John met an LSU fan once. He was rude and obnoxious, and from that day forward John reasoned that all LSU fans were just like him. John’s distaste for the university and all of its programming became very real even though he had never been to Baton Rouge.

John met a Christian once. He was fake and judgmental, and from that day forward John reasoned that all Christians were just like him. John’s distaste for God and all things associated with Him became very real even though John had never tried getting to know God for himself.

Two things:

1. With representation comes obligation

2. People are very often a misrepresentation of things

You’re Such a Baby – And That’s A Good Thing

A baby is born. The moment he is born he is 100% dependent on his mother and father. If he is hungry he cries for food. If he needs a diaper change, he cries for that. He cannot walk, so he must be carried. He cannot provide for himself; he must be provided for. The infant cannot do anything without help.

A goal of parenthood, then, is to take this helpless child and teach it how to become independent. Teach him to walk. Teach him to speak. Teach him how to make his own breakfast. Teach him how to drive, how to get a job, how to pay bills. And then one day, the child no longer needs help. He is 100% independent.

All our lives we are taught how to get by on our own. And then we meet Jesus. And then Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

Jesus is basically saying, “I don’t care what you’ve been taught. I want you to depend on me for everything.”

Lots of people including myself struggle with this and it keeps us from moving forward in our relationships with God. We want to show God what we can do on our own, because it’s what we’ve been taught to do our whole lives. It’s called the look-mommy-watch-this syndrome. We are praised for are accomplishments.

Here’s an idea: act like a baby tomorrow - cry to God for food (John 6:35). Cry for God to carry you through the day. Cry for God to provide for you. The more you cry out to Him, the better. It’s pretty backwards but that’s how you GROW as a Christian.    

As a performing songwriter who follows Jesus, I pray that I will always remember that those who Christ commands me to minister to first and foremost, have never been to a concert, don’t own an iPod, and haven’t the slightest clue what social media is. 

Have you ever seen a movie where the hero is unconcerned with his own safety to the point to where he doesn’t care if he lives or dies? This makes for an awesome character, because he can pretty much do anything he wishes without consequences.

Usually in those types of movies the villain finds the hero’s weakness in another character. For example the bad guy might go and find the hero’s 6-yr-old daughter and hold her hostage. Suddenly the hero is not so care free in his decision making.

In the end, other people will always be affected by our actions.

When I was in high school and college, I failed to realize this truth. I thought, “As long as I don’t bother you and you don’t bother me, then nothing I do has an impact on anyone else.”

This was a lie.

In the story of Jonah, God asked Jonah to do something, but Jonah said no. Instead he got on a boat and tried to run from God. Everyone knows the part where Jonah was swallowed by a fish. But maybe you’ve overlooked the part before that where the lives of all the people on the boat were put in jeopardy, because of Jonah’s disobedience (Read Jonah Chapter 1).

If you think you can disobey God without it affecting you, then maybe you’re right…but watch closely the lives of the people you love – because they are the ones who might end up paying for your sins.

Does Jesus Come to Your Party?

God is the ultimate gentleman. He is never rude. Therefore if we want Him to come to our party, we have to ask Him. What party? Churches throw parties every Sunday morning at 10 AM: the people gather, songs are sung and a message is preached. There might even be a meal afterwards. Fried chicken and homemade sweet potato casserole is how we do it in the South. This is a party…

The irony is if we don’t ask Jesus to show up, He won’t. I’m convinced that most people don’t invite Jesus to their parties, because they’re not there for Him in the first place. And I’m guilty of this too. We go to church because it’s the socially acceptable thing to do or because our parents are going to ask us if we went and then put a guilt trip on us for not going.

And church (read corporate worship) is only one of many parties. Life is a party - seriously - all day, every day. It’s up to you to invite Jesus Christ to your party (read life). See Revelation 3:20

What do you think? Leave a note on this page or comment on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidashleymusic) for a free mp3 of “Walk Into This Place.”

Shut Up and Keep Running!!

Have you ever watched the TV show, The Biggest Loser? If you haven’t I doubt I would need to explain the concept, but just in case: it is a show where severely overweight people volunteer themselves to be sent to this secluded mega-health facility they call, “The Ranch.” While at the Ranch the contestants basically compete with each other to see who can lose the most weight. My favorite part of this show is what is called the last-chance workouts, where the contestants workout one more time as hard as they can before climbing on the weight scales to see who’s eliminated. It is during these workouts where you see a pattern emerge…The plot goes something like this:

1.       Contestant has been doing some strenuous activity (such as running the treadmill) for a very long period of time at a high rate of speed.  

2.       Contestant finally says, “That’s it!! I can’t run any longer.”

3.       Personal trainer says, “Oh no you don’t! You are NOT done! You keep running!

4.       Contestant argues as he/she continues to run, “I’m about to pass out! I have to stop!”

5.       Personal trainer, “SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING!!”

6.       Contestant finally cries about it but keeps running for an even longer period of time and an even faster pace.

What amazes me is almost always, the contestant is capable of running faster and longer than they thought previously possible. They thought they had given all they had at point A, but then 15 minutes later they are at point B with more gas left in the tank.

This is so true of our spiritual lives. We have a string of bad luck, or we have a tragedy happen in our lives, or we get ourselves into trouble somehow, and we are so quick to say, “That’s it! I can’t run any longer!”

I bet you every now and then our Heavenly Personal Trainer says, “SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING!” and just like the trainers at the biggest loser ranch, God doesn’t scream at us because He’s upset, He doesn’t scream at us because He’s frustrated or even impatient. He does it in order for us to realize our potential in Christ. God has equipped us with the Holy Spirit and Paul went on to say in Philippians that, “(we) can do all things through Christ, who strengthens (us).”

The personal trainers on the Biggest Loser ranch give their all and so they ask the same of the contestants.

God gave His all when He “gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Are you gonna give your all? Then SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING!

What do you think? What does it mean to give it your all as it relates to our walk with Christ? Leave a note on this page or comment on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidashleymusic) for a free mp3 of “All I Have To Give.”

Hey thanks to you too! I appreciate you stopping by and listening

Grow Up, Grown Up, or Growin’ Up? Which one are you? An 18 year old says, “I’m finally a man.” A 95 year old says, “I’ve got a lot of growin’ up to do.”

“Growin’ Up” written by David Ashley Trent

Lyrics can be found here: http://www.davidashleyonline.com/sites/www.davidashleyonline.com/files/growin_up.pdf

This week we’re going back in time and talk about a song off one of my previous albums called “Growin’ Up” I love this song and the simplicity of the message, because the message is always relevant. A lot of times at my shows right before I play this song, I’ll ask the audience, “Who in here is still growin’ up?” And it never fails that 99% of the hands go up. There is of course sometimes an old man in his 90s who fails to raise his hand, but for the most part we’ve all got plenty of growin’ up to do.

I think that’s the way God designed us to be. This life is not about arrival. It’s a journey, yes, but life on earth is only the beginning. That’s why it’s so important to make sure we’re on the right path. For me, there’s no question that the right path is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ – He is the person that I want to be just like as I “grow up.” Will I ever be just like Jesus – of course not, no one ever has or ever will be. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t do my best to follow his example. He taught us how to live, how to pray, how to love, how to serve, etc. To me, that’s what growin’ up is all about.  

I would say with boldness that I believe that following Jesus is the best path for you as well, but that’s something that you’ll have to decide for yourself. So grow up already, will ya?

What do you think it means to grow up? Comment on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidashleymusic) for a free mp3 of this song.<—>

Grow Up, Grown Up, or Growin’ Up? Which one are you? An 18 year old says, “I’m finally a man.” A 95 year old says, “I’ve got a lot of growin’ up to do.”

“Growin’ Up” written by David Ashley Trent

Lyrics can be found here: http://www.davidashleyonline.com/sites/www.davidashleyonline.com/files/growin_up.pdf

This week we’re going back in time and talk about a song off one of my previous albums called “Growin’ Up” I love this song and the simplicity of the message, because the message is always relevant. A lot of times at my shows right before I play this song, I’ll ask the audience, “Who in here is still growin’ up?” And it never fails that 99% of the hands go up. There is of course sometimes an old man in his 90s who fails to raise his hand, but for the most part we’ve all got plenty of growin’ up to do.

I think that’s the way God designed us to be. This life is not about arrival. It’s a journey, yes, but life on earth is only the beginning. That’s why it’s so important to make sure we’re on the right path. For me, there’s no question that the right path is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ – He is the person that I want to be just like as I “grow up.” Will I ever be just like Jesus – of course not, no one ever has or ever will be. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t do my best to follow his example. He taught us how to live, how to pray, how to love, how to serve, etc. To me, that’s what growin’ up is all about.  

I would say with boldness that I believe that following Jesus is the best path for you as well, but that’s something that you’ll have to decide for yourself. So grow up already, will ya?

What do you think it means to grow up? Comment on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidashleymusic) for a free mp3 of this song.

“I Wish We” written by David Ashley Trent

Lyrics can be found here: http://www.davidashleyonline.com/sites/www.davidashleyonline.com/files/i_wish_we_lyrics.pdf

I wrote this song in the summer of 2009 and the idea was simple: I was (and still am) afraid that people I know will miss the big picture of what it means to be a follower of Christ. And if I am being honest with myself, many of these people I know will miss out because I failed to ever ask them about their faith.

It is an awkward thing to talk about faith and God and who the Bible says Jesus is. And it never seems to come up in conversation, either.

“So Jim, how was your day?”

“Good, how was yours?”

“Mine was good too. Anyways I wanted to ask you, where do you think you’ll go when you die?”

But then awkwardness cannot be enough to keep me from spreading the Truth about Christ with other people. It’s not fair to them.

The truth is apart from Christ I am nothing. Without His grace and mercy I am doomed. And unless I give up everything and follow Him, I will miss out on every good thing He has promised me.        

So the song is one way I decided to share with others my “wish” for all of us. But it’s more than that, because I can’t just wish for something and then sit back and do nothing. If I want to see change, I’ve got to act. I’ve got to make sure and tell all the people I can about Jesus. I’ve got to show them His love through my actions and words. I pray God helps me with that mission, because I sure can’t do it alone.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Everyone who leaves a comment on my facebook wall (www.facebook.com/davidashleymusic) will get an mp3 of my song, “I Wish We.” Just email me at davidashleyonline@gmail.com for instructions.

Here are just a few notes I wrote the other day about the scripture in Ephesians that talks about the Armor of God. Enjoy!

Ephesians 6:10-18

1. Don’t forget who the fight is against. (verse 12)

• “I can handle (fill in the blank) on my own.”

2. Don’t believe that partial armor is good enough (verse 13)

• “I know I am saved (helmet), but I don’t study the word (sword).”

3. Don’t forget how knowledgeable and powerful the enemy is.

• Notice all but one of the armor pieces mentioned are defensive
• Just remaining standing at the end of the day is a victory

4. Don’t lose your belief in the power of the armor.

• I won’t be motivated to wear the armor if I don’t believe it works

5. Don’t use other things as armor that aren’t approved as effective.

• new cars, new clothes, academics, relationships, drugs and alcohol

6. Don’t neglect to put the armor on – having it is not enough.

• God gives us the armor, it is our responsibility to wear it