It's been about three months since popular Christian artist Matthew West launched a national campaign to encourage his fans to "avoid the trap of simply going through the motions."

And so far, more than 800 have made and shared their "Motions Resolution" and many have commented on how West's song, "The Motions," has changed their way of thinking.

"The Lord has gifted me in so many areas – I don't want to go thru the motions anymore," resolved Mary Krajewski.

"[T]his year I want to have an outreach in a nearby park with music, food and [videos]," she wrote on West's website, matthewwest.com/themotions. "I want to put my heart and soul into this event."

According to West, it was his own struggle to rise above the lukewarm Christian life that inspired his song, "The Motions," and the campaign of the same name.

"Every day, The God of adventure beckons his sons and daughters to quit going through the motions, and walk into a life filled with passion and wonder," says West, who catapulted onto the Christian music scene in 2003 with his debut single, "More."

"I think one of the greatest challenges in actively living out a relationship with Christ on earth is to avoid the trap of simply going through the motions," he asserts.

To encourage fans to avoid the trap, West created an online community on his website as a place where they can join in the journey together.

"Every day I visit the 'Motions' community, and I am blown away by the hundreds of people who have been inspired to rise above whatever their circumstances may be, and say 'I will not go through the motions,'" West reports.

Those who join the campaign are encouraged to write down an area of their life that they plan to work on this year – whether it be their marriage, their job, or their quiet times. After they've recorded their "Motion Resolution" in West's site, participants are encouraged to "live it out" and will receive a reminder every few months to remind them of the commitment they made to make a change.

Participants will also receive devotional thoughts from West from time to time, which the artist hopes will encourage them in their faith.

"We're all in this together," says West.

Most recently, West wrapped up the 27-city "Something to Say" fall tour featuring label mate Josh Wilson and a WAY-FM/Word Vision tour with Sanctus Real. West's third studio recording, Something To Say, was released Jan. 15, 2008, and debuted on Nielsen SoundScan's Christian Retail Chart at No. 10.

Last year, his song "You Are Everything" was the most played song on Christian radio.


Used with permission.
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