Giveaway! The Art of Compassion by Martin Smith

There are two amazing forces that exist in the world: Compassion for those in need and Art that helps us see beyond ourselves. This book brilliantly brings the two together by gathering the top songwriters in Christian music to help raise money for relief and suffering around the planet.

Legendary Christian worship songwriters Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Chris Tomlin, Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, Andy Park, Tim Hughes, and many others have each contributed a chapter reflecting on the poverty people suffer around the world, the art of compassion, and how we can make a difference. Darlene Zschech, best known for her song "Shout to the Lord" which is sung by 25 to 30 million churchgoers each week, gives an apologetic on her personal role and the greater church's role of social justice in her story, "Rise Up, Church!" In "A Visible Gospel" five-time Grammy Award-winning Steven Curtis Chapman humbly shares his family's call to adopt three children and their ongoing ministry to help fund other families' adoptions.

My Review:
Recorded here are the results of twelve Christian musicians who collaborated to make a difference in the world. First, they met at a retreat in Scotland where they were challenged to write a new set of worship songs that would eventually be recorded. The profits from these songs would go to fund charities around the world. The motive is to love the world enough to make a difference. They pledged to tackle a world filled with great need. This book grew from that song-writing retreat.

Each story of compassion is told in its individual chapter, so that the book reads like a short story collection. These artists put worship into action. Their inspirational stories are diverse and interesting to read.

In addition to writing their stories, the twelve recorded an album CD/DVD entitled CompassionArt: Creating Freedom From Poverty. It contains 14 new songs meant to inspire. All proceeds from the album will support the work of 16 Compassion Art charities; a list is found at the back of the book. You can check out the web site at www.copassionart.tv

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The generous folks at Hachette Book Group are allowing me to host this book giveaway for five (5) copies!

• Winners are restricted to the US and Canada. No PO Box mailing addresses, please.
• I must have a way of contacting you, so be sure to leave your email address in code in your comment
  
• I'll close the comments at 6 PM EST February 22nd and pick the five winners. I will contact the winners via email to get their mailing information. The winners will have three days to respond. If I do not hear from them within three days, I will select another winner(s). If you're interested, just say so in a comment with that all-important email address in code.
  Example of email in code: you[at]yourmail[dot]com

If you would like to buy a copy, click here.