A Warm Welcome to You

 

“Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:3-6 NLT

 

Do you love listening to music?

                In the car, shower, or when doing your household chores?

                When cooking or reading & studying?

                When working out or just relaxing?

 

 

ME TOO!

 

Are you a Christian?

                New to the faith or lifelong worshiper?

                Looking for music that inspires, comforts AND sounds good?

 

ME TOO!

 

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT

 

Do you love reading your Bible?

                Daily or when the mood strikes you?

                Follow a plan or when searching for answers?

 

Do you wonder:

            Where to find passages that speak to specific problems?

            How God’s words can inspire, teach, and impact YOU?

 

Would you like help?

                Planning an individual or group Bible study?

                Exploring stories about people and events?

 

YOU’VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!

 

 

This site is dedicated to my fellow Christians.

 

Here you will find:

            Contemporary Christian Music

                        Articles and news, reviews and recommendations

                        Playlists to enjoy right here or to download

                        Examination into their Biblical inspiration & significance

                        And music that’s just fun, good & enjoyable – in all genres

 

            Scriptural Passages & Verses

                        Topical and targeted to a multitude of situations

                        Significant in your walk with God

                        Daily sent or offered according to your needs & desires

 

            Bible Study

                        For personal growth in your faith

                        For small or large group settings

 

            Devotionals

                        Inspirational, in the recognized format

                        Informative, interesting, and sometime humorous

 

What is Required of you?

 

                N.O.T.H.I.N.G. Really nothing, other than your time.

 

Salvation is a Free Gift from God. Don’t miss a chance to open it up.

 

Certainly not required, but humbly encouraged, is that you Like & Share all that you deem worthwhile. Join the conversation with polite comments, criticism, and interaction.

 

Who Am I?

 

My name is Jim.

I am a Christian.

I am a sinner.

I need forgiveness and redemption.

And I just want to share some things I am passionate about; things I believe I have been called to do. The Bible & Christian music.

Sometimes I wish I had an elaborate, exciting, awe-inspiring story of how the Lord called me to Him.

But I don’t.

That is not to say that my walk in faith to the Lord has not, sometimes, been those things. It has. But not in a way that many may see.

I have been a believing Christian for pretty much all my life. I remember church and Sunday School as a little tot. My parents had the foresight (God’s hand?) to send me to a church Grade School. I was confirmed in a Lutheran church. I graduated from Lutheran High School.

I would eventually be married and send my own kids to Lutheran schools.

I must interject here, my beliefs and the teachings and thoughts presented here on “Chillin With God” come from a firm belief in the traditional Confessional Christian perspective.

 

            Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone

 

Back to my story.

 

I went away to college.

Like many I did not as vigorously or faithfully hold true to God’s intentions for me.  I did not lose my faith, but I certainly did not practice it as I should have.

If this describes you, right now or in the past, I hope “Chillin With God” can help get you back on track.

I got back on track several years later when I got married to a wonderful wife, and we had kids of our own.

My life is now full steam ahead, doing what I believe God has called me to do, this website.

A little about my wife.

She is a faithful, passionate, and righteous believer. She did not grow up in the type of home I did but was exposed to and believed in God. Unlike me she was brought up Catholic but is now a fellow member in the LCMS.

She is a teacher at our church’s daycare and serves as the church secretary.

She is an avid reader and learner of the Scripture, passionate about (dare I say nuts about) the Art of Bible journaling.

More importantly, and what I am most proud of her for, she teaches a Bible class and Bible journaling to some women in our congregation.

Praise God for her talents and passion!

I too, teach a Bible class.

I have taught Sunday School. I have served my God, and the congregation, in the elected offices of both Vice President and then President of our Church Council. I have served on the board of our church expansion project.

 My wife and I have been on a mission trip to a sister church in Guatemala.

Please take time to pray regularly for any mission project your own congregation may be affiliated with or for All churches and missions worldwide.

Their work is difficult, demanding, and often dangerous.

I am a student of and regular reader of The Holy Scripture.

I own, and use, over 15 physical Bibles in about 10 different translations.

I have taken a rigorous class on Biblical Greek to enhance my study and understanding. It was one on one with my Pastor (thank you Rev. Pastor Paul), It took nearly half a year of weekly classes.

My life has not always been a bed of roses though.

My mother, my faith rock, passed at a young age.

Even more significantly, our 17-year-old son was called to his heavenly home way too early.

He had bravely and courageously fought a heart defect his whole life. 4 open heart surgeries, numerous other surgeries and procedures and finally a failed heart transplant was more than his earthly body could take.

His Lord must have thought so too.

He was, and continues to be, an inspiration to both me and my wife.

I often look to Romans at 8:18 for comfort.

 

            “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later” NLT

 

His hardship and death unfortunately did not have the same inspirational effect on his brothers, especially his older brother, his best friend.

Just 18 months apart in age, Jimmy’s death led his brother down a path of despair and destruction. Culminating in a full-blown heroin addiction.

Thankfully he is past that now but has struggled and has lost his faith in God.

The devil’s work is both cruel and effective.

We pray for our son daily and have hope that the prodigal will one day be brought back into our Shepherd’s flock.

If you or someone you know is in a similar situation just keep praying and do all you can.

I know many others have had it much worse than my wife and me.

For you I pray.

I bring these things up only to share a little bit about me and where my heart and mind are at as I write on “Chillin With God”.

 

Music is a big part of my life and thus here on “Chillin”.

I was not always a fan of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), but music in general is another story.

I do consider myself somewhat of an expert. As an avid listener my whole life I recollect my first mixtapes (now playlists I guess) being made by holding a small cassette recorder up to a radio to compile.

Next came albums, I have several thousand, and then CD’s, of those I have hundreds. My mixtapes then became mix CD’s.

All of these are what I would call conventional music (not CCM). 

The advent of streaming services has further, much further, expanded my personal library and it’s also the time I started getting into Christian Music.

I share some of those playlists here on “Chillin”

My musical tastes run nearly the entire gamut of genre. Being a man of a certain age, as they say, my all-time favorite is, believe it or not, Punk Rock. But I also like mostly everything else.

Because of this I share on “Chillin With God” a wide variety of types of Christian Music. Not just the type you may have heard on stations like K-Love or in contemporary worship services.

Those are fine really, but I will give you more.

Did you even know that there is punk, and heavy metal, and reggae, and even rap and hip hop Christian artists?

You will after visiting the Christian Music section of “Chillin With God”.

BTW I was also a DJ on my college radio station and worked as the station’s record librarian. I have been to well over 150 live concerts and many more small club shows.

I don’t bring this up to boast, only to show you some of my music chops and to show that I do know what I’m talking about.

 

Who I’m Not

 

I am not a Biblical scholar.

I do not hold a degree, advanced or otherwise, in Christian Theology of any sort.

I am not a Bot. None of my content will ever be generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).