Song Share Sunday #11: "Gracious King (God the Greatest)"

Thanks for stopping by for this Song Share Sunday! I appreciate you making the extra trip over from YouTube or Facebook to see what this song is all about and what it means to me! :)

This song is the first one I've intentionally written because I desperately needed it.

My album deadline was coming up and there were still a lot of things I needed to get done for many of the songs. I wanted to record some extra guitars and percussion parts as icing on the cake. Oh, and harmonies, don't ever forget the harmonies! After all that was done, I would need to mix all of my songs and do a couple of revisions until I sent it in to get mastered. It was a really long to-do list, and based on my understanding of my own procrastination, I knew it would be a stretch to get everything done that I wanted to do in time. And being the perfectionist that I am, I knew I would be disappointed when it came time to sacrifice some things on my list.

These things were on my mind a lot in the past month, from trying to sleep at night to driving to and from school, to day dreaming in my Political Science class. All my pondering about what I should record next or what I should get done during the weekend took up all the real estate in my daily attention span that I had none left over for God. When I realized that, I was astounded at myself. All the work I was doing and all the energy I was putting in it are supposed to bring glory back to God, but the way I was doing it, I was trying to bring glory to myself. I admitted to myself, and later to God, that I wasn't giving God the attention he deserves. My devotion had been sitting between the front two seats in my car. My Bible app had been left on whatever verse I had open from God knows when. I didn't even remember where I left my physical Bibles (but I know they're somewhere in my house). I was supposed to be working on this project with God, but I felt like I told God to talk to the hand, like I didn't need his help.

It's like buying flowers for your mom on Mother's Day, then liking the flowers so much that you kept them for yourself. And more than likely, your mom knows how to take care of flowers better than you do, so in your hands, the flowers will wilt away prematurely.

I remember watching an All Sons & Daughters video where David and Leslie shared about how they wrote songs for their church because there was a need for their weakened congregation to be closer to God. I always thought that if you're going to write a song out of a need, it'll be something you need to say to God, or it's something where God speaks the words of the song to you. But I remember the songs that have touched me deep down in my soul the most are the songs we sing during worship. Songs that don't really say much or ask for much, but they just praise God for being who he is. That's why I decided that I needed to write a song, an anthem, for myself to sing, and that every time I sing it, I would be reminded of how great God is in my life.

This song starts out with a simple confession of who God is to me. God is great, and his love is precious to me.

The second half of that verse came from my mentor and friend, David. During a church planning meeting, David opened his devotion with a prayer in which he prayed, "Lord, let your Word be the land which we walk upon." I might have heard this prayed a thousand times, but this time it hit me because I remembered how much I needed to dig back into the Bible.

The rest of the words in this song are, by and large, inspired by a sermon series my pastor Chris Ng did on stewardship. He laid out four truths about who God is. I've always held these truths in my heart, but it took someone laying it out and telling me once again for me to realize how true they were.

The first is that God is good so that I don't need to look elsewhere for satisfaction.

You are good, my heart may find

No one else to satisfy

The second is that God is great so that I don't have to be in control.

God, the greatest

None can compare

The third is that God is glorious so that I don't have to fear.

Glorious, your light will shine

Always cast my fears aside

The fourth is that God is gracious so that I don't have to prove myself.

Oh, gracious king on heaven's throne

Holy is the one who knows

There is also a verse that is my confession to God. Like the line from the third truth, it didn't make its way into the song, but I'll share it with you here:

I confess I've gone astray

I've turned my eyes a downward gaze

But I know your promises are true

You'll always lead me back to you

This song is my anthem. Its my reminder of who God is. And when I am reminded of God's greatness and his goodness, I pray that I won't reduce him to a passing thought in my head.

I pray that this can be your anthem too, a compass to lead you back to God, even if its just a bit closer than you were before.

Stay tuned for the "Run Love Run" album! It's almost ready for release! I'll be releasing a free 3-song sampler EP sometime this week! (You're the first to know!)

Peace, love, and sugar-free pudding (yeech!)

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #10: "Whenever You're With Me"

Ooh, I'm so happy to share this song with you! It's so special to me in so many ways!

I recently found inspiration to write this song, which is written for my cousins in China, who asked for a song for their weddings this year. I don't know how serious they were when they brought it up, but here it is and here we are. Brandon wrote a love song, guys!

This Song Share, though, is dedicated to my other cousin, a good friend, and their fiances. Congratulations to Selina & Mark and Helen & Tim!

Songwriting has always been a way of confession for me, and this song is no exception. My first songs were fueled by anger, despair, a longing for something greater in my life, and, when I realized that something was God, a longing for more of God in my heart. This song was the first in a long time that was something beyond all of that, fueled by something I hadn't felt in a long time, and more real this time around. This confession is a mixture of how I simply adore the presence of God and also the presence of someone else. That's a secret for me to know and for you to ponder in confusion. :)

But enough about me. Make this song your own and send it to someone you love to be around. I'll love it if you do, and I hope that they do too!

Peace, love, and an overflowing Chipotle burrito that was too spicy on the bottom,
-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #9: "Ode To You (All My Friends)"

Happy Sunday!

Since I missed Song Share Sunday last week, this week, I'm sharing with you a very special song that won't be on the album, but will appear as a bonus track. This is a reminiscence of my childhood friends from the days of colored pencils, crayons, and legos. To all my friends, especially my OG buddies from Francis Scott Key Elementary and Noriega Childcare, this is dedicated to you.

"Let brotherly love continue" -Heb.13.1

Until we see each other once again,

Peace, love, and curry over rice,

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #8: "I Love You, Lord"

This week's song is very simple. I love the Lord, my God. He made me, He knows me, and He loves me.

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." -Rev.4.8

Peace, love, and pork sung bao,
-Brandon

So What's Been Going On With "Run, Love, Run"?

Hello, my friends!

It has occurred to me that I haven't told you much about what's going on with the "Run, Love, Run" project? Whoops! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like you (I do very much!), but I've been trying to schedule in as much work as I can before school starts, and I am dying to tell you what I've been doing!

For starters, every week, I do "Song Share Sunday", where I share a new song that will be on the album every Sunday! Most of these videos are the first time anyone's ever heard that song!

So there's that to keep you busy! But if you would like to get an exclusive preview on how one of the new songs are sounding, join the MWR Mailing List, and you will be the first to hear it! Join now, because the exclusive email will be sent out next Wednesday!

I want to take a moment to thank the people who have been so graciously helping me with this project! Thank you so much to Kevin Baek for playing drums and giving the songs life, to Aaron Agudelo for playing guitar parts and ripping solos, to Rachel Chen for playing some sweet piano melodies, and to Alyson Yee for designing an awesome album cover (*hush hush* it's top secret!). All my love and gratitude go out to you! I am blessed to have such talented friends!

Early on in the project, we had the acoustic guitar tracks all laid down, paving the way for drum tracks. Between drum recording days, I found some nice pads for some songs and recorded those first. I spent a good day sitting my living room with Allan's keyboard, flipping through piano sounds and different pads to fit the mood of the song. I also found a pretty interesting patch called "Hollywood Edge FX" which turned out to be a bunch of different war sounds (machine guns and explosions). I think I could hook up some large speakers behind my garage doors and scare some people who happen to be walking by. ;)

We had some good drum recording sessions once camp ended. We figured out a nice way to record the drums so that I could pick the sounds afterwards. I learned a valuable lesson from recording drums: don't forget the sticks and the drum throne. For our first session, I found a thin dowel in my garage and snapped it in half, then Kevin wrapped the tips in electrical tape to protect the drum heads. How's that for frugal? At least it worked!

After recording some electric guitar parts with Aaron, I spent a couple days recording some vocals and redoing some acoustic guitar parts. And after recording some keys with Rachel, all the songs have their foundations. Almost all the songs are ready with drums and bass, so the grooves are all set.

So what's next? Well, as for recording, I plan to finish drums and bass this week, all vocals, harmonies, and electric guitar parts next week, a gang vocal recording day sometime next week, and it's on to mixing and mastering from there.

This is such a huge project for me, and I'm so thankful that God has given me the strength to push through and for the help and support I'm getting along the way. If you've made it this far in this blog post, thank you for believing in me and supporting me even just by taking the time to read this. I really appreciate the thoughts and prayer you put in for me too! I really want these songs to be more than just ear candy, and to bring people together. That is why, sometime further down the road, I will be announcing two very special places where the money from this album's sale will be going. I am extremely excited for this aspect of "Run, Love, Run" because it will serve as a reminder that we can all do something to help those around us. So stay tuned for that announcement!

In the mean time, listen to the acoustic videos of the songs that will be on this album! About half of them we sang before at an Allan and Friends Concert, but the rest are completely never-heard-before new songs! I try to do one every Sunday, and hope to keep it going even after "Run, Love, Run". Do share this with other people! That will help a lot! :)

Please continue to pray for me and this project, as we're about halfway through. I can't wait to see how this turns out and what new doors God will open for it!

Oh, and did I mention that there will be a bluesy melodica solo? :)

Peace, love, and Costco pork chops,
-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #7: "Unfixable"

This Sunday, I share with you an old song. It may be new to you, but it's old to me, which makes it that much better. :)

This song is from the "Chapter 35" EP, and if you haven't heard it yet, head on over here to get for free! Without money and without cost, it is my gift to you!

This song is especially precious to me because it came in a time of desperate pleas and painful cries for God to fix the things that were broken in my life, many of which I had my own hand in messing up. The beautiful thing about the valleys in relationships is that it shows me how much I need Jesus and allows me to tell God through lyrics and a gentle picking of my guitar.

That part of my life was getting increasingly stressful and frustrating, and the one thing I kept asking God was, "Why would you keep putting me in these situations? What's the point?" Ties were breaking here and there, and we were setting bridges on fire. All I could do was to sit and watch as this relationship ate me up from the inside out. Fixing was beyond my reach. Healing was out of my sight. And all I wanted was for my Father to come in and clean up my mess.

Growing up in a fellowship and discipled for a growing spirit, I've stored three truths inside my heart. The first is that God is always good. My doubts and fears would never change that. The second is that God has His own way. The cliched saying that everything happens for a reason holds true to me, because my good God was a purpose for everything that happens in my life. The last is that God will always love me. My sins and iniquities would never change that.

These three truths are where the core of this song comes from. Even though I could not fix my life, and it felt as if nothing would ever get better and that it will only go in the opposite direction as long as I breathed, I knew that my God is bigger than all of that. My God is bigger than my fears and pains. That's because this is His world, not mine. And I am His child, not my own person.

I pray that this song will encourage you to always know and believe and God will never forsake you and leave you in pieces. We may fall, and we may stumble, but God will pick us up and heal us, even if He has to drag us, kicking and screaming, out from the sorry mess we call OUR life. And He will show us a better light.

He gives. He takes away. But blessed be His glorious name.

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." -Heb.13.5

Amen.

Peace, love, and the bitter melon that Kevin loves,
-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #6: "Your Secret Place"

Happy Sunday, my friends! I present to you another song from "Run, Love, Run" called "Your Secret Place", which is also coincidentally the sixth track on the upcoming album!

This song is about enjoying God's presence and wondering in awe of His majesty and glory, and adoring Him as our creator. How wonderful is it that the Lord of all creation, of water earth and sky, would create a being such as ourselves in His own triune image! It's about how God's beauty is not something to be directly seen, but to be felt by the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is unlike anything we have ever felt before!

I wrote this song on the last day of our summer camp last year. We started the day with a morning worship service with our counselors. We let go of all the activities and plans we had in our heads for our closing ceremonies, and took the time to simply enjoy God's presence — not to ask for anything, but to just praise Him for all that He is. We sang our last song, "Set a Fire", the counselors were dismissed to start their day, and we kept playing for a little bit. Our worship service had ended, but the Holy Spirit still had something lingering in my heart. So I started singing, "You make me. You take me away. You swept me off my feet, off my feet again." I just kept singing those lines over and over again, and every single time, the last line would strike something really deep down in my heart. God, you sweep me off my feet over and over again, reminding me that You are my Creator. Thank You for making me.

In the words of Matthew West, "What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children!" ("Hello, My Name Is" by Matthew West)

And to close, a psalm:

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." -psa.27.4 

Peace, love, and pan-fried ramen,
-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #5: "Love Break Through"

This week's song is one that's really fun for us to play when Allan & Friends does concerts!

"Love Break Through" is a celebration of God's love and an invitation for the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts and to break down our chains, our walls, and our uncleanliness, so that we can worship the Good Lord with everything that He has given to us. These words of praise didn't come from something big that happened to me, but from a prolonged desire to feel God's hand in my life. I was tired of trying to control my destiny and fix things that were beyond my abilities. I simply sucked and needed someone who knew exactly what he is doing. I needed God and His love.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that love is the greatest among the three everlasting (for lack of a better word) things. And the greatest love of all comes from the Good Lord (Can I get an AMEN?!?). Such great love pours from God's own hands and flows into our hearts. It's a love that is not addressed to the entire world, but to each and every individual whom God has made and calls His own.

We are all buried at least knee-deep in sin. Most of us are overwhelmed with our sinfulness that we haven't seen the daylight in years. Sin, simply put, is what keeps the distance between us and God. No shelves stocked with self-help books, no never-ending counseling bills, nor servers holding countless gigabytes of motivational YouTube videos can ever stop us from steering further and further from our Maker. And it is a solid concrete wall, unpenetrable by our own strengths. But praise be to God that his great love reaches our hearts no matter the distance and no matter the cost! Only by God's love can the walls between us and Him be broken down so that we may be with our Father once more! 

Once again, our worship to God is a response to the simple (yet so great and grand) fact the God loves us so much that He gave His son Jesus Christ to step down from heaven and die for our sins (Everybody say HALLELUJAH!!!). If the Good Lord gave it all, holding nothing back, then we MUST worship with it all, holding nothing back. It is the least that our God deserves.

Go on praising the Lord. 

Hallelujah.

Prayz the Lord.

Prayz, prayz, PRAYZ the Lord!

Amen.

Peace, love, and inconspicuous mangoes (will be the end of me),

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #4: Summer Day Camp Cover Song & My Love For Leading Worship

No song from the upcoming album this week. I've lost my voice in this last week of our summer camp, but it is all worth it! Instead, I will be sharing with you a video I made as a message from our counselors to close off this year's ministry, as well as my role this year as Worship Coordinator. Enjoy this video of us embarrassing ourselves, with special guests Wesley Chew and Aaron Agudelo.

I've led worship at our summer camp for a couple years while leading a middle school group, but this year, I have the pleasure of focusing my energy in our morning worship services as Worship Coordinator.

The reason I love to lead worship is very simple — I love to worship my God. Everyone has their own unique relationship with God and their own unique connection with God. As I grew in faith, I've discovered that I connect with God the most through worship and praise.

I especially love to lead worship with our youth groups because so many of them are just beginning to experience God, and I have the honor of leading them to a secret place with their Father in heaven, where they can simply enjoy His presence.

This year, I got to work with such a wonderfully passionate team of worship leaders. God blessed me with team mates with hearts passionate about sharing the gospel. The Holy Spirit guided us, and through that, we put a lot of emphasis on personal prayer and finding that secret place in your heart which only you and God can find, and to just dwell in the presence of the Lord, in His sanctuary and in our hearts. I truly believe that the best type of worship does not take place in a corporate setting, but rather when there is no one around and you just adore the Lord for who He is.

There is so much joy in our worship to God with young children. Jesus calls us to have faith like little children, and when we offer our worship to God, we can just praise Him with all that He's given us, and we do it like no one but God is watching, because that is all that matters. We encouraged the kids to just jump, dance, sing, and go crazy in worship! And sometimes, it's just simply so much fun to have worship dance parties in the middle of the sanctuary, with those who want to join us, stomping and clapping like there is no tomorrow.

Lord, prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You

Peace, love, and Rachel's chocolate pudding, sprinkled with cocoa powder, topped with a mint leaf, and a Yogurtland spoon to match the leaf!
-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #3: "Oh How"

"Oh How" marvels at God's grace and mercy. It started with just simply worshipping and praising God, saying "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful." The verses express how God makes me feel. Sometimes I have these small moments where I just think of the way God makes me feel, like the way the He makes me smile when I see people show love, and how the Holy Spirit makes me sway when I worship. While camping with our middle schoolers this summer, my good friend and counselor Vicki shared with us that worship is the simple response to the fact that God loves us, and, in His love, sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in an act of unconditional redemption — and this song is my simple response.

No long story this week. Just simply enjoy God's nature and beauty.

Peace, love, and chrysanthemum tea,

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #2: "I Know You"

This week's song is called "I Know You", and it is God's response last week's song, "How Do I Believe".

I wrote this song for my cousin when she was going through probably the most difficult time in her life. She had lost so much, and our family was hurt beyond repair. No words can express and no one will ever be able to understand the despair that weighs her heart down everyday. No one, that is, except the Father.

This song poured out from me one night. I don't remember which night it was, or if anything particular happened that night, but God spoke, and that's all that matters. God was saying that He knows every single moment that I've felt pain, sorrow, and fear. When I felt broken down and had no strength to pick myself up, He was there, waiting for me to call back to Him after He had called me to Him by name so many times before. He called me His child, his beloved, and his prize.

God the Father knows your heart. He knows all the times that you've felt alone and afraid. He has collected all your tears in a jar and remembers each one, just as He remembers you. He knows our struggles, and He also knows our sins. You are the one sheep that was separated from the flock. Maybe you saw a pretty butterfly and you wandered off. Maybe you saw another herd with another shepherd who seemed better to you. Maybe you just got tired of your own shepherd. No matter how or why you've left your shepherd, He leaves the rest of the flock to find you. You are so precious to Him that He would risk losing the 99 other sheep in order to save you, wherever you may be and however much trouble you are in. He has a very particular set of skills. He will look for you, He will find you, and He will love you.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1

I hold this song especially close to my heart because I don't cry out to God in this song, but rather God cries out to me. It is through songs like these that I know this is something God wants me to do. I plan to go all the way through with recording these songs, making them as best as I can make them. I don't know if I have practiced my skills enough to push this album to be as best as it can be, and I don't know if I will have the resources to kick off the CDs, but I know God will bring me through one way or another. I have faith that the Lord will guide me in all that I do, and He will do it for His glory! Amen!

I could use all the help and support I can from you, my friends! Share this post and these songs with your friends and family, and all the wonderful people you are connected to through social media. I truly believe that these songs will touch someone's heart. May it also touch yours!

Find me on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Peace, love, and Mom's chrysanthemum tea,

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #1: "How Do I Believe"

Hello, friends!

Welcome to Song Share Sunday, where I hope to share a new song every week from the "Run, Love, Run" album as well as some other songs as long as the project is in the works, though I hope to be done in 9 weeks. (*wink wink* that's how many tracks are on the album) I'll mostly share a little of the background of the songs in the beginning of each video for those who don't make it here to the blog, but here you will find the meaty and complete story behind each song. I promise that I will do my best to be as honest as I can to you and myself.

This week, we're kicking it all off with a song called "How Do I Believe."

This song is a huge prayer of mine (and maybe yours, too), loaded with doubt, fear, and a deep yearning for God to be present. This song came about when I was asking God why all these bad things keep happening to me. These things aren't necessarily bad, as God's great plan often includes stumbles and falls in order for me to grow and for Him to pick me up, but nonetheless, I was frustrated, tired, and angry in the moment.

There are also some parts in this song where I would ask myself how long I would last before my spirit or my body broke. I always knew that I need to go through many trials in my life in order for God to refine me, and I also recognized that God is a masterful builder, and it will be a long time before I am ready to be a masterpiece. So I wondered if I would make it to the end, or would I lose hope when I had no more strength, both in my physical body and in my will to patiently wait for healing and change.

This song started with my doubts and fears, but it continued on through my witness of a strong warrior whose relentless passion in serving the Lord continues to inspire me every day. I've served side by side with this brother, Ray, for five consecutive summers, where we discipled young middle schoolers and introduced them to Jesus Christ. Ray is the type of guy who loves his students and is saddened by the thought of missing a week of camp and not being able to interact with them before he even meets them. Besides being a passionate servant, Ray is also a passionate athlete, always balling as hard as he can. With that said, Ray had his share of injuries and surgeries, many of which held him back from giving summer camp his all, and he was so hurt by that. Last summer, Ray had to miss about half of the entire camp because of school, surgery, and  his "ball-too-hard" incident, and, boy, was his heart broken. I continued writing this song for Ray, because I knew this was a prayer he had in his heart many, many times.

I finally finished this song on an MTR train in Hong Kong at the end of a short mission. I was meeting my (then) girlfriend for dinner, and I was feeling just the right emotions to make me whip out my Evernote app on my phone to search for the right words to lay down to complete the song. So far, I had verses that screamed the weariness and burdens in my heart and begged God to put an end to my suffering. I was frustrated, tired, angry, and most of all, unsure of what to do. But my time of screaming and crying was up, because at that moment, the numerous people coming on and going off the train disappeared, the train tracks disappeared, and God spoke to me. He shut my mouth from saying any more and opened my heart to the sound of His still, small voice. This is what God said:

Is it not enough for you to let me take it all? Is it not more than everything that you don't have to fall? You can stand on mountains. You can reach the stars. If only you give me your heart. 

These lines never made to the final song, not because it wasn't good enough, but perhaps because it such a precious moment of mine with my Father, that it is better kept between me and Him. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:6 that the most intimate of moments with the Lord should be private and not boasted to the entire world. It is not forever lost, though, because it did make it to an earlier version of the demo which is only in the hands of some of my closest brothers and sisters who have always encouraged me in my music.

May these words touch your hearts as they have touched mine. Stay tuned for God's response to this prayer in next week's Song Share Sunday! Thank you for reading!

Check out my Facebook and Instagram for some extra goodies!

Peace, love, and Ikea's cinnamon rolls,
-Brandon

Official Announcement: "Run, Love, Run" The Album Project

It is my honor to announce "Run, Love, Run", a new collection of songs portraying some aspects of a relationship with Jesus, such as pursuit, intimacy, wonder, doubt, and reassurance. These songs are conversations which I've had with the Lord many times as I grew in faith, and these conversations will be had further down this winding road, may it be right now, tomorrow, or years from now.

Photo by Stella Yau

I had the pleasure of sharing these songs with Allan & Friends to some churches here in the Bay Area, and now I'm ready to lay them down into an album. You can follow the entire project here, as I record these new songs with my good friends. You'll get to see behind the scenes as I record, mix, and produce the final CD! I'll also bring deeper into each song as I reveal a new track from the album each week with "Song Share Sundays". Also as some extra goodies, I'll be coming out with some covers done with good company!

I am beyond excited for you to join me on this adventure as we bring the songs to life! I really want these songs to mean a lot more than they do. That's why further down the road, I will be announcing how this album will benefit some people in and out of our community and how you can join me in making a difference in the lives of some close friends of mine.

May God bless this project with love and grace.

Love, peace, and homemade ice cream sandwiches,

-Brandon

P.S. Keep up with me on Facebook and Instagram.

Broken Strings, Broken Hearts

I broke a string yesterday and I didn't know what to do with myself.

I came home after worship at camp in hopes of starting a recording for "Run, Love, Run." Naturally, I picked up my beloved guitar and started playing some of songs. Sometimes All the times it feels great to strum out some chords! The song led me into a palm mute, and the moment my palm hit the bed of strings, my D string snapped at the bridge with a twang! Needless to say, there was way too much tension.

At that moment, my heart stopped, and I suddenly didn't know what to do with myself. 

You see, my guitar and I have this really intimate relationship, something like what the homies would call "tight", but it's more than just tight. We're so close that I never needed to name her. We just know each other. She's there for me when I'm singing hallelujahs, and she's there for me when I need to cry. She sings with me and she sings to me. Most importantly, she is God's instrument. When she sings, God's words sing through her, injecting his Gospel straight into my veins.

I've broken quite a few strings just in the past couple of months. Maybe we're together too much.. Maybe we need break..

Nah, that can't be it. I just love to worship the God who paid for my sins with his own flesh and blood. I would put a ring on it, but I wouldn't know where to put it.

Fear not! God did allow me to have some fun!
Peace, love, and microwaved chocolate chip cookies (with a cup of milk, of course!),
-Brandon

Welcome to "Mountains Will Roar"

Dear friends,

Welcome to "Mountains Will Roar", where you can tag along with me on my journey with Christ as it is depicted through song and word. As my good friend Tim put it, these songs will document my relationship with my Father as it grows and grows. New songs are to come, but if you ever find yourself sitting and waiting, head on over to my bandcamp, where you can find "Chapter 35", a collection of songs about salvation and redemption. I'm very eager to share my joy of songwriting, musicianship, fellowship, and worship with you all! I can be very inconsistent and lazy, so I hope that this blog will allow you to keep me accountable to share my songs with you!

Here, you will find reminiscence of old songs, sneak peaks at upcoming lyrics, and a look behind the curtain of the fellowship which music and worship brings. It is my prayer that these songs will touch you as much as it touches myself. I want to share these songs with you as they happen to me because they are so precious to me. As John Mayer (another good friend of mine) said, "At the end of the day you go to sleep with a song you didn't know when you woke up that you were ever gonna have, and that's the joy of making music and that's what keeps me hungry to want to keep coming up with stuff. And as far as I'm concerned, if I could have every eighteen hours be that, I would."

As I searched for (and continue to search for) my identity through songwriting, I've discovered one of the unique ways in which God speaks to me. Many times over, I write a song intending it to reveal God's love to those who may come across it, and sometimes those people are very specific people in my life. Sometimes I would go back to song and break into a flood of tears because I would hear God's voice through the lyrics, reminding me of His love and grace, and that's why these songs are so precious to me. In my songs, I've found a tin can with my name on it, and attached to the can is a string. I sing into this tin can in my search for truth and love, and every so often, a gentle voice sings back to me, telling me what I am loved.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; You are mine." 

-isa.43.1

Peace, love, and really good chicken nuggets!

-Brandon