O Church, Arise – Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

 

What we might imagine in the form of armor, like that once worn by mounted troops in the French army (see the picture here), is what Keith Getty and Stuart Townend want Christians to think about as a metaphor for life in a spiritual struggle – one for which God has provided tools for the battle. Once you have this armor in place, you and your compatriots can say “O Church, Arise”, because then you are fully equipped for whatever comes your way. It was 2005, and Keith and Stuart had been at contemporary songwriting for some time, especially along themes meant to lift the church and remember what scripture says about its history and mission. There’s no better place to start than with what an apostle, a one-time staunch opponent of Christianity, had to say on the subject of spiritual battle.

 

Keith and Stuart needed no other circumstance or reason to write a new song in 2005, except that there was a sense that Christians needed a new injection of courage to wage the ongoing struggle with the forces of evil. And that was why they read what Paul had to say to some believers in a place called Ephesus a long time ago. What they read in Paul’s 11 verses (6:10-20) is packed with punch about how to defend oneself, and so these two songwriters took the words composed some 20 centuries earlier to construct their own musical version of this apostle’s directives. The ‘shield of faith’, ‘belt of truth’, and ‘sword’ (of truth) are part of the lyrical ‘armor’ that Keith and Stuart sing to stir others to exploit.  It’s clear that that the enemy is a ‘captor’, armed with ‘devil’s lies’, and that this is ‘war’ with ‘battle(s)’ to be fought against the forces of ‘darkness’. But lest those on the side of God misunderstand and engage in the battles the same way that the enemy does, Getty and Townend make it clear that the Christian’s mode of attack is with the unconventional. Love is our ‘battle cry’. Love is used multiple times in conjunction with ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’, for they are synonymous with the approach of our ‘captain’ – Christ. He modeled for His disciples in the few short years of His mission on earth how to behave, even unto death. It’s His ‘cross where love and mercy meet’, which initially gives Satan and his accomplices pride, but then he lies ‘crushed beneath His feet’ when the ‘Conqueror’ arises and ‘emerges’ from the sepulcher, giving all of us a reason to join in a ‘vic’try march’. Keith and Stuart conclude their four-verse hymn with a callout to the Spirit to strengthen those of us who are still here, with the help of aged believers and memories of those who’ve already gone on before us – the ‘saints of old’. We are not alone. Keith and Stuart also say that the following inspired much of their lyrics: 2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 61:1-3, and Revelation 5:9-10.

 

And, as long as we stay connected to Him through a church of strong believers, we shall never be alone. No one aims to go be with God alone in the Afterlife. Read some more of Paul’s letters, and see if you discover some regular theme in how he concludes them. Paul must have thought that church was really crucial in the life and steadfastness of others whom he called brothers and sisters. A ‘holy kiss’ was one way that Paul often told his contemporaries to regard one another (Romans, 1 + 2 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians), and that’s one way to look at what Keith and Stuart have written in ‘O Church, Arise’. You sing what their poetry coaxes from deep inside your mind and spirit – the truths of where our faith is rooted, and the direction in which we are all headed. They have us sing ‘we’ no less than six times, and so we’re all aimed in the direction of His eternal embrace, and we’re already walking arm-in-arm with each other and in His Spirit. That’s church.

 

Read about the song’s meaning according to one of the composers/authors here: O Church Arise Lyrics - Stuart Townend

Read about the composers/authors here: O Church, Arise | Hymnary.org

Read about one of the composers here: Stuart Townend (musician) - Wikipedia

Read about one of the composers here: Keith Getty - Wikipedia

See here for how the song’s lyrics compare to scripture: Is 'O Church Arise' Biblical? | The Berean Test

 

See here for information about the image: Géricault - Portrait de carabinier - Louvre - Cuirass - Wikipedia. Artist Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)… The author died in 1824, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

Revelation Song -- Jennie Lee Riddle

 

She’d been praying for a decade, and this was the result. Jennie was having more than just ‘one of those days’ when she envisioned “Revelation Song”, and though she says her thoughts were indeed a prayer, she didn’t want any more of the ‘I’ and ‘me’ to emerge from that inner stimulus that she had to write something new. Instead, what she saw as the focus was the throne and the mercy seat upon which He would be sitting, a vision perhaps as awesome and terrifying as it gets, brilliant and stunning in the light surrounding its Creator-Judge. (See the Mercy Seat shown here, as illustrated in the 1890 Holman Bible, representative of what is described in Ezekiel 1:26-28 and Revelation 4). That’s the way to lift the church up off the ‘daily… rubble…and worry’, as Jennie described herself and those with whom she worshipped in the early 2000s (Revelation Song was written in or about 2004).

 

Jenny Lee Riddle was a young mother taking care of her son one day, perhaps an otherwise ordinary day, with the exception that some feeling had been building in her consciousness for some time. From her own words and the story behind ‘Revelation Song’, we can guess that she might even have been humming or listening to another song (Gerrit Gustafson’s I Hear Angels, written in 1989) with the same scenery that she would use for her own lyrics, because she appreciated its awe-inspiring imagery. She fervently wanted to see Him in all this glory described by Ezekiel and John, this God arrayed in ‘rainbows of living color’. Not only sight, but sound will testify about Him, in ‘thunder’ and ‘a new song’, as exotic creatures surround His seat on the throne – His mercy seat (Hebrews 9:5 and Revelation 11:19) -- to utter His praises. ‘Holy, holy, holy…’ is He, this ‘Lamb who was slain’. To ‘adore You’ is the only proper response, as Jennie reminds us. Just let yourself be filled with ‘awestruck wonder’, watch the ‘flashes of lightning’, and join with ‘all creation’ to sing to the ‘King of kings’. The only ‘I’ and ‘me’ in this episode is the one in which I am overwhelmed, and yet loved, in His very presence because His merciful judgement contains compassion mingled with righteousness. ‘You are my everything’ is the only way in which I can momentarily contemplate myself, and it’s only because I’ve been drawn into final one-ness with Him, He  ‘who was, and is, and is to come’. In fact, in that moment He’s no longer in the past or future tense; think of when all of history will culminate into an eternal present. That’s where Jennie was that day, when she set her son down and picked up her guitar and vocalized some words, words she expected to come true. Look at Him upon His mercy seat, and see if you can imagine what the ancient prophets and this 21^st Century songwriter could see and hear.

 

Step into the bright sunshine, an invitation that we all accept here below without even a second thought. Put on the sunglasses, so you don’t have to squint so much, and so your eyes don’t strain with effort. They didn’t have such protection when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34), and a veil was placed over his face to make the people less afraid, so they’d be less apprehensive in the presence of one who had talked with God – they were warned not to look upon Him, after all. I will have an unveiled face to look upon Him. You and I get that now, even as Paul told the Corinthians and all believers in a post-resurrection reality (2 Corinthians 3:7-18). It’s just a warmup for what Jennie wants us to see, and I won’t be given sunglasses to shield my eyes. I’ll see Him completely. Get ready for that rainbow of colors, and Him who will bestow His gift from where He sits.   

 

See the song’s story told here by the songwriter: Bing Videos (story from beginning through 1:25)

 

See a brief blurb here about the song’s genesis: Stories behind songs that changed the way we worship | ChristianToday Australia

See some of the song’s background her Revelation Song - Wikipedia

 

See here for a description of the place where God sits: Mercy seat - Wikipedia

 

See the image information here, and its public domain status: File:Holman The Mercy Seat.jpg - Wikimedia Commons …This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1928, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation. This image might not be in the public domain outside of the United States; this especially applies in the countries and areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada, Mainland China (not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland. The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.

All My Hope -- David Crowder and Ed Cash

 

He recounts that it was a most unusual party, with a theme that resonated very well with a song he and his friend were preparing to introduce. That’s how David Crowder remembers “All My Hope” and a prodigal party to which he was invited one day in the 2016/2017 period (perhaps the scenes from the party looked a little like the one shown here in this image of a J.J. Tissot late 19^th Century painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son). How many people have parties for convicts released from prison? How many convicts have given themselves to a new life, walking in a totally different and new direction because they’ve seen the consequences of hedonism? David Crowder and Ed Cash can probably name at least one, now that they’ve observed or heard about this one prodigal that gave such potent life to the lyrics they’d shaped into a song. His name was Wilson, and though he had lived in despair and had then felt the exhilaration of physical freedom after decades of incarceration, his redemptive story is not unique. His life’s a metaphor. God didn’t come to die and rise again for people who were already in good shape – all humanity has need of Him, and we’re all prisoners without Him.  

 

David Crowder says he was traveling (place unnamed) and some friends coaxed him to go to the party, to help provide the celebratory musical environment for the event. David’s curiosity was piqued, once he heard the story about the guest of honor and realized that some of his and Ed’s lyrics for ‘All My Hope’ were so fitting for the occasion. This fellow named Wilson was ‘no stranger to prison’ (v. 2 of the song), and he’d worn real ‘shackles and chains’. Something in his prison life had stared him in the face, however – could it have been something like Prison Fellowship (founded by Chuck Colson), which has worked for over 40 years (since 1976) to help fellows like Wilson experience hope in a new direction? David and Ed, however, don’t provide those details. Instead, their focus is on the work that God does on a person…’yesterday’s gone’ (chorus) they write, a recognition that the fresh start is real in that person’s life who reaches out to Him for redemption. Being ‘forgiven’ and ‘washed by the blood’ (chorus) is that ‘salvific action of the one and only son of God’ (David’s words in the video interview). You can be a ‘prodigal returned’ (v.1), just like the once-profligate son (Luke 15:11-32). An amazing thing, isn’t it, to have the guiltless, divine, and eternal God do something like this! David recounts that he’d never heard people sing and rejoice with such energy, as he did at that party. Perhaps that’s because we rarely have such a stark view of someone’s body that has been in a ditch, covered with filth, only to see that same person lifted out of the muck and cleansed to a spot-free condition. This person has ‘been to the river’, and ‘felt fire from above’, and is ‘held by the Savior’ (v.1). That’s the lens through which God sees all those He made in His image – His creation, with self-inflicted wounds, and covered with grime that threatens to infect our insides and kill us with gangrene-like effect. He’s there with the cleansing agent – Himself.  

 

We’re all reclamation projects. Fresh Start was a ministry that had real impact where I live, initiated by a now-departed Christian sister to reclaim people for God’s original purposes for them, and based on what one of the first century’s apostles said. (Thank you, Candace Strother for helping others get in touch with 2 Corinthians 5:17!) Her efforts still echo today, and there may be other Wilsons that you know that help keep you grounded in how rescue happens, and what it looks like. It’s really not a ‘how’, but a ‘who’, right? The who is Jesus. That’s what David Crowder and Ed Cash want us to tell others – it’s ALL about Him, in big capital, italicized letters. ALL My Hope emanates from Him. Nothing can shake what He’s accomplished for you and me.   

 

The song story in brief form is found in this article: All My Hope - Wikipedia

See and watch/hear the more complete story here also, and hear a really rich rendition of the song: Behind The Song: Crowder Shares The Heart Behind His Single “All My Hope (feat. Tauren Wells)” | Freeccm.com

 

See link here for image information, including public domain status: File:Brooklyn Museum - The Return of the Prodigal Son (Le retour de l'enfant prodigue) - James Tissot.jpg - Wikimedia Commons . This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.

 

See link here if you want to know more about how a convicted prisoner’s life can be transformed for Christ: Prison Fellowship