MARTIN SMITH

It was amazing to listen to Martin Smith - the man who's penned some of the modern churches best loved songs, speak about life, and marriage, family and his deep passion for God and making music. I loved hearing about his new project Army of Bones and how he and his band (young guys who he's basically known since they were kids) are pitching up in clubs and pubs and playing to small crowds. He believes that much in the gift God has given him and he's got nothing to prove in the process. You get the sense that he's just following his heart.

After 17 years of making albums, filling stadiums and touring around the world with Delirious, Martin called it a day in 2009. He went home to fully be with his wife and six children. The adjustment couldn't have all been tea and cake after so many years on the road. And yet when you sit face to face with Martin, his humility is disarming. He's seemingly unaffected by all that. He's a regular guy with a soft heart. He pauses and contemplates a lot. Words don't come cheap. You feel the strength and stability of his character in all he says - and sings.

I plan on asking everyone I interview what the beautiful pursuit means to them. Martin's answer to that question couldn't have have warmed my heart more. He so simply summed up one of the core pillars of what the beautiful pursuit is for me. Family and marriage. "The pursuit of staying together". What use are the songs we write and sing if our most intimate relationships aren't thriving and overflowing with the goodness and wholeness that is the very essence of the Kingdom of God?