Explaining The Shelter: "We Will Follow"

As we count down to the release of our new album, The Shelter (Oct. 5), we are spending time sharing more about each song on the project. Today, track 3: "We Will Follow."

Charlie: I love the imagery that we as a church are carrying on a pilgrimage that started in the Old Testament...wandering, straying, remembering, following....

Dan: We may not know where we are going, we know who leads us, and thus we can sing with confidence even into the valley of death.

Stephen: To make yourself available to God's love and His people is to push against fear and offer yourself to God's service as an ambassador of love and an agent of change.

Matthew: Nothing in our view you haven't made, No one that you've touchd you that you haven't saved.

Auction to Benefit Porter's Call

We are auctioning a Long Fall Vinyl Special Edition to benefit Porter's Call. Click here to bid. The auction ends September 18. 

About Porter's Call: 

Porter's Call is a ministry of counsel and support for recording artists and their families. Our mission is to provide a welcoming relationship for recording artists on their pilgrimage of life and faith. It is a safe and confidential shelter where questions can be asked and answers explored; a place where broken lives can be restored and healed; a place where God can be discovered and encountered; a place where creative gifts can be deepened and enhanced. | To learn more about Porter's Call, visit their website.

VIDEO: DAN & CHARLIE DISCUSS MUSICAL INFLUENCES

We originally posted this video back in March, but as we get closer to the release of The Shelter (10/5), we thought it may be a fun video to revisit. Enjoy.

Explaining The Shelter: "Call My Name"

As we prepare for the October 5 release of The Shelter, we are sharing specific thoughts on each song from the album. This week we share about track 2, "Call My Name."

Charlie: A prayer that we might know the value of each individual life - and our calling to value dignity and story as we bring God's hope into brokenness. 

Dan: Good community never lets us stay in its safe fold for long, rather it allows our hearts to venture out to harm's way in search of God. 

Stephen: God calling your name means being known by the creator of everything, who redeems us and everything around us in beauty. 

Matthew: To think that God knows us by name has deep and far-reaching implications. To actually hear him use it changes everything.

VIDEO: Jars Live in Budapest

The following videos are raw, live clips from our Budapest, Hungary show on Friday, September 3, 2010.

VIDEO: Dan Introduces The Shelter

Listen to The Shelter for 48 (More) Hours

Our friends at HearItFirst.com are streaming The Shelter for the next 48 Hours (will end around 3 PM ET on Thursday, Sept. 2). Click here to listen.

VIDEO: Greenbelt (Festival) 2010

For more videos from Greenbelt, click here.

Explaining The Shelter: "Small Rebellions"

Over the coming weeks, leading to the 10/5 release of The Shelter, we will be sharing more about the songs from the album. This week, we share thoughts on track 1, "Small Rebellions."

Charlie: May our small, daily protests to the chaos define us as those who choose love over fear and judgment.  A prophetic song of hope paired with action.

Dan: Any act that fights against isolation is the greatest form of counterculture. The greatest risks we take are the ones that prove we are implicated in each others stories. 

Stephen: This song celebrates the courage it takes as a community to change the lives of those around us with a subversive love.  

Matthew: For those willing to adventure into the confinements of intentional relationship will find a richness missing from even the most charmed of lives.

Video: Recording The Shelter: No. 2

A Review, Sort Of: Great Thoughts on "Shelter"

It is worth taking a few minutes and reading these eloquent thoughts from Jackie Chapman, where she is sharing her thoughts in response to the song, "Shelter," from our upcoming album (10/5).  

VIDEO: Recording The Shelter: No. 1

Purchase "Out Of My Hands"

"Out Of My Hands," the first single from our upcoming album, The Shelter (available 10/5), is now available to be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital retailers.

Thoughts on "Out Of My Hands"...

Charlie: The only thing we can do in response to what God has done for us, is to give our hearts away and love unconditionally, as a response to how we have first been loved.   

Dan: We cannot save our own lives, nor can we change our own ways.  God has given us to each other, failures and success combined. 

Stephen: It's humbling to know in our lowest moments that God's purposes are made complete in and through our weakness not our strength.

Matthew: Never has there been a more suffocating delusion to live under than the one that says our lives are ours to control.

THE SHELTER: AVAILABLE OCTOBER 5, 2010

Our upcoming album, The Shelter (Oct. 5), was deeply inspired by an old Irish proverb that says, “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” Both physical and spiritual community are ideas that are a part of every song on this project. We would love to hear your stories of community: What does it mean to you? What is your community story? How are you living in community? 

VIDEO: IN THE CAR

Scenes from a recent time on the road visiting radio friends.

FAN PHOTOS: Jars at SoulFest 2010

Many thanks to Sara J. MacKenzie for these photos from SoulFest 2010.

REVIEW: The Shelter, by JesusFreakHideout.com

Check out this fantastic review of The Shelter, from our friends over at JesusFreakHideout.com.

Soulfest 2010!!!

It was another amazing year at Soulfest. We did a late night rewind show to benefit BloodWaterMission which was the four of us and Christopher Williams filling in on percussion www.christopherw.com.

Here are some pics from about and around the festival. Thanks for all the amazing New England Fans who made the main stage performance an UNBELIEVABLE evening. Truly one of the best nights of the summer. Love to you all and see you soon this fall with Brandon Heath!

Also had the privilege to catch up with some good friends at the festival and to catch Matt Maher's set. He is one of the artists that we were so privileged to collaborate with on The Shelter project. Can't wait for you to hear his song with Dan and Sara Groves, called "Love Will Find Us All."

VIDEO: In-Depth Interview with Pulse FM

On Tuesday, August 3, 2010, Steve and Charlie stopped by to visit Corey Mann and the fine people of Pulse FM in South Bend, Indiana. Below is the interview that occurred.

LISTEN: Jars On-Air with Star 99.1 in NYC on Friday

On Friday morning (8/6), from 7:30-10 AM ET, you can LISTEN ONLINE to Jars of Clay as they will be live and in-studio with Star 99.1 in New York City.