Ever heard of "Valenhein's Day"? We hadn't either, but we love the story behind it. Learn this and more as the band, I Am They, shares their answers to our questions. Making its national debut in January 2015, the band was inspired by John 17 as you will learn below. The band believes that being disciples is just as important today as it was back then.
We are looking forward to spending time with I Am They in Feburary, but enjoy more of a glimpse now into band member Matt Hein.
Question: If you had your own cruise ship, what would you name it?
Answer: If I had my own cruise ship, I’d name it #blessed …or The M.S. Diet Destroyer.
Question: We cruise on Valentines’ Day. What’s the best Valentines’ Day you can remember?
Answer: My wife Tori and I (our last name being Hein), affectionately refer to the holiday as “Valenhein’s Day.” I always love singing the song I wrote and sang for her on our wedding day, called “Now More Than Ever.” Each year is sweeter, and our love is deeper - so the song always carries new meaning. Second place memory would have to be when my wife secretly special ordered $100 of my favorite beef jerky from our little hometown butcher shop on the other side of the country. I think I ate it in one sitting. But Love Like You Mean It is going to be the best V-day ever!
Question: What’s your favorite marriage advice?
Answer: My favorite marriage advice came from my Papa Barney. I was watching my grandparents as they danced at my sister in law’s wedding - 90 years old, married for 65 years - when the DJ asked them what their “secret” was ….Papa simply answered with a grin, “Love.” When I thought about that answer and look at what God has defined in His Word as love, I knew Papa definitely hit the nail on the head!
Question: What’s your favorite way to spend date night?
Answer: Tori and I usually will get a sitter for the kids, get in some comfy clothes, and go find a big juicy steak to eat. Then just go out somewhere peaceful to walk and talk with a hot something to drink in hand.
Question: What’s one thing you can’t travel without?
Answer: My iPhone (my access to Facetime with my family back home) and my itching brush.
Question: What’s the most beautiful place you’ve traveled? What made it so beautiful?
Answer: Santorini Island in Greece. My wife and I were there for the back half of our Honeymoon. It’s like walking through the pages of a calendar. Beautiful sunsets, great food, warm Mediterranean water, little white washed cave dwellings, donkey rides, etc. It was THE most romantic time in THE most romantic place with THE most romantic person on the planet, so yep, I don’t think it could have been any more beautiful!
Question: If audiences could take only one message away from you, what would you want it to be?
Answer: What was Jesus’ “one message?” If we can sum it up it was to love God first and to love others the way we love ourselves. I hope that’s what people see when they look at my life. Our band, I Am They, was named out of John chapter 17. Jesus is praying for his disciples - the church - throughout that chapter. He keeps referring to them as “They” as He speaks out the identity He desires for His bride. I Am They is a personal ownership of that identity for the church as a whole. It is our desire to be the “They” He referred to in that chapter. That our lives would speak louder than our songs, and that we as a church would unite as “They” to live and love the way Christ did.
Question: What’s one of your favorite verses? Why?
Answer: Matthew 6:33 has been my go-to verse for life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” There is an order to how we love and how we live. When we give God the honest first priority in our lives, all else will find it’s proper place.
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