HOME| MUSIC REVIEWS | CONCERT CONNECTION |
ANNOUNCEMENTS |
SUBSCRIBE | DEVOTIONAL
| JMA CONSULTING
No matter what, God is love. Christians—including me,
may not show the love that we are called to. But through it all,
God is forgiveness. God is love and
he forgives all my shortcomings
before I am even repentant.
Jen G: Why is important to have a good attitude when one is competing against others in any situation?
Caleb: Because if you’re going to win then you will win, but almost in any situation losing can be beneficial if you take it with the right attitude. I feel that in my life I try to make every situation a positive one and in that case it makes even loosing enjoyable.
Jen G: Peter in your bio you say that you hope people can connect to the different struggles you’ve had with God, faith and saying goodbye. Would you mind sharing about those struggles and how your lyrics relate to your coming to terms with those issues?
Peter: I struggle with doubt and trust. Growing up in a Christian bubble, I was suddenly hit around my senior year of high school with the realization or question that: Maybe God is not real, or maybe God does not hear our prayers, just stuff like that. I just pushed that aside for a while, and then finally a few years later, there were a few deaths in my family from cancer. This brought this all up again and again as I was faced with the understanding that I had prayed with more faith than ever before, but my aunt died, and 5 months later my gramma died.
I was angry, confused, and really took a lot of my trust back from God. Along with that, there have been many times in my life that I have been very on fire for God, and after that fire dies a month later, or even a day later, I just go through the same routine of just living, breathing, but without purpose. So those struggles come out in my songs, God, why are you not listening to me…..God, I am sorry that I looked away from you again, it won’t happen again…..God, this time I betrayed you on purpose, I am sorry, how could I….. Those are just some of the questions that come out in my songs.
In the last year and a half I have begun to see more and more what true Grace is. I have begun to see or understand how God responds to many of my questions/shortcomings… He merely responds with “I forgive you”. Those beautiful words mean more to me than they did 2 years ago when I was struggling with doubt.
Lately I have been trying to bring that more out in songs, just letting people know that---yes I struggle with stuff---There’s no way I can love the way that God wants me to, there’s no way that I can live 100% my live in perfection, there’s no way I can go the rest of my life without sinning again, without doubting again, without lust, without lies, but what I have begun to realize and want to put out there is this: No matter what, God is love. Christians—including me, may not show the love that we are called to. But through it all, God is forgiveness. God is love and he forgives all my shortcomings before I am even repentant. Such simple words with such deep meaning, that I cannot fully understand, but I know that is what is important. How good I am is not important, as I will fail. I continue to fail, but God forgives. God is love.
"I think love is contagious, and the best way to
spread it is to live it and to speak it..."
Jen G: Caleb you wrote a blog entry a little over a year ago that was filled with guts and conviction to who you are. There was one line in particular where you said, “I forgive, I forget. I rarely lie unless it’s a joke. I do not drink, I do not smoke. I will not have sex before marriage. That’s how I feel.” Really, coming from a guy that’s a real statement. Why is it important for you to separate yourself from those things and how you’ve managed to stay strong enough to resist those temptations?
Caleb: For me I want to stay pure for myself, for my family and friends, for my future wife, and most importantly for God. I feel that I would rather be an outcast and not be falling into those temptations. I see everyday friends and people I don’t know talk about drinking and sleeping around and how empty they look as people. My biggest motivation in resisting these temptations is the people that I have in my life and how I am committed to being pure and so are they. This does not mean I am perfect, but that my faults fall into other places in my life.
Jen G: What would you say to others who feel pressured to do those things, but doesn’t really want to?
Caleb: I would tell them to really analyze your friends and make sure they are the influences you wan t in your life. Now I am not saying to just get rid of the friends who do not lead the life that you want. I am saying to make sure you surround yourself with people who have the same interests and will not pressure you into bad situations and then share that support to any friend you come in contact with.
Jen G: Matthew you say something really cool on your page about loving God and trying to live a life full of love so others can see that hope in you. Tell me how do you believe your love of God, living love and hope affect those around you?
Mrt: I think love is contagious, and the best way to spread it is to live it and to speak it, they say actions speak louder than words, but I think there are some words that must be spoken.
Jen G: The last EP you guys released has a really great sound, but a faithful message too. A song I could really get into was I Found. How did that song come together and who is the female vocalist who joined you guys on that track?
Peter: The version you must have heard is the acoustic version. I recorded that by myself a long time ago, I think before Matt was even in the band. The female vocalist on that track is my friend Annie Peters. She is an amazing songwriter/singer, and it was fun to be one of the first people to record her as she has worked with Gritz a bit now, and done a lot of cool stuff in the industry. The version on the EP actually had drums and electric guitars. It rocks! I wrote it on acoustic initially, and so I think the acoustic version captures a bit of emotion that the electric version does not. That song follows the theme of me doubting God, but coming back and finding his love.
Jen G: Is This Love the title of the song alone is a very popular question that buzzes in peoples minds of all ages. What’s that song about?
Peter: Haha… it is about me doubting God!!
Hmmm… Honestly, I don’t like writing songs about girls, just never been into that. My faith is such a huge part of my life, that there isn’t really anything else I can write about. Some of my favorite lines in the song are:
“Just touch my hand to scars, and I will then believe—you’re true! Are you disappointed cause, you’ve taken me so far, and still I can’t believe????”
“And I’m not strong enough, to love you on my own, But God I know you are just enough for me, cause I can’t love you, on my own!”
Jen G: In closing, I believe there are many out there who have lost their dreams and their looking for another dream to fill up the emptiness in their lives. What would you say to them about Christ?
Mrt: Basically that this world has tons of things to offer in hopes to satisfy our souls, and many of them seem to satisfy for a short while, but the truth is that there is only one thing that will never fade away, the one thing that was created to satisfy the longings of our souls, and that is the love of our savior Christ Jesus. If anyone reading this has any questions or comments or just wants to talk I would love to have a conversation with them… my email is spacemanspiff49@gmail.com or they can find me at www.myspace.com/spacemanspiff49
Learn More About Another Dream IN AWOE Profiles
|
