Christian Music News

On Oct. 15, Jesus Culture Music’s Bryan and Katie Torwalt released globally through Fuel Distribution their highly-anticipated sophomore album, Kingdom Come, a collection of modern worship anthems steeped in full surrender to the wondrous will of God. Already gathering critical acclaim, the album spent a full week on top of the iTunes® “Christian/Gospel” chart while climbing all the way to No. 15 on the iTunes overall “Top Albums” chart, was No. 1 on Amazon.com's Christian chart and sold 8,283 albums in its debut week. With more than 165, 5-star average reviews at iTunes, the album also hit No. 1 on the Worship Album, No. 3 on the overall Christian/Gospel Album and No. 43 on the Billboard Top 200 retail charts marking a 537% growth from the Torwalt’s acclaimed Here On Earth debut.

Building on the simple, folk-tinged influence of 2011’s Heaven On Earth, the Torwalts have created a multi-layered, ethereal mix of 11 original songs written specifically for corporate worship. That total access to Jesus—completely known, completely accepted, completely free—in worship and in every aspect of life, provides the undercurrent of Kingdom Come, drawing inspiration from The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6.

“It’s such an incredible gift to be able to lead people in worship,” says Bryan, who picked up a guitar at age 16 and began leading worship in his youth group. “We believe God inhabits the praise of his people and that we can experience his presence in a tangible way. We want that for people as they sing these songs, to see another facet of who God is, to experience his love for them in a new way.”

For Katie, a preacher’s daughter who started singing in church at the age of three and leading worship as a pre-teen, being part of Jesus Culture has been a life-changing shift in understanding. “We weren’t raised to look at worship as full access to Jesus all the time. There was always some pressure to get to a place in worship to take a congregation somewhere. But we’ve learned that we start out having full access to Jesus, being seated with Christ.”

Thematically contrasting light and darkness, Kingdom Come opens declaring the greatness of God in “He Is the Light,” inviting him to rule in “King of All the Earth.” “Weight of Glory,” inspired by a C.S. Lewis work by the same name, and “When You Walk Into the Room,” sing out the power revealed when God shows up in worship. “Shores” underscores the idea of freedom that results from surrender. Other standouts on the album include the gospel-influenced “Worthy King,” featuring Kim Walker-Smith, “I Will Trust You,” a song of hope specifically for ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ and “It Was Finished.”

“We’re constantly inspired by where God leads us in scripture and by time spent with the Lord out in nature. We’re always trying to grow in our experience of the word of God,” says Bryan contextualizing the duo’s songwriting and message.

“We’re really bold with some of our lyrics, but those things really come out of our hearts—freedom and healing and transformation that happens during worship,” adds Katie. “Seeing people declaring the truth of God together over our church, over our city, seeing the supernatural, crazy stuff God is doing in worship, seeing people free and filled with hope... It’s been life-changing for us. If anything, it’s made us even hungrier for those things. More aware of our need for His presence everyday.”