FamilyChristian.com Exclusive Interview
Newsong: Sheltering A New Song ...continued

FamilyChristian.com: Who do you consider your best friend?

Michael: I really admire Eddie and I'm not just saying that just because he's [here]. I look at his life and I see how he lives it and the decisions Eddie makes. There are a lot of guys in the group that I really admire and I'm proud to be working for them. We're working as a family for one common goal-to bring people to Christ. When we were in New York, Eddie was the first one to say that we need to pray and that we need God in control of this. It's just one of those things where everybody in the group has a pecial place in your heart.

Eddie: Since you said I wasn't your best friend, I don't have much to say. (Laughs). It's a pretty amazing thing, because you become such good friends. Obviously in any situation, there are one or two that pop up because God's putting them in your life. Leonard and Michael end up riding back and forth together to Nashville, so they get a lot of time together to share and talk and have more private, personal time. When Russ Lee was [in the group], we lived right down the street from each other, so we became going-out-to-eat-dinner-buddies. We had kids who were similar in age. God uses different things to tie you together. Of course, Billy Goodwin has been there with me as my buddy for the entire time since NewSong began. He's one of those guys you can always depend on, the kind of friend who is always going to be there. He's always ready to do what NewSong does, but stand with you.

You could count them all as really great friends. God uses different ones sometimes at different times. You can say that this is going on and I'm going to spend a lot of time with Michael, because God has put him through the same thing and we've been hanging out. So it's amazing how God uses different parts of the body to keep us all encouraged and in line and all those things.

FamilyChristian.com: You have also released a companion book to the album. Tell me about that.

Eddie: Troy VanLiere, who manages us, had an awesome idea. He said, "Let's see if someone would be interested in doing a book on friendship because of all this." I thought that was a great idea. Troy's wife, Donna, is a great writer so it was pretty much a no-brainer to get her to help us put this book together, because she knows our heart. We decided to ask people [who sang] on the record: Rebecca St. James and Mac Powell of Third Day and different ones like that. We kept brainstorming and coming up with ideas of people to go and seek great friendship stories [from]. It will be a collection of stories from some of the artists from the record as well as Point Of Grace and Stormie Omartian. We just went out looking for the best stories we could find to explain friendship and to be examples of sheltering trees in people's lives.

FamilyChristian.com: I love that image of a sheltering tree.

Eddie: Isn't it great? A lot of us haven't heard the sheltering tree idea, but once you explain it to somebody, they just love it. The English poet [Samuel] Coleridge used that term in one of his poems and [Charles] Swindoll used it in his book on the life of David, when he was ousted as king how [his friends] stood by him. He called them sheltering trees, which is a pretty awesome picture of friendship.

FamilyChristian.com: "Hope Changes Everything" is a song that came out of your work with World Vision. How has that partnership impacted your ministry?

Eddie: It's been a pretty amazing thing. We went down to El Salvador and were able to see first hand what was going on there and meet some of the kids and [their] families. It really brought it home to our hearts.

It's just fun every night at our concert to take six or seven minutes and tell them what we've seen and heard and what's going on and invite them to come be a part of that with us.

Michael: [Right now] I'm sitting in my office [where] I have [a picture of the] girl [I sponsor], who is like my other daughter. Her name is Audiana and she's from El Salvador. Hopefully within the next year or so, we might be able to get down there. I'd love to meet her. It's just so cool to be a part of something that is much bigger than yourself.

I [wasn't able] to go when they got to go but I heard the stories. Leo told me about how they had an experience where these five, four, three-year-old kids were digging in the dump for food. I have four kids of my own and it really hit me hard. I didn't even have to be there to realize there was a need. It's been amazing to see God use the group to reach thousands of people to get involved in this ministry that's worldwide.

Eddie: I got to go to the hospital with Arnoldo, my little guy that I'm sponsoring. Because I was there, he got to go to the front of the line. There were hundreds of people waiting to get in. They just line up one day a week. That's as often as the doctor comes to their area. They all line up outside this little very primitive brick building, waiting their turn and he sees as many as he can up until four or five o'clock. The rest of them go home and come back the next [week].

We're usually talking about this in some beautiful building somewhere with [expensive] sound systems and we're [telling the audience] about people who are digging through the trash looking for something to eat. It's a pretty good picture of how blessed we are compared to how destitute they are and how little it takes to help them.

FamilyChristian.com: NewSong has been in ministry for nearly 20 years. Where do you see Christian music heading in the next 20 years?

Eddie: I see some awesome people involved in Christian music. It seems to me that God is using Christian music in an awesome way. I don't know what His plans are. I'm so encouraged to see guys and girls who have a heart for ministry and want to see God do something and not just do a show. I understand that there's some show with everything, and we try to make sure ours is as fun and entertaining as possible, but our ultimate goal is to see God work in people's lives in some way. I think that's the direction it's heading in.

I've seen contemporary Christian music grow and multiply. God's used it in an awesome way and I think He will continue to as long as our hearts are right. He obviously doesn't need us; He'll find some people who do have right hearts and He'll use them. But as long as our hearts are rights, I know He appears to be using them in an awesome way.

Michael: I think stylistically, it's going to be whatever you're seeing now—all the different types of Christian music. If there's punk, there's going to be a punk band somewhere that's going to do the Gospel music. I think in 20 years, it's going to be more accepted in the world to say the word "Jesus." I'm seeing more of an acceptance of spiritual things. We sing a song called "Jesus to the World" [inspired by] Bob Briner [author of the book Roaring Lambs]. We're in the world but not of the world. I see that in more groups like Jars of Clay and Sixpence None the Richer. It's just getting more accepted. As long as it's good music and it's good quality, people are going to listen to it.

FamilyChristian.com: What is God teaching you now?

Eddie: One thing that God is showing us [through] this Christmas song is that He's God. He chooses to bless something. It's unbelievable how easy and effortless and wonderful it is to be on His team and doing what He's doing. I know everything that God's about is not that easy and effortless. But one thing that God has shown us is that He is God.

I think also one thing for me is waiting on Him. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. I'm a doer so [I need to make] sure I'm on His page and not on my page. Even if it's pointing toward what He wants to do, let's not do it until He's ready to go with it and just let Him direct my steps and not myself.

Another big thing that we've been sounding the trumpet on as best we can is having devotion time and solitude, praying to Him and letting Him speak to us through His Word. God's doing a lot of things. Our antennas are up in our hearts to hear what He's up to.

Sheltering Tree by NewSong

Michael: I think one of the toughest things that I've been having to learn lately is just learning through the struggle. I have learned through that struggle to be thankful for the help and to be thankful for each other. I don't think I would have thanked God as much if I hadn't gone through the struggle itself. Even though it's not fun and I don't always appreciate the struggles that come my way, if I'm willing and I have an open heart, I can learn from it. That's been the number one thing in my life within the last five or six months that I've been trying to apply. It's not always easy.

One thing I say in concert is that when you become a Christian, some people say that your life is going to totally change. Everything is going to go your way and you'll have all the money in the bank. It's just a big lie. I usually say that the wonderful thing about being a Christian is that you can know Him as a comforter when you're going through this. When you don't know Christ, you're going to look to the world and you're always going to come up empty. I've learned to hold on to that.

Amy Meyering, a writer in Grand Rapids, Mich., originally conducted this interview for Family Christian Stores' All Access music catalog.

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