by David Dodd

If anyone knows that we owe it all to the author of redemption, you’re the guy. 

There you go quoting one of my songs again. 

Where were you when you came up with line?

It’s a common theme in my songs; it’s the greatest message I’ve ever received, it’s the message of God’s grace.  The idea of just knowing that no matter how many mistakes we make in this life, or difficult times we face, to know that we serve a God who is the author of redemption and no matter how many steps we might step away, it’s only one step back towards Him and He can redeem our lives.

That line is from A Friend in the World and it tells the story of two kids who took different turns in their lives but when they gave their lives to God, He turned their lives around and used it for good.  I hope it’s a message of redemption to everyone.

Your new record is indeed a message of redemption.  You have something to say, literally, because there was a point in your life after you did the History record, the biggest selling record of your career, you were in control of what was going to happen next, you had a great deal with a new record company and you thought you had it all planned out…and then you went to see the doctor.

That’s what happens in a lot of our lives, we plan our plans and dream our dreams and we think we know where we’re heading, and then that’s about the time everything changes on us in life and we realize that we’re not the ones in control.  And so my life faced some circumstances last year when I found out I needed some surgery on my vocal chords.  That news for a singer is the last news you want to hear, it’s devastating news. 

On May 17 of last year I had surgery on my vocal chords.  I was uncertain if my voice would ever return or if I’d be able to sing again, but tonight I’m going to be able to share from the stage a true message of redemption that I’m just a singer now with some surgically repaired vocal chords that have been healed and I can sing some new songs for God’s glory.

So when you wrote the song Only Grace, long before this happened, obviously that was a point when you just dove into God’s grace, but I would think that that song now, Matthew has even greater meaning to you personally.

When I was in all my little league baseball games that was the Scripture I was quoting before I would go up to bat…in the last inning at the bottom of the ninth I was quoting I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, and now here I am as an adult being wielded in for surgery, being uncertain of my future and quoting that same Scripture.

In much the same way, songs that I have written in my life take on new meanings, so that song, Only Grace, or songs like More that I’m going to be singing tonight, those are just messages that God has used in my life.  As I sing them, I hope that people will be encouraged by the message of God’s Grace and His love, but inevitability, God uses those songs that I’ve written to speak to me while I’m singing them so I’m thankful for that. 

I was thinking about you the other day during certain moments in your life, and I know the day of surgery your wife was with you but there was a moment when you were apart from her and you were on the gurney being led into the Operating Room, and I don’t know how long that moment was, but for some reason that moment came to me.  Do you recall that exact moment? 

Absolutely.  Just before they knocked me out with anesthesia it was a helpless feeling, I’m sure people can relate, we all have those moments where we feel helpless and we realize that we’re not in control of the outcome of our circumstances.  I think God allows us to be brought to those places because we have no choice but to surrender.  I wasn’t in control of my destiny at that point and so 100% my whole life I was placing in God’s hands, I trusted Him completely.  Through those experiences I began to realize that God looks at me every day and says, ‘Do that again,’ you know, ‘Put your life in My hands, 100% again. Even though you’re not going into surgery today, do it again, put your life in My hands.’  

To be in that place to surrender and allow God to use it and speak to me, that’s just something that I’ve begun to take in daily and pray that He can help me do that every day whether I’m having surgery or I’m going to the grocery store.    

One thing I really like about the title track of your new CD, Something to Say is when I first saw the name of the track without hearing the song, I just assumed it made sense that you’re telling your story.  You’re on the cover with a megaphone giving God all the glory, but that song really encourages all of us that every single one of us has something to say.

There’s a quote by CS Lewis that says:

God whispers to us in our pleasures, he speaks in our conscience but he shouts in our pain.  It is His megaphone to rouse a dead world.

Sometimes we think the pain in our lives is something we wish we never had or we’d hide it away so people wouldn’t have to see the not so good parts of our lives, but that quote kind of reminded me that God speaks to us in all different ways and sometimes it’s our pain and our brokenness that allows Him to get our attention, and if we can allow Him to speak through our brokenness - like I hope to tonight - to stand up and say look, I’m a singer with some broken vocal chords, but God’s still using me, He can still use you no matter how many broken pieces you have in your life.  Man, that’s just a message that I hope can encourage and lift up people who think they’re too broken to be used by God.  It’s just not true.

That’s been a constant reminder that you’ve given people throughout your ministry.  I remember seeing you on the History tour and even though you didn’t go through the adventure you had recently with your vocal chords, you continually encouraged people to never think of their faults and brokenness because no matter where they stood at the moment in time, God is waiting to use them to make History.   

That’s been a common theme in my life.  The bottom line is I’ve been through it and I think a lot of times, you know, people might assume that they’re the only ones going through difficult times, but man I’ve been through it.  I don’t have time tonight on stage to share about all of my difficult times and it’s probably best for the crowd, you know?  But for me to stand up and say hey, we’re all the same, we all struggle, we all go through difficult times.  God’s not going to let us go through something we can’t handle.

I can’t even begin to wonder why God had me go through this and why these things happen to us, but I’ve seen just a glimpse and the songs that have come out of those difficult times and the way God has just spoken messages to my heart makes me feel like a changed person.  I think when people suffer, they change.  When people experience sorrow in their lives, they change, and if they allow God to speak to them through that sorrow, through that suffering, through that brokenness, they change for the better. 

There’s an element between fear and trust, I believe, and I think with the economy, a lot of people are going through that fear, almost at times panic and anxiety.  Where do you draw the line and what happened to you to get yourself from fear to trust? 

Well, The Bible says we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind, but the truth is we’re human, so fear is a very real thing that happens in our lives whether it’s because the gas prices are too high and we wonder how we’re going to get to work in the morning or that we’re facing a surgery or the loss of a loved one or the uncertainty of the future. 

Fear is a very real thing.  The devil can use fear to attack our minds and our hearts, to discourage us, try to keep us from even getting out of bed, but you just have to cling to God’s Word and His promise that He’s not going to let us go alone.  There’s an old song that says:

He didn’t bring us this far to leave us;

He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown.

He didn’t build his home in us to move away,

He didn’t lift us up to let us down.

Those lyrics ring true and I hope people can remember that no matter how hopeless it seems, God is not gone.  He’s aware of our situations, He’s aware of our needs, and if we call out to Him, He’ll give us just enough that we need for the moment. 

You also have a line from The Center on the new record that states:  I do believe there’s a battle for my soul.  hat’s so true.  There’s a spiritual warfare out there that we need to deal with and rest in His arms with. 

I meet for prayer every week with 2 guys.  We have breakfast and pray together.  One of the prayers we always pray is that The Lord keep us in the center of His will.  The more we would pray that prayer, the more we realized the more difficult our lives were becoming.  We realized that praying that God would keep you in the center of His will is a dangerous prayer to pray because the closer you get to the center of God’s will for your life, somebody else knows that you’re getting closer and he knows that God has a huge plan for your life and the devil’s going to attack and the battle’s going to heat up.

And so lyrics like that have come from my own personal walk, my own personal faith by going, man, I’m trying to do the right thing and the more I try to stay in the center of God’s will, the more the battle heats up.  But God will give us strength to stay in the center if we make that the prayer of our heart.