The Closet: Intimate Conversations is the second installment of a collection of songs chronicling my journey to find and know love – God’s love. This process has been a deeply personal unveiling of thoughts, motives, ideas, emotions, perceptions, attitudes, and spiritual truth resulting in an ever-increasing, earnest desire to want to intimately know, live for, and honor God.

Before I knew there was a movie called War Room, each time I would enter my closet to find clothes to wear, the oddest thing would occur. I would receive words and melodies that I would start humming. At first I thought it was a coincidence that I would get an idea for a new song each time upon entering my closet. Shortly after hearing the third melody, I said “wait a minute. There’s something about this closet that is stirring up these melodies.” So one day I sat on the floor of my closet in stillness, staring at the top of the shelf. As I sat there, I got this quiet confirmation about the songs I was beginning to write. I felt a still small voice encouraging me to pray from this place; to write from this place. So I started to write the songs that would be answers to many of the questions I was asking God. If that ain’t God doing a new thing, I don’t know what is. God was giving me answers to prayers in songs. He was confirming some things. He was assuring me of some things. He was instructing me on some things. He was showing me who I am. He was showing me who He is. He was showing me what it’s like to have intimacy so I would never be thirsty again.

As I began to put pen to melody for this project, I was reminded of the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well as chronicled in John 4. Jesus states, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” After entertaining further questions from the woman, Jesus goes on to state, “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Those promises speak to me on many different levels. Each time I ask questions, more insight is revealed to me about my thoughts, motives, ideas, emotions, perceptions, attitudes and past decisions. It occurred to me we all have a “woman at the well” in us. We have all been “thirsty” in our lives in some form or another and acted out the desire to have those thirsts quenched, sometimes in self-destructive ways. Here’s the thing about truth – when the veil is removed truth always rises. When one is in a desert of despair, disappointment, depression or in denial, there is always an oasis of promised water that eventually turns out to simply be sand. This is why this story presents such a great promise for those who are thirsty. I believe intimacy is what every man or woman truly longs for – to know and feel genuine love. Love is what heals. Love is what restores. Love is what empowers. Love is intimate. God’s love is an invitation for real intimacy.

“...I am going to give you the words to a new song. Write them down and teach the song to the Israelites. If they learn it, they will know what I want them to do, and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me.”
~Deuteronomy 31:19

Selah…

What Is Inspirational Soul? Why I Created A New Genre…

Inspirational Soul is organic. This music is built on the premise of vocal, instrumental, and lyrical freedom undergirded by spiritual truth. Essentially it means I walk in freedom to approach the music I receive, and I believe it comes through me from God as part of his promise in Romans 8:38 to us that nothing can separate us from his love. That’s love when God uses a tool such as music to speak to the hearts of “searching” people.

I created the Inspirational Soul genre because I felt led to remove potential barriers to access. Although Inspirational Soul can be categorized as a sub-genre of Contemporary Christian/Gospel music, I recognize that listeners often approach faith-based music with preconceived notions about its sound and stylistic approach (among other parameters). Although I admire and respect our gospel music pioneers, I do not want to be relegated to the paradigm of a particular “gospel music sound.” I grew up listening to many genres of music and because of that I am an amalgamation of everything I have ever heard. I believe this level of creative freedom is paramount to my music personality as both a creator and consumer of music. Not to mention, one of the Lord’s requirements is that we come to Him in truth and worship Him in truth. This is my truth and I believe in my heart He’s okay with my sound because He created me. So if He’s okay with it, I believe the faith community can embrace this music under the provision of Colossians 3:16, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” (New Living Translation)