When did you first start writing your own music?
During my junior and senior years of high school. The very first thing I started with was a nursery rhyme medley for my high school orchestra. My senior year, I composed a piece for orchestra and wrote my very first song–lyrics and all. After high school, I decided to apply for a scholarship to Andrews and after many months of waiting, I heard back that I had been awarded a full-ride for music, and that I had been accepted as a composition major.
What were any drawbacks/benefits you had when writing your own songs?
One of the hardest parts of writing songs for me is the battle between the poetry and what I want to do musically. The ideal in songwriting is to get those two things to merge into one as if there was no conflict between them at all. But sometimes it really is hard to come up with compelling lyrics that also fit with some sort of metric pattern. Thankfully though, the more I work at it, the ever-so-slightly easier it becomes.
Can you explain the title of your new song?
The Three Angels refers to–guess what–the three angels of Revelation 14! I want people to tie the title of the song with the messages it contains. Therefore, I didn’t try to do anything fancy, but rather something quite simple and predictable.
Could you elaborate on how you came up with the idea for your song, “The Three Angels”?
The idea came to write a song about it in mid-February of 2020. I was thinking about how powerful a song can be for communicating the gospel. I was also thinking about the three angels’ messages and how much I wanted to understand them for myself. These two thoughts collided in an idea that would give birth to something beautiful.
Did anything specific inspire you to write the song? What continues to provide you inspiration?
Something I was looking for as I studied the messages was a fresh revelation of God’s love. I read quotes like, “the last message of mercy to be given to the world is a revelation of [God’s] character of love” (Christ’s Object Lessons, page 415). I heard that these messages were to “constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth” (The Great Controversy, page 604). Naturally then, it seemed to me that the phrases “last message of mercy” and “final warning” were synonymous and therefore equating the three angels’ messages to a revelation of God’s character of love. This was a relief and yet rightly intuitive. As part of my cultural Adventist experience, I had either misinterpreted or heard misinterpretations of Revelation 14 that put emphasis on a scary judgment instead of on a good God to prepare us for it. After my conversion, however, I knew for sure that God was love and that He wouldn’t try to scare me into submission. These tensions pulling on both sides gave God the golden opportunity to step in and illuminate my mind. This focus on God’s character of love in all of scripture is what continues to provide inspiration for my songwriting specifically, but also to my instrumental composition.
Have you written any other songs like “The Three Angels”?
Nothing I’ve written is quite like “The Three Angels.” However, I have written songs that have a similar ideological approach; in other words, I tried to get at God’s heart of love. My second most recent release is entitled “The Ten Promises.” It literally is God talking to us about the new covenant experience that He wants us to have with His law, and specifically, the ten commandments, which I believe are actually ten promises for a better life. I’ve written other songs as well that you can find on my sister’s and my album,
Could you elaborate on how your other pieces of music were/were not related to this song?
“The Ten Promises” is quite similar in approach to “The Three Angels,” in that it seeks to dispel lies about God and His Word. Just like “The Three Angels” calls people to “reject the lies that paint our God as anything but love,” “The Ten Promises” calls people to trust God to fulfill His ten promises in us, looking to Calvary for sufficient motivation. “The Three Angels” is quite different from any other song I’ve written because it is the first song I’ve orchestrated for a large group and produced.
Do you plan to write any other songs in the future? If so, what would they be about?
Yes. I hope to write songs that help us to see our sweet Jesus and His character of love through all of the doctrines of Scripture. For example, I’d like to write a song about how we can see God’s love in the investigative judgment.
Lyrics of “The Three Angels”:
Three angels fly above the world to share their words of peace:
"Redeeming Love has conquered death, its pow'r will fin'ly cease!
Proclaim it far and wide," they say, "to every soul on earth.
Creation's King laid down His life to offer us new birth!"
"Fear God and give Him glory for His trial of love has come;
O worship nature's Maker and His faithful friend become.
Christ's righteousness and living grace will raise the dead to life;
His Spirit will abide in you and quell a world of strife."
Chorus:
The everlasting gospel, the cure to all our fears;
Christ's death and resurrection, the hope of ageless years;
Assurance of redemption to every hurting soul;
What once was crushed and broken will forever be made whole.
Babylon has fallen from the truth she once believed;
The name of God has been profaned, this world has been deceived.
Reject the lies that paint our God as anything but love.
Receive the grace of God and let it carry you above.
Chorus:
The everlasting gospel, the cure to all our fears;
Christ's death and resurrection, the hope of ageless years;
Assurance of redemption to every hurting soul;
What once was crushed and broken will forever be made whole.
The Sabbath is a sign of God's creative pow'r to save;
The Beast will soon set up its own as law to be obeyed.
But trust not in the ways of man to save the soul from death;
Believe in Christ, the Lamb of God, to give us all new breath.
Bridge:
These angels are a symbol of God's people here on earth;
Their message we will share with all the world.
O Spirit, give us power to press on in hope and love
Until You come again and take us home.
Chorus:
The everlasting gospel, the cure to all our fears;
Christ's death and resurrection, the hope of ageless years;
Assurance of redemption to every hurting soul;
What once was crushed and broken will forever be made whole.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.