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My Savior My God
by Aaron Shust

"I was reading my "One Year Book of Hymns" and stumbled across a hymn entitled "I Am Not Skilled To Understand" whose words blew me away. I didn't bother seraching for the melody: its obscurity indicated antiquity. So I started from scratch and sang it without the chorus for over a year at our church, which seemed to embrace itas it was. But I wanted to take it over he top. Sitting at a red light one night, a melody of excitement and a lyric that seemed to pull together the concept of Christ, my Advocate, always pleading my case, was born. And the song finally exploded on the choruse like I always knew it should. i do not understand everything, but I know that Jesus Christ loves me and is alive defending me. That calls for a big chorus." - Aaron Shust http://www.aaronshust.com/press-157/songbysong/9mysaviormygod.htm

Everlasting God
by Brenton Brown/Ken Riley

Isaiah 40.28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

This song began it's life before I fell ill. It started late on a Friday after our worship teams had driven four hours to arrive at a week-end retreat centre. Exhausted after a long week, and a longer drive, we thought we'd have a quick prayer before bedtime. We decided to include percussion instruments just for fun. Well past midnight the words 'strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord' came to me as each of us played a rythmn on a hand drum and offered prayers to God.

Two years later a good friend of ours Ken Riley visited us in London. We'd planned on doing some writing together. As Ken played the chords and melody for the bridge that short refrain came back to me. It was a few months and a lot of time spent thinking on Isaiah before we were satisfied with the chorus. Isaiah 40 basically says don't think that God has forgotten you, or that he is unable to save you. Flowers fade, and grass withers - and we fade and wither with them. But God does not grow faint. He won't grow weary. He is everlasting. And He is watching us, giving strength to the weary and the weak. Those who wait on this God will not be disappointed.

Across the Lands
by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Hymn for world mission

In 2003 we had the opportunity to write a collection of songs on the theme of world mission for the re-release of the excellent mission prayer book "Operation World".

Stuart and I wrote a hymn telling the whole incredible story of the gospel from creation to Christ's birth, life and death, to the day when he will call people from all nations around the world - when from each 'tribe and tongue and nation He will lead sinners home'.

Although Stuart and I initially did not use this hymn extensively it has become increasingly popular recently as a hymn celebrating what the gospel story means to the whole world and how it fires us to global mission.