In case you didn’t hear, MagCloud (the company that prints our magazine), is having a holiday sale until December 31st. They’re offering 25% all magazines! So if you wanted to pick up a print copy, now would be a great time!

Thanks to all who participated in the last survey. We still would greatly appreciate your impressions of the website, overall magazine content and how we can better serve you with this resource. If you fill out the survey by December 31st, your name will be entered in a drawing to receive a free print copy of the Winter 2009/10 issue. We will randomly pick one winner from the completed surveys submitted – it could be you! You can complete the survey here.
Thank you so much!
Cailin

What defines Christian music? What makes Christian music, well, “Christian”? Is it the artist? The song content? The music label? Does implied worship to God count?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this for the next issue. We’re doing a beginner’s guide to Christian music, but not sure how people in fact define Christian music.

A.W. Tozer says in his book The Pursuit of God,

“God never made salvation depend upon new moons or holy days or sabbaths. A man is not nearer to Christ on Easter Sunday than he is, say, on Saturday, August 2, or Monday, October 4. As long as Christ sits on the mediatorial throne, every day is a good day and all days are days of salvation. Neither does place matter to this blessed work of believing in God. Lift your heart and let it rest upon Jesus and you are instantly in a sanctuary though it can be a Pullman berth or a factory or a kitchen. You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him.”

It’s already Wednesday and tonight is our Editorial Board meeting where we discuss the pros and cons of the previous issue and brainstorm the articles, stories and ideas that we think you, the readers, might like or benefit from the most. It’s exciting, but also a difficult task. We’re constantly challenged to make it more about God, than about ourselves, and make it more about you, than just the next issue of a publication. It’s easy to forget that God is everywhere and apart of everything. In work and in play. In California, across India and on Mars. It seems almost insignificant, that He would care enough to be sitting in on a little Editorial Board meeting with a few of us on a Wednesday night, but He’ll be there. Why? So He can guide us through the planning process of the next issue, so He can love us and encourage us in this mission He’s called us to be a part of. But we don’t have to just commune with God during a magazine meeting, we can have continuous access to God’s goodness and grace everywhere and in everything, if only we’d search Him out and include Him in our lives of which He’s already a part of.

I’m so excited that my favorite Christian band, the David Crowder Band, has a new album out called Church Music. I haven’t been able to get it yet, but am so excited from listening to the 30-second previews that I had to share. I can’t say I’m that thrilled about their album cover artwork and have seen much better from them in the past, but it’s all about God and the music anyway, right? But one thing that DCB always is, is worshipful.

Check it out if you’d like at www.davidcrowderband.com

We would greatly appreciate your impressions of the new website, the overall magazine content and how we can better serve you with this resource. If you fill out the survey by September 30th, your name will be entered in a drawing to receive a free print copy of the Fall 2009 issue. We will randomly pick one winner from the completed surveys submitted – it could be you! You can complete the survey here.
Thank you so much!
Cailin

Our print-on-demand service, Magcloud, is doing a promotion until the end of August. Order from now until August 31st for 20% off your very own print copy of New Identity Magazine. You can order the current issue and even back orders too. Go here if you’re interested.
Cool,
Cailin

After a lot of hard work and long hours, your brand new New Identity Magazine website is finally here. We hope this new design and layout offers you the best in terms of finding what you want to read, helping to encourage discussion and allowing you to better connect with people, sharing ideas through Christ and continuing to grow in your faith.
Let us know how the new website works for you. We’d love to hear.
All the best,
Cailin

After you read the article, Surfing and Serving in Panama about Todd Greco and his fellow surfers’ trip to Panama, checkout the video he made about the awesome trip.