We have jokingly said if you've got good hair, can sing and know three chords, you can lead worship at First Baptist Houston or wherever. But that's kind of scary, putting somebody on stage just because they have a good voice. Do they know theologically and spiritually what they're saying and why they're doing it?
You didn't choose Christian music because it's more beneficial. It doesn't pay more. It doesn't make you more famous. There's some reason why you came to this. What changed your life at some point?
Writing Christian or worship music is just because I love Jesus, so everything I do is going to be an overflow of that.
When my father died of cancer in 1991, he left me with the assurance that he was headed to a better place. He used to always tell me that I was getting the raw end of the deal because I had to stick around here.
Basically, there's not a single circumstance, I pray, that can derail me from what Christ is to me and who I am because of Christ.
If there's a moment on the record to reach people where they are, it's 'Even If'. We're ministers first. We're trying to reach the hurting first. This song wrecked us.
Our relationship with Christ is something we cannot just turn on and off. It is a part of us. On our best, and our worst, we are in this thing for life... and then some.
I came to know Christ at the age of 13 during church camp at Glorieta, New Mexico.
A Little Hope' is a song we wrote a couple of years ago and hated the thought of it not getting at least a little attention. It's a song that just makes you smile.
When I was a kid, my dad would let me stay up and watch 'Cheers' each week. Granted it's not the most 'kid friendly' show, but I could've cared less. I was getting to stay up past my bedtime!
I believe my life has been covered by grace since I trusted in Christ at age 13. I just had to turn 40 to notice.
Let me put it this way, if you were drowning, you wouldn't really be in a place to lend a hand as far as being rescued. You'd be at the mercy of the lifeguard. Once pulled out, you may be a little out of it, not sure where you are, but safe nonetheless.
If somebody told me people would still care about our music 25 years ago, I would have thought they were crazy.
Good songwriters write about what consumes their heart, and ours is about our relationship with God.
We never want to force the Bible down people's throats. But I want them to ask, 'What joy do they have that I don't have?' Let go and enjoy yourself and leave feeling like you can take on whatever you're facing in life.
