Toby Mac & Lecrae: A Good Way to Testify

For several months, GRaBS (a community of youth Christians where I spend plenty of my time there growing up spiritually) has been playing videos of a Christian hip-hop artist/song writer/music producer/recording artist; Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964) or better known as Toby Mac. Today, I met a friend who told me how one of Toby Mac's song inspiring him. The title of the song he mentioned is "FORGIVENESS". In this song, Toby Mac featuring Lecrae (a gospel rapper) present great messages to the whole world. Here we are, the lyrics:

FORGIVENESS

TOBY MAC FEAT LECRAE

'Cause we all make mistakes sometimes 

And we all step across that line  

But nothing's sweeter than the day we find, we find  

Its hanging over him like the clouds of Seattle 

And rainin' on his swag fallin' deeper in his saddle 

Its written on his face 

He don't have to speak a sound  

Somebody call the five-o for we gotta man down 

You can go and play it like you're all rock and roll 

But guilt does a job on each and every man's soul  

And when your head hits the pillow at the nightfall 

You can bet your life that its gonna be a fight ya'll 

'Cause we all make mistakes sometimes  

And we've all stepped across that line 

But nothing's sweeter than the day we find 

Forgiveness, forgiveness 

And we all stumble and we fall  

Bridges burn in the heat of it all 

But nothing's sweeter than the day, sweeter than the day we call out for forgiveness  

Forgiveness, we all need, we all need, we all need forgiveness 

Forgiveness, we all need, we all need  

Mr. Lecrae 

My momma told me what I would be in for 

If I kept all this anger inside of me pent up 

My heart been broken, my wounds been open  

And I don't know if I can hear I'm sorry being spoken 

But those forgiven much , should be quicker to give it 

And God forgave me for it all Jesus bled forgiveness 

So when the stones fly and they aimed at you  

Just say forgive they father they know not that they do 

Now you can go and play it like you're all rock and roll 

But guilt does a job on each and every man's soul  

And when your heat hits the pillow at the nightfall

You can bet your life that its gonna be a fight ya'll 

'Cause we all make mistakes sometimes 

And we've all stepped across that line  

But nothing's sweeter than the day we find 

Forgiveness, forgiveness  

And we all stumble and we fall  

Bridges burn in the heat of it all 

But nothing's sweeter than the day, sweeter than the day we call out for forgiveness  

No matter how LOST you are, you're not that far, you're NOT TOO FAR 

No matter how HURT you are, you're not that far, you're NOT TOO FAR

No matter how WRONG you are, you're not that far, you're NOT TOO FAR 

No matter who YOU are, you're not that far, you're NOT TOO FAR

From FORGIVENESS

Ask for FORGIVENESS 

'Cause we all make mistakes sometimes 

And we've all stepped across that line  

But nothing's sweeter than the day we find 

Forgiveness, forgiveness  

And we all stumble and we fall  

Bridges burn in the heat of it all

But nothing's sweeter than the day, sweeter than the day we call out for forgiveness 

Forgiveness  

We all need, we all need, all need forgiveness  

Forgiveness 

We all need, we all need 

No matter how lost you are, we all need forgiveness 

No matter how hurt you are, we all need forgiveness 

No matter how wrong you are, you're not that far, you're not too far 

No matter who you are, you're not too far, you're not too far  

We all need forgiveness, forgiveness  

We all need forgiveness, forgiveness  

We all need forgiveness, forgiveness  

We all need forgiveness, forgiveness

Toby Mac

*the yellow section is my favorite lyrics : )

FYI, Lecrae is the pioneer of gospel rapping.

Lecrae

Gospel rapping is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization (Christian mission work), edifying some members of the church and/or simply entertaining (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_hip_hop).
Guess what? Lecrae has taken over the top position on iTunes hip-hop/rap chart (September, 2012)! Read: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about-lecrae-the-christian-rapper-who-is-1-on-itunes/

He doesn't do typical rapping. But, he raps His faith in Jesus Christ.

"I think a lot of players have foundations in their faith... A lot of guys love hip-hop or rap music, but they tend not to have hip-hop or rap music that kind of co-signs their views on life. I think that's kind of what i provide them."

Lecrae Moore     

"Lecrae said it the best. He doesn't want to be a celebrity. He doesn't want to be a superstar. He just wants to be the middle man for tou to see God through him."

Bubba Watson     

Here is the video (Toby Mac feat Lecrae - Forgiveness) :

XLVII ALLONE (PANORAMIC)

XLVII ALLONE at Audio Visual Room 2013

My Best Class: XIIA

Boys and girls

Boys only

XLVII ALLONE

XLVII SMAK 1 BPK PENABUR BANDUNG ALLONE

Tea And Toast

Lucy Spraggan

Recently, I'm listening to some songs by Lucy Spraggan. Lucy is an English musician with her music mixture consists of folk, acoustic, and hip-hop. She tells great stories! Here is one of my fav <3 
Tea And Toast..

The first time I listened to this song I got nearly nothing. But when I listened again carefully, I found out that the song itself is a beautifully written sad-story. My eyes became glistening. I couldn't bear the emotion from the lyrics and catchy accompaniment. Well, you should listen it by yourself. Here is the lyrics:

Tea And Toast 

 Lucy Spraggan

Tom was born in 1942
With eyes of blue
And the doctors said that his birth was far too 

fast
His heart stopped twice
But yet he survived
As he took his first breathe
His mother took her last

And his father knew that he wasn't to blame
But he never quite looked at Tom the same after that
And he rarely spoke about her
But when he did
He said your mother used to say this

"When the skies are looking bad my dear
And your heart has lost all it's hope
After dawn there will be sunshine
And all the dust will go
Skies will clear my darling
I'll wake up with the one I love the most
And in the morning, I'll make you up
With some tea and toast"

When we met through a friend
Who introduced them
The first thing Tom said was would you like to dance?
They moved with each other and when the music got slower
He said don't let go of my hand
He said It's only polite if I ask you tonight
Would it be alright, if I could walk you home?
That night he told of of his birth
And said when it hurt
He thought about what his mother said about tea and toast

Two quick years went by
They were side by side
And without a plan, they conceived a little child
He said women I love you and this you know
But I only have enough for our food and clothes
But I love you and this baby
Until the day that I die
She said we'll take care of this little life
And we'll fall in love with her baby blue eyes
And we'll be alright from some advice that I know

She said I never got to meet her
But if I did, I'm sure your mother would have said this

"When the skies are looking bad my dear
And your heart has lost all it's hope
After dawn there will be sunshine
And all the dust will go
Skies will clear my darling
We'll show this baby all the love we know
And in the morning, I'll make you up
With some tea and toast"

Well he took those words
And he made them proud
He worked day after day
And hour after hour
So that they could buy a little house on the outside of town
The little girl grew up and so did they
They said that they loved each other everyday
And forty years later, that brings us to now

And as they're walking down the street
Her grip loosens on his hand
He puts his arm around her side as she falls to the ground
He hears her breathing and that's the only sound
Her body on the floor attracts a worried crowd
Tears rolls off his face as he says "don't let go, now"

And he's sitting by her bed in the hospital ward
Their daughter walks in with a family of her own
She says "dad, I don't know if she can hear you now
But there's one thing mum would want you to know"

When the skies are looking bad my dear
And your heart has lost all it's hope
After dawn there will be sunshine
And all the dust will go
Skies will clear my darling
Now it's time for you to let go
I go wake you up in the mornin' with some tea and toast 

 

 Here is the video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If got something from this song. Tell me by giving some comments below : )

The A Team

Lately, I'm just into this song. It is titled - The A Team. The original singer is Ed Sheeran, but personally I love the cover by Lucy Spraggan. The lyric is catchy for me, original, and not boring : )

The different point of view create different messages from both versions.
The original version simply tells about a prostitute's life struggled so much that she resorted to selling her body to earn money. She might not love it, but it provided an income in general for the young woman. Later on, the pain became too much for her to bear and she just wanted to end it all. She traded in her "dirty" money for drugs.
The cover version tells us about a friendless rich man who falls in love with the girl.

So, these are the lyrics:

The A Team (Original Version)  

Ed Sheeran

White lips, pale face -> she's not healthy
Breathing in snowflakes
Burnt lungs, sour taste
Light's gone, day's end
Struggling to pay rent -> NO HOME
Long nights, strange men

And they say
She's in the Class A Team -> refers to a drug; cocaine or heroine   
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen -> think about this: she's now probably around 28 y.o.
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting -> this tells us that she's tired of life
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
Cause we're just under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams -> consume a couple grams of cocaine
And she don't want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland -> under drug's effects
Or sells love to another man -> sadly, she does prostitution : (
It's too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly

Ripped gloves, raincoat
Tried to swim and stay afloat -> she tried to stay alive in those hard situations
Dry house, wet clothes
Loose change, bank notes -> she's got no money
Weary-eyed, dry throat -> she's tired, really tired of economical problems and her needs
Call girl, no phone

And they say
She's in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
Cause we're just under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams
And she don't want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland
Or sells love to another man
It's too cold outside
For angels to fly
An angel will die
Covered in white
Closed eye -> she can do nothing now
And hoping for a better life -> all she can do is hoping
This time, we'll fade out tonight
Straight down the line

And they say
She's in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
They scream
The worst things in life come free to us
And we're all under the upper hand
Go mad for a couple grams
And we don't want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe we fly to the Motherland
Or sell love to another man
It's too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly
To fly, fly
For angels to fly, to fly, to fly
Or angels to die -> she has to fight or die...

The A Team (Cover Version)

Lucy Spraggan

Big man, big spend -> he is quite successful financially
Works hard, days end
Nice car, no friends -> he is a loner

Sun down, Clean shirt
New night, Same curb
One girl, That's her -> he met a girl; the prostitute

They say she's in the class A-team
She says to him please save me
But her mind changes daily
He said baby, I could be your safety -> the man offered protection to the girl
And you could be my lady -> even more he asked her to be his lady
And I've been thinking lately
The best things in life will come free to us

'Cause we're all under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams
You don't want to go outside, tonight

Cause in my car we can drive to another land
When, I can know I'm you're only man
It's too cold outside for my angel to fly

Window down, Lean in
Warm air, Breathing
Locks up, Speaking -> the girl is in the man's house; under his protection as he promised

She smiles, He blinks
Times up, Heart sinks
'Come home?', He thinks

One kiss, One wish
No life like this -> this life probably much better to the woman
Don't go, be his -> the woman was uncertain about what she was experiencing

They say she's in the class A-team
She says to him please save me
But her mind changes daily
He said baby, I could be your safety
And you could be my lady
And I've been thinking lately
The best things in life will come free to us

'Cause we're all under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams
And you don't want to go outside, tonight

Cause in my car we can drive to another land
AND I can know I'm you're only man -> the man knows that the woman has no one outside his house
It's too cold outside for my angel to fly

My angel to fly 

 So, my conclusion from both versions is:

" Life is tough to people who are not tough enough on themselves. So, don't give up on life easily! There's a lot of things we can fight for. Unfortunately, most of us haven't realized them yet.They haven't found their passion and vision. So, they waste their time. Worst, their future. "  

Fingers on The Keyboard

After such a long time not posting anything. Here I return! Sekarang gw sudah resmi lulus dari SMAK 1 BPK PENABUR Bandung! Yeah \m/ SANGAT BERSYUKUR, di terima di universitas impian di jurusan impian, ITB Fakultas Teknik Sipil dan Lingkungan! Banyak banget hal yang ingin gw bagikan lewat blog gw ini after this young time.

Sekarang my fingers are about to tell you my points of high school.

Gw bilang, 3 tahun itu waktu yang singkat untuk dirasakan, tapi terlalu berharga untuk dilewatkan. 3 tahun gw lewati dengan:

• Aktif di OSIS selama gw hitung 26 bulan
• Jadi ketua OSIS dan wakil ketua PROM NITE LUX
• Be the part of the most unified generation (generasi XLVII; ALLONE)
• Mengenal lebih dalam God of all gods, King above all kings, JESUS CHRIST!
• Being single <3 (it's a great choice guys! believe me, you are 3 times more productive when you are single).
• Kenalan dengan 251 anak angkatan XLVII SMAK 1 BPK PENABUR yang keren-keren!
• Cinta masa muda (tapi tetep tau prioritas dan komunitas)
• Kelas ter-epic XIIA.
• Mengalami masa di mana 251 anak dilawat Tuhan Yesus di kebaktian tanpa batasan liturgi di ruang AVA sekolah : )
• 4 hari bareng anak-anak OSIS Bandung di gembleng di SECAPA AD, Hegarmanah, Bandung. 
  
  • etc. etc.. etc...