So what is there to sing about? I go back to brother Paul who said God demonstrates his own love for us:

"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! "

We rejoice because we know that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Praise God for blessing us when our actions have not caught up to the confession of our heart and mind.

That is why this is a project of hymns. Hymns are nothing more than songs of praise. But these songs of praise are our anchors. They bear witness to the life of the hymn writers' lives that are much like our own, rife with trial and yet full of joy -full of temptation and full of grace and full of personal failures that have been redeemed into His success. How then can we not sing of His manifold blessings?

My parents consecrated my life to God when I was an infant. They recognized that they were simply stewards of something given to them for their care. So, at a young age, I gave myself to Jesus. The funny thing about God is, that once that seal is made on earth and in heaven, there is no longer any hiding place. He will find you. He will guide you home. Daddy used to refer to a poem. I think it was titled "The Hound of Heaven," in which Jesus tracks us down for His purpose. The Good Shepherd who goes after His sheep who is lost. As a result, I have experienced joy in the midst of despair. Comfort in the time of trouble. Healing in the time of sickness. Grace in the time of disobedience. I have received manifold blessings.

The word manifold means, "marked by diversity and variety." The word blessing implies the invocation of divine care for us as a protector, preserver, and one who has endowed us with favor. So this album, including the process of making it, is a witness to these manifold blessings of God. A witness to the fundamentals of my belief that while I was yet a sinner, before I was cleaned up, before I stopped drinking and drugging, before I could hold down a job, before I could be a responsible person, before I could love you or myself, while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. By his blood I am cleansed and made whole. By his stripes I am healed as are you and anyone who encounters this album. Amen.