An eclectic direction for Christian worship, combining alt-country/Americana with confessional praise and worship.

5 MP3 Songs in this album (21:59) !
Related styles: Rock: Americana, Country: Americana, Christian

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Details:
This album began as an internship project for me at Dallas Seminary, but quickly evolved into something more. I wanted the music to compliment the message, which for O, Sleeper, is John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." The album is about the need for Christians to wake up and recognize that the divisions we create within the church are sinful. Disunity tells the world a story that Jesus did not write nor authorize. There's a genuine call for love, unity, and faith throughout the album, as well as a underlining prayer for God to intervene in the lives of our loved ones.

Musically, I wanted to create something unique to the Christian worship world, so I did not set out to make the album "radio-friendly." I believe we who worked on the record accomplished that, at least enough to put us on the right track for future records. Music is the language of the soul, which is why I believe that it needs to be honest and true to who you are. I feel that O, Sleeper is who I am right now. I hope that others find themselves asking the same questions and wrestling with the same doubts with me. We all are on a spiritual journey to answers about who Jesus is. Sometimes it's just nice to know that we are not alone.

The cover was taken by my wife, Kara, who is an excellent photographer (and would be happy to do your wedding). My daughter, Kya, is the cherub with the umbrella.

Wake Up is a song that defines the album. It is very much written to those who believe in Christ already. Some worship songs are praise directly to God, some are confessions of what we believe, and some are encouragement sung to one another. This song is the latter.

More Like You is a confession of my heart. Have you ever watched someone struggle with something that you already felt you knew the answer to? Didn't you just long to go over and tell them "Hey! Here's the answer!" Most of the time, people need to figure things out for themselves to really grow. I believe Jesus is the only hope we have for salvation. I wish everyone knew it the way that I know it. It's a song of loving frustration.

A God Like This is simply an excuse to tell you something cool I learned about God. Often we think that God has the most power or that he possesses goodness. But the truth is, He does not simply possess these qualities, He IS the very definition of them. He IS power. He IS Goodness. He IS wisdom. The fact that He is the standard by which we understand those words and yet remains harmonious is amazing to me and difficult to understand. The song wraps up with the line "no other faith, has a God like this." Which is true. Ask any other faith to describe their god and they won't say all of that about him.

Elder Brothers is the apex of this album to me. For a complete understanding of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, read Tim Keller's book The Prodigal God. I read it in a day and it changed my life. We always look at that story and end with the lost son coming home and having a party. It's a happy ending. But that's not the point of the story. Jesus is telling this parable to the Jewish Pharisees, who pride themselves on keeping the Law, yet who have just scoffed at the idea of a teacher like Jesus eating with the drunks and "sinners." At the end of the story, the elder brother is outside and won't come in to the blessing feast for the lost son who returned home. The father is pleading with him to come in. This brother had done everything right, stayed home, etc. However, he's the one who doesn't get it. Then the story ends. We never find out if he goes in or anything. I imagine Jesus just looking at the Pharisees then with a look that says what He meant: That's you. Christians who do things right like to sometimes kick their brothers when they are down. The elder brother is worse off in that story than the brother who went wayward and came home. I don't want to be like the elder brother.

Psalm 51 is simply a few lines taken almost verbatim from the Scripture. This Psalm is the one David wrote after he confessed his sin to Bathsheba. I thought it would be nice at the end after we had talked about the state of things to confess our intent to change together.

So let's do that.