Most of you have probably heard of The Newsboys. By far one of the most popular, best selling and most recognized Christian Pop bands of the past two decades, they have to their credit 4 Grammy Award nominations, 23 Dove Award Nominations and 5 Dove Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, 2 International Angel Awards, 2 Nashville Music Nominations and 1 Award and a SESAC Award (to Peter Furler, for Christian Songwriter of the Year). From this impressive legacy comes Phil Joel, bassist for The Newsboys from 1995 through 2006, who is now enjoying a solo career, spending more time with his family and, together with his wife, Heather, running the deliberatePeople ministry.

    Deliberate People is a ministry that was created out of a time when Phil decided to put his music aside to focus on spending more time developing a deeper relationship with God. The one year bible reading plan that their pastor introduced them to transformed everything about Phil and Heather Joel's lives. Wanting to pass the message and resources on to others, they founded the deliberatePeople ministry (the url to their web site appears below).

    "The deliberatePeople. album" is a companion to deliberatePeople's daily bible reading plan, journals and prayer guide, and contains new songs from Phil designed to support the dP message. I was authorized to reprint the complete song by song rundown of "the deliberatePeople. album" first seen in a CrossRhythms web site article from Thursday September 26th, 2006. This song outline, while brief, gives you an intimate glimpse into each song on the CD from the perspective of the man who wrote them, not from my opinions or impressions:

"Changed"
This song is a testimony of what the Lord has been doing in my life over the past five years. It feels like no stone has been left unturned. These changes came from a fresh desire to get to know God on his terms and not mine. And so the journey continues.

"Time Alone"
Time alone.with the Lord. A renewed commitment to rising early and meeting with the Lord in the stillness of the morning has saved my life. It's nothing new. It's accepting and acting upon a simple invitation. It's about deliberating in the presence of God, where he whispers to us the secrets of his heart.

"Burning Down"
This song still makes me teary-eyed because it was written and recorded during a time when I was hurting. The Lord wanted to give Heather and I a deeper understanding of the cross. Christ's example of forgiveness is huge, messy and doesn't make sense when measured by my own standard of justice. God's way of forgiveness means humility, self-sacrifice, laying down my own rights and being silent when all I want to do is yell at the top of my lungs how I've been wronged. To absorb the pain and guilt of someone else's wrong is tough, but it's right. This is how Christ has dealt with all the ways I have wronged him and this is how I must respond to those who wrong me. It's the only way to freedom. I also wanted the feel of this song to be one of victory but still maintain a sense of heartache and cost.

"Desperate"
I don't want to sound like a cry baby, but last year was tough. There were so many challenges. Some of it was the Lord's hand refining, and some of it was blatant opposition. Either way, it pushed me to a place of desperation and dependence on God. And that's where I want to stay.

"Drown"
A few years back, I had my hearing tested. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that after many years of loud stages and amplifiers my hearing was still 100 per cent. As a parting gift, and maybe a sly precautionary gesture, the doctor gave me some earplugs. I started to use them at different times throughout the day. It wasn't until I began to seek out stillness and quiet that I realised how noisy and full of distractions my life had become. Listening (to the Lord) is a whole lot easier when the noise is drowned.

"Ordinary Day"
I can't help but keep coming back to the whole quiet-time thing. There are mornings when my body doesn't want me to seek God and spend that special time with him. But I know myself, and I think I'm getting better at knowing what I need and what I don't need. Immersing myself in God's love and yielding to him is one thing I most definitely need. When I go to God for love and acceptance then I don't find myself filling the day trying to get those things from other places. Make sense?

"Drainpipe"
Heather and I wrote this song a long time ago, but it never got finished. It's a simple song with a message that can be as simple or as complicated as you want. The song asks the question, "Where do you go when you go prodigal?" I think it's an important thing to ask ourselves.

"Awe"
Worship and being in God's presence is so much more than a Sunday experience. I have a special place where I go to worship, to sing, to speak out loud and to listen to the Lord. This song was found in that place.

"Return"
The song was originally on my last CD, 'Bring It On'. I never felt that it quite captured the simplicity and intimacy I was trying to communicate. I feel like we got it right this time, and we found its home.

"Jealous"
Hmmm, where do I start? This was the first song we began recording but the last to be finished. It took a long time because I wasn't sure how to get it out and recorded the right way. I wanted it to feel like an epic with a sense of journey but not in an orchestral perfectly mapped out way. It needed to be broken, and a bit messy, but with beauty and simplicity. It's my story and hopefully it's yours too. It's the tale of the prodigal song retold through our own lives. It's the story of a Father wanting his kids back. It's a story with an innocent beginning where tragedy breaks in and destroys the scene. It's how the Father went to great lengths to see his family reunited and back in communion. If there's one song I want people to here, it's this one. 

This album, recorded in Phil's studio in the converted garage behind his home in Nashville, is masterfully crafted with an airy and light sound that's not overly produced. Instrumentally, it has a stripped-down sound but without feeling bare. In fact, with just a few instruments it is remarkably full and rich, but the message is not lost in the music. Adjectives that come to mind are smooth, sweet, crisp, articulate, deep, winsome, engaging and captivating.

Another thing I like about this CD is that the songs are heartfelt and melodic, sung from a heart of gratitude, touched by God, and with a sincere cry for more of Him in every aspect of the singers life. It tells of the sweet agony of longing after God with a deep and profound hunger for His touch as well as a celebration of the awesome fellowship we can have with our creator if only we will deliberately pursue Him. I have listened to this CD over and over, and each time I hear a new nuance of God's grace and mercy towards me and His overwhelming love for His people. We know that as much as true seekers hunger and thirst after God, He hungers and thirsts after a relationship with us a million, billion times more. It has made me want to revolutionize my devotional life, so much so that I am beginning on the deliberatePeople journey starting the first of January, when the journal  begins. I'll keep you posted as to our progress through the Halas and Phos blog.

Blessings,

Tim Mrva

December 2007 

Where to buy the CD: Halas and Phos

The Deliberate People website: http://deliberatepeople.com/

The CrossRhythms website: http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/

Phil Joel Discography:

Watching Over You (Inpop) ©2000

Bring It On (Inpop) ©2002

the deliberatePeople. album (Indelible Creative Group) ©2006

Album Credits:

Recorded by: John Boyd

Recorded at: the \gAr-ridge\, Franklin, TN

Produced by: Phil Joel

Engineered by: John Boyd

Executive Producer: Chris Thomason

Mixed by: Sam Gibson at Chapel Lane Studios, Hereford, UK

Mastered by: Chris Blair at Abbey Road Studios, London, UK

Art Direction, Interior Photos, Design and Layout by: Heather Joel

Cover Photos by: Kenda Benward

Additional Layout by: John Boyd and Troy Birdsong for Birdsong Creative

Enhanced CD Video Produced by: Greg Edmonson at Network Arts, Nashville, TN

Sequenced and Enhanced CD Mastered by: Rob Tew at Synclogic, Franklin, TN