A New Playlist-- Intro!

Happy August! I know…I know, crazy, right? But, within a couple of weeks, school starts back up, and the summer schedule (for good or for bad) will be gone! It’s time to start getting in those last lake visits and late -night ice cream runs. I also feel the need to turn off my summer hits Pandora station, which has a lot of Jack Johnson, James Taylor, and beachy-sounding music, and switch over to something more substantial for the Fall.

I don’t know about you guys, but I LOVE a good playlist. I enjoy music in general, but there are certain playlists (or Pandora stations) that I use for certain occasions. I have a workout list (for when I get around to that), a list that I use for when I’m doing office work, and a list that I use for cleaning the house/doing yard work. Just last night, my husband created a “wake-up” playlist for us, because I was complaining that we don’t have enough variety in the music that we listen to around the house.  

For the month of August and the first couple of weeks of September, we are going to be looking at the book A New Playlist by Jacob Armstrong for our staff devotional. If you would like to pick up a copy for yourself, you can do so here: https://www.amazon.com/New-Playlist-Hearing-Jesus-Connected/dp/1501843478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533154197&sr=8-1&keywords=a+new+playlist+jacob+armstrong   (It’s only $10 for the kindle edition!)

Armstrong’s premise is that we hear so many different noises within the course of our day, but that ultimately, we get to decide what music we let in. While we may not be in control of the millions of messages that bombard us, we can choose to look for God’s song of love and acceptance that He sings over us continually. The song that Christ sings over us is about “doing less and being more.”

Psalm 46:10 reminds us to “Be still and know that (He is) God.” Sometimes we need to quiet ourselves, and the noise around us, in order to really hear the message of love that God is speaking over us. Especially now, in these last hectic weeks of summer, I think it would do ALL of us good to take a minute to receive God’s love in a fresh and new way. If you are living in a place of overload today, find the time to turn it all off. Quiet the tv, the radio, the voices that are clamoring for your attention, and take just a couple of minutes to become still and hear the voice of the one who made you. He loves you, he accepts you, and His words are the ones that can renew your soul like nothing else.

Discussion Question:

 - What playlist (or Pandora station) do you listen to the most?