Songs 4 Worship Interview, November 2001

1. How important is theology to you in your songwriting?

It's ALL IMPORTANT!!!! For us as worship writers, our bottom line is truth! Truth is at the heart of all worship songs. Truth about who God is; truth is about man's condition, and what God is doing on the earth and in heaven. We are educators in worship. We are artists in worship. People remember our songs long after they have forgotten the sermons.

Writing lyrics for worship songs is a living tension between 3 main things: poetry, theology and reality. The worship song lives right in the middle of these 3!!!! Visually I like to think of it like a triangle with truth leading the way:

Theology

Song

Poetry Reality

2. I read that you wrote "Come, Now Is The Time To Worship" after a trying time working on the musical "Father's House." Can you elaborate a bit on how the song came about?

The song came a few months after we moved to London, England. We had a tough season with a musical I was working on, which resulted in having no home and no job (I had put all my resources into the musical which had collapsed). For me this song is one of those "life message" songs, and even though it was written in a few days, I feel like it took years of leading worship and the heartbreaks and joys of life to get to the place of being ready to write it.

The song started as I was walking and praying on the streets of SW London. I believe the call to worship is going out all the time, and it was like I heard "echoes" of it as I walked. I then came home and sat down at the piano and began to flesh out the first line into a song. I wrote it as a call to worship incorporating key things I believe about worship. I believe God wants us to come and worship just the way we are, though when true worship happens we don't stay the way we are. When we make that choice, we experience the pleasure of worship: the treasure of being with God.

That's why our choice to worship is so important. If we worship because we have to, where is the love? God and us get no pleasure out of that kind of worship. Many of us have experienced the pleasure of worship done in love and it's a priceless treasure. That's the background behind the words in the second section of the song. A couple of people have tried to make it out to be a theological song about heaven and hell. That's not why I wrote it (though there is theology in the song!!!!).

'One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure remains for those
who gladly choose You now'

One day the choice will be gone. Everyone will be overpowered and fall to their knees and "worship" with their bodies, but not with their hearts of love. The greatest treasure I am referring to is not heaven in some theological sense. It's the gift of knowing and loving God...choosing to worship God out of love...and experiencing the pleasure of being with God and His presence. Of course all those things will be experienced in heaven, but the goal isn't to get into heaven in that sense; the goal is to be with God or to get heaven (the pleasure of worship) into us.

3. When you wrote the song, did you feel immediately that it was special, and that it had come from an intimate connection with God?

The moment the inspiration came as I was walking [and] I sensed God's presence. But I have to say I have experienced that a number of times with songs, so I didn't know it would "take off" all over the world as quickly as it would. I just learned that it's now #3 on the Canadian CCLI charts!!

4. What have people told you about how the song has affected them?

I can't think of any specific stories, other than the following I copied from an email a worship leader sent to me:

I love "Come, Now Is The Time." I have always liked starting worship with a call to worship, so that song is especially meaningful. I really like singing, "Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly serve you now". Wonderful lyric!!!!

5. Do you have any stories from special worship times involving "Come, Now Is The Time To Worship"?

I was moved to hear that recently they opened the "Songs4worship" tour with Paul Baloche singing that song. It seems to say something we need to say now...that "now" is the time to worship.

One of my favourite moments with this song was in Germany at Millennium worship event. There were almost 9,000 of us there that night in Karlsruhe. During the moments right at midnight we had some quiet reflection and took communion. Then we came on the stage, dressed in white to symbolize purity and went into that song.... What a moment to hear all those Germans and people from over 40 countries belting it out!!!!

6. Are you excited about the prospect of working with Integrity Music?

Yes, I am very excited about it!!! When I resigned from Vineyard Music a year ago, I had a sense I was to serve the broader church and God's Kingdom purposes. The cool thing is I didn't approach them; they called me and I really sensed this was something that God put together. I am very excited to record my first record with Integrity "Live from Dublin" in February, specifically because the theme of the songs I am writing is God's faithfulness in times of trouble and so I feel making this record is right for a time such as this.

7. You have mentioned that Phil Keaggy was an influence on you musically. Is there anyone else?

There are so many. First of all my father (Harry) and my grandfather (Peter). My grandfather used to play mandolin and while he lived in Paraguay he would lead a little group of musicians in worship music. My dad was the song leader in the Mennonite Brethern church I grew up in, plus he sang in a gospel quartet.

Other singers and artists (both Christian & Secular) that have influenced me are 2nd chapter of Acts, Keith Green, Jann Arden, U2, James Taylor, Jewel, Bob Fitts, and Ten Shekel Shirt (Lamont Hiebert). I should say I listen to lots of music so there are lots more, though I don't think that you can really compare anyone to anyone else. The awesome thing about the human voice and songwriting is everyone is unique.

8. What are you up to now?

As I already stated, I am preparing for my live recording in Dublin which will happen on Saturday Feb 16 2002. I have been finishing the songs, beginning to prepare arrangements and oversee the whole project. In addition, I am serving in my hometown of Abbotsford BC by gathering the worship pastors and leaders and hosting a support group for them, plus teaching a songwriting course for the worship writers here. We are having an incredible move of unity in our little city with a population of 100,000; at one of [the] recent worship and prayer events almost 10,000 people turned out, and then in this month we had 6 consecutive nights of worship and prayer that drew thousands each night!!!

I am also preparing to write a script update for a musical called "Father's House" that has been in the works for almost 10 years. The vision is to write a musical of hope for the fatherless. We plan to try it out again sometime in the next year or two. To facilitate this work, we had started a registered charity in the US called "Orphan's Hope"

I could list off some other work and ministry ventures, but having 6 children, including a couple with special needs keeps me quite occupied!!!

More Interviews:

>> Remaining Faithful
>> Western Pentecostal, March 2002
>> Worship Leader Song Stories, July 2001