Originally written in Latin almost 10 centuries earlier, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a hymn based on prayers. These prayers, called vespers, are prayed for 7 days before the celebration of Christmas.
Read moreIt has always amazed me that I’ve never heard of there being many songs based on the Magnificent (Song of Mary), known as one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns.
Read moreThe writing of “Alive Again” started 2 years before it was finished; I actually started writing it the same day that I wrote “Empty & Beautiful.” For some reason as I was writing that song, the chorus of “Alive Again” was born. About 2 years later I was driving from McAllen, Texas to San Antonio, Texas to catch a flight. The band and I left our hotel around 4:30 in the morning. As we were driving north I realized, at one point, that the sky had changed colors. It started at a dark, dark indigo and it was slowly getting lighter. The sun hadn’t broken the horizon yet and immediately the lyric came to me, “I can see the light, before I see the sunrise,” so after all that time, I had a chorus and an idea for a verse.
Read moreFor the past 19 months, the biggest cross in my life has been the most unlikely, my 19-month-old son. His utter dependence on his parents is a source of much conviction for me, for I wish I had the same level of honesty. I know rationally in my mind that the love of God and the subsequent grace that flows from it are all I need. Yet I struggle with proclaiming that truth to myself in my life.
Read moreI was driving down to Atlanta from Nashville in AugustΓǪ.and a melody came to my headΓǪalong with the phrase, “You are our salvation; our stronghold, our strength; You are our foundation, mighty fortress is Your name. Obviously that really isn’t a name of God, but that’s how ideas sometimes start – as abstract phrases and melodiesΓǪ.it eventually turned into the song, “Mighty Fortress.”
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