My album, Depravity, Grace, & Reckless Abandon, spanned years ranging from about 1998-2002. The context of life at the time was working with ministries to Navajo and Apache reservations, working with teens, as well as traveling and leading worship for a missions organization. I wrote some of the songs when I was a dorm parent at a mission school, and for some I was living alone in a cabin in the mountains. However, the thing that drove the collection of these songs into an album was lack of sleep. LOL, yes, you heard that right. During this season I had been learning about those all over the world who are persecuted and put to death for their faith in Christ, and for weeks, I had been regularly waking up at random hours of the night, and it was driving me crazy. Eventually I thought, “Maybe this is happening for a reason…”. So, I began to pray for the those whom I had heard stories about, and as I prayed my heart began to break, as I cried out for justice for these people who are strangers to me, but connect by the bond of Faith. An important note regarding this project would be about the cover photo: the bag sitting by the door is in reference to a story told by a Voice of the Martyrs representative with whom I was acquaintances. You can hear the story on the hidden track at the end of the last song on the album, called Make Us One.
Stories about the songs
Being Homesick and sitting on rocks
“…So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:28 One of my happy places in my early twenties was a place overlooking the Mogollon [moe-gee-yawn] Rim. The Mogollon Rim trail was about a mile from the cabin that I was living in, and the rim is a valley lined with ponderosa pine trees. I would often walk the trail and sit down on a rock. The same rock every time. My rock. I affectionately called that rock, "butt rock." It's as if the hand that [...]
Reckless Love
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19 "Reckless Love" is just sort of a back-porch bluesy type song. It was definitely one of my favorite songs to do in concert. The rambling [...]
Clouds
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Matthew 3:8 I am a nomad. Anyone who knows me knows that. The underlying sense of that comes from the truth that I find in the Bible. This world is not my home, whether I reside in Arizona, Minnesota, Georgia, or Southern California. In the process of being a sojourner, the Lord has brought me to cross paths with so many other wanderers. This is just a reflection on being led by the Spirit. Clouds by Joel Bidderman Crystal blue, like [...]
Niels
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 My song "Niels" is a song that I wrote the lyrics to in La Paz, Bolivia, when I was on a trip there with Teen Mania Ministries. Having just graduated, I ventured out of the country to this South American country where my privileged white U.S. citizen worldview was drastically shaken. There I was encountered with poverty, much closer to [...]
Make us One
“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3 So, this bring us to the end of our Depravity, Grace, and Reckless Abandon memory lane. One song that is usually overlooked on this project is this one: number 10. Many get to the end of the song and turn it off, not realizing that I did the trendy (at the time) practice of sticking a 'hidden' track on there. This song came out of a season of intercession for the persecuted church. The cover has a door with a backpack by it. This song sort of pulls everything [...]
Waiting (Live)
It's one of the most meaningful things to me to be able to recollect and perform songs that I've performed for years, and this one is one of my favorites. It's rare to have recording of the song's intro also, so it was fun to catch it on tape, as well as having my wife take the lead with me. I hope you enjoy this little snapshot of my life and music. Waiting By Joel Bidderman Verse: This road is dusty And it’s getting to my eyes So that I can’t see where I’m going Or even the time But I’ll trust in You Though it feels hurtin’ to me And though I [...]