Driving Notes

Here’s this week’s Praise Thursday devotional from Elevation Worship!

We’ve all made empty promises. Despite our best efforts, we’re still human. And as humans, there are times when things are simply out of our control. Thankfully, this never happens with God. Since the beginning of time, He’s not just been a God who makes promises. He’s a God who keeps them. It’s who He is. What He speaks, happens.

Even before the beginning of time, He spoke into the nothingness, and time, space, and matter were brought into existence. He called forth light, and it broke out of the darkness. He breathed into the dust of the earth, and brought forth new life. And His promise keeping doesn’t stop with creation. God has continued making and keeping promises.

God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations — and it happened.
God promised David he would one day be king of Israel — and he was.
God promised that one day a King of Kings would be born in Bethlehem — and Jesus’ birth fulfilled that promise and over 350 other promises made about Him.

Today, God continues to make promises to His people, and every promise that’s been made by God is “yes” in Christ. But just because God makes and keeps His promises doesn’t mean we will always experience their fullness in our lives. In order to inherit the promises of God, we have a responsibility to exercise our faith.

Even when our circumstances say otherwise. Even when our situations seem out of control. Even when our disbelief seems firmer than our faith, we must choose faith. Nothing can stop it. He is the God of the promise.

2nd Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Thanks for listening!
– Lilly and Hannah

Here’s what’s new for Artist Newsday Tuesday!

Crowder’s new album “I know a Ghost” is set for release this November 9th!
This spooky release will contain a TON of new music including the title track “I know a Ghost”, “Crushing Snakes” and “Ghost”!

CASTING CROWNS NEW ALBUM COMING NOV 16!
It’s called “Only Jesus,” Talking about the new album theme and idea behind it, Casting Crowns’ front man Mark Hall asks “What does it look like when Jesus is our only answer?” The album include the title track “Only Jesus” as well as “The Bridge”, “The Hand of a Potter” and More.

Josh Wilson is also dropping a new EP on Friday, it’s called “Don’t Look Back”.
It features 5 songs, including the already popular “Dream Small” and other tracks such as “Borrow” and “OK”.

Sarah Reeves is New Release Today’s artist of the month! Our
“My inner artist has been battling with stereotypical artist expectations for years,” Reeves reveals. “I now know who I am and am confident in who God created me to be.”

Our Song Poetry song lyrics today were…
“Mty strength is in your name, for you alone can save.
You will deliver me, Yours is the victory.”
That’s Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) from Chris Tomlin!
Congrats to our winner Beth from Howard!

Thanks for listening!
– Lilly and Todd

Thanks for hanging out with us for this new month countdown!
Here’s what it looked like!
10. Grace Got You – MercyMe
9. Counting Every Blessing – Rend Collective
8. Do it Again – Elevation Worship
7. Everything – TobyMac
6. Known – Tauren Wells
5. Even Then – Micah Tyler
4. Joy – For King and Country
3. Confidence – Sanctus Real
2. Who You Say I am – Hillsong Worship
1. You Say – Lauren Daigle

We had new music today as well!
Check out “Well Done” from The Afters
and “Red Letters” from Crowder!

Thanks for listening!
– Lilly and Joe

Today on the Afternoon Drive, we continued our series for Praise Thursday called “Hallelujah Here Below”, written by the members of Elevation Worship.

Here’s today’s devotional!

There’s something funny about having guests over. Most of us clean our houses from top to bottom until it looks like a model home: perfect and unused. This is exactly what we’re doing at my house right now. We’re finally pretty moved in, and I’m throwing a party this weekend, so we’ve spent days cleaning it and trying to get it ready for its first round of guests. While that might be fine to do for parties, sometimes we try to do the same thing with our worship.

We try so hard to get everything in order before we have God over. We spend our time dusting off our shelves and hiding what we don’t want Him to see. Making sure everything is in tip-top shape, clean, and unused. We think that once our place is perfect, then it’s time to worship Him and invite Him in. But this, however is far from the case, and even though it’s not the case, we still try to do this in our lives to get into a good place with God.

We feel that if we get the promotion, fix up our finances, get our kids to do what we say, and repair our relationships, then we’ll finally be able to get into a good place with God. Our lives are messy — and it’s easy to feel like God can’t do anything with a mess. But in Exodus 20:25, God tells His people that, “If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.”

“Dressed stones” meant stones that were cut and shined — stones that were nearly perfect. God actually asked for imperfection. He could have told His people to worship Him with an altar of perfect, solid gold bricks. Instead, He asked for undressed stones.

Even if our altar is made of imperfect stones, God still delights in our offering. Struggling, hurting, broken — it’s what He asked for. He is knocking at the door of your home. Let Him in, mess and all.

Exodus 20:25
“And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.”

Our prayer for today:
“Lord, I thank you that you still delight in our offerings even when our alters are made of imperfect stones. Our lives our messy, God, and I know that we often think that You can’t do anything with our messes; that we need to clean up our act before we come to the altar. But I thank you that this isn’t the case. You’re not asking us to worship you from an altar of perfect, solid gold bricks. You ask for undressed stones. Imperfections and all. We don’t have to get everything in order before we come to you. You don’t want perfection from our worship, you just want our worship. Give us the strength to come to you and worship you even when our lives are messy, undressed stones and all. You’re knocking at our doors. Give us the strength to let You in.”

Amen.”

Thanks for listening!
– Hannah and Lilly

Today Todd and I tackled the Who Knew Wednesday, the Halloween Edition – In 45 minutes!

Candy Fun Facts

•  If Brach’s laid out the candy corn kernels it sells each year end to end, they would wrap around the Earth 4.25 times.
• Why is bubblegum pink? Well, when it was invented, pink was the only food dye on hand.
• Milky Way bars weren’t named after their home galaxy. The name comes from a type of malted milkshake that was popular in the early 1920s.
• The Charleston Chew takes its name from the Charleston, a popular early-20th-century dance.
• What are Ohio’s favorite candies? M&M’s take first place in our state, followed by Blow-Pops and Starburst.

Trick or Treat Safety Tips

• Mt. Vernon’s Trick or Treating is tonight from 5:30-7:00!
• If you’ll be out on the Trick or Treat trail this evening, we’ve got some tips for you to make sure you stay safe!
• Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility.
•  A parent or responsible adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.
•  If older children are going alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home.
•  A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats.
• When the kids get back from Trick or Treating, be sure to closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items.

500th Anniversary of the Reformation

•  In 1517, on October 31st, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the All Saints church in Wittenberg, Germany.
• Luther wrote these 95 Theses as a response, disputing the Catholic churches use of indulgences, sparking the Reformation.

A quick history of the Reformation…

•  It was a religious movement which challenged the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther held that salvation came by grace through faith alone, not by good works or payment. The Reformation also led to the creation of Protestant churches separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

Fun things about this year…

•  Today is the 500th anniversary of Luther’s 95 Theses!
• The center of Wittenberg has been transformed to recreate the medieval era in which Luther lived, with performances taking place throughout the day.
• In 2015, a commemorative Martin Luther figurine from Playmobil became the German company’s fastest-selling product ever. It took just 72 hours for the initial run of 34,000 to sell out, leading the company to rush another batch into production. A spokesperson labeled the demand a “big mystery.”

Caramel Apple Day 

• Caramel Apple Day is one of a collection of Candy themed holidays sponsored by the National Confectioner’s Association. Caramel apples have a long and tasty history of being created from some of the seasons’ favorite treats.
• Granny Smith apples are by far the most popular apple used in these confections, the tart-tangy flavor playing an amazing counterpart to the sweetness of the caramel. The grainy-texture and sweeter flavors of other apples just don’t quite bring the flavor palette together.
• Perfect Caramel Apple recipe
• A party favorite… Caramel apple dip. Halloween fondue if you will.
• Trisha Yearwood’s Cookies and Cream twist on the caramel classic… 

Thank you so much for tuning into the Bite Size Afternoon Drive today and for checking out our blog!

Hannah Radke

Thanks for hanging out with us today on the Afternoon Drive as we shared some great music and news about our favorite artists, all in the midst of playing some games!

Chris Tomlin announced his “Holy Roar” tour with friends Tauren Wells and Pat Barrett. Kicks off in Washington on March 3^rd, 2019. “The ‘Holy Roar Tour’ is the experience and sound of worship,” says Chris. “It is so much more than just another night of songs. It’s an encounter with the presence of the living God. I pray it ignites a fire in the hearts of the people. I do believe this tour and message will have a lasting impact long after the curtain falls.”

Lauren Daigle made an appearance on the Ellen Show if you didn’t know! “So much love for these people… so many others not in this photo that worked hard all day to make @theellenshow happen! Love all you guys so much! Couldn’t do this without you,” Lauren shared to social media alongside a photo with her band after the performance.
Check out the video of the performance as she slays the stage with her new song “Still Rolling Stones” here!

Well it was Christmas in October last Friday, as we gained new Christmas albums from several artists! Those artists include Matt Maher’s “The Advent of Christmas” album, Hannah Kerr’s “Christmas Eve in Bethlehem” album, and CeCe Winans “Something’s Happening: A Christmas Album”.

Our friends the Afters are releasing new music this Friday! The album is called “The Beginning and Everything After” The 12 track best of project celebrates the triumphs, including chart-topping albums and singles, TV placements and theme songs, an MTVU Award, GMA Dove Awards and other accolades. The album features some of their already popular songs like “Battles” and “Broken Hallelujah”, with 2 new tracks called “Fear No More” and the single “Well Done.”

Rascal Flatts member Jay DeMarcus has launched his own Christian music label, Red Street Records. The first two signees to the label were also announced today: new artist Lauren James, a worship leader at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, and iconic CCM group Avalon. Jay said: “Christian music was such a huge foundation for me, even as a kid growing up. Before there was ever a Rascal Flatts, I started out in Christian music with East to West, and I’ve always felt like every time I would come back into the Christian music genre and produce records, I always felt like I was coming back home.”

Congratulations to our winners today for Game Time Tuesday!
Sawyer from Belleville won Song Poetry, and Ruthlynn from Fredericktown for winning Name that Tune today!

Our Song Poetry lyrics today were…
“Tonight is beautiful, it’s got my mind on you.
and everywhere I turn is a reminder”.
That’s TobyMac with “Everything”.

And our Name that Tune song was Impossible from Sidewalk Prophets!