One of the most asked questions in the church and the Christian music industry is “Where is worship going?”. It’s more like “Where is the sound of worship going?”.

I write this post talking about style and genre, not necessarily a particular spiritual direction, even though the direction of style and genre play a huge role in the spiritual direction for the church.

         I have recently been hit with a new perspective on country music. I have always found myself saying, “I hate country music and can’t stand it”. I would then turn on my iPod and select tracks from artists such as Mumford and Sons, Gregory Alan Isakov, Fleet Foxes, The Lumineers, etc. My wife would sit there and laugh at me and say “You know this is country, right?”. Of course, I was talking about mainstream country that sings about tractors, divorces, etc. I never realized that folk was a form of country. 

         I believe there is a strong movement of folk music in the music industry all together. It has always been there, but now it is has started making its way to mainstream. High schoolers are liking Mumford and Sons, which doesn’t really fit, but by this, it has allowed me to listen to The Lumineers on the radio. That’s crazy. A radio station that was heavily infested with GaGas, Dawgs, and artists whose first names are ‘Lil” are now playing music with less auto-tune.

         I like to live by the phrase “To each its own”. So if you don’t like folk or agree with me, that is fine, to each its own. I still believe it is making a movement in the church on some level. A lot of people, not all, in the church have been blasted in the face for too long with the loudness, the performances, and cool lighting during their time of worship. Many people have expressed to me that they are tired of this. Again, let me emphasize, there is nothing wrong with this. I have been a part of this type of worship for years. If you are a worship leader or pastor who works at a church with this environment, I am not saying you are doing it wrong at all. If it works great for your community, keep doing it. There is always a place for it. I am also not saying, that it is not okay to “rock out” in church. I enjoy a good “rock out” for Jesus. It is a form of worship. My favorite worship album this past year was “For The Sake of The World” by Bethel. The intensity is loud on that album, but even their most sold album was “The Loft Sessions” and that is a broken down acoustic/percussion driven album with some banjo flavor added to it.

         People are looking for something real and authentic. Hurting people. Many people have been burned by the church and are looking for something different. Not a different God, but a different approach to the way they can worship Him and experience Him within a community. In my travels, I have been seeing a lot of churches bringing a more liturgical approach to the structures of their services. Churches that are “Non-Demoninational” and/or more on the “Evangelical/Charismatic” side. This is beautiful to me; reciting of scripture together, taking communion every Sunday, and people greeting each other with “grace and peace”. I feel like I can find myself getting a chance to breathe. I feel like I can finally hear myself pray, sing, and even listen in better. This is especially a better approach for people who have ADD, like me, who follow strobes that go from one side of the room to the other. I think the saying “less is more” is becoming more powerful than most people think.

         I am not a fan of the split in denominations. I do not like the idea of churches conflicting in differences over theology, or even small matters. I do believe in the differences of preferences and I am all for gatherings that can accommodate everyone’s different preference to help connect them to Christ in the personal way they need it. I do not believe in this on a level of disunity. Sadly, this is almost impossible to keep from happening. In saying all of this, I have been seeing a folk movement in worship in this environment more and more. Worship artist’s such as Gungor, All Sons and Daughters, and Rend Collective are some artists in the industry have been starting to present this approach and it has been working real well. Most would say very refreshing.

         Personally, in my own music career, I am considering the possibility of experimenting with this style for my next record as well. I am not saying its a 100% go or if I can even pull it off, but I am going to explore the option because this is where I see worship going and it is beautiful sound. Not replicating the sound, but incorporating it into my own sound that I like to think I have created. As an artist, creating my own sound, I have to pull from the music around me. Any artist who tells you they don’t is lying. I encourage you to read the book called “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon. It will open your mind to creating. 

         Worship leaders: I believe whatever style you decide to lead worship in, if your heart is right, Christ is still honored. Keeping Christ first and the church second, you can’t go wrong with any style you choose. Though, I encourage you to explore all options and find your sound. If you are a Hillsong based church, try breaking it down one Sunday with a banjo. Surprise people. Throw them off their routine. Challenge them to worship Christ out of their comfort zone. Challenge yourself to lead out of your comfort zone. Music is art. Worship is also art. As long as Christ is glorified, there is no right or wrong answer. This post is simply my opinion and what I believe I see growing in the church. Now get to fiddling.

-Will

From dawn to dusk we face feelings such as fear, courage, love, and even intimidation. 

The one that always seems to overcome the others though is fear,

the fear of failing. 

What does it mean to be brave? 

What does it mean to have bravery?

I believe even the most successful people in the world have felt the weight of fear. The weight that would hold anyone down when developing or using their own personal craft.

In this post, I have decided to be vulnerable with you.

Everyday I fear of failing in music.

This journey has been a long haul process of finding and developing an inner confidence to mask my fear of failing. There are only a few people close enough, in my life, who can sense my fear. The takeaway is that I have found this inner confidence to be a handy tool to minimize my insecurity and help me find the boldness to be brave. I believe it can be handy for you too.

We all have a certain level of confidence. We all have a certain level of insecurity.

The difference between all of us is defined in our choosing. The choices we make will determine the ruler over us; confidence or insecurity. 

Ask any singer, pastor, business man, fireman, teacher or anyone for that matter about fear. With no doubt, I am sure they will all admit, at times, a hint of hesitation comes upon them before they step out on to their platform. The difference between them and us is that they found their bravery and they took that step even when they felt fear.

4 things we can take and implement when fear causes us to lose our bravery:

Shake- 

You must shake any form of insecurity, fear, intimidation and depression off of your shoulders. You must snap out of this mindset and cast your burdens into the sea. Christ is hear to talk it out. Our friends and family are hear to support us. We are not alone. Lets not deceive ourselves. Lets shake it off.

See-  

See yourself as God sees you. He looks at His children, His people, as His chosen race, His holy people. We are Holy because of His Spirit in us. We must see our value in order to effectively produce value. Let God impart dreams and visions into your mind and heart. Hear His voice, and see His hand working on your behalf. I am a firm believer in working hard for your value but those times when you see Christ working with you and for you, allow it to produce an extra amount of strength in order to gain an extra amount of bravery. See it.

Survive- 

You must survive in this cruel world. Not everyone is going to like you or your craft. Our craft is our most valuable possession and when someone does not like it, it stings a bit. This whole thing is a game of survival. Facing our fear, holding onto our inner confidence, continuing to search, and not relenting our steps of bravery is key to overcoming. Will you give up? Will you settle? Will you survive?

Show-  

Prove to yourself and show the world what you are made of. Show people the value that God has put on the inside of you. He didn’t create you to fail. The steps of bravery can help you find your own personal value and allow you to grow that inner confidence to discover who you really are. Its time to release that album, to preach that sermon, to present your new idea, to start writing your book, to develop your new business, to write a blog, or to just craft something valuable. Show it.

I am about to face a new fear next week. Something that will require bravery to be a lifelong partner. Next friday, October 12th at 5:30pm, I am getting married to the most beautiful girl I know and the best friend I’ve ever had. My fear is not whether I am making a mistake, but my fear is to be enough for her. To be the perfect husband. To be the perfect dad. To be the spiritual head of the house, this one is scary.

But you know what, I am not going to let those things scare me away. I have developed bravery in our relationship over time and through the help of Christ, friends, and family. With confidence, I know that I will be able to say “I do.” and not regret it. So instead of letting fear consume me, I am allowing myself to be overwhelmed with joy and excitement. Starting a new adventure with the one I love is most the thrilling thing I think I have ever experienced. Its the inner confidence that will allow me to take fear by the horns and cast it aside. This is the strength I have found in bravery.

I feel ready.

I feel empowered.

I just want to shout.

My encouragement to you is to simply be brave today. Take some steps. Shake that intimidation. Show yourself that you can do all things through Christ. Survive the hardships of this world fighting against you by not giving up. See your value. See Christ working with you. Find your inner confidence. Be brave.

-Will

“see the rich. see the poor. see the crumbling. see the used, the confused, and the struggling. take a look around and see the pain.”

 how many times do we walk past someone in pain?

how many times do we choose to look away when we see opportunities that could call for us to step out of our comfort?

            i was in burcharest, romania a couple years ago with a team of nine and there we saw rejection towards many gypsy children who needed a simple meal or even just a smile. the children were treated like dirt. the sad thing is, this is the cultural norm in europe and many other countries as well. the children in romania ended up being our main focus of the trip and we spent time with them everyday playing games, loving on them, teaching them bible stories, and feeding them with what little money we had. we simply just did what others would not. we saw them.

            a lot of people would say, “they are thieves and beggars. they shouldn’t get attention.” , so if you are one who thinks this way then ask yourself “what would i do to survive?” i personally am a strong believer in microfinancing and teaching someone how to fish and eventually teaching them how to own their own pond, but with what little time we have when we encounter such situations in split seconds of time, the real questions we should ask ourselves are:  

how can we make their lives easier today?

could we really show them the love of Christ through a simple smile?

can I afford to buy them a cheap burger?

what if i took a second to pray with them or tell them about this Savior i know?   

these are ways we can see people.

            this post isn’t just about seeing homeless children but seeing everyone around us. spirits are dying everyday. most people have some kind of pain that they are taking a long for the ride. the rich, the poor, our friends, our enemies and even ourselves need to been seen. a simple message Christ told His disciples, found in John 21, before he ascended, was “feed my sheep”.

 so how do we feed His sheep?

first, in order to feed His sheep we have to see His sheep. You may say, “what are you talking about? I see people everyday.”, but do you actually see them.

do you see that they are hurting?

do you ever stop thinking about yourself and your to-do list for one second and think about helping someone else?

            this is simply a quick encouragement today. i am encouraging myself here as well. i believe one of the hardest things to do is to lay down our selfishness at the alter and ask Christ to help us see His people.

Christ is here to save us. He is here to raise us from the grave of our dying spirits. He is here to heal our pain. He is here to simply save us. we, as His disciples, are suppose to convey this message to the world in which ever way we can. He has asked us to be his instruments. His vessels. His messengers.

lets take a second today and see the people around us and maybe, just maybe we could point them to Christ through our words and actions because He is here to save us all.

“the joy is that we are not abandoned. we are loved.”

-Will

He Is Here

Words and music by Will Retherford and Symon Hajjar

V1

See the rich, see the poor, see the crumbling

See the used, the confused, and the struggling

Take a look, take a look around,

See the pain

See yourself, see your friends, see your enemy.

Open your eyes to the scars were all wearing.

Who will go? Who will go?

 Who will tell the earth

That…                                    

Chorus

He is here to save us

He is here to raise us from the grave

Tell the world that he lives, that he loves, that he saves

He is here to save

V2

See his light in the sky as the sun wakes.

Feel his pulse in the force of the ocean waves.

Find his grace every time that your heart breaks.

Here is love, here is life, here is the one we seek.

 Bridge

Lets join in

So everyone can hear it

He is love, He is love

The joy is

We are not abandoned

We are loved, We are loved

Song available on iTunes.

Arise (live)

when we wake in the morning, we put on our shoes, and we walk into our daily routine. we walk into the sunlight.

“not my will, but Your will be done in me”

this is my daily prayer, and should be for any follower of Christ.

as humans, we allow our selfishness and our greed to get in the way of God’s love for the people around us. we allow our weary seasons to reflect something other than love, and we strut away from the narrow road. we must come to the realization that Christ’s love is greater and stronger than anything the world has to offer us.

we all have needed to be rescued at one point. we have all drifted out to sea and have felt that heavy weight causing us to sink in our doubt, but God never ceases to fail and come through. correct? God is calling us to awake and to walk. He is calling us to see the rich, the poor, and the crumbling. He is calling us to walk, not just for ourselves, but for the people around us. we must confidently know that He is here to save His children because we are His children, and my daily prayer is that you and i grab ahold of this and hide it in our hearts.

it is as simple as asking for Gods will to be done.

the idea of “Walk” is a call to action for the sleeper to awake and to walk into the light of God. it is to take the narrow path, to focus on His cross, to call on Him for rescue in our times of need, and to run towards our Father when we arrive back home. millions of people all over the earth are continuously staying dormant and they are not walking in their purpose. they have lost sight and hope. they have lost their fire. they have lost their passion. they have lost who they are and they are just settling for the “practical” life. 

the purpose of “Walk” is to remind us that our Savior is calling upon us to move and walk into what He has called us to do.

these songs tell the story of our journey when we decide to move.

these songs remind us to awake and call us to walk.

they call us to walk into the light of God.

be blessed by this record.

i hope this record speaks to you as much as it has spoken to me.

                                                                        -Will

New album “Walk” now available on iTunes. 

   What is it about us musicians and worship leaders that makes us feel entitled to be rebellious?

            Growing up, I was always around musicians and even some worship leaders who had this mindset that everyone in authority was wrong. (When I say authority, I mean pastors, teachers, someone over us in a church, work, or school setting.) Because of this, I grew up a little bit too critical towards the church and even towards authority in other areas of my life. I found myself not being able to receive from my pastors or even the mentors put in my life, because I couldn’t take correction.

             As I was entering the realm of the musicians, I had this false idea that you had to smoke American Spirits, drink beer, have a beard and grow long hair to fit the “musician” model. The funny thing is, all four of these things were strictly not allowed in the atmosphere I grew up in. I got yelled at everyday because of my long hair. I was addicted to the swoop. I still do it every once in awhile, even though my hair is shorter. This model didn’t quite work out for any of us musicians and worship leaders who grew up in churches and Christian schools. This atmosphere was a perfect example for our rebellion to kick in.

Now, if the authority you are under does not mind such things while under their umbrella ella ella ay ay, then proceed with moderation, self-control and personal conviction brought on by the Lord. Now for the rest of us, let’s proceed to honor the authority in our lives in whichever way they ask of us.

            Now, this post is not about alcohol or other things as such, but about honoring the leadership or positions we have been given by the authority above us, even when we are in disagreement with the decisions that they make.

 Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

            We all get the case of the rebel flu, whether it’s as simple as choosing different songs for service than what our Pastor asked or even having a bad attitude about direction that has been given. Rebellious thoughts at least pass through our minds occasionally, but its up to us as examples in the church, or wherever our field is, to make the right decisions when its time to decide what to do with those thoughts. Rebellious vibes can rub off on the people around us, especially when there are people under our own authority. We have to be careful. 1 Cor. 8:13 “Therefore, if food that I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling.”

            Lets face it,  sometimes we don’t like being told what to do, especially when we don’t agree. I know I have thought many times, “who put this person in “authority” over me?” Well, if I truly believe I am in the will of God then I need to realize that it was Christ who put them in that place over me. We are where we are for a reason and if we find ourselves collecting that rebellious mindset again, we must refrain and ask God to give us eyes to see His grace in all situations.

            God is a teacher. He is always teaching us out of every kind of situation. He teaches through our failures. He teaches through sin. He teaches through our victories. He even teaches through the authority above us. The question is, as students under Christ, are we going to make the same mistake on the test twice or are we going to get it right next time?

       Here are a few things to bring in to play when you find your inner rebel trying to rise up and perhaps smash honor to the ground:

1)   Speak to yourself.  I know this sounds funny, but sometimes we think things and don’t even realize we are thinking them. If we shake ourselves and say “Will, cut it out.” It actually can be helpful, perhaps snap us out of it and cause us to refrain from acting on those particular thoughts.

2)    Pray. Ask God to help change your heart towards authority and ask Him to give you understanding of things that don’t make sense to you at the time. If you change your heart, you will change your thinking.

3)    Go to the person you disagree with. I believe it is healthy to go to the person you disagree with and talk it out. You must always be careful with this and not come at them being accusatory, but present to them that you didn’t quite understand and would like a reason for the decision that was made. I believe the person would totally respect you for this and even trust you more.

            It’s a simple message today; Honor our authority, especially when we are in leadership within a church. The authority above us and even Christ himself has placed us specifically in the positions we are in today. They are trusting us to make the right decisions in our moments of disagreement. So lets not continue being sick with the rebel flu, but grow and learn the value of respect and honor. Its a tough route but I think we can do it.

-Will

“Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.” Ephesians 5:14 (English Revised Version
)

 we read this scripture and we hear this idea of awaking and rising out of our sleep frequently, but what does it actually mean? well, we could take the obvious and literal meaning and view it as getting out of our bed and refraining from sleeping until noon everyday or we can go much deeper with this passage.

 i wouldn’t necessarily call myself a super spiritual person but i look at this verse with a heavy spiritual meaning. at one point in time, we have all experienced being asleep spiritually and have found ourselves dead in our vision. personally, i have always known that i was going to be a worship leader and songwriter but there was a time when i had lost that vision and i was dead to Gods calling on my life. it took some shaking and some consistency to bring me back.

 when we find ourselves in this state of sleeping, darkness has more of chance to make its way into our everyday doings. tainting our decisions and even our views towards people. just like its hard getting up every morning; it is hard waking up from our spiritual sleep. we get too comfortable. the darkness feels nice and we don’t want to open those blinds to let the sunlight in. the thing is, Christ is always looking for chances to beam His light upon us. He has casted some kind of vision within all of our hearts and He is always calling us to progress towards that in some way. whether that’s resting and listening in His Spirit or full on sprinting toward that goal with every unit of energy inside of us.

 the most important part of this verse is “…and Christ shall shine upon thee.” this is saying that we must awake and arise from the dead, in order for Christ to shine through us. this is a simple message. make today a day when you arise out of your spiritual sleep and allow Christ to move in you.

 Christ has come to save us from sin and death. Christ has come to save us from the darkness that makes its way in our lives every once in a while. we are called to action as His children and His disciples. the first step is realizes that we are asleep. the second step is crying out to our Maker to forgive us for closing our eyes. the third step is confiding in someone for help, because we all need a hand. the fourth step is redefining ourselves and our vision through fasting and prayer. the last and final step is simply just walking.

Arise and walk towards your Maker today. He is calling.

 -Will

                                             “Arise”

         Words & music by Will Retherford & Michael Rossback

V1

Oh sleeper awake

Open up your eyes

The King is coming.

Abound in grace and love not fear

The Maker is near

V2

Oh children of God

You sons and daughters

Embrace the Father

Delight in Him

See His love come in

Like a rushing wind

So open up your eyes

                             Chorus

                  Arise Arise Arise Arise x2

                  He has come to save x2

                  His love reigns

 V3

Holding tight to the hope inside

For the Kingdoms coming

Death is swallowed up

By eternal life

We wont lose sight

                             Chorus

                 Arise Arise Arise Arise x2

                 He has come to save x2

                 His love reigns

Bridge

We will open up our hearts

As one voice together we sing out X4

                              Chorus

                  Arise Arise Arise Arise x2

                  He has come to save x2 

                  His love reigns

(song now available on iTunes)

(http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/arise-single/id550169078)

Note:

In this post I will discuss why I believe co-writing is essential when writing songs for the church. This can also apply to songwriting in general for those who do not write worship songs, but I will be speaking from the perspective of a worship songwriter.

If you look at the top songs on CCLI, the majority of songs will have about 2 or 3 writers on them. I believe this is because the best songs come from more than just one creative mind, more than just one singing heart, and more than just one person who has a story to tell.

5 reasons why I think co-writing is essential when writing songs for the church:

 (1)  Brings perspective, besides your own.

          We get into this mindset that we think our songs are really great, and that they are just fine the way they are, until another writer comes along and tears them apart. This is a good thing, most of the time.  It’s important to have someone listening and watching on the outside. Usually they can see things that we cannot see. My latest co-writing session was with David Leonard from All Sons and Daughters. I showed him one of my most recent songs that I thought was one of my best songs yet, and he told me to try my bridge as my verse. I literally didn’t think the song could improve anymore but it did and then we came up with a even better bridge. That moment of trusting someone else’s perspective can make or break your song.

Also, with another writers perspective we aren’t completely biased towards our own opinions and experiences, but we get more story to pull from and more ideas causing the song to be more relevant to a larger audience. This is why it’s good to start out with 2 writers or bring our unfinished song to the table for a clean up. Anytime, at the point of complete disagreement with your co-writer, it’s good to call for the opinion of another writer. It is good to keep asking for insight, and perspective from as many people as you can, because they may be the ones singing your songs one day.

 (2)  Builds teamwork.

          I am hoping that if you are writing songs for the church, you are leading worship or playing in a church.  Writing with individuals from your band or even a band as a whole is a very healthy environment. I remember when I used to play for youth group; I would get so excited about going to practice because I knew that we were going to create something new and something great together. This brought us close as a band, and close together as friends. Writing with your band, or people outside of your band will only help you learn how to work with people, learn how to agree to disagree, learn how to take other opinions with value, and especially learn how to work with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, even outside of the songwriting world.

 (3) Balances strengths and weaknesses.

          As a songwriter, I consider myself stronger with melodies than with lyrics and I am good at starting out with the original idea and making a basic outline. It takes a lot of work on my part to finish a song and go deeper with it when I am alone. When I write alone, I write songs for over 6 months to even a year. I enjoy writing songs alone sometimes, but when I pull other people in, many times they help me find that missing piece I was looking for during that 6-month period. My good friend Symon Hajjar, on the other hand, is very deep with lyrics and can create a new song out of any stanza. We enjoy writing together because we feel we balance each other real well. Find writers who can complement your strength and strengthen your weakness. I am sure they are looking for you as well.

(4) It’s not just your song.                                                                                                              

          When someone writes a song with you, not only will they help promote it during the release, but their friends and family will also help spread the word because it has become their song too. It’s not only your song though. It is for the church as well, and mainly belongs to Christ. He gave you the gift, He deserves the song.  This is why I don’t have a problem sharing songs, because the ultimate goal is to not make my name great but to glorify Gods, and a lot of times to get that message across in a song, it may take more than just your own skill. So don’t be afraid to have other people’s names on your song, because the goal, in the end, is to point people to Christ.

 (5)  Creates humility through challenges.

          If everyone patted us on the back and told us that our songs were perfect all of the time, would we ever grow? No, because our songs are most definitely not perfect. Working with people can be challenging. Having someone tell you that they do not like that chorus can be a real humbling experience. We need people in our lives that will challenge us. I have found myself being challenged during songwriting sessions and in those moments I found that it caused me to grow dramatically, because I looked upon those critiques as constructive criticism. If we take constructive criticism at heart, we will always be growing. We need someone to let us know that our chorus is terrible so that we can write a better one, and what a better chance to make it better when we have that co-writer in the room who is willing to say, “I can help”.

I hope this helps you current songwriters, and freshies. Don’t think I am against solo writing. I highly encourage you do it everyday to keep growing and practicing. Some of the best songs do come just in your quiet time with the Lord. I simply wrote this to encourage you to try co-writing and to give you reasons why I see its valuable.

God bless.

-Will

for everything there is a season: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

 the book of Ecclesiastes, specifically chapter 3, talks about the many different seasons we walk through in our time. there are seasons of planting and plucking, seasons of casting and gathering, and even seasons of war and peace. today, i wish to discuss the seasons that we all dislike the most.

 time after time we tend to disbelieve that God’s hand is at work in our seasons of hurting. why is that? in gungors song “beautiful things” it says “You make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things out of us.” and in bethels song “Your love never fails”  it says “You make all things work together for my good.” so why do we lose our faith so fast in our weary seasons if we truly believe that Christ makes beautiful things out of our mistakes, pain, and struggles? there is a season to be born and a season to die.

 sometimes Christ must break us down in order to build us up again. at times, we can be compared to old buildings, full of mold, garbage, have cracked walls, and just barely be holding up. in this state, we must allow Christ to knock down these walls and rebuild a new factory within us. there is a season for breaking down and a season for building up.

 it’s these seasons that build our character. its these seasons that we learn to trust in our Savior the most and wipe away the false misconceptions that we are strong enough to walk on our own. i even believe, at times, Christ will let us drift in the midst of a raging sea to teach us to trust. there is a season to keep and a season to cast away.

how else would we learn?

if He always came at our first call, why would we need faith?

or need to rely on prayer?

it’s all about the development process. 

 but wait, there is hope. Christ never ceases to fail by sweeping in, like rain, and showing us that He is right by our side. He walks with us. the most encouraging thing i find in this book is that it reminds me that i am not alone as i walk through these seasons. the writer is addressing all of us, not just a specific region, but to whomever it may concern, and it concerns us. we all walk through similar things in some shape, form, or level, but for some reason we deceive ourselves to think its just us here drowning in our doubt. just because i am in a season of mourning and you are in a season of joy, doesn’t mean i am not in a place where Christ wants to teach me something, and doesn’t mean you haven’t just come out of a season of pain. this perspective can change the way we look at everything. there is a season to mourn and a season to laugh.

a weary season doesn’t mean we are not in the will of God. when we find ourselves in these places, we must boldly walk through them with the confidence that Christ is walking with us. yes, it is possible to avoid harder seasons at times by seeking and listening to Christ, but sometimes He doesn’t always speak and we must learn to make our own decisions. His love is our strength in our weakness and is greater than anything that comes against us. there is a season to seek and a season to lose.

we can walk through seasons of pain because He walked through a season pain.

His love is deeper than any trench we fall in and wider than any wave that crashes upon us. He delights in us and calls us His own. we are kept close in His arms and changed by His love. delight back in Him.

There is a season to love.

-Ecclesiastes 3-

                                     Seasons

            Written by Will Retherford and Charis Key

“ (v1)

 In our weary seasons

Our abandoned nights

Your voice has stayed by our side

For us facing heartache

In our trying days

Your hope has swept like rain

(v2)

 For us sinking doubters

Carried by the tide

Your peace has calmed the storm

For us lost and stolen

On a road that’s broken

Your guidance brings us home

            (chorus)

            I will run towards You

            In your arms Ill stay  

            For your love has changed my heart

            You delight in me

            And You call me Yours

            Oh Your love has changed my life

(bridge)

 Your love is greater

Your love is stronger

Your love is everything to me

Your love is deeper

Your love is wider

Your love is everything to me

(outro)

 In our weary seasons

Our abandoned nights

Your voice has stayed by our side.”

            (song coming soon September 4^th)