Archive for
August, 2006
Honestly, when I started thinking what I would write about today, I didn’t think I’d end up with a Hillsong United song. Somehow, I thought I’d never write about a Hillsong United song because they often are rather simple (great, but simple) and I like diving into more complex lyrics. “From The Inside Out” is a different story, at least for me, though. Ever since I first heard it on a Hillsong preview CD (those come out every couple of months and contain a number of unreleased songs as “unplugged” recordings, complete with piano sheets etc.), that song has fascinated me.
Maybe it’s the first words – “A thousand times I’ve failed, still Your mercy remains and should I stumble again, still I’m caught in Your grace” – that do a pretty good job of summing up what a failure I am. At least in my own eyes I often am. There are so many ways I fail in my everyday life, over and over again, when I compare it to the life of the one person I want to be like – Jesus. A thousand times and more. But in God’s eyes, I’m more than that… He looks beyond my failures and sees who I really am. Created in His image. Perfect in His eyes. Fallen man, saved by His grace.
And that is why I can do what I do – I can worship Him, even lead others in worship, only because I am a new man in God’s eyes. I can practise “the art of losing myself” in bringing Him praise, as the song goes on. That’s my purpose. Often I am astonished that God would really want someone like me to do that. But then again the Bible is full of people who failed in all sorts of ways and still God used them to build His kingdom – just think of David, Jonah, Peter, Paul… many more, too many to name them all. They were all fallible, some did terrible things – and they all were loved by God and he looked beyond their failures at who they really were. The Bible even calls David, the murderer and adulterer “a man after God’s heart”.
So this song really says it all for me: I am a fallen man who will in all probability never live up to the standards that Jesus set. I am loved by God for who I am because He made me the way I am. In bringing Him praise, I can draw closer to Him, pour my inside out and in the process my life will change, a little bit at a time, as I get to know Him better and our relationship grows. Wow, that’s a lot of things in just one song and it’s only half of what the song has to say. So the next time you hear someone complain about those simple (some would say “shallow”) Hillsong lyrics, think again. There are a lot more songs like that…
Song: From The Inside Out
Artist: Hillsong United
Album: United We Stand
Author: Joel Houston
Technorati : Hillsong, Hillsong United, christian, lyrics, music, praise, worship
The book of Job at first glance doesn’t seem to be the obvious choice to base a worship song on. After all, it’s the story of a man who did nothing wrong and went through a long period of suffering, personal loss and coming close to death. On the other hand, what’s remarkable is that he never stopped praising the Lord and trusting in Him, even in the face of all these trials and with rather unhelpful friends giving him all sorts of advice to the contrary.
“Blessed be Your Name”, which is based on this story, has become one of the most popular worship songs of our time, winning awards and being sung around the world and recorded by more bands and worship leaders than I can count. Maybe that shows that it is a story that is closer to the heart of every one of us than we would have thought. I think we all go through times when we feel like Job – most of the time, for no good reason, but anyway. Of course there are good times and the song explicitly mentions “the land that is plentiful, where Your streams of abundance flow” – and it is the right thing to do to praise God for the blessings that He gives. But there are other times, “the road marked with suffering”, when things don’t go well at all, when we feel down, sometimes we don’t even seem to feel God’s presence anymore. Has God abandoned us? Does He even care?
I think the most important words are probably in the bridge part of this song – “my heart will choose to say: Lord, blessed be Your name”. If we walk with God, if we trust in God, even in the hard times, continuing to praise Him is a decision we can make. Sure, when things are going well and everything is as we please, it’s easy to praise God. It may come almost automatically. When times get rough, sometimes we need to make a conscious decision to continue praising God. Because there is hope in Him, even in times of despair. Because we can trust in Him that things will work out for the best, even if we don’t understand and see it. Because He does care. Just as He did care about Job, even though it wasn’t obvious to Job himself or anyone around him.
And that’s why “Blessed be Your Name” is such a wonderful song – it’s a song for those who are going through good times as well as those going through bad times. It’s a song we can sing at a wedding or a funeral. It’s a soundtrack for life…
Song: Blessed be Your Name
Artist: Matt Redman
Album: Where Angels Fear to Tread
Author: Matt Redman
Technorati : God, Job, Matt Redman, blessed, christian, music, suffering, worship
So many releases in the CCM market these days are very similar sounding, very mainstream. It’s refreshing to every now end then hold a real gem in my hands – and Shawn McDonald’s sophomore studio album “Ripen” definitely is such a gem. I must admit I already like his debut “Simply Nothing” a lot and now this one is even better.
This is definitely not an album that you can just pop into your CD player and then expect to keep running in the background as some kind of easy-listening backdrop to whatever else you’re doing. The music is far too good for that… it really manages to combine simplicity with complexity, as weird as that may sound. I love the interesting mix of instruments – heavy on acoustic guitar and cello with some extravagant percussion thrown in here and there. And the lyrics go deeper than on many other productions – I’ve rarely seen such authenticity in modern songwriting. So do expect quite a few rather meditative songs, both musically and lyrically – but in the tradition of singer-songwriters from days seemingly gone by, there are also a few beautifully told little stories.
Usually I try to pick a favorite song… that’s very difficult with this album. For me it works more as a collection than as single songs. So… no favorites today, maybe next time. But if you’ve got an hour (or slightly less), maybe this one’s for you.
Technorati : Ripen, Shawn McDonald, ccm, christian, music, review
The song I want to look at today has got to be counted a classic of the late 1990’s – I first heard it on Christian radio in 1999 and just had to get the CD it was on. I’m talking about Scott Krippayne’s “I wanna sing”, a song I can’t help but sing as loud as I can whenever I hear it.
I guess it’s because he so clearly states why he sings and because that so adequately describes why I like to sing. It’s not about fame. It’s not about showing off talents. It’s not about making money (even less for me than for him, that’s for sure). It’s not about meeting other famous artists. It’s about giving glory to God and telling the world – and in the noise of the world, what better vehicle to tell them is there than music? “I can’t believe the way You work in my life. I would be crazy if I kept this all inside.” That’s a great statement. So often I catch myself being silent about the great things that God has done in my life. I mean, not that I don’t tell anyone – but mostly I talk about them to my christian friends. But if I don’t talk about them, how will the world ever know? Maybe I am a bit crazy…
Scott goes on to name a few of the things that God has done for him and for all of us and comes to the conclusion that “this is the music that I want so much to share”. I don’t know how well he does it in his everyday life, but at least he’s making clear statements on the other tracks of his CD. Sometimes when I’m tempted to take the quality of the music I make (with a small worship band in my local church) too seriously, I need to remember this song and then I will remember what it’s all about – giving glory to God and telling the world. “I want to make a difference, want to rise above the noise” – that’s what I want to do, too. For Scott, that’s why he’s become a christian recording artist – for me, it’s encouragement to be more open and willing to share the blessings that I’ve received from God with those around me, especially those who don’t know Him yet. And to God, I always want to be able to say this: “As long as I can sing, I wanna sing about You”!
Song: I wanna sing
Artist: Scott Krippayne
Album: Bright Star Blue Sky
Author: Scott Krippayne, Kent Hooper, Kyle Matthews
Technorati : God, Scott Krippayne, christian, lyrics, music, song, worship
Today I want to take a look at another song with you – this time I have chosen “Lonely Nation” from Switchfoot’s 2005 album “Nothing is sound”. Switchfoot have always been one of my favorite bands – perhaps one thing I like the most about them is their statement that they are not “Christian by genre” and managed to be successful in the “general market”, even refusing to be featured on the cover of CCM magazine simply because they didn’t want the christian “label”, even though they are Christians.
“Lonely Nation” is a song that I think a lot of us can relate to in a very real way. It talks about a phenomenon of today’s youth culture – being alone despite being around lots of people and being empty and hollow although there is so much to do. “We’re just numb and amused” is one of the key sentences here – the world is trying so hard to keep us entertained, but all of that is meaningless if God is not in it. We so often spend our lives looking for something the world can give us to fill that void in us and don’t see that there is nothing the world can give that could ever fill it. And in our search, we become so “me”-focused that our relationships become as meaningless as the rest of what we do. “Separate we are one” sums it up pretty well – we are united in our search for individualism and what we thinks makes us unique in fact unites us in ways we don’t even see.
“We are slaves of what we want” – as long as we put ourselves, our needs and goals, ambitions and dreams first, we are slaves to our own will. Only when we ask God to do His will can we break free from what binds us to the standards of this world and through our unity with Him find into more meaningful fellowship with others who have done the same. “I want more than my lonely nation” is calling us to no longer be satisfied with being just another individual in the “Lonely Nation”, but to reach out for more. Only with the help of God and if we stand together can we find true community and overcome the loneliness.
Song: Lonely Nation
Artist: Switchfoot
Album: Nothing Is Sound
Author: Jonathan Foreman, Tim Foreman
Technorati : God, Lonely Nation, Switchfoot, christian, emptiness, loneliness, lyrics, music, youth culture
