Welcome Back!

I am currently on the adventure of trying to listen to only Christian music for 30 days. So far it has been an overwhelming success, but I am excited to see where God is going to take me over the next 16 days. If you are wondering why I am doing this, or what I am expecting to get out of this, then I suggest that you go and read my first blog. And if you want to know if there has been any growth or changes in my life since this challenge started, then I suggest that you go and read any other blog. Now, let’s get into today’s blog.

Boy oh boy do I have a treat for you today! Today I am going to talk about a song from one of the most unique artists in the business, and the man with by far the best beard in all of music! Mr. David Crowder, or Crowder as he is now known. Crowder has been around in the Christian Music industry for probably close to 20 years now, and he has been putting out hits after hits. And it needs to be made known that none of those songs were hits because of anything he or his band did on their own. They have been blessed to have had God’s hand over them in their song writing process, as well as in their music making process. But nonetheless, God has certainly used Crowder and his band in many ways to further his kingdom! One of the coolest things about Crowder, and his band, is that they do not have a specific style. They can do it all. They have had poppy songs that are super up-temp and happy that were amazing, and they have had down right gospel hymn type songs that I am surprised that I haven’t started hearing in my church yet. But of all their styles, my favorite might be their latest style, which they classify as “Porch Listening” music. This “Porch” music is a little bit heavier, and more grassroots sounding. Their songs feature a lot of pianos, mixed with bass, and even some banjo and harmonica’s thrown in for good measure. There really isn’t any way to describe it better than it is a mix of hip-hop, country, and gospel music, and it is amazing. I implore you to go and give Crowder’s last three albums a listen to. There really is nothing out there that sounds quite like David Crowder, and his last couple albums.

Now, let’s get into the song that I am so pumped up about sharing today! The name of the song is “Crushing Snakes” and it is off of Crowder’s latest album “I know a Ghost”. The song starts off with an eerie piano chord playing, which really sets the mood for the entire song. The chord continues to play, as the notes seem to be on a loop. After about 10 seconds, Crowder comes in with a very subdued voice to sing the first verse of the song. The lyrics go like this: “We’re not afraid, Terrors of night, arrows that fly by day, ten thousand may fall, but we, we will remain.” I pause at this point because it is at this point that the first bass kick and drumbeat come in, and you really feel it. Also, I absolutely love the way Crowder plays with the last syllable in the words “afraid” and “day”. This is going to be one of the most defining features of the song. In terms of the lyrics themselves, Crowder is painting a picture of war, and not giving up or being afraid, which totally matches the music to this song perfectly.

The next verse continues with: “We’re not afraid, a promise of God, can never be torn away. Walking on hands of angels, crushing snakes, safe under the shadow of his wings, our fortress and our strength.” It is this verse that I love the most in this entire song! The imagery that Crowder is pulling from is directly from the Bible, in the form of God’s response to Adam and Eve after he banishes them from the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:15, God is talking directly to the serpent and says “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” If you are unaware as to why God is saying this to the serpent, then I implore you to go read the beginning of Genesis, which is the first book in the Bible. Anyways, it was at this point that man and serpents first developed their natural disdain for each other, but there is so much more here to unpack than just a dislike for snakes. In that story, the serpent is actually the physical incarnation for Satan, and when go was talking to the snake, he was actually talking about Satan. That is why Satan is almost always associated with snakes in modern day culture. So when Crowder said “Walking on hands of angles, crushing snakes” what he was saying is that because we know who wins this fight, and that God is with us, we can live our lives boldly enough to crush the head of the snakes in our lives (Satan himself). Now I don’t think Crowder is telling you to go find a literal snake to go crush, but more so the figurative one in your life. That is what I love so much about this song. Crowder does a wonderful job of marrying the musical tone and lyrical writing of the song to paint this picture of a war cry for a people who already know the outcome of the fight!

One of the other most interesting aspects of this song is that the main chorus is not actually the highlight of the song. When I first heard this song, it was not the main chorus that was stuck in my head. It was the way that Crowder plays with the syllables of different words. In fact, I had a tough time even figuring out what is the main chorus of the song! But after further review, I think that I have found it, and it starts when the music actually starts to die down after that last verse. When the lyrics come back in, the only music you hear is that single solidary piano playing again, and Crowder is singing, “We’re taking back our freedom, Our battle has been won, We have been liberated, Back from the dead, we’ve come!” The first time it plays this, the music is soft, but as he progresses through those words, the beat starts to pick up, until you get to the end of the lyrics and you can feel the bass drop about to come… and boy does it come!! If you can, listen to this song as loud as you can the first time you hear it, because Crowder now sings those same words again, but this time the music comes back in as loud as can be, and you can almost feel the adrenaline pumping through your vains, knowing that this is no longer your battle cry, this is your VICTORY SONG!! I am getting all jacked up just writing about this, so that should show you how triumphant this is! After you recover from the main chorus, the song takes you back into the same type of verse as you heard before. But this time, there is not hiding or waiting, we are in full on attack mode! We are heading out to crush the snakes of everything that the Devil has put in our ways. And that is how I hope you feel when you hear this song. I hope this song inspires you to go fight the fight, and trust that the battle has already been won! We do not have to worry about anything else, because we know that the battle has already been won!

So I want to challenge you to go live your life with the boldness you would have after knowing that the battle is already won! Go crush the snakes around you, knowing that you are walking on the hands of angles. Everywhere you go, and everything you do, God has you protected! Thank you for reading, and I hope that you get something out of this song in the same way that I did! May God bless you in your day!

Welcome Back!

I am currently in the middle of a 30 day challenge to listen to nothing but Christian music, with the goal of trying to see what kinds of changes might come about in my life. If you are wondering what inspired me to take this journey, then I suggest that you go back and read my very first blog. And if you want to know what kind of changes might have already been brought about, then I suggest you go and read any other blog. Anyways, let’s get into the post for today.

Today we are going to be getting back into the song “review”/ spotlight with a song that I haven’t heard in a long, long, time, but that came up on my ultimate worship playlist this morning. The song is called “Any Other Way” by Tenth Avenue North, and I am going to be upfront and say that this song can be interpreted as a love song about a guy and a girl. However, I feel it works for this blog, and for my ultimate worship playlist, because it also works for the relationship that we are striving to have with our Lord and Savior. Now, for those of you who don’t know anything about Tenth Avenue North, I am going to ask you to immediately stop what you are doing and go listen to every one of their songs. These guys are one of the biggest groups in the entire contemporary Christian music genre because the make songs that speak about the truth of Jesus and because their songs are real. Not all of their songs are songs that you will hear in your church. In fact, I don’t think that any of them are! And because of how real they are, they went a couple years, and one full CD where the radio stations wouldn’t play their songs, all because the stations didn’t think that any of their songs would catch on with people. However, that proved to not be the case, as the band is back and bigger than ever, with another CD set to be released this summer (and I am STOKED!!!!) The song that we are talking about today comes from their Light meets the Dark album, and that album might be their best album to date. So I highly recommend that you go and listen to that whole album.

Now, getting into the song, the melody throughout the song is very soft and catchy. It never gets to over the top, or loud so as to distract from the lyrics of the song. The song starts off by saying “Don’t say goodbye, don’t say hello, just standing on the surface. Don’t say alright, don’t say I know, well I promise it’s not worth it. I want to know who you are, even if you’re falling apart. I’ll reach in and touch your scars, and all the shame you’ve kept in your heart.” So already, you can tell that the band is calling for people to be real with each other, and get past all the surface level stuff. Now, I can see where this can be interpreted as a song about a guy and girl, but I personally believe that this is actually being song from God or Jesus’ perspective, and is being used as an attempt to get the person to fully dive in and love them wholly. And after, that is what we should be doing. We should be trying to be all in for Christ, and be fully committed to the faith.

The main chorus continues on this thought by saying “Cause it’s not enough, it’s not enough, just to say that we’re ok. Cause I need your hurt, I need your pain, it’s not love any other way.” Like I said, they don’t really make songs that you are going to hear in your Sunday morning praise and worship at church. What they are saying is that it is not enough to just say that you are ok. It is not enough to try and act like you got it all together and hide all of your hurt and pain. You should not be trying to prove that you are tough enough to be loved by God. In fact, that is the exact opposite of what we should be doing! We need to be embracing the fact that we are hurt and in pain, and taking that pain to God. Instead of trying to deal with our pain and hurt in our own ways (through alcohol, partying, or porn for example), we need to take all of that pain and hurt to him and say, “Here take this from me. It’s your’s”. It is not love any other way. If we truly love God, then we are going to run TO him when things are going wrong, not run AWAY from him. And I think that is the whole message of the song. I know that this is something that I struggle with myself, especially with some of the poor cooping mechanisms I have in my life, so hearing this song this morning really gave me some encouragement.

The second verse to this song is just as amazing, but I am so tired right now and I am about to fall asleep, so I am just going to say that you should listen to it for yourself! My prayer tonight is that you read this words, and hear this song and think about being intentional about coming to Jesus with EVERYTHING that is going on in your life. Don’t just come to him when things are going well. You need to give him everything. It’s not love any other way if you don’t. I am going to continue to do my best to do just that as well! Thank you for your time, and may God bless you as you go about your day.

Welcome Back!

I am currently working on a challenge to listen to only Christian Music for 30 days, with the purpose being to see what kinds of changes that it might bring in my life. If you are curious about the challenge as a whole, or want to know more about why I would do something like this, then I suggest that you go read my very first blog. If you want to know about any of those changes that I might have had happen already, then I suggest you go read any of the other blogs up to this point. Now, let’s get into today’s blog!

Hey, would you look at that! I did it! I was able to post two blogs in one day! Now I just need to do that one more day, and I will be all caught up! Ha, all joking aside, I am glad to see that you have stuck along with me on this journey up to this point, and have been coming back to see what else I might have to say. That really means a lot to me. For this next blog, I am actually not going to be talking about a specific song. Instead, I am going to be giving you guys an update on how I have been feeling, and the effect that listening to only Christian music has had on me up to this point.

Let’s start with the obvious thing, but an important thing nonetheless, and that is whether or not I have been following this challenge strictly. The answer to that question is yes, as much as I can I have been. What I mean by that is that whenever I am listening to music for just me, I am listening to Christian music. However, if you remember back to my 2nd or 3rd post, I talked about the challenges of listening to Christian music in a public school setting. In that post, I talked about how I would sometimes play Christian music when at school, but it was not the only thing that I played. This has not changed. Today, I think that about half the music that I played was Christian, with the other half being the normal happy pop that I play (I say happy pop, but to be honest, every song that I play at school can be considered “happy” because that is the emotion that I want to create most when students are in my class). Anyways, I can continue to report that I have had a lot of students come up to me and ask about the songs that I am playing, and I have been able to tell them about the song and the artist who made it. And that has been a huge blessing for me.

Outside of school though, I have been working through my Ultimate Worship Playlist, which has over 250 songs on it, and that has been a huge blessing! I like to work through these playlists in their entirety when I do this, because I like the sense of accomplishment of listening to all 250+ songs without choosing another song and getting off the playlist. I’m telling you people, it’s the little things like that that make the difference! Now, in terms of how I am feeling, I would say that I am feeling overall a little happier than I would be normally, but I am not as happy and content as I was the last time I listened to the playlist all the way through. However, I have had some events happen that have made it hard to be happy, yet I still find that I am not as upset as I would normally be at those circumstances, so I would say that the music I am listening to has had a positive impact on me. In terms of my faith, I do believe that is something that is definitely seeing the same level of growth and effect that it did the last time I did this. The perfect example of what I mean actually came yesterday. Yesterday morning was a little rough for me, and I didn’t end up getting out of bed until 6:50 (and I have to be at the school by 7:30 with a 10 minute car ride) which only gave me 30 minutes to take a shower, make my lunch, and eat breakfast. Usually during that time, I like to read my Bible as well, but I simply did not have time to sit down and read yesterday. Now, normally when this situation would happen, I would just forget about reading the Bible at all, and go along with my day. And unsurprisingly, those days usually turn out bad. However, yesterday when this happened, I remembered to pray when I got to school for the strength to get through the day, for my girlfriend’s safety and peace of mind, and for a couple of friends who are going through some things in their marriage, just like I do every morning. And then when I got home, I picked up my Bible and did the reading that I was supposed to do in the morning! Now, that might not seem like much to you, but that is a major win for me! And I know that it all is because of God!

So those are the biggest ways that listening to my Ultimate Worship Playlist has effected this week, and I hope that you are able to take this challenge and see similar effects in your life. I know that God has a plan in place for you, and all you gotta do is get out the way and let him accomplish it. Thank you for reading, and may God be with you!

Welcome Back!

I am currently in the middle of a 30 day challenge to listen to nothing but Christian Music. The hope is that this journey will help me grow closer to God, and help change my life in a positive way. If you want to learn more about what I am hoping to get out of this, then I suggest you go back and read Day 1 of this blog. And if you are wondering if there has been any change to my life yet in this challenge, I suggest that you go read any other day. Now, let’s get into the blog for today.

For those of you who read my blog from last night, you will know that I said I would try and put up another blog before heading to bed. Unfortunately, I was unable to do that, because grading took much longer than I had hoped. I guess it isn’t too surprising though, especially given the fact that I had 560 kids to enter grades in for a whole unit. Anyways, I am back now, and we are going to talk about a song and topic that I don’t feel is addressed enough. The song is called “Save My Life” by Sidewalk Prophets, and the topic is doing the uncomfortable thing and reaching out to help someone.

This is a song that I actually first heard while listening to the album “Live Like That”. Listening to whole albums is one of my favorite things to do, because you get to hear an artist’s full body of work. I love finding new music, so naturally I am going to want to listen to ALL of the new music. And when I heard this song, I was like “Wow, this is a powerful song!” I didn’t think too much of it though, and moved on with my life. However, a few months later I started hearing it on the radio, and I gave the song another listen. On my second listen, some of the things that I missed the first time really stuck out, and I was fully able to appreciate what the song is trying to do.

This song is one of those songs that really has a lot to say lyrically, so that is where I am going to be spending most of my attention for this blog. The song starts out by talking about a seemingly average and unimportant interaction between a waiter/waitress and a customer. The lyrics are “We’ve met half a dozen times, I know your name, I know you don’t know mine, but I won’t hold that against you. You come here every Friday night, I take your order, and try to be polite. To hide what I’ve been going through. If you, looked me right in the eyes, would see the pain deep inside? Would you take the time…” Wow.. talk about some heavy stuff! The lyrics of this song talk about how the waiter/waitress is going through some stuff, and is honestly calling out for help. The do their best to put on a happy face, but they know that if someone looks into their eye, and really looks at them, they would be able to see the pain deep inside. Now, I don’t know about you, but I have certainly felt that way before. Sometimes you just feel like you are crying out for help from anyone who will listen, and the main chorus challenges us to be the person who steps up and helps those people who need help.

The main chorus starts off by saying “Tell me what I need to hear, Tell me that I’m not forgotten, Show me there’s a God who can be more than all I’ve ever wanted. Cause right now I need a little hope, I need to know that I’m not alone. Maybe God is calling you tonight, to tell me something that might save my life.” Wow… now I don’t know about you, but writing down those lyrics just gave me chills. That is so powerful, and it is something that we don’t really ever talk about. You don’t really hear a lot of people going around and talking about how we might be able to save another person’s life by speaking into it the life giving words of Jesus Christ. There aren’t too many sermons on Sunday’s that talk about this. But this is something that is literally life and death! We need to realize that there are some moments in life that God puts us in for the very specific reason of saving another person’s life! Maybe it is when someone is about to commit suicide and they need to talk to someone, or maybe it is just someone who is about to fall away from the faith and do something that they could never recover from. Who knows, maybe someone just needs to hear about the love of Jesus Christ for the first time, and you are put in the place to share that with them. Whatever it may be, we need to have the courage to do what God is calling us to do, and to step out of our comfort zone and be there for other people.

Now, I would be done with the song review here, but the second verse has a story in it that I feel needs to be shared. The lyrics of the second verse are this: “I’m the pastor at your church, for all these years you’ve listened to my words. You think I know all the answers. But I’ve got doubts and questions too, behind this smile I’m really just like you. Afraid and Tired and Insecure, if you, could look me right in the eye, and see the real me inside, would you take the time to…” Now obviously, this heads into the main chorus again, but I want you to just read those words again and think about it. I think that we all sometimes forget that our pastor’s are real people too, and they feel things just like us. I am being completely honest when I say this, but I heard this song for the first time my Freshman year of college, and I legit had an epiphany when those words were sang. It wasn’t until then that I had even had the thought that pastors were like the rest of us. I had always held pastors up on a pedestal as if they were above me and I had to take everything that they said as truth. However, through this song, and my church back home in Iowa, I saw the truth that pastors are people too, who have real emotions. And they want to be included in things, and they want to be loved too. Back home in Iowa, the church that I attend is a very close knit family type church, and every New Year’s Day, one of the families has a soup party. Everyone in the church basically comes out to it, and that includes the pastor. Now, I have been to a few of these because one of my best buddies is a part of the family that hosts the party, and watching the people interact with their pastor outside of church has really helped shape the way I want my relationship to be with my pastor someday when I settle down. When I have a family someday, and I join a church, I am going to make sure that I know that pastor that he and his family are more than welcome to be a part of anything that we are doing, because I want him to know that we love and appreciate him and everything that God is doing through him and his family. My prayer is that you will read this and think of your pastor, and reach out to them and let them know that they are loved and cared for. They should know that they have some one there for them when times get tough, just like how they are there for you when times get tough. I hope that this blog and this song have helped you in any way, and I pray that God be with your and your pastor.

Welcome Back!

I am currently on a journey to listen to Christian Music only for 30 days, and I would love to hear that someone else might be doing it too! If you are considering it, and want to know why someone might want to take this journey, then go back and read my first blog on Day 1. If you are wondering if this blog has had any impact on my life yet, then I suggest you go read any of the other blogs that I have written. Now, let’s get into the blog for today.

I would like to start this blog by addressing something first. If you have been following this blog regularly, then A: Thank you, it means a lot to mean that someone might want to take this journey with me, and B: You would know that I have not posted in a couple days. I did not stop posting because I was giving up the challenge or anything. I stopped posting because things have gotten busy in my life, and more so than that, things have happened lately that have made it hard for me to want to write anything. And because I didn’t feel like I had my A game, I didn’t want to write anything bad and put my name on it. But we are back now, and I am going to try and write two posts tonight. Whether or not that happens will depend on how quickly I can get my grading done for the night. Anyways, thank you for your patience, and I would like to talk about a beautiful little song that came up on my playlist this morning that I feel might give you some inspiration.

The song that I am talking about is called “Use Me Too” by Jonny Diaz. I absolutely adore this song, and it is one of those songs that I loved the second that I first heard it. The song opens with an angelic chorus singing a melody, and a beautiful melody of instruments that I can’t quite name (I know that might seem shocking since I am basically doing a song review here, but I am still just a gym teacher. I don’t know all those fancy instruments!). After the musical intro, Jonny starts the song by actually singing of one of the most famous stories found in the Bible, the story of David. If you have never read this story in the Bible, I highly recommend that you go read it right now. It is an amazing story, and is one that we can gain a lot of insight into the working of God. David’s story can be found in 1 Samuel 17, and then continued through the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. Getting back to the song, the first lyrics are “A little boy faced a giant man, with a few rocks and a sling in hand, he wasn’t ready, but he was willing.” I think that is amazing, because there will hardly ever be a time in your life that you are going to be “ready” to face a giant. I am currently reading a book called Goliath Must Fall and it talks about how we can work to fight our Giants in the same way that David did. The next lines of the song are “He said a prayer, looked to the sky, wound it up and he let it fly, no one could believe, Goliath falling” I think those lines are very telling about the scene that has been painted, and if you want to read more about this, go to the chapters listed above. This verse leads perfectly into the main chorus, which can be used as a battle cry of sorts!

When Jonny gets to the main chorus, you can tell that this is going to be an inspiring song, and if you are anything like me, then you are all for it. The lyrics of the main chorus go like this, “The small, the weak, stand ready, willing, with open hands, that’s who you seek, to bring to life all your biggest plans! All that I have, is more than enough for youuuuu… so use me, use me too!” This should be the anthem of every single person on this earth’s life! We should all understand that it doesn’t take you being a hero for God to use you. You can have an impact just as you are! God makes this point abundantly clear throughout the whole Bible, but the most famous story is probably that of David! If you ever feel like you are not good enough to do anything of importance, or if you ever feel like God could never use you, then just read the Bible and see the truth! That God can, and prefers to, use the weak to humble the strong and bring about the biggest change in the world. No matter what you have going on, God loves you, and he wants to use you too! That is the whole point of this song.

The second verse continues to build off of the theme of the song, this time talking about the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I suggest you listen to the song to hear about that story, but if you want to learn more about it, I suggest that you read Luke 1-2. The last thing that I want to talk about in this song is the declaration that is the bridge. The lyrics are “I will go where you lead, I will not be afraid. You are all that I need, you have called me by name!” I ask that you let those words be your daily battle cry. If you can wake up each day, believing and living those words, then I can only imagine the kind of impact that God will be able to have through you. I hope that you gained something from this blog, and I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day. I am going to try and get another blog up tonight, but we will just have to see how quickly I can get my grading done. Thank you, and may God use you too!

Welcome Back!

I am currently in the middle of a month long challenge, 30 days to be exact, to listen to nothing but Christian music. The inspiration for this challenge was to see what kind of effect that it might have on me, and my faith. So far it has been very rewarding, but if you would like to know more about what I am hoping to get out of this, then I suggest that you go and read my very first blog. And if you are curious about the effect that it might be having on me, and my life, then I suggest you go read any of the other blogs up till this point. Now, let’s get back into the blog!

The topic for today’s blog hit me this morning as I was listening to the radio on my way back from church, and too the grocery store. However, the song that inspired me to write this blog was not the song that I heard. I heard a song by the same artist, and that got me thinking about all his songs, which naturally lead me to think about the very first hit song that he had, which is the song that we will be talking about today. Now, the song that I am talking about is called “More like Falling in Love” by Jason Gray, and if you have heard it before, then you will know just how challenging the lyrics of the song are. In fact, this song is so challenging to any preconceived notions that might be out there about the church, that when it first released it was barred from some Christian radio stations. There were a lot of people out there who didn’t like the message that it had, because it basically called them out for not seeking a relationship with Jesus. However, after a while, the song did catch on at Christian radio stations, and that is where I first heard it. I heard it on K-Love, and I distinctly remembering that I loved the song within 10 seconds of hearing it. The reason that I loved it so much though was not because of the lyrics, I grew to appreciate and love those later, but it was because of the tune.

Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to hype of the lyrics like I did and then spend all of my blog talking about the music. I will dissect the lyrics as best I can shortly, but before we get to that, I do feel as though I should talk about the music a little bit. The song opens up with a drum/clap section that kind of sets you up for what you are about to hear, and then after a couple seconds of that, the music just burst in triumphantly. The music is a piano solo, mixed with a collections of “Whooooo’s” from Gray, and the song is just marvelous. I remember listening to this song on repeat, JUST because of that intro to the song. When I first heard that, I was hooked immediately. So when you listen to the song, be sure to listen for that intro, and just soak it in. Now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this song, the lyrics.

The song wastes no time in establishing what it is here to do. It begins with “Give me rules, I will break them/ Show me lines, I will cross them/ I need more than a truth to believe/ I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes/ To sweep me off my feet” In the first verse, the song explains that the artist feels as though he can’t do right. If you give him rules, he is gonna break them. If you give him lines not to cross, he will cross them. Now I don’t know about you, but I for sure have felt that way in my own life! Jason then goes on to talk about how he doesn’t need a truth to believe, he needs a truth that lives, moves, and breathes. What he is saying is that he doesn’t want a code to live by, he needs to have a person to live for, and that person that he is referring to is Jesus. This is a fundamental truth that is found in the New Testament, and is especially prevalent in Paul’s writings. If you read any of Paul’s letters, but especially the books of Corinthians and Ephesians, you will see Paul talking about it is through faith in Christ, and a personal relationship with him that we are saved. Not by our works. Ephesians 2:8-9 puts it best when it says “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvations in not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

The main chorus continues to challenge the notion of just following rules and living your best life by saying, “It’s gotta be, more like falling in love, than something to believe in/ More like losing my heart, than giving my allegiance/ Called up, called out, come take a look at me now/ It’s like I’m falling, oh, It’s like I’m falling in love” In the main chorus, Jason makes the claim that your faith shouldn’t come from following rules or doing the right thing, instead, it should come from a relationship with Jesus Christ. And that relationship should feel like you are falling in love, almost in the same way that you fall in love with a person on this earth. Now, I know from my own life, that is a lot easier said than done. This is something that I struggle with in my own life, but my hope is that doing this challenge will help me to get to this point, where I feel like I am falling in love with Jesus every day.

The last thing that I want to talk about in terms of this song is the second verse, because this verse gives probably the most eye opening line in the whole song. It goes, “Give me words, I’ll misuse them/ Obligations, I’ll misplace them/ ‘Cause all religion ever made of me was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet/ It never set me free” Wow.. when I first heard this song, and I heard that, I was like dang… I feel that. And the crazy thing is, I still feel that to this day! And I am sure that some of you do too, because that is the thing. When you constantly feel like your every move is being watched, and you have to perform in order to make satisfaction, there is no release in that. As Jason put it, you just feel like a sinner with a stone tied to your feet. And that feeling can be one of the worst feelings in the world. It is also probably the biggest reason why people step away from the faith, and walk away from God. So I hope that after listening to this song, and reading this blog, you will try to let your relationship with God feel more like falling in love, as opposed to following a bunch of rules. I know that I am going to try and do that myself. Thank you for reading, and may God bless you in your life.

Welcome Back!

I am currently in the midst of a 30 day challenge, to listen to nothing but Christian Music. If this is your first time reading my blog, or you are curious and want to know more, then I suggest that you check out my very first blog. And if you are wondering if this has had any impact on my life yet, then I suggest you read any of my other blogs. Now, without further ado, let’s get into today’s topic.

I am going to be honest with you, this is the first time that I am not really sure what to write about. I figured that this would happen at some point, but I was not sure when it would happen. The reason that I am not sure what to write about is because I have not been listening to anything other than NEEDTOBREATHE for the last few days, (I told y’all that they were my favorite band!) and since I have already wrote about them, I didn’t really want to write about them again. Another reason that I am struggling to find what to write is because I have been very busy over the last couple of days. 2 days ago, I went down to Indianapolis to attend a football coaches clinic, and I have been doing something nonstop ever since. So I haven’t really been doing much thinking about music or my faith lately. However, now that I am back home, and things have slowed down a bit, I feel like I can start to get back into a rhythm, and that includes with this blog.

**** Several moments later ****

After a little time and thinking, I believe I have finally come up with what I want to talk about today. The topic I would like to discuss is how many of the songs that you will hear in Christian music mention things that happen in the Bible. Now, that might not sound too surprising to any of you, and it shouldn’t be! What I am trying to say about that is not that it is weird that Christian songs reference different verses in the Bible, but that it is awesome that they do that because I points the listener to go READ the Bible! It does not matter what type of Christian song is playing either; you are more than likely going to hear a reference to either something that Jesus said or something that was said in the Bible. I still remember the first time that the lightbulb came on in my brain for this connection. I was doing my daily reading each morning, and as I was reading, I found myself singing the words I was reading! And at first I couldn’t figure out why I was singing those words, but then it hit me! I was singing those words because one of my favorite artists used those words almost directly word for word in one of their songs! From that point on, I started to notice it more and more in the songs that I was listening to. And my hope is that you will start to notice it more too! Hopefully, the next time you hear a Christian song, and the words seem familiar to you, then you just might go get a Bible and see if those words came from a little higher place than the artist singing your song. Moving forward with this blog, I am going to try and start to identify when those situations are happening, and then include the corresponding Bible verses to the songs, so that everyone can see the heart behind those words. Again, thank you for reading, and God Bless you.

Welcome back!

I am currently in the midst of a 30 day challenge to listen to only Christian music, and I have just completed my first full week. It has been a crazy wonderful week, and been very fulfilling so far! If this is your first time reading my blog, then I suggest you go back to my first blog and discover why I am taking this challenge. And if you want to know about whether this has done anything in my life yet, then I suggest you go read any of my other blogs. Anyways, let’s get into today’s blog.

When I first accepted this challenge, I was obviously excited about the potential of what listening to only Christian music could bring to my faith and my life, but I would be lying if I didn’t have a tinge of worry about how I was going to be able to do it when I listen to as much music as I do at a school. Because you see, for those of you who don’t know me, I am an elementary PE teacher. And as part of being an elementary PE teacher, I like to play music for the students while they do their running during warmups or during any games that we might be playing. So when I decided to only listen to Christian, I was a little worried about the prospects of only playing Christian music in a public school setting. However, I am happy to say that I have played *mostly* Christian music throughout the school day (Yes, I will admit that I have not only played Christian music throughout the school day, but that is because I am technically not allowed to play Christian music in school) and I have been pleasantly surprised by the response that I have gotten from the music!

Now, I don’t like the term “pleasantly surprised” here because I don’t feel like it accurately describes how awesome the response has been to the music I have gotten! For you to fully understand why a few students responding favorably to a few songs that I have played has taken me by so much shock, you need to understand the environment we have at our school. The school that I teach at is actually a charter school, meaning that students have to apply to get into it, and they can come from literally anywhere. They are not restricted to living in a certain area in order to attend our school. On top of that, the kind of people who send their kids to our school are usually a bit different from the types of people who send their kids to a standard public school. Our parents are very particular about the kind of things that they do and do not let into their kids lives, which is not necessarily a bad thing! But for some of those parents, one of the big things that they restrict for their kids is the idea of any other religion or belief system being introduced to their kids. So when I got my job at my school, I was warned to not bring any kind of religion into anything that I do because it might offend someone.. That is why the idea of playing Christian music in school was such a scary idea for me at first. I wasn’t sure if I was going to offend someone so much that they might try to get me fired! However, that has not been the response that I have gotten at all, and the only reason I can think of for that is because God has his hand on this. God is in control, no matter the situation, and no matter if people believe that he exists or not.

As I have alluded to, the response that I have gotten from the students about the songs that I have been playing has been extremely positive, and I think that has happened because of 3 things. The first reason that I think I have had a significant number of students coming up to me and asking me about the songs that I am playing is because I have been able to play the kinds on music that many of these kids want to hear, but otherwise wouldn’t be able to hear in school. What I mean by that is I have been able to play more hip-hop music and more EDM style songs this week than I would have been able to previously because those types of songs typically do not have messages that can be played in school. What I have found is that many of the students, especially the boys, love the beats that come in those types of songs. They love the way the bass rattles your bones, and the love the way the music gives you a bit of an adrenaline rush. However, because those songs typically come with words that bring death, they unintentionally allow death and destruction to be spoken into their lives. But with the Christian Hip-Hop, I have been able to give them the beats and the flow that they have been looking for without having those toxic messages being poured into their lives. And the response to that has been beautiful. The next reason that I think that I have had a lot of kids enjoy the music is simply because the songs are really good. Just because a song is Christian does not mean that it is automatically going to be the slow gospel song that many people think of. And I spoke at length about this exact topic in my second blog post. So if you want to read more about the depth of the Christian music genre, then I suggest you go read that blog. So I definitely think that the depth of the genre has been part of the reason that the students have enjoyed it. And then the third and final reason that I think the students have enjoyed the music is because there is a lot more students than I originally thought who listen to Christian music outside of school. Before I started to play these songs, I didn’t think that anyone would know any of the songs. But to my surprise, when I was playing Lauren Daigle before school one day (And it wasn’t even You Say that I was playing!), one of my 4th grade girls literally RAN up to me to say that this is Lauren Daigle and she loves her music! Hearing that honestly made my morning, because I wasn’t expecting anyone to know who I was playing, but not only did this girl know who she was, but Lauren Daigle was her favorite artist! This story gets even better though because this same girl then proceeded to tell me about how her family always listens The Message (The Sirius XM Christian Channel) every time they are in the car. She also proceeded to tell me about how she is going to a TobyMac concert this weekend, and the church that her and her family goes to. And all this came from one of my more shy students! Just hearing Christian music brought all of this out of her, and she then wanted to have a conversation about her faith with me! Now, I don’t know about any of you, but that is something that I can only pray for to happen, because I don’t really know how to bring up the topic of faith in school. But here we are talking about it! That is literally the definition of a God Thing! That is only something God can make happen, and he made it happen through the use of playing his music. So I think it goes without saying, but I am going to continue to play *mostly* Christian music at a school, because I am starting to see that this challenge of mine, might just be changing more lives than just mine. Thank you for reading, and I hope that you have a blessed rest of your day.

Welcome Back!

I am currently in the midst of a 30 day challenge to listen to nothing by Christian music, and to see the effects that it can have on my life. If this is your first time reading this, and you are curious about why I am doing this, then I suggest you go back to my first blog and read that one. And if you are wondering if there has been any change in my life yet, then I suggest you read any of the other blogs. Now, let’s get into today’s blog!

If you are reading this, then it probably means that you know a little bit about me. And if anything, you probably have a decent understanding as to the kind of person that I am. But if you found this post out of the blue, and have never met me before, then let me explain a little bit about myself, and the kind of person that I am. I am a very positive, and upbeat kind of individual. I have a very outgoing personality, and it has been said that I have never met a stranger before. I take a lot of pride in doing my best to make everyone around me smile. And before you say it, I know what you are thinking. “Yeah right, of course he says that. It’s his blog! He can say whatever he wants!” To that, I would say you are correct, this is my blog, and I can say whatever I want! So let me have my moment! Haha no, I am just kidding. I would just say that you should ask anyone who knows me, and they would (hopefully) back up my story. The reason I bring this up though, is to try and help paint you a picture of the kind of person you are dealing with here. I am a very high energy, high positivity person and almost every aspect of my life reflects that. Everything from my clothing all the way to my taste in music reflects the kind of person that I am. Because of that, I am naturally drawn to very happy, upbeat songs, and it is one of those very songs that I would like to talk about today.

The name of the song is called “Best News Ever” and it is by a band called MercyMe. Now, some of you may recognize the name of this band, because they are one of the biggest names in the contemporary Christian music genre. They have made some of the biggest songs to ever hit Christian radio, songs like “You Reign, Bring the Rain, All of Creation, Word of God Speak, and of course, I Can Only Imagine.” (That last song was so big that they even made a movie out of it!!”) But is not one of these songs that I want to talk about, but a much lesser known song that was released on their last album. The song “Best News Ever” is a song that when it first comes on, you are immediately drawn to the beat of the song. It is not an overly poppy or happy tune, but it has a really nice electric drumline that keeps the tempo for the whole song. The first verse of the song talks about how “Some say, don’t give up, and hope that your good is good enough” It then continues by saying, “Head down, keep on working, if you can earn it, you deserve it.” Now, at first glance, those lyrics don’t seem like they would be that bad. I mean, after all, wouldn’t you agree that if you keep working hard, you should get what you work for? The verse continues by talking about how some say that we should just try and push on through during the tough times, but when in reality, that is the last thing you should be doing. It was at this point that my ears perked up when I first heard the song. I was like “Whaaaaat? How can that be?”

It is also at this point that things get really cool, because it is at this point right before the main chorus that you realize what is going on. This whole time up until this point, MercyMe has been leading you up to the top of the rollercoaster through their lyrics and music. The beat of the song has been slowly picking up as it has gone along, and the lyrics have been leading you down one road, only to change everything on you right before you hit the drop. We are now at the top of the rollercoaster, and the layout for the rest of the ride has become clear. We now know where MercyMe is taking us, and it is really cool what they do next. Just as we get to the point where the main chorus comes in, all the music stops, and there is a brief moment of pause…. Until the music bursts back in with some of the most triumphant music and lyrics you will ever hear! When I heard this for the first time, I knew that I was going to be hooked on the song!

The main chorus opens with Bart Millard (the lead singer of the band) singing, “What if I were the one to tell you, that the fights already been won? Well I think your day’s about to get better! What if I were the one to tell you, that the work’s already been done? It’s not good news, It’s the BEST NEWS EVER!!!” I love the lyrics here, because it now becomes clear that what they were saying earlier is not that it is a bad thing to work hard, but it is a bad thing to try and work hard for your salvation. What they are talking about, this BEST NEWS EVER, is that all the work has been done for us already! We don’t have to work our way into heaven anymore, because Jesus already won the fight for us! And we should live our lives knowing that we don’t need to work hard to get into heaven anymore. Everything has already been done. So friend, I am going to pray that you give this song a listen, and that you are able to live the rest of your life knowing the BEST NEWS EVER! That Jesus died on the cross for yours and my sins, and that we no longer have to live a perfect life to get to heaven. Thank you for reading, and I hope that you come back tomorrow.

Welcome Back!

I am currently in the midst of a 30 day challenge to listen to only Christian music, and it is going well so far! If this is your first time reading my blog, I suggest that you check back on my very first post. That will give you an overview of my “Why” and what I am looking for from this challenge. And if you are wondering if the songs I have been listening to have had any effect on me, I suggest you read either of my last two posts. Anyways, let’s get into today’s post.

Throughout the course of this challenge, I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of songs I have heard that have reminded me of my childhood. You see, after my parents got divorced when I was 9, the only thing that my Dad would ever let us listen to while we were around him was Christian music. So because of that, my siblings and I grew to love Christian music, so much so that it got to the point where it was all that we would listen to. I remember when my mom finally got remarried when I was in 6th grade, I met me future stepbrother (who was 2 days older than me) and he made fun of me for not knowing who Sean Paul was. After that remarriage, my (and my siblings’) love for Christian music started to dwindle a little at a time until neither my brother or sister would even dare to listen to Christian music, and I only sparingly listen to it. Now, a large part of this had to do with how abusive and demonstrative our father was in the way he would treat us, and then justify his behavior with the Bible, yet I still occasionally listened. I did not really get back into the Christian music until I tore my ACL during my senior season in high school. After that, I started to give God another chance, and that is why my faith started to grow. Because of those two time periods, I actually have a large amount of music that I can go and look back on fondly, and that is just what I was doing today when I was scrolling through my library.

It is kind of amazing how a song can take us back to a place and time that has long since past. It’s like your memory of an event is locked away in a song, and each time you play it, you get sent back to that place and you are right there again. It is one of the most amazing feelings, and it is not something that is reserved only for Christian music. I am sure that you have a song in mind that takes you back to a different place and time, and that is beautiful! One of the songs that does that for me, and a song that I heard today, is called “Washed by the Water” by NEEDTOBREATHE. Now, full disclaimer here, this is by far my favorite band in the world. I love this band so much that it went in my Tinder profile when I had Tinder.. (yes.. I know. But hey, it worked out!) This song was actually the first song of theirs that I had ever heard, and I remember exactly how I found it. I was in the 7th or 8th grade, and I was scrolling through this website called NewMusicNews? or something like that. Anyways, the whole purpose of the website was to talk about new Christian music, and they had a spotlight section on the website that would play the highlighted song, and then tell you a little bit about the band. Well, as you can probably guess, that song was the highlighted song for the week, and so I naturally clicked on the thumbnail to listen to it. What I heard next changed my life forever. From the very first moment the song comes on, you are greeted with what might be the most calming, lovely, and beautiful piano tune you can ever here. It is one of those tunes that you instantly know when you hear it, and will stick with you forever. This intro to the song is so iconic to me, that I got literal chills rolling down my spine when I heard that piano come in for the first time on the live version of this song that was just included on the band’s live album that was released earlier this year.

The song itself is not the most lyrically challenging song that you will hear me talk about, but it is one that just screams real, soulful, gospel love. If I had to describe the song in terms of clothing items, “Washed by the Water” would be your favorite sweater that fits you perfectly, and leaves you feeling warm and cozy after putting it on. The song talks about the band’s formation, and a little bit about who they are, and then it talks about how “even when the rain falls, even when the floods start rising, even when the storm comes, I am washed by the water.” Now, what they are not saying is that the flood waters or the rains that are coming down around them are the water that is washing over them. They are using the floods and rains as a metaphor for the struggles in life that we face (such as someone talking bad about your family) to say that even when bad things happen to you, you will make it through because God is with you. You are washed by a different kind of water, that will protect you from the things of this world that try to bring us down. From the very first moment I heard this song, I loved that metaphor, and I still love it to this day. This song, and many others like it, constantly take me back in time to a simpler day, where I didn’t have to worry about bills or my job, or my finances. I could just worry about being me, and learning about cool new songs that I found on the internet. I hope that God is able to bring a song back into your life soon that takes you back to a place and time where things were good for you. I truly believe that God can use anything to help show us something that we need to see, and that includes bringing a song back into our lives. So if that is you, I pray that God reveal himself to you through an old song made new for you, and I pray that God be with you for the rest of your day.

That is going to be the end of this blog. I am sorry if the quality is not as good as some of the other blogs I have written. I am literally writing this from my bed as I am about to fall asleep, so I am not sure if everything I said was coherent or made any sense. If not, I will try to be better tomorrow. Anyways, thank you for your time, and God bless you.