Watch Chris Tomlin's Air1 Worship Sessions Performance
"This album has been really special. It's been the longest I've ever gone between albums. This is my 18th album, which is crazy. I’m so grateful for that. It’s probably the most intentional album I've ever made."
All I’ve wanted to do with my music is point people to lift our eyes off of ourselves — and that's what worship does. Hopefully, it lifts our eyes off ourselves and raises our gaze to the greater story — that there is a much bigger Kingdom than this kingdom that we're in. Governments rise and governments fall. Kingdoms rise. Kingdoms fall. Everything on this earth that's ever existed has a beginning and an end. And yet when we worship, we come to a God who is outside of time.
“My Father’s World” and the timeless witness of God’s creation:
This album ends with “My Father's World.” We were working with it one day, and this little refrain came. The whole album ends with, “He reigns, He reigns forever on the throne, He reigns, He reigns, this is my Father's world.”
There's not a more peaceful piece of music I've ever written or been a part of. It begins with a piece of music that is a title as an emoji, which is hilarious. Because it's a piece of music that is literally the sounds of our Father's world: It's thunder, it's rain, it's the ocean rolling. It's wind, it's birds singing, and then it leads you for about two minutes into this soundscape of the world, the sounds of nature.
Cover art and what inspired “The King Is Still The King”
If you look at the cover of the album, it's a montage of all the landscapes of the Earth. I had this idea: What would it look like to have the ocean and the rivers and the mountains and the highlands and the desert and all the different things as a montage of the creation? I put this crown above it. It's the crown of thorns wrapped around the crown of the King of Kings. There's this anchor song in the album called “The King Is Still The King,” and it says “... for the blood, is still the blood, and the King is still the King."
And that's the whole story. That is the story of our faith in those two lines.
The rewards of obedience — and allowing God to work.
I got a chance to lead at Charlie Kirk's memorial. It was an invitation from their team, saying, “How Great Is Our God” was one of Charlie's favorite songs, and would you come lead it? I didn't know what I was walking into. I don't know if it's going to be a political rally or what it was going to be. All I know is that it’s my mission to stand there, step out and say, “There is a name above every name.”
I couldn't help but think as I was singing “All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all.” And I'm literally staring at some of the most powerful, most positioned people on the Earth, and I couldn't help but think what an amazing thing to declare, “Your name stands above them all.” The name above every name, King of Kings and all that. You could feel people leaning into that and just really being reminded that this is small compared to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mentoring The Heritage and the joy of investing in the next generation:
I love finding people. It started with Pat Barrett for me. I had people who came along in my life who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself or I didn’t know that I had, and I thought, "You know what, God, obviously blessed me so much and given me so many opportunities. It’s my moment to find other people and help them — passing that baton.
Pat was one of those early guys. I thought, “This guy is insanely gifted, and people need to hear his music.” Then I got The Heritage. When I heard their music, I loved how pure it was. This is the group that's not looking to be an artist. They're not knocking on doors. They're not making records. They're just literally worshiping in their church … and they're out on tour with me now.
My brother’s a coach, and he'd always tell me, “It’s so much more fun winning as a coach than it was as a player.” It’s the same thing in music. I mean, I've gotten a lot of awards or whatever, but it's so much more fun seeing somebody that you're helping starting to win. That's so much more heartwarming to me.
Chris Tomlin's hope for the people who hear this record:
I've always prayed that people would be touched by God's presence. That’s been a prayer in my mind from day one. I saw this passage in Exodus once. It just knocked me out. It was about Moses, and God was telling Moses, “You're going to go lead the people.” And he says, "Well, if Your presence doesn't go, then I'm not going. For what will distinguish me among all the people of the earth but Your presence?”
I've always thought I'm an average guitar player, an average singer, but I think what distinguishes the music is God's presence. It touches people. And it’s only the Spirit of God who can do that. It's always praise. If people hear “Holy Forever” or “How Great Is Our God,” or some of these new songs, and encounter God's presence, that is His to do. I can't make that happen, but that's what I was praying … that they would just be drawn to God's presence, because that is what heals people. That's what saves people. A great melody and a fun song are one thing, but when it really connects with people's souls, that's what I hope for.
