As a songwriter and worship leader I am constantly searching for ways to mobilize the church to accomplish the great commission through the songs I write. I found a comrade in Matt Papa. Matt and I are a part of the same team at Centricity Music and we were paired together for a co-write by his A&R guy. We started from scratch searching for missional worship ideas around my favorite piano in room 6 at Universal Music Publishing in Nashville. On my list of titles was “Open Hands.”
The idea was born from a story my pastor told in a sermon. His daughters were finally reaching the age that he was realizing how powerless he was becoming in their spiritual journey. As an exercise he began praying over them each night with his hands open and his palms up. He was physically representing a spiritual posture of surrender. In the middle of his sermon I opened Evernote and typed in the phrase “I am learning how to live with open hands.”
I remember hearing Matt playing through the piano progression and I was struck by the power of the movement. We finished the song that day…kind of. The record label decided the verses were right but the chorus had not arrived yet so a month later we met together and gave the chorus another shot. The melody Matt created was powerful and by the time we finished I couldn’t wait to play this song live. For a year people would ask “what CD has Open Hands on it?” and I would answer Matt Papa’s CD Your Kingdom Come. We came close to selling Matt’s CD at our merch table but never went that far. I’m so proud to have finally recorded this version of the song. I’m hoping this song continues to be used in the church for years. We’ll see.
Today I am continuing the slow journey through the new EP “Open Hands.” These songs are all born of personal experience, moments of tragedy and triumph. They are the shouts and whispers of a soul in worship. “Hold to You” was written with my publisher set us up to co-write. The creative process of co-writing never works the exact same way twice but it usually starts the way this session did. We took some time to hear one-another’s story. I think we both wandered into this day with an urgency to say something that matters, to sing something that matters about the God we worship.
We started the song from the same premise as “No One Like Our God.” I was struck several years ago in China by the repeated use of the phrase “One Most High God” to describe Yahweh. In that religious context there was a distinct effort among followers of Jesus to differentiate between the “gods” that are receiving worship and the One Most High God who is uniquely deserving of worship. Our direction was to talk about a God who is deserving of worship in a way that is larger than our circumstances. “In the hurt and the healing…You are most high.” If Yahweh truly is “Most High” then surely those who follow God have a sure and unshakable foundation to Hold tightly. In the face of any circumstance we can hold to the Most High.
Until the final week of the recording process, the working title of this record was “Ashes & Anthems.” The album cover that never was is posted to the right. That title came from the second verse of this song and is one of my favorite lyrics on this project. It continues to prove true in my life and in the eternal narrative of God’s providence. “You have carried Your children through fire and flood and from the ashes spring anthems to the Most High.”
I’m gonna take the next few weeks to step through the new EP “Open Hands” and talk a bit about the story of each song. These songs are all born of personal experience, moments of tragedy and triumph. They are the shouts and whispers of a soul in worship.
“No One Like Our God” was written with Aaron Blanton, Matt Papa, and Seth Condrey. The four of us were on a team of writers, artists, and worship leaders that traveled to Mumbai, India earlier this year. We spent our days wandering the streets of this great city looking for opportunities to tell the grand epic of our God from creation to the cross. Most we spoke with new little or nothing about the One Most High God who sent His Son Jesus that we might know Him and be fully known by Him. As we told the story of Jesus again and again we were all struck by how rich this truth is. Who else can be the perfect balance creative power and intimate presence?
Seth and Aaron wrote the chorus first while in India, a powerful declaration of the uniqueness of Yahweh. Aaron, Matt and I met a few weeks later to work through the verses. The song was born as an uptempo guitar anthem. By the time it landed on my record it had become a driving piano bit. Every time I sing this lyric I am struck again by the miracle that the same voice that spoke the world into being, sings over me in the night. There is No One Like Our God!
The new EP has finally released and I can’t wait for you to hear and use these songs. Some we’ve been using in worship for a while and some are brand new. You can find it on iTunes HERE.
If you purchased a download of “Open Hands” you can click on the album art to the right to get to the login page. Once there, enter the password from your download card and begin downloading the new stuff! If you have problems with the process just send us a note from the CONTACT page and we will respond as soon as possible.
Today I am continuing the slow journey through 
I’m gonna take the next few weeks to step through 