Love Found Me marks Lincoln, Nebraska-based band VOTA's first new studio recording in five years. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winning Nathan Dantzler (Audio Audrenaline) and Riley Friesen (Family Force 5), Love Found Me features 10 new songs, most written or co-written by Bryan Olesen. 

 

Formerly Casting Pearls, VOTA has consistently been a Christian music fan favorite since its inception in 1997. Comprised of Bryan Olesen (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Carlson (bass guitar), John Wooten (drums) and Justin Wantz (guitar, keyboard), VOTA's recordings include Casting Pearls (Inpop Records), Live In Wichita (Inpop Records) and VOTA (INO Records). 

 

In addition to fronting VOTA, Bryan Olesen is well-known to Christian music fans through his tenure as lead guitarist for the Newsboys from 2003-2006. VOTA also founded the 180 Tour (www.180tour.com), a national high school assembly program designed to encourage students in their character and reach them with the Gospel. The 180 Tour has visited more than 350 high schools in more than 35 states since 2006. 

 

I had the great opportunity to host VOTA "unplugged" which you can read about here. I recently interviewed Bryan Olesen about their first single "God of the Universe."

 

 

I spent the first many years of my Christianity thinking God was just waiting to drop the hammer on me when I messed up, and I was really fearful. I thought righteousness was all on my shoulders and had everything to do with me. Once you enter into God's love and salvation you look back and understand that He orchestrates that and God brings you to Him. He holds you in the palm of His hand, and sometimes we throw in the towel too soon because we think He's mad at us. 

 

"God of the Universe" is based on Psalm 19. Something we consider normal is to look up at the sky and see the sun and the clouds and the stars--and you just expect them to be there--and how ridiculously amazing that is. I love the lyrics in the song, "the stars in the sky are Your fireworks." It's amazing, and we can't wrap our minds around it, but it's an example of how big God is. The second verse is saying that we stop and think about how big God is, all of that is nothing compared to what He's done for us by dying on the Cross.

 

Psalm 19:1-4: "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, ad their words to the end of the world."

 

Matthew 25:40: "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.'"

 

 

This song is a fun, upbeat worship song which allows us to stop and think about how big and amazing our God is, and yet nothing compares to His love for us individually. God's love and salvation starts changing our hearts and allows us to trust Him more with our lives. 

 

We want to obey Him because that's what's best for us and allows us to thrive. We can then give back to God out of thankfulness. When I learned that Tiny Hands International has intercepted thousands of women and children being trafficked across the Nepal/India border, I knew that we had to dedicate our new album to that cause. Here's one small way to help out. We are all called to different jobs, I don't care if you are pumping gas, as believers we are all called to be part of God's Kingdom on earth. 

 

 

In his book Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, Eric Metaxas writes, "slavery was as accepted as birth and marriage and death" for 5,000 years. Today, after the work of Wilberforce and his compatriots, "even though slavery continues to exist here and there in the trafficking of the sex trade, for example, the idea that slavery is inextricably intertwined with human civilization, and part of the way things are supposed to be, and economically necessary and morally defensible, is gone." 

 

As we reflect on our role as Christians, here's a quote from William Wilberforce: "When I reflect on the command which says, 'Thou shalt do no murder,' believing the authority to be divine, how can I dare to set up any reasonings of my own against it? And, sir, when we think of eternity, and of the future consequences of all human conduct, what is there in this life that should make any man contradict the dictates of his conscience, the principles of justice, the laws of religion, and of God?"

 

VOTA is partnering with Tiny Hands International to help stop the flow of human trafficking across the border of Nepal into India, by raising support for five border monitoring stations for the next five years. 

 

For a donation of any amount, campaign supporters are able to download VOTA's new release, Love Found Me, along with a second acoustic recording, No Plan B. All proceeds go directly to Tiny Hands International. The Love Found Me Campaign features a special video message from VOTA founding member and lead vocalist Bryan Olesen, which can be viewed at www.lovefoundme.org. 

 

"15,000 girls are taken across the border from Nepal into India each year and sold into sexual slavery," explains Olesen. "There are 26 border points, each with a border monitoring station, that are able to intercept as many as 130 girls each year. Partnering with Tiny Hands, it is our goal to fund five stations for five years so that potentially more than 3,000 girls can be rescued from an unthinkable existence. As a band, we can think of no greater purpose than to bring real hope and change to even one girl's life." 

 

Founded in 2004, Tiny Hands International is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the church in the developing world to help the poor overcome poverty and become lights of the world. Based in Lincoln, Nebraska, Tiny Hands is committed to finding the greatest injustices in the world, and working towards relieving them however possible. They have founded children's homes in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and have intercepted thousands of women and children being trafficked across the Nepal/India border since 2009. 

 

For further information on the Love Found Me Campaign, visit www.lovefoundme.org, www.votaband.com, www.tinyhandsinternational.org, or text "VOTA" to 313131. The most recent Passion: Let The Future Begin conference was profiled in the national spotlight as students representing 52 countries and over 2,000 universities gave more than $3 million to help fund the freedom fight for the more than 27 million human slaves currently in captivity.

 

Being a Christian isn't just keeping Jesus to ourselves, it's also about finishing the race that God has set out for each of us in our walks. Look at injustice in the world through God's eyes and you can't help but be moved to act like Paul and Silas. As Bryan and I discussed, whatever cause you support, be passionate about it and speak into the cause consistently. Ask yourself if you're losing sight of God's purpose for you. Don't give up on worthy causes, they are not fads.

 

Jesus commands believers to love others as He loved us, and to show His love by helping people who can't help themselves. This campaign that VOTA is supporting really touches my heart, especially as a dad of three young daughters. There is so much injustice in the world on so many levels. By supporting this album, you can do something great for the "God of the Universe." 

 

That's His heart, to care for the oppressed, the victimized and the "least of these." When I watch the video at www.lovefoundme.org, I think of the bridge of my all-time favorite worship song, "Hosanna" written by Brooke Fraser for Hillsong United. "Show me how to love like You have loved me, Break my heart for what breaks Yours, everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause." I love the prayer in this great new song by VOTA, "Jesus shine Your light in my life, Let Your glory shine, God of the universe." Amen!

 

(Check out the music video here.)