Friday, March 15, 2024

Great Things -- Phil Wickham and Jonas Myrin


Who was it that said ‘necessity is the mother of invention’? Phil Wickham was really not thinking as far back as this little aphorism’s first usage (perhaps in Aesop’s Fables [see the information below] in ancient times, before Christ.), but instead around 2018, some 26 centuries later. He and his friend Jonas Myrin were looking for a new upbeat song to use in the opening moments of a church’s worship service in Riverside, California (see the seal of that southern California city here), and Phil says “Great Things” was that necessary piece they happened to co-write. But, as so often occurs, these two contemporary songwriters traced back through ancient scriptures, namely those found in the Bible, to find inspiration for their 21st Century solution. They didn’t think about awe-inspiring events in their own experiences, but rather those centered around what God has done, ones about which we all can all read and re-read to appreciate Him repeatedly. He’s still that same timeless One.

 

Phil and the other worship leaders at Harvest Christian Fellowship had what at first glance might seem like an unusual problem – they were feeling that the lively songs they had been using were becoming too familiar, maybe even stale. Hmmm, how does something positive become a negative? Phil would say that that happens through overuse, and so he gave himself the task of finding at least one more opening song that could be the jump-off point for Harvest’s worship hour. The pages and the stories within his bible gave Phil so much grist for the music mill that was grinding in his spirit, that it wasn’t long before he was struck by a common theme – and indeed the theme for a new song – that he discovered in these well-known God-protect-and lead-the people stories as he read them. He looked in Psalms for a new musical message, but also in the wide variety of historical episodes when God was someone’s rescuer or the One choosing His people to do something miraculous – Daniel in the lion’s den; David versus Goliath; the Israelites taking Jericho; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego surviving Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace; and Moses and the people at the parting of the Red Sea. Phil noted that in almost all cases, the people praised their God in words, especially in songs, in the aftermath of the incidents. He found what Mary said upon learning her role as the coming Messiah’s mother (Luke 1:46-56, and especially v. 49) as perhaps the most provocative for his thoughts. ‘…for he who is mighty has done great things for me,     and holy is his name’, Mary sang in what we know today as the Magnificat (also see this blog’s 3/16/2023 entry for the Magnificat story). Mary’s baby’s pivotal position as all of humanity’s savior speaks to all generations in the present tense, rather than to a group of people in some past event. That was enough to spark Phil’s lyric-writing muscles, although he admits his mind was still stuck in neutral at one point, until Jonas captured the right words to complete a second verse and the song’s bridge. The two’s song theme, in a sense can never wear out, because God is not yet done doing great and amazing things.

 

Indeed, Phil and Jonas, while they were thinking of what He’s done already, also want us to expectantly rejoice in God’s never-done nature, because they wrote lines like these: You'll be faithful forevermore…And I know You will do it again…You will do great things. You can travel the musical road that Phil and Jonas constructed from beginning to an end, although exactly when that end will happen is unknown, for it’s hidden to the angels and even to Jesus (Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32). Is that part of God’s point, to keep us in the dark? Exactly what is He up to, we might sigh, and grouse, and complain when things seem tough. That was oftentimes the reaction of His chosen people, until they witnessed Him in action – Godly, awe-inspiring, terrifying action. Phil and Jonas tell us he was, and is, and is to come, in the musical phrases they chose…and, perhaps without really intentionally trying to do so, Phil and Jonas were looking at and thinking about what John was once told (Revelation 1:4,8 and 4:8), through some visions that were no less startling than what his ancestors observed. Ready to see Him do some more mind-blowing, astounding, stupefying things? My online thesaurus is inadequate to really capture the Almighty I AM!                 

 

 

See song story shared here (beginning/ending at minute mark 4:04 – 8:12) by the primary songwriter: Great Things // Phil Wickham // New Song Cafe - Bing video

 

Also see the story here: Phil Wickham – Great Things Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

 

See information on this quoted saying here: Necessity is the mother of invention - Wikipedia

 

See information on the image/seal of Riverside here: File:Seal of Riverside, California.png - Wikimedia Commons. This work was created by a government unit (including state, county, city, and municipal government agencies) that derives its powers from the laws of the State of California and is subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 6250 et seq.). It is a public record that was not created by an agency which state law has allowed to claim copyright, and is therefore in the public domain in the United States.

 

Friday, March 8, 2024

I Need You More -- Lindell Cooley and Bruce Haynes

 


‘It’s a very personal prayer moment with my Creator’ – that is probably something like what two songwriters would say if they were asked to explain why they said “I Need You More” in 1995. Lindell Cooley and Bruce Haynes were part of a burgeoning church in Pensacola, Florida (see its seal here) that they felt could draw closer to Him if each person would humble him- or herself at His feet. It’s not a lot more complicated than that, though they felt that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would consequently be manifested in various and even unexpected ways. It’s an admission that anyone – even if you aren’t faithful to a Creator – would probably acknowledge: that life so often is out of my control, that I cannot handle everything on my own. So, the rational thing is to seek community and security. That’s one way. What Lindell and Bruce wanted to express is something more encompassing – someone even more able to take on all that I need. After all, He made me and the place in which I live. How’s that early 20th Century and 1950s pop-song go?…’He’s got the whole world in His hands’.

 

There have been other versions of what Lindell and Bruce said in the mid-1990s, expressing our need for Him to be there, to intervene and bring calm to the anxious spirit. They include (but aren’t limited to) two other stories told here in this blog – see Lord, I Need You (by a quartet of songwriters in 2011, see entry for 6/23/2023), and I Need Thee Every Hour (by Annie Hawks, some 139 years earlier, see entry for 11/12/2017). That one word that all three songs have in common is need. Is anything more humbling, than to make this confession? Lindell and Bruce had one particular habit in mind when they wrote their needy song, and that was to facilitate prayer in the Brownsville Assembly of God church where they were witnessing people begging for their God to make Himself known. It was one of many songs on an album called Quiet Songs for Time Alone with God: Volume One – Prayer that they dedicated toward this activity…what would one appropriately call it? It’s more than a rite, or a sacrament, as one can tell in the lyrics that these two songwriters wrote to describe the attitude of the person prostrated before Him. Need is posed in several ways, according to Lindell and Bruce, and always as more. ‘More than yesterday’ and ‘more than ever before’, telling us that the praying person can see mortal existence only grows more challenging, but not more so than His care for me. ‘More than words can say’, but that’s why He gives of Himself, so that even my groans touch His heart (Romans 8:26). ‘More than the air I breathe’, ‘…than the song I sing’, ‘…than my next heartbeat’, ‘…than anything’ – what other things are more essential than breathing, and having a heartbeat? Lindell and Bruce are music-lovers, obviously, so being able to express themselves with a song is right up there with all of the other needs they mention.

 

He gives so much. Examine that list of needs that Lindell and Bruce tick off for us, and see if He’s not the answer to needs you have. There’s a whole lot of tangible things that they don’t mention – food, clothing, shelter, employment, relationships, and reasonably good health are all on the short list, and who among us hasn’t prayed to our Maker-Sustainer for all of these at various points? But, what Lindell and Bruce offer, is to realize that being able to pray to Him is the most basic need, even if some of what He apparently does happens in my involuntary responses, like my breathing and heart-beating. What if those weren’t present? That would be a four-alarm emergency, ‘call 911, get that E-squad here ASAP!’ Though He’s physically invisible, would it matter to my world if something equivalent happened to Him, that His breath (Genesis 2:7) and His great heartbeat present at creation’s dawn might expire? For now, He is still taking care of us and our planet. Could it be that He’s still there because He wants to hear from you and me? What more do you need today, than Him?      

 

 

Read about one of the two songwriters here: Lindell Cooley - Wikipedia

 

See here also: Lindell Cooley – Official Site of Music Missions International (archive.org)

 

Lindell Cooley | www.morningstarministries.org

 

Read here about the church where Cooley ministers: Grace Church Nashville

 

See here information about the seal of Pensacola and its public domain status: File:Seal of Pensacola, Florida.png - Wikimedia Commons   -- This work was created by a government unit (including state, county, and municipal government agencies) of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a public record that was not created by an agency which state law has allowed to claim copyright and is therefore in the public domain in the United States.

Friday, March 1, 2024

Refiner's Fire -- Brian Doerksen


Spontaneity. That one word sums up the moment when Brian Doerksen remembers that he heard and felt something at, of all places, a traffic light. He still doesn’t know what sparked this moment in 1990, but something – or Someone – within told him that he needed a “Refiner’s Fire” that day, that he needed to think about a metaphorical transformation, like how gold is refined. (See the picture here, that shows a metallurgical process called casting, in which molten gold is poured into a mold.) Purity was the ultimate destination that Brian quickly recognized, and so he gave his full attention to this prompting by the Spirit inside himself later that day, after arriving in a place where the sounds of traffic and 20th Century life, even in a church, would not intrude. Like gold in the purification process, the believer who submits to this kind of procedure cannot do it piecemeal. The intensity of the surrounding environment is inescapable; it is consuming and reshaping what is present. He does this, if I let Him.

 

Brian was totally surprised when he began to hear the tones, as well as the suggestion of words that would become the first lyrics of this ‘Refiner’s Fire’. But unlike the metallurgical crucible, and how it overwhelms its contents, Brian says the tune he heard did not try to engulf him. Instead, this song – though penetrating for a few moments – would present itself only fleetingly, with some noticeable effervescence in the air about him in his car. Fading in and out, as if to attract his attention and make him curious, the song stayed with Brian until he arrived at the church where he worked. Once there, Brian was obedient to the persuasive and quietly persistent Spirit, and so he told his secretary to allow him some space – no calls or other distractions. He would have a similar epiphany when he composed another song years later (See ‘Come, Now Is the Time to Worship’ [Feb. 1, 2020 blog entry]), so could the Spirit have been inaugurating a method for Brian that was already being conceived for a future endeavor? Undoubtedly, Brian could not have known the answer to that question, for he was totally focused on the moment in 1990, and the time he needed to explore scripture and see what God says about purity and refinement. He was submissive at that moment, and so responded with poetry that served to that same end and the purifying result that his brief bible study showed him was the objective of any believer’s quest to be one with God. The song was finished in just a few hours. This ‘God-moment’ became a ‘God-and-Brian-listening-to-Him-moment’. Brian assented to being ‘gold’ and ‘silver’ in His hands, being ‘set apart’, and being ‘cleanse(d)…from sin’. ‘Choos(ing) to be holy’, and making himself ‘ready’ for God’s purposes – those were life choices that this minister named Brian reaffirmed that day.

 

Though he doesn’t say so in his interview, Brian’s story implicitly declares that even church ministers have purity gaps they need to acknowledge and fill. I may not even be aware of issues that are creeping into my being, until something brings me to a screeching halt. Space has to be filled with something good or the enemy will return and move in and try to take over, even if he’s been chased out previously, as Jesus reminded us in a story about a house being apparently swept clean but remaining empty (Matthew 12:43-45). Brian’s words are a reminder that refining is necessarily an ongoing thing. One could cringe at such a prospect, but the way Brian tells it, this is something that instead becomes ‘my heart’s one desire’. If you’ve tried the enemy’s ways, and found they ultimately become destructive, don’t be discouraged. You’re not beyond hope. Try the God way, surrounding yourself with Him and His people, and you’ll feel the refiner’s fire working on you a bit. Keep coming back for more of this fire.   

 

Watch/hear the song’s story here: Refiner's Fire - How I Wrote it - Brian Doerksen (youtube.com)

 

Read about refining metal here (called metallurgy) Refining (metallurgy) - Wikipedia

 

See information on the picture showing liquid gold being poured here: File:Pouring gold.jpg - Wikimedia Commons …I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.