The songwriter behind some of your
church's popular contemporary worship tunes, including "Open the
Eyes of My Heart", "I Love to Be in Your Presence", and "Above All,"
shares his testimony and the joy in the ministry God gave him.
CBN.com –
"I almost feel like the Fed-Ex guy who sort of delivered the
package. You sort of can’t take credit for what’s in the package.
You just feel like you delivered it to the church and I just stand
back. It's more than any songwriter can hope for," says
singer/songwriter Paul Baloche.
You’ve probably sung Paul’s songs in your church. Well-known
artists such as Ron Kenoly, Don Moen, and Michael W. Smith have
recorded his music.
Paul's fascination for the guitar started at a very early age.
"I grew up in the '60s with older brothers who had a lot
of Beatles records around," says Paul, "so I think our house was
always filled with music. We used to put on little Beatles concerts
in our basement. I think that was the initial music spark."
Paul grew up in the Catholic Church.
"My mother was very serious about her faith and really prayed for
us," he says. "I went to Catholic school, was an alter boy, and to
me it was the mystery of God. They had some Catholic folk masses,
and there was a girl playing guitar. I look back and think there
were probably some seeds planted in my heart back then. Wow,
I thought, what a cool thing. Music and singing about the
Lord -- what a great combination."
Paul eventually surrendered his life to the Lord.
"I met a group of people where I really heard the gospel for the
first time," he says. "It was like the Billy Graham type experience
-- from darkness to light. I was changed. All of my friends thought
I was nuts and I was in a cult or something. I was like, 'Man, I
can’t explain it. All I know is Jesus is real, and I asked Jesus to
come into my life, and I’m just different.' I love that when you see
that happen in somebody’s life. They don’t even have the words, but
the testimony, that’s what I hang onto. The reality of Jesus has
changed my life."
Last year the song "Above All" that Paul co-wrote with Lenny
Leblanc won them a Dove Award for Inspirational Song of the Year.
Says Paul, "Just like all the other songs, sometimes in the midst
of leading worship, just a prayerful thought will pop up in your
mind, that Scripture in Isaiah where it says, 'Your ways are higher
than my ways. Your thoughts are not my thoughts.' Just say to the
Lord, 'You are above all the things that we esteem. You are above
all power and fame and riches, and all those things that our culture
values. Lord, I just want to declare You are above all.'"
What is it like for Paul to see others enter into the presence of
God through a song that the Lord wrote for him?
"I feel it’s a privilege that I get to put words in the mouths of
God’s children, and as they say these words and sing these prayers,
that something is happening in their life which overflows into their
marriage and the families and the communities, and their lives are
changed," he says. "That’s really what you do every day, what we’re
all trying do: just to see one heart transformed at a time."