Had a great time meeting up with Peter Russell on Saturday. We spent a few hours worshipping together but also looking at a few song ideas.



We worked on an idea that Peter had taken from Colossians 1 v 15-20 which talks about the supremacy of Christ and how Jesus holds all things together. It's really cool to think that the hands that shaped the universe are the hands that hold our lives.

We managed to reflect this in a chorus which was very cool:

Jesus You hold all things together
The sun and moon, the earth, the waters
The things unseen, the host of heaven
Yet still

You hold me in Your arms
You hold me in Your arms
Hands that hold the universe
Are the hands that hold me now
You hold me in Your arms
You hold me in Your arms
Friend who never lets me go
The one who's always near

Into Your arms I will run, for in Your presence is where I belong

Sometimes when you're writing songs it's very easy to fall into predictability. Lately I've been thinking about this and how I can make my songs/music a little more interesting yet without losing the feel of the song. It could be an unusual chord thrown in that's not expected. A great example is Matt Redman's 'You are God in Heaven' where he uses a G Augmented chord which really works well.

With the song above we had a chord sequence for the chorus which was predictable until we threw an F chord into the works. The chord sequence was just a run down from G to D/F# to Em but instead of going to a C we went straight to the F which sounded quite cool. Later in the chorus we added a C minor which again sounded a little different from the norm.

Before you settle with your chord sequence it's always good to think whether or not you can add something a little different.

One song off 'Resounding', 'Moon and Stars', did have quite a predictable chord sequence for the chorus which I was very aware of. When I finished the song I played it to my friend Phil and asked him whether we could change any of the chorus chords without changing the 'feel' of the song. Originally it was the typical run down of G, D, Em, C. However Phil suggested changing the D to a D/G which made the chorus sound a lot better.

Recently I've had fun meeting up with my good mate Peter Russell who leads worship at Purley Baptist Church, Surrey.

I've known Peter since our University days in Southampton where we used to lead worship for the Christian Union.

This year we've tried to meet up one Saturday a month to worship, pray and basically see what happens. This has been really exiting as a couple of songs have flowed out from the times of worship that we've had. We haven't managed to lead these songs through yet in our local church and realise they still might need a little bit of tweaking but I'm really excited about them.

As a guitarist it's great to write with other instruments (Pete plays keys) and to bounce ideas/melodies off each other. I think writing with other people also gives you lots of ideas and creativity and can teach you not to be too precious about your own ideas etc. Having said that I find it really fun to write with Peter. We have similar ideas and tastes and things seem to flow out very naturally when we worship God together.

One idea that flowed out of a time of worship was the fact that we were made for God and that He is therefore the centre of who we are:

I was made for Your glory
I was made for Your presence
I was made in Your likeness
I was made for You

You are the centre of my life
You are the centre of my life
Be glorified

I was made for Your worship
I was made for Your pleasure
I was made for Your kindness
I was made for You

You are the centre of my life
You are the centre of my life
Be glorified

Now to live the life You made
All I am I give in praise

Another time we got together the sense of Heaven and earth joining as a united front came alive to us as we were singing. Initially we were singing out 'Blessing, honour, glory, power' as a little melody during our worship time. We then felt that we were joining in with a greater song, with the whole universe rather than just us.

There is a song that's rising up
Heaven and earth
Joining as one to sing
There is a cry within our hearts
We're longing to sing Your glorious praise

Holy, Holy is our God
Worthy, worthy to be praised
You are Holy, You are Holy
You are worthy, You are worthy of all praise

Angels rejoice in Harmony
United in praise
Lifting Your name on high
Creation responds in melody
And hearing the sound, my soul awakes

Holy, Holy is our God
Worthy, worthy to be praised
You are Holy, You are Holy
You are worthy, You are worthy of all praise

Blessing, Honour, glory, power
Blessing, Honour, glory, power

I'm meeting up again with Peter this Saturday and can't wait to see what happens as we spend time together in worship.

Stories/thoughts behind the songs:


He died for me, I live for Him – This was inspired by a banner that I came across when leading worship at New Forest Community Church. It simply states ‘He died for me, I live for him’ and got me thinking about the subject of salvation. For a while I’ve wanted to write something that expresses our thanks to God over the gift of our salvation, the fact that God has saved us and given us an amazing new life.

Resounding – I had a little guitar hook for a number of years, but hadn’t been able turn it into anything. I brought it to my friend Alan Bridges and together we crafted it into ‘Resounding’. I was inspired by the fact that worship isn’t just something that takes place down here on earth, but also in the heavens. It’s really inspiring to think that both Heaven and earth are worshipping together, with a real sense of unity and purpose. What an incredible sound it will be when we’re in the Heavens worshipping God with the angels, the elders and all of creation.

O my soul arise – I had the chorus to this song finished for a number of years but couldn’t for the life of me come up with a decent verse that actually fitted in with what I was trying to say. Eventually the verse and the tag poured out one day. A call to one’s self to arise and bless our maker. I was particularly inspired by Psalm 103 in which David is rousing his soul to worship God.

Face to the ground – It’s an amazing thing that we can come and worship such a Holy and awesome, even terrifying God. A song of worship to a holy God and a challenge for us to recognise his awesomeness and that we need to come before him with due reverence. I initially came up with some lyrics and a melody idea for the verses. I then brought it to my friends Phil and Laura who came up with a melody for the chorus and helped me finish the song off.

Who can we compare You to – The last song written on the album. We can describe God in many different ways or compare him to things we see on earth. However God is so much bigger, better and brighter than anything we may think of as big or impressive. How could we respond to such a brilliant God but worship him. The day we came to record it was a Sunday, so we played it during the worship to try and get a feel for band arrangements/dynamics. I really liked the feel of a song by the 'Doves' called 'the pounding' and wanted to do something similar.

Precious – A personal song, the title of which says it all really. I was in Malaysia leading some worship and as we finished and I put my guitar down the thought ‘Precious are the moments spent with you’ came into my mind. I jotted it down. About a year later I finished the song. The song really came home for me after watching the Passion of the Christ with my church and really ministered to me personally how precious Jesus is to me in my life. This is probably my favourate song on the album.

Journey to the cross – A song I wrote in the US with my friend Don Chapman. Don had told me about a series of radio talks by his church entitled ‘Journey to the cross’ and challenged me to try and write a song with that title. I started looking at the scriptures about Jesus’ death and resurrection. What struck me initially were the verses in Isaiah 53 and how Jesus was so disfigured when he went to the Cross. The bible describes him as unrecognisable and a ‘man of sorrows, which I was inspired to include in the song. I wanted to write a song that took us to the death of Jesus on a journey and for us to ponder on just what he did for us. The second verse is more triumphant, though I wanted to focus mainly on the fact that Jesus died for us and chose to go and die in our place. We could never understand what he had to endure on the cross.

Moon and Stars – A song declaring our God as creator. Really inspired by nature and the fact that we’re really with out an excuse to acknowledge God as maker of Heaven and earth. Literally everything you see outside, be it trees, sky, landscape, the sun, the clouds – they all point back to God. My lovely wife Amber helped me out on this one.

The Light of your presence – I wrote this song whilst in Scotland with my friends Lynn Swart and Gabby Tham. I was on my year out and was serving Lynn at a YWAM school of prayer week. I really didn’t know what to expect when I arrived but really met God in an amazingly intimate way. The light of your presence summed up what I had experienced in that trip and I wrote it all in one go on the second night there. It was a really exciting time for me.

With all my heart – This song literally came out of nowhere while in the shower. The song is about praising God with heart, mind, soul and strength.

Forevermore – A song about looking to Heaven and to that time when we will see Jesus face to face. Phil 3:18-21 says that our citizenship is in Heaven and I really wanted to write a song around this theme. This was another late song to make it on the album, but I’m really glad we had some extra time to record it.

Pour out over me – Inspired by a little idea I had on the guitar in a 7/8 time signature. A simple song that reflects our need for Jesus, asking Him to come and pour out his blessing over us.

I can do all things – Inspired by 1 Corinthians 1 and Philippians 3. Living God’s way is foolishness to those who don’t believe in him. However Paul in Philippians states that actually everything is rubbish next to knowing Christ and the fact that through him we can do all things. A song for the church to embrace.

Rhythm of the saints – At Soul Survivor there used to be a song-writing workshop called 'the rhythm of the Saints. This title stuck in my mind for a few years as a potential song idea. I remember bringing this song to my friends Phil & Laura Le Cheminant one day and to be honest wasn't sure it was any good. However they really liked it and encouraged me to press on with it. After a few tweaks and suggestions from my friends the song was born. A song that unashamedly proclaims that Jesus Christ is Lord. I hope that this song encourages you that there are millions of people from every tribe and tongue that love and follow Jesus Christ today. May the world and society we live in feel the rhythm of the saints.

Our God reigns – I wrote this song during my last year at University. I read Psalm 93 one day and it really leapt out at me and I knew there was a song to be found there. A few weeks later I came back to it and pretty much completed the song. For the chorus I was inspired by Psalm 95 vs 6 as our response to our mighty God, who reigns. This song was the title track of my first album released in 2003. However I really felt that I needed to record the song again and to hopefully give it a fresh sound.

I've just come back from an amazing weekend away near Bedford attending the Glory School.







The Glory School was started by Patricia King. http://www.extremeprophetic.com/







It was fantastic to get away for a weekend and just soak in the presence of God. We travelled up with our close mates Jonny and Emm Sweetman on Thursday night and to be honest didn't quite know what to expect. The weekend was led by Sue Davies and her team.





We all came back on Saturday night really excited about the prophetic words spoken over us. One excercise we did was to ask God for one word for another person in the room and to give it to them. Once we had done that the other person would do the same over us. This was a really powerful time and lots of amazingly accurate words were said over people. One person brought the word 'encourager' to me which blew my mind as I had recently written in my journal that I felt God calling me to be an encourager and a 'barnabus'.





Lots of people at the Glory School also saw the angelic during the worship times which was very cool.

This is pic of me and my good mate Jonny Sweetman 'havin a laff' at the Glory School and at the state of my hair.