in southern California. So back then it was $ 3 to get into Disneyland, I was fascinated by sound effects in Disney cartoons. It ended up by my becoming a percussionist. But I must tell you a story. One time I called Disney Studios in Burbank, and I talked to somebody in marketing somehow, I don’ t know, and I talked him into giving me a personal tour of the Disney studios.
[ Pat ] Wow!
[ WM ] So, I went up to Burbank, I lived in Orange County, southern California, and he gave me a tour of the sound effects department. And there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of sound contraptions that had been built by a man called Jim McDonald. And he was the genius. He was also the second voice of Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney being the first. Jim McDonald was the second voice, but he built all these sound effects that were crazy, and all of them were painted Army green, and they had a card catalog system like libraries use to use to look up any sound that you wanted. They’ ve probably all been digitized by now, and I hope the contraptions haven’ t been destroyed. But I just saw wondrous things, inventions and creations that this guy had made, and they showed me some of them. I’ ve actually built and used some of them. I showed Crowder one that blew his mind a few years ago, the balloon and the BB, where you blow up a balloon and you drop a BB inside, tie it off, and then spin the balloon and listen to the sound. What happens with the BB on the inside? And Crowder was, well, he was without words when I showed that to him.
[ Pat ] That would be right up his alley.
[ WM ] Yeah, he dug it. So anyway, I just had to throw that in. So, your lead single is“ Praise the Lord Forever” from the new project. What a great and memorable chorus you have here! Tell us about that song.
[ Pat ] Yeah, so that was a song that, well, number one, I’ ve been leading it every night
Praise The Lord Forever( Live)
now. I haven’ t had a lot of time to lead it. I started leading it earlier back in May. It’ s the first time I ever let it in a room with of people. And it is, there’ s almost like, it’ s not a fully call and response song, but there’ s a liturgical flow to that. You sing a verse and then it’ s call to action,“ Come on church, lift your voice and sing. Praise the Lord”. And it’ s got a hymn structure to it because something felt important to acknowledge that you’ re in this with a lot of people. This isn’ t like your own personal journey with God. Your life affects other people. It felt important and refreshing to have a song that was like,“ God, you’ ve done this for me, and you didn’ t just do it for me. You’ ve done it for so many other people.”
I think that’ s why congregational worship is so important. It’ s because it’ s not just as you lift your eyes of heaven, as you just look around the room, you realize you are in a number of people that God is working in ways in their life that you may never know about, but to feel the community and the communion of the saints. It happens where two or more gathered and you feel how present he is. It’ s important for us to feel and acknowledge that. And it also makes space, the song for people who may not in that moment feel particularly worship. Ready, praise, ready. The third verse is for the one who’ s broken hearted, and it’ s hard to sing right now, the last thing you want to do is sing. Faith feels small. Life feels hard. Maybe something just took your breath away. That’ s how hard you were just hit by something. And the response is, I pray peace and love surround you from the God who understands as the family all around you lifts your arms up when you can’ t. And even that letting, realizing like,“ Wow, I’ m a part of something happening on the earth right now
where you can be surrounded by people who can leverage their faith with you and for you. They can’ t live your life for you, but they can most certainly share the burden.”
I’ ve had some surprising testimonies come from that because in my mind I thought,“ Oh, this is you right now, and this is difficult. I hope you still feel your place in the body of Christ, that you don’ t feel ostracized, you don’ t feel less than.” So, in my mind when we were writing that verse, that’ s what the feeling was. But I had someone else after the first time I led it, or the first couple times I led it, I had a pastor friend who was in the room, and he actually came to me afterwards and said,“ Man, when you sang that third verse, I was sitting next to somebody who just got a horrible cancer diagnosis. So, when I worshiped, it was like I were worshiping on their behalf as well.”
And that’ s not a theological state. What it was, it invoked this part of him that was like,“ I know what this person’ s going through, and so I’ m declaring the goodness of God over me and my life, but I’ m declaring it over them even though they can’ t.”
They may be able to do it right now with full volume, but this, it feels like a body, the actual body of Christ all connected, all having your part and your place and your role and your thing to give. And when you hurt something, you roll your ankle, the rest of your body compensates for it.
And it’ s like something about that feels beautiful, a beautiful picture of being a part of a family like that.
[ WM ] This is all great because I was going to ask you what new songs on the current tour were resonating with the crowd, and so that’ s obviously one of them.
[ Pat ] Yeah, that’ s the one that stands out the most to me. That song needs no performance to get it across as it requires someone with a power vocal to this is just like,“ We all can sing
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