You also are a Christian artist, when did you give your heart to the Lord?
Egypt: I had to have been in pre-school. I remember my Sunday school teacher gave this whole puppet show about how God loves me even though I may not know it, and I thought that if there is a person who could love me despite my oddities that we could be friends. We’ve been friends ever since ha.
What do you think of Jesus claim to be the way, truth and the life and no one can come to the Father but, through him?
Egypt: It’s true! I feel like even as older believers we have this struggle of trying to do things on our own. Kind of like praying for a question but then googling it anyway. We have the textbook understanding of Christ but are bent on creating and paving our own way to the throne. I’ve heard of people being concerned that their works we not good enough to enter into heaven. I’ve seen people so concerned about semantics that the relational part of Christianity is lost until all the Gospel becomes is a set of rules and a game of Simon Says. Christ came not to abolish the law but to uphold it true, but he also came so that we could have a relationship with the Father despite our shortcomings. Because of his sacrifice we no longer have to worry about being worthy. We aren’t! But the good news is that his sacrifice made it so that our worthiness doesn’t matter. I feel like even I sometimes view this verse as almost a threat. Almost like Christ saying “You had better get with the program!” when what it really is is an invitation. This is him saying “Come with me and I will show you my father and so much more”. It only is true, it’s also incredibly encouraging. With Christ nothing is out of reach and his grace is a gift. Freely given, already paid for, just waiting to be accepted.
Beautifully said….. Has you always had a Christian upbringing?
Egypt: Yes. My mom was always careful to insure the influence, but to make sure that both my sister and my faith was our choice. She taught as that even though she has taught us faith and facts, that a relationship with Christ was what we needed, and that it was not a walk she could take us on. She would be there for any questions, and Bible studies but if Christ is what we wanted, then we would need to make those choices. Honestly it’s the best thing she could have told us, especially with my current job. I’m in a lot of places where temptation abounds and faith can be met with opposition, but because my love for Christ goes deeper than a textbook definition it was easier to navigate those things.
What kind of messages do you share to your listeners?
Egypt: I have a line in my set where I say that I wanted you to know that
“God created you with as much and intent and purpose as the sun that keeps you warm in the morning. You are just as, and so much more important”.
I want my listeners to know three things. That there is at least one random pint-sized poet from Ohio that loves them no matter who they are or where they came from. The second is that I believe in a God who broke every rule of creation in making them. That they are one of a kind and so is their purpose. The third is that God does in fact love you. I don’t care about what you’ve done or the walls that you’ve built. He’s been pursuing you with the same intensity that He was before those walls were built and is waiting for that invitation to knock them down. Just let Him in.
Where do you see yourself in 12 months time?
Egypt: I purposely try not to plan that far or think of where I’d like to be. I can tell you from my viewpoint everything that I’d love to do, places I’d love to go, people I’d love to play with, but in the end what I want doesn’t really matter. When I gave my life to the Lord, I didn’t just give him my problems. I gave Him my dreams and my ambitions not to say “Here’s what I want! Now do it!”. I gave them to Him in the hopes that He will send me where I am needed, to people who need Him. If that includes some of my dreams that’s great, but I also have to ask myself how much of my aspirations and plans would benefit anyone other than me. In 12 months time, there’s a lot that I’d love to be doing, but what I would like more is to know that in whatever I am doing I am serving with all my heart for a God that has all of me.