I shared this song many years ago in this space but since we just sang it at church yesterday (it tied into my sermon “Worth the Wait”) I thought I would post it here today. John 13-17, also knows as “the upper room discourse” contain some of my favorite teachings of Jesus, where even though the disciples faced forthcoming times of uncertainty, Jesus reassures them,
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” – John 13:1-3
Thank you so much for all of you who pray for me and ask how I’m doing! This interview has some of the latest updates. Rob Skinner is an expert church planter and student of healthy ministry grown in my family of churches (the International churches of Christ). He is also a fantastic interviewer and has a great podcast where he speaks with different church leaders from around the world. In an earlier episode a few years ago we spoke about the role of worship ministry in growing churches. In this latest episode we speak candidly about living with a terminal illness, the role that music has played in my own recovery from brain surgery, and facing uncertainty with faith in a loving God.
Recorded in 2001, remastered in 2024. This song is about stripping away the spiritual clutter and getting back to what is most essential, seeing God with trust and innocence like a child. It was written back in 2000 as I was going through major life transition, leaving my 6 year career in marketing and product management for an uncertain future in full-time ministry. Now 24 years later I wanted to re-release the song as I have been reflecting on new changes in life.
Here’s a little bit about my daughter Cora Craig’s song “Realize” from her new album, “Stay Right Here.” I love this whole album. What a joy to get to work on this project while going through my recovery from brain surgery at the beginning of last year. (I am so glad music was something I could still work on when there were many other things I was unable to do.) I love the struggle to surrender in the message of this song, ultimately choosing to trust: …the foundation has been laid, help me understand and live that way.
I shared this song originally a few years ago along with some of what went into writing this song. There are many old hymns that are so appropriate for Communion but it seems that many newer worship songs are more oblique in their lyrics; I wanted a song for us to sing as the gathered church that explicitly referenced the body and blood of Christ, and gathering “in remembrance” of him. So I wrote this song several years back for that purpose. Finally I was was able to recently release a studio version of this song on my most recent album, “Heaven’s Declare.” We sing this song fairly frequently in my local congregation, I hope others will begin to sing it too.
Hey everyone! Merry Christmas!! You probably aren’t aware of this, but I quietly released a Christmas album last year (actually, part 1 of a Christmas album). Would love to invite you to take a break from Mariah Carey (no offense, I love all Christmas songs) and listen to some Savior-focused holiday songs during this festive season of celebrating Jesus’ entry to planet earth.
Here is one of the songs from the album, “The First Noel,” where I put my own take on this Christmas song (and throw in a bit of Pachelbel Canon).
Hey guys, happy Monday. I am excited about new music coming…just finished all the uploads for a new worship album with 15 songs on it so watch for that coming soon. But for today, I wanted to share a song you have probably not heard (based on the reporting) but it’s a fun song with a timely message, God’s “got the future in his hands.” There is a lot going on in our world right now (and in my own life, maybe yours as well). Every day I make a choice to surrender my future to God and trust he’s got it figured out. Each verse of the song has a different story from the Bible about different characters that trusted in something other than God for the future. Below is a new lyric video from the song, which I recorded back in 2015 or so (and see this 2016 post for more about the song). Why not submit to the master plan—‘cause he got the future in his hands.
I was recently invited to join Kyle Spears on his “Truth Trauma Theology” podcast for a conversation about the relationship between music and mental health. We were having a conversation about my recent album “Wait for the Lord My Soul” but along the way we ended up speaking about deep questions of faith, processing loss and learning surrender. We discussed some of the challenges we are dealing with in our church and ways God is producing change in us. Please give it a listen! And please share it with anyone else who would be encouraged by our conversation.
Recently I got to go up to one of my favorite places on earth — youth camp. We sang this song written by my friend Henry, which was introduced at camp last year. He shared that it was written during a difficult time battling depression, which makes the lyrics even more powerful. I love to promote music written by other disciples —please sing and share this song!
I love that God wants us to share with him the ups and downs of every-day life, of crisis and struggle, of joys and rescue. So much of this is present in the Psalms. In my daily readings today I read again Psalm 57, and so I have to share a song I wrote years ago (and we’ve sung a lot at youth camp and in my congregation) called “Shadow of Your Wings.” Years ago, reading the NLT version of Psalm 57 this whole song just came to me and it’s one of my long time favorites. As I’m going through present day struggles with brain cancer and various treatments that go along with that, I’m so grateful for God’s continuous presence in my life. I like how a song like Psalm 57 has an immediate context (a note says it’s about when David hid from Saul in the cave, a story we find in 1 Sam 24), yet also takes on new context as a worship song of Israel, preserved in Psalm 57, and is given new meaning by present and future worshippers, as we face our individual struggles, plead to God for rescue, and find hope in his unending love and faithfulness.
The location for this video is my local prayer spot, looking down on my house in the neighborhood below.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. He will send help from heaven to rescue me, disgracing those who hound me. Interlude My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness. – Psalm 57:1-3
Monday Morning Music 