After more than five years away from the music scene, former According to John frontman John Waller is back with a new album and message entitled The Blessing. Click here to read the heartfelt and amazing story behind John's newfound ministry and music.
I received word about the big tour lined up for the Fall with Casting Crowns, but I was wondering if youve had a chance to do any live shows since the release of the record.
My first one will be this coming Sunday (3/19) night, and then Ive got quite a few scheduled after that. Theyre in the process of scheduling quite a few dates in the Spring. Its not an official tour in the Spring, but theyre just kind of getting me out there. Were mainly going to try to go places where the radio singles playing heavily and theres some recognition and places where we can partner with radio stations and churches. But the big tour will obviously be in the Fall.
Hows the response been so far to your new music?
Well, The Blessing, the radio single, its really resonating with people. And we released that song first because its kind of the foundation for my ministry: teaching people to bless their children and their spouses, and even to speak the Word of God over themselves - thats kind of what were about. Ive realized that -even in my own testimony- that its easy to curse people, its easy to curse yourself, and its easy to believe a lie from the enemy. But what people in the church have not learned is how to use the Word of God, to speak the Word of God out loud and to proclaim it, and declare it over their childrens lives and over their own lives. So I feel like were more than just an artist-concert kind of ministry, were going to go out there and we want to use music to deliver a message and to deliver the truth.
Thats great. I was curious though, as youve written these songs while ministering to your own church, how is your preparation different for a tour date as opposed to leading worship in your own congregation?
I think the people were going to go out and minister towell, let me back up first - being plugged into the local church is where these songs came from, and so thats vital, thats a core value that I have in my ministry: that you use your gifts to the local body first, see what Gods doing in a local church and understand the heartbeat of church. And you do that by staying connected and involved. And then through that, you can learn what God is doing in His church more as a whole. So even though Ill be going on tour, Im definitely going to stay connected. [My family] is actually moving back to Georgia where were from originally, and Im going to be one of the worship leaders at the church where I grew up, and then were going to go out on tour as well as a family.
So youre going to be touring but leading worship at your home church at the same time?
Absolutely. Really, something that is key to writing songs that are going to resonate in the church is to stay connected. If Im disonnected, them Im going to lose site of that. I just dont think that you can really speak with authority to the church if youre not connected to the church.
I think thats a great perspective. And in regards to the story about how these songs actually came to be on your new record, I thought that was pretty amazing as well. Can you share a bit about how that happened?
Sure. I was in a band for about 7 years called According to John. And in reflecting on that, I definitely knew what it was like to be disconnected from the church, as we were always travelling; and I was a member of the church, but I just wasnt really involved. And we tried for years to make that work, and when that didnt work, when we didnt get that major record deal that we were going after, I had to kind of put that dream down. I had to lay it down and say, Alright, Im trying to make this work, Im trying to do this, but its not working.
And so it was a very tough time in my life in laying that down, but afterwards I got an opportunity to come out to Colorado to plant a church with a friend of mine. So I picked up and moved my family out there, and we started a church. But because it was just a difficult time for me losing that dream, I didnt write [songs] for about a year. But at the same time, before I moved out there, the Lord had delivered me from a battle with depression and medication, which I had struggled with for 20 years from the time I was 12 to the time I was 32. And I had met some people who prayed over me, and God just delivered me, it was miraculous. And for the next few months, I kind of weened myself off of medication, and I spent the first year in Colorado just getting to know God again. And during that time I found that my perspective on God was actually a little skewed, because I was constantly dealing with depression. But when God set me free from that, I had a completely new perspective on Him, and I began to study His Word intensively, and I really began to understand who I was in Christ for the first time.
And after about a year, the Lord just kind of put it on my heart to start writing songs again. So I picked up my guitar and I started writing, and I wrote a couple songs a week for probably 6 months. And I was teaching these songs to my worship team every week, and we were doing these songs in church, and these songs were really ministering to these people. And when I wrote these songs, I didnt write them for the purpose of making an album, or getting a record deal, but I was writing these songs, in a way, because I had to - I had realized some truths that needed to be understood by many people. And so in putting those truths to music, we were doing [these songs] every week.
But after about 6 months, the church was like, When are you going to record these? And I was like, Well, I hadnt planned on recording them, you know, it takes a lot of money to record, and really, what would we do with it, and everything associated with that. But they kept pushing the matter, and a pastor, whos a very close friend of mine, said to me one day, Why dont we just cast the vision and raise the money and see what God does. And so we did that, and God just really blew our doors off. I mean, the money came in not only from the congregation, but from people who believed in me over the years back in Georgia, and we raised over $50,000 in about 4 weeks time.
Wow
Yeah. And so I went back to Georgia to record this project, and in the midst of recording, I just thought it would be really cool if Mark Hall could sing on one song. Because I really love Casting Crowns - I really respect that ministry and just the way [Mark] does ministry; and we have a lot in common - were about the same age, and he has 3 kids and I have 3 kids, and anyways, I just resonated with the guy; I thought, This guys doing it right, and Gods honoring it. And so my friend had his number and he called him up and left him a message. And I thought it was a long shot, because they had really hit by then, and they were huge, but the next day Mark called back and said he would love to do it, and that he had really appreciated the ministry of According to John. And it was that back in 2001, we came to an event where he had his youth group, and he just remembered how we really connected with his youth and really ministered to them.
And so, its like, everything matters in life - my time in According to John was not wasted, it prepared me for this time in my life. And if I had not really been faithful to my ministry with According to John, Mark probably never would have thought twice about recording the song. But we recorded him on The Blessing, and then he passed it on to Mark Miller, whos the president of Beach Street Records, and the rest is kind of becoming history.
Definitely.
That was a long winded answer (laughs).
(laughs) That is such a great way to put it though, becoming history. Even in just the part of your story about Mark Hall, its amazing to see how much God is working and preparing things in your ministry. And the fact that you werent even looking for a record deal, but it was actually the church that really facilitated that - its like God gave you a blessing personally in deliverance, and then you were able to share that with your congregation, and now its like the blessing just keeps multiplying.
(laughs) Thats a good way to put it; thats exactly what has happened. And its so exciting. God said to Abraham, in blessing, I will bless you. As you bless others, I will bless you, and thats what Ive just tried to let my life be about - just being a blessing to other people. And that comes in all shapes and sizes, whether its a material blessing or a spoken blessing, or leading someone to Christ, or just pouring yourself into someone and spending time with them - thats what its about.
But for the spoken blessing, thats modeled throughout the entire Word of God from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And as people, we can speak curses and we can speak blessings, and our words do have power, and they do go out and they do accomplish something whether its evil or whether its good. And we have to learn that our words carry weight, especially we who are in authority. And any parent is an authority over their children, and one of my highest priorities personally is to teach parents to quit cursing their children, and to start blessing them, and to break, perhaps, any legacy that was passed down to them like it was with me. I was told at 12 years old by my mother that I was manic depressive because she was, and because she thought she recognized that in me. And so she just kind of spoke that over me, and I didnt have any reason to question her, and I so I didnt for 20 years, I just believed it - the doctor after 30 minutes diagnosed me, and I just lived with that and accepted it for 20 years. But it was not who I should have become, and it really wasnt who I was in Christ, but I discovered that much later.
So thats kind of why Im so passionate about The Blessing. The Blessing is not just a song about, Hey lets just bless everybody. Were Christians, so we should just be a blessing, but if you look at the patriarchs in the Old Testament who modeled that, you know, the Jewish people of today are some of the most blessed and successful people in the world, in part because their fathers for generations have just told them how wonderful they are and have spoke blessings over them, and thats what were supposed to do as Christians as well.
Amen. And I think that for you as a songwriter and a worship leader, since your voice can reach so many people, its really such a fitting an amazing ministry that God has given you and your family.
Thank you.
I actually found something interesting in your biography where you mentioned that, when you had first started your ministry with According to John, you thought that God would put you on the fast track. And although that fast track was a little more drawn out than you might have thought, I think its safe to say that youre definitely on the fast track now.
(laughs) Thank you. Yes, I think that once God is done preparing us, He can accomplish a whole lot in a short amount of time. And He really has done so much, and Hes still blowing me away. But it took 14 years of my life of trying to make it happen, and then I spent 3 and a half years of letting it happen, even though I didnt know thats what I was doing, I didnt know that I was letting this happen - I was just letting God be God in me. And through that, it does seem like God has put me on the fast track now. But man, it sure didnt come without all that history. (laughs)
For sure. And thats really the history of the Bible, that Gods grace and blessing come after a time of suffering. But when thats over, being able to turn that blessing into praise is an amazing thing, and Ive certainly been blessed by your music, and I hope that our viewers and listeners can also receive a lot of blessing through the growth and exposure of your ministry.
Awesome. Thank you so much.
Thanks for taking out some time John.
Yes, you too. Be blessed, and we will talk again.
For sure. Take care.
