STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS
This Moment In Time
Composed January, 2007
I am a night owl and am often awake long after midnight. One particular winter night I was up late and knew I had an early meeting the next morning. As I was laying in bed, the words of the old hymn And Can It Be came to mind. I began to meditate on the awesomeness of God, His intimate knowledge of me (especially the fact that He knows me by name), and the amazing price He paid for my salvation. I then began to form the words and melody of the chorus of a new song. By this time it was late, the lights were out and I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep to be energized for my early meeting the next day. God clearly had other plans. I turned on the light, grabbed my notebook and guitar, and composed This Moment in Time.
Quiet Place
Composed June, 2004
Some years ago, I got a call from my aunt who was playing a road-trip game with her family trying thinking of a song title for each letter of the alphabet. She called because they had trouble thinking of songs that started with the letters Q and Z. I told them I knew a song called Zephaniah 3:17 which is of course based on scripture.
I recalled this conversation as I was driving home from my summer camp counselor job and I tried to think of a song that started with a letter Q. I couldn’t. I then began to think of songs I could write that I could title starting with Q. The first title that came to my mind was ‘Quiet Place’. It seems silly to say that my motivation to write this song came from a desire to write a song that started with the letter Q, but after I had the title, God gave me the words and melodies that completed this song. I like this song because of it’s singability and simplicity: God is here with us in all circumstances.
My Heart Is His
Composed December 31, 2001
When I was a kid, one of my favorite campfire songs was Father I Adore You. I used to like singing it in a round because I could carry my own part and enjoyed the harmonies the different parts created. I was thinking about this song on New Year’s Eve 2001 and thought it would be cool to write a song that could be sung in this way. All of a sudden, God gave me the words and melodies to My Heart Is His. I created three parts that could all be sung simultaneously, and if you play the chords you’ll notice that the same chords I use for this song can be used for Father I Adore You.
That night I went to a New Year’s party and found two other people to sing the song with me. I loved the way it sounded and so did they. It was always my intention to teach this song in a round, but when I did it in worship at both Linworth and Heritage, I eliminated it for simplicity’s sake. Speaking of simplicity, I love the lyrics to this song because it is a simple declaration of my heart. I also like the fact that the title of the song is the very last phrase. I probably shouldn’t say this, but this is my favorite song on this CD.
All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
Arranged February, 2004
This hymn has always been one of my favorites. I love how it places it’s focus squarely on the kingship of Jesus and calls for us to crown him King with our worship and our lives. I heard a new arrangement of this hymn by Chris Tomlin in which he adds a new chorus. I thought to myself, “If Chris can do it, so can I”. I proceeded to add a simple, but new chorus and used all of the original verses. I changed a couple of chords too – one of the great things about songs in the public domain. This declarative song needs to stay in the church for as long as possible, until the day we join in the everlasting song and crown Him Lord of All!
By the way, the word 'diadem' means crown. =Þ
Listen
Composed August, 2004
Most people know that there are suffering children all around the globe. You can’t watch TV for long without seeing a commercial asking you to sponsor a child oversees. People from our churches go on short-term mission trips to third world countries to help children affected by poverty, hunger, AIDS, and many other problems. We sit and watch these commercials, listen to the powerful testimonies and we feel something in our hearts that compels us to give. Some of us will take this problem upon ourselves and travel to help. Some will write a check or sponsor a child to help. All of these are excellent ways to help, but there is an important piece of this problem that no one ever seems to notice.
What about the children living here? What about the ones that are sitting in the pews of our churches on Sunday mornings? It’s easy for us to look into the eyes of a child from oversees and feel compassion for his circumstances; do we even take the time to look into the eyes of our own children? What about the boy whose family is falling apart from divorce, or the girl who struggles with the way she looks in the mirror. These children are crying themselves to sleep at night too and they live in our neighborhoods. My work with student ministry has taught me that there are hurting children in our midst, as well as oversees. This song is for all of them. My prayer is that you will be burdened by the Lord for their hearts – and listen.
Declaration (Good To Me)
Composed December, 2005
Every December, Heritage Christian Church puts on a Christmas Program during which several people share their testimonies. I sang in the choir for these performances in 2004, 2005, and 2006. During one of the rehearsals for the 2005 program, a man was sharing his testimony and included Psalm 13:6:
I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.
The words, "He has been good to me" stayed in my head for the rest of the rehearsal. I began to think about all of the ways the Lord has been good to me. Even though the tough times come, He is still good to me and worthy of all my praise. I composed this song when I returned home. I called it Declaration because it is the declaration of my heart that I hope to sing all of my life.
Little known fact – I had a hard time deciding on the title of this song. I was torn between four options: declaration, good to me, my cup overflows, and thanksgiving. I had my 8th grade guys small group at Heritage vote on the title. Declaration and Good to Me were the top two chosen and I chose to merge the titles.
Composed January, 2007
I am a night owl and am often awake long after midnight. One particular winter night I was up late and knew I had an early meeting the next morning. As I was laying in bed, the words of the old hymn And Can It Be came to mind. I began to meditate on the awesomeness of God, His intimate knowledge of me (especially the fact that He knows me by name), and the amazing price He paid for my salvation. I then began to form the words and melody of the chorus of a new song. By this time it was late, the lights were out and I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep to be energized for my early meeting the next day. God clearly had other plans. I turned on the light, grabbed my notebook and guitar, and composed This Moment in Time.
Quiet Place
Composed June, 2004
Some years ago, I got a call from my aunt who was playing a road-trip game with her family trying thinking of a song title for each letter of the alphabet. She called because they had trouble thinking of songs that started with the letters Q and Z. I told them I knew a song called Zephaniah 3:17 which is of course based on scripture.
I recalled this conversation as I was driving home from my summer camp counselor job and I tried to think of a song that started with a letter Q. I couldn’t. I then began to think of songs I could write that I could title starting with Q. The first title that came to my mind was ‘Quiet Place’. It seems silly to say that my motivation to write this song came from a desire to write a song that started with the letter Q, but after I had the title, God gave me the words and melodies that completed this song. I like this song because of it’s singability and simplicity: God is here with us in all circumstances.
My Heart Is His
Composed December 31, 2001
When I was a kid, one of my favorite campfire songs was Father I Adore You. I used to like singing it in a round because I could carry my own part and enjoyed the harmonies the different parts created. I was thinking about this song on New Year’s Eve 2001 and thought it would be cool to write a song that could be sung in this way. All of a sudden, God gave me the words and melodies to My Heart Is His. I created three parts that could all be sung simultaneously, and if you play the chords you’ll notice that the same chords I use for this song can be used for Father I Adore You.
That night I went to a New Year’s party and found two other people to sing the song with me. I loved the way it sounded and so did they. It was always my intention to teach this song in a round, but when I did it in worship at both Linworth and Heritage, I eliminated it for simplicity’s sake. Speaking of simplicity, I love the lyrics to this song because it is a simple declaration of my heart. I also like the fact that the title of the song is the very last phrase. I probably shouldn’t say this, but this is my favorite song on this CD.
All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
Arranged February, 2004
This hymn has always been one of my favorites. I love how it places it’s focus squarely on the kingship of Jesus and calls for us to crown him King with our worship and our lives. I heard a new arrangement of this hymn by Chris Tomlin in which he adds a new chorus. I thought to myself, “If Chris can do it, so can I”. I proceeded to add a simple, but new chorus and used all of the original verses. I changed a couple of chords too – one of the great things about songs in the public domain. This declarative song needs to stay in the church for as long as possible, until the day we join in the everlasting song and crown Him Lord of All!
By the way, the word 'diadem' means crown. =Þ
Listen
Composed August, 2004
Most people know that there are suffering children all around the globe. You can’t watch TV for long without seeing a commercial asking you to sponsor a child oversees. People from our churches go on short-term mission trips to third world countries to help children affected by poverty, hunger, AIDS, and many other problems. We sit and watch these commercials, listen to the powerful testimonies and we feel something in our hearts that compels us to give. Some of us will take this problem upon ourselves and travel to help. Some will write a check or sponsor a child to help. All of these are excellent ways to help, but there is an important piece of this problem that no one ever seems to notice.
What about the children living here? What about the ones that are sitting in the pews of our churches on Sunday mornings? It’s easy for us to look into the eyes of a child from oversees and feel compassion for his circumstances; do we even take the time to look into the eyes of our own children? What about the boy whose family is falling apart from divorce, or the girl who struggles with the way she looks in the mirror. These children are crying themselves to sleep at night too and they live in our neighborhoods. My work with student ministry has taught me that there are hurting children in our midst, as well as oversees. This song is for all of them. My prayer is that you will be burdened by the Lord for their hearts – and listen.
Declaration (Good To Me)
Composed December, 2005
Every December, Heritage Christian Church puts on a Christmas Program during which several people share their testimonies. I sang in the choir for these performances in 2004, 2005, and 2006. During one of the rehearsals for the 2005 program, a man was sharing his testimony and included Psalm 13:6:
I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.
The words, "He has been good to me" stayed in my head for the rest of the rehearsal. I began to think about all of the ways the Lord has been good to me. Even though the tough times come, He is still good to me and worthy of all my praise. I composed this song when I returned home. I called it Declaration because it is the declaration of my heart that I hope to sing all of my life.
Little known fact – I had a hard time deciding on the title of this song. I was torn between four options: declaration, good to me, my cup overflows, and thanksgiving. I had my 8th grade guys small group at Heritage vote on the title. Declaration and Good to Me were the top two chosen and I chose to merge the titles.
