The Servant's Heart

The first evening of SonShine Fest in July (where we got a large portion of our interviews), while mi madre rested in her luxurious hotel room (yeah, I camped), I did a solo interview. It was with Tobin Bawinkel, frontman of the Celtic punk rock band (oh yes) Flatfoot 56. I had a quick phone chat with Tobin and we agreed on a meeting place. I went to meet him and had no trouble finding him in the crowd. My immediate internal reaction was simply, "Whoa." The man stands at roughly six and a half feet tall. You have no idea how awkward it is to take a stroll to a quiet place to have an interview with someone who is actually about a foot taller than you, attempting to make small talk all the way. Try it sometime.
Fortunately, Tobin was not an awkward person with whom to talk. As with many physically intimidating people one might meet, he is personally the exact opposite of intimidating. Kindness illuminates him. His main focus in the interview was on being a servant of Christ. He talked about showing the love of Christ to those we may not normally be inclined to reach out to, like social outcasts or people who do tend to intimidate us. After all, that's what Jesus did.
He was also all about God's will. In talking of the anxiety one experiences when thinking of the future, he emphasized the fact that we are taken care of in God's hands, as long as we are following His plan for us. We may know a major component in following God's path for us is being in constant communication with Him through prayer and reading the Bible, but Tobin also mentioned the need for good spiritual leaders, such as pastors and parents. He advised us not to become prideful when we are young and being filled with knowledge, because our elders' experience trumps what we think we know from books. And again he mentioned servitude as a way to follow God's will. Even if you're not sure what specifically you're supposed to do with your life, Tobin said, "You’ll never go wrong with pouring into people’s lives around you. That’s a calling of all of us, whether we know what our big goal is or not."
It's a great reminder that I think we could all use. Jesus had a servant's heart and commanded us to do the same. In serving our Lord's creations, we serve our Lord.
It is also wonderful to see a popular rock band have the opposite of the "typical" attitude of "rock stars." Thanks for blessing our lives, Flatfoot 56, and thanks for your time and inspiring words, Tobin!

The Leap

Our next interview was with Ben Olin, Brandon Paxton, and Jeremy Kunkle of the band This Beautiful Republic. These guys are currently on the Creation Fest Tour all over the country, so try to catch them!
Oh, of course, as I'm writing this, one of their songs starts playing on my iTunes, which I have on shuffle with 951 songs! Awesome.
The guys from TBR, just like Jon from Hyland, talked about the band being a business, and how the work is never done. Money is a huge risk they took and are taking. But they shared that they have learned that money is definitely something God takes care of if they are following His will. As Ben said, "The body of Christ will support the body of Christ."
In the same way, they spoke about the real ministry being in fellowship. Personal relationships are where real influence happens, not necessarily from a big stage. In personal relationships there are deep conversations and modeling of a Christ-filled life. Even as a popular Christian band, they find that when they go home and talk to old friends, they are able to encourage more and be more encouraged than from the "pedestal" that is being in a rock band.
Ben, Brandon, and Jeremy revealed the risks they took in creating and continuing the band. They talked about the fear and doubt they had in making these life choices, but even more so about the ever-imperative trust in God. They stressed the need for a continuous, 2-way relationship with God in order to know His plan. Their career defines the phrase, “making a leap of faith.” Their story taught me that it’s not just about the initial jump. It’s the entire freefall, with no personal control; just knowing that God is not just the parachute and not only the final ground, but the air that surrounds us. We have to remind ourselves that when the wind carries us away (or what we think is “away”), it is God’s command and plan.
On another note, some of my funniest interview moments came from this interview. From poking fun at the way I worded a question to funny stories about the years of TBR to making fun of themselves for something they said, we shared a lot of laughs. We learned that Ben will continue singing in This Beautiful Republic even if he has his larynx removed, radio stations have his mom on Caller ID because she requests TBR so much, and we should all buy band t-shirts even if we can't afford them, because This Beautiful Republic has a credit card machine!
Thanks, guys, for the time, the wise insight, and the humor.
On deck, Flatfoot 56!
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