My Bio

I gave my heart to the Lord when I was 12 years old. I was standing on the front steps of my cabin at Camp Willow Run and looking up at the clear eastern NC sky and right there I asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life. I was 17 when I first felt the call into the ministry but I think I felt the call into music all my life...I was the kid who would take an hour to wash the dishes after dinner, not because there were so many dishes, but because when you are lip-syncing to 80's hair metal the whole time, you don't really work as fast...

I began leading worship in earnest at my college chapter of Intervarsity at App. State (Where I met my wife! Danielle) when I was a sophomore. This was back in the 3 chord days when everything was either a campfire song, or some scripture set to music and our idea of leading worship was having about 9 acoustic guitars playing in unison with no amps or mics and we all gathered around the overhead machine and sang. I moved up by Senior year to being large group worship leader and by that time I also led worship for our local Young Life club as well.

In 1995 Danielle and I married and she finished out her graduate school at ASU and as 1996 dawned we embarked for seminary. Seminary was a chore and a complete stretching time for me to eventually make me own my faith. But my years in seminary were not what had the lasting effect on me, it was the churches that I served while I was there. I began to lead worship in smaller circles for youth and college students there in Richmond, and I eventually worked myself into the worship leader for a youth group at one church, Metro-Singles at another church and at Celebrate Recovery at another. It was during this time in 1997-98 that I began writing music with purpose. I had always written cheesy songs about love and they were just that, pure cheese. But as I struggled through the desert which was seminary and served churches that were so hungry to experience true worship, I began to pour my real life into songs. Fortunately most of those early tunes didn't really survive the test of time, they were simple and bland to be honest, but the Lord was working in me to focus me on giving songs to the church that would inspire them to a deeper walk with the Lord. I have always felt the burden to make praise songs have both meaningful words and catchy music, because so often you have one or the other, but having both is a rarity and those songs always end up being the ones that everyone gravitates towards.

In 2000 our family moved back to NC to take a ministry position as worship leader for Corinth Church and for the past 6 years that is were I have been and intend to stay and serve because I do have a passion for the church. My oldest daughter Molly is who you hear singing at the beginning of "Seeking You First" and hopefully my younger daughter Hannah will be singing something on the next CD! Each of these songs comes from a special place in my heart, where the Lord has taught me, matured me, and blessed me by sending me a melody.

I can't ever really say that I "write a song", really what I feel like is more like "I'm there when the Lord gives one to me". I'm not some spiritual giant or a praise song guru, I am simply a warrior for Christ, made in His image that struggles with sin daily just like you do. My prayer is that through these praise songs, your desire to know Jesus Christ will grow. These songs are for you, the church, the glorious Bride of Christ. May they bless you and your congregation and draw each of you into a closer walk with the Lord.

Love yall,

paul