sixsteps/EMI Worship Artist, Chris Tomlin
There is one human voice that affects my soul like no other … when I hear Chris Tomlin sing the songs with which God (and sixsteps/EMI record labels) has entrusted him, my heart finds a healthy rhythm, my mind pauses ever so briefly to breathe new air and my spirit adjusts itself, realigning my psyche with God’s presence in the day (I’ve even wondered if my blood pressures drops just a tad).
Since first becoming acquainted with CCM’s favorite worship artist six or seven years ago, I have appreciated both his singing and his songs … style and content. Due to the popularity of his music, his voice quickly became a familiar one in the music mix and I found myself able to pick it out easily amongst all the other voices.
But, when life kicked in to overdrive in 2009, Chris’s voice became the one voice I wanted (needed?) most to hear (followed closely by Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, Addison Road and downhere). His music offered the one soundtrack – with accompanying lyrics – that could settle my spirit and squelch the rising tide of anxiety in an extended season of uncertainty.
I know as a single woman this would have sounded highly suspect to share about a single man (and maybe it sounds even worse now that he’s married) – and I know for many married individuals they may share similar responses to hearing their spouse’s voice (while other music lovers may favor CCM artists such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Matthew West and JJ Heller) – but it wasn’t about that. There is a wooing of our hearts that only God can do … and He chooses to do that through His Spirit and His people.
Chris Tomlin's Newest Release, And If Our God Is For Us
I do respect what I know about Chris, I value His investment (along with Louie & Shelley Giglio) in Passion conferences (focused on making Jesus famous in the world, specifically through this generation of college students) and I have come to trust his heart based on his public faith lived out over the last decade or so … but I don’t know him enough to comment on much more than his music … thus the subject of this post.
Sing, sing, sing
And make music with the heavens
We will sing, sing, sing
Grateful that You hear us
When we shout your praise
Lift high the name of Jesus
As I’ve tried to process the unexplainable whys surrounding my reaction to Chris’s voice, God gave me a glimpse of the benefits of inviting Jesus’s voice in our lives … seeking it, hearing it, listening to it, responding to it. I am not in the habit of praying to hear Jesus’s voice in my day-to-day ordinary – nor my most desperate – moments. I have prayed for God’s guidance, provision and will for my life. I’ve prayed for clarity, help and hugs, on occasion. But I don’t remember ever longing for His voice – or even using that specific terminology – like I have recently.
For someone who struggles to feel safe in the word “love,” I believe this new longing for Jesus’s voice represents one more step on the journey toward truly loving God and wanting God vs. appreciating God and worshiping God (all good though). Desiring Jesus’s voice just seems a bit more personal and engaging than requesting His direction and provision (although still important).
What’s not to love about You?
Heaven and earth adore You
Kings and kingdoms bow down
Son of God, You are the One
You are the one
The “fact” of God’s love will turn into the “feeling” of God’s love as we grow in our experience with Him on a personal basis, finding true security and rest in His arms (and in His power). Even if that “experience” involves an intense battle with fear, an extended ride on an unwelcomed roller coaster of circumstances or unbearable, seemingly unsurvivable loss, He promises victory (Deuteronomy 20:4, 1 Corinthians 15:57), He promises help (Deuteronomy 33:29, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 33:20, Romans 8:26) and He promises rest (Matthew 11:28).
You are the love that frees us
You are the light that leads us
Like a fire burning
Son of God, You are the one
You are the one we’re living for
In John 10:27 Jesus states, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (KJV) Am I familiar enough with His voice to hear it – to pick it out of a crowd of voices, like I can Chris’s voice – and with enough confidence to obey it?
This past August I took a little detour through Indianapolis, IN on my way to help my son move back into his Kentucky college dorm. Indianapolis isn’t exactly on the way to Kentucky from southern Illinois, but enough so that I could justify a brief stop at the Indiana State Fair for an evening with Chris Tomlin and tobyMac (the encore alone was worth the price of gas … “City On Our Knees” into “God of This City” capped by a once-in-a-lifetime, shouldn’t-be-missed joint rap of “Jesus Freak” 
… catch a glimpse of the latter on YouTube).
Christy Nockels, Life Light Up
Due to the kindness of music colleagues, I was backstage waiting for the show to start as both bands were getting ready. Chris, his band, fellow sixsteps worship artist Christy Nockels and others were in the vicinity, and I enjoyed a few minutes of introduction to Christy (a new favorite voice). I guess I could’ve said hello to Chris, but, in looking back at the evening, all I really wanted was to just hear him sing. There’s only one thing better than hearing “Our God” on the radio, and that’s singing it along with Chris and 5,000 other people. Fortified with another precious hour of Chris’s music, I went on my way.
Sing, sing, sing
And make music with the heavens
We will sing, sing, sing
Grateful that You hear us
When we shout your praise
Lift high the name of Jesus
As I considered the level of my passion for Jesus’s voice, I found myself questioning, “Do I detour from the day’s activities just to hear it?” “Do I truly value the opportunity to just stand in His presence?” “Do I feel re-equipped for the uncertainty ahead after hearing Him?” “Do I long for the next opportunity to take in His face, His encouragement and His Spirit?”
Me w/ Louie Giglio, Pastor, Speaker & Founder of Passion Conferences
As I was first becoming acquainted with Chris Tomlin’s music, I was offered tickets to attend one of his concerts. I loved just being there in the presence of that music (albeit way up high), but another more significant thing happened that night. Because of my desire to hear Chris’s voice, I also heard Louie Giglio’s voice for the first time. Louie quickly became a favorite speaking voice for the Gospel message (I encourage you to watch him online at Passion City Church).
And since then I’ve been introduced to Christy’s voice and Matt’s voice (worship artist Matt Redman) and Kristian’s voice (new sixsteps worship artist Kristian Stanfill) … all voices that have fed my spirit and encouraged my walk. Voices I may not have heard had I not first attuned my ears to hear Chris.
In the same way, tuning our ears to Jesus’ voice leads us to other voices that join with His in the sharing of the hope of the Gospel … Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Paul among other Biblical writers, as well as other national speakers (ahhh … Beth Moore, another noteworthy voice in my repertoire) and local pastors. Jesus is the beginning and the end of the Gospel message, but He’s also a channel to other voices of encouragement, affirmation and counsel … not to mention the fact that He left His Spirit with us on earth to continue to be His voice.
What’s not to love about You?
Heaven and earth adore You
Kings and kingdoms bow down
Son of God, You are the One
You are the one we’re living for
Chris’s voice has given me a glimpse at Jesus’s voice, encouraging my pursuit of and trust in the One voice that can truly heal, satisfy and save. I think this may have been God’s intent all along for His unique anointing over Chris … that Chris would be a voice of Christ in this generation, a direct connect between us and Him … an instrument of His goodness. And, if record sales are any indication, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have responded to Chris’s music in the same way that I have.
On a side note, imagine if Chris would not have responded to the call God put on his life as a teenager …
Passion 2011 Conferences
Will I/we respond to His voice? Will we respond to His call for each of us? Will we trust Him with the one, one thousand or one million people whose lives are saved by Christ through our voices of obedience? We may not be called – and positioned – to be His voice to 22,000 college students packed in Atlanta’s Philips Arena and Georgia World Congress Center this past January or to thousands more in Ft. Worth’s Convention Center April 1-3 (Passion 2011 conference sites, college students can still register for Ft. Worth at 268generation.com/passion2011), but will I/we voice His praises, His provision, His promises and His hope when given opportunity?
I can’t help but reflect back to my recent posts, “The Song You Sing” and “Songwriting.” To whom might my one voice, if I raise it high enough (and somehow God makes it sound a little better ) and sing long enough, offer that glimpse of Christ? Who might God possibly draw closer to Him through anything I might say, sing or (even easier on the ears) write? He continually gives us His songs to sing to a world desperate to hear them.
Sing, sing, sing
And make music with the heavens
We will sing, sing, sing
Grateful that You hear us
When we shout your praise
Lift high the name of Jesus
Chris Tomlin, “Sing, Sing, Sing” from Passion: God of This City
The band downhere released the song, “I Will Follow Your Voice,” on their award-winning CD, Wide-Eyed and Mystified. I’ll close with a few of the lyrics … as only Jason Germain and Marc Martel can sing them (hear a live version of the song on YouTube):
With every channel on
We don’t know where we belong
Help me to hear Your voice
Above all the other noise
I will follow Your voice
I will follow Your voice
I will trust Your choice
I will not fear
I will follow Your voice
I will follow Your voice
Not my will but Yours
Be done here…
(Did I mention that Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio and Christy Nockels are all on tour together right now? Visit www.christomlin.com for concert dates and locations.)
