selfishness, greed, listlessness, anxiety, depression, despair… We see a church co-opted by the American dream and a generation taught to settle for the feeble, plastic freedom offered by legislation rather than the outright soul-liberating freedom of the living God. We’ve concluded, time and time again, that the world does indeed need Jesus and that Jesus is indeed at work in the world. And slowly, as those nine-years unraveled, Jesus taught his followers in Showbread—with infinite patience—what it means to make the Gospel the sole focus of a touring rock band.
To me, that’s what Arrows Are Deadly was all about. A second wind. A breath of fresh air. The voice of God himself invigorating his kids, telling them “This is only the beginning, there is more work to be done!”
I saw a middle-aged woman weep in front of a crowd of tattooed young people because God had healed her long pain-ridden feet. I saw a young man baffled by the fact that even though he did not believe God could or would heal his neck of chronic pain, God did it anyway. A young woman in Florida bawled in front of us as she confessed that it was on that night she first believed that God truly loved her. A group of perfect strangers in New York huddled around one another, joining hands and crying out to God on behalf of a wayward family member none of us knew.
Almost a decade of traversing the countryside playing rock concerts and telling people about Jesus, but on this tour something unique was happening. We looked forward to our performances, we looked forward to fellowship and fun with our friends in the other bands, but we had an insatiable craving to see God move AFTER each show in the minutes and hours when we gathered in small circles to pray for one another. The focus, even after nine years, continues to be refined.
Every day I read theologians and scholars pour over the Bible in an endless effort to unravel it’s endless layers. On paper, theology is captivating, it stirs the heart and mind and seizes the imagination. In person, theology is devastating, it shocks a man to his very core to see with his own eyes and feel in his very bones the truth that prayer changes reality and that Jesus, God of the universe, is moving in the world today.
The current of this movement is one I simply must be swept away in.
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- Josh Dies
http://joshdies.com
http://www.showbread.net
Have a testimony from the tour or at any of the festival stops? Please share them with us here!
-new SHOWBREAD album available now as a free download: http://showbread.net/freealbum
-new memoir out now: http://joshdies.com/web-store/
-new novel An Edict Of Worms coming soon: http://joshdies.com/2011/05/19/649/
I was at the show in Owasso, which had about forty people attending. I came to see Showbread because I love those guys. The concert was great, and I had a lot of fun, but it wasn’t until after the show that I realized something. I realized that I hadn’t been doing enough for God, but He loved me just the same anyway.
When everyone began praying, it felt awesome. I’ve never had an experience like that at any other concert.
Because of one concert, I checked out Come and Live again (I had previously glanced at the site) and I instantly knew that I had to join Fast Friday. I also started to read my Bible regularly (before I go to bed and when I wake up).
I know that God has something great planned for me, and because of one tiny concert, I rededicated my life to God.
I was with you guys in Connecticut, and I couldn’t believe how much that night impacted me. It had been so long since I had encountered the Holy Spirit like that, and I crave it everyday. Thank you guys so much for letting God use you to do these amazing things that you do. The part after the show was the best, and I’m not sure I’ll ever forget that. I want that community and fellowship and mutual love for God I experienced in that group to be a part of my life. I can’t express enough how much that meant to me.
I must say that i am overall impressed with the genuine love for Jesus that the artists here on C&L have. I am glad to see that the people writing great music are not just playing for money or earthly praise. Reading this was truly a blessing. Thanks so much for bringing the gospel to our nation.
Amazing! Praise God!
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Thank you!
“Every day I read theologians and scholars pour over the Bible in an endless effort to unravel it’s endless layers. On paper, theology is captivating, it stirs the heart and mind and seizes the imagination. In person, theology is devastating, it shocks a man to his very core to see with his own eyes and feel in his very bones the truth that prayer changes reality and that Jesus, God of the universe, is moving in the world today.
The current of this movement is one I simply must be swept away in.”
This is beautiful. Thanks Josh for the report. I wish I could have witnessed this tour in-person, but this is a wonderful report.
I don’t live in the US so didn’t see any of the shows but it is great to hear such a report! I love to see that the passion to have the true and pure Gospel of Jesus Christ be spread is there and on fire!
May God continue to fuel the fire within and provide you the strength, wisdom and grace to do His work in this world!
I’ve been praying for Showbread for a while now and it’s so good to hear how God’s been moving through their lives like this lately! God bless Showbread!
i was in midlothian,texas for this tour!! it was an amazing nite and im glad i went!! it was my 3rd time to see showbread and they never dissappoint!!
can’t wait to host you guys in Austria…looking forward to see how God is going to use you in Europe!