See what Jonny had to say about the song in this behind the scenes video interview, and scroll down to get it for free!

This could be your moment
This could be your time
This could be the first day of the rest of your life
You know love wants to find you
So why do you want to hide?
A better life is waiting out there on the other side
So come on cross the line

-Jonny Diaz, “Cross The Line”

Preview the rest of the album & get your copy

Click here to check it out now!

Register to Download (U.S. Only)

I recently found a wonderful recipe for a really healthy strawberry lemonade smoothie packed with Kale, coconut oil, fruit and other delicious ingredients. Kale is filled with amazing vitamins and nutrients. This is the best way to trick your body into getting some good nutrition!

You can find the link to our pinboard with this delicious recipe here.

The fact that this has strawberries makes it the perfect Valentine’s Day treat!!

CONTEST: Tell us your favorite thing to eat on Valentine’s Day for a chance to win a CD Collection from an artist of your choice!! Better yet, pin a favorite valentine’s recipe on Pinterest and tag us @freeccm!

I came in wanting to do stuff for them, to take care of them, and my wife was asking me if I could receive from them, be loved by them. I really had to say, ‘I have no idea what you’re taking about.’ Then I finally translated that, and realized, ‘Oh, God, I see what You’re doing! I have to learn to receive that same love from You.’

During our visit with Todd he also gave us a deeper look behind some of his favorite songs off the album, and we’re looking forward to sharing those with you over the next several weeks. Check out this week’s song called “The One You Want.”

This song is a very personal song. It’s about feeling like I’m not worthy of God loving me, but he does. It’s this idea that if Jesus is a bridegroom, then by definition I am a bride; and that there is something lovely in me that he loves and is drawn to, and that he wants a relationship with me. That doesn’t mean that I have this huge self-worth or anything like that. It just means that I am created, and I am redeemed. And then no matter how I feel about it, I’m still the one he loves. - Todd Agnew

Watch this video message from Phil to learn more about it-

Let me just say that if you haven’t heard Phil play live, then you are REALLY missing out! Here’s a look at a few songs from Phil’s first “Singalong” to give you an idea of what you have to look forward to Also, if you haven’t had the chance to download that album, be sure to head over to iTunes to go check it out!

FreeCCM is now on Pinterest and is going to be posting a lot of the things we have on our site as well as other things we find that we like! Be on the lookout for contests using Pinterest. If you are not a Pinterest member and would like to become one, email info@freeccm.com, and we will send you an invite!

My favorite quote of the day that I found on Pinterest is:

Nothing great has been and nothing great can be accomplished without passion. – G.W.F. Hegel

That is so true!

What is your favorite quote? Let us know if you found it on Pinterest!

The Afters’ Josh Havens Tells The Story Behind The New Single, “I Am Yours”

God is the only answer that you will ever find that is fulfilling, and that covers everything. No matter how much you look in life, no matter how confused we get, to know that we belong to the God who created everything is such a comforting thought. Because of that we can face anything. -Josh Havens, The Afters

Click here to preview the rest of the album & get your copy!

Featuring “Light Up The Sky” and “Lift Me Up“

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CHIPS. If I was being completely honest with you about my true feelings for kale, I would have to admit that I don’t really like the taste of it by itself. It’s a leafy green that you can eat like salad if you like, but I have really needed some more tasty alternatives for working it into my diet. As Nicki suggested last week, it is the perfect veggie to throw into a soup or smoothie (which I love) but my favorite use of kale so far would have to be the wonderful chips that they make. I don’t know about you, but I think snacky foods are sometimes the hardest to find healthy options for. I mean, I’ve never met someone who didn’t like chips! So here’s a great alternative to get your chip fix, but without all of that bad stuff that chips normally bring with them.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick kale stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner.
• Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
• Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

*You might also try adding garlic or parmesan cheese to enhance the tastiness

Let us know how they turn out for you, and if you have any other good kale recipes!

Laura

I remember getting the idea for this song, “Miracle” when I was driving to jury duty. It was raining, and I was thinking, “What is the good news in relation to?” We had some friends who were going through a really difficult divorce, and I wondered about the good news of that particular circumstance of a couple falling apart.

Then I thought, “The good news of the miracle of love and God’s work in our hearts is that we literally can see things that we can’t see, heal in ways that we couldn’t heal, and we know things that we could not have known on our own. I’ve experienced this in so many ways in my life, especially in my marriage, where I’m able to feel feelings that I thought wouldn’t be possible again. But then I go before the Lord and ask, “Help me feel things that I can’t feel, help me understand things that I can’t understand,” and I’m always amazed at how short of a time it actually takes before I’m feeling that love and engaging again. But, not only just to this level of survival, but thriving in this place of wonder at what God has done in my heart.

In 2008, The Afters released a song called Myspace Girl that chronicled the story of how their former bass player met his wife! They made a pretty fun video to go along with it. As a tribute to this song, we are giving away a T-shirt from when the song came out and a full The Afters discography!

In order to be entered to win, leave a comment answering the following question:

What is your favorite social network? Go ahead and tell us why!

a. Myspace

b. Twitter

c. Facebook

d.Pinterest

e. Other

f. I don’t use social networks!

Enjoy this funny video

A contest winner has been chosen! Congratulations to Harold, our winner!

Hey everyone! One of our goals here at FreeCCM is to introduce readers to new music, and we know there is so much music out there that we don’t know about! From time to time, we receive submissions from artists, but we have never had a space to highlight those until now!

If you or someone you know is a new Christian artist or aspiring Christian artist, we would love for you to submit your music. You could potentially be featured as an artist of the month. We would feature a free download of your music and promote you to our fans! This is a great way to get the word about your music out to Christian music listeners! There is no guarantee that you will be featured, but we will review all submissions.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Email info@freeccm.com with the subject “Artist Spotlight Submission”

2. Attach an mp3 of a song or a link to somewhere we can listen to your music.

3. Be sure to include links to anything that will give us a better idea of who you are: website, facebook fan page, videos, bios, etc.

Feel free to email with any questions! We can’t wait to hear all of your music!