The standout new CCM pop release Yellow Balloons by David Dunn is the artist's sophomore album. It follows up his successful debut album Crystal Clear, which featured the hit songs "Today is Beautiful" and "Have Everything." The new release includes the upbeat and catchy song "I Wanna Go Back," which is making waves at Christian radio. The song is also rich in meaning and content.

The song reminds me of some of my other favorite call-to-action, deep-thinking pop songs including "What You Want" by Tenth Avenue North, "The River" by Jordan Feliz and "The God I Know" by Love & the Outcome. I had the chance to speak with David about "I Wanna Go Back."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

When I write songs, it is an extension of me. When you listen to one of my songs, and especially my album, you're getting a snapshot of a time period of my existence. My last album was a snapshot of my life from 2011-2013. This album is about the last two years of my life, and mostly my heart and my mind have been dominated by one tragedy that happened in my family. 

The short version is that I've got five brothers and sisters, and my oldest sister had two little girls. While I was at her house for a show, my littlest niece was two years old, and she went down for a nap. She didn't wake up. There's no scientific evidence for what happened. It's been a really difficult time. A lot of times when tragedies happen, you can try to explain what you think God is probably doing, but not this time. This album is me thinking about one of two things: Heaven, and little kids. Almost every song breaks into one of those categories. 

This song specifically is me thinking about kids. As adults, myself especially, when we speak about kids we tend to speak in a derogatory way. "Stop acting like a kid" is something we say regularly. In the Bible, Jesus is overwhelmingly positive in His language when He talks about kids. So much so that He encourages us to be more like kids, not less like them.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Matthew 18:2-4 (NIV): "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And He said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16 (VOICE): "And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden.  Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in Heaven because of it."

Matthew 17:20 (NIV): He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." 

John 3:16-17 (NKJV): "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

1 John 3:16 (NIV): "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

Romans 5:8 (NKJV): "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV): "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

What is the takeaway message?

Especially when it comes to faith, Jesus calls us to have faith like a child. The song is about how when I was a child, I understood that Jesus was, He existed and He loves me. Then I grew up, and I felt like faith became a theological mountain that I had to scale. The further I got up this mountain, that was indicative of my faith growing. That's the rut we get in as adults, that we think we're so smart that we get stupid. I want to go back and remind myself that when it comes to faith, the important things are that Jesus is, He exists and He loves me. 

Here's what I think I'm doing. I'm actively trying not to tell people what to think with this album. I'm more giving them a glimpse into my life rather than telling them things about their lives. Here's what I'm going through and dealing with. Here's how I'm trying to have my life look more like Christ's. I think what tends to happen that encourages me is that I connect with people who are in the same boat, and we get to relate on a platform that excites me as a human running after Christ.

Lyrics:
When I was a kid
I was sure
I could run across the ocean
And I was gonna be an astronaut
When it was You and it was me
I had everything I needed
Faith could even move a mountain top

And then I grew up
And then I got older
Then my life got tough
And we grew apart

I wanna go back
To Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me
For the Bible tells me so
I wanna go back
To this little light
Gonna let it shine
Gonna let it shine
I wanna go back

When I was a kid
I didn't care to keep up with the Jones's
I was just happy that they lived next door

When it was You and it was me
I had everything I needed
Your hands were big enough to hold the world

And then I grew up
And then I got older
Then my life got tough
And we grew apart

I wanna go back
To Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me
For the Bible tells me so
I wanna go back
To this little light
Gonna let it shine
Gonna let it shine
I wanna go back

I wanna go back, back to
Yes, Jesus loves me

This upbeat song was birthed from David's need to go back to his roots of childlike faith in God after experiencing the tragic loss of his niece. God explains His love for us in 1st John 4:19 (NIV): "We love because He first loved us." God's love was given at an outrageous cost, the life of His only begotten Son. Not only should we love God because He first loved us, but we should also love others unconditionally because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

There is nothing we have been given that is more valuable than our salvation. Take time this week to reflect on how thankful you are for the gift of Jesus and the moment that He found you and saved you. Also remember John 3:17: "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." What a wonderful, loving and gracious God that we serve. I am so thankful to Jesus for saving me. We live in a time of unbelievable prosperity, and we are fed with a misguided direction to always expect things to go our way. God needs us to be honest with ourselves, to not make everything about us but instead have humility and have an honesty in our faith.

My youngest daughter has that childlike faith God challenges us to have. As a father of three young girls, I need to point my girls to their Heavenly Father, God. There's a lot more we can accomplish together by leaning into God as opposed to trying to solve life's challenges on our own. As the song cries out, we all want to feel healing and release the weight of our sin and sing "This little light gonna let it shine." That type of freedom can only come from Jesus, who tells us in Matthew 18 that we need to come to Him with faith like "little children." Having grown up with a works-based faith, songs like this help remind me of the biblical truth that God sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to seek and save the lost. No matter where you are in your walk with Jesus, this song is a salvation message. Those with a childlike faith as Jesus calls us to have can sing along, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Amen to that!

Watch the music video below.