on back porches . So , we just started dreaming about what it would look like to write simple sings that people can play on an acoustic guitar or a piano . So that ’ s the heart behind all of these songs . The rhyme can be simple where you can learn the words the first time through out on a porch .
Let me say this , and you can put it in where you want to … when we went to San Francisco to hang out with Francis and Lisa , Lisa said something that I ’ ll never forget . I can ’ t get over it . When Francis was at his church in Simi Valley it had six or seven thousand members . Lisa was on the worship team , and she loved being on the worship team . And she told us while we were there how much she loved to sing on the worship team , and she loved big corporate worship . And she said that , in that setting it is easy to get caught up in it , and you can go a whole service singing , and leading , and never encounter Jesus . But she goes , “ When you ’ re singing in a living room with twenty people , it ’ s ridiculous .” Because it ’ s really ridiculous when you think about it , you ’ re standing in a room with twenty people singing a song . Then she said , “ The only reason to do that is because you want to encounter Jesus .” And I took that with me home , and I say that at church all the time in our house . I know that it ’ s ridiculous for us to sing together , and you have the choice to engage with the Holy Spirit or not . If you don ’ t
I Speak Jesus
want to sing , don ’ t , but if you want to , we ’ re going to sing this song together . And that ’ s where these simple songs came around , to let people engage with Jesus in a small setting .
[ WM ] That ’ s a profound point . You can be anonymous singing in a large crowd , but not so in a small setting ! I feel called to worship when I listen to this project because listening to it shuts out the noise of the world ! And although the recorded songs are lengthy , churches that don ’ t allow for that kind of stretching can easily arrange these worship offerings to suit their needs . The songs are incredibly sing-able , believable , and memorable , and contain good and strong , theologically based , lyrics . The record is deeply moving and leads off with “ I Speak Jesus ”. Was that the first tune written for the project ? It ’ s a great song to call us back to what ’ s really important .
[ Jesse ] To answer your question , yes and no . It was the first one of these songs that was written , but it was not written for this project . I ’ m involved with something called Kingdom Songs , which is a songwriter training . They do retreats and it ’ s run by Michael Farren . I was in Montana teaching at one of these songwriting workshops , and I got paired up with a guy named Dustin Smith who has a band called Here Be Lions . Dustin and I became fast friends . We have the same heart , and we speak the same language . So , I actually wrote “ I Speak Jesus ” with Dustin and three or four other people that were attending this songwriting retreat . And it was a special moment . And it came out of us saying that the simplest thing we can do is just speak the name of Jesus over people . I kind of had that song in my back pocket , Dustin actually recorded it with Here Be Lions , and it was so simple that it translated really easily to KingsPorch . It became kind of our anthem the first year . So that ’ s why that ’ s the number one song on there .
There is an interesting story in Acts 3 about the lame beggar that was born crippled and couldn ’ t walk his whole life , and it says that every day his friends would take him and set him at the gate of the temple so that he could ask for money . One day Peter and John are walking in and this guy is sitting there , and he asks them for money , and Peter says the famous thing that we all know : “ Silver and gold I have none , but what I have I give to you in the