November 01, 1991 by Dave Geisler

Scott Wesley Brown is one of the finest singer/songwriters in the history of contemporary Christian music. He continues to tour the U.S. and the world with a passionate message--calling the Church to reach the unreached.But the unreached have not always been the focus of his ministry. Like many other people, his life was transformed by taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course.

Scott says, "No one had ever shown me the big picture of missions. My time at the Center taking the Perspectives class enabled me to know what I was moving toward, and I think this enhanced my music and really gave me a solid direction. I was taking little stabs at missions before, but now it's a total thrust."

Scott Wesley Brown has come full circle in regard to the Perspectives course. First he was a student three years ago in a Perspectives intensive class. His heart and life were so impacted by what he heard that he made unreached peoples the entire focus of his music ministry. He then became a promoter for the Perspectives class, encouraging people everywhere to take it. Scott's last two albums, "To The Ends Of The Earth" and "Living In The Comfort Zone," are musical efforts to mobilize people to give their lives to reaching the unreached peoples of the world with the Gospel.

Now Scott has become a teacher in Perspectives classes in Nashville, Tennessee, where he makes his home. Scott will also be a visiting lecturer in January '92 in the Perspectives class in San Luis Obispo, California. Scott will do a concert the first night and teach class the second night that he is in the area.

Scott is excited about the new teaching focus of his ministry. "One of the things that got me interested in teaching was hearing Bob Sjogren teach a Destination 2000 seminar at my church. There is just so much happening in terms of breakthroughs to reach the unreached. I am really interested in teaching on the Biblical basis for Perspectives," he said.

The Passionate Pursuit
Scott's new album, "The Passionate Pursuit," has a strong teaching focus. The following is a profile of the Biblical and mission focus of each song:

Creator: God is a missionary God. The Bible is His missionary journal. It is one continuous unfolding story of God's passionate pursuit to redeem men from every tribe, tongue and nation, restoring them to an intimate and holy relationship with Himself. The Lord seeks and deserves the praises and worship of all His creation, especially the human race He created to be His friends and to enjoy Him forever.

Tower Of Pride: After the fall and the flood, man's broken relationship with the Lord produced the hideous pride of humanism and self-determination. "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (Gen 11:1-9). Man had one language and a common speech, and God saw the potential for an even greater pride and independent spirit. His confusing of their language and scattering them was not only a "divide and conquer" strategy, but an act of mercy as well. As one people with one language, sin (like a plague) could easily spread through their midst and destroy all mankind. God divided them into families (Gen 10), or nations in a Biblical sense, whom He could deal with individually. We need to be open to God breaking down the pride in our lives and turning our Babel into praise,

Through You: God's words to Abraham, "Go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing...all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen 12:1-3). This reveals God's heart to redeem people from all nations. God is raising up a missionary family through Abraham to reach all families or nations on earth. God will provide all the blessings and resources to accomplish this task, both in the Old Testament period and ultimately through Abraham's seed: Jesus Christ (Gal 3:6-9, 16) and His Church.

Let My People Go: The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out. God heard their groaning and remembered His covenant with Abraham; He was concerned about them (Ex 2:23-25). God is revealing Himself and His compassionate character to His own people as their deliverer. He is also establishing Himself before Pharaoh's Egypt and all nations. "But I have raised you (Pharaoh) up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth" (Ex. 5:16). All of the plagues deal with Egyptian deities and in fact many other people left with Israel in the Exodus (Ex. 12:38). The news about the God of Israel spread from this crossroads of the world. Israel had a testimony.

Righteous and Holy: God has called this missionary nation to proclaim His plan to bless all nations. Now he wants them to participate in His priesthood as agents of that blessing (Ex 19:5,6.).

Elohim: The Psalms contain 76 references to the nations. Psalm 67 captures the purpose of God's blessing, "so that Your way may be known upon the earth, Your salvation among all the nations." That is why God has been gracious and blessed Israel and all who believed. Elohim is the plural name of God used when speaking of his relationship to men and nations. God is so serious about His plan that all nations will worship Him (Ps 86:9) that a register of the peoples (Ps 87:4-7) is kept to prove his faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham.

Who Will Stand In The Gap: "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found none" (Ezk. 22:30). Israel was consumed by ethnocentric pride and defiled by the sin of idolatry. Israel had profaned God's holy name and caused Him to be dishonored (Mal. 1:5-14).

Your Name Will Be Great Among The Nations: This is a wonderful praise chorus which affirms that God's purpose will not be defeated (Mal. 1:10-11).

Yet Still: God knew that Israel would build a golden calf and disobey Him throughout history. Yet still He chose them as His holy missionary nation. The Lord knows our complacent hearts, yet still He call us to carry His Gospel into all the world. This is a proof of God's amazing grace.

Into The World: "As the Father has sent me even so I send you (Jn. 20:21). "God fulfills His plan for the nations through Jesus. The Old Testament flows right into the New with unbroken continuity and the message is still, "Through You" and "Go ye," four words that link this passionate story together.

Our Hearts Will Burn: The key phrase of this song is that if we really love Jesus and seek his return our hearts will burn for the lost. Jesus wants us to obey His commands (Jn. 15:9, 10). Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and there is a promise that comes with His plan: "And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 24:14, Mark 13:10).

At the end of the album's inside explanation of this last song, Scott says, "May our hearts burn for the Lord and His triumphant return, yet may they also burn for the over two billion men and women who live in the 12,000 'nations' yet to be born in Zion. For when the Church has been planted among each of these unreached people groups all the pieces in the puzzle will be in place and the picture will be complete. The big question is whether you and I love Jesus enough to lay down our lives and follow Him in His passionate pursuit of all nations."

Scott Wesley Brown debuted songs from this new album here at the U.S. Center in concert on October 12th. Some of the people there said the concert was better than any mission conference they had ever attended. Scott is interested in networking with many missionary agencies. His music clearly has the strength and Biblical basis to advance their cause and the cause of the unreached.

The tapes, To The Ends Of The Earth, Living In The Comfort Zone, and Passionate Persuit may be ordered from William Carey Library using the order page on page 39 or calling 1-800-MISSION with a VISA/MC order. Available on cassette only.

SWB001 To The Ends Of The Earth/

SWB002 Living In The Comfort Zone/ SWB003 The Passionate Pursuit/ Retail $9.95 Disc $8.00 Whls $7.00