DiM

DiM | “Unfinished” by Mandisa

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disapproveCCM Edition.

June 7, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Unfinished” by Mandisa which currently sits at #5 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

Today’s song by Mandisa continues in her line of motivational and inspirational anthems aimed at boosting the listener’s self esteem and offering what the world keeps calling “empowerment”. We’ll address the biblical concept the song is trying to convey, by way of a best possible construction, but on its own this song does not stand. Not only is the Gospel not in this one, the focus of the song is on the christian rather than the cross. Let’s check out the lyric video and then work through the lyric.

Official Lyric Video

Lyric (via KLove)

​Not scared to say it
I used to be the one
Preaching it to you
That you could overcome
I still believe it
But it ain’t easy

‘Cause that world I painted
Where things just all work out
It started changing
And I started having doubts
And it got me so down

But I picked myself back up
And I started telling me
No, my God’s not done
Making me a masterpiece
He’s still working on me

He started something good
And I’m gonna believe it
He started something good
And He’s gonna complete it
So I’ll celebrate the truth
His work in me ain’t through
I’m just unfinished

I know His history
And the kind of God He is
He might make it a mystery
But He’s proven I can trust in Him
And yeah, I believe it

Still working
Still, still working on me
He’s still working
Still, still working on me

Publishing: Ariose Music / 9t One Songs (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Colby Wedgeworth Music / Fair Trade Publishing (ASCAP) (Admin. by Music Services)
Writer(s): Ben Glover and Colby Wedgeworth

Discussion

We can assume the target audience is the singer’s fan base or listeners, ostensibly Christian. The opening lines of the song serve as a bit of a confession that the singer used to proclaim the “overcomer” message, but times got tough. She assures us that she still believes in the message she preached, but it’s tough. The picture of the world she had painted for her listeners started changing and it took her down. This is the setup of the song, that the artist has now experienced disappointment in life, but she’s not letting go of her message. I really wish the message was the Gospel of Grace and Forgiveness in Jesus’ Name, but this song is more a revivalist anthem. Theology of glory.

The turn in the narrative of this story happens in the first verse, though. We don’t have to wait for after the first chorus, the artist doesn’t want to dwell in defeat. This is an anthem, after all. It’s the turn that has me the most worried. But I picked myself back up
And I started telling me… who turned it around for her? She did. Who started talking to her? She did. On the surface level this falls into our pop-culture’s hyper-individualism, where I make the calls, I seek my own truth, I decide what’s real and what’s not… me. The visible church has absorbed much of this through the Revivalist movements of the early 1800s and 1900s by focusing on “a direct, personal relationship with God” as of higher importance and significance that orthodoxy. From here on out in the lyric there are many mentions of work God is doing, going to do, in the artist, but the credit for holding onto those promises is given to the artist in this turn. She picked herself up. She gave herself a pep talk. And now she’s motivating you.

Unfinished. There is a sense in which this theme of us being unfinished, or with God not being finished with us yet rings true, and that is in the context of the Last Day, passing from this temporal life into eternity. That is not the context of this song’s narrative, but I want to pause that for right now. Let’s look at the Apostle Paul’s opening in his letter to the church in Philipi.

Philippians 1:1-11 (ESV)

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

I’ve highlighted the verse that first comes to mind when the topic of “unfinished” popped up in the song, but notice how that verse ends. Where is the completion of this work? At the day of Jesus Christ. Paul’s focus is in eternity. Paul isn’t doing concert tours here… he’s in prison. As we continue in the letter:

Philippians 1:12-14 (ESV)

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Paul’s comfort is in the advancement of the Gospel. Paul’s imprisonment is for Christ, and the church has become more bold to speak the Word without fear. And to finish out the opening introduction of this letter, let’s move forward a bit:

Philippians 1:21-30 (ESV)

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Notice Paul is encouraging the church to stand as one body, united in the faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no room for hyper-individualism. The Body of Christ is made up of many members (Romans 12).

So, with respect to the idea of us being “unfinished”, or God not yet being finished with us, this is Biblically true in the eternal sense. We will not see completion in this life. In this life we still struggle with our own sinful flesh and the corruption to which all of creation is enslaved as a result of sin. So, if the artist is preaching a world “where things just all work out” in an eternal sense by the Grace of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior, she does well. But this song seems focused on this temporal life and our earthly circumstances.

Regarding the Gospel, however, I take exception to the notion of God being “unfinished” with me. To my mind, this notion runs directly counter to the proclamation made by our LORD in His final breath on the cross, “Τετέλεσται“.

John 19:30 (ESV) When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Conclusion

While I appreciate the desire to motivate Christians to persevere in the faith and unity in the Gospel, this song follows the worldly model of encouragement and “empowerment” we see in songs like Katy Perry’s Roar, though at least Mandisa is appealing to God as a source rather than her own femininity. What is missing from the song is an eternal anchor and a clear appeal to the Truth of the Gospel, that in Christ we have forgiveness of sin and assurance of salvation. This focus on the temporal circumstances actually distracts from the eternal maters of far greater import than our fleeting vocational successes, trials, set-backs, and struggles. In this life we will face trials of many kinds… but our Hope is in the LORD, who declared “It is finished”. Those of us in the household of Faith are strangers in this life, hated by the world who first hated Christ. We are not promised success and victory in this temporary life.

“Self empowerment” and “self motivation” is empty and unstable. This is a major problem of revivalism… it looks to law-keeping as a source of hope and comfort. No matter how many times you re-commit yourself to believe more, stand more firmly, do more, sin less… you will fail and fall short. The truth is that by God’s Grace we don’t fully see and understand the depth of our depravity. As we grow in faith, the Holy Spirit reveals more and more of just how wretched our flesh is, and this He does to demonstrate more and more what Christ took upon Himself on that cross in our place, securing for us reconciliation with God in eternity.

1 Peter 1:3-12 (ESV) | Born Again to a Living Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

-Jorge

DiM | “I Have This Hope” by Tenth Avenue North

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Presentation1CCM Edition.

February 7, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “I have this hope” by Tenth Avenue North which currently sits at #18 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

This song asks some real questions. Questions every Christian has regardless of their willingness to actually voice them. What the song is lacking is a clear answer to the question. The singer seems to be answering the question for himself, but he isn’t really sharing that answer with the listener. The song leaves a lot of room for bad theology to find a home in these lyrics, but with a clear reference to scripture, I think this song can be given a good construction. This one falls in the middle-ground, where the listener needs to exercise discernment and apply sound theology to the song.

Official Lyric Video

Lyrics (via Band Website)

As I walk this great unknown
Questions come and questions go
Was there purpose for the pain
Did I cry these tears in vain
I don’t wanna live in fear
I wanna trust that You are near
Trust Your grace can be seen
In both triumph and tragedy

chorus
I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire
You’re with me and You won’t let go

But sometimes my faith feels thin
Like the night will never end
Will You catch every tear
Or will You just leave me here

So whatever happens, I will not be afraid
‘Cause You are closer than this breath that I take
You calm the storm when I hear You call my name
I still believe that one day I’ll see Your face

In the flood or the fire
You are with me and You won’t let go
In the flood or the fire
You are with me and You won’t let go

Discussion

That first verse is an honest question we’ve all asked. It’s not a good place to stay for very long, but these are questions we should take back to God’s Word regularly. I take issue with what reads as an inward focus, looking for assurance of God’s Promises within ourselves, in our emotions. In that second verse, it pops up with the “sometimes my faith feels thin”. Well, that’s because you’ve confused “faith” and “emotion”. We all do it. Every one of us is bent inwardly, staring at our own navels, wishing we felt better about ourselves and about the world around us. Piously we phrase it as “wanting to love God more”, but continuing to look inwardly for hope is a futile exercise. Our Hope is in Christ. When our flesh is weak, our zeal drained, our emotions taxed, and our assurance shaken… the very last place we should be looking is “within ourselves”. We should be looking to the external Word of God.

So, where do we look for comfort in the hurting times? Well, let’s see what the Apostles had to say in such times.

1 Peter 1:3-12 (ESV) | Born Again to a Living Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

This is the Hope that is being presented as the answer to the questions in that first verse of the song. Let’s look also at what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans.

Romans 5:1-11 (ESV) | Peace with God Through Faith

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

That’s such wonderful language. Through our LORD Jesus Christ, we have no received reconciliation with God. He is not far away from us, He is near us and with us, for we have been baptized into Christ.

Conclusion

In Christ, we have the answer to all of life’s struggles, we have Law and Gospel. We need to hear it often, for we are in need of repentance and the forgiveness of sins often. CCM should be sharing the clear, external Word of God. We should be honestly asking the same sorts of questions the world asks… but unlike them, we have God’s clear Word as the remedy, we have the answers.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) | Benediction

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

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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

DiM | “Love Broke Thru” by TobyMac

Faithful Stewardship 2 Comments

disapproveCCM Edition.

November 24, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Love Broke Thru” by TobyMac which currently sits at #20 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

This song is an anthem-styled love song pulling on Revivalist “Sinner’s prayer” themes ala Charles Finney. Stylistically its one of Toby’s better songs of late. Lyrically, there is no pointing the listener to Christ, just a retelling of the singer’s description of his new life or perspective. The singer is just sharing an emotional experience tied to an epiphany he had after a prayer he prayed. If you hold to decisional theology, we aren’t going to see eye-to-eye on this one. I pray you read this review with an open bible.

TobyMac – Topic (YouTube)

Lyrics (via K-Love)

Verse 1
I was feelin’ that, feelin’ that breeze
Singin’ like a song thru the tall oak trees
It was just another summer night
Had to be the last thing on my mind
Yeah, I was all but lost in the moment
I was young and runnin’ wide open
It was just another summer night
Had to be the last thing on my mind

Chorus
When love broke thru
You found me in the darkness
Wanderin’ thru the desert
I was a hopeless fool
Now I’m hopelessly devoted
My chains are broken
And it all began with You
When love broke thru

Verse 2
I did all that I could to undo me
But You loved me enough to pursue me
Yeah, You drew me out of the shadows
Made me believe that I mattered, to You (You)
You were there, You heard my prayer in that broke down dusty room
It was the first time I said, “I’m Yours”
The first time I called You Lord

Rap/Interlude
Yeah, it was late in the summer when the northeast breeze
Sang like a song thru the oak trees
Pennsylvania
She kind of caught my soul
Which had me a little more open than closed
Walls I built
Opinions I learned
Covered in the ashes of bridges I burned
Blind to the arrow that headed to my heart
But You hit the mark

Outro
I did all that I could to undo me
But You loved me enough to pursue me

Publishing: 2015 Achtober Songs/Meaux Mercy/Moody Producer Music (BMI)/Capitol CMG Genesis/TrueMuse (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com)/Bartlandia/ Simple Tense Songs (ASCAP)
Writer(s): Toby McKeehan, Christopher Stevens, Bart Millard and Bryan Fowler

Discussion

Verse 1. This verse paints quite a mental picture. Nothing comes completely into focus, but we get a sense that he’s leading up to an epiphany, or an aha! moment. This verse is pure setup, not really much to discuss here.

Chorus. This is an odd shift in the mental picture. Everything in the first verse is serene and peaceful, but now it’s all darkness, desert, hopelessness, chains. If we are giving this our best construction, I suppose we could make the assumption that Christ’s love breaking through first shatters the false notion that “I’m a generally good person” as the Law of God convicts us of our sinful state. But there is still no mention of the Gospel being preached, just a sort of inevitability of love breaking through.

Verse 2. Not much to go on for a reference point in this first line. Is he now describing live as an unbeliever as being “doing all I could do to undo me”? An unbeliever IS undone. There is a tendency for synergists to act like unbelievers just don’t know any better and are only doing what they do because they haven’t yet made the right choices, said the right prayer, or “devoted themselves” or “made Jesus their Lord and Savior” (decision theology). The problem with this way of thinking about our sin is that this isn’t how Scripture describes the sin of unbelief.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (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.

Notice the wording is “dead in the trespasses and sins” not “dying”. Being dead precludes decisional regeneration. This is not easy to accept, I grew up in decisional theology. The point of this verse is to imply the “sinner’s prayer” and the decision to finally accept Christ (I’m Yours) as Lord.

Okay, so let’s address this point about salvation. The one who lacks faith cannot pray to God. Sure, they can utter prayers as the pagans do, but my point here is very specific, without faith, no one can draw near to God.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

We are not born with faith, nor the capacity to have faith, we are born dead. So how does one receive faith? By hearing the Word of Christ preached.

Romans 10:11-17 (ESV) For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 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. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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? 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!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So, I don’t take issue so much with the singer having an emotional memory of a moment he can remember first realizing that Jesus is LORD… but such emotionally dependent memories are fleeting and subjective, easily tossed about by the seas of doubt, trials, and tribulations. Rather than focus on such an internal focal point, we instead choose to focus on the moment when Christ claimed us as His own, when He declared “It is Finished”. We can also look toward our baptism, for it is God’s work, not ours.

Romans 6:3-11 (ESV) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old selfwas crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5:25-27 (ESV) Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

So, the singer is pointing to his own romanticized recollection of a decision he made, presumably in light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The comfort of the assurance of salvation needs to be solid when our emotions aren’t in check, when we are afraid, or burdened with guilt, or confused. This is the folly in tying assurance to an emotional experience, or a recollection of something you realized or a prayer you uttered. Far better to place your trust in the objective Word of God. The Promise of salvation in Christ Jesus is assured and unchanging, no matter your emotional state or physical circumstance.

Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV) 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.

Rap/Interlude. I think we are seeing somewhat of a confession, or at least a depiction of the artist’s life. Not sure which timeframe. Maybe this was before “being saved”, or maybe it is a particular crisis of faith, but this part of the song seems a bit raw and unfiltered. But here the lyric makes Jesus out to be Cupid shooting his love arrow. /sigh. The one thing we can focus on in this is the idea that we take no part in our salvation… so the idea that Christ would save him without his knowledge like an arrow being shot without his knowledge.

Outro. This thought could also be pointing at the work of God the Holy Spirit in preserving us in the faith.

Hebrews 12:5-7 (ESV) And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

I suppose we could do some work to try to salvage the messaging of the song if we ignored the sinner’s prayer bit and focused in on God’s discipline and reproof. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it might be helpful for those who really want to like the song due to its style.

Conclusion

While I did try to offer ways of giving the song a positive construction, the synergism presented in this song places this one in the “Disapprove” category. Stylistically this song is pretty good, but lyrically it’s a bit of a vague mess. With so many TobyMac memes with sporting the #speaklife tag, I really wish they spent more time clearly conveying the Gospel of Jesus Christ and less time being cool, relevant… and completely vague.

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 | “Come Alive (Dry Bones)” by Lauren Daigle

Faithful Stewardship 1 Comment

disapproveCCM Edition.

November 08, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Come Alive (Dry Bones)” by Lauren Daigle which currently sits at #18 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

Lauren Daigle has one of my favorite voices to listen to on the radio. God gave her a beautiful voice. This post isn’t about Lauren’s voice. It’s about the song and the theology being presented in its lyric. There have been several emails and comments lately rebuking me for judging the hearts of the artists. That’s not what we are doing, we are examining the lyric and the theology being presented (or what’s missing from the lyric, namely the Gospel). Let’s begin today by watching how the artist describes what this song is about.

Come Alive (Dry Bones) | Story Behind The Song | Lauren Daigle & Michael Farren

Today’s song pushes the Word of Faith Heresy. The notion that God somehow requires us to speak things into existence for Him to move, or to save. The idea that faith becomes a sort of fuel that we use to empower our words. This is not how Scripture teaches prayer, faith, or the Salvation of God. Notice how smoothly the songwriters slide into narcissistic eisegesis, reading ourselves into Ezekiel, as if this Prophecy was about us or about some formula we need to follow in order to save others. Now the problem these two wanted to write a song to address is real. Their solution simply isn’t a biblical solution. The Biblical solution is to preach Law and Gospel, repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Let’s listen to the song, read through the lyric, and then discuss the theology.

LaurenDaigleVEVO

Lyrics (via K-Love)

Through the eyes of men it seems there’s so much we have lost
As we look down the road where all the Prodigals have walked
One by one the enemy has whispered lies then led them off as slaves

But we know that you are God, Yours is the victory
We know there is more to come that we may not yet see
So with the faith You’ve given us we’ll step into the valley unafraid

(chorus)
As we call out to dry bones come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes, let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones come alive

God of endless mercy, God of unrelenting love
Rescue every daughter, bring us back the wayward sons
By Your Spirit breathe upon them, show the world that You alone can save
You alone can save

(chorus)
As we call out to dry bones come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes, let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones come alive

So breathe, Oh breath of God now
Breathe, Oh breath of God
Breathe, Oh breath of God now breathe
Breathe, Oh breath of God now breathe
Oh breath of God
Breathe, Oh breath of God now breathe

(chorus)
As we call out to dry bones come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes, let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones come alive
We call out to dry bones come alive

Oh come alive

Publishing: © 2014 CentricSongs (SESAC) / Word Music & Pocket Full of Rocks Publishing (ASCAP)
Writer(s): Words and Music by Lauren Daigle and Michael Farren

Discussion

There is so little clearly stated in this song lyric, that I decided to look up a “behind the scenes” type video. As a former NAR guy, I recognized the Ezekiel 37 theme immediately, and the entire thrust of the song is Word of Faith (WoF) false teaching. Hopefully you watched the intro video to see what went into the inspiration of the song. I’d like to reiterate, the problem they cited as their focus, that they wanted to write a song to comfort the mother of a prodigal child, is real. The theology in this song presented as a solution is utterly false, we’ll get to that, but know that I’m not in any way discrediting the stated goal, we want to reach out to the prodigals and their hurting families, but we want to do so Biblically. False hope is no hope at all.

Verse 1. The WoF Evangelicals don’t really have a solid grasp on the Biblical concept of sin, particularly original sin we’ve inherited from Adam. WoF folks like Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer are always pushing the “little gods” teaching that once we get saved we are now little gods who should be decreeing and declaring health and prosperity and authority and victory over sin. Joyce Meyer has even gone on to declare that she is not a sinner. So, she’s declared herself better than the Apostle Paul… made herself one of the super apostles Paul derides in 2 Cor 11-12. WoF is false, heretical, teaching. It takes our eyes off of Christ and onto ourselves changing prayer into spell casting and supplication into blasphemous demands. So when this segment has such a poor grasp on sin, one has to ask what is meant by prodigals walking away being led off as slaves. It’s heavily coded speech. WoF teachers have no vocabulary for sin, so they invent “word curses” and “soul ties” that (of course) require us to take authority over and break. They make sin to be something that clings to you externally in their false theology and thus something you need to break away from. You can’t look to Scriptures for clarity because none of this is taught in Scripture, you have to have one of these false teachers esplain[sic] it to you in one of their many books for sale at the local “Christian” bookstore.

In the parable of the Prodigal son, the prodigal is led away by his own sinful desires. There is no external tempter in that story, no externally driving force taking the boy captive. He sins from the heart, as do we all. As Christians, we are simultaneously sinner and saint. We are sinners in the flesh due to the corruption of original sin, and we are saints by Grace through Faith in Christ Jesus. The first three lines of this song demonstrate a lack of understanding of the nature of sin and our sinful nature.

The next two lines are generally true. God IS the victory. Jesus Christ literally IS our victory, in His Body and Blood shed for the forgiveness of sin. He IS the temple, He IS the Head of His Church, whom He washed by water with His Word to make Holy. The Victory was sealed at the Cross, when He declared “It is Finished”! There is more to come in this life than we can see, that is true, but our focus should be on what God has already revealed in Scripture, not in constantly hoping to see something new.

The last line of the verse shifts from the notion of the Prodigal over to eisegeting Ezekiel 37 for the chorus.

Chorus. As we call out to dry bones… What does this mean? The stated inspiration for this song is Ezekiel 37. Let’s read through the prophecy being hijacked here.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (ESV) | The Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Dear Christian, you are NOT Ezekiel. In fact, Ezekiel isn’t even doing what these WoF folks are claim this passage is teaching. Ezekiel isn’t mustering up something to declare, the LORD God took Ezekiel into the Valley, commanded Ezekiel to speak the Word of the Lord and then told Ezekiel exactly what to say to the dry bones, and then the Lord did the work of saving. This is NOT prescriptive of how we are to go about Christian prayer life. The LORD God explains what this vision is about, it is about the whole house of Israel being brought to life by God. It points forward to Christ, the Way the Truth and the Life, the Only way of Salvation.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) | By Grace Through Faith

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.

This is the Salvation of the LORD. If we are crying out to dry bones, to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, we had better be crying out with the Word of the Lord that has already been breathed out in Scriptures, we had better be preaching Law (that all have sinned and fallen short) and Gospel (repentance and the forgiveness in Jesus’ Name).

So getting back to this chorus, there’s a WoF logic loop that we need to address. WoF teaching at face-value, we see what looks like us commanding God to do something we want Him to do. That’s blasphemous. But their response will likely take the form of “no, we are participating in what He wants to do in the Earth”. So He can’t just do it? No, we have to activate His Will in the earth by our words filled with faith (or something along those lines). It’s circular and not based in Scripture. As we saw in Ez 37, they can’t teach it from the actual text, they have to paraphrase very loosely and then just declare that this is how it all works.

There is also a line in the Chorus that seems to pull from Joel’s Army / Dominionism / New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) false teaching. What’s with all of this militant langauge? The New Testament is focused on the Church, the faith once and for all delivered to the Saints. We are told to Preach the Word so that those who hear it might be granted saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:11-17 (ESV) For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 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. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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? 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!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Verse 2. I like this verse. It’s a good verse. It’s incomplete, but if the song had a good chorus and solid supporting verses this could be good. So, “spirit breath upon them” is odd but could be right in the right context. It’s odd because it seems to be asking God to save as He wills, which is a solid petition, but one that doesn’t truly fit the synergism that these artists, modern-day evangelicals, and the WoF teachers hold. God’s Word gives us the means through which the Grace of God for the forgiveness of sin is applied to us. He has been gracious enough to provide us with His Written Word in our own languages. As we saw in Romans 10:11-17, Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Preaching of the Word is a primary means through which God grants us saving faith. Let’s look at how the Apostle Paul described scripture in 2 Tim 3:14-17.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV) But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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.

Instead of twisting, mixing, paraphrasing, summarizing, and supplanting Scripture… Preach the Word. The New Testament Epistles read like sermons. Let the Apostolic writings speak for God, for they are His Word. Stop looking for formulas and rituals and codes and prescriptions in the Old Testament… they weren’t written about you, they were written about Christ for you.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV)  | The Supremacy of God’s Son

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

The rest of the song slides into new-age “presence” theology, emotional mysticism, trying to drum up a “feeling” of being in God’s presence. It’s self indulgent and it’s an empty solution to the mother of a prodigal child.

Conclusion

This song encourages the listener to eisegete Ez 37 through the lens of WoF heresy. In attempting to address a real problem, it fails horribly due to unsound theology and a twisting of scripture. The desire to comfort the mother of a prodigal is a good desire, but providing false comfort via WoF nonsense only adds insult to injury. What the prodigal child needs is the Law of God preached, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God unto repentance, and then the child needs to hear the Pure Gospel of Jesus Christ so that he might be granted Faith. This is God’s doing, and we have His Word given to us in the Scriptures.

To the mother of the prodigal, we share in your grief. For the Body of Christ is One Body, and we are all individual members of it. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Cor 12:26 ESV). We pray, asking the LORD to bring the prodigal home. We reach out as the body of Christ to bring Law and Gospel to the prodigal.

James 5:19-20 (ESV)

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

But most importantly, we need to address the false teaching that is leading so many astray. The sort of teaching that ignores the reality of original sin, the danger of apostacy, and the ever-present need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin. Christians need to hear the Gospel. In fact, the gathering of the saints on Sunday mornings is to gather together around the Preached Word of the Gospel of Grace. We need to preach the full counsel of God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, rightly divided. To those who think little of their sin, they need the Law Preached full-bore. To those who are crushed by the weight of their sin, we preach the Gospel of Grace for the forgiveness of sin. We trust God the Holy Spirit to continually draw His sheep, for He loves them far more than we can ever imagine. Our Hope is in eternity, our Hope is in the LORD. Salvation belongs to Him.

Revelation 21:1-7 (ESV) | The New Heaven and the New Earth

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Christ is our victory, He is the only begotten Son of God, and He is the Good Shepherd.

Revelation 22:20-21 (ESV) He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Amen.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
In Christ,
Jorge