DiM | “King of the World” by Natalie Grant

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Presentation1CCM Edition.

January 17, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “King of the World” by Natalie Grant which currently sits at #5 on 20TheCountdownMagazine. It looks like the top 20 chart is starting to stabilize a bit, as most of the list looks the way it did before the Christmas season. It isn’t overrun with COWO (Contemporary Worship) songs.

This song falls into the middle category because it doesn’t share the Gospel, nor does it grant the listener an indication to return to the Gospel, repent, and be forgiven of the sin of being your own god. This song is Law (pointing out error) and the implied answer is to do better about not forgetting that God is God (more law). The song stays on the lighter side of this error, more on the anxiety, worry, business side of forgetting that Christ is King of the World, but leaving out the Gospel leaves the listener in despair (for having failed again) or mysticism (try to experience God more directly in a “Jesus take the wheel” sense).

Official Lyric Video

 

Lyrics (via GooglePlay Music)

(verse 1)
I try to fit You in the walls inside my mind
I try to keep You safely in between the lines
I try to put You in the box that I’ve designed
I try to pull You down so we are eye to eye

(chorus)
When did I forget that You’ve always been the King of the world
I try to take life back right out of the hands of the King of the world
How could I make You so small
When You’re the one who holds it all
When did I forget that You’ve always been the King of the world

(verse 2)
Just a whisper of Your voice can tame the seas
So who am I to try to take the lead?
Still I run ahead and think I’m strong enough
When You’re the one who made me from the dust

(chorus)
When did I forget that You’ve always been the King of the world
I try to take life back right out of the hands of the King of the world
How could I make You so small
When You’re the one who holds it all
When did I forget that You’ve always been the King of the world

(bridge)
You set it all in motion
Every single moment
You brought it all to be
And You’re holding on to me

(chorus)

When did I forget that you’ve always been the king of the world?
I try to take life back right out of the hands of the king of the world
How could I make you so small
When you’re the one who holds it all
When did I forget you’ve always been the king of the world
You will always be the king of the world

Written by Becca Mizell, Natalie Grant, Samuel Mizell • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Music Services, Inc, BMG Rights Management US, LLC

Discussion

So, let’s begin by discussing the overall point of the song. The point being made in general is how foolish it is for someone to acknowledge and confess Christ as the King of the World yet constantly live in anxiety and worry and striving as though they were in charge of their lives. There is a sense where this sort of self rebuke is warranted, when we wreck ourselves with worry over things that are outside of our ability to control. God is God, He is in control. In that sense, I agree with the overall theme of the song, or at least its chorus. In this discussion we are making 2 assumptions: the King of the World reference is to Jesus, the Messiah/Christ, the second person of the Trinity, and the target audience is to confessing Christians.

Chorus. Part of our sinful nature is the desire to create god in our own image, so to speak. Christians aren’t immune to this, we just have the clear preaching of Law and Gospel to address it. Daily. As sinners, we often take matters into our own hands, even our own justification/sanctification where we are constantly trying to prove ourselves to God through our own good works. Do more, volunteer more, sin less, give more… and we try to do this in our own strength, which is the killer. We can’t. That is the Law doing its work on us and in response our flesh is trying to keep the Law on its own. We can’t. It’s beyond us to keep the Law perfectly. I think this song is trying to address that problem, but it seems to lack the vocabulary or clear doctrine with which to do so. If you’ll notice, there is no clear proclamation of the Gospel here. There’s no repentance and the forgiveness of sins here, and I think that can be expected from our modern evangelicalism which treats the Gospel as something unbelievers need to hear until they decide to become believers. The setup in the song falls short of calling out backsliders, the mood of the song doesn’t get that dark. But even if it did, would we expect to see the Gospel of Grace and forgiveness emphasized or just more Law with the heat turned up? To answer in this specific case would be to venture into speculation, but it’s a question worth pondering whenever we are dealing with evangelicals reaching out to professing Christians. Is the Gospel still relevant for believing Christians or is it something that you “needed to get in, but staying in is all on you”? Let’s look at some Scripture before we dive into the verses.

Regarding Christ as the King of the World, let’s look to 1 Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:13-16 (ESV) I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

There are two ways we can look at the problem of “trying to take life back right out of the hands of the King of the world”, the first is what I’ve already alluded to regarding anxiety and worry over things we cannot control. I think the best place to look for this is to look at Christ’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV) | Do Not Be Anxious

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

There is also a darker sense of “taking life out of the hands…” in which we lose sight of the Gospel completely and start relying on our own actions/efforts/striving for our salvation. Remember, we aren’t talking about unbelievers, we’re essentially talking about backsliders. Not the rebel ones who fall into hedonism, but the backsliders who’ve fallen into the pit of pietism and works-righteousness, like those foolish Galatians who had fallen into the false teaching of the Judaizing heresy.

Galatians 5:1-12 (ESV) | Christ Has Set Us Free

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

So, we see that in light of these passages there is a good point to be made by the chorus of this song. The answer needs to be to turn our attention away from whatever has distracted us from the Truth of the Gospel and back to the Written Word of God. I have a concern with all of the mysticism infecting CCM that many will choose to “look within” and try to feel God more or hear Him more directly in a sort of “Jesus take the wheel” sort of stunt. That’s not what Scriptures teach, so please, don’t go there.

Verse 1. The answer to each of the errors being confessed in the first verse is to look for God in His Word. That is where God has revealed Himself to mankind. There is nowhere else one can look that isn’t committing the exact same errors being confessed in this verse.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Verse 2. This one is getting a little heavy on the poetically vague side. The main problem with this is the lack of clarity. What exactly is the error being poetically described by us “taking the lead… running ahead”? I’m sure we could come up with interpretations that are theologically sound and others that are dripping in sensual mysticism. It’s not objectively right or wrong, it’s just vague.

Bridge. The song seems to be building up to a climax focusing on the emotional rather than the objective and doctrinal. Yes, there is a sense where can discuss the objective truths of Scripture pointing to God the Holy Spirit sealing us, drawing us to Christ, and securing the salvation won by Christ for us on the Cross. But we must at least caution the overly emotional/sensual concept of “Presence” theology, a New Age concept of somehow finding God with our senses and our emotional experiences. That’s a dangerous road to follow. Don’t do it. I’m not saying she’s doing this intentionally with this song, but the industry is drowning in mysticism posing as Christianity so this is a very real pitfall building in this song.

Conclusion

The build up of the song comes to an emotional close, rather than to a doctrinal one. This is where the repetitions become more meditative and take on a slightly mystically vague form. It’s as though the point of the song is to build up a sense of open surrender, like a “Jesus take the wheel” experience. When it comes to the Law / Gospel distinction, this song is all Law. There is no Gospel in the song. While it is safe to assume the intended audience for the song is believing Christians, the overall focus of the song is the error of being our own gods rather than trusting Christ in our everyday matters. For decision-theology folks, this is dangerous particularly given their synergism. If my decision to follow Christ is necessary for salvation, then my decision to keep Him in the driver’s seat is necessary for me to remain saved. Such a trap of despair with no hope of assurance, for these same folks leave the Gospel behind as something they needed to become “born again” but not something that can help them “today”. The only answer for the conviction of the Law isn’t “try harder, decide better, want better”, the answer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Repentance and the Forgiveness of sin. Yes, for you, too, born-again believer in Christ… you who sin are in need of forgiveness. Repent, and know that you are forgiven in Jesus’ Name.

Romans 3:20-26 (ESV) For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The redemption that is in Christ Jesus isn’t something you dip into one-time and hope you can hold onto it by your own strength. This Blood is FOR YOU, for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus paid the price of sin IN FULL. In this life you will have many struggles, and most of them are of your own sinful doing. Repent. Be forgiven, in Jesus’ Name.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

Friday Sermon | “To Fulfill All Righteousness” by Rev Flamme

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frisermonToday’s sermon comes to us from Rev Brian Flamme of Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, CO. The Gospel text from this past Sunday (08 JAN 2017) is Matt. 3:13-17.

Rev Brian Flamme on twitter: @brianflamme

Gospel Text

Matthew 3:13-17 (ESV) | The Baptism of Jesus

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Sermon

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

True Worship: Faith Wrestling with Despair by Rev Flamme

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It has been quite a while since we’ve posted things other than Discernment in Music (DiM). I’m working on some plans for creating more music-related content throughout the week to support the DiM work and hopefully to provide our readers some variety in materials within the scope of music and theology. Normally when we do a Friday Sermon post it’s an audio/video of a good sermon. Today we’ll have an article by Rev. A. Brian Flamme, and a recent sermon he preached at Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, CO. Since the two are not on the same topic, the sermon will be posted separately.

True Worship: Faith Wrestling with Despair by Rev. A. Brian Flamme

Posted December 15, 2015
by Rev. A. Brian Flamme

The world obsesses over worship. Workaholics pour their waking moments into obtaining the all-important nest egg. Intellectuals strive after ideologies that master the transcendent mysteries of the universe. Muslims are taught by their Koran to compel obedience to their god through intimidation and murder.[i] These are only some of the ways that world’s worship bows down and renders service to what’s perceived as worthy.

The world’s worship ranges from venial to noble. It can be found it in the mountain monasteries of the Buddhist monks and the American football stadium on Sunday afternoon. Obsessions of the world are all too often nothing more than counterfeit worship. The devil and his demons are intent on making sure that every ounce of your attention is consumed.[ii] They’ll give you anything but the true God to fear, love, and trust.

What about the Christians? Don’t they worship the real God? Even the trappings of Christian worship can deteriorate into pagan sacrifice. How? By thinking the offerings of time, attention, money, and works demanded by the demons are also what God desires. This captivity to works has also borne the name “Christian worship.” This was the state of Christendom at the time of the Lutheran Reformation. Men, women, and children were coerced to pay priests to render the sacrifices of the mass so they could be saved from an angry and vengeful God. They agonized over the obedience and works of righteousness demanded by the papacy, even to the point of despair.

What was neglected was the one thing needful: a Savior who paid the price for sin. Thanks be to God that he will not suffer his Word to be silent. For the sake of mercy, not sacrifice, he sent faithful pastors like Luther, who held forth the incarnate Son of God promised by the Prophets, Apostles, and Evangelists. The proclamation of Jesus’ Word is the center and foundation of authentic Christian worship.

It’s been remarked that Luther and the Lutheran Reformation didn’t have an explicit or sophisticated theology of worship.[iii] This seems to be fair, as Luther never goes out of his way to articulate an  liturgical philosophy to govern the rites and rituals of the church. Nor does he spend protracted time researching and pouring over the words “worship” and “liturgy” to establish an independent theological concept. Instead, Luther rejoiced in preaching repentance and faith, Law and Gospel, and expounding upon Christ’s institutions of Baptism and the Supper. You can find all this summed up in his Small and Large Catechisms.[iv]

You might think this fixation on preaching Jesus might lead to a neglect of the liturgy. Maybe people would talk about theology, but never actually make it to church. Does neglect of “liturgical theology” lead to a neglect of the liturgy? Not for the reformers. As the princes at Augsburg confessed, “Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass. In fact, the Mass is retained among us and is celebrated with the greatest reverence.”[v] But this wasn’t a “mass” held captive to the doctrines of men which denied the blood of Jesus to the people. Nor did it imagine that meriting God’s favor without faith could be accomplished through the magical performance of churchly rites.

Luther explains, “We therefore first assert: It is not now nor ever has been our intention to abolish the liturgical service of God completely, but rather to purify the one that is now in use from the wretched accretions which corrupt it and to point out an evangelical use. We cannot deny that the mass, i.e., the communion of bread and wine, is a rite divinely instituted by Christ himself and that it was observed first by Christ and then by the apostles, quite simply and evangelically without any additions.”[vi] You can see Luther’s desire to resist anything that conflicted with Christ’s institutions in the Scriptures. Luther was confident that as long as the Scriptures and their doctrine was preached and believed, Christian worship would necessarily happen. He writes, “And this is the sum of the matter: Let everything be done so that the Word may have free course instead of the prattling and rattling that has been the rule up to now. We can spare everything except the Word.”[vii]

Jesus established an office in the world for forgiving sins (John 20:21–23). He established his Baptism and Supper to be received in the lives of real people (Mark 16:16; Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) and not merely to be objects of contemplation. Luther writes, “Places, times, persons, and the entire outward order of worship have therefore been instituted and appointed in order that God’s Word may exert its power publicly.”[viii] What does it look like when God’s Word exerts its power publicly? Babies are baptized. Sins are forgiven. The Scriptures are preached and prayers and hymns spring off Christian lips. It looks like the Divine Service you attend every Sunday!

True Christian worship is under attack. “For where God’s Word is preached, accepted, or believed, and bears fruit, there the holy and precious cross will also not be far behind.”[ix] Sufferings in this life must come. The demons rage when their counterfeit worship is displaced by godly preaching. The world loves placating their false gods too much to tolerate the call to repentance. Concerning these enemies of Christ, Philip Melanchthon writes, “Nowhere do they teach that sins are pardoned freely for Christ’s sake and that by this faith we may obtain the remission of sins. Thus they obscure the glory of Christ, rob consciences of sure consolation, and destroy true worship, that is, the exercise of faith wrestling with despair.”[x]

Faith wrestling with despair is Christian worship. Faith wrestling against despair runs to Jesus in the face of sin and death. The Scriptures are full of examples. It was faith wrestling against despair that led Mary to ignore the chores of the day so she could sit at her Lord’s feet to be comforted with his preaching (Luke 10:38-42). It was faith wrestling against despair that pushed Jairus to rush from his dying daughter’s side to beg Jesus to restore her life (Mark 5:21-43). It was faith wrestling with despair that caused the criminal crucified next to Jesus to ask that he be remembered when his Lord entered into his kingdom (Luke 23:39-43). This is Christian worship. Because it rests in Jesus and his Word, it will never be put to shame.

The Rev. A. Brian Flamme is a pastor at Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO.

[i] Koran 9:5. Besides the Koran itself demanding the repentance of unbelievers through violence, Martin Luther identifies the connection between Islam and murder in 1529. In On War Against the Turk, Luther saw that proselytization into the Muslim faith often came at the edge of the sword. He writes, “Thus when the spirit of lies had taken possession of Mohammed, and the devil had murdered men’s souls with his Koran and had destroyed the faith of Christians, he had to go on and take the sword and set about to murder their bodies. The Turkish faith, then, has not made its progress by perching and the working of miracles, but by the sword and by murder…” (LW 46:179). Though there are certainly “moderate Muslims” who resist violence against unbelievers, they are inconsistent with critical elements of Mohamed’s own history of pushing his novel faith on others through bloodshed on the Arab Peninsula not to mention the clear precepts of the Koran. I believe that Luther’s assessment of Islam’s murderous pretentions remains accurate and instructive for Christians today.

[ii] In Luther’s explanation of the Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Luther identifies the work of the devil as fighting against God’s will: That his kingdom would come into our lives through the preaching of his Word. See also 1 Timothy 4:1

[iii] Walter E. Bruzen, “Forward,” in Worship in the Name of Jesus, by Peter Brunner, trans. M.H. Bertram (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968), 7–8.

[iv] The best places in the Catechisms to learn about Lutheran worship would be the first three Commandments, the Third article of the Creed, the first three Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, and, of course, the sections on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. There you’ll find everything that you need to know about what worship was all about for the reformers. Thanks be to God that it continues to be our confession today!

[v] AC XXIV, 1 (Kolb-Wengert, 69).

[vi] An Order of Mass and Communion, LW 53:20

[vii] Concerning the Order of Public Worship, LW 53:14

[viii] LC I, 94 (Kolb-Wengert, 399).

[ix] LC III, 65 (Kolb-Wengert, 448-449)

[x] Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, 44 (Kolb-Wengert, 338).

DiM | 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

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Presentation1CCM/COWO Edition.

January 10, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman which currently sits at #2 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

The new year brings with it a full reset of the top 20 chart. Most of the songs currently on the chart are technically evangelical worship songs or contemporary worship (COWO) songs.

Today’s song was my favorite song from my old life of evangelicalism and NAR deception. I still catch myself humming this tune from time to time, and honestly I’ve been hoping this song wouldn’t pop up on the top 20 so I wouldn’t have to review it in light of Scripture. However, as it is now on the top 20 chart–review it, we shall! The song doesn’t stand on its own, but it can be good with a little bit biblical instruction. Let’s give the song a listen and then read through the lyric.

MattRedmanVEVO

Lyrics (via K-Love)

(Chorus)
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Chorus

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Chorus

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

(Chorus x2)

Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
Lord, I’ll worship Your holy name

Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name

Discussion

The point of the song is to remind/encourage the listener to “bless the LORD, oh my soul”. This phrase needs some explanation to keep the listener clear of mysticism. For starters, let’s talk briefly about what it means to refer to one’s soul.

Oh my soul. To put it simply, your soul is your core being. For centuries theologians have debated whether we are made of 3 parts (mind, body/heart, soul) or 2 parts (body, soul/spirit) but however you decide to slice this, know that when Scripture speaks of the soul it is in reference to the core of a person. When Isaac was nearing death, he sent Esau out to prepare him his final meal so that his soul might bless Esau before he dies (Genesis 27:1-4 ESV). Such wording is to signify to Esau the seriousness of the matter. The opposite notion might be to give a blessing of lip-service only, or flattery. But no, Isaac was going to offer his best blessing to Esau. So when Esau learned that the blessing had been given to Jacob, we see Isaac’s response:

Genesis 27:33-38 (ESV) Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

So this is the seriousness with which we see the reference to blessing from our souls in Scripture. Of ourselves, we have very little blessing to bestow upon others… what we have we have received from the LORD. Isaac’s blessing is the Promise of God to his father, Abraham, that promise being the Messiah, the Christ, the Gospel of Salvation. Now, let’s talk about what the phrase “bless the LORD” indicates in Scripture.

Bless the LORD. Most often when we see this phrase throughout the old testament it is within the context of offering to the LORD praise and thanksgiving for what He has done. There is also a meaning of bending the knee to God in worship (בָּרַךְ Strongs H1288). Under the Mosaic covenant, there were offerings and sacrifices to be brought to the Temple in keeping with the Law. Such things might be done in an empty manner, but Blessing the LORD from the soul reflects the Greatest Commandment:

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

In the New Covenant of Christ’s Blood, we have nothing to offer Him but thanksgiving and praise for what Christ has done for us. We bring nothing to our Salvation but the sin that made Salvation necessary. So, while the phrase “bless the LORD” appears in the Old Testament, we need to approach it through the lens of the New Testament, Christ revealed. A good place to look is in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 12:18-29 (ESV) A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

So, the refrain or chorus of this song is a call for Christians to bless (worship/praise/give thanks to) the LORD in earnest, in truth, and from their whole being. That is a Biblically sound call to Worship the LORD God in Spirit and in Truth.

John 4:22-24 (ESV) You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Such worship is only possible by Faith. The unbelievers cannot worship the LORD God in Spirit or in Truth. They are dead in sins and trespasses. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Possible pitfalls

The refrain “Bless the LORD oh my soul” is a call to worship God, but is in itself not much of a statement of praise or thanksgiving to the LORD. For those who are young in the faith, it is perfectly acceptable to start here, in the same way that “Lord, have mercy on me” is a perfectly valid and earnest prayer for help in times of need. But singing the one line over and over again falls short of actually doing what the song is calling the listener to do. The verses start to get going in the right direction of praising/thanking the LORD God for what He has done. Sadly, these verses are short and half of the verse ends up turning back onto what the singer is going to do for God (keep singing). The temptation to view worship as a down-payment on a future blessing rather than thanksgiving for what God has already done is a pitfall common to COWO. It is so pervasive in COWO that it needs to be directly addressed and guarded against overtly. We DO NOT worship God to invite Him to do something in our midst. That is how the pagans worship their idols.

The notion of blessing the LORD from the soul can get extremely fouled up in evangelical circles. Often times the emphasis on the concept of worshiping the LORD from the soul ends up being placed on the emotions, as if your emotions are the anchor point of your soul. Our emotions are part of us, but they are deeply rooted in our flesh, and as such are corrupted by our sinful flesh and serve as a pitiful litmus for faith, worship, and praise. Our emotions are easily manipulated and shaped by purely physical/fleshly means and methods (music, lighting, vocals, etc). In the charismatic camp, this notion is taken further into gnostic mysticism by teaching that worshiping in spirit and in truth necessitates disconnecting or quieting the mind and releasing self-control of the body to the moving of a spirit. That’s where you get the glossolalia (ecstatic gibberish), kundalini style herky-jerky and folks laughing/wailing uncontrollably or being “slain in the spirit” and other such ridiculous nonsense that is allowed and even encouraged in the name of “praise and worship service”. This song calls the congregation to worship but doesn’t actually lead in that worship… so you might hear this song being performed during a COWO service of an otherwise Orthodox church (please stop doing this, folks) and mean one thing while at the local big-box-evangelical-nondenom-charismatic it’s being played specifically to elicit a mystical experience.

Conclusion

As a call to worship the LORD God, the song does its job. Whether or not the song is good depends fully upon the doctrine and practice of worship being applied by the listener. I’d like to see/hear a worship leader write more theologically rich verses to accompany the song’s refrain. The lyric of our hymns and songs selected for corporate worship should inform and instruct in the faith, not merely tickle the emotions. If your church has a COWO service (a topic for another time, perhaps) this song could be used appropriately, provided the congregation has a solid grasp of acceptable Worship in light of the Gospel. If you are said worship leader, I encourage you to engage in writing stronger verses that focus more on thanksgiving and praise to the LORD rather than a string of promises of what we’ll do for Him.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Through Your Eyes” by Britt Nicole

Faithful Stewardship 5 Comments

disapproveCCM Edition.

December 06, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Through Your Eyes” by Britt Nicole which currently sits at #20 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

Today’s song is completely lacking in substance. The song doesn’t make any attempt to share objective truth. This song is meant to convey a purely subjective, emotional experienced, direct-revelation supposedly from God the Holy Spirit. While I was tempted to simply dismiss this song as purely subjective fluff completely open to interpretation, there are a couple of statements that are false, so it earns a Disapprove rating here.

Music Video

There is another video with a short intro supposedly sharing the heart of the song.

Lyrics (via K-Love)

Verse 1
Get it together
That’s what I say to me
I put on the pressure
You could do better
Be who you’re supposed to be

But that’s when You came in
Right when I needed You
You said all of the things that I was believing
Not one of them were true

Pre-Chorus
You lifted my head up
I was keeping my head down
I didn’t know love
But I do now

Chorus
You stood right there and then You broke apart the lies
And You told me
I had something beautiful inside
You brought to life the part of me I thought had died
‘Cause You stood right there until I saw me through Your eyes

Verse 2
So this is living
So this is free
Not keeping score
Not anymore
Not since You rescued me

Bridge
You love me even when I fall apart
I can’t explain it, that’s just who You are
Don’t want perfection, You just want my heart

Discussion

Verse 1. The setup of the song is negative “self-talk”. While we could speculate Word of Faith (WoF) working in the background (Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Joel Osteen) at this point of the song what we have is more emotional than doctrinal. Some people are very hard on themselves. They hold themselves to tough standards. Sometimes out of pride, or out of despair. This first verse doesn’t give us any details, it’s just setting up the emotion of being disappointed in yourself. The song has not presented a context for this emotion. We don’t know if she is truly failing or if it’s just an emotional sensation of failure. We don’t know if her standard is Biblical, professional, ethical, moral… nothing.

Then we get the second part of the first verse, and we have someone enter in at just the right time. The vagueness of the lyric lends itself to being simply a boyfriend song, but if we’re going to give it a Christian context, then we need to treat the “You” as God. That actually makes this stanza worse, not better. The enemy here isn’t being presented as unbelief, just the singer being unfair to herself. An omnipresent God of the Bible just enters the singer’s life right when she needed Him. Interesting. If you listened to the singer’s intro to the second music video, we get the indication that this is some emotionally experienced direct revelation she got while she was already a believer. So, it’s not clear if she’s connecting this to salvation or just some sort of epiphany of life-change. Whatever this moment is supposed to be, what is sorely missing is objective faith. It’s not that she was reading God’s Word or listening to God’s Word being preached, she was just emotionally down and being hard on herself and apparently God shows up out of nowhere and tells her everything she believed was false. Such a statement cannot make sense intellectually… but for some reason we’ll eat this stuff up emotionally. Why? Well, we all want to hear how great we are despite how we view ourselves. It’s the original sin, the desire to be great. Adam and Eve were perfect, only denied the fruit of one tree in the Garden… and Satan tempted them to become like God. Incidentally, the song has made 2 statements that are not objectively false: “You can do better” and “be who you’re supposed to be”. The song isn’t looking to deal with any objective truths; rather, it is simply trying to convey something purely emotional. Maybe there were some false beliefs rolling around in her head that were indeed not true, but we aren’t given any insight into these. If she was already a believer at this point, then we know that some of her beliefs had to be Truth, so at best this is emotional hyperbole.

Pre-Chorus. We still have the singer as her own enemy. You lifted my head up I was keeping my head down. At this point in the song we’ve still not had anything specific enough in the lyric to discount it as a romantic boyfriend song. I didn’t know love but I do now. Well, that didn’t help bring any clarity on that point. If this is a spiritual song, then we’re still left wondering if she’s talking about saving faith, or if she’s really just singing about an emotional epiphany. Love is not an emotion, folks. While we do often associate a sense of euphoria with love, love is more than that. A love that is defined by the euphoria is empty and fleeting. Let’s take a break from this song for a moment and read how John taught concerning love.

1 John 4:7-16 (ESV)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

John didn’t draw upon emotion to define Love, he drew upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins.

Chorus. So we have someone standing right there and breaking apart all the lies. What lies? We don’t know. But apparently the core message here is I had something beautiful inside. Are we sure this isn’t just a romantic boyfriend song? This is the message God is supposedly bringing to the singer, and the listener, that we have something beautiful inside? If we are trying to rescue this lyric, we might be inclined to hope that this line is a reference to God the Holy Spirit dwelling within us as a free gift of Faith in Christ Jesus. This line rolls right into the next line of You brought to life the part of me I thought had died. What is she talking about? Christ didn’t die on the cross to revive some dream destiny thingy inside of you… He died to save you from your sin. You weren’t just partly dead, you were all dead.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

But it’s the last line of the chorus that really has me annoyed, ‘Cause You stood right there until I saw me through Your eyes. Dear Christian, the point and focus of the Scriptures, and of the Gospel, is Christ, NOT US. Our mirror in the scriptures is the Law, which exposes us of our sinfulness, our unrighteousness, our death. Christ came to bear the Wrath of God in our place, bearing our sin and unrighteousness upon His shoulders, and bestowing upon us His righteousness, by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, to the Glory of God alone. I would rather this song had been written about some human love interest. At least then its vagaries and emotional hyperbole and ultimate selfishness could be dismissed as puppy love.

Verse 2. Still no substance here, only a reflection on how life feels now after some undisclosed lies were destroyed, some undisclosed beliefs were proven false, and someone stood before her until she could finally see herself through someone else’s eyes. The song will loop back through the pre-chorus and then the chorus. No clarity of thought to be had.

Bridge. Ugh. You love me even when I fall apart. Well, yeah, otherwise it isn’t love. Definitely not Biblical love, nor God’s love. God loved you when you were dead in sins and trespasses. Dead. How could “falling apart” possibly compare to your condition when Christ bore the price of sin on the cross?
I can’t explain it, that’s just who You are. If you took the time to search the Scriptures you could at least preach who God has revealed Himself to be to the Apostles and prophets.
Don’t want perfection, You just want my heart. Not entirely true. The Holiness of God demands perfection. That is why the wages of sin is death. The whole “you just want my heart” trope sounds quaint and simple, but it is the Law of God, and we fall short of this, too.

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

You don’t love the LORD with all your heart. I don’t. We fail this Law. We sin in this regard. We need forgiveness… we need a Savior, we need Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all of the Law and the Prophets, and then took our place on the Cross, so that we might be granted His righteousness and join in His resurrection.

Conclusion

For the most part, this song is just empty, emotional fluff. There’s nothing being taught Biblically, not even remotely. We aren’t being told what is wrong, or what lies are being exposed, and what little truth claims are being made in the song, they are objectively false. This song earns a spot on the Disapproved list.

Jude 24-25 (ESV)

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge