Grammy-winning Christian artistChris Tomlinhas made a career out of sharing a message of unrelenting hope and divine inspiration through his powerful catalog of music.
But yes, he is human.
“There is just so much hurt and so much anger and so much frustration out in the world right now,” Tomlin, 49, tells PEOPLE in a rather hushed tone. “There are just so many things that are boiling up in people.”
“She’s just now getting on all fours and just kind of moving back and forth,” Tomlin tells PEOPLE about his9-month-old daughterElle Grace. (He and wife Lauren are also parents to elder daughters Madison and Ashlyn.) “She’s not able to move quite yet, but I have a feeling that once she does, we are going to miss the days when she was just immobile, and we could just set her down somewhere for a minute! Christmas is going to be a time of wonderful chaos.”
“If ever we needed to know that God is with us, it is now,” explains Tomlin, referring to the literal and spiritual meaning of the word ‘Emmanuel." “I love the reminder that one word changed the history of the world.”
Chris Tomlin’s Emmanuel.Capitol Christian Music Group
Tomlin has long glorified the music of the season, withEmmanuel: Christmas Songs of Worshipbeing the fifth release in Tomlin’s “Christmas Songs of Worship” series, with the latest one being last year’sMiracle of Love: Christmas Songs of Worship.
“There’s some great Christmas music out there, but I’ve tried to focus on the worship aspect of these particular songs,” explains the father of three. “I wanted to take some of the great songs of the Christmas season such as “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” and “O Holy Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and really capture them, in a live setting, in a spirit of worship.”
Certainly, his worship aspect becomes even more important during an ongoing pandemic.
“There’s a togetherness about Christmas that’s so special that has been taken away from so many of us over the last year or so,” says Tomlin, who releasedChris Tomlin & FriendsEP last summer that included songs withFlorida Georgia Line,Thomas RhettandLady A. “I think that this is how you will feel with this record — you will feel togetherness.”
The album also has Tomlin coming together with a slew of music greats, including the legendary CeCe Winans on a stunning rendition of “O Holy Night.”
“It’s a singer’s song, you know?” says Tomlin, who also collaborates on the album with We the Kingdom, Matt Redman, andThe VoicefavoriteBlessing Offor. “So, we asked CeCe if she would do it and let me tell you, when she walked in the room and did, we all just sort of stood there for a while. It wasthatpowerful.”
And it’s this sort of power that Tomlin says he hopes can cut through all the pain still floating around in the world at the moment.
“The incredible thing about music is that it brings people together and lifts people’s spirits,” concludes Tomlin. “When music connects with people, it can also renew their spirit.”
source: people.com
