Brian Doerksen
Songwriter/Worship Leader

Brian Doerksen never set out to be a songwriter. "I set out to be a worshipper," he says, "and that has led me to write songs to express what was happening in my heart."

Brian has been a worshipper since childhood, when he would lie on the hillside by his family's Abbotsford, British Columbia, farmhouse and "listen for God's whispers". Since those days, his skills as a songwriter have led to more than 70 worship songs, and a music ministry that extends well beyond the walls of Abbotsford Vineyard Church, where he leads worship. Churches across the country and around the world ring out weekly with choruses of "Refiner's Fire," "Light the Fire Again," and "Hope of the Nations."

Reflecting on the role that Scripture has played in his life, Brian singles out John 14:23, in which Jesus says "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

"This speaks to me," Brian explains, "of fellowship, friendship and rest. Not having to try religiously to perform and not having to strive. At the very heart of our relationship with God is relationship. Relationship is that sense of home, belonging, rest, safety and truth.

"By nature I am an insecure person who's shy and has resisted God's call on my life multiple times and in multiple ways. What [this verse] does is free me to be who I'm called to be in God because I know that I have this anchor, this safety, this relationship."

The message of this verse also echoes in the words of Brian's songs. Words like, "Come, now is the time to worship | Come, now is the time to give your heart | Come, just as you are to worship | Come, just as you are before your God."