Hey Friends,
I'm back with another book review! Here are my thoughts on Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic.
Nick Vujicic is an inspiring person. Born in Australia without either arms or legs, he has overcome just about every obstacle life has placed in his path. Rather than viewing himself as "disabled" and letting life pass him by, he believes that his lack of limbs has "enabled" him to live a ridiculously good life, by the grace of God. In Life Without Limits, Nick shares his strategy for overcoming life's challenges and says that everyone can live life to the fullest regardless of the difficulties they face. Coming from such a joyful person -who has no arms or legs- it's hard to argue otherwise! Life Without Limits is choc-ful of inspiring, personal stories of struggle and triumph, as well as the stories of other inspiring folks Nick has met along the way in his world travels.
I had high expectations for this book because I've seen a video of one of Nick's speaches on YouTube and thought it was excellent. I am also a huge fan of the short film, The Butterfly Circus, which Nick stars in. Even though Life Without Limits is contagiously optimistic, I was disappointed by its blend of Christian and humanistic ideas. Throughout the book, Nick encourages the reader that anything is possible if you work hard and never give up. He frequently used the saying, God helps those who help themselves, which is not a biblical concept. The main focus of the book was how you can live a happy life. I am thrilled that Nick is a joyful person who is not wallowing in self-pity. Like I said at the beginning of this review, he truly is an inspiring person. But God's main focus for us is not that we would live a happy life here on earth, but that we would turn from our sins and believe in Christ so that we can live a happy life forever with Him in eternity. Unfortunately, Life Without Limits is not a book I would recommend.
I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing for this review.
As a side note, I would very highly recommend the short film The Butterfly Circus that Nick Vujicic starred in! In fact, I love this film so much I plan on blogging about it soon :) Check out the trailer and then go to the website to watch the whole film!
BUTTERFLY CIRCUS TEASER from The Butterfly Circus on Vimeo.
Thanks for reading!
Christin
Truth Bomb Blog
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Book Review: Real-Life Discipleship
Hey Friends,
I just finished reading a great book called Real-Life Discipleship: Building Churches that Make Disciples by Jim Putnam. I would definitely recommend it. Here's my review.
Real-Life Discipleship by Jim Putnam is an excellent basic manual for the Christian desiring to disciple others. Though this book is written specifically for church leaders, it is a valuable resource for all believers. Real-Life Discipleship emphasizes the biblical mandate for all Christians to make disciples (the Great Commission) and gives a biblical and practical strategy for how to make it happen.
One of the things I found most helpful in this book was the way Putnam defined the spiritual stages in the life of a Christian and how to minister to believers in each stage. I have witnessed first-hand the various spiritual stages (dead, infant, child, young adult, parent), but I was at a loss for how to minister according to the stage a person is in and how to move them forward in their spiritual maturity. I have read some reviews of Real-Life Discipleship that said the spiritual stages were presented in too strict a manner, verging on legalism. I don't think this is the way it was intended. The descriptions of the spiritual stages are only generalizations and a person may be between stages at any given time. They are given only as an aid to finding where a believer is at in their walk with Christ and how to minister to them right where they are.
The discipleship "game plan" laid out in Real-Life Discipleship is one that has been tried and proven effective at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho - one of the top 100 most influential churches in America. But this is not a manual on how to turn your church into Real Life Ministries. Rather it is a book about discipleship the way Jesus did it. I highly recommend this book.
*I received Real-Life Discipleship by Jim Putnam by request for review from a Mission Frontiers promotion (http://www.missionfrontiers.org/).
To purchase Real-Life Discipleship or read a sample chapter visit NavPress.com.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Story Behind the Song: Dreams
Hey Friends,
The Story Behind the Song series continues today with the song "Dreams". I wrote a little bit about this song last year in the post Some Thoughts on Following Christ, but today I'll write in more depth.
Even though "Dreams" is quite possibly my favorite song we've ever written, I can't seem to put its story into words. I've put it off for weeks (okay, more like months) and even now this is my second time writing it. Part of me wants to just leave the song to explain itself, but I don't think that would do. So here goes.
I used to think that we should dream big because we have a big God who can make our dreams come true. I still believe that statement, but not quite in the same way as before. My vision was short-sighted back then. I expected my dreams and desires to be fulfilled on this earth, in this life. But I've come to realize that this life does not always go the way you'd planned. Sometimes your desires go unfulfilled. But the thing is, it's not because God isn't big enough to make your dreams come true and it's not because He is cold-hearted and doesn't care about the things you long for. If all of our wishes were granted on earth, who would ever want to go to Heaven? I mean, really? Would you have any desire to go to Heaven if your life were exactly the way you wanted it? And the question goes the other way too. If Heaven didn't exist or if it wasn't really all that wonderful, why would anyone give up their earthly dreams to build God's Kingdom?
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:44-46
I love those parables! Those stories are what "Dreams" is all about. Living for God's Kingdom is so much better than living for my kingdom. It is so much better that I will give up all of my earthly dreams in order to follow Christ. He is worth every bit of it. Every tear, every heartache, every loss, every dream that goes out on the breeze. Because in their place God has given me wings to fly after Him wherever He goes. Does it really get any better than that? I believe with all of my heart that I will be richly rewarded for everything I've ever given up for the sake of Christ.
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11
What a beautiful declaration! "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." Have you ever really thought about what the Apostle Paul is saying here? He's saying that there is nothing better than knowing Christ. Nothing! Everything else is a loss in comparison to knowing Christ. I never used to feel that way about Jesus until my dreams began to crumble. When the picture in my head of what I always dreamed my life would be like didn't look anything like the life I was living, I found the value of knowing Christ. My dreams may have come undone, but God has given me Himself instead. What a trade!
Dreams
Sometimes it seems I've lost all my dreams
To the bottom of the ocean
I let them go out on a breeze
You carried them far away from me
Is this where You want me?
Is this how it should be?
Can I follow You and still live out a dream?
The plans that I made up years ago
Took flight and left me here all alone
And in their place You've given me wings
To fly after You wherever You go
Is this where You want me?
Is this how it should be?
Can I follow You and still live out a dream?
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done
On earth as in Heaven
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done
This is where You've brought me
This is how it should be
To follow You has become my only dream
To follow You has become my only dream
Blessings to you,
Christin
You can listen to "Dreams" HERE and buy it on iTunes HERE.
The Story Behind the Song series continues today with the song "Dreams". I wrote a little bit about this song last year in the post Some Thoughts on Following Christ, but today I'll write in more depth.
Even though "Dreams" is quite possibly my favorite song we've ever written, I can't seem to put its story into words. I've put it off for weeks (okay, more like months) and even now this is my second time writing it. Part of me wants to just leave the song to explain itself, but I don't think that would do. So here goes.
I used to think that we should dream big because we have a big God who can make our dreams come true. I still believe that statement, but not quite in the same way as before. My vision was short-sighted back then. I expected my dreams and desires to be fulfilled on this earth, in this life. But I've come to realize that this life does not always go the way you'd planned. Sometimes your desires go unfulfilled. But the thing is, it's not because God isn't big enough to make your dreams come true and it's not because He is cold-hearted and doesn't care about the things you long for. If all of our wishes were granted on earth, who would ever want to go to Heaven? I mean, really? Would you have any desire to go to Heaven if your life were exactly the way you wanted it? And the question goes the other way too. If Heaven didn't exist or if it wasn't really all that wonderful, why would anyone give up their earthly dreams to build God's Kingdom?
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:44-46
I love those parables! Those stories are what "Dreams" is all about. Living for God's Kingdom is so much better than living for my kingdom. It is so much better that I will give up all of my earthly dreams in order to follow Christ. He is worth every bit of it. Every tear, every heartache, every loss, every dream that goes out on the breeze. Because in their place God has given me wings to fly after Him wherever He goes. Does it really get any better than that? I believe with all of my heart that I will be richly rewarded for everything I've ever given up for the sake of Christ.
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11
What a beautiful declaration! "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." Have you ever really thought about what the Apostle Paul is saying here? He's saying that there is nothing better than knowing Christ. Nothing! Everything else is a loss in comparison to knowing Christ. I never used to feel that way about Jesus until my dreams began to crumble. When the picture in my head of what I always dreamed my life would be like didn't look anything like the life I was living, I found the value of knowing Christ. My dreams may have come undone, but God has given me Himself instead. What a trade!
Dreams
Sometimes it seems I've lost all my dreams
To the bottom of the ocean
I let them go out on a breeze
You carried them far away from me
Is this where You want me?
Is this how it should be?
Can I follow You and still live out a dream?
The plans that I made up years ago
Took flight and left me here all alone
And in their place You've given me wings
To fly after You wherever You go
Is this where You want me?
Is this how it should be?
Can I follow You and still live out a dream?
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done
On earth as in Heaven
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done
This is where You've brought me
This is how it should be
To follow You has become my only dream
To follow You has become my only dream
Blessings to you,
Christin
You can listen to "Dreams" HERE and buy it on iTunes HERE.
Friday, February 18, 2011
The Story Behind the Song: Lock Down
Hey Friends,
I'm excited today to tell the story behind "Lock Down" because out of all the songs we've written it's been one of our absolute favorites. "Lock Down" is the second track on our fourth album, Where I'm Found, and it's also our radio single for CHR format radio stations. The story for this one goes back to the spring of 2006, and what's funny about it to me is that the song was born from an error in my guitar playing.
In early 06, we were having a band practice and I was trying to work out some accompany chords for the song "Mercies". I'd always played the same thing as Andrew and I wanted to change it up and play a different guitar part. In the end, Andrew ended up playing some cool ambient sounds on electric while I stuck with the same chord progression as usual on acoustic. But in my failed attempt to use different chords for "Mercies", I kept accidentally playing some funky, dissonant chord (that I still don't know the name of) rather than the Bm7 I meant to play. I kept making this error as we tried to play through the song so I finally stopped and showed Andy and Kaitie what I was doing wrong. As I played the Bm7 and the mistake chord back-to-back a few times I realized they sounded pretty cool together. I started jamming on the chord progression until Kaitie joined in with a funky, rhythmic bass line and Andrew started ad-libbing random, humorous lyrics to a catchy melody. Before we knew it, Sam had heard that we were playing something new and joined us with a pen and notebook handy. Within a few minutes, she'd written the first verse and handed the lyrics to Andrew to replace his dummy lyrics. Andrew also started playing a guitar lick with some attitude that ended up being the lick you hear after every chorus and between verses. We were having a blast writing this one!
Ironically, our neighbor at that time who lived across the street from us--though very kind--had a bad habit of peeking through her blinds to watch us every time we came home or stepped out our front door. While we were writing "Lock Down" and getting into the lyrics, we couldn't help but start to feel creeped out. It was dark outside and we had the curtains in the room open and we started feeling like the Devil literally was prowling around our house and peeking in our windows. All the while, our neighbor across the street was probably peering through the blinds thinking we'd lost our sanity!
The easiest part of writing a song is the very beginning when you have a burst of creativity and start writing. The song can be anything you want it to be at that point. It's once you've established the theme and structure of a song that it starts to get tough. And that's exactly how it went with "Lock Down". Musically, there wasn't much difficulty because the entire song is made up of those two chords. But the lyrics were another story. Sam wrote the vast majority of them with some help here and there from the rest of us. Most of what we did to "help" her was say, "Hmm, I don't think that line really works. Maybe try again." She was a great sport and wrote several versions of the song until she was nearly crazy. But the final product ended up being a song that I can hardly believe we wrote. The lyrics are so off-the-wall and yet so deep that it reminds me of Steve Taylor's lyrics in Newsboys songs like "Shine". Maybe that's a bit pretentious of me to say, but I can at least tell you that Sam credits Steve Taylor for inspiring such insane lyrics!
"Lock Down" has been an incredibly fun song to play live. The first time we played it at a show, we were elated by the response from the audience. The kids in the audience were even jumping up and down and pumping their fists, which was behavior completely unheard of at a Truth Bomb concert in the past. Up until that time, we had jokingly called ourselves a ballad band as we seemed incapable of writing anything with a tempo over 85 BPM. The lyrics also seem to stick with people, which is awesome. For us, if people love the sound of a song but don't remember it's message, it's not even worth playing. The purpose of writing music is to communicate a message.
We hope "Lock Down" serves as a reminder to Christians that we are in a spiritual war. Ephesians 6:10-13 says, "Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand." Our goal with "Lock Down" was to reveal the tactics of the Devil and encourage the saints to take up the armor of God and stand against the spiritual forces of evil. This song is our battle cry.
"Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour." 1 Peter 5:8
You can listen to "Lock Down" HERE or buy it on iTunes HERE. Thanks for reading!
Christin
I'm excited today to tell the story behind "Lock Down" because out of all the songs we've written it's been one of our absolute favorites. "Lock Down" is the second track on our fourth album, Where I'm Found, and it's also our radio single for CHR format radio stations. The story for this one goes back to the spring of 2006, and what's funny about it to me is that the song was born from an error in my guitar playing.
In early 06, we were having a band practice and I was trying to work out some accompany chords for the song "Mercies". I'd always played the same thing as Andrew and I wanted to change it up and play a different guitar part. In the end, Andrew ended up playing some cool ambient sounds on electric while I stuck with the same chord progression as usual on acoustic. But in my failed attempt to use different chords for "Mercies", I kept accidentally playing some funky, dissonant chord (that I still don't know the name of) rather than the Bm7 I meant to play. I kept making this error as we tried to play through the song so I finally stopped and showed Andy and Kaitie what I was doing wrong. As I played the Bm7 and the mistake chord back-to-back a few times I realized they sounded pretty cool together. I started jamming on the chord progression until Kaitie joined in with a funky, rhythmic bass line and Andrew started ad-libbing random, humorous lyrics to a catchy melody. Before we knew it, Sam had heard that we were playing something new and joined us with a pen and notebook handy. Within a few minutes, she'd written the first verse and handed the lyrics to Andrew to replace his dummy lyrics. Andrew also started playing a guitar lick with some attitude that ended up being the lick you hear after every chorus and between verses. We were having a blast writing this one!
Ironically, our neighbor at that time who lived across the street from us--though very kind--had a bad habit of peeking through her blinds to watch us every time we came home or stepped out our front door. While we were writing "Lock Down" and getting into the lyrics, we couldn't help but start to feel creeped out. It was dark outside and we had the curtains in the room open and we started feeling like the Devil literally was prowling around our house and peeking in our windows. All the while, our neighbor across the street was probably peering through the blinds thinking we'd lost our sanity!
The easiest part of writing a song is the very beginning when you have a burst of creativity and start writing. The song can be anything you want it to be at that point. It's once you've established the theme and structure of a song that it starts to get tough. And that's exactly how it went with "Lock Down". Musically, there wasn't much difficulty because the entire song is made up of those two chords. But the lyrics were another story. Sam wrote the vast majority of them with some help here and there from the rest of us. Most of what we did to "help" her was say, "Hmm, I don't think that line really works. Maybe try again." She was a great sport and wrote several versions of the song until she was nearly crazy. But the final product ended up being a song that I can hardly believe we wrote. The lyrics are so off-the-wall and yet so deep that it reminds me of Steve Taylor's lyrics in Newsboys songs like "Shine". Maybe that's a bit pretentious of me to say, but I can at least tell you that Sam credits Steve Taylor for inspiring such insane lyrics!
"Lock Down" has been an incredibly fun song to play live. The first time we played it at a show, we were elated by the response from the audience. The kids in the audience were even jumping up and down and pumping their fists, which was behavior completely unheard of at a Truth Bomb concert in the past. Up until that time, we had jokingly called ourselves a ballad band as we seemed incapable of writing anything with a tempo over 85 BPM. The lyrics also seem to stick with people, which is awesome. For us, if people love the sound of a song but don't remember it's message, it's not even worth playing. The purpose of writing music is to communicate a message.
We hope "Lock Down" serves as a reminder to Christians that we are in a spiritual war. Ephesians 6:10-13 says, "Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand." Our goal with "Lock Down" was to reveal the tactics of the Devil and encourage the saints to take up the armor of God and stand against the spiritual forces of evil. This song is our battle cry.
"Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour." 1 Peter 5:8
You can listen to "Lock Down" HERE or buy it on iTunes HERE. Thanks for reading!
Christin
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Book Review: The Charlatan's Boy
Hello Friends,
I am an avid reader and have been since the first grade. Which pretty much means I fell in love with books as soon as I could read them. Recently, I discovered that WaterBrook Multnomah, a company that has published many of my favorite authors, has a cool program called Blogging For Books. WaterBrook Multnomah mails me free books if I will blog reviews for them. As long as I keep reviewing books, they'll keep sending them. If you love to read too and don't mind writing reviews, then I highly recommend you check out Blogging For Books.
The first book I have received for review is The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers. Here is my review.
The Charlatan's Boy is the story of an orphan named Grady who lives in the frontier land of Corenwald. Grady has spent his whole life--as far back as he can remember--playing the part of a live, in-the-flesh he-feechie in huckster Floyd Wendellson's traveling show. Floyd never gives Grady a straight story about where he came from and who his real mamma and pap are, leaving Grady feeling forever out-of-place. Though Floyd is not the sort of character Grady prefers to be around, Grady remains loyal because "you've got to love someone", and Floyd is all he's got. And besides that, the feechie show is where Grady feels the most like his true self.
The Charlatan's Boy didn't keep my attention very well during the first half of the book, but the second half improved. The end of the story provided a very unexpected plot twist that left me, surprisingly, very happy with the outcome. Over all, this fantasy novel left me wishing the story were as fascinating as the beautiful cover.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
Until next time,
Christin
I am an avid reader and have been since the first grade. Which pretty much means I fell in love with books as soon as I could read them. Recently, I discovered that WaterBrook Multnomah, a company that has published many of my favorite authors, has a cool program called Blogging For Books. WaterBrook Multnomah mails me free books if I will blog reviews for them. As long as I keep reviewing books, they'll keep sending them. If you love to read too and don't mind writing reviews, then I highly recommend you check out Blogging For Books.
The first book I have received for review is The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers. Here is my review.
The Charlatan's Boy is the story of an orphan named Grady who lives in the frontier land of Corenwald. Grady has spent his whole life--as far back as he can remember--playing the part of a live, in-the-flesh he-feechie in huckster Floyd Wendellson's traveling show. Floyd never gives Grady a straight story about where he came from and who his real mamma and pap are, leaving Grady feeling forever out-of-place. Though Floyd is not the sort of character Grady prefers to be around, Grady remains loyal because "you've got to love someone", and Floyd is all he's got. And besides that, the feechie show is where Grady feels the most like his true self.
The Charlatan's Boy didn't keep my attention very well during the first half of the book, but the second half improved. The end of the story provided a very unexpected plot twist that left me, surprisingly, very happy with the outcome. Over all, this fantasy novel left me wishing the story were as fascinating as the beautiful cover.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
Until next time,
Christin
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Story Behind the Song: Where I'm Found
Hello Friends!
I haven't been keeping up with the Story Behind the Song series very well, have I? Today's post is about the title track off our new album Where I'm Found.
The song "Where I'm Found" has been around for a few years so I feel like there are a lot of stories to tell about it. The only part I had in writing the song was naming it -- and perhaps providing a mild critique of the lyrics. I love naming songs and albums and I blame Switchfoot for that. I have always enjoyed the creative, intriguing names Switchfoot gives their songs and albums. "Where I'm Found" doesn't quite meet their standard, but I did my best.
I believe it was Ginny Owens who once said that you should never stop writing a song. Always be willing to revise it if a better idea comes to you. "Where I'm Found" should be the poster child for that statement! Andrew and Samantha (Sam), wrote this song back in '07. Andrew wrote the music on an acoustic guitar using an alternate tuning. In fact, I think this was the first song we've written using an alternate tuning (besides standard down a half-step, which doesn't really count). The tuning on the guitar gives the chord progression a big sound with a sad, beautiful melody running though it. And Sam's lyrics totally fit it. The song is really a lament and a prayer. It is a lamentation over our propensity to wander from God's way. And it is a prayer that God would let His love be where we're found.
When this song was first written, we had some serious issues with the tempo and it tended to be too wordy. It was one of those deals where we thought we had a really good song on our hands, but it somehow wasn't quite there yet. We played the song at our concerts with a slightly awkward tempo change and it always felt just a bit too long.
In October 2007, we attended a weekend-long music conference in Tampa called Ignition. Part of the conference was a songwriting class where they had members of the class come up on stage and play one of their songs. Then the audience and industry executives would discuss the song's high and low points. Andrew played "Where I'm Found" for this class. We intentionally chose that song knowing it wasn't our best. We knew it needed a little work and we wanted the opinions of the industry "big shots". Over all, "Where I'm Found" stood up pretty well. Actually, some of the comments were better than we expected. But the problems we had with it didn't go unnoticed. The tempo issue was mentioned as well as the song feeling too long and wordy. Unfortunately, no one had any idea what part we should cut. So for over two more years we played the song as it was, not knowing what to do differently.
At the end of '09, we had a lot of success on radio with our Christmas single "Angels We Have Heard On High". So at the beginning of 2010 we decided we should record a radio single to follow up with. We felt that "Where I'm Found" would be our most commercial song to fit the AC radio format. It wasn't until we began recording the song that Andrew had a breakthrough. He suggested that we cut the bridge of "Where I'm Found" out completely. Music and lyrics. And instead replace it with a guitar solo played over the chorus chord progression. After re-evaluating the bridge lyrics, we realized that they weren't necessary to communicate the message of the song. And musically, a guitar solo would accomplish the same thing the bridge had. Even though the song isn't really any shorter than it used to be, at 3 minutes 46 seconds it fits right in with any other song on the radio. The omitted lyrics and added guitar solo create more diversity and interest in the song making it feel shorter.
Early last year, we released "Where I'm Found" as a single and began sending it out to radio stations. We didn't honestly have a great deal of confidence in the track as we knew it didn't meet the quality standard of our Christmas music. But we released it anyway because it was the best we could do. One of the stations that we had a HUGE amount of support from during the Christmas season was KLTY in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. But we "knew" they wouldn't play "Where I'm Found" so we almost didn't send it to them. The music director for the station ended up surprising us by saying he would play it on a program called New Music Cafe to see how the listeners liked it, but he told us he thought it would go over better if we could record drums and strings. We told him we'd work on it some more and get the song back to him when we'd improved it. Andrew recorded drums on a borrowed kit at church and began programming synths because he didn't know how to program strings. Then we "met" Brian Gocher on Facebook. Brian is not the kind of guy that you will know by name (unless you are a die-hard liner note reader), but you've heard his work. He's worked with artists like Kutless, Newsboys, Superchick, etc. It turns out that Brian's specialty is programming. Exactly what we needed. So in April, we began working with Brian on "Where I'm Found". He co-produced the song with Andrew and programmed drums, strings, keys and other cool stuff at his studio in New Jersey. We recorded our parts here at our studio in Florida and Andrew mixed and mastered. The first time we heard "Where I'm Found" with an orchestra in it, we were totally thrilled! It has honestly been a dream of mine since we started Truth Bomb to hear our music with strings. Brian did a phenomenal job! And on top of that, Andrew learned a ton by working with Brian and was then able to program drums, strings and keys for the rest of the album himself.
So in the end, this awkward song that got mixed reviews finally grew up into a fully produced radio single and the title track of our first full-length album. Not bad, if you ask me.
Blessings,
Christin
P.S. You can listen to "Where I'm Found" HERE and buy the new album HERE!
I haven't been keeping up with the Story Behind the Song series very well, have I? Today's post is about the title track off our new album Where I'm Found.
The song "Where I'm Found" has been around for a few years so I feel like there are a lot of stories to tell about it. The only part I had in writing the song was naming it -- and perhaps providing a mild critique of the lyrics. I love naming songs and albums and I blame Switchfoot for that. I have always enjoyed the creative, intriguing names Switchfoot gives their songs and albums. "Where I'm Found" doesn't quite meet their standard, but I did my best.
I believe it was Ginny Owens who once said that you should never stop writing a song. Always be willing to revise it if a better idea comes to you. "Where I'm Found" should be the poster child for that statement! Andrew and Samantha (Sam), wrote this song back in '07. Andrew wrote the music on an acoustic guitar using an alternate tuning. In fact, I think this was the first song we've written using an alternate tuning (besides standard down a half-step, which doesn't really count). The tuning on the guitar gives the chord progression a big sound with a sad, beautiful melody running though it. And Sam's lyrics totally fit it. The song is really a lament and a prayer. It is a lamentation over our propensity to wander from God's way. And it is a prayer that God would let His love be where we're found.
When this song was first written, we had some serious issues with the tempo and it tended to be too wordy. It was one of those deals where we thought we had a really good song on our hands, but it somehow wasn't quite there yet. We played the song at our concerts with a slightly awkward tempo change and it always felt just a bit too long.
In October 2007, we attended a weekend-long music conference in Tampa called Ignition. Part of the conference was a songwriting class where they had members of the class come up on stage and play one of their songs. Then the audience and industry executives would discuss the song's high and low points. Andrew played "Where I'm Found" for this class. We intentionally chose that song knowing it wasn't our best. We knew it needed a little work and we wanted the opinions of the industry "big shots". Over all, "Where I'm Found" stood up pretty well. Actually, some of the comments were better than we expected. But the problems we had with it didn't go unnoticed. The tempo issue was mentioned as well as the song feeling too long and wordy. Unfortunately, no one had any idea what part we should cut. So for over two more years we played the song as it was, not knowing what to do differently.
At the end of '09, we had a lot of success on radio with our Christmas single "Angels We Have Heard On High". So at the beginning of 2010 we decided we should record a radio single to follow up with. We felt that "Where I'm Found" would be our most commercial song to fit the AC radio format. It wasn't until we began recording the song that Andrew had a breakthrough. He suggested that we cut the bridge of "Where I'm Found" out completely. Music and lyrics. And instead replace it with a guitar solo played over the chorus chord progression. After re-evaluating the bridge lyrics, we realized that they weren't necessary to communicate the message of the song. And musically, a guitar solo would accomplish the same thing the bridge had. Even though the song isn't really any shorter than it used to be, at 3 minutes 46 seconds it fits right in with any other song on the radio. The omitted lyrics and added guitar solo create more diversity and interest in the song making it feel shorter.
Early last year, we released "Where I'm Found" as a single and began sending it out to radio stations. We didn't honestly have a great deal of confidence in the track as we knew it didn't meet the quality standard of our Christmas music. But we released it anyway because it was the best we could do. One of the stations that we had a HUGE amount of support from during the Christmas season was KLTY in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. But we "knew" they wouldn't play "Where I'm Found" so we almost didn't send it to them. The music director for the station ended up surprising us by saying he would play it on a program called New Music Cafe to see how the listeners liked it, but he told us he thought it would go over better if we could record drums and strings. We told him we'd work on it some more and get the song back to him when we'd improved it. Andrew recorded drums on a borrowed kit at church and began programming synths because he didn't know how to program strings. Then we "met" Brian Gocher on Facebook. Brian is not the kind of guy that you will know by name (unless you are a die-hard liner note reader), but you've heard his work. He's worked with artists like Kutless, Newsboys, Superchick, etc. It turns out that Brian's specialty is programming. Exactly what we needed. So in April, we began working with Brian on "Where I'm Found". He co-produced the song with Andrew and programmed drums, strings, keys and other cool stuff at his studio in New Jersey. We recorded our parts here at our studio in Florida and Andrew mixed and mastered. The first time we heard "Where I'm Found" with an orchestra in it, we were totally thrilled! It has honestly been a dream of mine since we started Truth Bomb to hear our music with strings. Brian did a phenomenal job! And on top of that, Andrew learned a ton by working with Brian and was then able to program drums, strings and keys for the rest of the album himself.
So in the end, this awkward song that got mixed reviews finally grew up into a fully produced radio single and the title track of our first full-length album. Not bad, if you ask me.
Blessings,
Christin
P.S. You can listen to "Where I'm Found" HERE and buy the new album HERE!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
On This Day
Hello Friends!
Today is a pretty special day around here. It is, in fact, Truth Bomb's sixth birthday. And for some reason all day I keep writing "third" rather than "sixth". Maybe it only feels like three years? Not really. I don't know why I keep doing that. In commemoration of this special occasion here are two photos. One from "then" and the other, "now".
Today is a pretty special day around here. It is, in fact, Truth Bomb's sixth birthday. And for some reason all day I keep writing "third" rather than "sixth". Maybe it only feels like three years? Not really. I don't know why I keep doing that. In commemoration of this special occasion here are two photos. One from "then" and the other, "now".
It's bad when your own photograph makes you laugh! In the photo from '05, Kaitie's bass was almost as big as she is! She wasn't even 12 years old yet. And Andrew was still shorter than me. He's got me beat by about a half-foot now! My "little" brother no longer.
On January 23, 2005 we played "Today" -- the first song we ever wrote -- at the end of the last service at our church. And by "last service", I literally mean it was the last service at that church, ever, before it closed. It was a sad day. And I was so nervous! My hands shook so bad I was surprised I could still play. We recorded our performance of that song on a cassette tape and that's what we used to book our next couple shows. To this day, I'm still not sure how we got any bookings!
Oddly enough, the closing of our church was the reason we decided to start a band in the first place. Andrew and I had been playing in the worship band and we had every intention of continuing. But when the church closed, we no longer had a place to play music. We were writing our own songs by then too. So we decided we'd try to play at any churches that would have us. And play we did! About every other week on average that first year. It's just like God to take a sad occasion and use it to make something good and entirely unexpected happen.
Blessings,
Christin
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