In 2025, The War Cry ran a series of articles entitled “In the Love of Jesus” that explored topics related to the doctrines of The Salvation Army. The doctrines communicate the message of the Gospel, which centers upon the love of Jesus, redeeming and transforming everyone. The series is named for the beloved song by the same name, written by Ivan Mawby with an original tune by William Hammond.

To commemorate the publication of the series, The War Cry invited Phil Laeger to compose a new song based on Mawby and Hammond’s well-known work. Earlier this year, Laeger and The Salvation Army released “In the Love of Jesus”, which can be heard at this link. Recently, The War Cry interviewed Laeger about his songwriting and the meaning behind the music.

The War Cry (WC): Can you describe your songwriting process?

Phil Laeger (Laeger): It’s kind of weird. I answer this question differently every time somebody asks me, and that’s probably because I’m always going to evolve with my songwriting. But normally, the one thing that is consistent is that a seed of a thought will come to me, a melody coupled with a lyric idea, and it usually comes after I’ve been meditating on a particular passage of Scripture or a theological thought, or sometimes in prayer. Actually, those are some of my favorite times when it just kind of drops in my spirit. So it’s different based on what kind of song it is. If it’s a heartfelt cry of my heart, a prayer in my heart, that seems more organic. I go from there, try to stay true to the original idea, and go where the song wants to go without forcing it into any particular direction or expression. Sometimes it’s done in an hour, sometimes it’s done in a year or longer.

WC: What about Colonel Ivy Mawby’s original hymn “In the Love of Jesus” inspires you?

Laeger: I’ve loved this hymn for a long time. I never really wanted to do anything with it because I loved it so much. It’s just one of those songs for me where the pathos of the song, married with those lyrics, just kind of hit me in a deep place at a time in my life as a teenager, and it’s always stuck with me. When I was wandering from the Lord in high school, I would still make my way to the piano where my parents were serving as corps officers, thumbing my way through the tune book and finding tunes I liked. So I fell in love with the music first. I’ve just always been drawn to it. Only later did I read the lyrics, and that cemented my love for this song, especially as a prodigal son making my way back home. Never really wanted to do anything with it because I had such respect for it, but also loving the message of it so much, I just have always thought it’d be great to adapt the message of it for a new generation.

WC: Does your melody for “In the Love of Jesus” take any cues from the hymn’s original theme? 

Laeger: This song means a lot to a lot of people in the Southern Territory. I know folks who have used this as their wedding song. It’s very special to a lot of people in The Salvation Army. The starting note of the chorus starts on the third. It’s the one chord, and the melody is the third. And so it’s low and very singable. It’s this very peaceful, happy, positive, optimistic — it’s just this restful scale, this harmony. It just starts out with this amazing message, “In the love of Jesus,” that you come back to the center place. So, mine actually does the same thing. It starts out on that third scale degree of a major scale from the key. Other than that, musically, it’s just all over the place.

WC: What was it like adapting or “continuing” Colonel Mawby’s hymn, and how does it differ from writing other songs?

Laeger: It’s definitely different adapting others’ works compared to writing on my own. When I adapt/arrange, I always try to respect the original. If somebody sees the title, anybody familiar with “In the Love of Jesus” will be expecting something. So, I always try to be really respectful of that. Adapting this one was really interesting because I loved it so much. Usually, if I love the words of a song and I have not heard the original music, that works out in my favor, because I don’t have any personal relationship to the song. I just do whatever I’m inspired to do, but the lyrics with this one, I just wanted to respect it, but also just let it speak on its own. As far as how it differs from writing other songs, I have a pattern where I try to get to the seat of what the song is actually trying to say and be faithful to that. I guess it’s the same thing as when a Bible translator is trying to translate the original languages and be faithful to them but also speak today’s language. That’s what I do with songwriting. 

WC: How do modern praise and worship songs differ from hymns? 

Laeger: Well, the form of songwriting and of hymn writing has changed greatly over the years. In times past, it was more poetic. The structure of a lot of things was more poems that got set to music, whereas we’re more willing today to use colloquial language. When we’re expressing worship or singing our adoration to the Lord, we’re more willing to emote repetitively in our praise and worship, and I think that’s good. It exercises a different part of our personhood. It engages our emotions. Not that hymns don’t do that, but hymns engage our emotions in a different way. So, the main difference is the willingness to emote repetitively. 

There’s a whole modern movement about writing more hymns nowadays. That’s good, too. We definitely have to love the Lord with all our mind and be careful because the danger in praise and worship sometimes is that we tend to, if it feels good, do it. If it feels like it’s right to sing this, I should sing it, and that’s not always the case. We have to keep those two things in balance.

WC: “In the Love of Jesus” mirrors the original hymn’s structure. How did you come up with the scenarios that are similar to the ones in Colonel Mawby’s hymn?

Laeger: In the original, it’s a sheep and a pilgrim. We know what those things are through our level of biblical literacy, through fantasy such as “Lord of the Rings” and all that kind of stuff, but I wanted to make it a little less poetic and bring it more home, more real, to examples that we’d all be familiar with. I wanted it to mirror the different scenarios, but in a more concrete way.

In the Army, we help a lot of people who have been dealing with addiction in some form or another. Many times, those addictions are just coping mechanisms to deal with life’s difficulties. We all have at one point tried to fill a need or cover up pain using something other than God. I just thought of my own experience and the experiences of people I know: the child who had the Gospel message planted in their heart as a kid, only to wander away, the person trying to find meaning and acceptance through notoriety, etc. We’re like Mawby’s lamb and pilgrim, wandering hopelessly until Jesus takes us in.

WC: What does this song mean to you?

Laeger: Well, the original means a lot to me. If you agree 100% with the theology of this song, the part where it says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel I’m going to leave the God I love,” I think we’re prone to wander from the truth of the Gospel. We’re prone to forget that Jesus is sufficient. And so, for me, the message of this song could not have come at a better time in my life, where I just need to be reminded about grace. I get in these patterns of trying to prove myself, whether to others or to God. I am constantly brought back to the all-sufficiency of the love of Jesus. I need to be reminded of the truth in these words, “in the love of Jesus, there is all I need.” They’re so timeless. When I started writing the song originally, it did not include the second half of that, but as the song evolved toward the end, it just became an opportunity to sing that second half, “By His grace forgiven, in His presence living.” The original says, “In His presence blest.” This song for me is just a reminder that the grace of Jesus is enough. It’s His love demonstrated to us while we were still sinners that gives me hope. It didn’t start with me, and it won’t end with me. My part is to accept it and let it transform every part of my life.

WC: Are there any lyrics or lines that are particularly special to you?

Laeger: I’m somebody who’s online a lot, and part of what I do as a musician, artist, or anybody who is doing anything creative nowadays, it seems like you have to validate your worth by gaining followers, letting people know what you’re doing, all that kind of stuff. It can become a real slippery slope to find your worth in that. And so for me, that girl in the song, I just identified with her when the second verse says “the cracks begin to show, and she wants someone to know her.” It doesn’t take too many cycles of being on social media to put something out there, have everybody go crazy about it, and then the next minute, people forget who you are.

And so the cracks begin to show that what we really want is to be loved and to be known. That’s really special to me.

WC: If you were to make an album with “In the Love of Jesus” as the central track, what themes or ideas would the other songs focus on? 

Laeger: If that were to be the central track, it might be an opportunity to explore different ways that we’ve missed the mark. People resonate with people who are genuine and lyrics that are authentic. So it could be an album where you explore ways that these are the lies I’m believing, or maybe almost like an Ecclesiastes theme. Like this is life under the sun, but this is what the true reality is in the love of Jesus.

WC: How do you hope people react to “In the Love of Jesus?”

Laeger: I hope it catches them off guard. Some of the best songs are ones we think we know already. I love when a song just comes around to bite you and hits you in a different way, and you think, “Oh, ‘In the Love of Jesus’, I know it. I know who Jesus is, I know what love is,” but I hope it impacts them and maybe just reminds them of that central truth again. It’s so easy to stray from that. I hope it opens them up just to let go and let themselves be loved by God.