Background and Inspriration
It all started with Alistair Begg's sermon, "The Power and Message of the Cross." Within that sermon, he describes what it must have been like for the repentant thief at the gates of heaven. This page is dedicated to the development of the songs for the musical, which tells the story of how the thief got to that point. Jesus is the hero. The thief is the beneficiary of Jesus' grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
"The Man on the Middle Cross" was the 2023 winner for the Christian category (more than 8,000 entries in that category alone). When the song was first written, it was sent off for a professional critique and received only average scores. However, the evaluators wrote: "...we all agreed that it would be PERFECT for a theatre production a la Jesus Christ Superstar." So, I made some changes, had it recorded, and sent it to the contest. Surprise! Now a musical is in the works.