DOUBT: The Faith Fuel

I can't begin to tell you how often I've battled with doubt.  It's a constant struggle for me and sometimes I think it's going to drive me completely bonkers!  All around me I'm hearing "just have faith", or "trust in the Lord your God", which is all sound advice.  But is it advice that's really thought through?  Or is it an easy "cop-out" answer for Christian leaders who want to simply hand out the candy instead of the floss?
Here's how I see it...
Doubt can be negative, but it can also be fuel.  Doubt is gasoline poured on your fire and can actually crank up the heat of your faith!  Did you know doubt can actually be a sign of devotion?! WHAT!?  I know!!!  Now let me be clear here and say that doubt without action leads to nothing, but doubt that fuels action can lead to much deeper levels of faith and understanding.

I dug in to an awesome article on this this morning, brought to you by Relevant Magazine. You should check it out and tell me what you think!

Via Relevant:

Thomas has received a lot of criticism for this throughout history, and his nickname stuck: Doubting Thomas. But can we really blame him?
Thomas may have assumed that the disciples were hallucinating, or they may have seen a ghost, or just someone who looked like Jesus. If they hallucinated or saw a ghost, it would mean that Jesus had not truly, physically risen, so Thomas demanded not only to see Jesus with his eyes, but to touch Jesus’ wounds with his hands...

Read more...

Trent Dabbs - Believer

There are a few resources I use to find new and interesting music.  Amazon Prime is one that I'm test driving at the moment and I'm pretty happy with it so far.  I also tap in to magazines like Relevant for some great insight in to new tunes.  Being as picky as I am when it comes to my music library I can be a bit hard to please but today Relevant pleased my musical pallet.

Check out Trent Dabbs album Believer.  The sound is definitely singer/songwriter, sporting an extremely raw and honest sound and all the acoustic deliciousness my little heart could handle. I'll let you be the judge, but take a look at Relevant's article and be sure to listen!  My favorite songs on the album are "Goes Without Saying" and "Here On Earth".

Believer - Trent Dabbs  (Via Relevant)

Beyond the Christian Side: Worship Isn’t Just Music

I once read a comment, I think it was on Youtube, of someone scolding Brooke Frasier for leaving behind her Christian roots as an artist.  For those of you who dont know of Brooke Frasier you are seriously missing out.  As far as my knowledge serves me, she got her start as one of the worship leaders connected with Hillsong.  She eventually branched out and recorded some truly fantastic solo stuff, stepping in to the secular music industry for her more recent releases.  How is writing and recording secular music "stepping away from her Christian roots"?

Worship is so much more than just music.  It's more than "church music".  To be totally honest with you, I find most Christian music to be a complete and total snooze fest so when I find great music outside the realm of the "Christian" genre, I latch on to it very quickly.  But does writing and performing secular music mean your stepping outside of Gods annointing on your life?  I actually think it means the opposite.

Who was it that Jesus spent time with?  Did he only connect with the "church folk"?  I'll just let that question stew and leave you with this...

As a follower and lover of Jesus, wouldn't it be selfish to box in the creativity God designed in you?

Here is a fantastic article from Relevant Magazine surrounding worship leader, and songwriter, Misty Edwards.

Misty Edwards knows how to write a worship song. She has written a decade’s worth of them in her role as a worship leader at the International House of Prayer. But with seven traditional worship albums behind her, Edwards is exploring a different side with her new release, Little Bird.

Read more...

 

 

  

Mumford & Sons Evolves

 

"We felt that doing the same thing just wasn’t for us," Marcus Mumford says of the band's electric third LP. ~Rolling Stone

What happens when a band or artist evolves?  I don't think it's anything like those weird little monsters in that video game I played when I was a kid.  What was it called?  Pokeeman?  Ok, I'll be totally honest and admit that I am quite familiar with the game and still to this day might, though I admit to nothing, pick up the ol' Gameboy and go for a few rounds of animal cruelty (cuz lets be honest).  BUT ANYWAY.

It is truly something amazing when a group can take what they've been and transform in to something totally new.  In this case, it looks like Mumford and Sons may be doing just that.  Relevant Magazine has some great insight in to the bands "all electric" album venture. Let's check it out!

"Yep. Mumford's New Album Will Be All Electric."

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/slices/yep-mumfords-new-album-will-be-all-electric

Ain't Nobody Got It Easy Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors

 

About the Artist

For Nashville based, Memphis born Drew Holcomb, “music is medicine” and it seems only fitting that along with his band The Neighbors - wife Ellie (vocals, guitar), Nathan Dugger (guitar, keys) and Rich Brinsfield (bass) - the group will celebrate a decade long career with the release of their new full-length studio album Medicine.

Read More: http://snip.ly/y9uF