It’s as much about what we are redeemed to as what we are redeemed from.” It’s a message of hope that calls us out of where we used to be into a new place. Being redeemed is more than the forgiveness and the fact that our past is taken care of. “We wanted to bring light on that with Beautiful Offerings. Many people were saying, “Thank God, I am redeemed,” but then going right back into their same old thing,” adds Mike. “Even as we saw and heard hundreds of amazing things happening in people’s lives, we also saw people who were barely approaching what God is offering. “This record continues where “Redeemed” left off, celebrating what God has done over the last season,” Mike affirms. In fact, they used “Redeemed” as the starting point for the fresh batch of songs hand-picked for Beautiful Offerings. However, more than all the accolades Big Daddy Weave has achieved, it’s the stories about how the songs have impacted lives that fuel the band’s passion for recording and touring. 1, was dubbed “Song of the Year” at the first annual K-LOVE Fan Awards, garnered Dove Award and Billboard Music Award nominations and certified a gold single by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 records. “I thought if I could somehow achieve something for God, that’s what He was going to use,” Mike admits, “but when we shared about brokenness, God used that more than He ever used any of the little successes that we had been given along the way.” Big Daddy Weave members Mike Weaver (lead vocals, guitar), Jay Weaver (bass, vocals), Jeremy Redmon (guitar, vocals), Joe Shirk (saxophone, keys, vocals) and Brian Beihl (drums) never would have predicted that a vulnerable song written for the lead singer himself, initially deemed by Mike too personal to even turn in for Love Come To Life, would become the group’s best-selling track in their 16-plus year history. I honestly don’t know how the afterlife works, but I’d like to believe there’s a moment as Jay steps into eternity with brand new feet after a long, hard journey when God takes his face in his hands, lifts it to look into his eyes, and says, “I love you,” as he’s welcomed home.Beautiful Offerings follows the biggest album of the band’s career, Love Come To Life, which yielded the rare feat of four back-to-back #1 singles – “Love Come To Life,” “Redeemed,” “The Only Name (Yours Will Be)” and “Overwhelmed.” “Redeemed” became an anthem of unprecedented impact. Jay, and God through him, was the lifter of my head that day, lifting my eyes from the depths of my sorrow and shame to look into the eyes of grace and know I was loved. I always wondered what the words of Psalm 3:3 meant: “you’re the glory and the lifter of my head.” But now I knew. Then he looked deep into my eyes, past them to my soul, and said, “I love you,” and prayed for my restoration. I wished I could escape the moment as I tried to look anywhere else, but Jay held my face steady in his hands until I surrendered to the moment and met his gaze. I felt like unworthy-I had lost so much and disappointed so many people, including myself, that I was full of too much pain and shame to be able to bear looking someone directly in the eye. I was sitting in a pew, my head hung low, quietly praying through my tears when Jay walked over to me, put his hands on the sides of my head, and lifted my face to look me in the eye. That work is ongoing.Ī precious memory I’ll never forget was when we were all praying in the sanctuary before a show in Alabama. But I still had bills to pay, so what was I to do?īig Daddy Weave invited me to tour with them for the better part of that year, a tour that felt more like a hospital than anything else as God and my friends put me back together, piece by piece. My whole future was uncertain, and all I had energy for was sleeping, though I wasn’t even doing that very well. I was dejected, depressed, and certain that my status as a divorcee would make me a pariah to both my industry and Christian music listeners. Jay, along with his brother Mike and their band, were always so good to me, but never were they more kind to me than when they took me on tour with them in the weeks after my divorce was finalized. “My friend Jay Weaver of Big Daddy Weave passed away yesterday. Jason Gray, singer of Sparrows and With Every Act of Love, wrote a beautiful tribute on Facebook that we want to share with you: A post shared by Zach Williams Mike Weaver, Jay’s brother and lead singer of Big Daddy Weave, first posted about Jay’s passing the support from Christian artist’s everywhere poured in.
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