Song Story: "All Praise to God" - Billy Foote
Home Church: Alamo House Church, San Antonio, TX
Favorite Worship Source of Inspiration: My main inspiration is the Word of God. It is the greatest source of truth we have here on earth. If worship is a response to God for who He is and what He has done then obviously the Bible paints the greatest picture of who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing in the world. I want the songs that God gives me to be more than just my feelings about Him. I have a great desire to accurately represent Who God is by what I read in the Scriptures and what the Spirit of God reveals to me. I am also inspired by many of the theologians who have written great works that help in my understanding of God. Arthur Pink is one that has been influential in my life along with R.C. Sproul and A.W. Tozer.
Theme of Song: God's love and justice simultaneously expressed by the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. God gives grace. God gets glory.
Scriptural Basis of Song: II Corinthians 1:3, Ephesians 1: 3-8, I Peter 1:3, Romans 3: 23-26.
How would you see this song best applied in a worship service? This song is versatile as far as where it can land within a worship service. One thing we like to do when the song ends is revisit the bridge as a reminder of the power of the resurrection. We often share with the congregation that Satan's best day was the death of Christ on the cross, but his worst day (so far) was when Jesus got up out of the grave. There is something powerful about proclaiming the resurrection of Christ.
Who is your biggest song writing influence? This may sound a little crazy, but my biggest songwriting influence has to be folk singer/songwriter David Wilcox. He doesn't write worship songs, but his way of writing inspires me to want to paint a picture with a song. I find his lyrics very thought provoking. As far as worship song influences, the Vineyard Music Group had a huge impact on me when I first started writing in the mid nineties.
Tell us the story behind the writing of this song. My friend, Brian Kolkhorst, sent me a collection of lyrics to see if I could use any of them. Most of the first verse of "All Praise to God" comes from a set of Brian's lyrics and then I went on to write the chorus, verse two and the bridge from some ideas on which I had been working. The "All Praise to God" lyric comes from several scriptures referenced earlier. God ultimately gets the glory and praise from the death and resurrection of Christ and the redemption of mankind. As with many of the songs God gives me, the melody just came with the lyrics.
Tell us the story behind the recording of this song. We recorded this song at my friend, Kevin Peter's, studio in Abilene, Texas (
theglassjarstudio.com) in the fall of 2007. Kevin plays drums for me when we lead worship at various events. We had been playing the song at youth camps and conferences, so we went in and recorded what we had been playing all summer. Living with the song for several months and experiencing the response of live crowds before recording was a great advantage. Of course, my wife, Cindy, is the vocalist on all our songs.
For more information: Official ministry site:
billyfoote.comOfficial MySpace site:
myspace.com/billyfootebandFor Booking or more information:
info@billyfoote.com
