Our guest performer is Carolyn Arends, musician, songwriter, author and speaker, who currently resides in Surrey, BC. Carolyn recently became acquainted with CAUSE and says "I wish I had heard about CAUSE Canada sooner. Very few organizations are able to balance passion and thoughtfulness, idealism and practicality, leadership and listening -- by all accounts the people involved with CAUSE Canada can and do strike those balances in world-changing ways. Their call to live out the gospel to our neighbours around the world is a beautiful one, and I'm thrilled to be a small part of it through this event." (Thanks Carolyn!)
Carolyn Arends is releasing her 10th album and is the author of 2 critically-acclaimed books. 15 of Arends' songs have become top 10 radio singles on the Canadian pop and US Christian charts. Arends has earned 2 Dove Awards, 3 Juno Nominations, and was recognized as the West Coast Music Awards' Songwriter of the Year.
Carolyn's newest project, Love Was Here First, features 10 new Carolyn originals and a reinterpretation of the classic gospel tune "Standing in the Need of Prayer." New musical twists like vocals from the 3-man gospel group The Sojourners and a crackling horn section surprise and delight, but what's really on display here is the lyrical prowess of a master songwriter passionate about her subject--the encompassing love of God.
Carolyn explains, "The title, Love Was Here First, comes from the song "The Last Word," and that song sums up the story I'm trying to tell right now--with my album and I hope with my life. I heard a theologian say that we tend to be dualists--we imagine God and Satan as virtually equal opponents in an epic battle--but that in reality Satan and all the power of evil wouldn't cover the head of a pin in comparison to the largeness of God's love and his power. I love that idea--that however messed up this world is, it was God's love that brought us into being, and there isn't any doubt that God's love is going to win in the end."
Arends graduated from Trinity Western University in Langley, BC with a degree in psychology and English. She lives in Surrey, BC with her husband Mark, eleven-year-old son Ben, and eight-year-old daughter Bethany. In addition to her busy concert and speaking schedule, she teaches songwriting and performance courses at Pacific Life Bible College and writes a bi-monthly column for Christianity Today.
You can order the new album or listen to the new tracks including "The Last Word"
here.
For a fun photo tour of the making of "Love Was Here First", visit here.
