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THE CHART-TOPPING CHRISTIAN ARTIST AND HIS BAND DIVERSE CITY PLAY PATRIOT CENTER SATURDAY NIGHT

Contemporary Christian star Toby Mac plays the Patriot Center Saturday

Date published: 11/19/2009

BY DAVE SMALLEY

HE HAS BEEN named "one of the 50 most influential evangelical leaders in America" by Christianity Today, but it's not likely he'll ever be compared to the Rev. Billy Graham. He's won Grammy Awards and has gold records on the wall, but it would be surprising to see him at a party with Madonna or Kanye.

So who is Toby Mac, exactly? As one of his songs, "I'm for You," puts it, he's whoever God wants him to be:

"Whatever I gotta be--I'll be for you."

And this Virginia boy (he went to high school in Fairfax and grammar school in Annandale) is quick to credit others for his multifaceted success. God gets the Big Picture credit, of course, including being surrounded with good people to keep him grounded amid the hoopla of hip-hop/rock stardom.

"That blended life of touring, and recording and leading a band, and having a family," he told Weekender, "it's interesting. But I have some amazing people around me and I have to credit them, greatly. And they are all people that help me along the way--help me to keep my head straight and, hopefully, my heart straight, as much as possible."

Mac, who comes to the Patriot Center on Saturday, admits that life in general, and the music life in particular, are fraught with temptations. In "Lose My Soul," a song where the honesty verges on painful, he talks about the struggles of being a good husband and father--and adds: "I pray that I'm an artist who rises above/ the road that is wide and filled with self love / I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul."

"I think that, again, it's who you put around you--who God puts around you--who you get to walk through life with," he said on keeping one's faith front and center. "It's not even a question for my friends. Those temptations are not even relevant. They don't even enter our sphere, or our conversation. It's not really an option. I think if you have a different set of people around you--if you're not blessed to have God's word as a mirror in your life every day--yeah, it would be easy" to get derailed.

What: Toby Mac's Winter Wonder Slam, featuring Toby Mac and Diverse City, Relient K, B. Reith and Stephanie Smith Where: Patriot Center, George Mason University, Fairfax When: Saturday, 7 p.m. Cost: Tickets range from $25-$50; $20 tickets for groups of 10 or more. Info: 800/861-0850; eventtickets.net Special note: This is a Toys for Tots benefit concert, in conjunction with the Marine Corps. Fans are encouraged to bring an unwrapped new toy to the show; Marines will be on hand to collect them and distribute them to economically disadvantaged children during the Christmas season.

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Date published: 11/19/2009