Big Daddy Weave formed in 1998 in Mobile, Alabama, where the band members Mike Weaver (guitar, lead vocals), Jay Weaver (bass, vocals), Jeremy Redmon (guitar, vocals), Jeff Jones (drums), and Joe Shirk (saxophone, keyboards) were all attending school. Known for their energetic and worshipful live shows and their recent hit songs "Redeemed," "The Only Name (Yours Will Be)" and "Overwhelmed," Big Daddy Weave returns this year with a new worshipful project, Beautiful Offerings.

Every song on this stellar collection displays the band's heart behind what they do, leading people in worship. This new album demonstrates once again the passion and energy that have made Big Daddy Weave one of Christian music's most compelling acts. True to form, this new project Beautiful Offerings reflects real life and emotion, from longing and struggle to breakthrough and gratitude, with front man Mike Weaver's forthright songwriting and intimate and unmistakable vocals backed by powerful arrangements and stellar musicianship. It derives its power from the fact that life and music intertwine so fully. I had the chance to speak with Mike Weaver about "My Story."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

This song is so crazy, because the lyrics are the story of the song. You aren't hearing about me in the song, but you are hearing about what the Lord has done. The testimony of God in our lives is so powerful. It's not talking about us, but what He has done. 

In Revelation, it talks about how we overcome the enemy by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony. That's our experience. The world has had an encounter in a lot of ways with a church that knows a lot of stuff about God. There's this disconnect between what we know and what it looks like in our lives. For us, this season is about beginning to walk in our identity of not only knowing who we are in Jesus, but what does that look like when we step out? Not only are we redeemed from who we were, but what does the story look like from here? 

God has a purpose for every one of us, and it's not just to get out there and try harder for Him. It's to learn how to yield and learn how to lay down. The flesh part of me does not like dying. That's what this has to be. This carcass and all of its wishes and all it is prone to needs to learn how to die, so that then it's Christ who lives.

When the world sees people having an encounter with God, that's when it starts to look like God in us. When you look at the stories of people in Scripture, all of the patriarchs are all people who walked in an encounter with God. Moses and the burning bush, or Paul on his way to Damascus-- they have encounters with Almighty God. Paul encountered Jesus Himself. Those encounters began to show God working through them. That's the power of our stories.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Philippians 1:21 (NIV): "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Hebrews 10:22 (KJV): "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (VOICE): For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God's covenant story. 

Revelation 12:11 (NKJV): And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

What is the takeaway message?

Hopefully as believers, we are learning how to be consumed by Jesus so there's no more us but just Him as our story. The idea of our testimony and how it ties in to overcoming the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony came from our experiences of what God has done in our lives. The ugly things in our lives aren't something people want to hear about, but when you talk about how God met you in brokenness, there's a common ground you have with people about how He was broken too. He's dealt with brokenness. 

If you want to minister to hurting people, you'll never lack for an audience. Maybe sharing your story will relate to someone going through the same thing. All of a sudden, hope happens. That's what the enemy tries to crush in people's lives first. The enemy says you'll always have this problem, and you're stuck because you've messed it up permanently. Then someone else hears about how God has released you, and they can trust God too. Hope is a sight and a vision for people. That's what we saw. I was writing these songs, and from sharing about what God has done in my life, out came this song. There is value in sharing our testimony.

As we were writing about our lives we saw what God was doing in the lives of the other artists on the tour with us, and we wanted the tour to be based on what God was doing in all of us. I woke up one morning and the term "beautiful offerings" came to my mind. The Lord began to unpack that for me, and He showed me going forward from our song "Redeemed" that not only are we redeemed from our old lives, but we are redeemed for a purpose. 

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. That changes who we are. When you connect with the fact that's it's not in your power but in God's power, you realize that God has placed something beautiful in us, His Spirit. Our lives become an opportunity to give back to Him what He has put in us, beautiful offerings. We are walking out the story of God in our lives every day.

Lyrics:
If I told you my story
You would hear hope that wouldn't let go
If I told you my story
You would hear love that never gave up
If I told you my story
You would hear life but it wasn't mine

If I should speak then let it be

Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
To tell you my story is to tell of Him

If I told you my story
You would hear victory over the enemy
If told you my story
You would hear freedom that was won for me
If I told you my story
You would hear life overcome the grave

If I should speak then let it be
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long

This band can really write a hooky and truth-filled chorus, and lead single "My Story" is catchy, relevant and worshipful like their previous hit songs "Overwhelmed," "Redeemed," "What Life Would Be Like" and "Every Time I Breathe." This song is a modern adaptation of the hymn "Blessed Assurance." The song is an upbeat worship declaration sung with a stirring passion and filled with prayerful lyrics. You'll worship our King Jesus right along with Mike, in particular through the proclamation in the chorus: "Of the grace that is greater than all my sin, of when justice was served and where mercy wins, of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in, to tell you my story is to tell of Him."

Our stories all connect perfectly with this song, as it is based on the 1st Corinthians 9:22 Bible verse: "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some." The "irrefutable argument" we have as believers is to share our story of grace. This song celebrates the day that we were saved from our sins and causes listeners to reflect on and celebrate their salvation experience. 

This song is about our Savior, Jesus, who overcame the grave. It's about submitting all of ourselves to Him and His goodness and allowing His blood to cover us and run through our veins. That's how we can "overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony." By stepping into the Lord's ability instead of relying on ourselves, we are empowered by the supernatural ability of God. This song has become my personal anthem, and I sing along at the top of my lungs the sincere and emotive lyrics of submission in the refrain: "to tell you my story is to tell of Him." Amen to that!

(Watch the music video here.)