A Joyful Noise: Stories Behind and Beyond the Music

I'm still singing a joyful noise for the Lord (Psalm 100:1)...but I feel God is working a little more out of me... You might've heard or read that my next album was going to be called, "A Joyful Noise." But I began to go deeper in my songwriting than I had originally planned (But God knew). I've been wanting to write a praise and worship album (still planned for this summer), all fun and upbeat; those songs like you sing in the beginning of your church service that speak of "God is our God forever" and it's a "Happy Day" because God is with us; and those are all great! I wanted to call it “a joyful noise” just because I love that Bible verse that calls us to make that noise (even named this blog after it, relating the posts to the songs of the album by the same name), and I love the imagery as it relates to music and worshiping God.   But as pen went to paper, and the fingers cried for the piano instead of the guitar, a...

2017 was a rough year for many who were directly affected by the tragedies that struck throughout the year, as well as for all of us who mourned and prayed for them. 2018 hasn't started off well either. The shootings, hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, earthquakes left many dead, injured and asking the universe, "why did this have to happen?" For many, including God-fearing Christians, it's hard to answer that question. Really, only one answer works, and it's still hard to swallow...God is God and He is in control. Even harder to take in is the thought that God "allowed" it to happen. A more truthful, Biblical answer is that God knew it was going to happen and allowed it to fulfill His grander purpose during these "end days" ( Mark 13:24-27; Ephesians 1:11; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Rev. 11:18) . I wrote the song called, "Triumph and Tragedy" out of this hard-to-swallow pill that Job in the Bible took a lot easier than most of us could a...