Heaven In An Old Piano

Some songs fill the room. Then some songs somehow find broken places inside a soul. Today, let's address songs that find broken places inside the soul.   

Recently, I discovered a writing about Annie Herring, one of the first musical artists to start CCM. CCM stands for Contemporary Christian Music. She is the composer and singer for the 2nd Chapter of Acts group, along with her sister and brother. The writing is called Annie Herring: The Woman Who Heard Heaven in an Old Piano. 

Years ago, Becky and I met Annie and Buck Herring. I invited them to come to the church I pastored in Phoenix, Arizona, to minister to our people. Annie and Buck were amazing. We became friends. Buck and Annie invited us to stay four days at their modern cabin in Purgatory, Colorado, to ski with them. It was a high-octane spiritual experience.  

Whether you are a Christ follower or not, you will find Annie’s story amazing. It’s her life, just like yours and mine, full of ‘ups and downs and all arounds.’  

"Long before Christian music became an industry with polished stages, dazzling lights, streaming playlists, and sold-out arenas, there was a modest home where something extraordinary was taking shape. Nothing about it looked historic. No producer stood behind the glass. No executives waited with contracts. No one imagined history was quietly unfolding. There was only an old piano. Its keys had been pressed by ordinary hands thousands of times before, but one evening they seemed to carry more than notes. They carried hope. Annie’s songs are more than a touch; they are a change. 

The woman seated before it wasn’t trying to become famous. Annie Herring wasn’t chasing applause or dreaming of awards. She was listening, listening with the kind of heart that believes God still whispers melodies to ordinary people. She had never been formally trained. She didn’t know all the rules composers were supposed to follow. Perhaps that was her greatest gift. Free from convention, she wrote music that wandered where it needed to go, refusing to fit neatly inside anyone else’s expectations. 

Then life shattered. The deaths of Annie’s parents came only a short time apart. Grief settled over the family like a heavy winter sky. Her younger brother, Matthew, and sister, Nelly, came to live with Annie and her husband, Buck. It wasn’t simply a change of address; it was a rescue. Three grieving siblings suddenly found themselves sharing meals, memories, tears, and eventually, songs. No one planned to start a legendary vocal group. Healing came first. Music followed. 

They would gather around that piano almost instinctively. Annie would begin to play. Matthew would search for a harmony. Nelly would find another. Before long, three voices rose together with a beauty none of them had expected. They weren’t merely singing together. They were discovering that God often mends hearts with the very gifts hidden beneath sorrow. 

That is how the 2nd Chapter of Acts was born, not from ambition, but from restoration.

Their harmonies sounded almost impossible. Listeners often wondered where such effortless blending came from. The answer wasn’t found in a conservatory or years of technical instruction. It was found around an old family piano, where broken hearts learned to worship. 

One of Annie’s most beloved songs nearly took an entirely different path. When she finished writing ‘Easter Song,’ she imagined it being sung by a choir. It felt too grand, too joyful, too full of resurrection to belong to one small family group. Composer Jimmy Owens gently encouraged her otherwise. He believed those who had received the song should be the first to give it away. History proved him right. Decades later, churches around the world still burst into celebration each Easter with the opening words Annie first heard in her own heart. 

While audiences naturally admired Matthew’s soaring tenor and Nelly’s crystal-clear harmonies, Annie remained content to let the songs speak louder than the songwriter. She penned much of the music that defined 2nd Chapter of Acts, yet she rarely sought the spotlight. The spotlight, after all, has a way of distracting people from the Light. It was built on and around Jesus. 

Imagine that. Thousands are waiting beyond the curtain. Yet the greatest concern behind the curtain wasn’t whether every harmony would be perfect. It was whether every heart would be surrendered. Perhaps that is why her music still breathes. Technology has changed. Styles have changed. Generations have changed. But sincerity never goes out of fashion. 

Years later, Buck Herring, Annie’s husband and the leader of the group, shared one sentence that captured the 2^nd Chapter of Acts music better than any award ever could. Someone had observed their music and said, “The frame never outdid the picture.”

What a remarkable way of describing life. Music is never meant to become the masterpiece of worship. Jesus is.  

Today, countless worship leaders, songwriters, and Christian artists stand on foundations they may never realize were laid by a woman who quietly listened for heaven at an old piano. Annie Herring never set out to build an industry. She simply answered a whisper. And because she did, millions have learned to sing.” (#CCM #ChristianMusic #AnnieHerring #2ndChapterOfActs) 

My advice to Jesus followers: don’t be “framed” by the optics of big screens, skinny jeans, and fog machines in many churches today. Frames are wonderful servants, terrible masters. Don’t be “framed” by worshiping the worship or praising the praise. Like worship leader Matt Redman’s song says, "I'm coming back to a heart of worship, it's all about you, Jesus, it's all about you." Woohoo! There it is!   

And whether you are a churchgoer or not, beware of being “framed” by the way things are framed in our culture. Like Annie, get the truth, answer the whisper; never let that razzle-dazzle bling frame outdo the picture.