After three critically acclaimed and well-received albums, Jimmy Needham paired with award-winning producer Ed Cash for his most compelling and vulnerable collection of songs to date--Clear the Stage. As the title cut implies, Clear the Stage is a call to absolute dependence on God. From the lead single, "If I Ever Needed Grace," to the anthemic "My Victory," the idea of acknowledging our need for God's mercy and grace is woven like a thread throughout the album. Musically the album visits much that is familiar to fans of Needham's previous albums, but also pushes the envelope with songs like the funk-infused, "I Will Find You," featuring guest vocals from Lecrae.

 

"There's a nuance I try to capture in every record, but this one was a lot more eclectic, thematically," Jimmy says. "All of the facets of my personal life keep leading me to an expanding view of Christ: marriage to my wife Kelly, our daughter's birth, and the miscarriages we experienced before our daughter's birth. 

 

"In all of these things, and in every way I attempt to navigate life, my only satisfaction—the only true answers—will be found in Christ. I've come to understand obedience as more than simply not doing bad things, but running to God to drink deeply in Him so that I don't want to run to any other source."

 

Jimmy's soulful voice and personal lyrics are very engaging and all of his songs put me right there with him. I had the great opportunity to interview Jimmy Needham about his super-catchy song "I Will Find You." 

 

 

It was one of the first songs I wrote for the album. I had this chorus I was working on which began with an inspiration from a neighbor of mine in Houston. He was brought into our lives, and he wasn't a believer. He was from the Northeast and working in the oil business in Houston. God opened doors for me and my wife to talk with him and share the Gospel with him. All signs pointed to the possibility that he would accept Christ. He was asking good questions, and his curiosity wasn't skeptical, but he was interested. I was so excited. 

 

A month later I gave him a book that I thought he'd want to read, and the conversation ended with him telling me he "liked being my neighbor but we needed to put the Jesus thing to rest and didn't want to talk about it anymore." To me, it was really discouraging, and it is the most important thing in the universe to get to know our Savior. Ultimately, he rejected Jesus. 

 

Birthed out of that thought, as much as we run from God, it doesn't really matter because I believe that God pursues and chases us. It began there, and I invited Ross King to write the rest of the song with me. We finished the song without a rap or any prospect of a rap, and we put it on the shelf. We were approaching studio time, and I thought I'd really like to write a song with Lecrae. It occurred to me in the eleventh hour that this song would be great one to feature him. He wanted to write his own verse, and it seemed like a perfect song for Lecrae. He is a freakishly fast songwriter. The final product is one of my favorite songs on the album. It's fun and meaningful.

 

 

Luke 15:11-32: The Parable of the Prodigal Son.

 

John 14:5-7: Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we don't know where You are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."

 

 

This song is similar to the theme of my song "Grace Amazing." God is the pursuer. The theological premise comes from John 14:6--no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. I just think about how a lot of people get fired up about that verse and think it means we don't have free will. The point of that verse is to comfort believers that even in our most stubborn hearted moment, wanting nothing to do with God, and can't get ourselves out of our own context and situations, He comes, He finds and He liberates. I find it a great comfort to know that God is given that work. Ephesians 1 is a predestination passage, and then the next verse explains why He predestines us, "to the praise of His glorious grace." The point of the passage is not to cause controversy, but to praise His glorious grace. That's what the verse says. 

 

 

This song is incredible. "I Will Find You" is a prodigal son story song and it has one of the catchiest musical hooks I've ever heard. I literally get goose bumps when Lecrae belts out the amazing bridge. This is one of the best songs of the year for sure and really exemplifies the strong combination of catchy music and moving lyrics and vocals.

 

We sometimes put up a wall between us and God and He just wants us to come home to Him. Many of us feel that we're not worthy of being near God and that He's using a checklist to determine our worthiness. That's not the Gospel. The Good News of the Gospel which this song perfectly portrays it is that God accepts us no matter what we've done. As the song says from God's perspective, "And well, let Me remind you: one day I will find you." What a wonderful, encouraging truth.

 

Something Jimmy and I discussed was how the core of our faith as Christians is found in John 14:6. Jesus is the only way. All roads don't lead to heaven, despite what a secular culture tries to tell us. We all need to be unashamed of our faith in Jesus and we all need to be bold in expressing our faith. When we don't fully share the Gospel, we're doing a disservice to friends and family members who aren't believers. This is a great song about having faith that God's participates in the lives of His people. We need to have faith that God participates meaningfully in our lives as followers of Jesus. Amen to that!

 

(You can listen to the song here.)