Love Like You -- Randy Gill

 

Who doesn’t feel even just a twinge of appreciation, or perhaps something stronger like affection, when you learn that you are the object of someone’s love? Perhaps when you were in school, you got the little chalky, heart-shaped candies (like those shown here) on Valentine’s Day, or someone sent you an anonymous flower to declare that friendship or love was in someone’s heart for little old you! That’s a faint reflection of what God thinks of you and me, if you read very far in a bible. If you have seen the guy at the televised sporting event, you might even recall that John 3:16 is what his sign said -- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Perhaps you can even quote this phrase from memory that Jesus spoke as He attempted to teach a curious and puzzled man named Nicodemus. As Randy Gill has reminded us, “Love Like You” is not just an emotion-filled moment, or even a years-long commitment. It’s a lifetime-shaping challenge to show Him to others.      

 

Randy has not said what this 2010 song’s inspiration was, although it has been included among the music collection that he and others have entitled ‘Fearless for You’. Perhaps what Randy was getting at is suggested in the scripture associated with the song’s few details at one online site (see it below) -- John 17:23. Jesus was praying just before he was going to be arrested, tried illegally, beaten savagely, and then shamefully crucified. He needed reassurance, particularly that his mission to train 12 specially chosen men would not fail, and that others would cling to the message about Him that they would receive from them, and that they would stick together. That’s how Jesus defined love  – …complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. So, Jesus -- that’s the hardest part of love, sticking together, through thick and thin? Need we be fearful, if we have a love like You wanted us to inherit? That little four-letter word is often confused with gentleness, maybe even fragility. But not with Jesus. It’s a word He used often; indeed, it appears in the bible some 686 times (in the NIV translation, according to the Bible Gateway search engine), including in 60 of the bible’s 66 books (it’s missing only in the NT’s book of Acts; and in the OT’s books of 2 Kings, and four of the minor prophets [Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Haggai]). Maybe it was used, especially by Jesus, because it is such a tough thing to do. That’s what Randy’s simple but incisive lyrics also communicate. Do this as He did it. In love, and in giving, so that’s a mouthful when you and I make such an attempt. Being more like Him takes a pretty long time, and it’s not a surprise when the exercise feels like two steps forward followed by one step backwards. That’s you and me. Randy and the rest of us are in the same category, aren’t we? Why else would he have used ‘us’ in his lyrics? It’s a group effort, as much for us as it was for those fellas in the 1^st Century.

 

Fortunately, we have a way of fortifying our spirit of love, as Randy’s other words remind us. It’s another habit we gather from watching Him – Prayer. Jesus did this as often perhaps as He did when He was loving people, and we could guess that that must have been a synergistic experience for Him. Connecting with the One who is love (1 John 4:8, 16) makes that connection unbreakable, as the beloved apostle told us. That’s not a frail, kinda delicate thing. God isn’t brittle, just because He was killed. He let it happen, so that His utter power – with love as its engine -- could be displayed to its fullest extent. That’s what you and I tap into when we have His love in us. Maybe He might have added ‘handle with care’, when He told the disciples to love, huh? Make sure you tell others it’s His love, flowing through yourself, so that they will know where they can go to plug in also.  

 

See some scant details about the song here: https://wordtoworship.com/song/116470

 

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Necco-Candy-SweetHearts.jpg (English: An array of Necco Sweethearts (conversation hearts). Little, chalky pieces of candy with phrases written on them; available around Valentine's Day.) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. …found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

To the Least of These -- Randy Gill

 

He’d just found out that his friend was behind bars. That’s what it was, with no sugar-coating. Shock, disbelief, disappointment – those were all present on the day that Randy Gill discovered something about a friend, a guy with whom he’d felt a certain camaraderie existed. His friend now wore an emotional weight about his neck, perhaps not unlike a millstone that brings someone low, threatening to drown him. Such a person, one who has disgraced himself, might be in the same quandary as the homeless, destitute soul we too often see at the traffic light, a battered creature asking for a handout. (The image ‘Least of These’ shown here is the placard used by a group at this blogger’s church, a group that seeks to help homeless people in Washington, DC each week.) “To the Least of These”, Randy thought, as he studied scripture and cried out with his insides after mourning his friend’s circumstances all night. And so, with that prayer, Randy helped something productive emerge from a tough situation. Hear Randy’s own thoughts about this below, and consider the phrase ‘there but for the grace of God, go I…’, probably something that we all ought to contemplate the next time we see a fellow human in a deep struggle.

 

One afternoon I learned that a dear friend of mine had been arrested. A secret life none of us would have imagined had suddenly become very public. It was humiliating to my friend and devastating to all of us who loved him. In the days that followed he lost his job, his reputation and was fearful he’d lose his family. I couldn’t stop thinking about how a life could totally change in an instant and my heart broke as I tried to decide how to respond to someone I had loved and admired for years.

 One morning, after a sleepless night, I sat down at my piano and started playing a simple melody. I began thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 about responding to the least of these. The second verse was actually written first – a direct response to my friend:

 May we reach out to the broken - The beaten the battered

To all who have fallen - Disgraced and ashamed

May we be a comfort - Loving forgiving

and offering grace in Your Name

 That was my prayer. I wanted to respond to my friend with the same grace the Father had shown me. The first verse and chorus were meant to broaden the scope of the song. I’ve always loved the simplicity of the chorus.

 To the last, to the lost, to the least of these. Let us be Jesus today.

I’m happy to say that my friend is doing well in a new career and his family has remained supportive of him throughout his long rehabilitation.

Thanks Randy, for reminding us about the attitude of grace….there’s never too much about Jesus that we can share today.

 

See here some biographic information on the song’s author: Randy Gill | Directory | Lipscomb University

 

Many thanks to Randy Gill, the song’s author/composer, for sharing his memories of the song with this blogger on 9/4/2023.

 

The image of ‘Least of These’ was obtained from the Fairfax Church of Christ Website: https://fxcc.org/ministries/local-outreach/

Deep Calls to Deep -- Randy Gill

 

His family was enduring a deep hurt, so he figured there was no better place to go than to a psalmist who had likewise been suffering, and who called out to the Creator-Healer from a deep pit. Psalm 42 was where Randy Gill went in his abject despair, voicing “Deep Calls to Deep” in 2001, when he feared his family just might be disintegrating before his eyes (perhaps metaphorically ending up not unlike what would happen months later to the Twin Towers in New York…see the photo here). Could Randy have known that his own heart’s therapy would also be salve for a much bigger wound for thousands of people, even a nation? Read on to hear in Randy’s own words what ‘Deep Calls…’ meant when he wrote it, as we today remember a memorable, heart-rending day nearly 22 years ago.  

 

Deep Calls to Deep was written in the spring of 2001. Our adult son had been struggling with drug addiction for years and it was devastating for my wife and me. He would visit from time to time and we were never sure when he left whether we'd ever see him again. My wife and I had even had the very difficult conversation about whether our marriage would survive if he died. That spring was especially hard for all of us and I had taken to reading and re-reading Psalm 42. So many of the psalms are laments, but the language of deep calling out to deep really resonated with me. I wrote the song as a way of reminding myself that even in the worst of times, the psalmist was committed to praising God.

 

ZOE (an acapella singing group) recorded the song in the summer of 2001 and we decided to make lament the theme of our conference that fall. Several of us were dealing with challenges and we thought a conference focusing on the need for expressing our pain to God might be helpful for lots of people. We felt like the church needed to be reminded of the power and place of lament in worship. The conference and the release of the CD were scheduled for the first week of October, but I sent a pre-release copy of Deep Calls to Deep to my friend Larry Mudd who was the worship minister at the Manhattan Church of Christ. He received the song the first week of September. Neither one of us knew at the time how appropriate it was about to become. As far as I can tell, the first time Deep Calls to Deep was ever sung by a congregation was at the Manhattan Church of Christ the Sunday after 9/11.

 

I’m so humbled and moved that the song has meant so much to people in times of trouble and heartbreak. BTW - my son is now healthy and sober.    

 

What was it that fellow over 2,000 years ago said to a group of Corinthians?  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.(2 Corinthians 1:3-4). My misery and healing may be used to help someone else, so pass it along, Paul says. You might call it Grief Share…that’s the name of a ministry that a good Christian sister I know is using to reach others who need it, who need some soul medicine for deep hurts. You may also have heard of Celebrate Recovery; it’s for those who have finally admitted there is something amiss in their lives, and they too want Christian community healing. It all emanates from Him, the One who used His own deep hurt, and an incalculable price He paid, to draw us, His church. Yours might be a deep wound, but our God is a bottomless well of compassion. Thanks to Randy and all of you who serve and love others…you remind us how deep and amazing is our God.       

 

See here some biographic information on the song’s author: Randy Gill | Directory | Lipscomb University

 

Many thanks to Randy Gill, the song’s author/composer, for sharing his memories of the song with this blogger on 9/4/2023.

 

See link here for picture of the World Trade Center destruction in Manhattan in the wake of 9/11/2001: File:FEMA - 3969 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-19-2001 in New York.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (This image is a work of a Federal Emergency Management Agency employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As works of the U.S. federal government, all FEMA images are in the public domain in the United States. Additional media usage information may be found at https://www.fema.gov/photo-video-audio-use-guidelines)