Steve Siler is the Founder and Director of Music for the Soul, a non-profit ministry committed to providing life-changing healing through music and song. Steve is a Dove Award winning songwriter, having had over 500 of his songs recorded in the Christian, pop, & country markets. His songs have been recorded by Point of Grace, Avalon, Anointed, Clay Crosse, The Martins, Aaron Jeoffrey, Greg Long, Be Be Winans, Bob Carlisle, Sandi Patty, Scott Krippayne, Tammy Trent, and Larnelle Harris among others. Steve has just completed Music for the Soul's eighth CD, After the Storm: Rebuilding Lives...Reclaiming Hope, which has been distributed to more than 15,000 victims of the gulf coast hurricanes. His previous project, Somebody's Daughter, is directed at men who struggle with pornography. BoldMan Chronicles sat down with Steve to talk about Somebody's Daughter and his ministry.BMC: Steve, what was the inspiration for the Somebody's Daughter project?
SS: My best friend called me in the middle of the night about seven years ago and told me he was addicted to porn. He asked me to attend a sex addicts meeting with him because he knew he needed to go but was afraid to go alone. This was a Christian man with a successful Christian songwriting career, a gorgeous wife, and two beautiful daughters. I became an accountability partner for him. We wrote the song Somebody's Daughter together. As I looked more into this issue I discovered that I knew seven men in the Christian music industry who were struggling with pornography. Clay Crosse, who sings our title track, has been very public about his struggles, recently releasing a book called I Surrender All dealing honestly with the topic.
As I searched the scriptures regarding this issue and I looked at my own life I began to realize that even though I was not addicted to porn I was still not living my life by a biblical standard in this area. I think that could be said of 99% of Christian men. That is why Somebody's Daughter is so important. It's not just a record about pornography. It's a record about committing your thought life and visual life to God.
BMC: How long has the CD been out now and how has it been received so far?
SS: The CD came out in May of 2005. We have received some remarkable testimonies. One man in Colorado said the CD kept him from acting out while his wife was out of town for two weeks. He just kept listening over and over. It was the first time in his adult life he had gone two weeks without looking at pornography. It has also ministered to the wives of men who are addicted to porn. Several women have told us that the song Is it Me gave voice to their feelings; that they realized they were not crazy, they were not alone. It's common for them to feel like no one has ever experienced this kind of betrayal before and they don't know how to act. So when they react by going off the deep end, they question their behavior. This song deals honestly with the anger and the conflicting feelings that this type of confession brings up. It lets women know that it's okay to share true feelings - even if their feelings in the moment are expressed as rage. There is no healing without truth.
Several different ministries around the country are using the CD in their retreats and at their conferences. A number of churches have built services around the project. One church in Sacramento bought 1,400 copies so that every one of their men could have one. The United Methodist Men took 2,500 for their national event this past summer. It is a great blessing to know that we are providing a resource that is helping men break free from sexual sin. [Visit the Music for the Soul website for a list of testimonies and praise for Somebody's Daughter]
BMC: What are some of the other resources that you are developing that might help men with the issue of pornography?
SS: John Mandeville and I have begun work on a book called Somebody's Daughter that will follow the trajectory of the CD. A video and study guide are also planned. Basically we want to keep developing one new resource per year on this issue for the next three or four years.
BMC: You mentioned that you've just completed a project called After the Storm for the victims of the gulf coast hurricanes. For what other 'soul issues' are you developing material?
SS: We have a list of over 75 issues, believe it or not. Eating disorders, caring for elderly parents, sexual abuse, depression, teen peer pressure, and grief are just some of the ones we're working on. We are also going to do a Christmas project for those who don't feel much like celebrating. We have a whole kid's line of Bible songs in the pipeline too, to bring the word in song to the next generation.
BMC: Tell us about Music for the Soul and how that fits into your sense of calling and life mission. How did God get a grip on you do to this work?
SS: From the time I was little it was clear that God had given me a special gift for music. I did my first "album" of original songs by the time I was eleven. I was in three bands in junior high school and had written over 225 original songs before I graduated from high school.
Like most kids I wanted to be a rock star. It took God about a dozen years to get my attention but in the late eighties I had a hit single on pop radio. When I heard it on the air I realized it wasn't what I was supposed to be doing. I prayed for God to send me something that mattered. Less than two weeks later I received a call from someone I didn't even know about working on a project for abused kids. It was the answer I was looking for. Once I saw how my music could change people's lives for the better and realized that my faith could be a part of my work every day, I was hooked. Music for the Soul is simply the deeper expression and continued journey that God called me to with that first project for abused kids.
BMC: What are some of the faith challenges you face as you pursue this ministry and mission?
SS: A friend of mine says, "Attempt something so great for God that it be doomed to failure lest God be in it." That's Music for the Soul right there. We've needed literally dozens of miracles just to make it this far. God continues to stretch me, challenge me, and grow me day by day in this work. The greatest challenge is always simply to trust Him. We're doing something counter cultural here. As another friend put it, "The culture is getting more and more narrow and shallow. And you're doing something deep and wide." Anytime one goes against the grain like that it's going to take more of Him and less of us.
BMC: As a Dove Award winning writer, you've rubbed elbows with a lot of people in the Christian music industry. Who's been most influential in shaping your life?
SS: Without a doubt the co-writers in my prayer group. These are people who do it for the right reasons.
BMC: What one thing would you want every man you meet to know about you and himself?
SS: That God has a purpose for our lives - and it is in seeking Him that we will find the fullest expression of ourselves.
Leary
What a terrific job connecting with and interviewing Steve Siler. I am so blessed to call both of you friend and brother. Keep up the great work. You are one of the men I would want to be next to in any battle.
Blessings
In Christ
Chuck