Why TobyMac?


Heart Of The Artist

There’s never been another Team interlinc Artist like TobyMac. He’s stayed close to the Lord through significant loss. What he has learned from those experiences has been foundational to his amazing student-friendly songs, all with the solid eternity-focused worldview your students desperately need. Don’t miss using his music in your ministry.

TobyMac-Crowder Tour Starts January 23!  Time To Load Up The Church Van!  Click For A Concert Near You!

Kids love music and sports… from his annual FCA Golf Camp to music that resonates with “screenagers,” Toby has done what only a couple of artists have ever done: stay both musically and spiritually relevant to the kids in your group! The past couple of years walking through Truett’s death have been the most difficult of the McKeehan’s family life. They have turned to the Lord and expressed that in songs from the heart.

01/08/20  From Toby:

“21 Years” is a song I wrote about the recent passing of my firstborn son, Truett Foster McKeehan. I loved him with all my heart. Until something in life hits you this hard, you never know how you will handle it. I am thankful that I have been surrounded by love, starting with God’s, and extending to the community near and far that have walked with us and carried us every day.

Writing this song felt like an honest confession of the questions, pain, anger, doubt, mercy, and promise that describes the journey I’m probably only beginning. The rest is yet to come.

One thing I know is that I am not alone. God didn’t promise us a life of no pain or even tragic death, but He did promise He would never leave us or forsake us. I’m holding dearly to that promise for my son as well as myself.

10/29/19 Hundreds of students, friends, and family lead Truett’s funeral procession

“I wrote this one for my boy…lift your head, my son, to where your help comes from.”
Don’t miss doing the “Scars” Meeting Guide with your group.

07/11/19 US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis was rocking when The Gathering event brought 22,000 Lutheran Missouri Synod young people and their leaders together. Get the complete setlist and share with your students.

(Excerpt from The Elements Meeting Guide) Life can be difficult. We all face challenges and trials. God has not promised that we will escape all of them, but He has promised to walk with us in the midst of them. These trials and challenges come from a world where we are dealt pressures and circumstances beyond our personal control. God also reminds us through the Bible and His works He is in control. In this lesson students will discover God’s unlimited power and ability to care for our every need as we face the outside forces impacting us. 
 
 

The relationship between Tobymac and interl’inc goes back a long way – almost twenty years. In fact, you could call it a friendship, a partnership in using music to minister to high school kids. Tobymac has always been on the leading edge of Christian music. His life backs up the message of his music. He has a heart for youth leaders and a passion for young people. Here is an excerpt from a conversation that interl’inc President Allen Weed and Tobymac had.


AW: What do you wish a youth worker would do in the two weeks before taking his or her group to one of your concerts?
TM: I encourage them to look for something more than just the party. Of course we are going to have a party and we are going to drop the joy bomb, but there is something more there – if you look for it you will find it. There is something deeper, whether it’s a deeper pursuit of happiness, or bringing a friend that has never heard about that hope they can have in Christ. I love when people bring their friends because they may fall in love with the music and that may create an opportunity for God to do something really cool.

AW: What do you hope kids will walk out the back door with at end of your concert?
TM: I hope that people walk out of the concert not with Tobymac’s name on their lips but with Jesus’ name on their lips. I hope that they decide to pursue Christ more passionately, to love people more intently, and to look for a vision in their life that they can pursue.

AW: What do you have in mind when you sing, “If you gotta start somewhere, why not here? If you gotta start sometime, why not now?”
TM: The reason I say, “If you gotta to start somewhere why not here?” and “Tonight’s the night” is because (for me) it starts tonight. I have always believed there’s no better time to change than right now. I know music can’t change the world, but I do believe that God chooses to use music. A concert experience – that’s where everything goes down for me. That’s where everything happens. That’s where I present what God is putting on my heart. That’s also my moment to flex the creative gifts God has given me. I look at things in light of tonight. What’s going to happen tonight at the concert?

How many times have I decided to do something, to walk more deeply and to be a better man? How many times have I slipped in that and let it go for a season and stopped trying? Then it’s like that old school analogy: I had to get back on the horse. There’s something powerful about saying, “I’m starting tonight. Everything is changing tonight.” (In my concert I want to tell people), “You can choose to leave this night the same, or you can decide to leave this concert different.” My hope is that people always leave different.

AW: When you guys get back on the bus after a concert, what makes you say, “That was AWESOME!”

TM: We look for connection, energy, the intensity of the crowd, and the crowd singing lyrics back to us. All of that means something, but at the end of the day all of us look for a connection. Diverse City is a band that is looking to connect with people’s lives. Sometimes it is someone looking at you while you are playing. Sometimes they are weeping, sometimes they are full of joy, sometimes they are singing along with you. That connection is what moves us. That is when we know that our music is resonating with people’s lives. It’s more than just entertainment.

Sure we entertain – I want our concert to be bangin’, and I want it to compete with any concert out there. I want it to be completely entertaining, but the connection with lives is what we are looking for. We all get it a little differently, sometimes we are looking for someone that we can see is hurting, and to lock eyes and to speak into their soul through the way we play an instrument. Other guys are focused on someone that is full of joy. We are the body of Christ, so we all do it a little differently. But, I can say the one word we are looking for is “connection.”

AW: You have been at this for a while. What do you do to maintain your energy?
TM: Having physical energy comes from staying physically fit. I continue to play basketball, run marathons, and stay in the game as far as sports go. Also, the people around me dictate my energy level. Some people drain you, and some people build you up and energize you. I look for that kind of (energizing) people in my life. The ultimate thing that gives me vision is God’s Word. When I open up God’s Word, or a book that explains God’s Word, when I hold my life up to those inspiring thoughts, I am energized.

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The Linc : Humility
The Linc : Freedom ; in Christ
The Linc : God's Love
The Linc : Brokenness
The Linc: Grace
The Linc : Hope in God
The Linc : The Church
The Linc: Forgiveness
The Linc: Joy
The Linc : Optimism
The Linc : Grief ; Comfort In
The Linc : Death
The Linc : God's Faithfulness
The Linc : Faith
The Linc : God's Presence
The Linc : Trusting God
The Linc : Doubt
The Linc: Hope
The Linc: Purpose/Meaning
The Linc :God's Goodness
The Linc : Perspective
The Linc : Sin ; Confessions Of
The Linc : Repentance
The Linc: Faith/Assurance
The Linc Difficulties ; Hope Within
The Linc : God's Sovereignty
The Linc : God's Plan
The Linc : God's Workmanship
The Linc : Prayer ; Answered
The Linc : God's Protection
The Linc : God's Forgiveness
The Linc : Family
The Linc : Grief
The Linc : God's Care
The Linc : Healing
The Linc : God's Sufficiency
The Linc : Racism
The Linc: Social Action
The Linc: Unity
The Linc : Violence
The Linc: Perserverance
The Linc: Trust
The Linc : Evangelism ; Witnessing
The Linc : Love
The Linc : God's Promise
The Linc : Love ; Sacrificial
The Linc : Surrender ; Submission to Christ
The Linc : Eternity
The Linc : Difficulties ; Comfort In
The Linc: Integrity
The Linc : Glorifying God
The Linc : The Power of Words
The Linc : Self-Discipline
The Linc : Longing For Heaven
The Linc : Evangelism God's Representatives
The Linc : Love For God
The Linc: Devotion

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