Awakening Liner Notes

Track 1: Awakening

This intro to the album to me symbolizes awakening things that have slumbered. Voices that have long since been silent now sing again to the Creator. Hands that have been stilled now play to the joy of an audience of One. For a long time, the Church has slumbered while missing the Spirit’s voice. The night is over, and it’s time to hear what He would say to us.

Track 2: Songs of Joy

Songs of Joy was the first piece written for this project in January 2017, but its message is relevant for today. The Church and our world are seeing some dark days with the COVID-19 crisis, but we can take comfort knowing that Jesus knows our suffering! Death has no sting because its power has been broken by the resurrection. Even in our darkest times, joy can reign triumphant.

Track 3: Anchor of My Soul

Jesus is faithful, no matter what we are facing! When the waves of life come crashing over us, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but I am reminded from Hebrews that Jesus is our Anchor beyond the veil, ever-present, no matter what we are facing.

Track 4: Fix My Eyes on You

The Psalmist marveled that “deep calls to deep.” As I meditated on that passage, I was reminded how deeply the Holy Spirit wants to commune with us and impart His timely message to the Church. Are we willing to spend time in His presence, answering the call to deeper relationship? When we choose to soak in His presence, His purpose for our lives becomes clearer and clearer.

Track 5: I’m Following You, Lord

This song was one that I wrote in 2003 and filed away after recording a primitive multi-track consisting of an out-of-tune piano and vocal. I re-discovered it while working on this project. The piano is gone, but the vocal is still that 2003 original, and the arrangement is completely new. This song is a time machine fora lesson that I needed to revisit. It was written at a time of tremendous upheaval and change in my life. I knew what I needed to do, but fear was holding me back from His best purposes. This piece was my point of surrender to His plan. The good news is this: He DID work all things for good.

Track 6: Take Me To the Place

In the midst of a time in our country when Red and Blue divide us bitterly, the Spirit calls us to awaken and see God’s purposes for our nation. Jesus died for both Red and Blue. Reconcile men to God- don’t push them away over your political ideology! It’s the Holy Spirit’s role to guide us into all truth. After all, it’s much, much later than we think.

Track 7: Words of Life

This song came out of an early morning devotion time. In that season, I had been going through some health challenges for about 3 months and was seeking the Lord for specific direction. In the dark April morning, at the exact same moment that I was reading Job 37:1-2 (which speaks about hearing the Lord’s thunderous voice), an earsplitting thunderclap directly overhead nearly made me jump out of my skin! The quiet of the morning was instantly broken by a fierce rain storm and wind that bent the tree in my back yard. It was one of those pivotal moments where God definitely had my attention. Through the storms that we encounter, He still speaks the eternal Words of life.

Track 8: Sun of Righteousness

Life kicks us in the teeth sometimes. Loved ones disappoint us. Others put unrealistic expectations on us that no one can live up to. Over the years, Malachi 4:2 has encouraged me over and over. It is a promise that those who trust in the Lord will see Him rise with healing in His wings. My prayer is that you will find that Jesus restores your joy through whatever sorrow you are facing today.

Track 9: You Pursue Me

No matter how far we try to run away, there is a chase in which the Lord pursues us and attempts to woo us back with His persistent, never-ending love. For the believer who has learned the life-sustaining daily practice of His presence, in that intimate time, we are transformed by His presence.

Much love to my dad, who always referred to beautiful, cloudless days as “bluebird skies.”

Track 10: You Are My Rescue

It’s March 2020, and COVID-19 has unleashed its fury on our world. People are gripped by fear, but this pandemic won’t win. Jesus is victorious over it all. This song is a modern setting to Psalm 91 as a response to the pandemic. In Jesus, we have no fear because we can rest in the shadow of His wings. It’s the Word of God. He is our rescue. I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but I can rest in peace knowing that He is working His best for me.