Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.  Proverbs 19:21 Had you told me it would be this way, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.  I mean, I was going to college to be a school teacher and was focused on finishing those four years as quickly as I could.  Not that I could speed up time even if I wanted to. …

Winter RyanPayne   The light is short and the darkness closes in It wreaks havoc on my soul Shades of life have slowly passed away Leaves falling into cold   Cascading warmth in winter’s hold Of icy grey   And I Wanna fight the time Of change I endure That brings a painful extraction that’s inevitable   But can I even find A way to remind Me that a season…

Intimacy does not equal sex. Neither does sex equal intimacy. They’re not interchangeable. Nor are they inextricably or symbiotically linked. Unfortunately, the frequently misappropriated use of this word has caused a sad misunderstanding of intimacy in our culture.  As a matter of fact, when I asked one young person to look up the word intimacy, another young person’s immediate reaction was to laughingly mutter “oh kinky” under his breath—thus proving…

I just didn’t get it.  How could I have been so wrong about things?  How could it have been so obvious to me but plainly the wrong idea?  Why didn’t things work out the way I thought they would? What was God thinking? I feel tricked. Disappointed. I hate when this happens:  the deep disappointment of shattered hopes and plans.  It can cut even deeper when we think the hopes…

The smell was pungent though faint and the noise was obnoxious though potentially innocuous.  We pulled up to the fuel dispenser for a top off and I popped the hood to take a look.  (I’m not a mechanic but I feel better about myself when I look under that hood as though I know what I’m doing).  The smell was definitely coming from our van but a few misplaced drops…

10 Things—Mitch Benedict Height: 6’3” Minor pet peeve:  repeating himself Never have I ever:  gone over 100mph Day Job:  Barista Favorite article of clothing: Tom’s Shoes Favorite food: Chicken wings Embarrassing moment: an explosive sneeze-fart in 6th grade during math class while sitting next to a crush A Hobby: hanging out with Seth Lourdon Current favorite verse: Romans 6:14 Favorite owned guitar:  2010 Black Les Paul Standard

I just had a birthday yesterday.  Made me think of posting this blog I wrote a little while back. I remember being in elementary school and seeing pictures of senior classmen and thinking to myself, “those guys look like grown-ups!”  I mean they were bigger, looked mature, and had facial hair (well stubble since they weren’t allowed to have facial hair at my high school).  I remember wondering what it…

I’ll never make you cry. I’ll always feel the same. I’ll buy you anything… Wouldn’t it be nice if it was true? Pop music is rife with romantic imagery, evoking thoughts of commitment, feelings of love, and emotional fulfillment. But I’m amazed at the number of audacious statements made by the musical word-smiths of our time. Has anyone else heard the song “Grenade” and thought “you won’t do it, Bruno…

This weeks RPBlog features the man who provides percussive wonders for the band. After joining the band over a year and a half ago, the rest of us have also benefited from another of Ryan’s many skills–his keen ability to find deals on Craiglist and Ebay. Without further ado, here’s 10 Things with Ryan Bell. Eye Color: Brown Embarrassing moment: Claiming God was his chaperone on an 8th grade field…

We were playing an outdoor show near Baltimore MD. During our fourth song of the set (Unromantic), a man whom I assume to be homeless and just a little “out there”, sauntered up in front of Mitch and threw his army helmet on the ground (yes, he was wearing an army helmet) and also proceeded to give an army grunt-yell and posture himself to do some push-ups. He then picked…