Journal
Written down, in between.
Essays from 2017 onwards — on loneliness, on faith, on what Christmas is actually for, and on where worship music came from. Not about the songs. The songs have their own pages.
17 November 2024
The evolution of Christian worship music
It began as psalms sung without instruments, became plainchant sung in Latin, and was handed back to the congregation at the Reformation. Every argument the church is having about worship music now, it has had before.
5 min read
24 October 2023
38 Christmas Bible verses to share, grouped by what they are for
38 of them, grouped by what they are doing — the announcements, the manger, the reasons, the compassion and the joy — with every reference given so you can read them for yourself.
11 min read
30 May 2023
Is music divine? Zephaniah 3:17 and the God who sings
Music reaches a person without asking permission, and Scripture says God sings too. So the question is not really whether music is divine — it is who is singing over you.
3 min read
19 March 2021
Faith, and my favourite verses
Faith comes by hearing — which means it is received rather than manufactured. These are the verses I keep returning to, and what each one has done in my own life.
3 min read
22 February 2021
Songwriter's memo: how Behold The Lamb was written
Behold The Lamb came out of a retreat I nearly didn't go on, a sleep I could not fight off, and the sense that someone else was in the room. The words arrived weeks later, out of Revelation 5.
4 min read
17 November 2017
The real reason for Christmas
I spent years trying to fill Christmas with new clothes, then friends, then food, then films, then a girlfriend. None of it held. The reason is Jesus — everything else is a gift with the giver left out.
8 min read
16 March 2017
Life, and what comes after
A plain account of what Christians believe about sin, the cross and what follows — written without scare tactics, with a prayer at the end for anyone who wants to say it.
9 min read
16 March 2017
Loneliness: a path out
Loneliness is not a shortage of people. It is a shortage of people you feel connected to — which is why it can happen inside a marriage, inside a family, and in the middle of a crowd.
8 min read
16 March 2017
The Blood: the verses behind the song
I wrote The Blood after a teaching on what the blood of Jesus actually accomplishes. These are the verses that convinced me it is not only history — that it is still doing something now.
3 min read