With a big voice that reminds me of Warren Barfield and fellow American Idol alum Chris Sligh and a big smile to match, Phil Stacey found his way into the hearts and living rooms of more than 30 million viewers each week on American Idol.

Into the Light is Phil’s debut modern pop Christian album and couples the power vocals America loved with Phil’s biblical testimony to an unshakable loving God. The album includes "You’re Not Shaken," which is my favorite song on the album and the first single. "You’re Not Shaken" tells of faith in a time of crisis because God is one who will not be moved when everything else is falling apart. Phil describes this as his "Job song".

"I wrote this with a couple of other guys and the idea behind it was Psalm 23," Phil explained during a recent conversation. "Job had lost everything and there was really nothing left to hold onto, but in the midst of it he said 'You give. You take away.' This is a song that says whatever this life may throw at me, I know that God is in control. Even in the midst of my trials right now, even in the midst of what’s going on in my life and I see no way out, my faith is in the Lord. God is not shaken. He’s still on the throne. He’s still going to be able to pull us through this."

I read that you consider Psalm 46:1 to be the theme of the album Into The Light. Can you expand on that?

Psalm 46:1 says "The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble".

I think that’s an important message for us. We need to understand that we do have a destination. My destination is heaven and everything that happens until that point is just the journey in getting there. In this life, we’re going to have mountains and valleys and right now is a time when a lot of people are experiencing the valleys based on the state of the economy. I just want to reach out to them and tell them to take courage and know that God is still on the throne no matter what your situation is, He’s completely in control.

"You’re Not Shaken" grabbed my attention as I hear the Psalm 23 reference and I wondered if you wouldn’t mind telling me about writing the song?

I co-wrote the song with Jason Ingram and we came up with the idea of "You’re Not Shaken" because we’ve all been in situations where we feel like 'where do I go from here, Lord?' Before I joined the Navy I wondered where God was taking me. I got to the point where I had to repent about my pride in my life. I had my own personal plans. A lot of Christians give their lives to the Lord but let their own plans get in the way. Coming off of being on American Idol, I didn’t know where I was going after an experience like that. God had a reason He put me in that place. The lyrics "I will lift up my eyes and trust this is Your plan" are based on that experience. No matter what our experiences, we can all trust in God’s plans.

As a takeaway message, what about that message of repenting of our pride since that’s what leads to having our faith in something other than God?

I am fortunate that my wife is an amazing Christian woman and she is my accountability partner. When I was on American Idol I would get so nervous, which is a perfectly natural reaction, but my wife would remind me that my nervousness was based purely on my pride getting in the way. She would tell me this opportunity isn’t about glorifying Phil Stacey, it is a gift from the Lord. He gave you this responsibility and platform because He believes that you can handle it. You need to pray about it and give it your best and put it in His hands and trust that it’s not about you, but how God is working through you. I felt pressure to perform. With this record, I don’t feel pressure. I’ve got to trust that God has me here for the right reasons. I’ve drenched this project with prayer”.

Here are the lyrics:

I am sinking in a river that is raging
I am drowning, will I ever rise to breathe again

I want to know why
I just want to understand
Will I ever know why
How could this be from Your hand

When every little thing that I have dreamed would
be
Just slips away like water through my hand
And when it seems the walls of my belief are
crashing down
Like they’re all made of sand
I won’t let go of You now, because I know
You’re not shaken

I’m trembling in the darkness of my own fear
All the questions with no answers still grip me while
I’m here

And I may never know why
I may not understand
But I will lift up my eyes
And trust this is Your plan

When I am in the valley of the shadow of death
You’re not shaken, You’re not shaken
You’re right here beside me and You have never
left

You’re not shaken, You’re not shaken

There is a lot of biblical truth in this great song. From the truth of Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, to the truth of Psalm 46:1: The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble, this song is a personal prayer in response to those truths. Keeping with the recent theme of not trusting in our dreams which "slip away like water through our hands or come crashing down like they are made of sand", we can all take comfort in knowing that God is always in control and He’s not shaken.

You can listen to the song here and you can listen to our entire interview here.