I've long been a "Panhead"--that's what the Skillet fan club members call themselves--going back to their self-titled grunge rock style debut album and their electronic-tinged rock follow-ups, Hey You, I Love Your Soul and Invincible, which hooked me with their catchy, personal and vertically-focused songs including "More Faithful," "Rest" and "Best Kept Secret."

Over the years, it has been a treat for me to watch their meteoric ascent into one of rock's biggest bands in the world and the incredible success of their last three albums, Comatose, Awake and Rise each reaching another level of popularity. 

I've had the opportunity to speak with John Cooper about several songs from the prior albums, including "Believe," "Awake and Alive," "One Day Too Late" and "Lucy," "American Noise" and "Good to Be Alive," and with each discussion we've built on how John's biblical life verses Romans 8:38-39 have shaped his songwriting. 

Returning to a more electronically tinged rock style for their new release, Unleashed features the rock single, "Feel Invincible" as well as the worshipful hit, "Stars"--about which I recently got to talk with John Cooper.

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

On a personal level, my wife and I were chatting about writing a song for this album that was worshipful. It's been a long time, but years and years ago we recorded a song "You Are My Hope" for our Alien Youth album that was worshipful. We haven't done anything like that since. We decided we wanted to write a song like that for this album, and to tell you the truth we tried a bunch of songs and sometimes we didn't feel like they were the right musical style or artistic enough, and some of the songs didn't work and some songs were good but didn't fit on the album. "Stars" has the right moodiness, and it works for this album. 

The message of the song is that God is in control of all the huge stuff and He is in control of the small stuff in your life. He is listening when you are having a bad day. Sometimes we think that the world is going to keep going, the sun is going to rise and set every day but God doesn't care about the small things in your life. The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches the opposite.

God does care about us and even the sparrows have food to eat. That's the idea of the song. The thing I was most proud of in writing the song is my wife, Korey, said we should write in the verses to not just write about things God has created like the oceans and the stars in the sky, but also provide a little more detail, as that's the point. God didn't just create the big things, but also the small details like how God gave the oceans their borders. God told the oceans where to start and where to stop.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV): "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Psalm 124:8 (VOICE): "Our help has come in the name of the Eternal, the Maker of heaven and earth!" 

Psalm 139:13-14 (NKJV): "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well." 

Psalm 139:17-18 (NKJV): "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You." 

1 John 4:8 (NKJV): "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 

1 John 4:16 (NKJV): "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." 

1 John 4:18-19 (NKJV): "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us." 

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV): "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

What is the takeaway message?

We included some details of God's creation in the verses and some references from the Bible such as my favorite passage of Scripture in the second verse: "Can't separate me, can't keep me from Your sight," which is based on Romans 8:38-39. No matter where you run or try to hide, there is nowhere you can hide from God's presence. Those are some cool aspects of the song and hopefully, people can realize that if God cares about the details of His creation, He cares about the details of our lives. 

Skillet has a lot of different kinds of fans. Some of our songs have double meanings, and a lot of this album and part of why we call the album "Unleashed" is about not being afraid. There are a lot of songs about that, like "Feel Invincible," and "Lions."

I was going through some hard times in my life the past few years, and part of the minutia of that is we struggle with fears and insecurities or something terrible, like broken and abusive homes. The spectrum is wide of what people are fearing, and in all of those situations, God can make you brave and not afraid. You don't have to fear because God is with you. The theological aspect of not being afraid is that I have become more and more comfortable that God called me and I chose Him because He chose me without getting into a deep theological discussion. He first loved us. 

If He first loved me and called me, and He knows my name, then I don't have to fear all these things or falling away from Him or losing His Holy Spirit. He has me so securely. That has really impacted me and I've gotten a deeper and deeper understanding of how amazing God's grace really is in my life.

Lyrics:
You spoke a word and life began
Told oceans where to start and where to end
You set in motion time and space
But still You come and You call to me by name 
Still You come and You call to me by name

If You can hold the stars in place
You can hold my heart the same
Whenever I fall away
Whenever I start to break
So here I am lifting up my heart
To the One who holds the stars

The deepest depths to darkest nights
Can't separate can't keep me from Your sight
I get so lost forget my way
Still You love and You don't forget my name

If You can hold the stars in place
You can hold my heart the same
Whenever I fall away
Whenever I start to break
So here I am lifting up my heart

If You can calm the raging sea
You can calm the storm in me
You're never too far away
You never show up too late
So here I am lifting up my heart 
To the One who holds the stars

Your love has called my name
What do I have to fear
What do I have to fear
Your love has called my name
What do I have to fear
What do I have to fear

If You can hold the stars in place
You can hold my heart the same
Whenever I fall away
Whenever I start to break
So here I am lifting up my heart

If You can calm the raging sea
You can calm the storm in me
You're never too far away
You never show up too late
So here I am lifting up my heart 
To the One who holds the stars
You're the One who holds the stars

God, our Creator, created us in His image and likeness. He adores us immensely, and sent Jesus to die for us to show us the definition of love. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:8 (NIV). God created the stars in the sky and knows the numbers of hairs on our heads. He's right here. If you've put all of your hope and trust in Jesus, there is nothing that can separate you from His love. God sees us as He sees His Son. He knows our names and He loves us so much that He came to die for us.

If you don't know how to word your prayers of thankfulness for what Jesus has done for you, just sing along with this incredible song of faith. It's okay to not be okay and bring your thoughts to the Lord no matter what you are thinking. Just like you don't have to wash your hands before you take a shower, just get into a relationship with the Lord and then profess that relationship to Him.

There are several truths we can cling to as believers in this song: "If You can calm the raging sea, You can calm the storm in me," and recognizing that we are never too far from His love or His reach. God is omnipresent and always with us. The song also sings about not being afraid of the storm, "Your love has called my name. What do I have to fear?" The Lord tells us all throughout His Word to not be afraid or worry. He knows we suffer from that attack from the enemy who wants to rob us of our joy in God. By reading the Bible every day, God wants us to have a daily reminder not to be afraid.

This song is a great celebratory anthem about what it means to have hope in Christ. Sometimes it is hard to believe that God loves us so much that He knows us intimately and He wants to fill our hearts with love. We don't have to pretend, or hide, or strive or stand on our tiptoes to meet some mark. He knows our brokenness inside and out, and because of what Jesus did on the Cross, He sees us as righteous. God sees us as He sees His Son. It's not our righteousness, or appearance or talent or gifting, it is just Jesus. That's cause to celebrate and sing out to Him: "You're never too far away, You never show up too late, So here I am lifting up my heart, To the One who holds the stars, You're the One who holds the stars." Amen to that!

Listen to the song: