Raise a Hallelujah -- Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser, Molly Skaggs, Jake Stevens

 

Could another symbol trigger more anxiety for parents than this rather innocuous blue square with an ‘H’ in it? Sickness is devastating for parents of young children, and it’s probably safe to assume that if it happens at Christmastime, the ache is magnified. Who wants to be in a hospital at a time of the year when children are supposed to be joyfully anticipating presents, making Christmas cookies, playing in the snow, and hearing about the Christ-birth miracle? But, that’s where friends and cohorts of the Helsers (Jonathan David and Melissa), Molly Skaggs, and Jake Stevens were, late in 2018. A little boy (Jaxon Taylor, son of Joel and Janie Taylor) had a potentially deadly illness, and so they did what Christians do: they prayed, I “Raise a Hallelujah”, despite an overwhelming sense that they would be at a funeral service in the coming days. They called it a miracle when Jaxon recovered. Tragedy was transmuted to joy and further affirmed the trust they had already expressed to the Great Physician. Wanna be moved emotionally, and rediscover that He cares when we’re in trouble? Check out the links to the story of the song below the next paragraph. They speak for themselves…

 

It was a Job-like moment (Job 1:13-22). He too must have felt that the enemy was nearby, observing and gloating that he and his family were under assault. In Job’s case, the assault actually succeeded in killing his sons, daughters, and servants, so from this episode, we might have expected a righteous indignation to erupt from his soul. And yet, he worshipped (v.21). How? Why? Perhaps it is just another phase in the response of a genuine believer -- that one does not run or complain, but confronts the enemy by calling upon Him who sees all. Realize you don’t have all the ammunition to win the fight, and instead call headquarters and ask for the strategic strike. That’s kinda what Jonathan Helser describes in that instant in which he and Melissa were facing a ‘giant of unbelief’, and something spontaneous happened in that unforgettable moment. He sang the song’s title words ‘in the presence of the enemies’; indeed, this was his only ‘weapon…the melody’ he was singing. In this defining moment, the song was recorded and subsequently given to the Taylors, who played it over their stricken little boy. ‘Victory’…that is the name of the album that contains this song, an appropriate designation for the reversal of this deathbed-like incident and the recovery of Jaxon! God is still the God who cares, and listens to those like Joseph, Daniel and his three friends, Job, and so many others who remained upright despite staggering circumstances. Just re-read Hebrews 11, flash the ‘V’ with two fingers, and sing your own hallelujah the next time you feel afflicted.          

 

See the song’s story in the following links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_a_Hallelujah

 

https://www.thechristianbeat.org/miraculous-global-unifying-story-three-year-old-jaxon-taylor-inspired-new-bethel-music-favorite/

 

https://www.foxnews.com/health/two-year-old-jaxons-miracle-healing-sparked-worship-anthem-we-believe-in-the-power-of-praise

 

https://www.faithwire.com/2019/02/18/interview-bethels-joel-taylor-reveals-tragedy-turned-victory-that-birthed-new-worship-album/

 

This is the link for the hospital symbol: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hospital.svg (Public domain statement from copyright holder: “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.”)

Glorious Day -- Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram, Jonathan Smith, Sean Curran

It is passion…pure, unabashed, and fully grown, at least as much as can be acquired here in our mortal forms. That’s what you hear coming from Kristian Stanfill and Sean Curran as they share the exhilaration they’ve experienced in the “Glorious Day” that they and their two friends, Jason Ingram and Jonathan Smith, wrote and sang a few years ago for the first time. Perhaps their energy is not too unlike what David the King and poet did himself in unashamed joy before God and all people to see (2 Samuel 6:5, 14-15). In fact, ‘Passion’ is the name and the intent of the worship experience these fellows and many others have promoted in Atlanta and around the world. It’s an annual event geared for young adults (college age), but when you really let the words of their song fill you, it won’t matter what age you are. See if you don’t feel like jumping out of your seat and flying, just like the winged creature in this seal of Atlanta!

 

A video (see its link below) shows Kristian Stanfill and Sean Curran telling viewers about the unforgettable moment when they first heard the unfinished work – the initial words of one verse and a chorus – that their friends Jason and Jonathan had sent them. It must have had the impact that Jason and Jonathan expected, for another two verses and a bridge section eventually emerged from that introductory copy of ‘Glorious Day’ that they heard. It’s a good thing that Jason was driving the car in which Kristian was riding, because it might have veered erratically or caused an accident, because Kristian said he thought he was going to go through the car’s roof when he heard it. They are dynamic words that describe something in all believers’ future that will be revolutionary and electric – when you and I will ‘(run) out of that grave.’ (It should be an exclamation mark, not just a period that concludes that phrase!) Kristian says he could envision what those words would do, how they would electrify a crowd of worshipers at the annual Passion worship experience-conference when they heard it. Sean says he crafted the song’s bridge, by appreciating that God ‘didn’t stop at saving us’ and that we sing the bridge’s words to celebrate all the things He’s allowed us to overcome. Just imagine that future, Sean says, one that is almost unimaginably bright. Sean could see that we’ll all be able to look behind ourselves, and see that each of us ‘needed rescue…shelter’, because we were weighed down with our own burdens; we’re ‘orphan(s)’ who needed ‘healing’, and yet God did not just watch and weep, but broke ‘chains’, made us ‘citizen(s) of heaven’, and lets us breathe His ‘love’ as our ‘air’. These songwriters’ words tell me ‘my tomb’ is something I can already be sure I will escape, even now. They invite each of us to rejoice that He has already ‘called my name’. It’s as if the ‘Glorious Day’ has already dawned, obliterating ‘the darkness’ for the crowd who sings it in the video with Kristian and the others.

 

Kristian sums up the song’s message by saying that it communicates something universally true for everyone who trusts in God. We’re ‘chosen’, he says. Kristian must have implicitly understood the bible writers’ words – that all men die (Job 30:23; Acts 17:31; Ecclesiastes 3:2 and 9:5), a truism that’s described as an unyielding appointment at the end of life. But, Kristian and his three 21^st Century songwriters want there to be no misunderstanding: Death is not the end, and darkness won’t envelope you and me forever, not if we connect to the One of eternal ‘marvelous light’. Imagine coming back to life, to live forever! All will die, but the sequel is greater, with a never-ending joy. The song at the end of this movie just doesn’t end. That’s worth a hallelujah, at least a skip in my step, and many fist-pumps!

 

 

See comments by authors here re: song’s story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTAvmRZplvc or here: https://freeccm.com/2017/02/28/behind-the-song-passion-shares-the-heart-behind-their-song-glorious-day/ 

Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus) – Chris Rice

 

Was he undecided at first, and then later thought the title should be self-evident? Chris Rice was apparently working as a youth and young adult worship leader in the early 2000s, when he spelled out a simple message to this age group – Jesus. “Come to Jesus”, Chris said, although the song’s primary title was “Untitled Hymn”. It’s a curious title…what’s it mean to sing an ‘Untitled Hymn’? However, once you hear the poetry and the music, the song will undoubtedly be memorable for you. It's about the life cycle of a Christian – from birth, thru mid-life and its various ups and downs, and then to the end of mortal life, where there’s a re-birth because of Jesus. That’s something we can all celebrate, even now.  Wherever you are on the timeline, Chris said that the God-Son is the one to whom you can turn.

 

Perhaps the title of the album on which the ‘Untitled Hymn’ was released helps decipher Chris’ thinking at the time when it was written; or, we might just have to ask him when we meet him, whereupon he just might say ‘see the parentheses’! ‘Untitled…’ is part of the Run the Earth…Watch the Sky album recorded and released in 2003. What this 41-year-old advised was that any person’s earthly life has a beginning and an apparent end, and some ups and downs in between. Two of his song’s verses suggest that the person in the midst of a mortal struggle should gaze upward – watch the sky. ‘Raise your head…’ (v.1) and ‘Fly…’ (v.6), because that is where you will capture a vision of Jesus, he says. There’s lots more that those two verses bookend, and if you happen to be reading a bible and focusing on the subject of life, you might detect some parallel thoughts in Chris’ musical creation. Was this, more or less, what Chris Rice was up to when he penned his six verses? It would be interesting to know if Chris shared his idea for a six-verse song with his music publisher, and what they thought of such an enterprise. After all, most contemporary Christian music has just a few verses and perhaps a memorable chorus. But, as any bible student, even a casual one, might observe, life cannot really be described in just a few verses. ‘Life’ is a common biblical word (no surprise), used most often in Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, John’s gospel, Romans, and Revelation. Life begins and ends quickly and ignominiously for most humans in Genesis, but a few like Noah and others ‘raised (their) head(s)’ (v. 1) and were saved. The newborn Christian feels his ‘burden’s lifted’ (v.2), because God has given him a path to life. Rice’s next two verses tell of the valleys, not unlike what one might read in Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. I can ‘fall’ (v.3) and ‘cry’ (v.4), but the solution in both circumstances is Jesus. In John’s biographic sketch of Jesus, and Paul’s treatise for the Romans, a Christian can ‘dance’ (v.5 of Chris’ song) theologically because of the eternal life in Jesus that these apostles help you and me understand and celebrate.  Finally, John’s Revelation tells me of the culmination of it all, when I will ‘fly’ (v.6) toward Jesus and experience the book of life, the water of life, and the tree of life, though I will have my ‘final heartbeat’ here on earth.   

 

Where are you and me on the timeline? How would you title or sum up your life’s experience up to this point? That’s what you might imagine Chris Rice was challenging some young people to mull over, as he told them the one-word answer that even the despondent could use. Don’t hesitate to ‘come’, ‘sing’, ‘fall’, ‘cry’, ‘dance’, and ‘fly’. They’re all action verbs, so no sitting will be effective in acquiring the life that Jesus wants you and me to have. That’s another way to encapsulate the message that Chris Rice would have spoken for you some 20 years ago. It’s also one your bible would speak to you. Dust off that cover and see for yourself.

 

 

See biography on the author here: https://chrisrice.com/

 

See more on the author here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rice#:~:text=Chris%20Rice%2C%20a%20native%20of%20Clinton%2C%20Maryland%2C%20grew,his%20early%20work%20with%20youth%20and%20college%20students.