'What God Wants to Hear' - Famed 'Journey' keyboardist Jonathan Cain releases solo Christian album

'I wanted to become a true follower of Christ - not just a part-time Christian.'

"Journey" keyboardist, Jonathan Cain is the composer and lyricist behind the iconic song "Don't Stop Believin'."

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Cain has struggled with his Christian faith, but recently reconciled with the Lord and just released a solo album called "What God Wants to Hear."

The album was released October 21 through Identity Records.

Since he was a boy, Cain believed he was called to ministry, but in 1958, a fire swept through Our Lady of the Angels School, forcing several students to jump from fifth story windows.

As a third-grader watching the reports of 92 children dead and three nuns, he questioned what sort of God would allow such an atrocity.

"I was dead set on being a priest," Cain admitted to TheBlaze.

"I was praying to Jesus hard that afternoon, 'Please, let these children out,' you know, and it wasn't to be and they got trapped upstairs and 100 of them perished. So I was a little disillusioned. How could Jesus let that happen?"

Cain left his faith that day and it took several years for him to realize God was present, even in the midst of the horrible fire.

"Years later, I believe Jesus cried with us," Cain admitted. "I don't believe he had abandoned us at all."

As an older teenager, Cain returned to Christ during an alter call at a Baptist church but his faith wasn't awakened until recently.

When he met Paula White, the senior pastor of the New Destiny Christian Center in Orlando, Florida, he felt something "supernatural" between them.

He was traveling with Journey when their paths crossed aboard a Southwest Airlines flight.

The two hit it off and Cain knew there was something different about her. He later realized it was the presence of the Holy Spirit calling him to the Lord.

Cain was intimidated by her spiritual maturity, but still, their relationship grew. They flew to Ghana in West Africa, where he met White's spiritual mentor.

Cain eventually was baptized and rededicated his life to the faith he left behind. Soon afterward, White and Cain married.

"I wanted to become a true follower of Christ - not just a part-time Christian," Cain admitted. "And I realized that was what it was going to take to be a spiritual covering for a woman of God like Paula White."

Along his journey, Cain decided to express his faith in his new album, which he described as a "journal" between him and the Lord.

Cain admitted "Don't Stop Belivin'" was written during a time of despair when he was struggling to get discovered on the streets of LA, but "What God Wants to Hear" was born of a deep joy and stemmed from his success.

He has never produced a solo album before and is used to working as part of a team but he believes the "tough" work was just part of "putting it all down and being obedient [to God]."

(*95* -5;4*06- -4?(-4
Cain also explained: "[B]eing new to the Bible, every time I put my nose in it, I thought, 'Wow,' so it was like a testimonial and I thought if I could write this song, and if I could ask God, let me sing what God wants to hear."

It took Cain less than one year to write the entire album of original Christian songs. He stated: "I hope it inspires people-that they are worthy, they do have a shot at something special, at something great.

"It's not closing the door, it's just staying enlightened and awakened....This is my love letter to [God]. It's my thanks for the grace that he gives me, that's all."

Thinking back to the time he decided to write the album, Cain admitted, "I knew it wasn't going to set the charts on fire, but what it did was it set the wheels into motion."

Not only did he find a way to rekindle his faith but it also enabled him to minister to people in a way he was passionate about, in a way he had been trained to do.

When asked if he ever thought he would end up marrying a preacher, he joked: "You know, the Lord has a sense of humor," adding if God wanted him to renew his faith, the only way it would happen is if he ended up married to a minister.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online