Goodness of God -- Jenn Johnson, Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, Ben Fielding, Brian Johnson

God is good. Have you ever heard someone say that? And yet, even Jesus – God in the flesh – had a reply to that compliment which must have befuddled those with whom he traveled and spoke (see Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19). Jenn Johnson had a reason to say out loud something about the “Goodness of God” though, because a new life was in her arms, and in a most unexpected way since she hadn’t even been pregnant nor really considering having another child. But, adopting a new baby boy was an awesome thing, and has been for so many parents over the decades since its beginning in America in the latter part of the 19^th Century (see Sister Irene and children at New York Foundling orphanage in this picture; Sister Irene is among the pioneers of modern adoption, establishing a system to board out children rather than institutionalize them.) And, it wasn’t an accident that the song spoke to the four men – her husband Brian, and Ben Fielding, Jason Ingram, and Ed Cash -- who helped Jenn finish off what she started writing in a car one day.

 

Adoption by many people can be a long process, with lots of anxiety and uncertainty, but for Jenn and Brian, it was like a miracle that proceeded so smoothly. The birth mother even related to the Johnsons so well, that she appeared at the hearing that finalized the process, one that had begun when this woman hand-picked this Christian songwriting couple to be her baby’s parents and even met them at the hospital on the day of the baby’s delivery. Even a judge of several decades who presided at the court said he’d never seen anything like it. That’s how it must be when God’s intimately involved, one might conclude. That must have been on Jenn’s mind too, when one day on the way to a doctor’s appointment, she spontaneously began to sing a song about God’s goodness, as she reflected back on her life and had a feeling that God’s faithfulness had shone through to her. Her newest child (they named him Ryder Moses) was the latest sign of His goodness, and this thought helped her produce 50-60% of the song about God’s goodness on the spot in an otherwise routine car trip to see a doctor. In talking with Ben and Jason a short time later in Redding, California, they remembered feeling that Jenn’s efforts had already produced a winner, and that little remained to do in its creation. One thing that stood out to them was that her words were so universally true, that they felt like the story she was relating through the already-completed lyrics was also theirs. Ed also contributed with some thoughts that became the song’s bridge section, saying that while the message of the song was one he hadn’t heard before, he felt that it had been around for some time. And so, he thought that that was something he wanted to communicate -- that God is relentless in running after us, meeting us in all the pain and struggle of life, even if His presence sometimes might not be very discernible. Amazingly, Ed says his anxiety at flying on a plane would depart from him whenever he listened to the song in flight.

 

Thank God for adoption! None but One is His unique (some bible translations say ‘begotten’) Son, so for me to be part of His family, I have to agree to be His adopted son. That idea was really special for someone like the apostle Paul (see Romans 8:15,23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5), for though of Jewish birth, he considered himself to have been the worst sinner (1 Timothy 1:15-16), and deservedly far from being included in God’s family. And so, when he talked to Gentiles whom he often encountered, that same message flowed to them from him, an adopted son in God’s kingdom. It is indeed special to be chosen by Him. What is the alternative to being adopted? Sister Irene must have seen and grimaced so many times at the circumstances that ensued when a baby was rejected by everyone, leaving it without a home and loving parents. God doesn’t operate an orphanage, and He sure doesn’t want to reject you and me (2 Peter 3:9). In His image-making generosity, He’s already visualized you on a path toward, and living space inside His home, and even provided a special brother and a Spirit to make sure you find the way there. The other operative factors really are the choices that you and I make.

 

Watch/hear the song story here: https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/goodness-of-god-bethel/

 

See it here also: https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/adoption-miracle-worship-song

 

See information on the photo here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Children_at_New_York_Foundling_cph.3a23917.jpg … 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 70 years or fewer… {{PD-US}} – US work that is in the public domain in the US for an unspecified reason, but presumably because it was published in the US before 1931. …found inside this article -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption

 

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

Psalm 23 (I Am Not Alone) -- Joshua Sherman, Laurel Taylor, Steven Musso, The Emerging Sound

 

It most likely happened at a summer camp. The year was 2018, and Joshua Sherman and two other musical collaborators, Laurel Taylor and Steven Musso, reached back for a song that was very old, in order to drawn something that remained potent from its object of worship. “Psalm 23 (I Am Not Alone)”, which drew upon what one shepherd once wrote about another greater shepherd, spoke to these three 21^st Century songwriters. David’s version, and so many other renderings since his day 3,000 years ago, engender peace and contentment; Joshua, Laurel, and Steven, while in the camp atmosphere of The Emerging Sound, took David’s thoughts to a place of elation and pure excitement as they considered what the Great Shepherd provides. He gives the people of His pasture so much right now, and if what’s to come because of His provision could possibly be fathomed, that would really blow the top off of all we can imagine. That’s what Joshua, Laurel, and Steven seem to want us to drink in.  

 

Joshua, Laurel, and Steven come from different places in the eastern part of the United States, so one can guess that they came together somehow to mull over, share, and create something that their ancient songwriting brother would have recognized. These three heard and read what David said, and just to rearrange his lyrics some would have been profitable, and yet they evidently had some other objective in mind when they thought about Psalm 23. Joshua ministered in Boynton Beach in southern Florida, Laurel was Nashville in Middle Tennessee, and Steven was in Albany in east-central New York, so did the three talk by phones or via some other remote devices to craft the song? Part of it may have emerged from such an interaction, but since they cite The Emerging Sound as a part of their collective composing team, we can be pretty certain that they were together at one of the summer camps that this organization hosts to foster songwriting and ultimately the spread of the Good News. They thought David’s words about the Great Shepherd and what He provides were worth repeating – protection, anointing, guidance through valleys, refreshment and restoration, the mercy and grace He offers, and the comfort and confidence that makes our souls overflow. That’s a lot. Wrap up all of that in a single package, and how does one feel? That is what is expressed in this Psalm 23 version, and you and I are invited to feel as Joshua, Laurel, and Steven unmistakably felt as they sat with each other at a campsite. They used words that David must have also felt, but left unspoken. Hallelujah and Victory (vocalized six and fifteen times, respectively, throughout the song) raise the lyrics to a new height, testifying to a thrilling awareness for what He’s laid up for us to have in His presence, in His home. We can anticipate and be confident that He will, and is already providing for us, as these three remind us that ‘my Comfort, always holds me close’, an antidote to this life of frequent challenge that He alone bestows. David surely knew all about this too, and that ‘Your Spirit lives within me’, though he did not explicitly pen these phrases. Joshua, Laurel, and Steven thought David’s heartstrings beat pretty strong in these unspoken phrases through what he did write, so why not include them three millennia later? Good idea!   

 

Not much more needs to be said to expose what three contemporary Christian songwriters discovered eight years ago. Others probably have felt similarly as they have read and thought about David’s ode to the Great Shepherd. Too often, though, it is consigned to rather sad occasions, at funerals. Its comforting tone is appropriate for soothing the wounded hearts at those times, certainly. But our great Redeemer and Protector is more than a soother, as this new version of the 23^rd Psalm communicates so powerfully. Sing the hallelujahs and victories now that we implicitly know David had in his own soul, and which Joshua, Laurel, and Steven have seen fit to shout aloud. Say them again, and again, and again. Keep doing it. Live like it, and see who else will join in. (Click on one of the links below to get yourself in the correct frame of mind!)    

 

Hear a very stirring rendition of the song here from one of the artists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpTXb_-sir8

 

Read some about the primary composer here: https://www.jasministries.com/

 

Read about another of the co-writers here: https://www.themussos.com/about

 

Read about another of the co-writers here: https://www.thechristianbeat.org/artists/laurel-taylor/

 

Read about the songwriting group that helped spawn the song here: https://www.theemergingsound.com/

 

See information about the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernhard_Plockhorst_-_Good_Shephard.jpg... 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. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States….the image may be found in this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep