http://bradkahler.bandcamp.com/track/kingdom

“When I’m Weak”

Play it, download it, share it.

Gratefully,

Brad Kahler

Here is the link to listen to/download a new song I’ve been working on. It’s call “You Look Inside” and it’s an introspective prayer to Jesus to take a good look inside me, know me, have His way in me; I’m not hiding because I know He’s sees everything. Hope you like it and feel free to share it!

-Brad

1. New “Brad Kahler” Album

I’ve been praying about, working on, and writing for a new album for about the last year. It’s been almost three years since I released “Between Here and There” and I’ve definitely had an itch to record and produce something new this year. I originally thought I would do my next album the traditional way: raise about a $7,000 budget for studio fees, artwork design, CD duplication, etc. After praying and thinking I suddenly realized something: I don’t have $7,000. So the traditional album plan humbly went out the window and I moved on to Plan B. One of my hobbies for the last eight years has been home recording.  I never really got serious about it so I was never really producing music with any quality. After chatting with Erin about all this music stuff we thought, “Why spend $7,000 on one album when we could set up a decent home studio for less than a quarter of that?!? So that’s what I’ve been doing. In the last twelve months I’ve purchased (with the help and support of loving family and dear friends) a new computer (iMac and never going back!), a new acoustic guitar, some great microphones, a quality mic preamp, and a firewire interface and DAW for recording everything digital. The name and final track count is still up in the air, but there will be several new songs plus remixes of some old fav’s including “He is Coming” from the Elim Bible Institute CD and “Overwhelming” from “BH&T.” We also did a music video for one of the new tracks called “Trying to See” that I hope you will watch and share! The plan is to finish the album by the end of the Fall.

2. “Canyon”

Since I have the freedom to record anything anytime I want, I have also been working on an EP of love songs. If you remember, I had recorded a song that I wrote for Erin on BH&T called “Right By Your Side.” I truly believe that the kind of husband (and father) I am displays Christ’s love as much as anything else I am or do. I also want to do anything I can to encourage other married couples to keep Christ first and their spouse second. What better way to do that than to give them love songs that they can dance with their spouse to?! You can check out the first of many on my bandcamp page. It’s called “I’m Gonna Love You” and I wrote it for Erin for our three-year wedding anniversary last year. Listen and/or download it for free: http://bradkahler.bandcamp.com/. I will also be adding more new music to the bandcamp site in the coming months, so stay tuned!

As always, keep up with me here on the site, on twitter, facebook, bandcamp, and youtube. See you in the movies!

-Brad

In Galatians 6:9 Paul says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (NIV). Paul is talking about doing good to all people, “especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (vs. 10).

I know that some of you are thinking, “Ain’t no way I am going to stick my neck out for so-and-so” because that puts you in danger of getting burned. I hear you loud nod clear and most days I feel the same way. However, we also need to recognize that we reap what we sow and the the fruit of being good is well worth the momentary burns we give each other. We also need to see, with the help of scripture, that we cannot be good in ourselves but that we need to let the goodness of Christ take root in our lives to produce this harvest.

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).

It is hard to read that and feel validated by our selfish, self-centered thinking. In Matthew 5 Jesus not only directs us to turn the other cheek (vs. 39) and got the extra mile (vs. 41) but he completely and perfectly models this for us throughout the account of the Gospels. “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1) is the call Paul gives us. If you are wondering what this really looks like there is no better life to study than the life of Jesus.

What’s the point? Christ is good. He was the only good man to ever live and He did infinitely good things for us even when we hated Him.

I’m making this appeal to you and to myself! I’ve already spent too much time living for myself or other stupid things that are not worthy. You’ve already spent too much time resisting the good things that you were created to produce. Let’s both get on mission with Jesus and walk in the Spirit so we can produce the kind of goodness Jesus longs to bring out of us (Galatians 5: 16-18, 22-24).

I pray, by the Spirit of God helping us, that we won’t grow weary of doing good and that we will become more like Christ as we remain in Him (John 15:5).

My debut album is now only $9.99 for the CD and $5.99 to download!

Limited time only, so spread the word and visit the Amani Records Shop today!

If you call yourself a Christian these are questions you probably deal with everyday whether you know it or not. It’s like after our salvation experience we think we are on the bottom rung of the righteousness ladder and that everyday we either climb up or down based on our behavioral performance. You know what I’m talking about.

Well I have some good news for you and some bad news.

The good news is that God is not like you and me. He stays the same. You cannot change the way God looks at you. He loves you with a completely overwhelming love that we cannot fully understand. If your faith is in Jesus Christ as the savior of your sinful soul, your starting point with God everyday is acceptance. God looks at you and see’s His Son’s sacrifice and that makes you acceptable, nothing else.

The bad news is really just more good news that feels like bad news. You and I literally can do nothing good without God’s help. Paul said it this way:

“What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:9-12, 23

Paul also said this:

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Romans 7:15-19

But….

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:25

So what then? “Just give up trying because you cannot do anything good! We are sinners and that is all we will ever be!” NO! Thanks be to God because He did what we could never do: deliver ourselves, fix ourselves, right ourselves. That doesn’t mean we don’t try though.

That is where we get mixed up. Paul wrote to the Galatian church, “How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:3).

What I am trying to show you is that we, Christians, think, “Thanks God for Salvation! I could not have done that. But I can take it from here.” Then we try to live the rest of our lives in our own strength and get angry at ourselves and/or God when we screw up.
By God’s grace may we be changed. Let’s stop trying to please God in our own strength. He does not expect us to do that. He knows us and knows we are weak, helpless, spiritually confused humans. That is why He sent His Son and His Spirit! Christ in you is the hope of Glory and only in Christ can you live like Christ.

“For apart from me you can do nothing.” – Jesus