Is It True?

words & music by Doug Howell • © 2022 Creative Measures LLC

is it true, Lord
you could make a blind man see
if it’s true, Lord
can you do something for me
my heart is sick
my soul is lost
I’ve gained the world
at too great a cost
I’ve heard it said
that you can make a body free
if it’s true, Lord
will you do the same for me

is it true, Lord
that they nailed you to a tree
is it true, Lord
that you gave your life for me
to mend my heart
redeem my soul
to share the love
that could make me whole
I do believe
that you can make a body free
I know it’s true, Lord
since you did the same for me

(Instrumental)
oh, you healed my heart
you freed my soul
you gave me love
and you made me whole
yes, I believe
that you can make a person free
I know it’s true, Lord
cause you did the same for me

Reviews

Beautiful as always!! Chills. —Danny C.

I love this song Doug. I had never heard this one before. Absolutely beautiful song! —Terri M.

Still you have one of the most expressive voices I have ever known. I still sing a few of your songs in public, but even then I am hearing your voice in my head! And if this is a fairly new recording, you haven’t lost any of that powerful emotion we love in your voice. —Randy T.

Beautiful story to accompany your beautiful song, Doug. —BJ L.

I love this one, too —Barbara G. P.

Beautiful and uplifting! —Rebecca D.

Absolutely LOVE this, Doug. Miss you and David SO much! This is beautiful. —Ann H.

A beautiful calming voice and heartwarming words —Maris M.

Vintage praise and celebration of your devotion Doug. Lovely and worthy. —D. B.

LOVE that I remain on your music share list. Very touching lyrics, and comforting music – one of my favorites for sure. —Sandra N.

How very honest, sweet & touching!! Thank U for this very precious song!! I am sharing!!!
—Jerry H.

Amazing song. A strong message and Testimony. Thank you for sharing —Rita A.

Thank you for your songs. Powerful —Elaine T.

I listened to the song and enjoyed the message and the soulful music. I want a hard copy of the music and words. —Betty W. K.

What beautiful, heartfelt words! Touched me deeply and brought tears to my eyes… but Joy to my heart! Thank you Doug!!! ❤️ —Yolande M.

Beautiful song……Could tell it came from the depths of your heart and soul…. ❤️ ❤️
—Sharon A. O.

I am sharing this beautiful song. Something everyone will be blessed to hear today. I love it ❤️♥️ —Anita F.

A song that makes my faith stronger —Judith K. N.

I remember those days in the 70s. And you sound now like you did then. Asking. Trusting. Heartfelt. Thank you for your music. —Terry P.

2022 Notes

When I was traveling around SE Michigan in the seventies with the Youth for Christ group New Jerusalem, we appeared at a wide variety of churches, sang at all sorts of events, and invariably talked to many, many people after each performance. A lot of them were kids not much younger than ourselves who were trying (like we were) to make sense out of their lives.

I remember one high-schooler named Duane who came up to talk to us after one concert. As we were talking, he paused at one point and then blurted out, “How do you know it’s true, all this stuff about Jesus?”

I had believed in Jesus ever since I could remember, but his honest question really brought me up short. I didn’t want to just rattle off some meaningless answer. I sure hated it when others did that to me! Sharing the Good News is just that: sharing. Not shoving it down someone’s throat. Not trying to convince someone you’re right and they’re wrong. Not ignoring the questions.

How did I know, after all? Yes, I knew through God’s Word, the verses I’d learned and written on index cards and memorized throughout my childhood. I knew through the faith handed down to me by my family. But I also knew through my life experience. I knew because I cried out to him, and he held me. I talked to him, and he answered. Not audibly, but somewhere within, in the depths of my soul, he answered.

As the years went by, the questions got harder, and answers didn’t come as easily. Like Harvey Fierstein says in Torch Song Trilogy: “Honey, when I was 13, I knew everything. Senility set in sometime after.” But even when I was struggling through my own coming out process in my thirties, I knew that if God wasn’t big enough for all my questions, he wasn’t a big enough God. So I asked him! I asked him anything and everything. And just kept asking.

Although we’ll never know all of God’s truth in this life, God put us here to share what we’ve been given, without deleting the pieces we think others might not like, or making up ideal fantasies to fill in the gaps. It’s not just the truths we receive from God we must share, but the truths he put within us to start with, our imperfect human truth. Shared honestly—but with wisdom, sensitivity, courage, and faith.

In a day when there are political and religious celebrities aplenty, all claiming to tell us the truth, precious few really do. And if we judge by appearances, we do so at our own peril: “…the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). We must do our own study, and listen to the truth within ourselves. Don’t take others’ answers for granted (including mine). Find your own.

I wrote Duane this song to try and answer his question the best I could at the time, all those years ago, as I was just setting out on my life’s adventure. It’s a simple answer, a simple testimony from someone so young that, although he hardly had anything yet to confess, already realized what his life would look like if he tried to live it without his Creator.

Duane, wherever you are, I pray that you found your faith, your reasons, your sight, your Healer, the Truth. All I can tell you is that forty-eight years later, I still believe it’s true…