Not without love

Last week, CCM artist Jimmy Needham dropped by to talk about his new album (Not Without Love), which hits the streets on August 19. He also took some time to chat about the reason he does what he does, saying “if all this were gone tomorrow, it would be OK.” That's a refreshing kind of humility we don't often get to see.

Jimmy actually had a lot of interesting things to say, especially as he talked about the problem he has with thinking he has to earn God's love. Truth be told, I have a problem with the same thing a lot of the time. We both know that God has brought us into His family through His grace and mercy, but the idea all too soon creeps in that we have to do something that makes us deserving of it. And God doesn't extend His grace because we deserve it; He does it because of who He is.

Here's what Jimmy had to say about grace on his blog at his Web site: “I was all about sharing the Lord," he explains. "I carried tracts everywhere I went. I was like Bibleman. It was so wearing on me. It got to the point that I couldn't walk into a supermarket without feeling like a failure if I didn't witness to every cashier in the place. I was working really hard to put a smile on Jesus' face because I was afraid if I didn't, He was going to be disappointed in me."”

“I discovered that zeal and passion for God is a good thing, but if you don't love people, it doesn't count for much. It is good to speak the truth, but it is so much better to speak the truth in love. I realized I had shared the gospel with so many people in the flesh, but all they knew was the Bible beater. I could have just loved on them and what impact would that have had? God has called us to joy. We have the hope of eternal life. That's really what this album is all about.”

So if you like singer/songwriters who push you to think, Jimmy's your guy. He sounds a little like Marc Broussard and Jason Mraz. Plus, he's humble and serious about pursuing God. Which is something we absolutely support at ec.