There were times in the past couple of years where it seemed as though God was nowhere to be found in my life. 

One of the little things I like to do during those moments is to pen my heart’s cry and more often than not, in a form of a song. My spirit knows that God is in control, but that understanding can sometimes be so hard to wrap my carnal mind around. 

The past few years of my life since 2018 had many ups and downs, but one unchanging fact always hits the message home for me – God is always near. 

I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
Psalms 34:4 (NKJV)

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite     spirit.
Psalms 34:18 (NKJV)

The verses above in Psalms 34 have reassured me of His love more often that I would have liked but there are so many truths and promises in them. 

The songs in our EP, With Us, encapsulate the different aspects of my walk with Him over the past few years. 

Praise Be Yours 
This song anchors the fact that we belong to Him. Everything we say and every step we take should reflect His glory and who He truly is. Hold on to Him in the good times and the bad, He is the Lord of our lives.

More 
This song was written when COVID-19 first hit us back in 2020. It was written from a place of emptiness and desire. There will be times where God would seem far away but if we desire for more of Him, would He not come to those who yearn?

Praise You In The Storm 
This song was and still is the anthem for my life. I wrote this song after a horrific car crash back in 2019 a couple of days after my wife and I found out that we were pregnant (afternote: we are now parents of two healthy twin girls 😊). Our only desire back then was to quickly come home to worship, and we did just that. That was our storm back then. The storms in our lives have since taken different shapes and forms, but one thing remains – He never fails, and we know how the story always ends.

Mention Of Your Name 
It was during a period of time a few years ago that a couple of us felt that for whatever reason, there was a spirit of sorrow and regrets lingering in our midst. At that time, God kept reminding me “Do you know how powerful My Name is?” and that was how the words for this song started to flow. Remember that at His Name, every knee must bow – including the devil and his nonsense.

We had just celebrated Christmas and that has always reminded us how Jesus came in the form of a man to be among us but there is so much more to comprehend than just that. Jesus’ arrival was the physical embodiment of a greater promise and a promise God fulfilled during the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Apostles and those who were in the Upper Room as seen in Acts 2. Jesus was not just leaving us to fend on our own after dying of the cross for our salvation. He went a step further, He promised us His presence. He was not simply walking away, He wants to be a part of our lives.

Call upon His name and He will answer. I challenge you try it if you have never done that before. Present your worries to Him and invite Jesus into your heart.

May the songs in our EP bless your heart and remind us all that God is always near, no matter how far we run. 

He is Emmanuel, He is with us.

God bless you,
Clovis Tan
Founder, The Encounter

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Check out the EP here!