Category / Life With God

by Greg

[Song For The Day] You Listen To Me

Come As You Are
Come As You Are

Purchase @ iTunes
Song | Album

With this being the 7th anniversary week of the release of Come As You Are, I am highlighting some of the songs we liked best from the album. All week I’ll post a song (via the magic of Grooveshark.com) that you can listen to, and a link to purchase the song or album from iTunes or us. You don’t have to buy it… since you can just listen to the whole thing right here at GregsHead.net … but if you don’t have the album, we have a bunch of CDs sitting in boxes that would be better off sitting in your music player of choice. 🙂

You Listen To Me
Today’s song is a song about who we are to God. It’s a fun guitar-driven song, with a great d’jembe track and other fun percussion. The lyric reminds us that not only does God hear us when we ask him for stuff, but he listens and often changes things. A fun song musically, and a fun reminder of just how much God loves you and me.


LISTEN HERE (for RSS feed only) | lyrics @ basicmm.com

by Greg

[Song For The Day] God Knows

Come As You Are
Come As You Are

Purchase @ iTunes
Song | Album

With this being the 7th anniversary week of the release of Come As You Are, I mentioned that we Campbells decided to move that album into our Currently Playing playlist on our iPod. It was fun to hear some of those songs again. Not only were the recordings better than I remembered (you always tend to remember the parts you wish you had done better…) it was fun to talk about what the songs said about who God is, too. Before each song I’d say to the kids, “OK kids, listen to the words and then at the end you can tell us what you learned about God from the song.” It was really cute (and awesome) to hear their answers!

I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the songs we liked best from our recent listen. All week I’ll post a song (via the magic of Grooveshark.com) that you can listen to, and a link to purchase the song or album from iTunes or us. You don’t have to buy it… since you can just listen to the whole thing right here at GregsHead.net … but if you don’t have the album, we have a bunch of CDs sitting in boxes that would be better off sitting in your music player of choice. 🙂

Enjoy the first installment (which is also the first song I ever wrote!) … God Knows.


LISTEN HERE (for RSS feed only) | lyrics @ basicmm.com

by Greg

God Provided… by NOT Providing?

We had an interesting little “wrap up” time as a family tonight. After returning from dinner with friends tonight, we got jammies on and then all gathered in the family room. We were going to read a book, but I had some things on my mind that I wanted to share before we did.

See, I’ve posted here many times before how incredibly we have seen God provide for us time and time again. Whatever our financial needs, somehow God would provide for them. In a different way on nearly every occasion. Fantastic.

So this week we were waiting for God to do the same. I even knew where it was going to come from. A few outstanding invoices that had not been paid yet – and several of those that I was told were “in the mail”. Problem was… it didn’t happen.

We waited a few days… nothing. But still, we knew God would provide. There were some things we needed to buy, some things we wanted to do… God needed to give us money. We had paid our bills and funded a trip to visit family in Buffalo the weekend prior, and then on Monday, we waited for God to give us more money for the next stuff we needed.

But it didn’t come.

By Wednesday, it still didn’t come, and we were starting to wonder. Not really if it would come, but … just wonder. Will it come in time to pay the next bill we need to pay? Will it come in time for us to buy food or diapers or whatever? Just… wonderings.

Thursday, and then Friday came… no money. Only a $2 profit from the sale of one domain name. Fascinating.

BUT HERE’S THE BEST PART. (And what I passed on to the kids tonight in our family gathering.)

In the past week of God not giving us any money, I still end the week knowing, seeing, and feeling God’s provision.

This week we had all the food we needed. We had gas to get where we needed to go. We had clothes on our back, electricity in our house, even fun stuff to do here (though that’s probably not a “need”). We even used the $2.00 we got to buy a couple loaves of bread for the coming week.

We had and have everything we need. Isn’t that God providing?

It IS!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall ever hearing (or saying?) how God provided, even when some could say that he didn’t provide. But my heart is so content and peaceful tonight, knowing that he did. As he always does. Perfectly.

Oh… the book we are reading? A story of the life of George Müeller. A man who lived his entire adult life without a job, and without asking for money from anyone but God himself – and was never in want. Ever. (Look it up, it’s worth it.)

Can’t wait to keep reading his story, and in some ways… living it.

by Greg

Come As You Are: Seven Years Later!!

basic: Come As You AreCome As You Are
13 Tracks
Released Aug 29, 2002
Retail: $15.98

Available at:
basicmm.com | iTunes | Amazon (CD or MP3) | CDBaby.com | Village Bookmarket (Palmyra, NY)

(Also available in various other locations… have fun searching!)

Really hard to believe that it’s been seven years since the original run of Come As You Are CDs and tapes was “printed”. (And in other ways, seems like another life time!) In honor of the release date today we have been listening to the album in the Campbell home with the kiddos. First time several of them have really gotten to listen to the songs! It’s been fun!

And I thought maybe you might want to again, too.

If you already have the CD (or MP3s) please pop it in today and have a listen. It’s a pretty great collection of songs that remind us of how much God really loves us. Really. No matter how ugly or unloveable we may feel – even in our worst moments. The CD is appropriately named, to be sure.

Musically there are some really great moments I forgot about. Some great harmonies, fun dynamics, cool extra instruments like cello, mandolin, d’jembe… even harmonica! Slower songs, upbeat songs, songs with a cool groove. Acoustic songs, super-rockin’ “electrified” songs… and even one with just two voices and a piano.

If you haven’t ever gotten it, I really think you’ll like it. They are $10 from our website, $9.99 at iTunes … AND, if you want to get a few more CDs, you can get it for $5 at CDBaby.com (it’s part of a deal where you can get certain CDs for $5 if you buy just 3 CDs! *HINT* … we have four other CDs on their site….) 🙂

So, seven years later the songs still can be and are being enjoyed by many people around the world… and you could be one of them! Give it a listen today!

by Greg

The Church Is The Fruit, Not The Cause

I’m catching up on listening to some old podcasts while I work today, and just thought I’d take note of (and share here) something that was “just” said on The God Journey podcast.

“You get the idea that this didn’t begin with management. It began with life. And that life expanded among a group of people. And that’s how I see it now. I think what the church is is the fruit of something, not the cause of something.”

That was from the show titled, “The Wonder of Real Community” posted on Aug 7th. The discussion centers around life together as the church and how many things can get in the way of open, honest relationships with other people living life with Jesus. Good stuff as always.

I think the part that stood out to me was how quickly we took something that came out of real relationship with the real God (in Jesus) and have attempted to build it, manage it, control it, reproduce it, etc. The problem lies not only in the verbs previously used, but in the word “it”. I’ve said before, as soon as whatever we are part of becomes an “it” then “it” starts to become the focus rather than the life that is found in Jesus, and shared with his church.

I’ve been encouraged by reading through the stuff I wrote a few years ago now in my There’s The Steeple… Here’s The Church book, and the guys who do The God Journey podcast have also been an encouragement along the way. Check out either of those links, I think you’ll enjoy them.

by Greg

Calling All Product Marketers and Salespeoples

After re-reading another composition (titled, “Substitutes“) that was compiled into the book There’s The Steeple… Here’s The Church that I published in 2006, I am again pondering the ways in which we can get the various products sitting in our storage areas into the hands of people who would be inspired by, be made to think by and just enjoy them.

The main way people “discovered” our creative works before was when we were touring the country and performing our music (and even speaking on occasion) at various events. This was certainly the best way. But with the addition of a child or two (or six) we have taken a major break from that and such venues are no longer an option.

We have websites. (Here and here, primarily.) We have sold our music via iTunes. That’s cool. But sitting here in my attic office are boxes and boxes of CDs, tapes (yep! we have tapes!!) and books.

So how do we get those out of storage and into grateful hands, hearts, and minds? Any ideas?

I’d be willing to listen to any ideas as I really do think people will still enjoy any and all of our products. We have 5 different albums of our original music (well, one is a Christmas CD with mostly original arrangements of familiar songs) and I have three books of collections of writings that are mostly short anecdotal writings on various life topics that will make you smile, and often make you think.

If you are a marketing or sales wizard, please drop me a line and let me know what you think might work. You can leave a comment here at this post, too. Any and all ideas are welcome 🙂

If you’re interested in getting your own copy, click the links above, or you can search for our stuff at Amazon.com as well… usually better to just buy from us at basicmm.com or, for just the books, here at gregshead.net/bookstore.

Thanks in advance for your help!

by Greg

My Quiver is Full

This morning I had a little quiet time before the children woke up (because I got up early to see our friends off on their journey home) and I decided to pick up my Bible and read something random. I’ve been reading through Genesis, love to read the Gospels, recently read the book of Amos, been reading Proverbs with the kiddos, and the book of Galatians is always an interesting destination to me.

But today I just flipped the pages and ended up in the Psalm one hundreds.

I spied Psalm 127 and decided to start reading.

Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.

That seemed familiar enough, and a cool reminder that life works best when God starts it (remember?)

As I kept reading, I noticed that I should make a plaque with Psalm 127 on it and hang it prominently on the front of our house! 🙂 This whole, short psalm seems to be my life in a nutshell. (There’s more in Psalm 128, too!) God has definitely blessed us, and we love living a life of complete trust in his provision (and protection of that provision). We’re learning to trust him more every day.

I’ll leave you with the psalms … enjoy!

Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Psalm 128
1 How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
all who follow his ways!
2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
4 That is the Lord’s blessing
for those who fear him.
5 May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!

by Greg

God’s Provision: Perfect.

I’ve mentioned here many times how God has arranged things for us to be able to pay our bills, feed our kids, and keep our house. It’s really astounding at times. I’m pretty sure that “on paper” … it just shouldn’t work. But it does. It always does.

I forgot to, or didn’t get to, or perhaps just chose not to … however it happened, I did not communicate last month that we had reached a milestone of sorts. On July 4th, 2009, we celebrated our independence.

No, I’m not talking about our country’s independence on Independence Day. And really, in a way, it would be more appropriately labeled Dependence Day.

Let me explain.

For many years we have lived a life of trusting God. Our “career” paths have always been determined by where we felt God was leading, not by any predetermined path or plan. Often that meant less money, or seemingly no money… but we knew that God was our Provider, and trusted him to do so.

Mostly.

Last year, we were really having trouble keeping up with the increasing cost of life, our regular bills, and probably especially our mounting debt. It was really crazy. We finally reached a point where we really, really needed to do something or we’d start losing the stuff that we had – which seemed bad, but, honestly, if that was where we went, we were OK with that too.

We spoke with a friend who is a financial advisor. We spoke with our family and close friends. We asked God what he wanted us to do about this debt that he seemed to never help us pay off with some giant windfall of cash. The answers we got were basically: you need more income, and…

“You need to trust me.” (That was God…)

So, if you know me (us) … well, you know that sounded a little funny. “TRUST YOU?? Um… what do you think we’ve been doing??!?!?!” 🙂 BUT, you see, we discovered (by God’s gentle revealing voice) that we were indeed not trusting him. At least, not like we really could be.

See, in the past (over the past several/many years) when we felt like God was giving us something to do (a CD, a tour, or whatever project it may have been) we would pursue it with gusto, and “know” that he would provide. That’s all well and good – he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, etc – but… the problem was, whenever stuff got tight … we’d really turn to our credit limits. (Which were gargantuan.)

Over time, when we would fund one project here, another there, this trip here, that trip there… even paying bills and buying groceries with “money” that we were confident “God would provide” (really, we were) well, the debt added up. And up. We kept paying for (taking?) things that God had not yet given us. (Even if he had “given” us the leading to do it, which I still believe he did.) If you have every toyed with credit card debt you know that “living beyond your means” for more than 5 years (let’s say closer to ten?) … well, that’s really icky.

So last year God helped us see, helped us realize that while we were completely trusting him by following his lead… we were NOT trusting him by waiting for him to provide. And is has stung us. Badly.

When he helped us see that we decided that the best (the only?) course of action we could take was to completely cease all additions to the pile of debt before us. We would lose our stuff before we would pay anything with “credit” again. (At least, until God clearly leads us otherwise.) We decided we would only spend what we had. If that meant missing a bill payment by a couple days, that’s what we’d have to do. If it meant not getting food or gas or something else we might have previously “financed” with credit… so be it.

(What if our government would come to this realization???)

And folks, for 13 months now… it has totally and completely worked!!! And it has been simply astonishing to watch God provide.

He has provided jobs. I got to work the ideal job for me at the Apple store for a time. When that time ended, I was able to work another ideal job leading music for a local church. All along he continues to bring in a steady stream of web business. (All without any advertising or looking for clients of any sort. Crazy.)

He has even met deadlines. Time and time again when we wait for him – even when it is really hard, and even seems foolish – he provides right on time with the exact amount that we need. (Now, so far it hasn’t been exact like, to the cent. I have heard stories like that, but that’s not what we’ve seen. But it usually is to the dollar. Perhaps he knows that I like stuff a bit more loose and general?) 😉

I can’t say enough how simply incredible, astounding, amazing, mind-blowing it has been. And I think the best part is, it has been life-altering. Whether it happened that day in early July of 2008 or was more of a process… we just think differently. We don’t even consider using credit now* … we’re actually happy to wait for God to provide, no matter how big or small the want or need. (Even as I type this, it’s still surprising!)

The most recent example of this has been how God arranged everything for me to take a break to take care of the kids while Jen recovers from the birth of Cameron last week. My want is to completely shut down my business(es) for a week, or hopefully two, so that I can manage the house while Jen recuperates following delivery. In our precarious financial state I wasn’t sure how that would work. I know a lot of people live “paycheck to paycheck” and well, we’re one of them. We really do. So, when I don’t work, I don’t get paid. Was curious to see how God would work that out.

He has! Even so much that I can see how he has, so that I can have peace about taking this two weeks off. First the commitment to leading music came to an end on July 26th (the Sunday before our son was born!). Second, there were a few bigger jobs that I did leading up to Cameron’s birth that were recently paid (and will be paid) this week, creating a slight surplus of funds for paying bills and feeding mouths. Third, God has brought in 4-6 new jobs that are all ready to go, but can all also wait till mid-August when I plan to return!

I shouldn’t say I can’t believe it, because certainly I can. But in a way… I still can’t! Somehow the way he takes care of us still surprises me. If the circumstances worked out differently… if somehow we didn’t pay our bills, or were lacking some other thing… he’d still be a great Provider, and I’m certain we’d see that. We’d see his provision even if it was different than we thought it would be. But at the moment, it’s been very clear and easy to see how God is arranging stuff to provide for our family and we’re loving living a life of truly trusting him by being completely content with what he has given us. (Not what he will give, but what he actually has given.)

I’m sure there are many ways to live that out, but I can’t recommend enough learning to listen for, wait for, and follow our Father. It’s exciting, scary, yet peaceful and perfect. Fantastic.

I just needed to say all of that … kind of for my remembering down the road… and hopefully to encourage you along the way too. Hope you’re enjoying your journey, too!

* I don’t believe that credit or credit cards are “bad” … but for us they would currently be trusting ourselves more than trusting (or being content in) God’s provision. They can certainly be used “wisely” but more often than not, they become a trap. Still, I am in no way condemning the idea of credit.

** We watched a couple documentaries via Netflix re: credit card craziness. If such things interest you, perhaps you’d like to watch them too? They were Maxed Out, and In Debt We Trust.

by Greg

Reposting: "Evangelists"

I’m not usually one to recycle here, but I’ve been reading a good deal more than writing these days, and one of the books I happen to be re-reading is the one I compiled a few years ago, There’s The Steeple, Here’s The Church. I had a chance over the past several months to revisit all my thoughts on the current way we Christians relate to God and his church, and so it’s been neat to re-read some of these chapters and think through the stuff God had me chewing on not that long ago.

The latest chapter I re-read was called Evangelists, originally taken from this post, and then a follow-up post. There was a pretty cool quote midway through the original article:

Life with Jesus is just that. Life. You can’t package it up. You can’t layout the perfect plan to follow so that you can have it. You can’t sell it, promote it, market it, label it, franchise it, brand it, advertise or really even pass it along. Just like I can’t pass along the relationship I have with Jen to anyone else, I can’t do that with Jesus. He and I have a unique relationship that you can’t have with him. Sorry… but it’s true. 🙂 He wants a better one than that with you. If you try to do life with him the way I do, it probably won’t work. It might for a while… but you’re just living a copy. He knows every intimate detail about you, and wants to relate to you personally and intimately. Sharing every bit of life with you, not just a few moments here and there, and a special dress-up occasion on weekends.

There’s more in the original article, but it was a cool reminder that our connection is not to a tradition or an organization or even to a pastor or teacher. We have a direct connection to the Vine. Each one of us. And it’s an everyday reality, not just our “spiritual life”. Jesus knows me, and I know him.

“And this is eternal life: That you know the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent.” – John 17:3

If you don’t have a copy of my book, visit my online bookstore and either purchase or download a copy today. You can get a copy through Amazon.com if you’d prefer, but it’s cheaper through GregsHead.net. (Including a free PDF download if you’re strapped for cash) 😉

There are some good, easy to digest, but make-you-think short writings to read in that book, and I’d love for you to do so. (And I’d love to have a chat with you over anything that intrigues you as well.) So, have a look (go ahead and click right now!) and may you know him more every day.

by Greg

Reposting: "If You Build It…"

I recently re-read this article I wrote way back in 2005! It was included in my book, There’s The Steeple… Here’s The Church!, and was just a cool reminder to me that if we want to be part of something “successful” (really successful) then it’s best to see where God is working and follow his lead. Sometimes we rush ahead, sometimes we hold on too long… but when we find the sweet spot, we see great stuff happen in and around us!

Hope this is encouraging to you, too, this second (or third!) time around 🙂

If You Build It…

How long does our stuff last? Just a thought before I hit the hay tonight.

How long did that fire for studying the Bible in the mornings with God last? How long did you keep praying for those missionaries every day? How long could you keep doing the good you wanted to do, or not doing the bad you didn’t want to do?

In our personal lives, fires come and go. The passion ignites, and drives for a time our desire to build something good. To do something with our lives.

At times, that translates to something outside of ourselves. Sometimes we have a good idea, and we run with it. Say perhaps a Bible study with friends. Every Wednesday night. We gather, we read, we study, we share, we can’t wait till next week. And then, after several good weeks, something else comes up and one person can’t make it, but the meeting goes pretty well. Then, after a few more absences, and an unspoken restlessness … like something’s not quite right… something has “changed”… eventually, the whole thing just falls apart.

This happens with most everything we try and put together. I play basketball with some guys on Wednesday mornings. Started out with me and another friend on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We were there each of those days. Every week. But, that changed to Thursdays. In the meantime I added Wednesdays with some other guys. Last year, that was GREAT. We were there all the time. Playing hard. This year? I have been at the gym by myself on quite a few Wednesday mornings. Sometimes the other guys just don’t show up… sometimes they are busy elsewhere. Not really an issue, just a furtherance of my point.

If you build it… it will fall apart.

Whether it’s a basketball schedule, a Bible study, a small group, a church, a program, a sports league, an annual convention… eventually, it will die. Some things maintain their existence a bit longer, but is it really worth it for the church of 10 people to continue to expend time and money to maintain a building for them to meet in every Sunday? Is it really necessary to get a preacher to speak to them every week?

You see, for some reason we don’t understand that things are for a time. Solomon spoke of this in Ecclesiastes. “To everything there is a season…” It’s true. And the grand orchestra conductor is not me. Nor you. It is our Father who guides and directs all things in perfect harmony. Perfect unison. He knows what is next, and for how long.

I feel like I am in a different chapter of life right now. I don’t think that I was building something that crumbled. I think God is changing our circumstances for a new chapter. The old is not thrown away, but built on. The new is still not my idea, but something that He is leading, and providing.

I am not trying to make universal statements of truth tonight… just observations.

When we build it, it will usually – perhaps even always – fail. But, on the contrary, when HE builds it, it is beautiful and freeing and life-giving… and succeeds wildly (even if only for you).

And then we move on.

Life changes. He does not. Help me God to not place my trust in the things I build, but to watch and follow you as you build into and around me the things that you want to.