(answers by Reuben Morgan unless otherwise noted)

A Beautiful Exchange (Sparrow Records/EMI CMG Distribution) is your 19th recording and you've sold 11 million albums worldwide. To what do you attribute your success?

"For us, the songs and the albums were never about success. They are a part of our local church, Hillsong Church, finding its own way to express what God is doing amongst us and within us. The albums are secondary to our congregation worshipping, and even today, our worship music continues to be about leading people toward Jesus--locally and then globally.

"We have an amazing group of people who write songs from the life of our church, we have dedicated musicians and singers who turn up each week to bring praise and worship for the services. The albums are a reflection of what is happening within the day-in, day-out life of church. If they are successful, then maybe it's because we are helping people to find the words and songs that somehow echo their own desires to bring honor to our God.

"We really value doing everything as if ‘unto the Lord,' in other words, putting our absolute best into every endeavor. Whether that means each week at our church services, when we tour or when we write and record albums, it all matters, and it's all to the glory of God."

What does the album's title refer to in the Scriptures?
(answered by Joel Houston)

"The theme of A Beautiful Exchange can be seen right throughout the Scriptures. Essentially though, it is intended to speak of the gospel, and the emphasis is on what Christ achieved on the cross--the great exchange--trading His life for our offenses. For our redemption, He carried all the blame, breaking the curse of our condition. Perfection took our place. The cross is a paradoxical symbol, a symbol of shame and death, but now through Christ's death and resurrection, it's a symbol of hope, freedom and life. A Beautiful Exchange is a reminder of all God has done, and it's also an encouragement to respond accordingly.

"Our prayer for this album is that it will continually bring focus to Jesus, the living God, the ultimate demonstration of humility and love. Our hope is that it will draw people into a deeper understanding of His grace, a deeper love for Him and that it would encourage us all to outwork this through showing mercy and love to others and sharing Christ's beautiful exchange with a hurting world."

How did you go about collaborating in songwriting for this album?

"Generally speaking, the songs come out of the life of church, so the collaboration process happens pretty naturally. Most often the songs come from the relationships of the musicians that are a part of the worship team at church. Some of us have been doing this for a number of years now, while others are newer at the whole songwriting thing, so we try to bring the younger writers through and help to develop them. There is something really inspiring and humbling about seeing God bring through the next generation."

What are one or two of the album's highlights?

"It's so difficult to choose just one or two highlights from the album because we have poured so much into it over the last few months. For me, the privilege of joining together with our whole congregation and worshipping Him together is a huge highlight. Being able to capture that night and share it with churches all over the world is truly amazing.

"We never want to take for granted what God has done and is doing at Hillsong Church. And, as part of the wider church, we do take seriously the responsibility that God has put on us to write songs and create resources that help local congregations worship. The real highlight is the hope that these songs might truly lead people in the worship of our great God."

What motivates you to keep playing this music?

"The motivation is in being a part of a local church that is leading and inspiring people to honor Christ with their lives. Playing music is great, but if the music is not part of the wider understanding of church, then the long hours of practice and writing and services and travel would soon become meaningless. This music is nothing if it doesn't reflect a heart that is sold out to Christ's answer for the world. The church. In a very real way, songs can penetrate the hearts and minds of mankind like few other methods of communication. It's in this, in seeing lives changed, in people finding Christ that we find motivation to keep playing."

How do you prepare mentally and spiritually for a concert or for a recording?

"As strange as it may sound, we try to treat the nights when we record or when we tour just like church. We gather each week to lift up the name of Jesus, and on these nights we do the same. We know that if we are faithful in bringing all we can, in doing everything we can, then God will honor that and will be present to do what only He can do.

"There are always a lot of practical things we need to get done. So much time is spent planning, rehearsing, writing and getting all the various aspects ready. That's why an ongoing state of living ‘in Christ' is needed in order to achieve everything.

"When you separate your ‘real life' (all the practical things) from the really special times or the ‘spiritual' aspects of life, you can easily get into a habit of only praying or only reading the Word when you ‘need' to, when something ‘spiritual' is happening.

"I find that it's better to treat every day as a blessing from the Lord, to daily offer my life to Him and His service, then, in these special times, I am already in the right place mentally and spiritually for what He has prepared.

"What I am trying to express is that we have certainly been thinking and praying for this upcoming tour, not as an afterthought, but as part of our ongoing lives. We see this tour as part of the good works God has prepared in advance for us to do as we see in Ephesians 2. So while there is an excitement and an anticipation about the tour, we will remain committed to daily offering our lives and activities to Him, and while we are away, we will have confidence in knowing that every Thursday night, in Sydney, Australia, there is a large team of our musicians, singers, TV operators and production people who are gathering together and praying for us as we travel."

Looks like you have a fun competition on your Web site right now. How can your fans get involved?

"The competition is really fun. It will be great to see what people come up with. Essentially the idea is that you get ‘Forever Reign' from iTunes, and you make a video clip to match the audio from the track. The winner will get an iPad preloaded with every album released by Hillsong Live plus the full video of A Beautiful Exchange and corresponding interviews and image gallery from the recording. Such a great prize.

"For more details and how to enter, go to live.hillsong.com. Click the competition button. There's heaps of other fun stuff on the site too, including tour dates and video blog entries."

What do you have to say to the Christian retailers who sell your products?

"Put simply, thank you. Thank you for trusting God for your provision in uncertain financial times. Thank you for honoring Him in making His Word and the resources that point people to His ways accessible.

"And thank you for partnering with us and in making it possible for a church in Sydney, Australia, to resource the wider church. We look forward to seeing all God will do through this album and the tour, and we pray it is a blessing to you, your stores and the local churches you are a part of. We look forward to meeting you during the tour."

• Prev
• Next