“Taylor Campbell’s song ‘Struggle’ touched my heart because as a Christian I know the struggle I go through each day trying my best not to sin. Taylor is wise beyond his years, and God has called him to use his talent to reach out to those who need Christ the most.” (Comment on Breaking Free)

Who is this 15-year-old whose song has touched so many strugglers? Meet Taylor Jordan Campbell, a young man with a passion for God, a gift with words, and the winner of the 2009 Covenant Musicians Song Search.

After receiving over 60 submissions for the Search, Taylor’s song, “Struggle,” immediately stood out. Imagine my surprise when I later discovered Taylor wrote it when he was fourteen. Taylor recently told me about the writing of Struggle:

“As I sat in prayer, I suddenly had a flashback. No stone was left unturned. Sins that I didn’t even remember committing flashed clearly into my mind and I was nearly brought to tears as I remembered the many sins from which God had saved me. With these thoughts swimming around in my head, I picked up a pad and pen and began to write a goodbye letter to the Sin that had enslaved me. I wrote about the freedom from sin that Christ had given me. I wrote it hoping that any person who heard it could listen, keeping their own various sins in mind, and be encouraged in their fight for holiness.”

This goodbye letter to Sin was born out of Taylor’s personal battle with temptation. While he grew up in a Christian home and received Christian schooling, worldly influences were unavoidable. Like many of his guy friends, Taylor went right along with the gossiping, cursing, and girl-chasing culture. “I snuck around texting and lying to my parents until the cell phone bill finally arrived,” Taylor reports. “My whole world as I knew it blew up before my eyes as my sin was exposed. I lost my cell phone, my iPod, the door to my room, and all privacy I once had.”

It was at that time Taylor reevaluated his spiritual life. Sure, he gave his life to Christ when he was five. Sure, he knew all the right answers and could mind his manners, but for the first time Taylor realized what it meant to live life for God’s glory. Would he sell out to God or to the world? In the summer of 2007 he made his choice—and it has been an adventure with God ever since.

He found with his re-commitment to Christ his tastes in music begin to shift as well. Taylor states, “I decided, for me personally, it would be best to pull the plug on any and all artists that tended to glorify their sin nature.” This is when his own song-writing took a turn: “I then tried to use my music to articulate how a relationship with God the Creator is the most important thing in life! All else falls second to God—career, family, wants and needs.”

After writing the verses to “Struggle” Taylor approached his friend Malcolm Womack about helping him write a fitting hook for the song. Malcolm, a gifted singer and a student in a local campus ministry led by Taylor’s parents, was all too willing to help.

Little did Taylor know (when he entered his song in the Song Search) it would catch so much attention. “I entered the contest just hoping that I would do well and be given a platform to explain what the song was really about. It is an honor to have been chosen from a pool of such gifted artists. All glory goes to God for laying this song on my heart.”

Last I spoke with Taylor, he read Psalm 116:12-14 to me to express his personal thanks to God: “What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me. I will keep my promises to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” Thank you, Taylor, for allowing God to use your pen and your voice.

Visit Taylor Jordan’s profile on IndieHeaven.com

Yeah, you had me wrapped around your finger like I was your slave
I lived for you and obeyed
You influenced how I behave
I remember the days
When my lust for you would burn
And when I snuck off to you I would feel as free as a bird
Not a care in the world
At least at first, that is
Until I felt my back being burdened down with the guilt
That’s when I made the mistake of trying to let you go
And you poured on the temptation
You wouldn’t let me go
Every time we communed
I felt even more guilty
And it felt good for a time
But afterwards I felt filthy
You had me in your chains
When I thought that I had control
I didn’t know
Until I tried to stop and break away from you
And now you’ve got me in your cuffs and I’m all shackled down
I want to get away
But really I just don’t know how
They used to say to me
I need to claim my Father’s name
And He’ll help me resist you
I called and He rescued me

Now that we broke up
You’ve been trying to reach me anyhow
Cause when my friends come back around
They bring you back around
Can’t seem to see the reason that I had to call it quits
They’re still convinced that I’m just crazy and out of my wits
Can’t seem to understand why you and I have parted ways
They said we looked so good together
I said “Man, please!”
They haven’t realized yet
Unable to see that they’re blind
Right now you got them thinking they can stop at anytime
I wish they’d see the path of you and what you offer’s bleak
But they still blow me off and refuse to listen to me
But even then you’re not content with leading them astray
And you keep trying to tempt me back so that we can play
But now I’ve been redeemed, Sin
Our relationship’s over
I’m afraid that I’ve gotten wiser and I’ve gotten older
I’ve left you cause I found someone that doesn’t leave me empty
I looked for love in you but now I find Jesus has plenty

Sin is a shackle
And it fills you with shame
But if you’ll just call on His Name
God will give you a way out
No temptation has overtaken
But what’s common to man
And God will not let you be tempted
Beyond what you can stand
So stand firm
Let your strength be renewed
Cause when you pass through the waters
God will be there with you
And when you pass through the rivers
You won’t be overturned
And when you walk through the fires
He won’t let you be burned
Listen
He will uphold you with His righteous right hand
And you can be sure
You have victory over sin and death
So don’t stress
Just be faithful and be patient
You’ll succeed if you trust God
And not your own understanding
God’s way is perfect
He is a refuge
You can take shelter in Him
Cause He won’t forsake you
And though the world as we know it
Seems like it’s about to change
God remains the same
Yesterday, tomorrow, and today

This husband and wife duo from Bennington, Kansas, have spent the last ten years sharing their experiences and convictions through song.

Kaci Neely says, “We were both born and raised in the church, but have both gone out and mindlessly lived our lives with reckless abandon. With our songs, we talk about the consequences of those lifestyles, and we open ourselves up to sharing about how God heals and has brought us freedom.”

“Falling Down” is the story of Jeremy Neely”s life seen through the eyes of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). “It is a story about the beauty of falling down and surrendering my life to God,” Jeremy states, “but it also reflects upon on the scarier images of falling down into snare of my passions and desires,” such as drugs, alcohol, and lust.

NEELY is planning to release a new project this year. Jeremy and Kaci have been married 13 years and have 4 daughters.

Nathan Arnold, “What These Eyes Have Seen”

Nathan has been a youth pastor for 10 years, and he carries the great weight of his calling into his songwriting and worship leading.

As a 31-year-old single man, Nathan knows full well the difficulty of remaining pure in an over-sexualized world. “What These Eyes Have Seen” was borne not only out of his experience, but the experiences of countless guys who have confessed to a deep struggle with pornography.

Nathan Arnold and his band seeks to use music to “fascilitate a meeting with the earthly and holy,” to provide people the opportunity to reflect the greatness of God back in worship.

Taylor Jordan Campbell, “Struggle”

This 15-year-old has been writing music for a long time, but it was only recently that God grabbed a hold of his heart, only recently that he started writing music for God’s glory and honor.

“Struggle” is a very personal song that reflects Taylor’s wrestling with sin—lust being one of several. The song is a celebration of no longer being a slave of sin, but rather being a slave of Christ.

Taylor’s parents are currently on staff with The Navigators, an international Christian missions organization, ministering with collegiate friends.

Nathan Clark George, “Set Me Straight”

Nathan lives in an RV with his wife and 5 children, traveling the country to share his music. His thoughtful lyrics, acoustic talent, and unorthodox lifestyle have caught much attention in the independent music community. Recently Franklin Springs Family Media created a documentary about his nomadic lifestyle and heart-felt music resulting in a new 14-song CD and concert/documentary DVD, Pull Up A Chair.

Nathan is noted for his ability to set Scripture to music. “I treat that process with great fear and reverence. The lyrics are written by God, after all. The challenge is to make it flow in a natural way. A lot of work goes into the phrasing aspect,” Nathan states.

Nathan wrote “Set Me Straight” years ago ugliness of his own story as a young teen who was sexually abused by a family friend, and going through all the muck and confusion this world has to offer, as well as making bad relationship choices. The song was originally written not really knowing if people would surround him with love. Now it is more a song about the resolve to encouraging others to show patient love to those who need it.

Paige Hackett, “Clean”

Paige started writing music and singing publicly 9 years ago, but only recently has she plunged into a career as a solo artist. This 22-year-old is releasing her first album, Kre8ted2Wurship, at the end of July this year.

Paige wrote “Clean” for one of her friends who is still facing a battle with addiction, “This was simply me putting myself in their shoes,” Paige writes, “but God sees everything we go through, He knows the desires of our heart. He also knows when we are trying so hard to do what’s right, and yet sometimes we still fail. God’s Love and Word can cleanse us! We are made whole in Christ Jesus.”

Judging for the grand-prize include Dove Award-winning songwriter Steve Silar, and Grammy Award-winning engineer Steve Lamm.

The winning song, will be announced on Jun 20, and will be used in professional video production. In addition the winning songwriter will receive a free year membership on Indieheaven.com and a free year membership to Covenant Eyes.

Thanks to every one who participated!

The ministries of Covenant Eyes and IndieHeaven.com are sponsoring a song search, looking for music that expresses the cry of our hearts for purity, for godly sexuality, and for a wholehearted commitment to God’s standards. Write and submit a song today!

Rules and Guidelines:

• There is no fee to submit the song. It is free.
• You do not need to be a member of IndieHeaven in order to submit.
• Songs do not need to be professionally produced or radio ready. Songs must be submitted at 128kbps, 44.1 khz, 16 bit, MP3 files. Only 1 song per email address, please.
• The deadline to enter a song is June 6, 2009. Five finalists will be posted on CovenantMusicians.com shortly after. A panel of judges (TBA) will vote on their favorite song and the grand prize winner will be announced June 13, 2009.

Grand prize winner will receive a free year membership on Indieheaven.com, a free year membership to Covenant Eyes, and the winning song and artist(s) will be used in a professional video production featuring the song.

Download full resource packet for pastors

50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women confess to being addicted to pornography. (Marketwire.com, 2006)

The adult industry in the U.S. is a $13.3 billion business. This means the adult industry brings in more than the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball combined. (New York Times, January 4, 2007)

The no. 1 search term used at search engine sites is “sex.” Users search for “sex” more than other terms such as “games,” “travel,” “music,” “jokes,” “cars,” “weather,” “health” and “jobs” combined. (Business Wire, February 14, 2001)

Two-thirds of divorce lawyers say the Internet plays a significant role in the divorces, with excessive interest in online porn contributing to more than half of such cases. Pornography had an almost non-existent role in divorce just seven or eight years before. (DivorceWizards.com)

57% said addiction to pornography is the most sexually damaging issue to their congregation. (LeadershipJournal.net, March 2005)

The largest group of viewers of Internet porn is teenagers. (TopTenReviews.com)

9 out of 10 men raised in Christian homes were exposed to pornography while growing up. (The Hart Report, 1994)

In the U.S., if given the opportunity, 86% of men are likely to click on Internet sex sites. (From a survey in the Journal of the American Psychological Association, quoted in Mark Kastleman, The Drug of the New Millennium, p.3)

See our full packet of stats.

Porn Again Christian (free e-book)

Mark Driscoll’s writing style is much like his preaching-blunt, biblical, bold, and balanced. Porn Again is as refreshing as it is hard-hitting. Driscoll’s book is a rudimentary theology of lust which aims at proclaiming the victory available to us in the gospel. Driscoll calls men to “take any sexual sins you may have as seriously as your God does.” He also includes an appendix for military men “and other men who like prostitutes.”

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13 Ways to Ruin Your Life (free e-book), by Jarrod Jones.

This cleverly titled book is written for the ordinary man. After a pastor mentored Jarrod Jones through Proverbs 7, he discovered the liberating power of the gospel, freeing him from pornography addiction. Jarrod walks the reader through this chapter of the Bible with clarity and down-to-earth wisdom. This book is truly a glance through Solomon’s window of wisdom, giving us a birds-eye view of the common pitfalls into which men often fall.

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Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave, by Ed Welch.

Ed Welch is one of the widest read biblical counselors today. Covering a variety of addictive behaviors, Welch teaches, “Addictions are ultimately a disorder of worship. Will we worship ourselves and our desires or will we worship the true God? Through this lens, all Scripture comes alive for the addict.” This book is a tutorial on unearthing the idols in our hearts that hide underneath our surface problems like alcohol or Internet porn.

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At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry, by Steve Gallagher.

Gallagher is the founder of Pure Life Ministries. Years of experience as a sex addict and even more years of experience counseling sex addicts yield incredible wisdom in this very thorough book. Filled to the brim with Scripture, Gallagher beckons us to see lust from God’s perspective. He helps the reader see the root causes and core motivators of sex addiction. He unpacks the predictable patterns of temptation and sin, as well as the path of repentance.

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I Surrender All: Rebuilding a Marriage Broken by Pornography, by Clay and Renee Crosse.

Clay shocked his fans when he came out with news about his struggle with porn. He also shocked his wife. In this book Clay and Renee share the story of their marital struggles as a result of Clay’s addiction. The title of the book is the heart of its message: surrendering all to God is the only path from addiction to freedom, from lust to intimacy, and from sin to salvation.

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Virtual Integrity, by Daniel J. Lohrmann.

Dan Lohrmann is an internationally recognized Internet and computer security expert, and he was recently named Chief Security Officer of the Year by SC Magazine. He is also a committed Christian, husband, and father. Rather than focusing on well-known identity theft risks, Lohrmann writes about “integrity theft,” wherein our choices in cyberspace betray our real world values. Lohrmann writes about seven habits of online integrity, giving practical and dynamic steps to navigate the brave new Web.

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Porn Nation, by Michael Leahy.

Michael Leahy’s story of porn addiction is not necessarily unusual. What’s unusual is the fact that he is talking about it. In Porn Nation, Leahy walks the reader through the depths of his addiction and unfortunate results of it. This book isn’t a practical, how-to-get-free sort of book, but rather a culture alarm. Leahy writes frankly about the problem of over-sexualized media and how it are shaping our sexual expectations.

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Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor.

In 2004 John Piper and the ministry of Desiring God invited an impressive line-up of speakers for their National Conference. This book is the written form of their messages. Through powerful, Christ-centered writing, this team of authors covers a wide variety of topics, pointing readers to a rich vision of Christ as the Lord of our sexuality. Special chapters are written for singles, husbands, wives, and the sexually broken.

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Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), by Joshua Harris.

In this short, easy-to-read book, Pastor Joshua Harris lays out a clear, biblical definition of lust-inviting his readers to embrace a very positive view of God’s gift of sex, while teaching practical ways to avoid sexual sin. Sex Is Not the Problem lifts up God’s standard of “not even a hint of sexual immorality or impurity” among us (Ephesians 5:3), and shows how such a lifestyle is not only demanded of us, but practically possible.

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Strength in Weakness, by Andrew Comiskey.

Andrew Comiskey is the founder of Desert Stream Ministries, a ministry for the sexually broken. Strength in Weakness teaches about the root of sexual sin, as well as the layers of woundedness and sinful choices that lead to habitual and addictive behaviors. Comiskey calls his readers to understand how God rescues us not by taking away our weaknesses, but by enabling us to cry out to Him amidst our weaknesses.