Reckless Love -- Caleb Culver, Cory Asbury, Ran Jackson

 

He shared the moment with a concert audience in 2017, an image that perhaps Cory Asbury and his two musical collaborators, Caleb Culver and Ran Jackson, could not get out of their minds. And so, as Cory sang and told the story to the audience, this “Reckless Love” that seemed to best describe what was so fundamental about the character of the Messiah was why they were on stage singing and inviting the crowd to worship with them. That’s the part of Him that draws people’s attention. Why would God be so concerned about us, or especially about one lonely sheep when He has 99 others that are standing with Him loyally? (See Jesus carrying the lost sheep on His shoulders.) To hear Cory describe it, His is the most absurd, irrational attitude. But, consider that He’s the Creator, the one who is the original bearer of the image which you and I are supposed to mimic. Do we have a choice, really? He made me, and so at least a piece of Him – or, is it much more than a piece? -- is involved with me and my life. That’s why He goes after me, and you too. He knows something innately will draw us to Him. That’s His most basic characteristic, and His best way to reach me.

 

Cory, Caleb, and Ran must have shared more than a few moments with each other in the first seven verses of Luke 15 when they were first conceiving the lyrics and the music of ‘Reckless Love’. The story begins with the religious legal eagles berating Jesus for eating with people they thought were the throwaways in their midst – tax collectors and other sinners. So, to them, the authorities who were so learned, Jesus was indeed reckless. But, the poetry that Cory, Caleb, and Ran penned begins by reminding us that He made us, was ‘singing’ over and ‘breathing’ into you and me (v.1), and thereby exulting over and investing a part of Himself in us before we even emerged from our mothers’ wombs. In verse two, these three songwriters project the human life into the time after birth, when the fully-formed person makes his/her own choices, even to be His ‘foe’, or perhaps to become despondent when one feels ‘no worth’ in existence. In any circumstance, He goes out to find and lift that person onto His shoulders, to bear his/her pain. Cory’s words at the 2017 concert reminded people that God’s not calculating His own cost at doing this ridiculous thing. Indeed, the depth of His apparent folly just might be the method for getting our attention; He hopes that you and I will take a long look at Him, and respond in kind. There’s nothing really reckless in God’s nature, Cory said at the concert. But, the way He’s loved is so far outside of the box of what we consider reasonable, that it helps us accept how and why He could choose the cross over His own safety. Think about for a moment…what if He had not decided to be so reckless?        

 

According to Cory, Caleb, and Ran, this God-Man did something that showed His love so completely, that it goes on, perpetually. There are other stories that Jesus told that get across the same point (like the lost/prodigal son story, later in the same bible chapter in Luke’s gospel). It doesn’t matter how many times I mess up, for He wants me back every time. He keeps ‘coming after me’ (song’s chorus) with this unrelenting desire to take down ‘a wall’, climb a ‘mountain’, or expose ‘lie(s)’ or ‘shadow (s)’ with His light to get to me. The hardest thing sometimes to understand about this Almighty, Omnipotent One is that He won’t force me to do anything. If He’s so powerful, why not just make me? But, He’s got a better way, and it’s not supposed to make earthly sense. Kindness and goodness, that’s how these three songwriters had re-discovered God’s way to ‘overwhelm’ (chorus) you and me. If you don’t respond to His way, consider the alternatives…and then choose which method/s you prefer.

 

Read about the song’s development here: Reckless Love (song) - Wikipedia

 

See the song performed and the story of its background told here: Reckless Love (Live with story) - Cory Asbury | Heaven Come 2017 (story told at 5:35 -  9:38 of video)

 

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Pour Out Your Spirit -- Gary Rhodes

 

Could he have been reading about what transpired in the 1^st Century, about an amazing day when the Christian church was born? Gary Rhodes had the musical gift in the early 1990s, including around the year 1994 when he prayed “Pour Out Your Spirit” in a musical petition, probably a method that was familiar to him from previous experiences. From the Glen Rose, Texas area (in Somervell County, see the map), where Gary and others had produced an inspiring musical story called The Promise (in 1989), Gary had really settled into his life’s passion, to tell stories of God through music. Asking for God to bestow a further measure of the Spirit might have seemed a bit unusual for anyone looking at what Gary was already doing. But, we all feel the need to call out to Him and sense Him more tangibly at times. Jesus’ entry into planet earth was fairly mild compared to what would happen some 33 years later, including after He ascended, when a strong wind inhabited 12 men who’d known God face-to-face. That kind of phenomenon doesn’t happen every day, and sure got the attention of the thousands who were in Jerusalem that day.

 

Did Gary want something amazing, a renewal of sorts as 1994 transpired? Had something in life grown a little stale? We do not know, since this composer has not openly shared any background regarding why asking for the Spirit was important to him in 1994. But, taking a look at what he penned does give us some ideas. He wanted a ‘fresh touch’ (v.1), and more ‘passion’ (v.2). When the apostles felt the Spirit come upon them (Acts 2), it was with great effect so that many who had not known Jesus were drawn to hear what Peter had to say to them about their Messiah. He was someone that many of them had heard about, and yet they had not been moved enough to cling to Him…yet. Could a similar experience have been on Gary’s mind? He’d been intimately involved in producing musicals (he wrote or arranged seven of the 25 songs in The Promise), and had already or would eventually be engaged in many other productions (Jesus, Son of God; Lift Up Your Eyes; He’s Alive; and Experiencing God, all musicals [and maybe others?] that would be attributed to him), but did he still feel that something was missing? Another fellow in history named Apollos and some other Christ-believers (Acts 18:24-19:6) had not received the Spirit, so something was missing until they received Him. Perhaps that was what Gary longed to see happen where he was, to observe people’s lives being changed more clearly and powerfully because of the Spirit’s presence and indwelling influence. One cannot tell stories about God in well-done musical productions without some sense of desire to see His impact on people. Just take note of the titles of the musicals that Gary touched – all of which direct the observer’s attention to God – and it must have energized Gary to keep up these efforts. Once a person gets a taste of God, the appetite only grows. Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8a), David once wrote. That sounds something like what Gary might have felt, to have the ‘fire’ (v.1) of His Spirit ‘burn(ed)…deep in (his) heart’ (v.2), so that His ‘glory might be known’(v.2). In short, Gary wanted to be more like one of His disciples about whom he’d probably read many times, and a better good news-spreader.  

   

Are you and I any less capable than Gary Rhodes? I cannot write and produce musicals, but I can do other things. Do you write some (like me), teach classes, preach sermons, help run/repair equipment at a church, help feed others, send cards of encouragement to sick people, or any countless number of other activities that might not be noted as particularly powerful Spirit-filled activities? Gary apparently wanted something ‘fresh’, but that didn’t necessarily mean something in his kit-bag was tossed aside. Injection of new energy – ‘passion’ -- is how Gary characterized it. Jesus got tired, too, so He understands that tedium can invade the human spirit at times. It’s kind of amazing to be reminded that Jesus also experienced the Spirit coming upon Himself at times too, although He was already God. But, He was conceived through the Spirit, had the Spirit alight on Him after being baptized, was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, returned to his home region (Galilee) with the Spirit’s power, and more (try doing a search on ‘Jesus’ and ‘Spirit’ to see these episodes). He’s always there…perhaps Jesus just invited Him in more often than you and I do.  

 

See the link here to a still-running musical (The Promise) for which the composer arranged much of the music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Promise_(musical)

 

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Open Up Our Eyes -- Chris Brown, London Gatch, Mack Brock, Stuart Garrard, Wade Joyce

 

These fellows were familiar with their bibles…that much probably could be said. There were five of them -- Chris Brown, London Gatch, Mack Brock, Stuart Garrard, and Wade Joyce – who were part of the Elevation Worship Church in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012 (see the seal of Charlotte here), and they collectively said “Open Up Our Eyes”. But that was not all they had to say to the One their church was elevating. A group of people lifts up a name because of that name-wearer’s reputation, and in this case these five songwriters mentioned several of His characteristics that stood out to them. And if someone opens his eyes to take a look and sees these traits clearly, what follows is a decision that everyone should eventually make for themselves, based upon a simple question: Is He dependable, someone whom I should follow and trust? The response that Chris, London, Mack, Stuart, and Wade recorded also emphasized one other thing to consider: none of us ever has to be alone when He’s in the picture…a big deal when mortality becomes oh so real for each of us.  

 

There’s probably a circumstance or brief story about why these five band members in Charlotte decided to say ‘Open Up Our Eyes’, but it has not been exposed for us to see; perhaps they thought the song’s words said enough about the message they were conveying. Nevertheless, several of the phrases they included in the lyrics provide clues to the song’s genesis. They begin with ‘greater is the One’, so perhaps they were reading what the Hebrews writer had to say about Jesus in several places (3:3, and so much of what follows in the rest of Hebrews). They also refer to the One they trust as ‘mighty’, ‘stronger’, and as ‘Our God…fighting…’, so apparently, they looked to God to help with struggles, an idea that could be found among any number of biblical episodes. But, then there’s also the oft-used phrase ‘His love endures forever’, a pretty common theme in Old Testament history when the people were in a traditional worship space, especially in a tabernacle with the ark of the covenant present, or at the temple, and thus routinely written as part of several psalms (100, 106, 107, 117, 118, and especially 136). But, how about when the people were in fighting mode, when they needed a warrior? There’s one episode, in 2 Chron 20, when a king named Jehoshaphat marshalled the army to fight, and had to instill in them a fervor to take on not just one, but two enemies (Moab and Ammon). At the head of this army were the singers with this phrase in their hearts and on their lips. Can you guess at the outcome of the battle? The men under Jehoshaphat were also under God, and He was the one that mattered most. These men felt that He was with them…there were no foxhole Atheists in that group! The five Elevation worshippers felt the same, for they conclude their own testimonial song with several iterations of ‘We are not alone’ that follow ‘Our God is fighting…’. Was someone named Josh or Jehoshaphat also present as they composed?

 

Jehoshaphat also prayed before the battle (2 Chron. 20:5-12), concluding by saying that …our eyes are on you (God) (v.12). Could that thought also have inspired these 21^st Century songwriters, that our eyes need to be opened to see Him? Could it have also been the episode when the prophet Elisha prayed that the servant with him would see the hills full of horses and chariots to oppose an Aramean army (2 Kings 6:8-23), an army that would be also blinded in the following moments? In either biblical story, God is with those who want to be with Him, to follow Him. Asking to see Him might seem to be a tall order, and in fact it was for Moses (Exodus 33:18-23). But we can see Him now through another (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)…read it and see for yourself how this sight, which was forbidden to Moses, could now be possible.     

 

Read about the group that premiered the song here: Elevation Worship - Wikipedia

 

Read about the album on which the song appeared here: Nothing Is Wasted (album) - Wikipedia

 

See some comments about the song here: Meaning of Open Up Our Eyes by Elevation Worship

 

See information about the seal of Charlotte here: File:New seal of Charlotte, North Carolina.svg - Wikimedia Commons…This file is in the public domain because official item legally exempt from copyright in its country of origin.