If you want to write the next great novel, but you think, No, this won't work because no one will buy it or it won't be any good, then you talk yourself out of taking a risk.

Really, at a time when theyre debating when and where a nativity scene can be used, this is the kind of stuff we need to have out there - outside of the church.

Those worship songs on the Christmas project will air on PBS television. That's highly unusual.

Risk means everything from being honest about your faith, to moving, to quitting a job that's paying you a fortune but it's not what's in your heart. Risking things is one of the biggest fears we have.

A great moment of clarity when I realized I'm dying. There's no reason to wait to do the things we want to do.

I always wanted to be a full-time musician. Every television job I had was a means to buy a grand piano, or to put in a recording studio, or something like that.

After playing so many songs in churches for eight or nine years, I've learned what songs people react to. Then I just had fun with the arrangements. That's how this album came together.