Earlier this week I shared an album that has been playing on repeat in my house and gave you the chance to win a copy for yourself. (There’s still time to enter!)
The album is incredible–both musically and in its ability to point our hearts towards God and plant more of His word in our minds.
My husband and I are constantly saying to each other, “I have Romans 3 stuck in my head“, or, “I was singing Romans 8 to myself before bed last night“. Already my oldest son is singing along and asking me to repeat certain songs when they finish.
Hearing him singing “We have a sure hope, we have a sure hope; and nothing can separate us from God’s love” is a reminder of how influential and important our music choices can be. More than simply singing along, the songs are initiating conversations about who Esau is, what it means to be a slave, and just what is atonement.
And I know it’s not just happening in our home because I have heard other parents telling how their kids are hearing the songs and asking good questions about the gospel.
I am sharing about this album again because it really is that good.
I have had the blessing of hearing the album live and also of knowing the couple behind it’s conception. Cody and Melody are both humble, kind, and committed to making Jesus known through their musical giftings.
To help you know them a little better, and to give them another opportunity to share about the album and their passions, I asked them a handful of questions. Their responses were helpful and encouraging.
I hope you will be blessed by their responses as I was, and I especially hope that The Romans Album will find its way into your home too.
The Romans Project
An Interview with the Couple Behind the Album
1. Why did you choose to write an album on the book of Romans?
Cody :: Writing an album on the Book of Romans wasn’t exactly intended (well, at least not by us). The project initially came about when one of our pastors at Shepherd’s Fellowship of Greensboro asked me to write a song on the doxology at the end of Romans 11, a passage he would be preaching on in the upcoming weeks.
After I wrote that song (“O the Depth”), the idea of composing music for the entirety of Romans occurred to me, but, for the longest time, I dismissed it because both the length and depth of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome seemed too great for such a work. The song “O the Depth” covered only 3 verses, and there are over 430 in the letter. Do the math, and it becomes apparent that an album of that size is seemingly unfeasible.
Over the next few years, I wrote a couple of songs for fun (“Paul,” and “I am Not Ashamed of the Gospel”) and eventually realized that if I approached the songwriting process with larger units in mind — much like a pastor does when he preaches through a sermon series — I could potentially present a broad, sweeping version of the Romans narrative that is not a verbatim rendering of a text but more of a musical exposition of it.
With all that being said, this particular letter does lend itself well to a musical adaptation. The Book of Romans is characterized by an arch-like storyline, with multiple climaxes occurring at key focal points in the letter’s design. The peaks at the end of chapter 8 and chapter 11, for example, provide natural momentum as the music pushes towards these spots. The rhetorical question “What shall we say” that permeates the letter was a musical idea I could use to create continuity. These and many other aspects of the letter encouraged my decision to eventually set the Book of Romans to music.
2. What role do you see music having in the life of believers?
Cody :: What a question! This is probably one of my favorite topics. The roles of music in the life of a believer are many and disparate, yet there is commonality in its function of facilitating worship.
In other words, music exists in many ways, whether in the background, on the radio, congregational worship, instrumental music for liturgical purposes (e.g., preludes), and it should have, among all of its different settings, a purpose of directing the believer’s heart toward God.
Certain types of instrumental music can remind the believer that our God is a God of order. Listeners can imagine elements of redemptive history with the flow of musical tension and release. When you add a text to music, specifically one that points people to Scripture or to proper Christian thinking, it helps believers to focus more objectively on God and his word. Christians can be encouraged by praise songs, songs that help with Scripture memory, and even songs like our Romans album which paint a big picture of Scripture. Music can be sly, getting you to hum a tune about this or that – and before you know it, you’ve memorized something.
God gave us music to help us enjoy Him, to worship Him, to be reminded of his goodness to us in Christ. And music can do so in powerful ways.
3. How can parents use albums like these in their home and parenting?
Melody :: I just heard a story about a parent who plays this album in their home. The young son, confused by the lyrics he thought he’d heard, asked, “Dad, what does ‘…counts our sins as a-toe’ mean?” His dad had the opportunity to laughingly and lovingly correct him that the words were “our sins as atoned” and was able to explain the meaning of sin and atonement.
I think it’s pretty neat that this album is a springboard for all sorts of good, gospel-centered conversations in the family. Romans is a good place to start when trying to expose your kids to cornerstone doctrines of the Christian faith; that being said, it’s a tough book to understand in some ways. Music helps repetition to happen in a natural way, allowing the deep things to slowly sink in.
4. What is your favorite song or section of the album?
Melody :: My favorite moment is at the end (“So Long”) when Russ Pflasterer preaches (literally, preaches!) the benediction over the full band. I still get goosebumps at that moment: it’s the power of the Word of God through the instrument of a human voice.
Cody :: One of my favorite moments is the song “What Shall We Say, Pt. 2.” Chapter 7 was a difficult passage to set, with Paul’s intense inner struggle with sin culminating in a recognition that Christ will be the one to deliver him from his sin. I was able to incorporate some wilder approaches to harmony in the first section to express the extremity of Paul’s struggle. In this section, there is an ongoing battle between A major and A minor. Sometimes the phrases cadence in the major mode, other times in the minor mode. A very high pitched C# rings continuously, creating further tension for the listener and calling for a resolution to A major (which never really comes). After the middle section offers the question of “Who shall deliver me from this body of death?”, the final section (“Thanks be to God…”) answers with an affirmation that he who justified you will also sanctify and glorify you. The sweetness of this final section always hits me hard. Thomas and Kelsie (the lead singers) do a wonderful job of expressing the rollercoaster of emotions present in chapter 7.
5. Did music have an important role in your childhood? How did it play a part in your childhood (or adult) spiritual instruction?
Melody :: My mom was a music teacher at every school I attended; my grandmother was a concert pianist. I began music lessons at age 4 or 5, but really, I can’t remember a time in my life without music! My parents supplied my sister and I with an abundance of really great cassettes to listen to as children (yes, cassettes, and even old records!). I can quote more Bible verses from music I learned throughout my childhood than from my adult life so far – truly, hundreds of songs are locked away in my mind as caches of precious verses, simply because of the music I listened to as a child. I am eager to find good music for my 11-month daughter to hear, wafting through the rooms of our home, full of Biblical truths and Scripture. I think Romans is a good place to start.
More Interviews and Articles on The Romans Project ::
Have you listened to the album? What is your favorite song?
What role does music play in your spiritual life?
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Really great article about The Romans Project. Loved it !!