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The Story Behind O Come, All You Unfaithful

By on December 18, 2020 in —Christmas, —Songs of Lament, —Songwriting

We’ve been really encouraged by the response to O Come, All You Unfaithful, the opening track on our new Christmas album, Heaven Has Come. A number of people have said the song has made them freshly aware of how good the gospel really is. Amen. I had the joy of writing the song with Lisa Clow, although I really only helped her refine and finish a song she wrote a few Christmases ago. She brought what she had written to the Sovereign Grace songwriters retreat this past January. I’ll let Lisa tell you in her own words how it came about: I was struggling. It had been a long year and a half. Finances were stressful, I miscarried twins, …

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Christ Will Be My Hideaway

By on April 13, 2020 in —Leading a Congregation, —Songs of Lament

One of the unexpected benefits of the COVID-19 crisis has been the vast amount of music being produced. Previously untapped creativity is showing up in live streams from living rooms, video montages, and new songs. Who knows what songs might never have been written apart from being forced to isolate? In mid-March, my good friend from the UK, Tim Chester, sent me some lyrics he had written, taken from Psalm 91. To be more specific, he subtitled it: “A song for the coronavirus outbreak based on Psalm 91.” I’ve collaborated with Tim before (Come Praise and Glorify, Reformation Song), and love writing with him. He’s committed setting God’s …

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Songs to Sing in a Pandemic

Songs to Sing in a Pandemic

By on March 20, 2020 in —Leading a Congregation, —Songs of Lament

I originally posted this on my church’s blog, but wanted to share it here as well. In his excellent article, “Anxiety, Waiting and the Coronavirus,” Alasdair Groves reminds us of the unique kind of trial the current worldwide pandemic presents to us. We’re tempted to experience a “particular strain of anxiety that comes when we are waiting for a threat that is gliding toward us, its fin visible above the surface.”  In other words, we know something bad is coming. We just don’t know what or when.  To be sure, many are already experiencing the effects of the virus. Financial disaster. Loss of income. Loss of …

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Why Jesus Doesn’t Want Our PR

By on December 13, 2019 in —Leading a Congregation, —Songs of Lament

An online Forbes article says the aim of a public relations (PR) firm is “promoting clients and making them seem as successful, honest, important, exciting or relevant as possible.” The keyword in that definition is seem. If you work for a PR company, it really doesn’t matter whether or not your clients are actually “successful, honest, important, or exciting.” Your job is just to make other people think they are. When it comes to leading songs that direct our thoughts and affections to Jesus on Sunday mornings, our task couldn’t be more different. We don’t have to make stuff up about Jesus or pretend he’s something he’s not. God wants …

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Prayers of the Saints (Live) – Our New Album

By on November 28, 2017 in —Leading a Congregation, —Songs of Lament, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Eschatology

Sovereign Grace Music released our last band album, Sooner Count the Stars, two years ago. I’m happy to announce that after reviewing 170 songs, we finally have another: Prayers of the Saints (Live). It took a while, but I think it was more than worth the wait. Worship albums are as common these days as a new mattress store (come to Louisville and you’ll know what I mean). I receive an email informing me of a new album almost once a week. That’s about 50 albums, each with at least 12 songs, which adds up to 600 new songs a year. And that’s just scratching the surface of the albums being recorded.  So why produce another one? First, …

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Planning Sunday after an Unexpected Tragedy

By on July 27, 2015 in —Emotions and Worship, —Funerals, —Leading a Congregation, —Songs of Lament, —Worship and Life

Last Thursday at 10:06 AM, Brian Chesemore, a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, texted me and the other pastors. He informed us that one of our members, 42 year old Wade Stephenson, had been in a “very bad car accident” and was on his way to the hospital. An hour later Brian simply texted: “He’s with the Lord.” I wept uncontrollably. Wade was a gentle, grateful, generous, godly man, a musician and leader who was loved and respected by everyone who knew him. He left behind his dear wife Rebecca, three young daughters, and a soon to be born son. The tragic news spread quickly throughout our three year old church plant …

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Two Songs for Suffering Saints

By on July 20, 2010 in —Choosing Songs, —Song Downloads, —Songs of Lament, —Worship and Life

Our church is in the middle of a series on 1 Peter and we’ve been talking a lot about suffering. Peter starts off by telling us that we will be grieved by various kind of trials, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:7). For the Christian, trials are never purposeless, random, or wasted. God is using them to work out his perfect plans and to conform us to the image of his Son. How do we know this? Because he has promised in his Word that “for those who love God all things …

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Drabbles from the Depths

By on April 29, 2009 in —Songs of Lament, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Life

I didn’t know what a “drabble” was until just recently. It’s an extremely short work of fiction of exactly 100 words in length. Nicole McLernon, 21 year old daughter of my good friends Mike and Patty McLernon, recently wrote a “super-drabble” – ten drabbles in a row. She based it on some of the lyrics to my song, Out of the Depths, from our Psalms CD. Nicole unpacks what it might mean to “wait on the Lord” when you find out your daughter has cancer. Although her piece is fictional, the situation is all too familiar. I was affected by her portrayal of a struggling heart learning to submit to God’s wisdom and truth revealed in the gospel. This …

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