I grew up in a really musical house where all of my brothers and sisters could sing, but I couldn't sing. Not only could I not sing, I couldn't hear pitch. I was totally tone deaf - legitimately, one hundred percent tone deaf. Nevertheless, I loved music.

I grew up in a really musical house where all of my brothers and sisters could sing, but I couldn't sing. Not only could I not sing, I couldn't hear pitch. I was totally tone deaf - legitimately, one hundred percent tone deaf. Nevertheless, I loved music.

I grew up going to church. My dad was a pastor. I knew that God had a plan for my life. I knew that Jesus was the only way to Heaven. But I loved sin. The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a season and I loved it.

As I look back now, I really feel like God has called me not just to speak into the lives of believers but, even broader than that, to speak into the lives of people that are outside of the Church.

The comfort of that lifestyle began to eat away at me like a cancer almost. It began to rob me of my joy and my faith. It kind of robbed me of my purpose.

I don't write for Christians. I write for people. I write so that if a Christian hears my music, they're going to be encouraged because I'm writing from the Christian worldview.

When the stock market crash, a lot of people realized that the American dream was not all it was cracked up to be. They'd been living for this thing and it was kind of a façade. It wasn't real.