Hey guys, it’s the two week anniversary of the release of the new CD How To Be Loved. I’d love for you to take a moment and share what song has God used in your life so far. It doesn’t have to be your favorite. You don’t even have to like it. But I hope you do. I’d just love for you to share what a song is meaning to you right now. Hopefully some of our community that haven’t heard the record yet can be encouraged just by your story. Thanks a lot. I look forward to reading them.
Todd
got cd and played few tracks this wk on my radio show- love the cd. seems i have LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR stuck in my head. the whole cd is powerful. so well written. each song needs to be pondered on.
I’ve listened to the new record every day since it was released. There are phrases from three songs that play over and over in my head. Sometimes I wake up with these words:
It’s hard for me to believe I could be lovely in your eyes, that I’m really the one you want. (from “The One You Want”)
Don’t you think there might be more to this life? (from “Don’t You Think”)
When my reproach He finally takes away . . . (from “There Is Coming A Day)
These lyrics really touch a wounded place in me that is in the process of healing. I look forward to that day when He heals my brokenness and completely takes it away from my body, heart, and mind.
I gave this CD to a jazz/blues musician I just met (Sara Renner) who shared her difficult journey. For her, and for everyone else who listens, this CD is an amazing gift from God and Todd.
Hey Todd,
I go the cd for my birthday the day it came out. I’ve listened several times, there are definitely a few favorites – Love Your Neighbor is very good. The other one about Peter casting his net, don’t know what the name of it is at this moment, is great – just had a lesson in church on that! Undefeatable rocks and rings so valid and true! Thanks for the hard work you put in to delivering some powerful songs that we can not only enjoy listening to, but applying to our everyday lives. When life gets me down, I know that I can believe that there is coming a day when it will all pass and I’ll be free from the things that this life holds me back from!
God Undefeatable. I love that song.
The song that really spoke to me is Love Your Neighbor. As Christian’s we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. this means so many things. Share Jesus with them, treat them with respect and love, help them, encourage etc…… Sometimes it is hard to not look at the circumstances and try to analyze them and figure them out. The first verse really jumped out at me, because I struggled with this for a long time. I used to avoid people who looked like they wanted money. Finally I got to the point through growth in Christ and reading so many verses that tell us to help those in need and love our neighbors, that I realized I just needed to give when an opportunity presented itself and I had cash to give and let God take care of the rest. I also started to pray for the person i gave to when I walked away from them that God would use the money to help them and show Him to them in some way.
I appreciate the hard truths that you tackle in your songs. The chorus really jumps out at me when I hear it. “Love your neighbor, doesn’t ask me if I fully understand Doesn’t ask if he’s a working kind of man Love your neighbor is a little about him Probably more about me But it’s a lot, a lot about You. ” I guess what it boils down to for me is I’m responsible to obey what God has called me to obey whether I understand it or not and God is responsible for the outcome!
Keep up the good work.
Love your neighbor really speaks the truth to me. I’ve actually thought those same thoughts and it is about Jesus. When he instructs us to do something we should not worry about any motives but his. Should be no doubts…..
I’ve been taking walks around my college campus listening to There’s Coming a Day so good!
I listen for different reasons at different times. At first listen, I was also planning worship for Sunday morning. God Undefeatable will be a nice addition to the Sunday rotation. Would you believe I have a congregation who love singing “In the Middle of Me”?
You’ve got to love M.O.M.!
God Undefeatable is such an amazing song. Thank you. So perfect for Easter morning for our sunrise service.
Today it is “The One You Want”. I heard your short testimony behind this & I can relate. I plan to share this with the ladies in jail ministry. It so goes with the message I have to speak into them. Pray for this ministry. Thanks.
Toss up for me between “God Undefeatable” and “Your Great Name. ”
Love the album, just listened through the whole thing and it’s great start to finish. I especially enjoy “Love Your Neighbor,” a song about a simple idea we sometimes forget, and “Loved,” another idea that should be foremost in our thoughts but, as humans, we tend to focus on our faults which God doesn’t care about. If we just think about these 2 songs and the message within, basically the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:34-40), it’s much easier to understand God’s plan. Thanks Todd. Hope you come to Southern California during your tour. God bless.
The Love Your Neighbor song gets to me each time I listen to it. It is the part that says It’s a little about him, a lot about me and more about You. I need to focus on God and what he wants me to do and nothing else.
Hey Todd,
Thanks for some great teaching at the unfashionable conference and giving me a better understanding of what it means to worship in truth. Asking God to tune my heart to sing His grace.
Blessings,
Rob
Todd,
Everyone that attended the Unfashionable conference at Barefoot Landing was encouraged and built up spiritually by your leadership through worship and teaching, especially me. I pray that God will continue to open doors for you to exalt Christ through your ministry.
In Christ,
Brad bird
Last week the words of The One You Want– “It’s hard for me to believe I could be lovely in Your eyes”….God used those to convict me of my unbelief in His forgiveness. I had messed up, said the wrong thing, and felt rotten. Somehow that song broke through. ~~Joanne from 90.9 the Vine/Southern IL
Okay, I’m doing this in installments, because it’s getting late, and I intend to spend some time reading about Wm. Wilberforce before calling it a night. 🙂
Thus commences the previously promised dissertation on Agnew’s
most recent album release, “How to Be Loved” which is more affectionately known
as: H2BL
Todd, right here in the beginning I’d like to apologize,
because I don’t possess the ability to fully express my appreciation for this
record.
I’ve used the descriptive “masterful” when describing Agnew’s
work before, so I should probably endeavor to come up with a different one for
this album, but masterful fits. The
music is beautifully composed, and the songs flow easily from one to another. The theme holds true to the end, ”how to be
loved”, and it goes further to connect being loved by God to sharing God’s love
with others. These concepts are fundamentally connected, so this is a natural
progression. Todd handles it well.
On the vocals: I’ve always loved Agnew’s voice, and it’s
easy to see how his vocals have progressed from his earliest works, like the
Blue CD, Breath of God, and One Thousand Songs, but wait, most readers won’t
know those independent records. So I’ll
move forward a bit and reference the record that brought his music to the big
stage of contemporary Christian music, Grace Like Rain. As good as this first labeled record is, the
vocals in H2BL far surpass this earlier work.
There’s a richness and smoothness that his earlier music only showed
hints of, okay, it does live in “The Martyr’s Song”. Yes, there’s still the power and grit that
has branded Agnew’s work throughout his professional career, but the maturity
in his vocals now is truly splendid. That’s the best I can do in describing the
vocals considering the limitations that come from being a musical layman.
BGVs: It is odd to listen to an Agnew record without Joy or
Candace. Just thought I’d add that.
The contents part of the songs, or the lyrics for those of
you who are more musically inclined, are gentler as well. I’d always thought that if God were to bring
a good woman into Todd’s life, she would smooth off some of those rough edges,
and it looks as though I may have been right.
God used those rough edges for a time, but He’ll use the smoother Agnew
just as effectively, only in a different way.
The One You Want
This song speaks to a journey Todd
seems to have been travelling for some time. The song tells of the struggles of
a Christian who never quite sees himself as God sees him, or as others see
him. This journey is fraught with
missteps and stumbles, as all of our journeys are. This is a love song, and it’s beautiful. What we sometimes fail to realize is that we
don’t have to be lovely, because God is.
What becomes “good” and “lovely” in us exists because of the love our
Savior already has for us.
Why would God choose us? Why would
He want us? Even more amazing is the
question, or the truth, that God desires to live in and with us. He longs for intimate relationship with His
chosen ones. He loves us, and He always
will. “I’m really the one you want”. If we could even for a moment grasp how
monumental that truth is, we would probably spend our lives reveling in the
wonder and awe of it. This is one of my favorites on the record.
Love Your Neighbor
Jesus instructs us to love our
neighbors in the Sermon on the Mount and in saying that it is the second
greatest commandment. Since this song is based specifically on a
biblical mandate, I’ve had to consider it from a theological perspective. What is the biblical response to the man
holding a sign looking for a handout?
How would Jesus like us to respond to the person who’s hurt us deeply,
even if she hasn’t repented? Todd doesn’t
actually answer these questions in the song, he allows the listener to explore
the concept.
“You want me to be a reflection of You,
and You are love”, so what does it mean to love our neighbor? How do we discern what love for others looks
like? We must look to Love itself to learn the answer to that one. Todd asks the listener to look inside at our
motives and our excuses, and he encourages us to look to Jesus to find the
answer. Wait; is that some brass in this
song? Whatever it is, it sounds good and it adds an interesting dimension to
the music.
God
Undefeatable
“Behold the King who conquered and
overcame our sin, behold our glorious victor, whose mercy knows no end”. Okay, I could quote these lyrics in their entirety,
but if you want that, just listen to the record. Almighty, Omnipotent, All Powerful,
Undefeatable. Our Jesus will never fail
or stumble, and He holds out His mighty hand to us. Wow!
I love this song!! It’s a glorious
anthem! Todd allows us to experience a taste
of the power of his vocals in this one, which is nice. Praise songs are my favorites, and this one
is definitely a praise song. “To waken
us to life, You came”. Yes He did. He sought us out, and He still seeks us.
This is such a humbling truth. This song
more than any other on this record draws me to the feet of Jesus. It’s beautiful!
To be continued………….
Letting
Go
This is another of my favorites on
this record. My spirit soars as I listen
to this one. “All to Jesus I surrender.
All to Him I freely give”. Isn’t this the
secret to a life with the Christ? We’re
invited into a relationship with Him. We’re invited to let go of every earthly
care and shackle and live in Him. Scripture calls us to die to ourselves (let
go of our lives) and give it all to Jesus.
We’re invited to taste and see (I know, that’s a different song) and
know beyond all doubt that the world holds nothing that even comes close to a
life in Jesus.
This is one of those songs that I
have to ask God to make real for me when I sing along with it, otherwise I
could be guilty of singing lies. “When I let go of my life, You give me Yours”,
what greater gift could there be? This
song also has the sweetest BGVs, which nicely complement the power Agnew
brings.
My newest favortie song is “Long Way Home” by Steven Curtis Chapman. The Lord has brought my family through a difficult few years and this song greatly ministered to me. I love that He uses all things for good and that I am on a journey with Him as well as with my hubby.
*favorite
Hi Todd,
I have your new CD but haven’t listened to it yet. I am saving it to give to my husband on his 51st birthday April 25th. I can’t wait! Anyway, I was just wondering, how was your time in SC? We wanted to go but were not able to be there. It was probably for the best anyway as we would have probably been some of the oldest ones there…lol! Well, I am sure (and as I just read below) it was a blessing for all who attended. I thank our Lord you were able to be an encouragement to them. And for letting you come visit our state again. Lord willing, we will get to come see you one day.
Love in Christ.
I just came in from a run. “Your Great Name” came on about midway through and I listened to it again and the rest of the way home. Amazing song–powerful words, perfect running rhythm! I always combine worship and running, praising and giving thanks as I run and sing. But this song brought me straight into the arms of my Heavenly Father. So there I was, running along the canal, arms raised, all lit up inside and out.
It comes to you like good wine … the first taste wasn’t to impressive but when it sunk in I really got the taste … and I like it very much.
Your music is a big blessing to me. I hope you will do a tour in The Netherlands one day.
It would really bless my nation.
It is my prayer that God will bless you in every area of your life and that your ministry will go across borders.
Love your neighbor speaks to my heart. I’ve just completed celebrate recovery dealing with issues of childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, depression, and food addiction. Forgiveness is imperative and I understood couldn’t do it until I understood it was about Him and not me. I’m giving my testimony at cr next friday and want to use your poignant word to express what I can’t. Hope you don’t mind.
Written on the Wall-Hello Todd ;), Show Me-Audrey Assad, For Love of You-Audrey Assad, Let Them Hear-Ginny Owens, Blueprint (EP), Get Up and Walk-Bethany Dillon, Deliver Me-Bethany Dillon, Courageous-Casting Crowns, At Your Feet-Casting Crowns, Still Here Waiting-Hello Again! ;), More-Metthew West, Revive Me-Jeremy Camp, Furious-Reveal, Still My Child-Mary Mary
Dear Todd,
to be released in Crossrythm in England, will go one for my brother to the CzechRepublic for his birthday. He is a big fan of yours. Thanks for your service toBridget from Decin