"He is Faithful"

Music has a way of breaking through all of the externals of life (job, family, finances, friends, sports, etc.), penetrating deep into the inner most parts of our soul, where the essence of who we are is most vibrant and alive. Watching the world move through the day is proof enough of this truth. How often do you see people connected to iphones bobbin their heads to the newest bands? How often do you have Spotify, Pandora or iTunes open at your home, work or car rockin out to the Beatles, Reliant K, or the music from the movie Frozen? The music we listen to has the ability to cut down deep inside us. It moves through all the baggage of life and, for a moment, allows us to see deep inside ourselves. Some of us use music to numb the outside world while some use music to fully embrace and experience the world around us. For some music makes you feel alive and gives you purpose and desire. While for others music brings focus, continuity and clarity. The endless ways that people engage music and allow it to connect deep within them is further evidence of the immense power music has to impact our lives in both big and small ways.

This is why I value, so deeply, music that is embedded with the truths of God. If you believe scripture speaks truth then you have to believe in the power that God has infused into this book we call the Bible. Hebrews 4:12 says the Bible is alive and active. It is a double-edge sword capable of penetrating deep into the soul of humanity. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all of the Bible contains the breath of God, the literal life giving breath of the creator of the world. It has the ability to not only let us see deep into the heart of God, but to enter it as well. Because the heart of God is what gives it life...not the words themselves. Scripture speaks the truths of God and when music and the truths of God converge, beautiful things can happen.

The beauty of music embedded with God's words is that it allows the heart of God to penetrate deep within us in a unique way. Music is not the only way God's heart infiltrates ours, but it is one way. And it is a powerful way. This is why the Psalms are such an important part of the Bible. They are a collection of songs that proclaim deep truths of who God is. The music of the Psalms carried with them the life giving breath of the living God which would penetrate through the brokenness of life and penetrate deep within the hearts of the people.

I have to admit, Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I love being with people who love God and are hungry for his presence. But my favorite part of each Sunday is when we sing songs together. The room is filled with people, all at different stages on their faith journey. But something about singing songs embedded with the words of God, the truths of God, allows all of us to stand beyond where we are individually on our own faith journey and have the living breath of God's word infiltrate our hearts, together. God's story begins to break through our collective baggage and work into our hearts, changing us From the Inside Out (great song by the way!)

Lately, I have been touched by one particular song that we have been singing at Ethos. The song is called "He is Faithful," and sounds like this. The lyrics are as follows:

I have heard a sound coming on the wind
Changing hearts and mind, healing brokenness
I feel a generation breaking through despair
I hear a generation full of faith, declare

And our song it will be 
Out of the darkness we will rise and sing

He is faithful, He is glorious
He is Jesus, all my hope is in Him
He is freedom, He is healing right now
He is hope and joy, love and peace and life

I have seen a light like the break of dawn
Giving blind men sight and letting lame men walk
I see a generation with resurrection life
We are a generation filled with the power of Christ

He has paid the highest price
He has proven His great love for us
We will praise Him with our lives
And proclaim our love for Him

The beauty of this song is found not in the melody but in the power of its truths that are able to break through the baggage of life and speak directly to who we are as a culture. Just think about the world around you. I look around me and I see a world living in the depths of despair. There is a catastrophic void that our world has fallen into. God has been pushed to the fringes of society and culture. Barriers have been set that are constantly being reinforced by the unbelief and denial of Christ.

But is that really all you see? We all have the ability to see things the way they are. But what if we began to see things the way they could be? What would happen if, when we looked at the world around us, instead of seeing despair we saw generations of people breaking through despair?

Several weeks back we had our 5th birthday at Ethos. We met in the arena on Lipscomb's campus. There were nearly 2500 people there that day. It was a wonderful Sunday worshiping God and witnessing people give their lives over to Jesus in baptism. But the moment that broke me the most was when 2500 people began singing this song together. In one voice they were proclaiming that they, as a generation, had broken through the grips of despair and unbelief and were living in the truth and reality of Jesus love and character. In one moment an entire church proclaimed that the externals of life would not define who they were on the inside. That Jesus would be the defining character, the power that would redeem who they were and where they were in life.

In that moment the vision for our church plant came into focus. Seattle is a place filled with despair and brokenness. But I hear a sound coming on the wind. It is changing hearts and minds. It will heal brokenness. And I feel a generation poised and ready to break through the despair and begin to proclaim that Jesus is Lord.

This is what God has called me to. This is why I plant churches!