I was sitting here the other night and listening to this music artist and found myself just almost mesmerized by his stuff. I couldn’t believe just how clean the music was, meaning no explicates, etc, yet so hauntingly real-to-life, just putting his raw character out there, his struggles, pains, hurts, emotions, and leaving it out there in such a creative way for the world to experience. The artist is “NF”, Nathan John Feurestein. This links to his Wikipedia article so you can learn more about him, his hard life, abusive childhood and more. This man is a picture of a Ragamuffin if I ever saw one! He lives out-loud through his hurts, habits, trials, and victories…
I wanted to highlight how in a world where RAP music gets such a bad rap, because of the people who abuse “Rhythm and Poetry” with bad language and all. He boasts of trying to make an impact for the Kingdom within the world of Rap, and he does this by keeping it real-to-HIS-life, and leaves it out there black and white…. I am excited as to what God will do in this young man’s life (I must be old… 🙂 ) and wanted to highlight a few of his songs and story going from the hurt and pain and through learning and beginning to experience the victory in Christ!
So, if you have some awesome headphone with base….take a peak at these next videos and enjoy. This is a picture of a Ragamuffin living out-loud…On his spiritual journey finding Jesus… Take time to reflect through this on your own life’s journey and where you began to where God is taking you now….through the trials and tribulations, God IS there with you…
I really see this next song below as a modern-day prayer of David in the Psalms. You can hear his heart crying out in this song, and its beautiful.
This song below, I really was moved by it, ‘Mansion’, it really covers many of the hurts we experience in our hearts, within our minds. You can be in the middle of a room filled with people, and yet still feel alone, as Rich Mullins once said. This song paints that picture below…Just something to reflect on our brokenness, our human nature, our wounds from the journey… This shows the battle that is waging war within us, we may look like we have a blank look on our faces, but inside our minds this war still rages!
This war of my own continues to rage within me, and so I think that is why this hits home so much for me, maybe you also… Bottom line is, it paints the picture of our heavy suitcases we carry, our brokenness within us we are reminded of, and our DESPERATE need for Christ, without Him, we would be lost here in this mansion forever…With Christ, you are FREE Indeed! With Christ you can use these experiences like Nathan did, to reach others going through the same thing….
People say all sorts of things of what they will do when they get to heaven, what they will say, who they will run to, mansions, rooms prepared for us… It’s all beautiful, but my take or my view is quite different…
For many years now, all I asked of God is just to be able to REST in HIS presence, I don’t picture a great mansion, but rather I tell God just to give me a little hut by the sea, and to be able to kneel at the feet of Jesus. For the mansion in my head, once and for all, to be silenced and demolished forever, all the pains of the past, bad choices that I made that affect me to this day, experiences of emotional abuse as a kid, seeing physical abuse as a kid, seeing my mom emotionally abused, living through a divorce as a kid, the battle within me to be done…No more tears, no more sin, no more struggle, finally resting at the feet of Jesus, probably weeping tears of JOY at His feet… That is my picture of the arrival. All the other stuff, awesome (I want to sing with the Saints with a voice like the Gaithers), but its all secondary to Jesus! The ultimate gift is for the mansion to be no more… I know there are others here who would give an Amen to that!
Are you ready to enter the mansion? If so, click below…
Another modern-day Psalm, prayer of Nathan if you want to say…. A man searching for answers along this journey through life…
This song below makes me smile, because its a song about being OKAY with being the Outcast! I quite often feel like the outcast, I am a ragamuffin, a broken man, a beggar at the seat of God’s mercy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Here’s to the outcasts! 🙂
Back to Nate, here is “Outcast…”
This song below is another turning point in Nathan’s life, you can clearly see God is at work through him and his music, a beautiful testimony. Here is another prayer of Nate…I’m going to coin the phrase… 🙂
I want to bring you home with a couple last videos. This is the most videos I have EVER posted in one message, but I feel the PICTURE through the lens of Nathan’s life is important, in order to help reflect on our own journey through the life and songs of our own hearts… This song below is entitled “Beautiful Addiction”… Another Psalm like prayer by Nate… This song sounds to be a turning point and a place of healing for him…
Leaving you with this final song below. This song inspired by my Sister who battled Leukemia, and will leave you with this… NF “I Got Jesus”!