by David Dodd

Before transplanting to Nashville, Tennessee, Michael Olson lived in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where he was constantly bombarded with worldly illusions.

“It was an awesome place,“ he tells Apostles That Rock while we were hanging out in Nashville, “but it was totally eclectic.  It was a crazy conglomeration of all kinds of different people - mostly young people - but as far as philosophical belief systems and all that kind of stuff, you could throw a stick and hit ten different thought processes on how the world came into existence.  I found in that environment there was a growing antagonism, or just a negativity towards the idea of a loving God - one God - and I wondered why.  It really bothered me.  It brought me to tears one afternoon in my apartment. 

I opened my Bible to the book of Habakkuk, which I never really do.  I tend to find myself mostly in the Psalms and the New Testament, but for some reason I opened my Bible to the book of Habakkuk and I read this Scripture verse:”

Through the tears of an open heart for others, Michael found comfort in the promise from the Word of God.  “What that verse meant for our town and everyone in the United States and beyond, is it’s not a matter of if people will come to know Christ, it’s a matter of when, and that makes all the difference in the world.”

Olson’s joy for the Lord is wonderfully reflected in his second release, Where Fear & Faith Collide, an exquisite collection of ten songs wonderfully woven to inject God’s promises and delight for His children. 

“It’s impossible for me to point out my favorite Scripture verse because I’ve been looking at the Bible recently as a huge story.  It’s amazing to me that we know from the first couple chapters of Genesis that God created the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean He has to relate to us, it doesn’t necessarily mean that He’s obligated to love us, but He does, and that just blows my mind.

What else I love is we have this historical  book that we can look at  and

In addition to releasing his second CD, Where Fear and Faith Collide, Michael is assisting another very well-know Michael in the Christian music world by playing percussion on Michael W. Smith’s exclusive acoustic spring tour, hitting dozens of churches in their trek to invite corporate worship in an intimate environment.  Think about it, having Michael W. Smith playing at your local church.  The night is an astonishing tribute to worship.  And Michael Olson not only plays percussion on the tour, but Michael W. insists that Michael Olson play two songs from his recent CD.

Being so close to Michael W, Michael Olson is also privy to a lot of the business side of Michael W. Smith.

“I specifically remember I was playing drums at worship rehearsal at church, and Michael had just gotten some roughs of the new Leeland record - rough mixes - and he brought in the song, Tears of the Saints two months before the record came out and he’s like, ‘You’re not going to believe this!’   I was just blown away after I heard the  song.”

Michael W. Smith was one of Michael Olson’s original allies when he signed him to his Rocketown Records label a few years back.  Michael Olson’s initial release was a success but his latest offering, from the first single, On The Third Day, to the anthem-driven infectious declaration of our Mighty Maker in God Is With Us, Where Fear & Faith Collide is a joyous celebration of passionate worship written from the depths a humble heart.

“I feel that my responsibility as a songwriter is to take the things that God is speaking to me directly, the way that He is filtering them through my world view and then to of use those giftings,

songwriting, or whatever they might be, as a vehicle to express what’s going on in me personally, so maybe there’s been points in the last year and a half where the idea of God being with me has been extremely refreshing in times of challenge so yeah, it’s a very personal thing.”

And with that success of the mountains comes the journey through the valleys.

“That’s kind of the idea behind this whole record, actually.  This last year and a half has been a year full of transition - new community of people, new job, fairly new marriage, new church, everything, plus a bunch of stuff, just a lot of unsettling things going on in my immediate family that I was dealing with and definitely reflecting on as I was writing Where Fear and Faith Collide.”  

And check out the very cool Christian rocker who assisted Olson in writing the title track to his recent release, Where Fear and Faith Collide.

“I actually co-wrote that song with Mike Weaver from Big Daddy Weave.  We met later on in the process and he really helped me compile some lyrics for the second verse which he did a fabulous job on.

I was just sitting here at home reflecting on where I was at with my journey in this environment with all these new challenges and things I never faced before.  I had a belief system, a Christian belief system that was taught to me at a very early age, but a lot of those things that I had believed in were being shaken a little bit, and I started thinking about the nature of faith.  I think a lot of times when we think of faith as something very, very untouchable and pure.  I often draw an illustration of faith being pictured as a statue on a mantle, it’s really nice to look at but it doesn’t have any form or function.

When I think faith is a lot like the lawnmower in my garage, I have to take it out and get it dirty for it to be useful to me.  I think our faith is most defined in the moments when we’re most forced to believe in something that we can’t see.  That was kind of the frame of mind and the frame of thought I was in when I came up with that song.

I was on the road with Big Daddy Weave and I have to tell you, there are a lot of great people in this industry, but Mike and his brother Jay, and all the guys in Big Daddy Weave are the real deal.  I mean, at every event we played, I would walk around the church with these guys and we would engage our hearts in prayer for the kids who were coming to the concert that night.  They’re just the most spiritually refreshing guys to be on the road with.  I just love them.”

As we end our conversation, Michael transcends back to the Old Testament at an astonishing work thousands of years ago that we can relate to at this very moment.

“We can have a lot of Ishmael’s in our life.  God breathes streams on us and we get a little impatient and try to make things happen by ourselves and all these crazy things happen, but the sweetest, most beautiful thing is to wait patiently and the Lord will fulfill His promises to us in amazing ways.  We just need the faith to sit back and watch Him work.”