Todd and Laurel Berger

I head back out to Colorado tomorrow for the next leg of this recording trip that includes 18hr. work days, juggling freelance projects from different times zones, driving through the mountains w/ limited cell phone coverage, meeting with and playing with some of the most wonderful people I’ve met on earth, and… missing and loving my family from afar. I was afforded the opportunity to come back home for a few days to spend some time with my Amazingly supportive wife, Laurel, and our two beautiful children. School starts this week as does the DNC hosted this election season in Denver, where I’ll be flying in tomorrow. 15-16 “strong” songs are now in full production. Ben Pasley is coaching me through this process and several friends have thrown their hat in the rink like David Wilton, Tony Vilgiate, and Aaron Strumpel to name a few. I’ll likely post some progress MP3’s here to give a shout out to all back home who’ve helped me shape these songs thus far. A shout out to the Harrill’s, Jones’, Dodd, Karas, and Douglas for their encouragement and blood spilled in yelling on “Stand Strong” featured two posts ago (retroactively). I covet your prayers.

Friends, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with longtime friend, Ben Pasley, to discuss an article he has just written on Forgiveness. We’ve made this conversation available as a Podcast available at the I-tunes store. subscribe to the Churchthink podcast.

ChurchThink is a place to engage ideas about the people of God–their purpose and position in the universe. Church is a dangerous word these days and so is this website if you just need someone to prop up your institution. We are about the building of the people, not the people of the building.

For more info or to read the full article, visit
churchthink.com

Dear Friends,

Many people have been asking what Laurel and I are up to now and I wanted to give you a heads up on where we’re at on our journey. Through several favorable circumstances of both availability and timing, Ben Pasley of Enter the Worship Circle has volunteered to help me produce & record my first solo worship recording! Through this recording, I hope to express the nature of God’s love and His ability to initiate change and healing in a fallen world. On August 10th I will fly to Colorado as a real faith step to record this album. I will be there for 10 days, come back home Aug. 20-23, and then fly out to complete the recording from Aug. 24-Sept. 10th.

Over the last few months, I’ve been feeling a tug in my heart that God is shifting me into the next phase of my life and ministry calling. I genuinely feel like this recording is a fresh start and shift in direction for my life. With much prayer and careful consideration, would you consider financially partnering with me to offset the expenses of this recording and invest in our next phase of ministry? As always, your donations are tax-deductible though our missions organization, Wake Arts Collective (501c3).

Every month we journal our ministry adventures online at: Toddberger.com. Feel free to check it out and see what we’ve been up to over the last few years. If you would like to become a monthly partner, visit our website online at wakearts.com where you can subscribe using a Paypal account. If you would like to write us a check or make a one time donation, please mail your support made payable to:

Wake Arts Collective, c/o Todd & Laurel Berger, PO Box 560112, Macedonia OH 44056

As always, we hope you’ll uphold us in your prayers and we are excited to enter this next phase of life knowing that God is faithful and He is able to do more than we can ever ask or think. God’s best to you!

Isaiah 59:1-2
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

Your conscience is the atmosphere between you and your destination. If your conscience is clear, than like a clear day, you can see for miles ahead and possibly your destination. When your conscience is clouded, it is like navigating in a thick fog in which your spirit becomes disoriented, doubting the destination, the direction you are headed and self-doubt in your previous decisions.

Isaiah 59:3
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity.

The reality of our sin, the blood sacrifice of atonement for our sin—Christ, is hardly a reality in my own life. When I sin, I immediately plead the blood of Christ. Without Christ, with every sin, our hands are defiled with blood— in the Old Testament and costly animal would need to lose it’s life to pay for our sin. I think that we’ve underestimated sin now that we’re under the Law of Grace. I think we need to live with the reality and math of: sin=death and death must come to bring life. This was the OT understanding and one that Christ fulfilled. In our easy going American culture, we glaze over the notion of an animal being killed so that we can eat lunch. In the third world, this reality is still present, not hidden In the slaughterhouses and nicely presented without blood, wrapped in cellophane, and lit beautifully.

Will we recognize Jesus when we get to heaven? The resurrected Christ still bears the scars in His hands and feet—quite possibly for eternity. We will love the One- mutilated and scarred for all eternity. I think the Father desires for us to remember the reality of Christ’s sacrifice for us, while we were still sinners– blinded in the fog of our sin, He came and died for us.

“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” Psalm 54:4

What is sustainable if someone else– immortal, all powerful, and halving all wealth– has bankrolled your entire life? Where is the premise for fear and doubt that He will not come through? I need only be at peace and call on Him, waiting… for Him to come through and be obedient to all that He asks of me. How can I be shaken? Can wars, earthquakes, or plagues even shake the base of His tree? Never! He is the only constant. He is the constant in every generation, society, culture, language, nation– the only creative thread that goes through EVERYTHING. So how could we not spot God and feel His nearness in every life circumstance? His fingerprints are all over His created work… as a potter’s casual marks are left in the fire pottery. So OPEN YOUR EYES more fully to see more of God– your constant. He is more fixed than stars, more consistent than time, more solid than the earth beneath that you stand on comfortably. Yes, there is comfort in God– I will not be shaken.

We are launching a Village Thrift tour of gatherings and concerts for Fall ‘08 in conjunction with our second release, Village Thrift: Circa ‘08. Should you be interested in hosting a Village Thrift gathering to build your community, share dialogue and teaching, host a night of worship, prayer, and spiritual impartation, please contact Todd Berger at berger@entertheworshipcircle.com to secure your date immediately.

Who can observe God’s constant movement– creating, connecting, interacting… we cannot fathom the complexity of history. Yet– many roll on with their lives, naively playing major parts in the story and saying, “there is no writer for this script”. Yet we know full well that all of life originates in something or someone. So who are we to say to our Maker, I would rather be this and do that– how laughable to want the roll of both potter and clay.

So those in denial of God, who live in fear to preserve and avoid harm find resolution in their own dry scattered bones. And for all the heat and duress they put our world through, will all be for naught– because there is no sustainable root in fear itself, but those put their fear only in God, will live forever.

Laurel and I took a Village Thrift team up to Wheaton, IL end of February. From there we took a trip up to Milwaukee, WI to spend some time with Jeremy and Hansi Bryan. We were also able to catch up with Dave Olson, one of our beat makers on the next Village Thrift recording. 2 weeks later, we packed our bags as a family for 3 weeks in Colorado spending some much needed time with David and Carol Shirk, Ben and Robin Pasley, and some of our friends out in Woodland Park and Boulder. The second weekend in April we were able to host Doug and RIta Roberts in our home. The last week of April Laurel took a trip out to Arizona while Todd got some great “Daddy Time” with the girls. Later that week, he was invited to help lead worship at a 4 day men’s event on Concord, NC.  Whew! all of that travel and all are doing well. Meanwhile, in the midst of all of this, Todd has continued to write and record new material for the upcoming highly collaborative Village Thrift worship recording. We appreciate your prayers in this season and appreciate your ongoing support. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

Todd is a full time musician who finds his inspiration in ancient poetry and through the modern gritty beats of urban America. Todd’s unique style is indicative of the traditional singer songwriter a la Billy Joel mixed with the modern high energy rock and electronica more typical of Cold Play or early Beck.

Todd has some great insight and wonderful stories to share. Don’t miss it!

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