The landmark albums of the mid-1990s— Take Me To Your Leader by Newsboys, Bloom by Audio Adrenaline, Jesus Freak by dcTalk and Jars of Clay by Jars of Clay— were major influences, both personally and on the broader scale of the music industry. These albums helped lead people to seek Christ, and didn't hold back in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel.

Since Kevin Max started as a founding member of dcTalk, and later took over as the lead vocalist of Audio Adrenaline for their album Kings & Queens, he has consistently played a part in my testimony as a believer, shaping my thoughts by breathing his voice into some of Christian music's top selling and most beloved songs including "In the Light," "What If I Stumble," "Supernatural," "Kings & Queens" and "Believer."

Recently Kevin announced he was leaving Audio Adrenaline to release his own solo project. With that context, I settled in to listen to his new solo single "Light Me Up" from his upcoming album Broken Temples. I had the chance to speak with Kevin about the song.

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

This song came out of a songwriting session with Jon Steingard from Hawk Nelson. I'm with Capitol Publishing, and a lot of times I'll write with other artists, and specifically I got together with Jon to write new songs for Audio Adrenaline. I was still in the band at the time when we wrote this song.

I took a stab at writing a radio song, and was thinking about the common denominators people are dealing with and listening for in a song. What can people relate to? The basic overview of my thoughts as a follow up to Kings & Queens was to continue the story of redemption and encapsulate a little bit more of my backstory of being in a valley and going through pain. I wanted to put thoughts of going through doubts of my Christianity and why God called me to do what I do into songs, and further explain my redemption story that is lived out every day.

I tell people that my personal journey feels like a biblical story sometimes. I've been at the top of the mountaintop and the very lowest valley. I've seen both places and been encamped in both places. I've known the feeling of great success and the feeling of great failure. When I started writing this song, I said let's write a song about hope. After you've gone through a period of wandering through a valley, or personal failures, or hurts, or a situation in your life where you are searching for the answer, when you find the answer it is like a lightning bolt through your head. It is like a Saul to Paul conversion. That's the basis for the song.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 18:28 (NLT): You light a lamp for me. The Lord my God lights up my darkness.

Micah 7:9 (NLT): I will be patient as the Lord punishes me, for I have sinned against Him. But after that, He will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies. The Lord will bring me into the light, and I will see His righteousness.

Luke 1:77-79 (NLT): "You will tell His people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

What is the takeaway message?

When I'm saying "You light me up," it is literally a revelation. God has lit my mind, my spirit, my body with a mission and He has given me a purpose to live. That's a huge place to be in your life. When you've been through a tough time and you've asked and you've searched with no answers, and all of a sudden it hits you out of nowhere that this is the answer.

God has been taking me on this journey, and taking me through this valley to better equip me for what is going to happen in the future. That's what I got out of my personal journey and wanted to put into a song. In bold terms, this is a song about my life. When Audio Adrenaline and I decided to part ways, I looked at these songs and thought it would be a bummer if people didn't hear them. "Light Me Up" was one of the very first songs that I wanted to put on my solo album.

You can become or be the most successful person on the planet, whether in business or the arts or whatever, and still feel empty and lonely, that you don't have the answers. For me, it has been quite a journey. I grew up in a Christian home. I was adopted. My birth parents were not believers. God brought me to that home for a reason. I felt God's Providence in my life from an early age.

I wasn't interested in Christian music. I liked The Beatles, The Smiths, David Bowie and U2. I never listened to Christian music until I attended Liberty University and met Toby and Mike. Then I heard Larry Norman, Rich Mullins and Steve Taylor and realized there was a place for me. We started dc Talk and made albums and toured and I got caught up in the whirlwind of being in a Christian band. I felt God's Providence directing me again.

After we went our separate ways, I wanted to make music for the general market because although it was one of our goals, I never thought we fully accomplished taking our message over to the masses, and in many ways we were preaching to the choir. After I walked through personal valleys, I realized that I needed to make God part of my story. God really does care for me and He does love me. I was searching for the heart and face of the Lord.

When I joined Audio Adrenaline, I realized I could make the music I wanted to make and really involve the Lord in His Words, in His voice, with His Spirit in my life. That changed me and completely turned me around to realizing again that Christian music should be better because we have something to say to hurting people. Music is a tool, and if you let the Lord speak into your music, it can be massively helpful. If you allow the Lord to speak to you, it is amazing what can come through. This album Broken Temples is a day-to-day experience of my life.


Lyrics:
I walked alone without a compass or map
Stars still glowing in this aftermath
Of a life spent wandering off the path, oh no

If life's long lesson were a fairy tale
I'd still be searching for the holy grail
Looking for a sign under every unturned stone

‘Cause that's where I was when You found me
That's where I was when You found me

You light me up, You light me up
Out of the dark you changed my heart
Gave me a mission gave my life a permission to grow
You light me up, You light me up
I once was lost and now I'm not
You sanctify me; give my life direction alone
You light me up, You light me up

Through the chaos and the numbing chill
Down in the valley up the tallest hill
Inside every broken temple
Is a space for You to fill

Change- this change I feel it down deep in my bones
Change- this change I know that there is something more

More than just words, more than just a feeling
More than just a place Your spirit is revealing
More than just acceptance, more than just a tone
More than just a touch, when you're feeling alone

There are some lyrics in the song that I have dug into and found Scriptural and personal context for believers. "I once was lost and now I'm not, You sanctify me, give my life direction alone" is a great way to pray out loud in a Psalmist fashion what it means to recognize when we are in a valley and need God to light the way out of the darkness.

Psalm 18:28 (NLT) says it this way: "You light a lamp for me. The Lord my God lights up my darkness." That's what God wants to hear from us, just as in Amazing Grace, where believers sing "I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." God's Providence in Kevin's life pointing him to make Christian music is part of His Providence in my own life, where by using his gifts for God's glory, I heard biblical messages in his songs "What if I Stumble" and "In the Light" which helped lead me to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, for which I'm eternally grateful.

The takeaway message and personal testimony of Kevin is found in these lyrics: "Through the chaos and the numbing chill, down in the valley, up the tallest hill, inside every broken temple, is a space for You to fill." Every one of us is God's broken temple, and He desperately wants to fill us with His Light and His mercy and make us new. God's glory, His strength, is found in our weakness. This song celebrates that truth and allows listeners to sing the words and pray out loud for God to fill our broken temples with His Holy Spirit. Amen to that!

(Hear Kevin talk about the song here.)