the deep blue sea

Been doing some thinking lately. Thinking about the world around me, and again am amazed at the glory of God evident in nature. I watched a TV program the on the Science Chanel the other night. It was about the deepest parts of the ocean, or at least as deep as man has gone. They brought cameras down there and filmed these creatures for the first time. Step back a month ago. I just waled out of the movie AVATAR, which was the most visually stunning movie I have ever scene. (didn't love the storyline though) I walked out and was almost bored with the world around me. Here I was in this sterile concrete parking lot filled with people trying to find there cars, bags of new clothes, shoes and other things in their arms. People checking their phones, grabbing some fast food, and getting in their cars and driving away. I thought to myself, "where is the beauty in the world? where is the majesty of God in the mountains, or the rivers?" I almost wished God had created better creatures and animals, and a more magical world. Sad, I know, and I had to readjust my orientation. Fast forward to the other night when I was watching that show on the deep ocean. My jaw was on the floor for about an hour and a half as I sat there looking at these creatures, seeing the geography of the ocean, and the movement and behaviors of these wild sea animals. What was I thinking being bored with the world around me! I could not have even imagined what was down there, and how the deep sea creatures survived in that hostile environment. I often forget how God has created all this for his glory and we haven't even seen the half of it. It is not even necessary for man to see it for God to be glorified. Its simple, fantastic existence is what glorifies God, and by some great grace, when we happen to bump into something so mysterious and otherworldly we are blessed with a glimpse of the depth of God, or rather a glimpse at our inability to quantify and qualify God. How far from my understanding is this great Lover of Humanity, the one who chose to give us free will so that we may love him more honestly. Thank you for that my Lord.

I am REALLY terrible at PingPong

So I just lost dramatically at PingPong. I was playing Michael Olson, the drummer for Michael W. Smith, and I couldn't score a point on him, not because he is radically good at pingpong but because I am terribly bad at it. It was fun while it lasted, the whole 3 minuets of it. Needless to say I won't be playing again any time soon. After I lost I quickly long boarded across the parking lot to our bus to cry alone. Lucky for me X-Men was on TV and I forgot all my troubles...

The first day of school, or something like it

Big day today. We started and finished pre-production for our fall tour. Matt has been busy in Boston at a LifeTeen conference so we had to hold down the fort in Nashville. We are playing with a new drummer for this tour, Paul Mabury, who rocks. Kemi and I are also backing up two other artists, Phil Stacey, who was on American Idol, Season 6, and Meredith Andrews, a gifted singer and songwriter. Today was actually a bit like the first day of school. We showed up at the rehearsal space, a bit unsure of which room to head to. Then we had to meet a bunch of new people that we were going to be spending lots of time with. And I wasn't sure where the bathrooms were. It turns out we figured out where to go, we made lots of new friends, and I never had to go to the bathroom. Great day if you ask me. We have the day off tomorrow then our bus heads out. I am definitely feeling pumped for this tour, and it is cool to see it all come together....

Ok. 3 things I am looking forward to---

1. Traveling by bus. (Not for those of you who really need a lot of personal space though!

2. Being able to sleep in past 9am. (I never do when I am home, and we never do when we have to fly into shows)

3. The weird things that always happen on tour. Hopefully lots of video footage to follow!

Thats all for now...

Kenny

it is raining

We are in Suwanee, GA. There is a wonderful outdoor concert supposed to be happening tonight, which we supposed to be playing at. So far it is raining. Cats, dogs, llamas, antelope, you name it. It has been raining the great state of Georgia for like 2 weeks straight. There have even been multiple flash flood warnings, just today. So that is why I am sitting across from Matt, in a warm, musty coffee house, across the street from the park, enjoying a small, dry cappuccino and writing this silly little note.

Here is a few pictures from the last few days on the road. One is the cover of SkyMall, this is a device you can buy to brain wash someone...

Here is Matt at the coffee shop

And the other is the Limo that picked us up in Vegas, funny because we could barely fit all our gear in it!

Well that's all for now...

new website, new album, new energy, new guitar tones, new blog, new outlook...

Hello again, welcome back.

Well, where should we begin today? How about with God makes all things new, and I like new things, probably because I get board easily. To start with, the new album. I wish I could explain to you how excited I am about our new album. Just playing the songs live lifts my soul. We really hope and pray that as much as we put into the live show you will get out of the live show. And we hope that when you take home the album, you will take some time to live with it. I feel so blessed to be able to share what we do with people on an ever growing scale. I am humbled that God would use us to touch peoples lives. If you haven't yet, check out www.mattmahermusic.com and check out what we have going on this fall, it is amazing. We are working hard this week as "Alive Again" is released, trying to bring it to as many people as possible. Then we are going on tour with Michael W. Smith, Meredith Andrews, and Phil Stacey. That will be fun, check out website for tour dates. We are feeling really good about what is coming up and the places we will be, and we look forward to connecting with our fans who have been with us since the beginning as we go to new places and meet new fans. You are all a part of our experience and you are a part of each others experience. If you have an iPhone, join in the fan community and download our "Matt Maher" iphone app, it has all our tour dates, pictures, blogs, videos, and a place for you all to talk, and post pictures from the show that YOU took! anyways, I look forward to seeing you all sometime soon. so long for now.

Kenny

art, creativity, and my relationship with God

I am a creative person. I see life through the lens of creativity, and creation, the act of creating something. Art, music, dance, poetry, all these things speak to my soul. They are a voice or a language that I understand. In reality God is the one using these things to speak to my heart. The artist is just acting in the way God created them to act. They are using their gifts. As I choose to create, I experience the creative hand of God in me and it deepens my faith. I find that when I go long periods of time without creating or choosing to access the creative part of my brain and soul I loose my awe in God. In these times I feel dry, tired, and unsure of my purpose. When I have the time and opportunity to spend time being creative my soul is nourished in a way different from the way I am fed through scripture, mass, and communal prayer. The act of creation becomes a prayer, a meditation on the greatness of God, even if I do not immediately recognize it because God is the ultimate creator. I share this because I feel that it is highly important for people with a deeply creative soul to be encouraged to create, and to let it deepen your faith in a way it hasn't before. Look around you, look at the sky, listen to the sounds, revel in the beauty of the person next to you. There is creation happening everywhere. There is art everywhere. Be encouraged in your own life to create. Don't paint a picture or write a song only so you can share it or sell it or become recognized for it. But do it so you can experience the love of the Father in a new way. Not all art needs to be shared with people, we have not seen all of the art of God, all of his creating. The universe is so vast and most of it is unseen yet it is still there to glorify God in ways we can not. Most of the time what I create musically, lyrically, or visually it is just because I need to live as God made me. I have no other end goal or purpose in mind. Allowing God to use you with no ulterior motives allows you to be used purely. Then step back and thank God for the opportunity to make something, to create something, and experience the art you just took part in. God is love and we only love because He loves us. We only create because He allows us to share in His creativity. Think about this and create something new today.

Driving.

Going. Going. Going. Keep going.
That's what's happening right now. Gotta get to the airport on time. I hope our flights haven't been delayed today. Yesterday we got to the gig an hour before the show was supposed to start. That's because our flights were delayed. We ended up starting the show 20 min late. We have never worked so fast to set up and soundcheck. It turned out really well in the end. Now we head off to Toronto Ontario for a big show we are playing downtown. I love the downtown Toronto area. There are almost 15 different "china towns". Looking forward to some good sushi. Anyways, time to make sure I have my passport so I can get out of the country.

Kenny

P.S. Been listening to the new album on the drive. It sounds amazing. Sept. 22. Be ready. Listen to the radio for the single starting in July.

Posted with LifeCast