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At Calvary

I grew up in Eastdale Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. From the second grade until college I sang from the Baptist Hymnal. That was my primary musical diet. Some of those songs would not really connect with me because they were so different from the kinds of music I preferred, so I would miss the meaning of those songs.

“At Calvary” was a song I just memorized because musically it wasn’t my style. Now that I’m an adult who walks with Jesus and pours Jesus into people, I still remember all those songs I grew up with, and I want my students to hear them.

The first one that I thought could use a musical update was,“ One Day,” which I tweaked to become “ Glorious Day.” I wanted my kids to hear those lyrics, so that was the first time I took a hymn and changed the music. My favorite song about the Cross was, “ At Calvary.” This new version is just like the hymn, but I changed the music and rearranged the lyrics and modernized the chorus a little bit.

I chose this song because I wanted a little bit of a working man’s worship song. I think a lot of our worship songs are pretty and dainty and maybe say things that men may not ordinarily say or think. My comedian friend Tim Hawkins jokes that he’s not sure a man wants to come off the construction site and say, “ Lord, you’re beautiful. Your face is so beautiful. I just want to hold your face. I just want to rest on your chest.” I don’t know if a guy wants to sing that stuff. I wanted a good, working-man, meaty worship song so a guy who had never had a connection with worship music could identify with it.

“At Calvary” is all about the Cross, and without the Cross we are totally wasting our time. Without the Cross of Christ, there is no redemption, no worship, no mission, and, ultimately, no purpose.

Over time, the Cross has become a less politically correct topic. Jesus went through a lot for me, and I want to remember that every day. So I wrote this song for dads. I want them to hear it and remember: “ This is who I was before, and this is what Jesus did for me.”