Goodbye Yesterday -- Grace Binion, Joshua Holiday, Mitch Wong, Steven Furtick

 

You can tell of whom they were thinking when they penned the words. Grace Binion, Joshua Holiday, Mitch Wong, and Steven Furtick were undoubtedly thinking of new converts, and that comes through clearly when the lyrics they wrote for “Goodbye Yesterday” are sung or heard. Such a group would be doing and feeling more than just sighing with relief  (‘Whew, I’m saved’), but rather jumping for joy, they thought. The transformation that takes place is more than a feeling and a memory; it’s a new life. These members of the Charlotte-based Elevation Rhythm band (see the seal of Charlotte here) take their name and the praise that they help propagate seriously. Elevate has to mean more than standing and singing, because when the depth of someone’s former condition is known, and the certainty of God’s salvation is appreciated, how can the response be anything but what these four 21^st Century composers brought to the table for others to consume and to further themselves with utter delight? One can imagine that that will be magnified exponentially in the new morning to come.   

 

Nate Diaz tells this much in an interview about ‘Goodbye Yesterday: The song has a connection to an old hymn I Have Decided to Follow Jesus (see the blog entry for 4/2/2016), which was the basis for some of the lyrics, and which was on Steven Furtick’s lips pretty spontaneously as the bridge portion of the song. Nate says the song is pretty ‘blunt’ and the bridge lyrics that they sing -- ‘I have decided’ and ‘no turning back’ -- are meant for people who are eager and full of zeal to proclaim their allegiance to Him out loud, who are very unashamed of their devotion. Nate said it was really energizing to see young people singing this with fervor, because the age in which we live is filled with temptation to entertain them, instead of trying to get them to truly follow God. The environment sounds kind of like what you might observe among a group of fanatical sports fans, whose team just won the championship right in front of their collective eyes. It wouldn’t be a surprise if these fans also sang an anthem song at such an event, and that’s how Josh Holiday describes ‘Goodbye…’, as an anthem to celebrate salvation. There’s no hesitation in such a gathering, when people know their hope and expectation is based on a guarantee from the One who made humans and wants them to join Him in the Forever place. Perhaps that was part of the thinking – that it is a celebration of what’s already been won – when this group of musicians decided upon a name for the album, Victory Lap, which contains the song ‘Goodbye…’ that they produced in 2024. ‘New day’, ‘born again’, and ‘resurrection in my veins’ join the song’s title words and the bridge section to reinforce what the new creation experiences when the old dead-end ways are traded for what He offers.

 

And so, the song has an energy, which is not really a shocker. It’s one that the participant just cannot really feel unless he’s on his feet, ready to move even just a little bit. If someone says ‘party’, that would be part of the thrill too, to realize that you are on the winning side and that the door to this gala has been opened for you to step inside and feel the clap on your back and the embrace of everyone you see. There’s an event at a church that this blogger has volunteered to join next month, just to see this kind of sensation. It’s called Night to Shine. Utter joy. That’s what awaits us who believe, and it’s not reserved for just a mild-mannered sort of satisfaction that you might feel after receiving a congratulatory handshake at some routine event, perhaps when you are promoted, one that’s filled with a few pieces of cake and some punch, an event that concludes after 45 minutes. No, as the Elevation Rhythm band reminds us in ‘Goodbye…’, this party goes on ‘again, and again, and again, and again’, as many times as He has  rescued me from a hole-in-the-ground ending. ‘Dancin’ on the grave…’ in this case is OK, because it’s not someone else’s demise about which I sing. It’s the one where I’ve buried my old past. You can choose -- either the hole in the ground, or the party above ground.  

 

Read some brief comments about the song here: https://www.klove.com/music/blog/new-music/elevation-rhythm-s-goodbye-yesterday-sets-the-tone-for-a-new-day-9498

 

Hear some more about the song’s development here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOoRoChETJ3/

 

Read a brief bio on the group Elevation Rhythm here: https://www.klove.com/music/artists/elevation-rhythm

 

See information about the seal of Charlotte here: File:New seal of Charlotte, North Carolina.svg - Wikimedia Commons…This file is in the public domain because official item legally exempt from copyright in its country of origin. The image can be found in this document:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte,_North_Carolina

Come Unto Jesus -- Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, Laura Story, Jesus

 

This song has many writers, but it must begin with the One who first spoke the words that no human being could disparage. What Jesus said about wanting to give people rest from their burdens should reverberate within every one of us, for who doesn’t want to be relieved of trouble? No one wants anxiety, and yet it comes, coaxing us to listen closely to the God-Son’s promise. The text of Matthew chapter 11 begins by saying that Jesus went through the region of Galilee (see the map-graphic here that shows that area in about 50 AD) teaching and preaching, and the chapter ends (vv. 28-30) with Him saying something that Thomas Moore and Thomas Hastings, along with the tune-writer Samuel Webbe, highlighted in a 19^th Century hymn, Come, Ye Disconsolate. That hymn underscored what Jesus said, and then spoke lyrically once more to three 21^st Century songwriters -- Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, and Laura Story – in Come Unto Jesus. It is evidence that what Jesus said is still relevant, and always will be to those of us who need what He offers.

 

Laura Story says that Come Unto Jesus is a modern hymn for today (the song was published in 2023), and yet its roots are in something that Jesus wanted all of us to know 2,000 years ago. She reminds us of what Jesus’ words mean – that we don’t have to fix ourselves before coming to Him for relief. It’s a fallacy that our culture tries to get us to accept, that we cannot admit weakness, cannot be anything but complete, and certainly cannot have a mess in our lives when we approach Him. Laura says that she and her two collaborators, Jordan and Matt, asked themselves what the people in our world needed to be reminded of most when they sat down to think and write Come Unto Jesus.  Busyness and distraction were apparent, they said, impeding the worship atmosphere they felt they needed to foster in the songs they would bring before the church. What the ancient writer Matthew remembered that Jesus said in the region of Galilee came to them, and provided the foundation for what they wanted to say. Their lyrics also leaned heavily upon their 19^th Century musical ancestors, Thomas Moore and Thomas Hastings, to reemphasize what those two evidently felt was plaguing their own era – the same thing that is still around in the 21^st Century. Weary people have all sorts of problems and turmoil, and may become the refuse of the culture, the ones society has shoved aside because of the chaos that is so pervasive in their lives. Laura points to what another writer, Paul, had to say regarding the peace that Jesus translates to us that is beyond all understanding (Philippians 4:7). People who have descended into a pit so deep that they cannot even recall how the mayhem actually began need something equally as powerful and transcendent to resurrect themselves. That is Jesus.  

 

Laura says another ancestor spoke words that still mean something today, because they also lean on this axiom – that Jesus is the only source of lasting peace. “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” Saint Augustine of Hippo reminded people of his own era (4^th/5^th Century A.D.) with those words, so what does that communicate? If you are one that thinks you can help yourself, if you are a ‘pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps’ type of person, then reconsider that mindset. Yes, everyone needs to have some abilities to function in the world, to make civil society possible. But wars, disease, prisons and the criminal activity that puts people in them, and the strains of just daily living – financially, relationally, emotionally, and otherwise – can make you and me crack under the pressure so easily. I cannot handle all of myself, and cannot even contemplate controlling everyone and everything else within view. It all is a recipe for trouble in a place I cannot escape, except by death. Jesus offers something that even overcomes that terminal option. Don’t try the death part before you give Him a shot, OK?   

 

Read about the song’s story here: https://www.leadworshipwell.com/behind-the-song/laura-story-come-unto-jesus

 

This site indicates the song’s publishing year: https://hymnary.org/tune/come_unto_jesus_kauflin

 

See information about the 19^th Century hymn here:  http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/y/d/i/cydiscon.htm

 

See information on the map-graphic here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_Galilee.jpg... The author died in 1934, 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 80 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. The image can be found inside this document: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilee 

Lord, I Need You -- Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves

Perhaps they were in or near Atlanta, since they were gathered to write some music for a conference scheduled to take place there. A clock (perhaps not unlike the one shown here) was probably nearby, even if it did not necessarily inspire what Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, and Jesse Reeves were discussing. But, part way through their joint effort, one of them suggested that “Lord, I Need You” was rather similar to an old hymn (I Need Thee Every Hour, by Annie Hawks – see Nov. 12, 2017 Song Scoop entry). And so, they drew upon its lyrics for some extra stimulation. How many times during a clock’s 24-hour rotation does someone need God? It’s really a rhetorical question, but if you asked one of the contemporary artists this question, he might just point you to something C.S. Lewis wrote. It was something that was pivotal in this song’s genesis, so much so that they put one word in the song title and within the lyrics that underscored this. And, then one of the authors put a different spin on that concept in one of the interviews, giving a nod to the older hymn. See if you can guess what that was before reading on…if not, enjoy the rest of this entry!

 

Matt Maher talked in two separate interviews about ‘Lord, I Need You’, and how it emerged as he and his collaborators prepared for the Passion Conference in 2011, and he and Kristian shared about the song in a third interview. It was written for college students at the conference, as Jesse Reeves pitched the idea of using the old hymn by Annie Hawks as a springboard for the new song. They all tried to imagine students sitting in their dorm rooms and struggling with the various temptations and other issues that come their way. Matt says the song has an even broader audience, and that C.S. Lewis said something that he thought was key for everyone in life: ‘…there’s a love a believer never outgrows, and that love is need love.’ Many people, not just young college students, find it uncomfortable to admit this, including when they walk into a church and hear a message that says they are not ‘self-sufficient, self-reliant, nor self-determining’. But everyone has to admit this at some point, he says, and it’s a confession that can provide reassurance and hope in knowing that God is there to help. He’s not leaving. The most moving line for Matt was ‘where You are, Lord I am free, Holiness is Christ in me’, and that every time he and-or others lead the song, it is like a reaffirmation of what they experienced when they first wrote it. Matt further says that he hopes people will go to God not just with their needs, but also with their joys, too. Lots of people want God in their brokenness, and there are lots of division and strife issues at work in people’s walks (in 2011), but they should realize that He’s someone they need in their joys too. We witness to others when we lean on Him in our joyful moments, and not just when we feel broken. We can celebrate that, and this is as much a powerful witness to others as when we say we need him when we’re desperate.

 

It is interesting that this part about needing God in our joy is not written into this 21^st Century song, but is in the 19^th Century hymn. Hawks’ refrain for one verse is ‘I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain‘, an echo of what Matt was saying about needing Him in our times of pleasure and fulfillment, too. Needing Him in all of life really just raises one to another plane, so that ups and downs of mortality don’t make one feel the roller-coaster so much – something that Matt and his cohorts seemed intent upon emphasizing in their own lyrics. A person finds ‘rest’ with Him ‘guid(ing) the heart ‘(v.1); and has ‘grace’ that overwhelms sin’s condemnation (v.2), and even more than that, it makes someone ‘free’ and full of His ‘holiness’ (v.2). Rest, grace, freedom, and holiness…that’s quite a package God gives you and me, when we are willing to say we need Him.   

 

Hear the comments about the song by one of its authors here (Interview # 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjJ9WaYCmVk

 

See here also (Inteview #2): Matt Maher - Story Behind "Lord I Need You" - NRT Insider - YouTube

 

See a 3^rd interview of two of the authors here: https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/lord-i-need-you-matt-maher/

 

See a review of the song here: https://www.thebereantest.com/matt-maher-lord-i-need-you

 

Public Domain status of the clockface picture: The copyright holder of this work released it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.