King of My Heart -- John Mark McMillan and Sarah McMillan

Two words – ‘king’ and ‘good’. Those two small words would go a long way toward characterizing some lyrics that the McMillans, John Mark and Sarah, wrote around 2015 to frame how they addressed the “King of My Heart” in a personal way. And, could you guess where they had looked for those two words? Not much cryptology was necessary in this endeavor, for the ancient texts of the bible are replete with those two four-letter words; indeed, if they weren’t used to describe the Creator-God, then you could imagine that John Mark, Sarah, and the rest of us would have to do an about-face in the very fundamentals of our faith and ultimate outlook. Someday, we’ll all have face-to-face evidence that what the McMillans are saying in their song are not just some pie-in-the-sky hope-filled instincts. Faith will become sight, a once-in-a-lifetime event perhaps most closely compared to when Jesus told a blind man in Jericho that his faith had caused his sight to be given him (Mark 10:52; see the attached 17^th Century masterpiece art depiction of this miracle by Eustache Le Sueur). This man most certainly regarded Jesus as his ‘King’ and ‘Good’.

 

The McMillans don’t share just exactly which biblical passages inspired their own poetry, but given the numerous ones that mention the Lord’s kingship or goodness, perhaps it was their overwhelming sense of His nature that set in motion their production. This king happens to be different from every other one that one might meet, as this songwriting couple’s verses suggest. He doesn’t just sit on a throne, offering ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to what He observes His subjects doing. He’s serving, metaphorically, in many diverse roles: a ‘mountain’ refuge, a refreshing ‘fountain’, a protective ‘shadow’, and a ‘ransom’, not to mention a ‘song’ (v.1). And then, He’s the propelling ‘wind’ and also a steadfast ‘anchor’ (v.2), thus able to simultaneously play what appears to be two very opposite roles.  Meanwhile, He might be your life’s ‘fire’ that stirs your passion, while also just an ‘echo’ that keeps one in touch with His influence (v.2). This God seems capable of responding to you and me in whatever way He sees we most need. Perhaps that message was the one that most resonated with John Mark and Sarah – this Lord-God is ever-present and wants you to come in whatever state you find yourself. What about good? It seems like a rather tame description for the Almighty, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t awesome, or brilliant, or some other superlative better fit this One? Could it be that John Mark or Sarah took note of Jesus’ encounter with an anonymous worshipper who fell at His feet, calling Him ‘Good teacher’? (Mark 10:17-18) Jesus said ‘only God is good’. This God needs no flowery praise, glowing phrases, nor adjective-stacked-upon-adjective to address Him. Did something in Peter’s words – that impetuous fellow, who too often was quick with his lips, who later in his life reminded believers that we all draw upon His goodness for all the example we need to live a life that’s godly (1 Peter 1:3) – speak to the McMillans in their poetic craftsmanship?

 

You met any good kings lately? Human history seems to make one frown upon reflection, because there are so many examples that make this seem like a contradiction in terms. Even the ‘good’ ones made their mistakes – David, or Hezekiah, for example, both of whom needed to pray for mercy. And, blessedly for them, this God upon whom they called was a better king, filled with more goodness than either of them. How many times does one need to say He’s good? John Mark and Sarah say it at least eight times in the space of a few minutes. I could underline, italicize, embolden, and try different fonts with that word ‘good’, or add something like extra-special, or extraordinarily, etc., etc. to it. Instead, John Mark and Sarah might advise that I just try singing the basic words along my day’s various paths. And, try getting others to say so with you – that also seems to be the McMillans’ desire.

 

 

See here for some information on the song: https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/king-of-my-heart/

 

See here for information on one of the authors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mark_McMillan 

Beautiful Things -- Michael and Lisa Gungor

 

Was it pre-natal depression syndrome, a diagnosis a doctor might have offered to reassure a young couple expecting a first child? That might have been what Michael and Lisa Gungor would have heard, had they actually been pregnant at the time, about a decade into the 21^st Century. Instead, there were lots of other events outside of themselves, assailing their emotions as they tried to make sense of it all. This was in the months before they wrote that some “Beautiful Things” do indeed inhabit the world their God has created. Had the mile-high altitude affected their minds earlier, in their new home in Denver (see its flag here)? The world was a mess, and lots of their friends also had reasons to doubt the goodness of God in their own personal crises, so Michael and Lisa were asking poignantly for God to break through. And, He did…or showed that He already had.

 

The multifaceted anxieties of Michael and Lisa Gungor met up with their faith part way through the first decade of the 21^st Century, and ‘Beautiful Things’ can be seen, more or less, as the ensuing discussion that this couple must have had with each other about all that was going on. War and poverty were on Lisa’s mind during that time, not to mention several friends who were having miscarriages. Was God trying to tell Michael and her that something was amiss? Was God even watching? The Gungors wanted to have children, and yet they couldn’t help feeling apprehensive about this world. It was Lisa who began to sort through it all, and a chorus emerged about how God makes some beautiful things, even ‘out of the dust’ of the ground. And since all of us flesh-and-blood beings come from that dust, He can make beautiful things ‘out of us’, too. One can imagine Lisa and Michael looking through Genesis, the very beginning, and reassuring themselves that the Creator knows what He’s doing. Other elements of human existence, which might seem dirty or unredeemable, can likewise be transformed with God’s influence. Nevertheless, I cannot initially see all that He sees, so my doubt coexists, for a time, with evidences of Him. ‘Pain’ (v.1), and even the ‘earth’ itself (v.2) are two concrete, doubt-inducing evidences that contest God’s goodness. These things don’t just surface occasionally, either. One might say that pain and all the other difficulties on planet Earth proliferate, threatening to suffocate what is good. So, you can hear those emotions in the Gungors’ verses, those misgivings that could choke out the courage through faith that we otherwise can have. A ‘garden’ and ‘hope’ are His gifts to us, to offset – or even re-make -- the alternatives that inhabit the ‘chaos’ and ‘lost’ things. He can ‘make me (and you) new’, a realization that perhaps hit Michael and Lisa most palpably months later when they had their first child, a life He made.

 

They admit that their daughter’s arrival helped speak to Michael and Lisa about Him, so that they could see other things with His fingerprints on them. He’s capable of creating, and re-creating, so He’s able to communicate hope to me, just by being who He is. Juxtapose that characterization of Him with what His opponent wants to do. You can find it all in your bible, if you choose to look. Peter said this noxious alternative to the Creator wants to ‘devour’ humanity (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is a tempter (Matthew 4:1-10), not even stopping with Jesus. He binds people in pain (Luke 3:16), is a liar and a source for others who lie (Acts 5:3), is a masquerade artist (2 Corinthians 11:14), and the source of injustice and ultimately the lawlessness that is to come at the end times (2 Thessalonians 2:9). But, He’s been beaten in eternity (Revelation 20), so what is your choice? You want to be with our Creator of beauty, or with the beaten in a fire pit?    

 

The information for the song story is here: https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/2011/03/gungor_finds_beautiful_things.html