Hello there! My name is Sam Bowman. I’m a singer, songwriter, and producer from Dallas, Texas. My album Children of the Burning Heart just released last July, and the first song of the record is a tune called “Smoke.” The song sets up the whole heart behind the album, and I’d love the chance to tell you about it.
“Smoke” came out of a difficult season for me. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit my area. In the blink of an eye, so many things that I had invested time, energy, and emotion into were simply gone. Cancelled. Finito. It was as if someone had set fire to my hopes and dreams. It hurts the heart to watch dreams burn, doesn’t it?
The Lord gently showed me over those months that what burns down doesn’t burn out. In the broken world we live in, we lose things we love. We hurt. We feel pain, deep pain. However, that pain isn’t meaningless. Those who have been saved by Jesus are given a new perspective on life. Our cold and dead hearts are lit ablaze by the Holy Spirit that comes to live inside of us.
That means that we, as believers, get the chance to show a broken and dead world what it means to have joy in suffering. We can be warmth and light to those around us. And do you know what the best part is? Jesus promises to keep that fire burning in us until the very end (Phil. 1:6). We have a God that will sustain us, even during hard seasons.
We may burn down. We may suffer. We may hurt. But I promise we won’t burn out. And that’s what “Smoke” is all about.
Friends, everything I have is Christ’s. Forget those dreams. Forget those goals. Those things are good, but to be honest, they’re literally rubbish compared to just having the chance to know Jesus (Phil. 3:8). I can confidently tell you today that I have a Friend that knows what I need today. As long as You’re king of my burning heart, Jesus, may my life go up in smoke.
– Sam Bowman