As a way to introduce the new records, I am writing blog posts going song by song to give you some insight into the writing, recording, production and story of each of the songs. Here is the next installment from Family Man.
Song By Song – Son Of Adam
I grew up Baptist. Mary grew up Methodist. We met at the Baptist Student Union at Virginia Tech. We attended a Baptist church together in college, and we worshiped at Faith Baptist Church when we lived in Florida. When we moved to Winston-Salem, we started by visiting a large Baptist church that some friends had recommended. Turns out it was too big for us. As I’ve documented, my study of the book of Romans toward the end of our time in Florida had reformed my theology. So, I suggested we look for a PCA church in town. I went to the PCA website and found that Redeemer was just a few blocks from the house we were renting. We visited one Sunday and knew instantly that it was where we belonged.
My embrace of reformed theology came about using John Piper’s sermon series through the book of Romans. The irony of this is that Piper used his sermon on Romans 4:11 to attempt to completely dismantle the theology of infant baptism. So, while I considered myself reformed theologically, I did not ascribe to the belief in infant baptism. I took a Baptist view of baptism, often referred to as believer’s baptism, that calls for the sacrament of baptism upon a confession of faith in Christ. Having grown up Methodist, Mary understood the concepts of infant baptism more than I did.
When we had Elijah, we were faced with a bit of a conundrum. We were active members of a Presbyterian church now and had every intention of remaining such as we raised our son. So, I set out to meet with pastors and elders from our church to discuss infant baptism and how Presbyterians and others arrive at the theological conclusion. My end result was that I could see both applications. When Mary and I discussed it regarding Elijah, we decided that we wanted to have him baptized as an infant. We thought it would be important for him growing up in the Redeemer community to have that be a part of his story.
My rudimentary understanding is that it is a sign and seal over the life of a child of believers in Christ. He is a part of the church and the family of God. It is not a sign that Elijah is saved through faith. It remains to be seen if he will be called and come to believe that Christ is his Savior – a call we long for, hope for, and pray for.
A few weeks before Elijah was born, I started writing the words to “Son Of Adam”. This was slightly problematic because Mary had convinced me that we should not find out if we were having a boy or a girl. We had two names picked out and were waiting for the surprise. It was a really fun moment when Dr. Hatch revealed our baby was in fact Elijah (she knew both names ahead of time). But, if Elijah had been Elizabeth, I was going to have to do some major rewrites!! Daughter of Eve just didn’t have the same flow and syncopation.
We had Elijah baptized when he was about 16 months old. Special music or solo performances are not part of the worship services at Redeemer. But I had written this song, and I wanted to play it for Elijah’s baptism. I sent the lyrics and a demo to our pastor, Giorgio, and our worship director, Joel Littlepage, with a request to perform this as part of the service. Giorgio joked that I stole the intro he normally gives before a baptism and put it in a song. So, I guess I got the theology right after all.
As I’ve written these posts the last several weeks and reflected on the albums, the songs and the process of recording them, I am awestruck at every turn at my good fortune to know Larry, John, Kevin, Michael and Michael. What a privilege! It’s no secret that these songs all mean a lot to me. The whole construct of the Family Man record is something to pass on to my boys – the things I want them to know and remember about me, my love for them and the love of the God who made them and wants to know them, even when I fail to tell them the story or exhibit that love in my day-to-day life. Which makes the gift these amazing musicians gave to me so much more incredible! Michael Kinchen played some beautiful Rhodes parts on this song and then cinched everything together with his organ track. I love Kevin’s riff that he put in the chorus. And John and Larry provided the backbone as always. This song turned out more beautiful than even I imagined it could be.
Check back in a few days as I continue to go song by song with “You Can Count On Me”.
