CCLI Song No. 1264734
High and Lifted Up came to me as a chance to write an up tempo song of praise. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up in Isaiah Chapter 6 in the temple. The New Testament teaches that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The fact that we can lift up Jesus in our lives is a powerful truth.
CCLI Song No. 1253460
He Is Lord is a theological statement set to music. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. As humans, we are unable to grasp that concept apart from divine revelation. Paul said it is like looking through a dark glass. But the Holy Spirit has revealed that Jesus is Lord!
CCLI Song No. 1264837
The Difference was written a few years before I recorded it. I had been doing some recording work with Sidney Howard of S.A.S. Productions in Detroit. During that time we had many discussions about the power of Christ in our daily lives. I spent some time reflecting on the way a new believer might express the difference Christ had made.
CCLI Song No. 1264820
Reach Out To Me was a song written expressly for the album, High & Lifted Up. I wanted a bluesy sound to express that sometimes people need to reach out of the middle of their circumstance and trust Jesus to actually care about their problems. I felt that if I could reference the pain a person might feel and how difficult it can be to trust, that just maybe it would speak to someone in need.
CCLI Song No. 1253446
Blessed be the Name was written after a real challenging season in my ministry. The church that I built had been struck by lightening and burned completely down. On top of that there were people who had intentionally set out to hinder and hurt the ministry. That was something very hard for me to fathom. Knowing that God wants us to live lives of forgiveness, I had to put it all at the foot of the cross of Jesus. I thought of Abraham and Job as well as many others who had seen loss. Their reaction was to bless instead of curse. The result was restoration. This is one of my favorite songs because I feel like the Lord just planted it in my heart.
CCLI Song No. 1253453
He Is Lord is a theological statement set to music. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. As humans, we are unable to grasp that concept apart from divine revelation. Paul said it is like looking through a dark glass. But the Holy Spirit has revealed that Jesus is Lord!
CCLI Song No. 1264772
Let’s Praise Jesus is another song written expressly for this album. Once again I was driving. This time from Michigan to Tennessee. I tend to write rather reflective songs and I wanted a song that was upbeat and happy but still had truth in it. The truth is that it is always the right time to praise the Lord.
CCLI Song No. 1264758
Laborers Together was written for a ministry appreciation banquet. I was thinking about the sacrifice that our local church workers had made for the ministry. Suddenly I saw the truth of I Corinthians 3, that one sows, another waters and God gives the increase because we are laborers together with God. It has been very rewarding to know that this song has been used to promote the cause of world missions.
CCLI Song No. 1264789
Lift up the Banner is a special song for me. It features a solid guitar and rhythm section pounding out the sound of victory. One of the names of God given in the Old Testament is
Jehovah Nissi - which means "The Lord is my banner". Since God is love, then we lift the banner of love and that is the proof of victory in our lives.
CCLI Song No. 1264703
David Seamands wrote a book title, "
Healing Grace". Each chapter uses the lyrics of a hymn to open up a different truth about God’s desire to heal our heart from personal wounds and pain. After reading it I felt inspired to write a hymn of my own that reflected the same truth. I wrote Dr. Seamands to share the power that his book had in my life. I also shared the song with him. Lari Goss wrote such beautiful charts for the string quartet. I love singing to that track.
