Paul Baloche is an American Christian music artist, worship leader, and singer-songwriter. Baloche is currently the worship pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas. His wife, Rita Baloche, is also a Christian songwriter. Several Christian artists, such as Michael W. Smith and SONICFLOOd, have recorded Baloche's songs. Many of his songs are among the most performed songs in services in America. Among them are "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and "Above All", cowritten with Lenny Leblanc. "Above All" was nominated for Song of the Year in both the 2002 and 2003 Dove Awards, and in 2002, Michael W. Smith's recording of that song won Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year. Baloche was also nominated for Songwriter of the Year in 2002.
Baloche uses his position as a recording artist to provide resources for churches. His catalog of six albums is focused on providing worship music for the listener to worship along with, and for churches to use in their own services. Baloche has also written a book, God Songs, and released instructional DVDs that cover a variety of issues central to contemporary worship, such as music styles, music theory, creating flow in worship, and guitar techniques (including his distinct open chord voicings).
The song "Hosanna" was co-written with Brenton Brown who wrote songs like "Hallelujah Your Love Is Amazing". They wrote this song out of a need for a stong anthematic song of worship for the celebration of Palm Sunday. There is one line that always jumps out to me, and that is the line "When we see you, we find strength to face the day, in your presence all our fears are washed away". The truth is that sometimes the things we face in this world seems overwhelming. You know what I'm talking about, those days where you wake up and wish you could just go back to bed. Sometimes our worship even reflects that sentiment, but an amazing thing happens as we approach God. As we see Him for who He is we find strength, courage, and boldness to walk through those situations that sometimes seems unbearable, because we find out that we are not alone. God is there walking through those times, washing away our fears, pushing away the doubts of our minds until we are able to break through those obstacles. It's like coming through the clouds on an airplane, and on the other side seeing the most beautiful sunrise. We see God, the reflection of His glory, and we began to experience healing in His presence.
Click to hear Paul Baloche talk about this song:
http://www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-377-Hosanna-Baloche.mp3
