Music/Audio

Five Questions for Matt Redman

Matt Redman, an accomplished singer/songwriter, has penned several well-recognized worship anthems, such as "Blessed Be Your Name," "The Heart of Worship," and "You Never Let Go." In September he released his latest project, We Shall Not Be Shaken, that’s packed with many soon-to-be favorites that offer encouragement in these uncertain times (check the Insight Web site music review archives to read my review of his album last month!). Matt has taken the time to answer five questions for us about faith, his walk with God, and his music.

Question one: Matt, thank you for taking the time to answer five questions for Insight magazine. Our readers have sung your songs on international mission trips, as well as in their schools and churches. As a songwriter, do you set out to write anthems like “Blessed Be Your Name,” “The Heart of Worship,” and “You Never Let Go”? Or do they flow out of you just as easily as the track before them? 

Matt: There doesn’t seem to be a formula. Some songs take minutes to write, others take months! But whatever the case, I’m on a quest to connect the everyday and the eternal, in other words, to take the amazing eternal truths of God and connect them with the everyday details of people’s lives. Songs can accomplish that in a great way. On this new album about half of the songs are about the steadfastness of God. Songs like “How Great Is Your Faithfulness” and “Through It All” plug into the truth of a consistent, constant God who is everything He claims to be.

Question 2: What do you enjoy more, hearing your songs sung by a church you are visiting or leading a crowd in song at a concert?

Matt: To be honest, both opportunities are massively encouraging. My aim is to write songs that will help people voice their worship to God. So whether I’m leading the song or someone else is, I’m so encouraged when I see that dynamic happening. As a songwriter, one of the most encouraging things someone can tell me is that my song helped them talk to God, that it helped them put into words something they were wanting to express to Him.

Question 3: These can be spiritually trying times for anyone, but especially for youth, since they may never have experienced a recession or a parent losing their job. Relating to your new project, what advice can you give to youth about the steadiness of God’s love?

Matt: The more you look around this world, the more you realize just how temporary, shaky, and fragile so many things are. We’ve seen that recently in all the economic woes and people struggling financially. But that’s not a reason to give up hope, because at the same time it highlights something amazingly inspiring about God: that He is totally unshakeable, unfailing, and unending. Everyone builds their life on something, but there’s only one place that’s truly solid ground and a firm foundation, and that is Jesus Christ and His kingdom. As the album tries to get across, if we trust our lives to God, “we shall not be shaken.”

Question 4: You recently moved from England to the USA, allowing you to assist Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio in creating the Passion City Church in Atlanta. Why was this church started, and what is its mission?

Matt: Louie sums it up in 10 words: “For God. For people. For the city. For the world.” We want to love God together and live for His glory. We want to care about people just as Jesus does. And, we want to make a difference in a city of five million and a world of seven billion. It’s a big challenge, but we’re up for it!

Question 5: You’ve had the opportunity to travel the world, and you say, “God is doing something incredible.” Please describe to our readers the results of what God is doing to spread His message of love around the world.

Matt: I was so encouraged to get a tiny glimpse of what God is doing around the world on the Passion World tour last year. From Uganda to the Ukraine, we found a generation singing loud and proud about their Savior, and that was inspiring enough. But at the same time, they seemed so eager to live out their worship too. Everywhere we went there were so many signs of life in this young generation of the church. Take Paris, France, for example. That nation has a reputation for being secular, and some people say the church is dead there. They should have been there that night of the Passion world tour! It was an inspiring sight to see all those students on fire for Christ and desperate to sing, live, and work for the glory of God in their nation. It was powerful!

by Andrew Shaw

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