Faith of Our Fathers (Interlude)

The only hymn with a horizontal message, this presented itself as basis of the whole concept. "It was the right song to start the album with, because the album is full of songs that are our foundation," says Harris. "People wrote these songs as testimony of their faith because they were so challenged by what they were doing and believing."


The Solid Rock

"This is one of the more familiar hymns on the album," says Mark "And because it's been done so many times, we felt we needed to make it one of the most 4Him-sounding things, vocally." Omartian's vision added organic instrumentation to the very recognizable vocal movements. He enlisted Vince Gill to play banjo, as well as fiddle wizard Stuart Duncan to help provide a rootsy element to this arrangement. It's a joyful and expansive testament of faith.


Be Thou My Vision

With its origin as an 8th Century Irish hymn, "Be Thou My Vision" expresses man's need to look to God as his personal lighthouse. "I think this is my favorite cut on the album," says Harris, who sang the open and trades leads with Chrisman. "I love the arrangement, and I love the tenderness of what it means." Producer Omartian had his musical target intact, including the penny whistle, strings and real bagpipes to honor the song's Celtic origin. "I had the opportunity to lead worship at my church a while back," says Chrisman, "and I wanted to do a hymns service. So I rehearsed this for the first time at home. When I got to the last chorus, I busted out crying. The lyric is so emotionally rich. It's that ultimate heart-cry."

Take My Life and Let it Be (Interlude)

"It's just a beautiful prayer," says Harris. Chrisman's trademark tenor, a cappella and doubled, punctuate the personal man-to-God request for ultimate guidance.


It is Well

Done as a comforting, acoustic pop ballad, "It Is Well" and the story behind its writing deeply affected each member of the groupóit is evident faith within deep personal tragedy. "Here's a guy to whom God gave a moment of clarity when he stood over the site where he had lost his daughters," says Chrisman. "God said, 'I'm going to take care of you right here and right now. And he began to write, 'When peace, like a river, attendeth my way''"

"I had a chance to sit back and listen to this material over and over again," says Magehee, "and I went through an awakening, a reconnection musically with inspiration through the ages, and saw how timeless God is, that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God who meets me in a time of financial crisis is the same God who met Spafford on the ship. It's a thread that goes all the way back and forward and we're all connected to it."

Sullivan believes God also gave us this song to help us be honest in the fragility of our faith. "He had peace, but there was still turmoil there."

Chrisman agrees. "In the last verse, you can tell that Spafford's faith is one he's holding on to with both hands for fear it will get away. As heroic as the lyric is, you see his desperation. It's another reason we wanted to do a record like this; because there are those things written that are very strong tools for each one of us to use to build our faith for those times that are coming in each of our lives."


O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

"The lyric is about the crucifixion, the hurt and the anger, what that day was about. That's why we put it in the dark arrangement we did," says Harris. To bring this hymn into the modern age, the group chose a minor-key arrangement that was both modern and ancient, and showcases Sullivan's soulful vocals. "A lot of the earlier rockers, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, used a lot of the old church modes and scales," he says, reminding us that " In the church, up until about a hundred years ago, it was heresy to play major chords!"


Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us

A classic example of an old hymn that might be difficult to translate into a modern arrangement, the group chose a creative pop undertone to take it to a place where it was "very singable," says Chrisman, whose alternately soft and solid tenor fluidly carries the message. A Beatlesesque instrumentation with a "George Harrison guitar sound," piccolo and trumpet shall surely open the hearts of several generations.


Holy Holy Holy (Interlude)

"This was on the top of the list to do," says Chrisman. "But there's a million versions of it, so we thought we could do something with it no one's ever done by putting it into the interlude category, and making it a worship junction between the songs."


All Creatures of Our God and King

Written by Francis of Assisi in 1225, this beloved hymn is the talk that St. Francis walked throughout his life. "This was the guy who said, 'Show people the love of Christ at all times. If necessary, use words,' says Chrisman. "He came along and changed the direction of the church to a kinder, gentler feeling. The church at that time was in the middle of the Holy Wars, and all he did was preach peace and love."

"There aren't many people who grasp the extreme nature of God," adds Sullivan, "who really get a hold of how much He really loves us, and I think St. Francis was one of those people." An eastern-feel opening arrangement turns to a melodic urban sound with trade-around leads from all, bringing an atmosphere of rejoicing all in the Universe that God has wrought.


The Love of God

"Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were ev'ry stalk on earth a quill, And ev'ry man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, Tho stretched from sky to sky." And inspired arrangement, pure 4HIM pop vocals are other-land flavored with bouzouki and a delicate, plaintive chant and perfectly invests this lyric that is said by some to be the greatest, most well-constructed lyric in all of the Hymns. It surely paints a vivid picture of God's Love as the ultimate reality, and our incomprehensibility of its depth and breadth. The story behind the writing of this also reminds us that God has a plan for each. "The guy who wrote [the third stanza of] The Love of God, was so desperate he was scratching it out on a wall!" exults Sullivan. "These were desperate men that made an impact on the world. Isn't it amazing that God uses people in mental institutions?"


Great is Thy Faithfulness

"There's something about the melody and the lyric together on this song," muses Magehee. "I remember in Truth we would sing it back stage after prayer meetings, and we'd sing, "summer, winter, springtime and harvest," and it was like, gosh I don't want to go out there and sing, I just want to stay back here and worship! It takes you to another place." An easy, loping and infectious contemporary pop arrangement showcases Magehee's emotive vocal range and the group's nearly familial harmonies.

"It's interesting," says Sullivan, "that man, in putting together religion, has placed so much of the responsibility of the relationship on us. It's not; it's Him who's faithful. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful. Even when we don't live up to our end of the bargain, whatever He says in His word is true, and always will be."


O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (Interlude)

"I love this hymn," says Harris. "It's just a beautiful melody, I love what it says. It's the realization that to truly to experience the love of God, even though it will not let us go, we must be willing to let go of our lives, and give our life to Him, to find the fullness of His love for us."


Fairest Lord Jesus

"If there's a love song on the album," says Chrisman, "this is it. It's a poem of our infatuation with Christ." Its meditative melody and upper-register vocalization is a perfect complement to the tender sentiment expressed in that mutual infatuation.


There is a Fountain

What the group describes as "a very cool vibe," is indeed so in this expression of God's redeeming love. Spare, almost country instrumentation honors the roots of this most hopeful of hymns, and 4HIM's heartfelt, four-part soaring vocals call forth the glory in God's Grace.