Wow! What an awesome thing to process. To think that God is going to let me in on the building of His kingdom through music. My prayer for the band is this: I want us to simply be a conduit for which the love and joy of Jesus can be run through our hearts and spirits and sent out in music. This means that our hearts are first and foremost clean and pure and set upon rejoicing our Jesus in whatever state we are in as individuals. This doesn’t mean that we only praise him in fullness of heart when things are good and life seems to be on our side. Hebrews 13:15: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise; the fruit of lips that confess his name.” To me this means that we sing to Him when it makes no sense. When we don’t have the praise to give so we give anyways. And if our hearts are not where they should be, we offer that up as well and sing through the conflict. I also want us (as a band) to learn how to praise Jesus in the midst of our sorrows and difficulties and if we do that it will help the church do that as well. Praising God in the midst of whatever emotional state we are in. That’s what I want first and foremost (even before being good) is that the music is emotional. Sang from the depths of our hearts. This will compel others to join in. Honesty is the key. All of us as a band will be in different places spiritually, emotionally and in other ways but if we are all honest together than it will be a full offering of praise. It will have the sound of Truth. Musically, I want it to be centered around voices and grooves. Singing begets singing!! Joyful singing!! I would love for everyone up there playing an instrument to be singing into a mic and I want others to be up there doing nothing but singing. I feel if we make the voice and the song the center of the picture we can then frame it with the appropriate instrumentation. This is my vision and prayer. Lord, I commit this to you.
- Thad
Matt Stevens is the Worship Pastor for Vintage21 Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Contact him via Twitter: @MattStevensNC
Hi Thad,
I was going to come up to you tonight and mention that I had seen you play in Atlanta before the Fiction Family show, but you were speaking with some other people and I didn’t want to interrupt.
It was an absolute coincidence as I am not a regular attender of Vintage 21 (I live 1 1/2 hours away, but go when I am in town). My sons and I saw you singing tonight and I kept saying, “who is this guy; why does he look so familiar?” and then it came back to me. My kids said the exact same thing after the service. Anyway, I just wanted to mention it to you because I thought it was pretty cool seeing as I heard you play in a city 6 hours away and then “stumbled” upon you again at church. I am glad to know you are a regular in the band rotation: yet another good reason to make the trip up to Raleigh.
Hey there Julianne. Thanks for dropping by and saying hello. That was me in Atlanta along with my buddy to my left Josh Baine. The Fiction Family was a blast and and that one in particular was the best of the shows we did together. Hopefully next time your at Vintage we can meet. Thad
Hey Thad, I saw you guys @ Advance 09 & I just wanted to let you that “When You Are Not Enough” is now my favorite song of all time. Thank you so much for this song, it has sincerely blessed me.
josh.
That is a mighty big statement. I will give you the freedom to retract that at any given time. That being said, I appreciate your feedback. That song came from a really difficult time and has had a profound impact on me as well. Every time I sing that song it is a confrontation on of no small scale. Hope to meet you some time. Thanks for taking the time to write a line and say hello.