Years ago some friends and I hiked up a mountain called Cerro de Chipinque that flanks the south side of the city of Monterrey, Mexico. When we reached the top, we suddenly emerged out of trees into a glorious view…

In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport argues for two core abilities for thriving in today’s world: the ability to both quickly master hard things and to produce at an elite level, in terms of quality and speed.

I grew up on Steve Green’s “Hide ‘Em in Your Heart” series. These songs were formative for my sisters and me; we memorized Scripture without trying. I recall literally holding my tongue while learning to keep it from evil.

Songwriting is easily one of the most frustrating, rewarding, time-consuming, life-changing, soul-healing things a worship leader can do. God uses our creative thoughts put to music to inspire, and to help others deeply explore life.

Stay Faithful to the Text. Approach the text like a preaching pastor would. Don’t be afraid to sit down with commentaries and a study Bible and look up what the words meant in the original Greek or Hebrew.

Good theology has a way of putting us in the redemptive story. Our theology reveals our hearts, identifies us with the characters in ways that make us think, “I am like him,” and opens our hearts to God’s truth as it moves toward our need.

What’s the biggest struggle in writing a congregational worship song? Congregational songs must be singable enough that unmusical people can participate and theologically…

A while back, a songwriter friend asked me an intriguing question. It wasn’t invasive, negative, or leading—it was a genuine question. “Do we really need any more worship songs in the world? Do I have anything to contribute, really?” It’s a great question, and the answer is, “Yes!” Even though…

The moment had come. And I was nervous. I cleared my throat one last time, grabbed my pick, adjusted the strap on my guitar and began to play. Was I recording in the studio? Nope. Playing in front of thousands of people? Nope. More pressure.

Our church sings original music. Not always, but sometimes we do it. Most of the time it’s awesome, but other times, it’s an exercise of patience for our congregation. Recently someone asked me to explain why our church writes original music…

There is something powerful about Scripture. The Bible, “breathed out” by God Himself, is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning…

I recently had a conversation about the process of creating art with a friend who writes movie scripts. As we talked, I mentioned a difficulty I’ve had in writing a song that I’m actually happy with.

Things are not as simple for worship leaders/church music directors as they used to be. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certainly a more complicated thing.

Whether painting a canvas, “becoming” a character in a film or shaping a sculpture, every artist has a creative process that aids in achieving the best possible end result. I have been a musician and singer/songwriter for most of my life and have written, composed and arranged many songs.