Trust… Is It Really That Simple?

I love Friday’s! But then again who doesn’t love Friday’s, right? It’s the end of the week and the official start to the weekend. But I love Friday’s for another reason than it being the start of the weekend. I look forward to every Friday because that is what has known as “Daddy/Daughter” day around our house. I have come to absolutely love Friday’s with Gracie!

Part of our “routine” consists of going and hanging out at Starbuck’s for a little while and then going and goofing off at Target. I will always cherish the Friday’s that I get to spend with my daughter and I wanted to just a share a thought or two of some the things I’ve come to learn from “Daddy/Daughter” day.

The first thing is I love seeing how much Gracie is growing and changing every week. Sometimes, it can be a little depressing because she is growing up way too fast, but I get a kick out of watching her figure things out. Her little mind is constantly at work along with her nosey hands and quick feet. But more importantly, I love how she just seems to trust and accept the things that I say to her! She constantly has a dozen or more questions in a thirty minute span and she seems quite content with my answers to her questions at times. And I this thought, why are we as Christians just not content with God’s word to us?

I thought about Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

The idea of trust is something that we all struggle with at times. I have a hard time trusting God with a lot of things in my life at times and I know that sounds horrible especially since I am a pastor. Well, believe it or not, I struggle with more than just trusting others! But I love the picture that Gracie has given me when it comes to trust. I learned that when it comes to my relationship with God, I need to be a little bit more like Gracie and just trust God for what He says. His Word is perfect and I am a sinful person who is constantly in need of my Savior!

Are you trusting God with ALL your heart today? I’m thankful for the days I get to spend with my daughter but I’m even more grateful for having a Savior who understands my weaknesses and yet still chooses to love me everyday! I know I’m nowhere near perfect and I never want to be, I just want to strive to live a life of holiness and imitate my heavenly Father everyday.

Devoted To The Word

With only two and half weeks left of the 2012 Major League Baseball season left, I’ve noticed how people are starting to be more excited. I wonder if it’s because there are more teams involved in the playoff race than usual or is the teams that are involved in the playoff race that has people excited? For example, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals are out of their comfort zone when it comes to winning. I don’t say that to be mean, but these are two teams who typically are out of the playoff race before the All-Star game is even played. I have even seen where people were still more excited to watch the Washington Nationals play than the Washington Redskins and this comes from die-hard football fans.

It’s something about the beginning of Fall that seems to get people a little bit more excited about baseball. They seem to take-up a genuine interests again because they are watching to see who will make it to the playoffs and the World Series. Now,I understand that I am the one random person that could watch all 162 games and still not be bored with baseball! But I have noticed that when it comes to sports we are always excited at the beginning of each season. If you follow the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA Football/Basketball, etc. We love the start of a new season but then we kind of lose touch halfway through and then right before the season ends our interests start to pick up again and all of a sudden we are back into following our sport because the playoffs are exciting!

I have also come to realize that we treat our spiritual lives a lot like that too. The spiritual discipline of studying God’s word, praying and memorizing is hard work, but well worth it in the long run. In Numbers chapter 9 we read about the concerns of some of the Israelites because they were not going to be able to partake in the celebration of the Passover. It is such a blessing when you see people who are still interested and excited and even eager to be involved in the activities of the church. It is an even bigger blessing to see people still have a hunger and thirst for God’s Word! I am extremely grateful for the people in my life who have a hunger for God’s Word everyday and not just when it fits into their schedule or life.

Are you still eager and ready to learn from God’s Word today? Is your heart excited about the things of God or have you fallen into a “midseason slump”? I pray that you have a continuing hunger for God’s Word in your life everyday.

Devoted To The Word

With only two and half weeks left of the 2012 Major League Baseball season left, I’ve noticed how people are starting to be more excited. I wonder if it’s because there are more teams involved in the playoff race than usual or is the teams that are involved in the playoff race that has people excited? For example, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals are out of their comfort zone when it comes to winning. I don’t say that to be mean, but these are two teams who typically are out of the playoff race before the All-Star game is even played. I have even seen where people were still more excited to watch the Washington Nationals play than the Washington Redskins and this comes from die-hard football fans.

It’s something about the beginning of Fall that seems to get people a little bit more excited about baseball. They seem to take-up a genuine interests again because they are watching to see who will make it to the playoffs and the World Series. Now,I understand that I am the one random person that could watch all 162 games and still not be bored with baseball! But I have noticed that when it comes to sports we are always excited at the beginning of each season. If you follow the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA Football/Basketball, etc. We love the start of a new season but then we kind of lose touch halfway through and then right before the season ends our interests start to pick up again and all of a sudden we are back into following our sport because the playoffs are exciting!

I have also come to realize that we treat our spiritual lives a lot like that too. The spiritual discipline of studying God’s word, praying and memorizing is hard work, but well worth it in the long run. In Numbers chapter 9 we read about the concerns of some of the Israelites because they were not going to be able to partake in the celebration of the Passover. It is such a blessing when you see people who are still interested and excited and even eager to be involved in the activities of the church. It is an even bigger blessing to see people still have a hunger and thirst for God’s Word! I am extremely grateful for the people in my life who have a hunger for God’s Word everyday and not just when it fits into their schedule or life.

Are you still eager and ready to learn from God’s Word today? Is your heart excited about the things of God or have you fallen into a “midseason slump”? I pray that you have a continuing hunger for God’s Word in your life everyday.

A Great Article About Tobymac’s New Album

I was super-pumped to see and hear where Tobymac’s new album reached #1 on iTunes this week and the article below talks about how she didn’t know who Tobymac was or that he was a Christian artist so that intrigued her to buy the album and listen to it. She also is going to share it with the teenagers in her own house…. Praise God because that is AWESOME!

Who is TobyMac and how is he at the top of iTunes?

By Anne Kiplinger, Friday at 5:07 pm

I was slightly perplexed this week to see TobyMac in the #1 spot on iTunes. Why? Because I have never heard of him, and that’s reason enough to tick me off. It irks me that apparently hoards of people knew this person or group or whatever and I did not. I thought TobyMac might be a country singer, but then I realized I was getting him mixed up with Toby Keith, one of hundreds of indistinguishable (to me) country singers. I quickly consulted Wikipedia, my trustiest fact source, and got my answer.

Who is TobyMac? A Christian rapper.

I probably shouldn’t follow that revelation up with WTF, but I absolutely did not know that Christian rappers even existed! I was intrigued. While not overly religious myself, in the past I’ve been annoyed at how graphic and profane most rap is because I like the genre but question its family friendly quotient. I even wrote another blog post about my conundrum, but I never stumbled across “Christian rap” during my research. I decided to give TobyMac’s new album (“Eye On It”) a whirl.

The sound of the songs on “Eye On It” at various points reminded me of Bruno Mars, Owl City and One Direction. They are catchy and upbeat, not at all “churchy.” I think calling TobyMac a rapper might be a stretch, but I’d be okay with classifying him as hip hop. He’s definitely got that pop sound.

I was also curious about whether his songs would be too religious for my liking. More than being “Christian,” however, I would call TobyMac “wholesome” with a light infusion of God. For instance, in the song “Made for Me” he sings about his love-at-first-sight experience with his wife, and “Family” discusses the challenges of staying close on a daily basis. There’s even a song called “Mac Daddy” about his son’s quest for a beloved Apple laptop. Don’t get me wrong, God does pop up here and there. “Me Without You” is about what TobyMac’s life might be like without God, and “Forgiveness” is about confessing your sins.

It’s all done in a way that is very mainstream and (according to iTunes) appealing to a wide audience based on the performance of “Eye On It” this week. I’m curious whether all those listeners are existing fans? Or is this a welcome, refreshing change from Lil Wayne & Co.? I don’t know, but I’m fairly pleased with the discovery and am curious to test TobyMac on the teenage yutes under my roof.

TobyMac says that he sees music as a powerful tool and a way of reaching people. According to his website, “Toby has worked hard to inspire his audience with words of conviction, hope, empowerment and the redemption found in his faith in God.” Hard to argue with that, right? Use a medium that is appealing to people and try to spread a good word.

I was shocked, therefore, to Google info about TobyMac and stumble across a website that proclaimed that TobyMac is “singing the Devil in Jesus’ name” and a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” The author’s argument is that TobyMac is a conformist (he’s a pretty hip looking dude) and the fact that he looks like a punk aligns him with actual punks.

Huh. I guess I was wrong, although I find it curious that there is a certain way someone who promotes God should look. Will you hear TobyMac playing at your Sunday service of choice? Probably not; he’s not pretending to sing church choir music. But I’m not going to quarrel with someone who promotes a positive message and may or may not dye his hair from time to time. There are families out there who successfully insulate their kids from society’s less savory side (Duggars), but for the rest of us TobyMac is a pretty good option.

Here is a short clip of TobyMac explaining the meaning of his first single, “Me Without You.” Enjoy!

Filed under: Album Reviews