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DiM | “At the Cross (Love Ran Red)” by Chris Tomlin

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Presentation1Today we’re doing another “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).

July 30, 2015. Today we’ll be taking a look at “At the Cross (Love Ran Red)” by Chris Tomlin which currently sits at #6 on KLove Top 10 Christian Songs.

When Chris Tomlin writes, he’s usually writing with corporate worship in mind. He’s a prolific writer of songs that are extremely popular in modern contemporary praise and worship sets in churches around the globe. Most of his songs convey a romanticized version of the Gospel, and this song is no different. However, this song does have some strong points. It is a song that can be deeply encouraging for Christians, provided their doctrine is sound. Unfortunately, the language in the song is wide open for some dubious interpretations, so this song does not truly stand on its own. If it were played in your church, I would want the music leader to explicitly articulate Law & Gospel, Sin & Grace, Repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It would be awesome if the Radio DJs would do the same whenever this song was played. But, I digress… let’s take a look at today’s song.

VEVO Music Video

Lyrcs (via KLove)

At The Cross (Love Ran Red)

There’s a place where mercy reigns and never dies
There’s a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide

Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You
Jesus

There’s a place where sin and shame are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God
And forgiveness

Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You

Here my hope is found
Here on holy ground
Here I bow down
Here I bow down
Here arms open wide
Here You saved my life
Here I bow down
Here I bow

At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You
I owe all to You, I owe all to You
Jesus

Publishing: © 2014 Shout! Music Publishing (APRA) (admin. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Thankyou Music (PRS) (admin. worldwide at CapitolCMGPublishing.com excluding Europe which is admin. by Integritymusic.com) / Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Songs / sixsteps Songs / Worship Together Music / S.D.G. Publishing / McKittrick Music (BMI) / sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs / Said And Done Music (ASCAP) / Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Tunes / Countless Wonder Publishing / Fots Music (SESAC) (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com)
Writer(s): Matt Armstrong, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin

Discussion

Verse 1. Right at the start of the song, there’s a hiccup. Not so much an error, but definitely a hiccup. There’s a place… the truth is that there is only one place where God’s mercy doesn’t reign, the place He created for eternal punishment for sin (Revelation 20). Why do I mention this? Yes, the Crucifixion took place in time and space. It actually happened. I don’t want to take anything away from that. But God’s mercy and grace isn’t limited to that time and space. That’s the hiccup… we don’t have to go to a specific place to kneel at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Chris Tomlin’s music usually caters to “altar call” type worship… where congregants are so moved by the spirit that they are compelled to come to the altar (foot of the stage) to fall on their faces as though they were physically at the foot of Jesus. We’ll see this play out in the bridge of the song where the declaration is Here on holy ground… I bow down… arms open wide... We’ll discuss the bridge later.

Pre-chorus. All the love I’ve ever found? Monergists will likely see where I’m going with this, whereas seeker-sensitive folks will probably consider this a bit of hair-splitting.

Romans 3:9-18 (ESV) | No One Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
     they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 10:20 (ESV)

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
 I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

No one seeks after God. Everyone has turned aside. So the idea that “we’ve found” God is only Biblically sound in the sense of what Isaiah was saying, which is really that God has revealed Himself to a people who did not seek Him and did not ask for Him. That is why many of us who practice discernment use seeker-sensitive in the pejorative sense. For some people, it’s a simple matter of unclear speech, they use phrases like “people looking for God” to indicate the drawing of the Holy Spirit who is working on the heart of an unbeliever who has at some point heard the Preaching of His Word (radio, street minister, counselor, coworker, stranger etc).

Chorus. In keeping with the desire to be as clear as possible in our language, we bring nothing to the Cross but sin. Our lives are not our own. We are either slaves to sin and darkness, or we are slaves of righteousness in Jesus’ Name.  As Christians, walking this Earth as sojourners/foreigners in exile… we each have a war raging within us between the flesh and the Spirit of God who indwells us. By faith we are to mortify the flesh daily, repent of our sin, and be forgiven. It is here that the song becomes romanticized. It is a wonderful thing to be in awe of God, it is where we need to be. But like zeal, it’s not something you can just stir up directly. The music and the lights can undoubtedly stir the emotions, but awe and zeal come from knowing more and more of who God is… by spending time in His Word. Presence theology really hijacks Christians by suggesting that “experiencing God” through emotional manipulation is the key. No. Going through the motions of “coming down to the front and surrendering to Jesus” may get the emotions going, the adrenaline and the tears, but its all superficial if we are not growing int he knowledge of Christ.

The line where your love ran red, is a very clean way of referring to the crucifixion of Jesus. Just remember that it wasn’t simply a blood-letting, He was punished for our sin:

Isaiah 53:4-6 (ESV)

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

If this Tomlin song is the only romanticized song in the set, I wouldn’t be as concerned, but if the whole set is cleaned up and romanticized, I worry that we lose site of the cost of our sin. Furthermore, there is little cause for us to truly be in awe of His sacrifice if we are constantly sugar-coating what He has done for us, by His Grace and His Grace alone.

A minor point I’d like to bring up on the notion of owing all to Him, I worry about it taking on an “I’ll pay you back someday” rather than “I am yours”. This concern ties into the whole “there’s a place” in that if we make the foot of the stage the place where we surrender, and we view our condition as something we owe to God, then Sunday morning can easily become something apart from our Monday through Saturday living. This is a problem in popular evangelicalism and cannot be blamed on this song, but the wording is open to this sort of problem, which is why I felt it needed mention.

Verse 2. Aside from the whole “there’s a place” issue, this verse can be a helpful reminder that for those who are bearing the fruit of repentance, sin and shame are powerless because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Bridge. I’ve already addressed this to some degree. This Bridge is what I’d call the “experience hook”… this is the climax of the song for a seeker-sensitive worship song… right here, right now, in this sanctuary, you are on holy ground so let the presence of God the Holy Spirit wash over you. The music, the lights, the exhortations from the music leader… all build to this moment where hopefully “you can feel the presence of god in a real way”. This is all finely crafted emotional manipulation. Please understand that I’m not saying God the Holy Spirit cannot make Himself known to you… I often weep when reading the Bible. What I’m saying is that these “experiences” are masterfully orchestrated to move the unbeliever into an emotional state, and it works. Many an unbeliever is moved to tears, even joining the church, because their emotions have told them they are accepted in their unbelief. This is the error of the whole “churching the unchurched” thing.

Now, for the believer with sound doctrine, the “here” isn’t a place, but a moment in time of repentance. Wherever you find yourself being convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit… that’s your “here” where you should humble yourself in prayer, confess your sin, and be forgiven in Jesus’ Name.

Conclusion

If it were played in your church, I would want the music leader to explicitly articulate Law & Gospel, Sin & Grace, Repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It would be awesome if the Radio DJs would do the same whenever this song was played. This song can be an encouragement to those with sound doctrine. Sadly, this song will be most prominently played in seeker-sensitive, presence-theology driven churches, where sound doctrine is rarely preached.

Romans 15:1-13 (ESV) | The Example of Christ

15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Exhale” by Plumb

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Today is “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).

July 28, 2015. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Exhale” by Plumb which currently sits at #13 at 20theCountdownMagazine.

We’ll continue using this top 20 song list until I find a better list. Your feedback in this would be greatly appreciated.

I confess: I have a soft-spot for electronica/techno. As such, I generally enjoy Plumb’s music as it is often very easy to remix into multi-various grooves and progressions. However, that’s not why we are discussing these songs here. The first time I heard this song on the radio was in my car, and I came in at the Bridge. I had really hoped the rest of the song better explained what it was to “breathe in [God’s] Grace and exhale“. Let’s take a look at it.

Official Music Video

Lyrcs (via KLove)

Exhale

It’s okay
To not be okay
This is a safe place
This is a safe place
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be ashamed
There’s still hope here
There’s still hope here
No matter what you’ve done
Or who you are
Everyone is welcome
In His arms

[Chorus]
Just let go
Let His love wrap around you
And hold you close
Get lost in the surrender
Breathe it in, until your heart breaks
And exhale, exhale

[verse 2]
Spirit come
Tear down the walls
That only you can
That only you can
Reconcile, this heart to yours
Right now God, right now

[Bridge]
Oh God
We breathe in your grace
We breathe in your grace
And exhale
Oh God
We do not exist for us
But to share your grace and love
And exhale
(repeat)

Publishing: Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, Matt Armstrong, Josh Silverberg
PUBLISHER: © 2015 ShoeCrazy Publishing (adm. by Curb Congregation Songs) (SESAC)/ Meaux Hits, Red Red Soda Pop, Universal Music-Brentwood Benson Tunes, Countless Wonder Publishing, Fots Music All rights reserved. Used by permission. International Copyright Secured.
Writer(s): Tiffany Lee, Matt Armstrong, Josh Silverberg

Discussion

Okay, so let’s talk about some of the overtones in the lyrics of this song. What is the setting for this dialog? Is this intended to be a song sung by the Church to the unbeliever? If so, what is the message, that’s it’s okay to be an unbeliever in the House of God? The song is designed to progress from a call to come into the Church (verse 1 and chorus) to imploring the Holy Spirit to come and reconcile us to him (verse 2) and then experience His presence (chorus, bridge, chorus). It is designed to move the listener’s emotions through the mystical gauntlet so they can feel the presence of God. Sadly, this progression takes place without confession, repentance, nor the pronouncement of forgiveness. There is no Gospel preached here, yet the song progresses to breathing in God’s Grace and exhaling for those who are not okay.

Verse 1. What does it mean when you tell everyone, “it’s okay to not be okay”? Seriously, that statement doesn’t have any internal meaning… it is an oxymoron. Meaning has to be brought into the statement. Maybe the intent is to say to someone they don’t need to be perfect to come to Church. Maybe this is a vague attempt to invoke Jesus’ response to the Pharisees:

Matthew 9:9-13 (ESV) | Jesus Calls Matthew

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

If that was the intent, “it’s okay to not be okay” is a huge miss. Jesus wasn’t saying “it’s okay to be sick”… nor was He saying “it’s okay to be a sinner”… He said He came to call the sinners out of their sin, like a physician brings the person out of his sickness. Jesus preached repentance. It’s not okay, to not be okay… but by the Grace of God, Jesus laid down His life as a substitute, bearing the full brunt of God’s Wrath against sin on His body, so that we might be forgiven by grace, through faith, as a Gift from God. The hard truth of Law is that not everyone is welcome in His arms.

John 3:16-18 (ESV) | For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Even in this wonderful passage of God’s wonderful Grace, there is a separation, a dividing line of faith. When Christ returns, He will come to pronounce Judgment on the children of faith and of unbelief (Matthew 25:31-46).

Chorus. So what are we telling the people to let go of? Their sin? Their unbelief? Is it up the unbeliever to simply let go of their unbelief? Is that within their power to do? No. Now, to a certain extent, we can ask the unbeliever to listen to the Word of God being preached… but only the Holy Spirit can open his/her ears to the Truth of the word of Christ. We must preach, they must listen, God must do the work of regeneration.

Romans 10:5-21 (ESV) | The Message of Salvation to All

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
    with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Verse 2 (an oddly shortened verse). The verse comes in sideways and falls on its face, in my opinion. The tone is irreverent and screams Word of Faith and Presence theology (the Bethel variety). Is God the Holy Spirit one to respond to our commands to come in and tear down the walls that only he can? What walls might those be? Our unbelief? Only God can open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf… only God can raise the dead to life and grant Faith to the unbeliever. I’d like to think that is what is intended by these lines, but I don’t have any reasons to draw this understanding from the song. Reconcile this heart to yours… what does that mean? As if that weren’t brazen enough, Plumb then insists that God do this now… right now.

Okay, so let us extend grace here and expand on the idea of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (ESV) | The Ministry of Reconciliation

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It is my sincere prayer, than whenever this part of the song plays on the radio, that your mind will rest in these Words, not wandering in the emotionally mystical goo that the song seems to stir.

Bridge. This is the climax of the song. In seekerville churches, the goal of this part is to move folks to throw themselves at the altar (foot of the stage) and soak in the presence of the spirit. It’s emotionalism, manipulated by powerful music. But there is at least, one redeeming message, we do not exist for us, but to share your grace and love. A pity this wasn’t explored better in this song. Our calling to share the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Love of God the Father is not one than can be fulfilled by emotion alone. In fact, the calling is difficult to embrace emotionally, since our emotions are so fickle and fleshly. We were called to preach the Gospel, to preach the Word of Christ, and empowered by God the Holy Spirit to do so. The Holy Spirit isn’t an emotion, or an experience, but a Person of the Godhead.

Conclusion

The song is empty, vague, and emotional. If I could rewrite this song, I’d take the theme of breathing in God’s grace and tie it to listening to the Word of Christ, being filled with faith that only He can give and exhaling confession and repentance. Then in the second verse I’d connect breathing in God’s grace with receiving forgiveness by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, being filled by Promise with God the Holy Spirit, and exhaling the love for our neighbor because He first Loved us. Finally, breathing in God’s grace would return to breathing in God’s Word, growing in the knowledge of Christ and the exhale would be sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the earth, to all of creation. I pray that whenever you’re caught listening to this song as it plays on Christian radio, your mind might be filled with the Truth of God’s Word, whether it be what we’ve explored here or what you’ve read in your personal time. Please don’t marinade in mindless surrender to emotional manipulation… such mysticism has done great damage to the Body of Christ.

Romans 15:1-7 (ESV) | The Example of Christ

15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

Friday Sermon | The Office of Pastor by Chris Rosebrough

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RefMT15Today’s sermon is more of a lecture that comes from this year’s Reformation Montana Conference in Billings, MT. Chris Rosebrough, host of Fighting for the Faith, presents a lecture on the Office of the Pastor. If you are unfamiliar with Chris Rosebrough, I encourage you to read this older review of Chris found at the Pulpit and Pen Blog.

Does Christianity Need a Chris Rosebrough?

No. Christianity does not need Chris Rosebrough. God is self-sufficient, Gospel is complete, and Jesus needs nothing and no one. So, please forgive the question. Perhaps a better question would be, “Is there a need in the Christian church for Chris Rosebrough and the work of discernment ministries?”

Chris is best known for his program, Fighting for the Faith, on the radio network he created,Pirate Christian Radio. Chris also is the curator for the hilarious (and equally sad) Museum of Idolatry. On top of that, Chris was a speaker at the 2013 Reformation Montana Conference along with myself, James White and Phil Johnson. At RefMT2013, Chris conducted his first ‘live’ sermon review of a message ‘preached’ at Narrate Church in Helena – which if you’ve been reading the Pulpit and Pen for several years, you know I’ve addressed numerous times in the past, beginning with my assessment of their rather sacrilegious Christmas video from 2011 that they then edited, removed, re-posted unedited, and then edited again (and now it seems to have been removed from the internet altogether). You see, that’s what Chris does. He reviews sermons.

Chris begins his program each weekday by telling us his goal to “help people think biblically, think critically and help you compare what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.”…[Read More]

Lecture Audio

alternate link if audio won’t play: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=7115173521

Lecture Outline

Since the Church is an institution (not a movement) it has specific offices. So the question is are there folks calling themselves Pastors who are not qualified for the office of pastor?

  • Nadia Bolz-Weber. Is there any objective reason to believe she was called by God to be a pastor? She isn’t alone, there are many in the seeker-sensitive movement who have placed themselves forward as pastors, who aren’t called because they don’t meet the Biblical qualifications.
  • Articles IV and V of the Augsburg Confession (A Lutheran confession, Chris acknowledges that this isn’t a Baptist confession)
  • Ed Stetzer, Dodson, Rick Warren and Thom Rainer and the Church Growth Movement (the leader  or CEO-business model opposed to the Pastoral model)
  • Peter Drucker. He took 3 disciples, Rick Warren (Saddleback), Bill Hybels (Willow Creek), and Bob Buford (Leadership Network).
  • Plebiscite Model of church

There is a lot of historical information presented in this lecture. I suggest taking notes and/or pausing the audio and looking up what he is saying to see if it is true.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) | Doxology
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

DiM | “That Was Then, This is Now” by Josh Wilson

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ApprovedToday is “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).

July 09, 2015. Today we’ll be taking a look at “That was then, This is Now” by Josh Wilson which currently sits at #13 at 20theCountdownMagazine.

We’ll continue using this top 20 song list until I find a better list. Your feedback in this would be greatly appreciated.

I am so happy to review this song today. It has been a while since I could happily recommend a song. There are a couple of points of discussion, but overall this song stands head and shoulders above the rest of what is on the top20 chart. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for Josh Wilson’s work. I hope you find this song to be a blessing.

VEVO Music Video

Lyrcs (via KLove)

That Was Then, This Is Now

We used to hide from the light
We made friends with the night
We were headed the wrong way on a one way track
Going nowhere fast

We got used to the dark
We thought this is who we are
And we figured that we were just too far gone
But we were wrong

‘Cause love came running like a river
And we got washed in the water
Then He said you’re forgiven
Your sins are gone

That was then, this is now
You’re bought by the blood, saved by the Son the saints all sing about
That was lost, this is found
And it’s time to say goodbye to the old you now

So go ahead, put the past in the past
Box it up like an old photograph
You don’t have to go back
‘Cause that was then and this is now

We’ve been remade by grace
We’ve all got new names
And nothing we do could ever change
What He did that day

When love came running like a river
We got washed in the water
Then He said you’re forgiven
And you belong

That was then, this is now
You’re bought by the blood, saved by the Son the saints all sing about
That was lost, this is found
And it’s time to say goodbye to the old you now

So go ahead, put the past in the past
Box it up like an old photograph
You don’t have to go back
‘Cause that was then

If we turn and confess every unrighteousness
He is faithful and just to forgive
Oh, so turn and confess every wrong and regret
And see what it means to live

That was then, this is now
You’re bought by the blood, saved by the Son the saints all sing about
That was lost, this is found
And it’s time to say goodbye to the old you now

So go ahead, put the past in the past
Box it up like an old photograph
You don’t have to go back
‘Cause that was then and this is now
‘Cause that was then and this is now

Publishing: © 2015 Meaux Jeaux Music / Rock And A Harding Place / 9T One Songs / Ariose Music (ASCAP) (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com)
Writer(s): Josh Wilson and Ben Glover

Discussion

There are a couple of points I’d like to discuss in this song’s lyrics that bear mentioning. The first point is the wording of the second stanza of the first verse:

We got used to the dark
We thought this is who we are
And we figured that we were just too far gone
But we were wrong

Since the chorus of this song is clearly one of being born-again / regenerate / saved, this verse is depicting our state before we’ve been granted redeeming faith. Before our ears are opened up to the Truth of God’s Word. We didn’t get used to the dark, we were born in it. We didn’t just think that was who we were, we were dead in our sins and trespasses. Let’s look at what Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) | By Grace Through Faith
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 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— 3 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. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Now, once we heard the Law of God faithfully preached, and the Holy Spirit opened our eyes and ears to the Truth of God’s Word, that we were sinners, condemned to death by a righteous, just, and Holy God… we might well have figured that we were too far gone. That is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Once the Law crucified our flesh (for the letter of the Law kills) compelling us to repent of our unrighteousness, our ears and eyes were opened (by the Holy Spirit) to the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who lived the perfect life, died in our place on that cross bearing the full wrath of sin upon Himself so that in Him we might be clothed in His righteousness by faith in the substitutionary atonement. We, having been regenerated by the working of the Holy Spirit, were granted faith so that by faith we might be born again in Christ Jesus, adopted as sons and daughters into the Kingdom of Heaven.

What makes this song so wonderful, is its inclusion of repentance.

If we turn and confess every unrighteousness
He is faithful and just to forgive
Oh, so turn and confess every wrong and regret
And see what it means to live

Praise the Lord! He is faithful and just to forgive those who repent and confess of sin. This is so refreshing, and what an important, life-giving, reminder of God’s faithfulness. This is something that should find its way into every song, hymn, and spiritual song we sing to one another for encouragement. There is forgiveness at the foot of the cross, for our sin, our daily sin, until at last when we are finally rid of this fleshly body in the Resurrection.

Whew… okay, now this next point is small by comparison, but please bear with me. Dear Christian… don’t make a keepsake of your sinful past. Don’t Box it up like an old photograph. Get rid of it. The focus shouldn’t be on the sin; rather, on the Grace of God who has forgiven you by faith in Jesus Christ. It is a small point, but our sinful, deceitful hearts find ways of reveling in the sinful desires of the past, or offering up to the enemy ammunition to heap on condemnation over your head. Confess, repent, and be forgiven in Jesus’ Name.

Conclusion

This song is a breath of fresh air. I hope to hear it more often on the radio. I hope you find it equally encouraging.

Romans 8:33-39 (ESV)
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Touch The Sky” by Hillsong United

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

Today is “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).

July 07, 2015. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Touch the Sky” by Hillsong United which currently sits at #16 at 20theCountdownMagazine.

I’d like to begin by openly admitting that I have a negative bias against all things Hillsong, due to their false teaching, bible twisting, and repeated failure to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully. I will do my best to give this song a fair evaluation, but I wanted to clearly acknowledge my bias up front. Having said that, this song has some powerful production power, wonderfully mastered and hypnotic vocal dynamics. Lyrically… the song is self-indulgent, mystically emotional, nonsense. I look forward to the day when Hillsong United puts out a theologically sound piece of music that makes it onto the top20 charts. Not so much for their sake, but for the sake of the millions who blindly follow them.

Lyric Video

Lyrics (via KLove)

Touch The Sky

What fortune lies beyond the stars
Those dazzling heights too vast to climb
I got so high to fall so far
But I found heaven as love swept low

My heart beating
My soul breathing
I found my life
When I laid it down
Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky
When my knees hit the ground

What treasure waits within Your scars
The gift of freedom gold can’t buy
I bought the world and sold my heart
You traded heaven to have me again

My heart beating
My soul breathing
I found my life
When I laid it down
Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky
When my knees hit the ground

Find me here at your feet again
Everything I am
Reaching out
I surrender come sweep me up in
Your love again and my soul will dance on the
Wings of Forever

Find me here at your feet again
Everything I am
Reaching out
I surrender come sweep me up in
Your love again and my soul will dance on the
Wings of Forever

My heart beating
My soul breathing
I found my life
When I laid it down
Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky
When my knees hit the ground

My heart beating
My soul breathing
I found my life
When I laid it down
Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky
When my knees hit the ground

Find me here at your feet again
Everything I am
Reaching out
I surrender come sweep me up in
Your love again and my soul will dance on the
Wings of Forever

Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky
When my knees hit the ground

Publishing: © 2014 Hillsong Music Publishing (APRA)
Writer(s): Joel Houston, Dylan Thomas & Michael Guy Chislett

Discussion

As I said in the introduction, these lyrics are self-indulgent. The focus of these lyrics are not on God they are on the singer. Not focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ but on the piety/discoveries of the singer. As with most Hillsong material, there are allusions to or themes from scripture. No doubt the creative writing process might have even begun with some of these passages (most likely taken from the Message parody). Let’s look at a couple that I could recognize while reading through the lyrics.

“I found my life when I laid it down”

Mark 8:34-36 (ESV)

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

So, once we look at the reference we see a glaring difference between what is being sung and what we find in Scripture. This statement is recorded in each of the Gospels, and in each Jesus is talking about losing your life for His sake. Hillsong United has turned this idea into a mystical discipline not unlike “emptying oneself” as we see in the eastern religions.

“Find me here at your feet again”

Luke 10:38-42 (ESV) | Martha and Mary

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary chose to sit and listen to Jesus’ teaching, and it was the good portion that will not be taken away from her. This passage is sometimes misrepresented as an appeal for Christians that vocation, hard work, and discipline are distractions from so-called spiritual living. In contemporary services, often times allegory invoked places “praise and worship” as the good portion and the faithful, exegetical teaching of the scriptures as the “anxious and troubled about many things”. You’ll see this whenever a church leader describes his service as “relevant”, “relatable”, “young”, or “young” (The Man Behind Hillsong: Brian Houston).

John 12:1-3 (ESV) | Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

For this song, I think this is more the imagery they are going for, which moves us into the mystically emotional quality of the lyrics. This is a very intimate moment, one of deep thanksgiving (Lazarus was there after having been risen from the dead by Jesus) and it leads directly into death and burial of Jesus Christ. That is the focus of this event, because Jesus would have to be buried before His body can be properly anointed and washed… the very reason the women go out to the tomb on the third day, finding it empty… Christ had risen. But the song lyric doesn’t go in that direction… instead, it gets a bit indulgent, almost emotionally romantic… Everything I am, Reaching out, I surrender come sweep me up in, Your love again and my soul will dance on the, Wings of Forever. We don’t have the singer sitting at the foot of Jesus in repentance, for teaching, or even out of thanksgiving; rather, the singer is invoking surrender language for being swept up in a loving embrace so her soul can dance on the wings of forever. Emotional drivel.

The rest of the song is a hypnotic poetry of nonsense verse. My soul breathing… upward falling… I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground… it’s artistic, but it doesn’t convey any real meaning, not in any Biblical sense. The hearer is free to interpret these lines in any way that seems to fit at any given moment. That might be fine for secular music, but shouldn’t be a mainstay of Christian music.

Conclusion

This song shouldn’t be sung in any church because the object of the song is the self, not God. I would argue that it shouldn’t be on the Christian airwaves, because there is nothing in it directly identifying the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This song could have been written by a Native American spiritualist, a Hindu Yogi, or Far-eastern Buddhist. The music quality is phenomenal, but that only serves to obfuscate its lyrical pablum.

To God be the glory, Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge